Compassion for a Cricket

This morning, Carter found a cricket in the house. He assumed his usual duty of catching it and tossing it outside. Midway through his daily ritual, he came back to tell me that the cricket wasn't trying to get away or jump or anything. I suggested that the cricket might be sick, to which he responded that he thought it just couldn't walk. My thoughts were "And???" while his thoughts were on a very different wave length. He carefully took the cricket back outside where he proceeded to talk to it, play with it, sing to it, try to teach it how to jump, and give it rides on his bike. Whether the cricket actually appreciated his efforts or not - or if it just led to his quicker demise, I appreciated them. Just a little insight into who my Carter boy is...

The Fruit of my Labor

Aren't they pretty? I had such a great Saturday. I set Eric's laptop up on my counter and peeled and diced pears all morning while I watched Conference. I made some yummy (at least the batch that turned out!) Apple Pear Raspberry fruit leather, too. I paused for a picnic with my kids, who had been playing so wonderfully by themselves, and then finished the process to more inspired words. We finished the day with a trip to the library and playing with friends at the park. I just love days like this where the kids aren't fighting, my house feels peaceful, and everything just seems right.

Bountiful Baskets

Truth be told, I'm not much of a coupon clipper. I love a good deal, but it has to basically fall in my lap. I'd rather spend a few extra dollars at one grocery store than save a few dollars after searching ads, finding coupons, and driving to three different grocery stores. I finally found a deal that I couldn't pass up, despite the extra effort. I think it was the adventure aspect that really grabbed me.

At 6:30 this morning I loaded my kids up and headed to my Bountiful Baskets pick-up site. Bountiful Baskets is a non-profit organization put together by some moms to save money on produce. I'm not sure how it all actually works, or how it got so big, but I'm hooked! Every other weekend they bring produce to different drop-off sites all over Arizona, Utah, and one site each in Idaho and Washington. You pay $16.50 ($15.00 + $1.50 handling) for a laundry basket full of fruits and vegetables. They also offer other deals. I went in on a 40lb box of pears. My portion - 10lbs - cost me $3! Seriously - Can you beat that? The fun part is not knowing what you are getting. It's totally random, but my kids had such a good time laying out the spread to see what we got and it was good!

This week's basket had 1 cantalope, 1 carton of raspberries, 4 mini cucumbers, two bunches of bananas, 8 apples, 1 bunch of green leaf lettuce, 5 tomatos, 4 artichokes, a bunch of purple grapes, 7 plums, 7 pears, a head of brocoli, and a 10 lb bag of potatos. Not bad! One of the pears was rotten, but everything else looked great. We had the cantalope for breakfast and it was delicious! If you want more info on it, their website is www.bountifulbaskets.org and there is a bit more info at http://theobsessiveshopper.net/ Enjoy the bounty!