Happenings from the Bush homestead
Organized Mom Super Set!!!
I just got an email from my friend, Cindy Rushton. She has just introduced a wonderful new set for those who want (or need) real help getting organized for the new school year. The best part is that this week she is offering two bonuses when you purchase her Organized Mom Super Set:
1. Her entire Organization 911 Seminar Set
2. Her NEW Virtual Seminar Set, Let's Get Organized for the New School Year.
To celebrate, Cindy just sent me permission to give you a sampler of one of her free gifts just for you. I am so excited to give it to you! Here is the link:
Scheduling ABC’s Audio Workshop with Cindy Rushton
Let Cindy take you by the hand and show you secrets to
developing a schedule that works for you and your family!
Download by Mp3
http://tinyurl.com/2cpsb9
Isn't that FUN?
You know the saying that a picture captures a thousand words,well...what about a a gift like this??? And, just think...this is only a sampling of Cindy's teaching. You get tons more with this set. Take my word for it, you will WANT this set and access to all of the wonderful resources. Grab your set here today:
Mint Ice Tea
This is one of my favourite summer time drinks. It's so easy to make and is very thirst quenching on a hot day.
Mint Ice Tea
6 cups boiling water
4 tea bags
1 cup packed fresh mint
3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate drink
Pour boiling water over tea bags. Cover & steep for 5 minutes.
Remove tea bags Cool for 15 minutes and add mint. Steep and strain.
Refrigerate until cold.
How To Never Run Out Of Groceries Again!
I posted this over on my other blog Around The Homestead and thought I'd share it here to. 
How many times does it happen to us, in the middle of making supper we find we are missing an important ingredient. We rush to the store for just ONE thing and before we know it other “extras” have found there way into our cart. Soon the one item has cost you 30.00 plus and a lot of wasted time.
So how do we avoid falling into this trap?
1. Make a Menu List
Write down all of your family’s favorite meals, and include the ingredients.
2. Make a Master Shopping List
You can set this up how it best suites your family. For ours we made a 3 column chart. One each for freezer, fridge, and pantry. We then listed each item we used on a regular bases in the proper column.
We decided how many of each item we wanted to keep on hand. Beside each item put the desired number of check boxes.
Now this is the important part. EVERY time you open something that is on your list check it off right a way. No you might not NEED it this week but now that you’ve opened that jar of mayo you should buy another one to replace it. Then when you are getting low you don’t need to make a trip out to buy another.
Preparing our list this way has saved us a lot of money and time. It’s stopped the quick trip to the corner store for 1 item. And since our local store has a minimum purchase amount to use debit that 1 item would always cost us 10.00. Our other alternative was to drive to the next town for one thing and spend the difference in gas and time.
Oh, my! Chickenpox, not strep!
4 yo M told me he had a sore bug bite on his ankle yesterday. So I looked, and it had a big blister surrounded by red. I initially feared poison ivy, and checked the other ankle and his legs up to his knees. Both ankles had blistered spots, but they didn't really look like poison ivy, which is usually streaks.I showered him down, just in case, to remove the urushiol oil. That's when I began to notice lots of other "bug bite" spots. And then it dawned on me that his Monday symptoms could have been the onset of chickenpox.
Sure enough, this morning the other "bug bites" are now blistered. It's chickenpox. I guess I don't have to wonder what his strep culture will show today. I bet it's negative. LOL!!
Fun, fun, fun! Well, I guess 2 yo L will get it. I think the older four all had it 4 or 5 summers ago, though. It was light for all of them except 12 yo A, but her spots were all very tiny blisters. So, I still have some doubts. It's possible they could ALL end up with it now, I guess.
But at least it should be GONE before the baby arrives.
Trusting in Him,
April
75 Cost Saving Tips....
12:09, Thursday, July 17, 2008 .. Posted in From the Desk .. 1 comments .. Link
Good Cheap Food
1. Buy raw ingredients instead of prepackaged foods. If you don’t know how to cook, learn. You’ll save on food bills, and your body will thank you for it in the long run.
2. Buy in bulk from a local health food store, or place bulk orders directly with mail-order companies. If you can’t meet their minimum order size, go in on an order with another family, or organize a larger food buying club.
3. Avoid the middleman and buy directly from farmers. Look for farm stands, community supported agriculture programs and farmers markets.
4. Eat fruits and vegetables in season, when they are least expensive. (Once, we found organic watermelon for three cents a pound!) Stock up when they’re cheap and freeze or can any excess for later use.
5. Keep up with what’s in your refrigerator and make sure nothing spoils. Once a week, make soup or casseroles to use up vegetables and other leftovers.
6. Calculate the price of food per pound when you visit supermarkets. Doing the math will help you spot good deals.
7. Don’t overeat. When you do, you’re flushing money down the drain.
How to Avoid Rent
8. Find a live-in elder care position and help someone stay out of a nursing home. There’s always someone desperate for reliable help, and often there are no qualifications needed other than compassion.
9. Help renovate a house in exchange for lodging. This is how we came into our current home.
For the rest of the article, click here....Mother Earth News
Piggies on The Homestead and other chat
10:56, Thursday, July 17, 2008 .. Posted in Around the Homestead .. 1 comments .. Link
We have a bred sow coming to the homestead tomorrow afternoon and I'm hardly ready for her. She is due within the month, so we'll work on a suitable section of the barn for her, ready for piglets. Hmmm....how many piglets might we have here soon?
Our Miss Kitty came up from the barn Tuesday to eat, as she usually does. She weaned her Easter morning kittens a while back, and has been looking just this side of side-splitting the past couple of weeks, so we've been watching her to see when she might drop her newest litter of kittens. Well, after her meal, she stretched out, lounging in the sunshine of the front steps, and all of a sudden one of the youngers came running in -- "Miss Kitty pooped on the porch". Gee...nice. Upon walking outside, the comment changed, though, to "Miss Kitty didn't poop poop...she pooped out a kitten" complete with lots of eeeewwwwws and a couple of awww, gross.
See the benefits of living on a homestead and homeschooling? Yeah...neither did I. I think we need some new lessons in how babies, baby kitties at least, are born.
Either way, Miss Kitty seemed a bit caught off guard this time around. This is her 3rd litter...first she had only 3 and none made it to 2 weeks old; then her latest batch, our Easter kittens, numbering 5. This time, however, Miss Kitty was large enough for way way more....she had 8 total, losing one very tiny weak girl within an hour. I think she's a bit over whelmed with so many. She's a great momma, but she's just a bit weird about it all this time around. She feeds them a short while, then comes out of her 'nesting area' and sits away from them for the longest time. So far, everyone seems to be doing well, so we haven't intervened. Guess I'd have been overwhelmed had all 9 of mine come together at once, too.
We will be starting to set up a table at the local Farm Market here, I'm thinking August 1st. I spoke to the man who runs it and he has no problems at all with our selling baked goods and the like. Our market is very small....only 3 or 4 set up weekly for the most part, but it's a place to wet our feet with all of this and see how it goes. Truthfully, it won't take long for word to spread that "that Amish family with all the kids is selling baked goods" and we'll see if it's worth the time and such to get there. They are open Wednesdays & Fridays, but we'll start with Fridays I think. Well...with school starting, maybe Wednesdays would be better. We plan to sell our loaf bread, maybe some quick breads, assorted cookies and some homemade jellies. I'm not sure about pricing -- what do you think? I know folks around here jump on homebaked goodies, and loaf bread seems to be a treat to many. We thought with school starting, the cookies might go well for lunch box treats. We printed a flyer up to take along as we won't have all these things with us each time unless things go really well...
Peanut Butter $2.00/dozen with nuts $2.50/dozen
Chocolate Chip $2.00/dozen with nuts $2.50/dozen
Oatmeal Raisin $2.00/dozen with nuts $2.50/dozen
Cinnamon Spice Cookies $2.00
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip $2.00/dozen
Amish Sugar Cut-Outs $3.00/dozen w/icing glaze
Homemade Granola $2.50/quart $5.00/gallon
Breakfast Crescents 3/$1.00
Homemade Jellies $2.50/pint
White or Honey Wheat Loaf Bread $3.00/loaf
Mini Loaves, White or Honey Wheat only $1.50 each
Pumpkin Bread, Applesauce Bread, Banana Bread $3.00/loaf
Everything will be made with fresh ground flour -- if not, we'll note that -- and the honey we use as sweetener is local. The Breakfast Crescents are quicka nd easy -- the Market opens early, so we thought it might be a good thing to have along.
Do I need to print a basic kind of label for anything, do you think? A listing of ingredients, at least...we thought about just listing that on the flyer and bagging the goodies up in a simply manner.
Either way, that's the game plan at this stage. Something else we have talked about is using the church Sunday School room for a school room. I know, I know...homeschooling means home. The children are a bit distracted here...phone calls, just plain ol' nice weather outside, etc. We talked to Bro Bud about using the room at church....remember, our church is smaller than small....and he will run the thought past the Trustee Board, but he doesn't see a problem. My line of thought here is this: we do morning chores and head up the 2 miles to church early in the morning, 8 am at the latest. We pack a basket of homeschool needs and a water jug (I don't want to be a burden to the small church's resources, such as water and electricity...we will use th lights in that room, but not the a/c). Schooling is done without distractions around us, or the urge to get up to do something that truly could wait. All in all, we should be back home aroun noonish- 1 pm. Then the tasks of the homestead day can be accomplished, with plenty of time for dinner preps as well.
Our little church is just that...little. There are under 40 members on 'the roll' and most of them home-bound and elderly, so the attendance is typically 25-30, including ourselves. It was only in the last 5-7 years that the church got electricity and a couple of a/c units, as well as a wall gas heater. Plumbing isn't much older. This is a rural church with folks who have lived lives of frugality that would be a test to most of us. They truly have a make do or do without frame of mind. I don't want to create a burden, so we offered to sort of 'rent' the room for schooling...a fee to cover whatever increase in electricity or water they might see. That was met with rather deep offense, though. We are family and the church is there for the community, plain and simple. If it doesn't contradict something in The Word of God, then Bro Bud says they have no reason to say no.....and homeschooling lines up with The Word.
We probalby won't do this for any long term, but I do want to see if it will help us get back on the right track. Honestly, it's totally MY fault that we have shifted into a sloppy school schedule around here, and this is really more a band-aid than a true repair. What we need is a repair to character training and responsibility, diligence and so forth. But, I've allowed us to slip pretty far onto the wrong side of distractions, so we need to get rid of them and go with stripped down and bland for a bit to re-focus ourselves I think. I can't strip down the house without a rebellion of large proportions, so this is the next idea in line.
Emily has her last visit to LeBonheur next week -- Friday, July 25th. I'm glad to see an end to this 2-year-long trek, but we'll miss all the wonderful nurses and doctors we've met during our time there. Ahhh, but the savings in gas will be wonderful!
Moving on up, and out ... the history of our guinea homes
Since Momofsix asked, I'll share what we did with our guineas since we got them. I have friends who use refrigerator boxes, laid on their side, with the top side removed, and netting over them. But I didn't acquire one of those in time, and we made do with what we had.First, they came home and were placed in a very small plastic container. There were only five of them, and it worked ... for a few days. You can't see all of the tote, but the waterer is in one corner, and the feeder in another corner. Obviously quite small. When they started hopping and fluttering their wings, we had to move them quickly.
So I went to Walmart and bought the largest plastic tote they had. I don't have a picture of the keets in the larger tote, but it was a 45 gallon tote with wheels on one end. They only lasted in that for a little more than a week, before I realized they were flying up onto the top of their feeder and waterer. It would only be a short hop/fly from there to the top of the tote box and out into the basement.
So, finally, we had the idea to put them into one of the built in cages we have in our basement. Steve's grandparents had used it as a kennel for some of the small dogs they bred. It likely was for puppies or a pregnant mama dog, about to have her babies. One of the cages was double-wide, with a floor at my hip level, and was caged all the way to the ceiling. Perfect! We put cardboard down over the metal mesh floor, and put the pine chips over that.
We did have one keet escape from this, we think through a 2 inch gap between the roof and the doors. But that was the only escape, and it was just a day or two after putting them in.
They were about half-grown, or more, when we finally finished the outdoor enclosure for them. We used an old dog pen, just south of the house. It already had chicken wire around the sides. We had to fix one end of the pen, patch a few areas, and then we added chicken wire mesh/fabric over the top to keep them from flying out, and to keep owls from snatching them up.
There is fencing on that right side, but it is a different type than the left side and didn't show up in the picture. But this gives you an idea of the size, plus you can see the "roof" we put on it, and the doghouse that was in it already.
And here's another picture of the guinea keets on their first night in their new home (Sunday). Um, this next picture shows where we ran out of chicken wire and had to temporarily finish the roof with netting I had bought to cover their 45 gallon tote (but couldn't because the heat lamp interfered with it.)
We have 3 white guineas and 2 lavender guineas. I have no clue what boy/girl ratio we have, though. We don't intend to keep them in this enclosure very long. We do want them to be free-range on the property, eating ticks and any other bugs they want. But until they're full-grown, we'll keep them in here. It shouldn't take long ... they grow amazingly fast! At the moment, they still seemed overwhelmed with the space, and spend all their time clustered together, even when browsing around for bugs.
It isn't a pretty enclosure, but it works! And it will work for guinea keets and chicks in future years, too.
Trusting in Him,
April
Summer Colds, Strep, the Guineas, and the Baby
Steve and a couple of the children are fighting light summer colds. They would tell me it isn't that light, but compared to many of the colds they've had, it really is light. I'd suspect allergies, except Steve is taking allergy medicine daily and still fighting it off.4 yo M is sick with what I suspect is strep again. He had strep in late April, although it took us 5 days to realize that was what it was. He told me Monday afternoon that he didn't want to eat lunch, didn't feel well, couldn't pinpoint how he didn't feel well, but didn't think he was going to throw up. He then proceeded to sleep all afternoon long, running a fever just over 100*. While he slept, he was holding his head, as if it hurt. One of the few times he woke up, he did tell me it hurt. I asked him if his throat hurt, because he acted this same way last time he had strep, and he said no. That evening, he woke up, but didn't want to walk anywhere, and threw up once.
Yesterday, he woke up without a fever or headache, but by afternoon, he told me his throat hurt. I looked down his throat and saw some very swollen tonsils, and suspected strep even more. Today he's still feverless, headacheless, and up and around ... but his tonsils are still swollen and it still hurts to swallow. He did the same thing last time. Fever and sick for 1-2 days, then acted fine for a couple days, then the fever returned with a rash, tummy ache, and headache. We took him in, with no clue what was going on, and the doctor said strep. I have an appointment for him later today, although he is acting fine at the moment. But I'm afraid if we wait, he'll have the fever, upset tummy, headache, and rash return like last time.
We finished our guinea enclosure on Sunday, and moved them outside Sunday night. Except for one roll of chicken wire fabric, we were able to scrounge most of our materials from the outbuildings. I managed to catch all 5 of them and move them outside one at a time that evening. It wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. I didn't get pecked or scratched, for one thing, and none escaped ... although two almost escaped. Once they were released, they each stood there somewhat stunned and actually let Steve and the boys pet them. They've never let me pet them before! Steve went out later that night and caught them each to put them inside the dog house we hope they'll use as shelter from rain. They were calmer then and he didn't have too much trouble catching them. They're all doing fine now, although I think they're still adjusting to the wind, as we often find them huddled together in corners of the enclosure. Our wind usually comes strongly from the south, and that is where we no longer have a tree-line or wind-break. We need one, but it was cut down several years before we bought the house. Our enclosure is on the south side of the house, so they get the full brunt of the wind.
I'm 31 weeks and 1 day pregnant today. Just 62 days to go. My due date is 2 months from today. It's fun to count down. Baby is active, and growing well by the looks of me. My prenatal for this week had to be rescheduled until next week, but I'll update after that. I think I'm handling the summer without air conditioning fairly well for a pregnant woman. I pray I can continue to handle it well, graciously, and calmly. I don't want to turn into a complaining grouch. I know many people live without air conditioning, but it has been so many years since I have lived without it. My kids have never been without it.
I'm still able to carry laundry baskets up and down the basement stairs, and out to the clothesline. I'm achy some days and evenings, but I just keep going. I want to stay as active as possible, because I believe it will be better for baby and me in the long run. I know muscles that are fit and used to working can work better to deliver a baby than muscles that just sit around too much.
I've been acquiring a collection of Dr. William Sears' books on pregnancy and parenting from Paperback Swap to add to my permanent bookshelf, as well as several books on natural childbirth (specifically using the Bradley method of relaxing and working with your body instead of fighting the contractions). I'm refreshing my memory and practicing the relaxation techniques. The last two births (fifth and sixth births) were very intense. As I look back on them, it seems as if I was not as calm or relaxed as I was with my third and fourth births. I'm trying to sort through the hazy memories and figure out how much of that was my own fault, and how much of that was just birth differences. It's confusing, but I'm praying about it. If there is anything I can do differently this time, I want to do it. It's possible that time has just made the 3rd and 4th births *seem* less intense than the 5th and 6th, but they really weren't. I should ask Steve if he can remember, and what his perception is.
We are winding down school this week. Just two days left. The children's minds are already on "vacation" it seems, and it is taking lots of prodding to get the last little bit accomplished. I have begun doing some planning for next year. I have all the curricula for each child listed on paper ... along with some stuff I'd like to add in. Now I just need to figure out how much we really can add in, and what's most important. I don't want to bog everyone down by trying to use too many homeschooling methods and curricula. So, I need to find a good balance that covers all subject areas without being overwhelming.
We have two flat-faced Persian kittens ready to sell, and I need to get them to the vet this week or next for their shots and a health check so we can start advertising them. We'll miss them when they are gone, but it will also be nice to return to just our 3 adult cats. It's possible that our younger female is pregnant for the first time, but I am not sure yet. We're hoping for more kittens in August, though.
And that's life here in the ElCloud Homeschool at ElCloud Homestead. We're winding down our summer reading programs, and enjoying Vacation Bible School each Wednesday night. The kids seem to be staying out of the poison ivy now, and all is basically well. What a blessing!
Trusting in Him,
April
Children's Bible Study Links
If your looking for good free Bible studies/activities for children I really like the sites below. I plan to mix them in with our daily Bible devotions.
Calvary Chapel Children's Ministry Curriculum
Composer Study Link
Someone shared this wonderful site with me recently. We plan to use it with our music studies this year. You can lesson to music and read bio's of the composers along with photos.
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