The REED Way

Every family has their way of doing life.  I love it when I learn something from another family.  My good friend Daphne says our family "has a culture all it's own".  She says this with a big ol smile so I know it's a compliment.  I also know at times we can be "THAT NEIGHBOR." Like when we had a pet pig that walked out to the bus stop and kinda scared all the kids, because he was a baby wild hog. 
That said, I thought it would be fun to do a few post about our family and the way we do things.

Our Little Blue Car

We are all about not spending money we don't have to. So buying used cars from private sellers is our way to go.  We have saved thousands upon thousands sticking with this philosophy and making sure our cars are not gas guzzlers.   Right now we kinda share a small blue hatchback and our truck has basically sat in the driveway since we moved from the beach to Austin.

 I will admit sometimes in the carpool line or at a school function I notice how we look different.  A family of five piling out of a little car just isn't the normal.  The kids are oblivious.  Yes, they are sitting pretty close together, but they do fine and when they fight about touching one another I remember back to when we had a minivan and they would lean half way across the van to poke each other. This car just makes it more convenient.

 The other fun thing we do in our little blue car is rarely use the AC.  At first, I was not an advocate of this. But now because there is an obnoxious rattle when the AC is turned on, I have crossed over to the kids' and Daddy's way.  The FUN WAY they call it. Like dogs, they let the breeze take over and relish the wind in their hair.

 The most funny part about driving this car is when we have other kids with us.  Whenever the kids friends' see that we are driving the blue car they squeal  "Yay!  I love the blue car. It's soooo fun!"  They love their hair blowing around and the feel of the wind too.

 "Aren't they hot?" you may be thinking. Not unless you ask them if they are.    I realize the blowing around of the hair might not be so fun when they are teenagers but I think we will have established that a car doesn't have to have a DVD player or tons of room, to be a fun car.   I am hoping this among other practices we Reeds hold true to, will help my kids be low maintenance and enjoy life without having to make their environment a certain kind of comfy before they can relax in it. 

Next time, I'll share how we keep in shape.  It's not a strict diet or fancy gym membership I promise you that!