From the learning room...Alexander the Great,. Charlemagne and William the Conqueror
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From the learning room...Gladiators, Caesars, Robin Hood (one kid is in Middle Ages and the other is in a World History overview)
Mrs. P
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From the learning room...King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
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Blessings,
Mrs. P
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From the learning room...Kids are busy with independent work while I bake
(it's my first 4-H meeting to be the manager)
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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Miss A says that Grandad took this lovely picture on vacation in Colorado last year. She and Grandad LOVE to take pictures of wildflowers. I thought I'd share some of the prettiest pictures with you.
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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If you like to wear skirts, jumpers or dresses on a regular basis then you have probably heard this question. I probably wear a skirt, dress or jumper 3-4 times a week and sometimes more. I really like to wear them, because I feel feminine in them. Also, it makes me feel that my job at home is important. At least as important as my previous paid teaching job. (I get paid at my current teaching job in hugs and kisses!) For that job, I often sewed new clothes for the school year during my summer break or purchased new ones throughout the summer break. Everyone at work dressed up a bit and we all enjoyed seeing what various teachers were wearing. Somehow, no one ever asked me why I was dressed up at that job. It was expected that I would dress in an appropriate and professional manner.
Years ago when I first started staying home, I attended a weekly ladies Bible class. There was a lady about my age named Emily. Each week it seemed that she came to class in a casual skirt. I always thought how nice and casual she looked. (I didn't think "dressed up" because she wore nicer clothes to church) Later, I attended a different Bible study and MANY of the women there wore skirts and dresses each week. I always enjoyed going and started to wear skirts and dresses more often. After spending some time on Ladies Against Feminism, The Sparrow's Nest, and having real life friends who only wear dresses, I found that I really enjoyed wearing them on a more regular basis. Today, when I go to the library or grocery store or homeschool co-op (duties of my hugs and kisses job) someone always seems to ask why I'm so "dressed up" (not my good friends, of course). (Actually, the library & grocery store checker are used to me by now.
) It's as if I'm not allowed to "dress up." The funny thing is I have dressier clothes that I wear to church. I guess those same folks would reel over in shock if I showed up in heels and a linen suit at homeschool co-op...lol. I used to feel bad and say "Oh, it's what I had clean for today." It was a true remark, but tended to make it sound like I didn't have any jeans or shorts or whatever clean. The fact is, that I personally find my day goes better if I get up and dress in a way that makes me feel good. For me that is skirts, jumpers or nice pants. It is not, my super comfy hiking pants that I wear to the barn for milking. However comfortable they are, they do not make me feel fresh, feminine and like the Queen of the Castle...err...farmhouse. They make me feel like I'm headed to a dirty job like mucking out the barn or weeding the garden or taking care of sick goats. Now, I do those chores regularly, but for my "housework" of schooling, cooking, cleaning, cuddling kids, etc, I prefer to "dress up" if you will. The benefits are not only that I'm feeling so feminine, but also that if anyone drops by I'm presentable. Also, I'm ready to go in case of an emergency. Being dressed nicely encourages me to make my home tidy and neat. I don't exactly know why, but it does.Recently, I wore a pioneer dress and bonnet to the library for the Summer Reading program. I wasn't sure how I would like it. A friend said, "Oh, I would hate to wear that. I bet it's all scratchy and hot." I was suprised at how comfortable it really was. As for being hot, it wasn't. The floor length skirt seemed to be nice and cool. I felt so feminine in that dress. It had lace on the top and was a pretty blue. My 10 year old daughter was so jealous. She said, "I want a dress like that." The lady who loaned it to me said that her momma just loved to wear it for history lessons and such. I can see why she liked it so much. I felt very much like a pioneer princess wearing it.
So if you've read this far you may be concerned that in some legalistic way I'm condemning ladies who aren't "skirt wearers." Saying that in some way "skirt wearing" is more godly. I am not. I know very godly women who rarely wear skirts. I also know godly women who only wear skirts. Godliness is a matter of the heart, not a matter of dress. For your house you may find that nice dresses, jumpers and skirts are not your cup of tea. That's fine, but I find that those folks aren't quizzed on why they are dressed the way they are. At least I was never asked about it when I was dressed in very casual clothing. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it has not been my experience to be quizzed on very casual dress.
My point is just that if you decide that you may like to wear dresses then you may find that others question you on this. I just find it interesting that I got quizzed for this in my job of staying home and teaching, but not in my previous job of leaving home daily to teach. Essentially, I still do exactly what I did before. When I taught public school, I still had to keep house and teach kids to read. The only difference is that I left my house to teach children and someone wrote me a check each month for my teaching services. It is as if there is some secret dress code that I was unaware of for those who are paid in hugs and kisses rather than a check.
The joy in being a keeper at home, is that we each have the freedom to decide how to run our own families and homes. And with that comes the freedom to dress as we please so long as it is modest as the Bible states it must be. So maybe if you are questioned on it you will remember (as I'm going to) that you have the freedom to dress up as nicely as you desire. I intend to no longer feel guilty for my choice of clothing when I'm asked this question. It is my choice, plain and simple. Some days you'll find me in a skirt and other days you'll find me in jeans or pants. Maybe if you are of the curious, quizzing type then you will think about how the other person feels before you question their attire. Think logically about why it is ok for that person to dress up for a paid job and not ok for them to dress up for a job, possibly the exact same job, at home. Logically, I can see no difference.
This morning while having my cup of coffee I read an article about "dressing up" at Homeliving Helper which got me on this soapbox of sorts.
(Mrs. Lydia would be "PRO-Dressing Up" if there is such a term...lol) I then clicked on the link in the article and enjoyed reading another article about this very subject. The author and Mrs. Lydia both have theories on why folks feel compelled to ask "Why are you so dressed up?" I think there are a number of reasons one could ask this question. You may enjoy reading further about this issue at the following address (or you may be sick of it after my lengthy babbling...lol). (I cannot get the link to be a direct click link, sorry)
OK...off my soap box and off to get dressed for the day in my favorite skirt. Maybe my next soap box will be the comments I get when I wear a hat to church! Oh aren't those fun Sundays!
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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me: "I know, Momma is going to take you fishing,"
him: "But you don't know how to drive the boat."
me: "No, we are going to fish off the bank. You can catch lots of perch off the bank."
him: "I wanted to catch a big catfish. I guess we'll just have perch for supper then."
After a little more discussion, he decided that fishing for perch was the best deal he was going to get due to mom's inexperience fishing. (This will be my first ever solo fishing trip. I've been lots with family over the years, but I rarely fish, usually I pick flowers and such...lol) So I'm packing up fun snacks, fishing poles, and stopping by the store to get a bucket of worms. Wish me some fishing luck! I know that if nothing else, we ought to make some memories...and likely some humorous ones at that.
Edited to add: The first day of fishing was not good. There were no fish biting at all. However, two days later we tried again and caught several perch of various shades of the rainbow. We also saw lots of deer and racoon prints near the water's edge. A fun time was had by all and finished off with ice cream treats in this wonderful 100+ degree Texas weather. If you haven't taken little ones fishing this summer, go as quickly as you can because it really is a joy to see them enjoy themselves so completely!
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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I'm working on my "home management binder" (aka...control journal, house keeping journal, etc, etc.) I found a website dedicated to this and thought I would share it.
Now, if you google home management binder you will come up with tons more information. Truly, one could spend all day reading about binders, crafting the perfect binder, etc. I have decided to just work on one small piece of mine at a time. I'm trying hard not to spend lots of time planning to clean and no time actually cleaning...lol. Today, I made a front cover for it, using a pretty picture from www.allposters.com. I also made a basic master schedule of how our day will look when we begin homeschooling (it still needs a lot of tweaking, but at least I have a format). I've done this in the past, only I wrote it on my dry erase board. Gradually little fingers would come by and create new art or erase who was supposed to be doing spelling while someone else was doing math. Now, I have that sheet safely tucked into a page protector out of reach of little fingers. If my binder starts to look pretty then I'll be sure and post a pic. Right now, it is just "plain Jane" with a few functional sheets.
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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The Let's Get Organized Seminar starts today. Throw something in the crock pot for dinner and join the fun!
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008
9AM CDT
Help! I Have No Idea WHERE To Begin
11AM CDT
Creating and Maintaining a Home Management Binder
with Malia Russell
1AM CDT
Scheduling the Homeschool: 10 Super Tips and Tricks to Make it All Happen
3PM CDT
Easy Homemaking Ideas for the Busy Homeschool Mom
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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Blessings,
Mrs. P
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Do they make a "Blogs for Dummies book? I think I am in need of one. I would love, love, love to have another font to use on my entries. You know a pretty curly type font. One that is girly and sweet. Is there a way to download a font to use in homestead blogger entries?
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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It's never the day that you have nothing planned that the animals escape. No, it's always the day that you have to be somewhere at 9:00 am and you spent 30 minutes drinking coffee and reading cookbooks instead of heading to the barn for an early start on chores. Yes, that is how my morning started. Instead of heading to the barn for milking at 6:30 I headed out at 7:00. On the way our little wiener dog, Sally, went a little crazy and headed toward my in-laws house instead of the barn. We looked to see T-Bone standing in front of Grandad and Meme's garage like he was waiting for it to open up. Of course when he saw us, he knew he was guilty and looked for the nearest patch of Johnson grass in which to hide. It worked because the grass was tall enough to hide all of him but his switching tail. Miss A and I herded him back into his pasture only to have him do a quick side step and run back to the grassy patch. "Oh well," I said. We headed to the barn for the chores as it was obviously going to take some time and effort to fix the fence and such. I had Mr. C run and get the phone while Miss A and I did the barn chores. We called Grandad and he came home from work. While we were waiting on Grandad, T-Bone had quite an adventure. He walked over the the kids fort and swing set. He smelled all of it and then checked out the soccer goal. After that he chased Sally around to the front porch where he nearly gave the bunnies a heart attack. He was looking in my breakfast nook from the front porch. I was going to get a photo as it was just so odd to have a steer looking in the breakfast nook, but it is missing in action. About the time Mr. P's uncle drove by and called to see if we knew the steer had escaped. Then Grandad made it home and the adventure was over. After lots of work on Grandad's part, and lots of "o, that is how that works," on my part, Grandad hooked up a smaller charger onto the fence part he had broken through. It is only a temporary fix, but for now T-Bone is once again where he belongs acting like a fine steer. Maybe the feed store will call and say that the big charger is repaired and we can get the entire fence electrified again. Of course, then I wouldn't have any adventures and neither would T-Bone.
Or so I thought...I just realized that while I was typing this, the children have taken to hiding in the air duct return. Well, I guess I will go and embrace the rest of the adventures of the day. I hope your day is filled with a few too. I'd hate to hog them.
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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We are camping and fishing this week.....Just a few pics of the fun!! Mr. P
Catching Shad
Catching Bait Perch
Running the lines
Catching Mr. Yellow Cat
Riding Home
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by Jan Karon
"Well guess what?"
"I give up," said the rector.
"I weigh exactly the same as my age
"No!" exclaimed Emma.
"Yes, indeed. I went to see Hoppy for a checkup and I tip the scales at exactly eighty-six pounds. Have you ever?"
"Never!" said Father Tim
The entire book so far has been the ordinary, yet somewhat comical, life in a small town centered around the role of a pastor. Tomorrow my husband's aunt is having open heart surgery so we will be at the hospital all day. I'm taking this book for me and school books for the kids. Say a prayer for Aunt Kay if you think of it. I'm sure she would appreciate it.
So what are you all reading?
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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Have I mentioned that the spring is a busy time at the farm? It seems that no matter how fast I work I always go to bed with a few things that just didn't get done. We realized at lunch today that last year's kids are all due to kid in the next two weeks. It seems like it snuck up on us. So that means that we will spend some time this afternoon cleaning out maternity pens, trimming hooves/hair, giving CD&T vaccines (which really should have been done before now) at the barn. In addition to that activity, we also need to finish putting the clips onto the new fence. The guys got it pulled tight and enough clips to hold it in place overnight, but have to finish that now. The girls and I are headed out to the garden to mulch the tomato plants and of course weed a bit. I also owe the doodle bug (Miss J) some time to plant her squash. For some informal preschool math and science she is planting squash. Yesterday she counted out six seeds and put them in water to soak. Today she will divide them in half and plant into two hills. Later I'll let her measure them and count how many sprouted. I hope that she has a green thumb because she has such a desire to play in the dirt and garden. It's kind of funny to see a 4 year old that would rather plant vegetables and weed than play.
Yesterday was also busy even though I was accused of sitting on the porch all day by Mr. P.
I made a batch of Farmhouse cheddar cheese. It just so happens that it takes a long time to make cheese and can I help it if the directions say: Add culture, wait 45 minutes....add rennett, wait 45 minutes....cut curds and heat slowly for 30 minutes....drain curds in cheesecloth for 1 hour....etc, etc. So I took advantage of the pretty day and opened the kitchen windows so I could easily see and hear the children playing on the porch during the intervals that I was in the house actively working on the cheese. When I read the part about "wait 45 minutes, etc" I read that as "sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine and children for 45 minutes. It was a very nice afternoon and I even got a little home school planning. The cheese is still in the press, by the way, and in about 3 more days I'll put it to age in the cheese cave (aka a mini-fridge). I'll try to take some photos of it when it comes out of the press. Have a blessed Lord's Day.
Blessings,
Mrs. P
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I have 8 minute to blog before I have to put my drained cheese curds into the cheese press for the night. It has been a busy afternoon. We started with disbudding Mary and Martha. We are told it is easier and works better to disbud between 2 and 8 days of age. I have to say that they were real troopers. They complained the most about the "haircut." My daughter took step by step photos and I'll make a post with them so you can see the whole process.
There is rain coming so we felt some urgency to get the flower beds and herb garden in better shape. My strawberry bushes are looking very nice with lots of green strawberries forming. The bushes I just put in are looking a little straggly. I'm hoping the rain does them some good and they start getting some more leaves and flowers. I did get my lettuce, spinach, cilantro and parsley planted and hubby weeded the volunteer dill from among the garlic so the garlic would have a fighting chance. I still have more to plant but that is all that time allowed before evening barn chores.
After barn chores, I looked into my fridge to find that I had an abundance of milk. (I have a jersey cow as well as the diary goats.) I decided to try my hand at Muenster again. Last time it did not work well, but tonight it seems to be going better. I'm following the directions exactly and hoping to have a nice cheese to try out by Easter. I haven't taken any photos tonight, but I did take photos of a mozzarella cheese making session a while back . I have that photo tutorial almost complete. So my 8 minutes is just about up and I have curds calling out to be tucked into bed in the cheese press. Good night!
Blessings,
Mrs. P