Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Pre-Halloween Fun and Some Sombering Thoughts

Today we took our girls to a local farm for the traditional pumpkin patch adventure. They had a blast looking at all the different pumpkins and gourds. We were blessed with a beautiful day and small crowd since we planned it on a random Wednesday instead of a weekend.



The only bummer was that the hayride and "cow train" aren't available mid-week, but the flip side is neither are the concessions so with our current "getting used to one income and holidays are coming up" budget crunch, it was nice to not have the temptation to spend money on buttery roasted corn or hot apple cider. Maybe we will do a Fun Family Fall Festival day at home and make those treats ourselves for a lot less moola!

Speaking of treats and moola, a friend posted a link on Facebook to this post by simplemom.net last week.  It's about the really unsettling fact that most of the chocolate I love to consume is available to me because of child labor.  No child should have to sacrifice their childhood and even risk bodily harm just so I can buy a chocolate candy bar for only 79¢.


Chocolate Bars Clip Art

So, of course, I immediately re-shared the link and then later had a discussion with my husband about our future chocolate buying habits. We haven't picked out candy to hand out for the upcoming trick-or-treat festivities yet. And yes, buying organic or fair trade options will cost more and put a bigger Halloween dent in our budget. But the bottom line is that our family has the luxury of relying primarily on my husband's income, with a little supplementing from myself, another adult. We don't have to face the decision of sending our children out to do hard labor for less than pennies a day. And we have the luxury of buying "treats" just because they taste good or because it's the expectation for a holiday.  Not because we need it to sustain our overworked and undernourished bodies.

I hope that you take the time to head over to simplemom.net and read "Chocolate: the industry's hidden truth (and the easy stuff we can do to still enjoy it).  You may not want to think about it, but if you look a little further and do some internet searching you will find that it is true.  So please consider how the unveiled truth might influence you to make some simple changes to your sweet tooth spending in order to positively impact our global community.

Monday, September 23, 2013

I guess I should introduce myself...

Hi there. It's a rainy second-day-of-autumn here in our home and with the first cold of the season making its way through our household, I'm laid up on the couch with a big cup of tea and a box of tissues. So, I thought to myself, "Self, you should start that blog you've been thinking about."  Not that the world really needs one more blog. But hey, why not.

Anyway, I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Sarah.  Wife of an incredibly hard-working and bicycle-loving husband. Mom of two beautiful daughters (ages 1 and 3), one beautiful soul in heaven, and of another one on the way.  Friend the world's craziest yet sweetest four-legged companion.  I am a pediatric nurse recently turned stay-at-home mom.

So, welcome to my aptly named blog about my Growing Happy Family.  Here I hope to chronicle, well, our growing family. As well as share my endeavors into the world of craftiness and DIY homemaking, favorite recipes, and our journey into home schooling.