Challenge Complete

CHALLENGE CONCLUDES: Today was our last day of participation in the United Way of King County's Hunger Challenge Week.

This is our second year doing it, and once again, we found it to be a very valuable experience. It really reminds you that everything that passes your lips has a price tag attached.

One thing I noticed this go round is that grocery prices in general have gone up since last year. That means I have to be an even more careful consumer than ever. Shopping the Grocery Outlet, buying stores' weekly doorbuster specials - and little else! - and planning menus ahead all help.

The Challenge helped the kids hone their math skills and gave them great practice using coins to paying for things, which is awesome.

Today, we got off cheap for lunch - all four of us had already expensed leftovers for lunch. I figured that freed up enough money for the kids to enjoy an ice cream treat this afternoon. But they had to earn it. We walked all the way to Magnolia Village and back for it. It's not terribly far - just 15 blocks or so - but about half of it is scaling pretty steep hills.

On the way there, the kids climbed the steps of the dilapidated old Magnolia School. According to Wikipedia, it was open from 1927 to 1984 and it was home to the African American Academy from 1993–2000. Interesting. I'd never heard that before.

And I wonder what Seattle Public Schools will do with the property. It's worth a fortune. Hopefully they won't be stupid like they were with the Queen Anne High School property, selling it for a song and letting a private developer make a killing on it. And hopefully they won't be stupid and sell it to the low bidder, as was the case with a property on MLK, which was sold to a church group with whom then district Director of Facilities Fred Stephens had strong ties. But I digress. ...

Once we got into town, we went to Cookies and Cream. CJ chose an ice cream sandwich; Bee had a coconut ice cream cone. Both treats looked really tasty.

On our way back from the Village, we stopped at "Hilltop Play Park" (Ella Bailey), of course.

Family Total for the Day: $13.06
CJ's Daily Total: 4.65
PopTart = .12
Grapes = .40
Leftover hamburger = 0
Goldfish = .17
Ice cream = 3
Hot dog, bun & Cheetos = .41 + .45
Annabelle's Daily Total: 4.50
Grapes = .40
Leftover chicken = 0
Apple = .44
Ice cream = 3
Hot dog & Cheetos = .21 + .45
Christian's Daily Total: 2.74
Coffee = .30
Eggs (.16) + Cheese (.10) = .26
Leftover chicken = 0
Cashews = .50
Hot dogs, cabbage & onion = .63 + .05
Beer = 1
My Daily Total: 1.17
Coffee = .30
2 Eggs = .16
1 piece of bread = .17
Leftover burrito = 0
Hardboiled egg = .08
Hot dog + bun, cabbage & onion = .41 + .05

STORY TIME: Our reading today was a short chapter book called "Five Creepy Creatures." Not great literature by any means, but a fun little collection of just a tad spooky stories. The first one featured a brother and a sister, so I used CJ and Annabelle's names. They liked that. :)

BACK TO THE BEGINNING: We started in on the kids' new math books today. They were actually excited to write their names on them and get started.

"Do you think we could do the whole book today?" CJ asked. I told him I thought that would be possible, but it wouldn't be much fun and it's probably not the best way to really learn the concepts.

BONUS SHOT: Bee getting in some gaming before our school day started.
ONE MORE THING: Tomorrow is Earth Hour 2011. We participated last year and will be doing so again this year, turning our lights off from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

Living Dangerously

DAY FOUR: We're still watching our food costs with an eagle eye on Day 4 of the United Way of King County's Hunger Challenge week. Just ask CJ who spent the first few minutes he was up today contemplating his choice in breakfast. He wanted some grapes, so we worked out the math on that. The grapes were $1.69 a pound, and there are 16 ounces in a pound so, that's about 10 cents an ounce. We dished CJ up a "normal" sized serving for CeeJ and weighed it. It was 7 ounces, which mean 70 cents. He thought that a bit steep.

About that time Annabelle emerged from the bedroom. She said she, too, wanted grapes for breakfast. CJ tried to dissuade her. "You don't want to know the cost of grapes," he advised.

Nevertheless, she decided upon a grape breakfast too, which set her back 60 cents.

Fortunately, they went cheap for lunch - a banana and some Goldfish. I'd had a cheap day, too - a grapefruit, a hardboiled egg, and the kids' castoffs/leftovers already expensed to them. Given this, for dinner, we decided to live dangerously. We went out. :0

We decided on the Nickerson Street Saloon - immediately west of the Fremont Bridge. Why there? Four reasons: The kids' meals are only $1.99 apiece (that's WAY less than a McDonald's Happy Meal, even); We had a $30 Yollar certificate to use (which we bought for $15); we went during Happy Hour (cheaper food and drink); they had the Sweet 16 on their screens.

Let's do the math ...
CJ daily total = $3.27
Pop Tart = .12
Grapes = .70
Goldfish = .17
Banana = .29
Cheeseburger & Fries = 1.99
Annabelle daily total = $2.95
Grapes = .50
Goldfish = .17
Banana = .29
Chicken strips & fries = 1.99
Christian daily total = 15.67*
Coffee = .60
2 eggs + cheese = .26
Corned beef and cabbage = 1.69
Carrots = .12
Quesadilla = 6
2 HH beers = 7
My daily total = 15.70*
Coffee = .30
Grapefruit = .33
Hard boiled egg = .08
Burrito = 7.99
2 HH beers = 7
Family Daily total 37.59 LESS $30 cert = 7.59 + *$15 cost of cert = $22.59, which is .59 cents over the daily total BUT, we've been under the three previous days, so we're still definitely on track for the week. So the question is, can you dine out on a limited budget? The answer is a qualified 'yes' - very, VERY carefully.

BTW, if you'd like to see how other Seattle area peeps are managing during the Hunger Challenge, check out the Blog Roll (and yes, MPA is listed!).

CLONE STAMPS AND SUCH: Before Annabelle was even up, CJ was working on a Photoshop project. He found a YouTube video about a Nintendo Cafe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPQutT5LOWM which depicts a menu he fancied. He wanted a print out of it. So, I taught him how to take a screen shot/screen print and open it in Photoshop. Next, he had to do some editing and touchups. I showed him how to use the pencil tool to add letters to the menu (to correct misspellings of whomever created it to begin with). He also had to erase and 'shop over some parts of the image.
When Annabelle got up and looked at the menu, CJ said, "Just remember this - the higher the price, the better it tastes."

I didn't tell him that's not always the case in the world of real restaurants. :)

IT'S A WRAP: Today we FINALLY finished the Singapore Math 2A books.

The last marathon assignment was 6 pages, encompassing lessons from the entire book, including measurements. At one point Annabelle said she needed a tape measure, so I got her one. As it turned out the question was A door is 2 ___ ." The options were ounces, pounds, inches or yards.
After the fact, I explained to the kids they should be able to answer that without a tape (clearly it wasn't ounces or pounds, and an inch was way too small).

Anyway, the kids soldiered through and were so happy when it was done.
AFTERNOON OUT: CJ had a quick dental appointment in the Madrona neighborhood today. We headed that direction an hour early to enjoy a fantastic park out that way.

The pinnacle of the park is this awesome webbed rope climbing structure in the middle. We visited this park about a year ago and I recall thinking at the time that the structure was scary high, and I couldn't imagine my kids climbing it.

Yeah, well, that's ancient history. Today, when CJ saw it, he didn't hesitate.

I was very proud of him (and a little scared!) that he climbed to the top. Not only that, once up there he said, "This is how high Donkey Kong is" and on a second trip to the top, I caught him pounding his chest a la King Kong. :)

The park had lots else to offer.

The kids enjoyed slides, spinny things and sit on and play with me things. :)

PENCIL TO PAPER: After the dentist I was feeling like the kids haven't had a written assignment is months, so I hopped on EdHelper.com and found a poem called "I Think I Want to Be a Kite." I had the kids read it and their assignment was to write five sentences about what it would be like being a kite.

Interestingly (and rather uncharacteristically) CJ was enthusiastic about the assignment. After a couple of minutes he said, "Do you like it how I'm doing fantastic spelling? And I'm making sure I put a period at the end of every sentence." :)

CJ wrote, "I feel windy when I am flying because of the air. I also feel like God because I am in the air. I see clouds when I am in the air. The sky is blue. The sky tells us if it is day or night by changing its color from light blue to dark blue."

Not quite sure where his religious inspiration came from (a YouTube video?), but he definitely completed the assignment with thought and care. Annabelle's answer was a bit more whimsical.

"I do fly! My bro and me swing and we fly! (We go really high on the trampoline too.) I have lots of fun! (I get dizzy.)"

Reading Annabelle's take makes me wonder if a propensity for using parenthesis is genetic. I use them way too often/too much.

Midpoint

HALFWAY POINT: We're on Day 3 of the Hunger Challenge. Annabelle had a bit of an appetite this a.m. She (uncharacteristically) asked for a Pop Tart first thing, so that's what I gave her. That seemed to sit well so a bit later we divvied up a pound of strawberries between the three of us.

When I told CJ the berries were going to cost him 50 cents, he groused, "Why does it have to be so expensive?"
And I could understand his dismay. He'd had a Pop Tart that was just 12 cents, but these berries (which he wanted less) cost nearly 5 times as much. I explained to him that produce is often expensive because of the cost of growing it, harvesting it and transporting it.

One thing I've been thinking about during this week when we're watching our grocery budget closely is the fact that while you can readily find coupons for crap (sugary cereal, cookies, chips and such), you almost never see coupons for produce. That's why I shop the big sales for produce. Pretty much the produce we eat each week is what a given store's "doorbuster" is for the week.

Today's family total: 20.73, only 1.17 under budget. A close call!
CJ - Daily total = 4.22
Pop Tart = .12
Strawberries = .50
Cheese stick - .20
Cheez Its = .28
1/2 Corn Dog = 1
Cheetos = .43
Chicken wings & rice = 1.69
Annabelle - Daily total = 4.44
Pop Tart = .12
Strawberries = .50
Cheese stick - .20
Cheez Its = .28
1/2 apple = .22
1/2 Corn Dog = 1
Cheetos = .43
Chicken wings & rice = 1.69
Christian - Daily total = 7.97
Coffee = .60
2 eggs (.16) + chipotle chile (free, expensed 2 days ago) = .16
Corned beef & cabbage = 2.69*
Chicken wings (1.50) , hot sauce (.30), salad (lettuce, tomato, cheese, .90) = 2.70
2 Copper Hook = 1.82
Me - Daily total = 4.10
Coffee = .30
Yogurt = .57
Hard boiled egg = .08
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 piece bread and peanut butter = .15
Cheetos = .10
Chicken wings (1.50) , (.30), rice (.10), cottage cheese (.20) = 2.70

SHE SPEAKETH THE TRUTH: This morning we read "Only Passing Through," a biography about Sojourner Truth, a woman who was enslaved for the first three decades of her life before fleeing to freedom and going on to work as an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.

Born Isabella in 1797, the story told in the book basically kicks you in the gut and rips your heart out from page 1, where as a 9 year old she's being auctioned off. She only spoke Dutch at the time, and because she didn't understand her new master's language and orders, she was beaten viciously. At age 9. Just a touch older than CJ. Two of her siblings, ages 5 and 6, were literally stolen from the family home by slave traders, and never heard from again.

Isabella was bought and sold several times and at one point her last master promised her freedom in a year - but he reneged. At that, one morning she fled his residence (leaving her children behind) and found refuge with some abolitionists. Soon after, she found out her 5 year old son had been sold to an out of state slave owner, which was against the law in New York, where they lived. Isabelle went to court to get her son returned to NY, and she won- an unexpected and unprecedented feat for an African American woman in that time.

After a dream she had compelling her to share her story, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth and traveled thousands of miles, always sharing her story with others as she went, until her death in 1883.

I asked the kids how they'd describe Sojourner. CJ said "generous" and Annabelle said "brave."

The only thing the kids weren't inspired by was the book's pictures. "I thought the illustrations were kind of creepy," said Annabelle, and I couldn't disagree with her. The paintings were a bit abstract and Sojourner's face was distorted and mottled. Also, she had huge, out of proportion hands for some reason. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think all heroines have to look like a Disney Princess, but I think the book (and, therefore story) would have been more engaging with less abstract pictures.

Here's a real life photo of Sojourner
FYI - Sojourner wasn't able to read or write, but I found an autobiography she dictated, "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth," first published in 1850, online through the University of Pennsylvania. Gotta love the Internet.

WATER BOY: Today we watered our seeds for the first time. CJ had the honors.
I sure hope something sprouts next week!

LEGO LOVERS: Frankly, the kids have been too sick to do much cooperative play together for the past few days, but today, they rallied and were back at it. I found it interesting that so much of their play today involved them buying from and selling items to one another (for LEGO currency they'd invented). That was a first. I have to think the Hunger Challenge math influenced that. Annabelle was quite the salesperson, always pitching a "special offer" or "limited time only," trying to pour the pressure on. She must have been working on commission. :)

OUT IN THE FIELD: We did NOT go to science class this afternoon as that class often involves a lot of handling and sharing items and the virus has certainly not cleared Annabelle's system entirely. I really didn't think it would be cool to expose others to it. So, I emailed the teacher, and she responded, thanking us for not coming and telling me that they'd be doing more rock-related studies, including observing how rocks looked dry as compared to wet. That was all the inspiration I needed.

Desperate to get out of this germ filled house and out into the sunny, warmest-day-of-the-year-yet weather, I decided we'd have our own science class on the shore of Puget Sound. We drove the half mile to Magnolia Village and down a road I knew led to a rocky public beach that's always darn near deserted. We parked the car and from a half block away, I couldn't see the shore, but I could smell it. "Wow, it smells strongly of salt water today," I said to the kids. When we got the the beach I could see why. It was a super low tide - the lowest I've ever seen there. So, bonus for us. There was about 500 percent more beach there than usual!

The first order of business was a lunchtime snack.Their Cheez-Its and cheese stick set them back 48 cents, but the view was priceless! I couldn't help but think that any food tastes better when eaten with a magnificent view.
After that, we ranged the beach for awhile. CJ and Annabelle made friends with an (apparently) owner-less dog.

They also spent a few minutes trying to dig an old garden hose out of the sand.
Eventually, we set up a rock study camp and the kids collected specimens. They sorted them by appearance, and gave them interesting names. For instance, the black and white spotted ones were Dalmeggtians, because they were shaped like eggs. No doubt remembering last week's science class, when the teacher told the kids that geologists often break rocks open, CJ used larger rocks to crack smaller ones. That kept him busy for a good half hour.

We also talked about the rocks' properties (colors, size, shape, patterns, texture and so on).

In addition to studying rocks, we also got to survey a number of different types of water vessels today - everything from ocean going freighters to tugboats to tiny skiffs.
All in all it was a lovely afternoon out of the sick ward and we got a lot of learning in, too.

Even More Challenging

STRIKE THREE: Today started early for us, with the flu hitting Annabelle at 3:35 a.m. dagnammit. I was hoping by some sort of miracle she wasn't going to get it.

Needless to day, Annabelle kept a low profile all day, with low meaning mostly horizontal. She and Kirby logged lots of couch time.
And for a few hours this afternoon, Bee migrated back to her bedroom to relax in bed under the watchful eyes of Princess Peach and Toad.
MEANWHILE, BACK TO THE CHALLENGE: This was Day Two of our participation in Hunger Challenge Week.

In an email update we received this morning from United Way of King County, we learned that the number of Washington households that are “food insecure” (meaning they struggle to afford enough nutritious food) rose from 288,000 to 367,000 in 2009 - a 27 percent increase. I can't help but think the stat was even worse in 2010, as the economy and job outlook was even worse, IMHO, then.

CJ opted for a PopTart for breakfast (I know, I know, not exactly the Breakfast of Champions). Fortunately, we'd scored a box of 16 for just $1.99 at the Grocery Outlet (that's less than the regular price for a box of 8).

Rather than computing the Pop Tart cost right away, I told CJ I'd like him to estimate how much it cost, using what we knew - that the box of 16 cost very nearly $2. So, we talked about how that meant that half the box (eight tarts) cost $1 (half of 2). And how if you knew that it cost $1 for eight of them, then you could make a pretty decent guess how much one cost. For instance, you knew it was more than a dime because 10x .10 = $1.
So CJ guessed .19, Annabelle managed to guess .18 through her flu fog and I estimated .12.
I "won," and, of course, I shared why I guessed 12.
We were well under our max budget for the day. Poor Annabelle is largely to thank for that.
Annabelle daily total: $1.16
55 Goldfish = .17
Chocolate milk = .99
CJ daily total: $2.08
Pop Tart = .12
goldfish = .17 (for 55 fish)
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple: = .22
Bacon ($1) & toast (.17 ) & olives (free, as they were leftovers I charged him for last night): 1.17
Ice cream scoop = .20
(Note to Concerned Readers - while it may look like I'm trying to starve the boy, it's worth noting his appetite is still not 100 percent, post flu last week.)
Christian daily total: 8.07
Coffee = .60
2 eggs (2@.08) with chipotle chili sauce (free, as he paid for it last night @ dinner) = .16
Corned beef and cabbage = $2.60
Celery & peanut butter = .38
Bacon ($1), egg (.16), tomato (.55), spinach (.50), cheese (.10) salad + dressing (.20) = 2.51
Copper Hook x 2 = 1.82
My daily total: $4.88
Coffee = .30
Yogurt = .57
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple = .22
20 Goldfish = .08
Bacon ($1), egg (.16), tomato (.55), spinach (.50), cheese (.10) salad + dressing (.20) = 2.51
N/A Becks = $1

FAMILY TOTAL for TUESDAY: $16.19 - that's $5.81 under budget. Frankly, it seems like we should have done better, given that Annabelle ate nothing and CJ just grazed.

SOME SCIENCE: Though our schooling was super duper limited today, we did do a little bit of learning. I felt like doing a fun, easy experiment, so I turned to Science Bob - a site we haven' t visited in way too long.

I decided to try the "Roll a Can with Static Electricity" experiment. To get ready, I blew up a happy face balloon and emptied a can of soda.

I asked CJ if he could push the can with the balloon. He thought he could, and he did. Then I asked him if he could pull the can with the balloon. He didn't think he could and, again, he was right.

Then I told him that we *could* pull the can with the balloon with the power of some invisible electrons with a negative charge. And where would we find these magical powers? By rubbing the balloon on his head!
He rubbed rapidly and then I had him put the balloon next to the can and lo and behold, the can (with its positive charge) was attracted to it! Cool!
After our little experiment, CJ enjoyed a rousing round of balloon volleyball. He was able to sustain 120 plus hits before he called it good. That was the most action our house saw all day.

FAMILIAR FACES: Well lookie here - CJ and Annabelle were featured on the United Way of King County's Blog about Hunger Action Week. Nice!

Up to the Challenge?

KEEPING TABS: This wasn't just any Monday. Rather, today marked the start of our participation in the United Way of King County's Hunger Action Week, "an exercise of empathy—to live in someone else's shoes for one week and learn how you can help fight hunger in our community." The goal is to live on less than the amount a family our size would be eligible for on food assistance ("stamps"). We were successful last year. I hope we can repeat that feat.

Participating in this project means a whole lot of number crunching. The kids were reminded of that when I asked them to pay me for the breakfast they just ate. :)

Annabelle's was relatively easy to figure out. She ate a little less than half of a $1.50 container of strawberries. She owed me 70 cents. CJ had peanut butter toast, which meant we had to first figure out how much each slice of a $3 loaf of bread cost. Since there were 17 slices, we divided 3 by 17 to figure out that was .17 apiece. Based in the cost of the jar of peanut butter and the serving size, we figured out he had 6 cents worth of spread.

And so our day went. Every time something crossed their lips, there was a price to pay. Here's CJ, settling up for his 23 cent breakfast ...
A bit later, the kids came to find out that a Goldfish snack would set them back 17 cents.

The kids were really good about adhering to the guidelines. Every time they touched food today, they kept track of it and paid the kitty for it. During dinner, Annabelle insisted upon knowing how much her baby carrots were going to cost her, so I weighed them for her and we figured it out. I have to admit, CJ wasn't quite as gung ho. At one point today he muttered, "I'm going to have a drink of water. I hope I don't have to pay for it!"

According to the Hunger Week guidelines, our family of four would have a max of $22 a day if we were on state food assistance ("food stamps"). Happily, we were well under our budget today!

CJ - today's total $2.23
Peanut butter toast = .23
Strawberries = .30
goldfish = .17 (for 55 fish @ .99 a bag)
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple: 1 apple = 1/2 lb @ .88/lb = .22
popcorn = .25
Spaghetti, sauce, olives, carrots = .66
Ice cream scoop = .20

Annabelle - today's total $2.40
Strawberries = .70
Goldfish = .17
Cheese stick = .20
1/2 organic apple = 1 apple = 1/2 lb @ .88/lb = .22
popcorn = .25
Spaghetti, olives, carrots = .66
Ice cream scoop = .20

Christian - today's total $6.72
2 eggs (.08*2) .16 + .75 pork chop = .91
Coffee = .60
Cheese stick = .20
Nuts = .10
Dinner (Chipotle chili from scratch)= 2.18
Beer (Copper Hook, mmm) = 2.73

Me - today's total - $3.37
Yogurt = .57
Coffee = .30
Cheese stick = .20
popcorn and apple core (kids' leftovers, free)
carrot sticks = .12
Dinner (Chipotle chili) = 2.18

Family total: $14.72, $7.28 under budget - w00t! None of us went hungry, and we probably ate less than on a normal day which, frankly, is a good thing. Let's hope this trend continues.

IN OTHER NEWS: We read an educational and entertaining book today, "Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President," and the kids did a loooong review chapter in Singapore Math.

This afternoon, while Annabelle was in ballet class, we three walked around Magnolia, hitting a couple of stores. Poor CJ is still not 100 percent after last week's flu. He melted into a bench outside of Albertsons to recharge. After ballet, they played at the park for about a half hour, getting some much needed fresh air.

SOW WHAT?: Hooray! After dinner, the kids started our future garden.

I thought this was a fitting exercise tonight, during Hunger Action Week, as growing your own can save you some $$. At the Ace store, we scored seed starter mix for $.99 a bag - a $3 savings - and the seeds the kids planted tonight (Rainbow Chard, Delicata Squash and Nero Di Toscana Kale) were given to us by a friend. And we used a recycled egg carton for our pots. It doesn't get much cheaper than that!