Living Simple in Cold Weather

So begins the fall here in the midwest. We woke up this moring to 40 degree tempratures and what I like to call lazy bones syndrome. You know what I am talking about, when it is that cold, you just don't want to crawl out from under the comforter. But, I had a three year old up at 6:10 am, so there was no way I could stay in bed.

But it made me realize today, that I am going to have to do some seasonal planning if I hope to continue much of my living simply. Taking my oldest to school today, I very much had to fight the urge to hop in the truck and crank the heater on. But we combatted our wants, and we walked like we do every day! I am hoping to walk most days, even through the winter, so I am going to have to go through our hats and mittens and coats and make sure we are stocked up. That is another thing, I may have to get some of those mitten clips that kids use, so the boys aren't constantly losing them! They go through so many pairs of mittens each winter, so they don't even have a chance to wear them out, which goes against everything I am trying to do...so maybe those clippies would work.

I'm also going to have to get our extra blankets for everyone's beds. I really don't want to turn the heat on yet, but we will have to pretty soon, with as cold as it has been. Last year we had $300 gas bills each month all winter, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. I am hoping that we can keep the temp somewhere cool, where we feel comfortable in long pants and sweatshirts while in the house. Hopefully, will not only save energy, but we'll save tons of money! This is the time of year that I wish we had a fireplace for warmth!

On the plus side, we are getting free wood this weekend for our outdoor fireplace! Which will be really nice....the bonuses of volunteering. We are helping a neighbor through one of our community projects who had a tree come down. We are getting out there on Saturday and helping him remove the tree, so there will plenty of wood for everyone who needs it. So I'm sure we will spend alot of time entertianing around the fire pit this fall on cold evenings!

There are plenty of other things that I need to do for winter still. In past years, we have used the plastic on our windows to keep the cold out, but I've found that they don't work as well as heavy curtains. So I am thinking about sewing up some heavier curtains for each window (except the front curtains, those are heavy enough already and do a great job keeping the cold out)!

We are going to start working on Halloween costumes pretty soon too. The boys haven't decided exactly what they want to be yet, but I am going to make them all from scratch at home and try not to spend much money on each. Jake was thinking about being a dragon, which could be really cool, I am thinking about paper mache for the head! I have some really cool ideas!

I know there are other things I will need to do to get ready for winter, but they aren't at the tip of my brain at this point!