Welcome!
I'm Frugal Trenches (no, not my real name!) a lover of natural, simple and frugal living! I use this space and my camera to document a beautiful, purposeful, downshifted and abundant life! Life is not always simple (oh how I wish it was!) but it is always rich and I hope this space demonstrates beauty and joy!
If you have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments! I read and appreciate every comment and will reply to questions within the comment section, even if it takes a day or two (or three, but whose counting!).
Archives
Money Spent On Groceries in 2013
January $198.39
February $231.88
March $248.71
April $Books Read in 2013
Myself
Fiction:
1.The Help
2. Away
3. Flowers For Algernon
4. Animal Farm
5. Room
6. The Secret DaughterNon-Fiction:
1.The Two Nazanins
2.Confessions Of A Bad Beekeeper
3.The Encouraging Parent
4.Freakonomics
5.Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?
6.Raising A Right Brained Child In A Left Brained World
7.How To Make Your Child A Reader For Life
8.The Bookseller of Kabul
9.The Sane Woman's Guide To Raising A Large FamilyDaughter Grade 3 (Chapter Books)
Stanley's Christmas Adventure
George's Marvelous Medicine
Sarah Plain and Tall
Ramona Books x 5
Road To Avonlea Chapter Books x 3
Junie B Jones Chapter Books x 6
James and The Giant Peach
Freckle Juice
Reader Level 4 Books x 9Son Grade 1 (Picture Books)
January: 62 books
February: 73 books
March: 95 books
April: 89 books
Category Archives: Adoption
Friday Night Thoughts…
I have a million thoughts swirling in my head. Thoughts about the inequities that exist (the garment workers (and industry) are never far from my mind), and all these thoughts brought me to a place of needing to write. Tonight, … Continue reading
When Days Are Far From Perfect
Today was one of those days. A day when everything just was more challenging. The first sign was forgetting to put baking soda in the homemade bread and muffins this morning, followed by burning the coconut cookies! My daughter woke up and … Continue reading
To My Little Boy
I wish life were easier for you. I wish your past hadn’t left you so traumatized and hurt that you needed to live in a make-believe land. I wish when I told you I was your Mama forever, you didn’t … Continue reading
Day 24: Month Of Nothing
Yesterday was a great day – the blues are gone, the happy, no delightful, days of time together are still nigh and all the other noise was forgotten. We got academics out the way, then swam as a family, taking … Continue reading
Day 18: Month of Nothing
I am not sure how I’ll ever pull myself away. Yesterday was one of those days where I wished time could stand still. There were no luxuries, a small shop was finished {being sick is expensive!}, but we had the … Continue reading
2013 Goals: The Year We Begin Home Educating!
I’ve written about 2012, though didn’t specifically update on the goals for the year (with monthly goals often being accomplished, but not blogged about). This was partly because my focus was on connecting and building our family and partly because … Continue reading
On My Mind
Poverty. During an exhausting week, when there was much on my mind here (note, I was far too self focused), I took a moment to put Frontline on late yesterday evening and watched Poor Kids. An excellent documentary about children growing … Continue reading
Acceptance
I always knew I would adopt children with special needs. Having volunteered in far off places with children left for dead, it was something I felt very passionate about. That, coupled with working within the system, made me very aware … Continue reading
Gentle Parenting
I mentioned yesterday that I have a newfound committment to gentle living. It isn’t something I haven’t been striving to do, but now I understand I don’t want to simply do something gentle, instead I’m hoping to live a gentle life. I was … Continue reading

