Preparing for next school year

I have started planning for next years school year.  I always do it at the end of the current school year, just to give me that boost of excitement to finish strong!  Actually, our school years are blended together and we usually start and stop different curriculum or activities throughout the year.  But I do like to have a general plan of action for the following year.  Next year my oldest will be a 9th grader, so I have mostly been planning for her.  The rest of the kids will pretty much be doing the same routine.  Here's what things look like so far...

Maddie (6dd) - Math U See, 100 Easy Lessons (phonics), violin, Five in a Row (I hope to get some done before the baby gets here in Dec.  Hannah (3dd) can join in on the fun.)

Tristan (11ds) - Math U See, Phonetic Zoo (just started it this week and have really seen great results so far.  My son struggles with reading and spelling, but does great with the auditorial learning), Institute for Excellence in Writing (I let him type his work on the computer and use an electronic thesaurus - he loves using both!), still doing cursive writing, Homeschool in the Woods (he really enjoys the hands on activities.  We just bought a KONOS wall timeline chart, so I am hoping to be more diligent with timeline figures.  I like the KONOS one because it doesn't stretch out from here to the next town over.  It is compact, althought you have to have a large area of wall space to hang it.  We hung it above our white board.)

Kendra (14dd) - Jacob's Geometry, Apologia Biology, Latin Road to English Grammar, Cornerstone Curriculum's World View of the Western World, IEW (my challenge is going to be spending enough time with her to at least go over her work, grade it, and help her when needed.  She is pretty independent with her work, and because of that I sometimes move on to more pressing needs.  I just want to make sure to spend enough time with her.  Any suggestions from mother's of high schoolers would be greatly appreciated!  I am swimming out to uncharted territory!)

I guess that it in a nutshell.  I do want to add that I have been very blessed to have bought most of my curriculum used on www.vegsource.com/homeschool.  I am sure there are many used curriculum sights, but have had great luck in finding what I need here.

Glad to be back

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I have written anything!  I have checked in every now and then just to see how everyone was doing.  I just couldn't bring myself to share anything.  The last few months I have really been trying to focus on my role as wife and mother and I guess just healing (both physically, emotionally and spiritually).  I am amazed at how closely they are all tied together.  When you are physically broken, you feel emotionally drained and yet it is so difficult to seek God consistently.  It really made me realize how much more we should pray for and lift up those with physical impediments.  We sometimes don't see the spiritual battle going on during times of illness. 

I was just reading some info on the Samaritan Ministry.  It is a type of healthcare where each person sends their monthly "payment" in to a family in medical need.  They are also asked to send a card and pray for the family.  What a huge blessing this is compared to our traditional medical insurance! 

I do have a huge praise.  God has blessed my womb again and I am now almost 12 weeks along.  Praise be to the God that brings joy in the morning!

Well, I hope to get back to writing a little more often.  I guess I should also get back to doing activities that would be interesting enough to write about : )

Blessings to you all!

Ebay business

More thoughts...

Thank you all for wonderful words of encouragement.  So many things run through your mind during times like these.  So many friends have commented on how strong my faith is and what an inspiration I am to them.  I don't feel like one at all.  I think to myself, "if they only knew the battle going on inside".  I know in my heart that my God is so good.  I try to dwell on vVerses such as:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

There are just those time, though, where my heart ask why.  I think that the pain I feel is not so much from the loss of the baby (I am so comforted knowing my sweet baby is with Jesus).  The pain I feel comes in trusting the Lord, even during a time when it "feels" like He has forsaken me.  I know it doesn't compare, but I wonder if this is a glimpse into the how Christ felt on the cross.  I don't know if I should even make that comparison.  Surely my suffering cannot even begin to compare. 

I am realizing what a great purpose my child has served in it's short life and death.  The loss has sent me to the Word, digging, seaching for answers.  It has caused me to seek to know my God even deeper.  Sometimes I sit and ponder the Scriptures, but my finite mind cannot wrap itself around the infinite Glory of God. 

I believe I have written before that my husband and I have chosen to let the Lord plan our family - as many of you have.  When you are young and make this decision, you sometimes question your sanity in doing so.  I always thought that it would mean having a baby every nine months, and in no time at all I would be living in a shoe!  How gracious God has been in giving me just as many as I could handle, as just the perfect time.  I would admonish the younger women to be thankful for each child the Lord places in your womb, for you do not know the plans of the Lord.  He ultimately opens and closes the womb.  He gives and takes away.  Blessed be Your name!

Our Baby is with the Lord

Carnival of Homesteading

Welcome to this weeks carnival!  I haven’t posted in a while, so I was glad to have the chance to host this week’s carnival.  I am hoping it will get me back into posting gear.  So let’s get started…

Homemade Vanilla Extract 

Just recently I noticed that vanilla extract contained corn syrup.  I was so excited to read Shari of the Hopeful Homestead’s post Homemade Vanilla Extract...I did have a question I need to post for her.  Do I use this the same as regular vanilla extract?  Sounds yummy!

Handmade Gifts and Ornaments

Looking for a beautiful handmade ornament?  Jessica of My Country Life has some absolutely beautiful handmade pinecone ornaments.  Jessica, can you provide detailed instructions for making these?  I think this would be a wonderful activity to do with the kids (if it isn’t too complicated).   They look difficult to make, but I am hoping they are easier than they look!

Here is a wonderful craft that really wouldn’t take much time at all and would make a lovely gift…A Dishtowel Angel.  It is made with a matching dishtowel, washcloth and potholder.  Too cute!

Gloria over at Faith, Family & Farm shares her tradition of collecting Christ centered ornaments for her children.  Thanks for the link!

Vision Forum Contest

Last week, I was reading Life in a Shoe's blog.  She had a great contest , that unfortunately had just ended.  I was a bit bummed because the winner received $150 worth of Vision Forum products.  I always have Vision Forum products on my wishlist!  However, I thanked God that the people that needed to win the products had won, and may they be so blessed! 

Yesterday I was back at the same blog and would you believe she is having another contest and this time the prize is $250 in VF products!  According to the rules of the game, I need to leave my wishlist here, and point you all in the direction of the great products and great contest. 

Here is my $250 wish list:
The Best of the 2006 Entrepreneurial Bootbamp $125
A Comprehensive Defense of the Providence of God $125

So nows the fun part... time for you to enter!  You can go to Life in a Shoe's blog for complete rules.  Then visit Vision Forum to compile your wishlist.

Have a great time coming up with your wishlist!  So many goodies!!!

And the winner is...

Yes, I am indeed expecting and as further confirmation my memory has lapsed!  Sorry, I had planned to post last Friday and forgot all about it.  Charity was the big winner!!!  Now I am going to lay down and take a nap with the 2 year old.  Hopefully I will make it back online at least a few times in the next couple of months.

Contest in Honor of 50th Post

In honor of my 50th blog posting (not a lot for most of you, but for us blogger wannabe's, a great accomplishment!), I wanted to have a contest.  I just love contest, and everytime I enter someones blog contest I tell myself I need to have a contest.  So here it is...

I just found out some very exciting news today.  Care to guess what I found out???  Leave a comment with your guess and I will draw a name from the correct answers on Friday, Oct 19 - in honor of my dad's birthday!

The winner will receive 3 bars of handmade soap...

Canning Basics - Baby Steps

When I was young, we lived near my great-grandmother.  Every summer, my mother and great-grandmother both had large gardens and preserved the bounty each fall.  At the time, us kids couldn't stand canning season, because of the vinegar smell we had to endure on pickle canning day.  I was too young to appreciate being able to grow and preserve food for your family to enjoy all year long. 

I will never forget the time I went into my grandmother's pantry to get some salsa she had canned.  I had made some dip, and wanted to add her yummy salsa to it.  However, something did not taste right.  Well, the jars weren't marked, and I couldn't tell the difference between a jar of salsa and a jar of spaghetti sauce.  I was hoping for Mexican, not Italian!

A few years ago, I decided to try my hand at canning.  My grandmother passed away 12 years ago, and my mother is halfway across the states from me, so I didn't have the benefit of hands on learning.  My first experience was canning salsa.  I always make it fresh, but thought it would be nice to pull some out of the pantry at any time.  I didn't read up on canning very thoroughly, instead just jumped right in.  I made my salsa, filled my hot jars, then watered bathed them for the alloted time.  As I waited for the "popping sound", I decided to look up some info online.  What?  It said I needed an approved recipe, as it is possible to create botulism if the acidity was not high enough.  I was so worried I would give my family botulism.  I prayed as I opened each jar, "Please keep my family safe from botulism, Lord".  I guess I could have thrown the salsa out, but I had worked so hard I couldn't bare to.

Not long after the salsa incident, a friend taught me to make strawberry jam.  I loved, but couldn't stand the amount of sugar used.  I was told that non-sugar recipes really didn't work, or taste very good.  I gave up on jam...until recently.  I listened in on a phone seminar given by Marilyn Moll of The Urban Homemaker, with guest Lisa Vitello of New Harvest Homestead.  I learned that you could make delicious jam with honey, or even no sugar at all.  I was introduced to Pamona's Pectin, which works wonders with these types of recipes. 

If you are just starting out, I would recommend getting some Pamona's Pectin.  I wanted to make a small batch, just to test it out.  I took out only a few jars and started boiling the jars and lids in a huge pot.  I have a water bath canner, but since I was only making a few jars I figured a large pot would work.  I could cover the jars with boiling water.  I chopped up some peaches and plums, threw them in a pot with some fresh apple juice, a stick of cinnamon, and a few cloves.  I let it simmer for a bit, then started mashing.  I followed the remaining instructions from the pectin box.  I also have a Ball's Blue Book, which is helpful.  Here is my mini-bounty and my baby step toward learning to preserve food for my family!

Rosetta Stone for Free

Just wanted to pass along a freebie.  You will have to check your libraries for availability.  Our county library offers Rosetta Stone online for its patrons.  You simply sign in using your library card number, and can do your lessons from home.  Our library currently offers Spanish, German, French, and Italian.  If you happen to be military, the base library now offers the same priviledges with even more languages available.  It would be worth checking into if you are interested in saving a bundle.  It is also nice because we can each learn different languages.  My oldest daughter is learning Latin and Spanish, my son is learning Spanish, and I am learning German.

Auf Wiedersehen
Tschus!

The Results Are In...And You Will Be Surprised!

As some of you may remember, last week, the kids and I did a "germ" experiment.  We took five samples of possible "germy" material.  We rubbed our samples or placed them in our petri dishes on top of a gelatin/sugar mix.  After a week of observations and waiting, here are our results...

Fellow Homeschooler in Need

Germ Experiment

Just a quick "science experiment" we did this week.  Very easy and fun for all ages.  We read a bit about germs (bacteria, viruses, fungi).  Afterwards, we made a gel solution and poured it into 5 petri dishes.  We let it set for a couple of hours to gel up, then comes the fun part.  Each of the kids picked 1 or 2 germs they wanted to grow.  You can use a q-tip to harvest the germs, or just place items directly on the gel.  Our germs included cat hair, moss, inside the 5 year olds mouth, milk, and dirt.  The lids were place on the dishes and taped down.  Now we are waiting for our germs to grow--checking daily of course.  I will try and post a picture of our germs soon!

Here is the solution we used to make our gel.  The germs eat the sugar and the protein from the gelatin in order to grow.  Would anyone like to make a guess as to which substance has the most germs???

Germ Gel
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 teaspoon sugar

Boil water, add gelatin and sugar, stir for 1 minute, remove from heat.  Pour into petri dishes and let cool for 2 hours before adding germs.  Enjoy!

Popcorn Balls

I have been wanting to post all week, but we have been going and doing so much lately.  I started keeping a list by the computer so that when I would think of things to post, I could keep them for later when I had time to post! 

As a funny side for the day, my mom called and said that she wasn't able to read my blog from work any longer...my blog has been blocked.  I told her that they (computer gurus at work) probably didn't like the content.  I am sure it is considered "religious fanaticism".  How funny!  It gave me a good laugh for the day.

Popcorn Balls
We did take some time out this week to enjoy the cooler weather and make a yummy snack.  Now this one is not on the "healthy" list, and I didn't even try to make it healthier with honey or anything.  I just let everyone enjoy a treat!  Yum!  Here is the recipe I followed...

2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 quarts popped corn

Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in a saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring gently, until sugar dissolves.  Cook over medium heat, without stirring, to hard ball stage (254°). Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour over popcorn, stirring well with a wooden spoon.  Grease hands with butter and shape popcorn into balls.  (We didn't make it this far, we just put it on a plate and ate it without forming balls)  Can you tell how much they like popcorn balls?

Psalm 127

I know that this topic has been discussed time and again, and most of us are on the same page.  However, it just occured to me how many young women there are that may be reading our blogs and just beginning to understand the fruitful womb.  Anyhow, I have been pondering this passage and all that it entails, so I thought I would post my thoughts...

When I first read these verses, I was actually surprised.  I had heard the first verse many times...Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.  I had heard that verse applied over and over to the things we choose to do.  For example, if you are going to take a job, ask the Lord if it is the right job for you.  If you are going to start a new business, put the Lord first and make your decisions based on His guidance.  Now these are noble things to do, but when I read the entire Psalm, I was surprised at the context of this verse.  God is telling us that He wants to build our house (household). 

We can try and create our perfect family - 2.5 children and one dog, but we are laboring in vain.  We are planning and preventing to our own demise.  We are eating the bread of sorrows.  How many times do we spin our wheels trying to serve in different ministries, when the very heritage of the Lord is place in our loving care.  With each babe He places in our wombs, He is both entrusting us and rewarding us.  Let us be reminded of the prodigal son who squandered his inheritance.  How many times have we squandered our heavenly rewards in search of temporal happiness, convenience, neccessities?

As we look at the last verse, we see that happy is the man hath his quiver full of them [children].  How many makes a full quiver.  I think the answer is found back in verse 1, let the Lord build your house.  He has designed each man and intimately knows how many arrows it will take to fill his quiver.  For every young family who timidly asks themselves, "How can we handle the 15 kids we are going to have if we don't limit our family size?", there is another family hoping and praying, "Lord, how can we go on without the children we so desire?"  In both cases, the Lord offers the answer.  He wants to build our houses, so that we don't have to labor in vain.  He knows us and loves us and has plans to prosper us. 

Creative uses for Kool-Aid Jammers

I feel like I have gotten so much done this week!  Isn't that a great feeling.  Here is my latest creation.  Kool-Aid bags and Bible covers.  My friend had shown me how to make the bags, so we went and bought a case of Kool-Aid Jammers (my kids were so excited, these were a real treat for them!).  My daughter and I were brainstorming ways to use the empty packages, and we came up with the Bible cover idea.  They are so cute and so cheap to make.  I thought it would be more difficult to sew, but it turned out to be so simple.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Alfredo Pizza

I made pizza last night.  I wanted to try my dry, non-flavorful cheese out on pizza.  It worked great, I just added some salt on top of it after grating it over the pizza.  I wanted to share my famous alfredo topping with some variations...

Alfredo Pizza
First, make an alfredo sauce by melting 1/4 stick butter in a sauce pan.  Add in a couple of garlic cloves, chopped.  Saute them for a few minutes, then add in a cup of cream.  I also add in a bit of salt.  Simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens up a bit (it won't be thick, but just somewhat reduced).  Turn off the heat and add in 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  Stir a couple of minutes and pour over rolled out pizza dough.  Top with mozzarella cheese and bake as normal.  Note, I use a stone bar pan rather than pizza stone, because the sauce has a tendency to drip--yum!

Pesto Alfredo
Same as above, except add about 1/2 fresh pesto.  I used 2 c. fresh basil, 3 garlic cloves, 1/3 lightly toasted pine nuts, 1/3 c olive oil.  If I am going to add this to alfredo sauce, I don't add in the parmesan, as the alfredo sauce already has some in it.

Spinach Alfredo
Using the plain alfredo sauce, I top the pizza with chopped fresh spinach (baby spinach works best).  I then add the mozzarella on top.  The kids love it!

What's been happening here...

Wow, has been a long time since I have had a chance to blog!  I have wanted to get on here many times, but life has kept me so busy.  I guess that is good though--better to be living life than writing about it!  So here is what I have been doing...

Cheesemaking
Tried my hand at making some mozzarella cheese.  I got the recipe, rennet, and citric acid from the New England Cheese Making Supply.  I didn't buy their mozzarella kit, rather their hard cheese kit.  I just tried the mozzarella cheese first.  I used raw cow milk and didn't pasturize it first because I wanted the benefits of the raw milk to be present in the cheese as well.  I just heated it up to the 88°F and followed the directions from there.  I didn't use the microwave method though.  I heated up my whey and dipped my curds into it.  I don't think I let them get hot enough.  They never were as stretchy as the pictures suggested.  Another blunder on my part was not adding salt.  The end result was a dry, non-flavorful cheese.  I think I might be able to use it on pizza and just salt it before it melts.  Will give it a shot.  I did continue to heat the whey and get some nice ricotta cheese from it, and because I had salted the whey to dip the curds in previously, the ricotta was plenty salted.  Next, I am hoping to make some farmhouse cheddar or colby cheese.  One thing I didn't realize about making cheese is how much milk it takes to make such a small amount of cheese!  1 gallon of milk produce 3 small balls of mozzarella and about a cup of ricotta!

Soapmaking
I have been working on a new line of soap for my kids' business.  Their business is called Crazy Critter Soap, so our new line is called "Little Critter" and is geared toward babies and children.  My daughter is also knitting some washclothes to go with this line.  Can't wait to get it all together!  I am brainstorming ways to market and sell our soap.  Any of you successful soapmakers have any suggestions?  I thought about craft fairs and possibly trying to get into a retail baby store?

Homeschooling
Well, we officially started up about the time I stopped blogging, imagine that!  I consider myself a very relaxed homeschooler.  The older kids do much of their work on their own, and we take every opportunity to learn things naturally.   I feel that we are a pleasant blend of classical and charlotte mason--in other words, a hodge podge (what's the word, eclectic?).  We have had some wonderful opportunities to take some coop classes this year.  The older kids are taking speech, art, and pe.  I am so thankful for the opportunity, but I am really a stay at home kind of person, so being on the go tires me out.  I am also thankful that the speech is only 12 weeks long.  So I can consider this a busy season rather than a busy lifestyle! 

Hope to be able to post more later.  For now, life calls...