Food

I have a cute little boy that "eats like a truck" as we like to say.

Just last night during our bible study group the kids had juice and cheetos for a snack. Then when it was over Simon meandered over to where the remains were and picks up the big bag of cheetos and carries them around while he's finishing them off. I'm not sure what to do when another child comes up to get some and Simon shouts NO! and quickly turns his back and runs away with his coveted, now empty, cheetos bag. Then he resorts to chewing on the bag to get all the cheesy goodness. Then he realizes there's another bag and tries to open them and when I make him put them down he pitches a fit. You would think he was starving and didn't eat dinner or have a snack or a big fat belly and some serious cheeks and thighs. The kid doesn't miss meals-he makes sure of that.

Everyone teases us about how much it's going to cost us to feed them when they are all teenagers (think 17, 15, 13) and really, I don't like to think about that grocery bill or how often I will have to walk out with a heaping cart. And I want to be one of those houses where all the kids want to go because they always have food. I really do, but how? I ask. I guess we need to grow and make more of our own food, which I'm working on.

Right now we don't really have a garden, just a few tomato plants, black raspberries that the frost got this year unfortunately, and some rhubarb that should be ready for eating next year. But little by little as we can handle it and the boys can help I would like to start growing things. Not hard things mind you. Stuff you don't really have to tend to. Like I want to plant some asparagus and plant an apple tree this fall, easy stuff. But stuff that will help keep our shelves and freezer stocked and the bellies of those boys full-which is a feat. But I wouldn't have it any other way!