Countdown to Kalahari!

I find it laughable, really, to be writing this post when the event we are 'counting down' towards is an event we have actually already been home from, for the better part of two weeks.

Seriously.

Yes folks, the ever inimitable 'Queen of Procrastination' strikes again. To be completely honest, I wasn't even going to write this post this late in the game but my ever encouraging mama told me it was a must because it was such a killer idea. (For the record, killer idea is my phrase- not hers).

Before we go any further, I have to give you a brief background breakdown here or none of this will make sense. (Heck, it might not even with the explanation- so...good luck with that). Anyway, most of you who know me know that I homeschool all four of my lovely, wonderful carpet lizards-I mean yard apes! Shoot! Stupid computer! I mean KIDS! My four wonderful, lovely KIDS! And because I'm trapped inside each day (oh God help me!) with four rambunctious young 'uns (somebody PLEASE!) who eat paint and sniff glue (and who KNOWS what they do in the bathroom?!?), I am always on the lookout for unique and exciting trips/vacations that we can take to go somewhere or see something new but still have it in the realm of educational (you know, so it 'counts').

We were lucky enough to have a friend (who also homeschools) recommend an annual convention- the Unschoolers' Waterpark Gathering- and we decided 'what the hey- let's do it'. And so, we did it! (My next post will be on the actual convention itself, so more deets will follow) Now, the coolest thing about this convention (other than spending a week with thousands of people who do exactly what you do every day) is that it's held at the  Kalahari Resorts and Convention Center, which just so happens to have the worlds largest indoor waterpark! YEAH! How could a kid (and a parent!) NOT get excited?! My kids were so psyched when Tim and I told them about it, that they immediately wanted to start counting down. Drew made a hand-drawn countdown calender, but Tara soon decimated that with her 'pitchers' so I knew I needed to come up with something inventive and 'Sissy-proof'. That's when this baby was born...

So, without further ado- I present to you the most awesomest of awesome event countdown calenders ever created (at least to my way of thinking)! drumroll please......

TA-DA!

Pretty cool, huh? I wanted to have something that was interactive for the kids, but easy to re-create (as we'll most likely be doing this trip again in the future). Each day, a kid (we rotated turns-had to keep it fair) took down a balloon and popped it- signifying another day gone and one more day closer to our trip.

I also needed to make sure that it was easy and relatively inexpensive to pull together- since it is a 'consumable' product. Here are the steps I took:

1. I downloaded a free African font (here)
2. Printed the title and numbers up on my computer
3. Laminated them with my trusty desktop laminator (as my kids are rough on EVERYTHING)
4. Lowe's was a quick stop for some black jute rope
5. The clothespins were found on my craft shelf
6. And the balloons were just easy-a black marker was the last thing I needed to create a jungle inspired countdown calender that had my kids excited every time they walked into the living room! (On a side note, Oriental Trading sells premade versions of these balloons here, but I'm just too dang cheap thrifty)

Pretty neat, huh? I've already thought of a million and one ways to use this idea- use natural jute or sisal, beachy colored balloons with sand dollars, and suddenly you have a Beach Trip countdown! If you're a mountain person, used darker balloons (browns, rusts, and greens) with tree branch silhouettes drawn on them and hang them from sticks found in your yard. You could even use red and green and make a Christmas advent calender (oooh! I love that one! I may have to steal it from myself) The ideas are endless- let your imagination run wild!!

So tell me dear readers, what do you think- could you do it? Is it worth a try? And if so, how would you use it and make it your own?

As a final aside, for all you readers up in arms thinking I harbor some crazy Silence of the Lamb feelings about my kids- you couldn't be more wrong. I like to pick and joke, but truth be told, I actually enjoy the time I spend with them each day and wouldn't trade it for anything. Although I'm still concerned about the amount of time each spends in the bathroom (I DON'T want to know!) overall, I happen to think my kids rule. 'Nuff said. 

Welcome to the World... Little Bloggie!

In true Jenn style, this blog has been a creative endeavor that has been over a year and a half in the making. Not that it's actually taken that long to learn how to use Blogger (it's not that hard!) or even that it was so difficult picking a background and a font (I'm sorta picky but not to that extent...ok... I will admit I spent an inordinate amount of time on font choices... but still!) Nope, it was just another case of me doing what I do best- dawdling... tarrying... dilly-dallying... oh to heck with it! PROCRASTINATING!!. Or, better put, letting the things I have to do getting in the way of the things I want to do. 

See, I dreamt up the idea of this little baby over a year ago during the holiday season of 2011. I had taken up several new pursuits during that year and I wanted to share them with with family and friends spread far and wide. I had neat new ideas for saving money, saving time, saving energy, saving sanity (!) etc and I thought I'd have it up and running in a matter of days... yeah.

I know the title of the blog can be a bit confusing, so let me take a minute to explain where it came from and how I got there. I decided to start this out of my desire to share my experiences with making most of my food from scratch and my attempts at couponing to save mucho dinero in the 'can't make it, so have to buy it department'. The idea blossomed from there- my family and I are trying to take a new approach to life- a more wholesome approach where we live a more fully realized life but do so by utilizing less 'stuff'. 

• LESS processed food helps us eat healthier. So, I can post about my successes (and oh so many screw-ups!) learning how to make homemade bread. Or my attempts at growing (and then canning) my own vegetables. Or my master recipe for sneaking veggies my kids hate into their spaghetti sauce so they think they're winning and really I am!! 
• LESS food also helps us live a MORE fabulous life as we'll be thinner! This ties in with the weight loss journey that my husband and I are currently undertaking and we hope we can use this blog as an inspiration to other people undergoing the same struggles we are with weight and self-image issues. The thinner we are, the healthier we will be and the MORE time we will have with our children to do MORE with them.
• My couponing secrets can come in handy as LESS money is spent in the grocery store to help you have MORE food in the house and MORE money in your bank account- everyone likes that!
• Now that we've taken on homeschooling, we're thriving with LESS influence from the government in an effort to give our children a MORE hands-on education in an environment with one-on-one contact and safety never being an issue. My training and experience as a teacher helps me have awesome curriculum ideas that I am so excited to share!
• And there's so much more but I'm running out of time to type!

As you can see, the premise is a sound one. You truly can live a fabuLESS life! You can squeeze every drop out of every single day and do it with less- you just have to know how!

So, determined to make 2013

The Year of the Jenn

one of my major New Year's resolutions is to actively utilize my blog- which means today is little bloggie's birthday!!. This blog will be a chance for me to stay in touch with all those I love who are spread all over this great world, give me an opportunity to meet new (awesome!) people who share the same interests my family and I do, and allow me the space to share all the stuff I think is cool, unique, and noteworthy- even if my own family might think it's silly! (I know someone out there will think it's cool too!)

I can't promise I'll always get it right. I can't promise you'll walk away from every post feeling like you learned something new or discovered something extraordinary. But I can promise that every post will be an experience- and even in my failures (which I won't hesitate to blog about in a most humorous way) you will find a success of some sort. As Bruce Lee says, “Don’t fear failure.  Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” 

I hope somewhere along the way something I show you will inspire you to dream bigger, reach higher, and wish farther than you ever have before. Because it's only when we push ourselves beyond our limits that we are able to discover our true measure.

Until next time...