Posted in Show and Tell Friday

It's Friday again, which means it's time for another installment of Show & Tell Fridays with Canadagirl.  If you're interested in sharing something with us, we'd love to see it and read about it!  Please go visit Mary to join in on the fun.

All things showy have been absent this week as we began our new school year.  It has gone wonderfully, but a few things are concerning me and so the tweaking will commence over the next week or so.  However, due to the sheer event-free week, I pondered what to write about.  Do I skip a week?  Nah!  This is too much fun!  So, I decided to show 'n tell a project I did a couple of months ago.

I have always wanted one of those fabric-padded message boards that are criss-crossed with ribbon - you know the ones.  Well, being frugal as I am, I just knew I could make one myself.  So, I began to keep my eye out for supplies.  First, I bought the padding at JoAnn's with my 40% off coupon, along with the fabric nails and ribbon.  Next, I spotted a curtain I just *loved* clearanced at my local store.  I snatched it up, grabbed a board from the garage that was precisely the size I wanted, and voila!  (the colorful perpetual calendar was a hand-made gift from my boys for Christmas Ü)

Because I had material left from that curtain, I also made a runner for the island and one for the table, which sits about 3 feet away from my desk.

On a related note, I have one curtain left and have decided to use it to cover the library window upstairs, because somehow the library has white/red/blue hues in it.

So, that is my less than thrilling Show and Tell post.  I hope you all were much more inspired than I was this week, but with the noticeable absence of so many bloggers in Bloggyland due to lessons resuming, it won't surprise me if you're not.  Until next week, then, when I hope to have something much more exciting to report upon.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Yesterday Grandma dropped by and came in for some fresh-brewed iced tea, during which the boys were still working on their geography study of Arizona.  She started quizzing them on their knowledge thus far, and the following conversation then took place:

Grandma:  What's the state bird?

Piper:  The Cactus Wren.

Grandma:  What's the state flower?

Piper:  The Saguaro Cactus Blossom.

Grandma:  What's the state gem?

Piper:  Ummmmmm....

Jigger:  I know, Grandma!!!  It's the YMCA!!!

It's important to note that tea coming out your nose stains just as well as tea spilling out of your cup.

Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays

Hello my Tightwaddy Friends, and welcome back to Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl.  If you have a frugal idea or tip you would like to share with us, please do go visit our hostess with the most-est, Mary.

Anyone who's visited me for Tightwad Tuesday knows that I'm obsessed with making things homemade.  Actually, it doesn't feel like an obsession for me, but I've been told I am, so I'm just relaying an impartial opinion. 

Anyway, today I'm going to go on about the delight and deliciousness that awaits you when you make your own granola.  Making your own granola is an incredibly easy thing to do, and like most truly economical items it is an extremely versatile.  Eat it as cereal (with blueberries on top is my children's absolute favorite way to have it), add it to your yogurt (one of my hubby's faves), top your ice cream with it, or add a handful to a batch of homemade bread sometime for a little something different.

The recipe I use was given to me by Marmee Dear, and I have tweaked it to accomodate both my taste and what I had on hand at the time.  Here is my personal favorite:

Marmee's Modified Granola

Stir together in a large mixing bowl:

10 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup ground flax seed

 Place in a saucepan and heat just until warmed and combined:

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cup canola oil (or safflower, or...)
½ cup pure maple syrup (no imitations here)
¾ cup honey
½ teaspoon almond flavoring
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla flavoring
¼ cup water

Pour liquid mixture over grains and mix with a heavy spoon until combined.  Place granola mixture onto large baking sheets or into a roaster pan.  Layer 1 inch thick and bake at 325° for 25 minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and place immediately into a large container (not plastic - it will melt).  Repeat baking granola until all the granola has been baked and transferred into a container.  Leave container open to cool completely.  Keeps in the pantry for 4-6 weeks, but I have yet to have a batch last longer than a week.  Evidence of this:

Also, if you're looking for inspiration to help you with your grocery budget and menu planning, go visit my friend Tina's and check out her Month of Frugality.  She is going to avoid the grocery store (except for milk/produce) for the next month and live off what's in their pantry and freezer.  Check out her progress, and tell her I sent you.

Posted in Anti-Procrastination Challenges

Well, well, well.  Here we are, September 2nd.  The due date of some of our members in the Anti-Procrastination Challenge hosted by Canadagirl.  I know that my due date to have my challenge finished was September 2nd.  I'm sorry to say that my challenge did *not* get completed as I thought it would, and so will be taking an extension of another two weeks.  I would say a week, but who am I kidding, really?

I don't feel as bad about it as I thought I would, because in its place I did a higher-priority job I had been procrastinating on, namely lesson planning for the school year.  I am happy to report that as of 15 minutes ago, my lesson plans for the whole upcoming school year, which begins tomorrow, are fleshed out.  Of course I still need to organize the week-by-week science, history, geography projects, and assign topics for papers, but the overall lesson plans are done.  Here is Piper's plan (sorry for the photo quality; do you have any idea what time it is here?  waaaay past my bedtime...):

And here is Jigger's plan:

I also had hubby install another bookcase, but this one is downstairs in the living room (the library just can't plumb hold anymore).  This one is for current school books only, along with some of my daily books.  I just love it, and plan to put fall decorations up top real soon.

So, while I didn't finish my original project, it was only because I prioritized my projects and school won out.  I hope to have a lovely update for you all next week on the status of my OP.  Until then, if you would like to participate in our Anti-Procrastination Challenge, please do go visit our lovely hostess Mary for more information.

Posted in Holiday Bits

Well, the last official holiday of summer is upon us.  For some of us, it marks the end of glorious weather, while for others it denotes the beginning of glorious weather.  Whichever camp you fall in, I wish you a lovely day full of family, love, and peace.

Happy Labor Day, My Friends.

photo courtesy of www.allposters.com; "Labor Day Souvenirs, Flag and Gears"

Posted in Entertainment

I received this today...

An e-mail from Ireland to all their brethren in the United States... a point to ponder despite your political affiliation:

'We, in Ireland, can't figure out why you people are even bothering to hold an election in the States.

On one side, you had a pants-wearing female lawyer, married to another lawyer who can't seem to keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a lawyer, who goes to the wrong church, who is married to yet another lawyer, who doesn't even like the country her husband wants to run!

Now, on the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate 'Mc' terminology, married to a good-looking younger woman who owns a beer distributorship!

What, in the name of all that's holy, are ya lads thinkin' over in the colonies?!'

Posted in Show and Tell Friday

It's Show and Tell Friday with Canadagirl once again.  If you have something you would like to share with the rest of us, please do go visit our sweet hostess, Mary, for more information and to join in on the fun.

Last week, as many of you know, was my husband's birthday.  We went camping for five days to a local lake, and had a wonderful time.  We love our trailer, and don't get to use it as often as we wish.  Here's our home away from home:

My parents and brother both pulled their RV's up as well, and friends came and went each day.  My brother's boat was docked on this lake, so we went tubing and wake-boarding.  I'm going to say that the best morning of the whole holiday was Thursday morning, because my husband, the boys and I had the entire campground and lake to ourselves.  It was so peaceful!  There was no cell phone reception or satellite reception, so we had an electronics-free weekend.  Heaven on earth, let me tell you!

Thursday morning found us in the lake by 8.30 a.m.

DH and Piper eventually struck out across the lake (this is actually one of the more narrow portions of this lake; it wraps around the mountain).  Here's the distance they swam (those white things in the far distance are buoys, that are not at the other side; rather, they are several yards from the opposite shore yet):

Piper did an excellent job, and they rested on the opposite shore for upwards of half an hour.  I don't know if you can see them, but they are immediately to the left of the buoy in this picture; those little specks (grin):

Jigger wasn't such a fan of the cross-lake swim, so he contented himself by floating on a wakeboard and splashing around on shore.

And yes, we took the mutt, who had an absolutely wonderful time except for when DH was tossing him in the lake to cool down, lol!

A wonderful time was had by all, in spite of the ER run down the mountain we had to make because Piper's friend (they each had a friend spend Friday night, and these friends were brothers too) required 7 staples in his head when a rock-skipping moment got out of hand (I'm not kidding; you can't make this stuff up).  He's fine, his parents were fine (with a "they're boys, what else is new?" attitude), but I had(ve) the whole guilt complex going because someone else's kid got hurt On My Watch.  Ugh.  His mother told me not to worry, that that child is prone to being in the absolutely wrong place at the wrong time in everything, and proceeded to tell me of the time he went up north with friends and accidentally brushed his teeth with Clearasil.  He spent the whole night throwing up and their friends had to call poison control.  So you see, she told me, it's not you, it's him.  Small consolation.  Piper's waiting to see his friend again to ask if he's going to purchase all his school supplies at Staples this year (sigh).  Boys.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Here we are at the end of August; can you believe it?  For those of you in the lovely four-season section of our country, you're getting ready to wash off your lawn furniture for that final re-packing into the shed, pulling out the cooler weather clothing, and anticipating the beautiful color show Mother Nature puts on for your viewing delight.  For those of us in the high-heat of the one-season desert, we are aching for the temperatures to settle down so that we may pull our lawn furniture out of storage, readying our homes for the delight of spending the days with the doors and windows open, and yes, pulling out our cooler weather clothing.

No matter where you are, though, fall is the universal sign of school resuming.  Public or home school, fall is usually when most start up a new year.  It's a habit that we can't seem to avoid, and if we do, we feel a bit odd about it each year.  Each world, public or home, stocks up on new school supplies while the sales are available, sorts through old school items to see which can make it another year, and prepares to settle back into the school routine.

Ah, the school routine.  There's nothing quite like it, is there?  Mothers all around the world, whether home or public, breathe a sigh of relief:  the schedule is back in place.  What a wonderful word, this word schedule!  We must have been out of our heads to curse this word at the end of last school year (whether it was three months or three weeks ago).  A schedule means gently reminding family and friends that pop-in visitors and school-hour phone calls are no longer permitted.  A schedule means that the children are constructive instead of at-odds with their day.  A schedule gives us the courage and support to say 'no' to activities we may otherwise have let intrude on our day.  A schedule is a lovely thing.  Routines are to be in place, everyone is to know what is expected of them, and home is once more alive with purpose, learning, and gaiety.  School holidays are like vacations in that you're always so excited to see them come, and so relieved to see them go.  What a blessing they are!

Holidays revive our spirit, speak to our soul, and re-energize us.  They allow us freedom from our schedule, freedom from routine, and freedom to BE.  They are a lovely break in the ordinary, and they are necessary to avoid burn-out, depression, and apathy.  They are also best in moderation, as all wonderful things are.  I find that for our children, anything longer than a three-week break serves no purpose but to flame their bickering skills, encourage laziness, and shorten tempers.  It is a thin line to walk, for mothers are the ones desperate for school holidays. 

Our children will have had a six-week break when we begin school anew next Tuesday.  Six weeks that has flown past us, undermining my projects-to-be-done-on-school-holiday list and passing almost too rapidly to be enjoyed.  These six weeks have been a study in free time, games, swimming, camping, and family.  They have also spawned boredom, aimlessness, and foolish behavior. 

So it is with both regret and gratitude that I hammer out our first term's lesson plans this week and announce to the children that school starts next Tuesday.  They groan in mock despair, for I have seen their eyes light up when they peruse the shelves holding our next year's school books.  I have fended off questions of what their first history projects will be (*I* don't even know yet!), and we have eagerly discussed where our field trips should take us this year.

We are so blessed to home educate our children, to have school holidays, and to resume lessons.  Wherever your new year takes you, I wish you much joy, success, and many blessings along the way.

Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays

Welcome back to Tightwad Tuesdays with Canadagirl!  If this is your first time here and you would like more information on how to join us in our tightwaddy-ness, please do go visit our lovely hostess, Mary, for more information.

Being frugal is, for me, centrally located in the kitchen area.  I have long held that making your own mixes, cooking from scratch, and buying only basics are not only healthier for you, but inexpensive as well.  This does not mean that you can't experiment or make treats for your family, either.  Everyone loves something special, and for my family, I've found that muffins in the morning are a little way that I say "I love you."  They feel that I went out of my way (which I haven't), and I love to see their faces when they realize I got up and made these specially for them.  I have already shared with you my Homemade Blueberry Muffins recipe, and today I will share with you a recipe I have picked up along the way called Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins.  They are so delicious!  I have made these up before a trip, frozen them, and they thaw wonderfully for a snack when you're on the road.  In fact, I threw a batch in the freezer when we went camping last week and pulled them out the night before to thaw.  The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast!  So, without further ado, here you are:

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

½ cup buttermilk or sour milk*
½ cup masked banana (I use one large banana, or two small)
½ cup honey
1 egg
2 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour**, and 1 cup unbleached flour)
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chocolate chips

In a medium blow, mix together buttermilk, honey, mashed banana, and egg until well mixed.  In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon until all ingredients are well combined.  Mix liquid ingredients with flour mixture.  Stir until just mixed, fold in chocolate chips, and then spoon batter into greased muffin tins until almost full.  Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes.  Makes one dozen muffins.

*a 'cheat' to making buttermilk is to place 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a measuring cup and then add milk up to one cup mark

**whole wheat pastry flour is also known as 'soft white wheat;' using pastry flour for quick breads will make them rise better and have a lighter texture than if you were using whole wheat bread flour

This recipe was found in Issue #7 of Making It Home magazine (now out of print), and was submitted by Crystal Miller

Posted in Anti-Procrastination Challenges

Well, apparently it's time for an update on my A-P project.  (kicking the ground with the toe of my shoe, hands clasped behind my back, eyes studying the ground in avoidance)  Here's my update:                      .

(blush)

Ahem.

Yeah, about that.  Remember how last Tuesday we all chose a project?  Then, remember how my family left on Wednesday for five days to celebrate hubby's birthday?  (thank you all so much for the wonderful wishes, by the way)  Welllllllll, that kinda sorta means that nothing got touched.  Nothing.

But, I still maintain that next Tuesday is our project's due date, so don't worry.  On the other hand, if you've actually seen my project, you probably could worry with good cause.  On that note, I have work to do...