There is a thrill of excitement in the air around here.  It feels almost  like Christmas Eve.  (Only,the weather suggests that with our highs in the 60's for the last couple days.)  No, it's better.  It's VACATION EVE!  Starting tomorrow, we get our daddy home for 9 days! 

(Gnome made by Jeff's grandmother.)

Almost a whole year has gone by since our last big family roadtrip to Arkansas.  It was on the way home that we decided we wanted to try camping.  Talk about a lesson in patience!  By the time we scraped enough camping supplies together, it was too late to camp, so we had to wait until this past May!  I feel almost un-American (in a good way) on this point.  I am glad we did not go into any debt and had to wait to get our supplies.  It's normal to us now, to wait for something we want. 

Today, the kids and I will pass the time by going to get groceries.  Then, I need to work on cleaning some of the camping supplies.  Even though we clean them before we put them away, they always seem sandy some how.  Sand gets everywhere! 

(Also by Jeff's grandmother.)

I am not going to do much blogging until we get back from vacation.  (Really.)  I am so looking forward to being away from technology.  Being away is going to help, I think, break the ties my youngest has to his Wii IN Jones game.  It's funny how when we are camping no one ever mentions computers, Wii games or the TV.  That reminds me.  Since TV has gone digital, we've watched a lot less of it.  The only good channel we get is PBS.  I am so much happier to listen to a record in the evening or watch a Wii Sports match between my husband and the kids.  I feel like things are more in balance.  I know some people like cable, but for me it is a snare.  I am much happier without it in the house, even if it means we only get a few channels.  I don't miss that bill!

(Yep.  This one, too. She loved ceramics.)

I'd better wrap this up and get started.  I do want to say that meals have gone better this week.  I've felt the tug on my flesh on this one!  I also finished two good books this week. ( Go to my nature blog to see those, if you are curious.)  When I get back, I need to really get serious about next year's Science lessons.  We need to start school early this year so we can take some time off later in the year when we move again.  That means school could start back up in some form in just 4 weeks. 

I hope you have a great week!

~Jenn

"Planning complex, beautiful meals and investing one's heart and time in their preparations is the oppostite of self-indulgence."

~Barbara Kingslover, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, page 288

(Yes, this is the book I was hesitant to tell you about.  She has a different world view than I have, but she presents a very interesting look at her family's attempt to eat local food only, something I admire. If your library has a copy of this book, I'd say give it a go, but remember she is coming from a liberal perspective which I found crude a couple of times.) 

Ouch!  Here is a self-proclaimed feminist telling me that investing my time making meals for my family is the opposite of self-indulgence.  I did not want to read this right now, but she is so right!  

I know I am not the only one who I struggles with meals.  I go between complete apathy and extreme guilt.  I plan meals.  I shop for meals.  Yet, when it comes down to it, I tend to slap things together at the last moment or opt for the most easy meal, choosing instead to be self-indulgent.  I have no excuses.  I have my entire day to make time for meal preparation.  Sometimes, we are busy during the day having fun and I leave myself too little time to prepare, that is true, but this should not be the case in general.  (Thankfully, I tend to manage better during the school year.) 

In my defense, I do try to think about early in the day what will be for dinner.  I do try.  My heart is in the right spot, but my lazy flesh rules most of the time, during the summer.   It's a matter of over-coming the flesh.   Maybe it is my summer mentality as well.  I tend to let things go that I would not let go during the school year.  It's funny becuase during the school year, I am always thinking, "If I had more time, I'd ....."  When in reality, I would just sink into my pit deeper! 

The purpose of this post is not to beat myself or anyone else up.  I need to do better. Maybe you do as well.  What I am going to do is try again to turn over a new leaf.  Maybe others of you will too.  Here is my menu plan for the rest of this week. 

• Tuesday:  Homemade maranara with whole grain spaghetti, farmer's market zuchinni. (We're going swimming, so this is going to take some effort.  I'll make the maranara in the crock pot.  The hardest part is dealing with the garlic press. I'll have to do some pep talking to get this done!) 

Maranara Sauce

In your slow cooker add together the following...

1- #10 (huge) can of tomato puree

1/2 cup olive oil

1cup water

1 onion diced or 2tsp. onion powder

8 cloves of garlic, crushed

2tsp. salt

1/2tsp. pepper

1tsp. oregano, dried

1 tsp. basil, dried or fresh if you have it

Stir.  Cook on high for 3 hours.  

Usually, I freeze the excess for a couple other meals. 

• Wednesday:  Chicken stir-fry with vegetables and rice. (We have floors to clean at my mom's today.  I will need an easier meal with stir-fry in a bag in the freezer.)
• Thursday:  Chicken and dumplings, mixed vegetables.   (I will take out a frozen roasted chicken from last week.  I will need to make broth.  I need to allow time for this.)
• Friday: Loaded baked potatoes (We are going swimming as a family to a state park that is only 45 minutes away.  I will need to get the potatoes in the crock pot before we leave. )
• Saturday:  Grilled chicken, roasted vegetables in foil (This is an easy meal.  We'll have time between the parade and fireworks. I will just have to remember to maranade the chicken early.) 

Bon appetit! 

~Jenn

Good morning, friends!  We had a very full weekend, very enjoyable.    Here are some pictures from the weekend. 

Friday night was the VBS festival wrap up.  Jeff took the kids.  I went to Starbucks with my dear mother.  It was a great evening to sip a cold decaf coffee while chatting outside. 

Saturday, among other things, we went to our favorite farmer's market.   I just love listening to live music, for free. 

We also got rid of some papers for free!  (Free is a very good thing.)  It was a lovely day.

Sunday, we taught our last class, number 40 of 40! 

Then we were off to a family reunion 2.5 hours away. 

This week, I am going to be busy  getting ready for our family vacation which starts on Friday. I have laundry, packing, cleaning, shopping and much more to do. But it will be worth it.  I can rest when my kids are gone, right?

~Jenn

From the Heart:

This week, I realized that I have been spending too much time thinking about the past and worrying about the future.  So, I decided in order to stop this bad habit (sin), I would repeat to myself, "Today has its own worries!", when my thoughts start to go where I know they should not go. 

On the Homefront:

We had a busy week!  Not only did we have a special visitor, the kids went to VBS in the evenings, we went swimming 2 times, went to the zoo, and library!  I can now understand why I am feeling so tired today! 

In the School Room:

I must order our books!  I must!  I don't know why I have been putting this off.  I am excited to get that big box from Sonlight.  I also need to sit down and make up a Science schedule.  We have been continuing to read aloud as a family, although not every night with VBS this week. 

In the Kitchen:

I made my family chocolate chip cookies this week.  Tomorrow, I need to make more for a family reuion on Sunday.  I also need to be sure to make a menu plan for next week.  This week was hit or miss, a couple nights.  It is important for me to cook so that my husband will have lunch leftovers the next day.  If I make things like waffles or pizza, there are not any leftovers. 

In the Literary Scene:

I went to the library 2 times this week.  I found an interesting book about living off the land.  I am reading it now.  If it turns out to be a good book, I will let you know the title.  I don't want to tell now, because I hate mentioning a book and then finding out that it is a flop. 

I hope to receive, today, two books that I ordered this week.  I will also show those on the blog a little later.  (tease)

Summer goals:

I am making great progress.  I am spending time with friends, reading great books, and working on the house a little. 

If you would like to see other Weekly Wrapup, please see Carol at My Heart's Desire. 

Here are my monkeys, looking at the baboons, who are grooming one another. 

Baboons grooming?  That gives Ryan an idea. 

These two boys!  What sillies! 

To see better Show & Tell entries, visit Mary!

Have a great weekend. 

~Jenn

My Daddy has been here for a couple days on his way to his new home in California.  It's been nice to talk about the "old days"  with someone.  And the kids have forged stronger bonds with their grandfather as well.  It's going to be awhile before we can spend time together like this again. 

 Here is a slideshow from our day yesterday.  We started out going to the prairie and ended up at the zoo, both loved venues. 

Welcome to Show & Tell,

hosted by Mary aka Canadagirl. Drop by her blog to see more S&T entries.  

Today, I want to show you something very special to me.  I am the blessed recipient of my Grandpa's stereo, complete with turntable and records!!! 

When I was little, I used to LOVE listening to records at my grandparent's home.  Grandpa had a huge collection of albums.  I remember he would play them often while we ate some of his homemade sourdough bread for a night time snack.  My cousin, who is only 2 months older than me, and I would dance around their small livingroom listening to these records.  It was a grand time. 

I don't think anything compares to the sound of vinyl. 

Last evening, after the kids were in bed, Jeff and I listened to an album, which was quite cozy.  Only drawbacks of a record player is that there is no remote control and you have to get up to flip the record!  (We are so spoiled!) 

Here is a tiny sample of the records we have to enjoy.  ( I apologize for the glare of the flash.) 

Even the kids are enjoying this music.  It was strange to think they had never seen a record before. 

Have a blessed weekend and Happy Father's Day!  We get to celebrate Father's Day with 3 generations.  We are having lunch with "The Grands" at the nursing home for only $3 a person.  I may have to eat there more often.  That's a bargain! 

~Jenn

What can I say?  We had fun?  We still love camping?  Those things are true, but seem to lack the descripitive power I am seeking.   Yes, camping is exhausting.  I can't deny that.  And I do have some new bug bites that are driving me crazy.  But the emotional highs, the knitting our heats together, the freedom from technology is much more powerful than the negatives.  Even the mountain of laundry waiting for me is minor compared to watching my husband and daughter take off on a hike with a naturalist.  Here are some photos.  Our next trip is in only 3 weeks.  I may have the laundry caught up by then! 

Here are some pictures of camp.  We had a really good campsite that was right at the base of a sand dune.  There are awesome oak trees all over the campground that offer refreshing shade. 

We shared some great times around this fire ring.  We read aloud from Dune Boy, played games and ate smores!  The "tacky lights" were from our last outing. 

We spent much of a whole day at the beach.  Grandma stopped by too.  The weather was great.  The water was FREEZING!  It's not swimming time yet. 

Later that same night, we went back to the beach to see the sunset.  The clouds got in the way, but still it was lovely.

The last day, Grace and Daddy went on a hike with a park naturalist.  The boys and I were "camp potatoes,"  our new word for being lazy.  We had lunch and then packed up for home.  It was a great day, until it started to rain and continued to rain our whole way home! 

~Jenn

Grace and her little neighbor friend got all dressed up last evening and put on a wedding fashion show.  They even picked all the clovers for their bouquets.  I remember wishing to be a bride at their age.  They have such dreams and I pray that they do become godly wives one day.  Which reminds me to pray for their husbands, wherever they are. I can be sure they are not out there dreaming of such things.  (lol) 

Good morning!  I am too busy to write much.  The pictures are worth a thousand words anyway.  Enjoy!

Hello & Welcome! 

Today I want to show you Grace's summer hair cut.  But first, here she is before, all shaggy and tangles...always a sorce of strife, making her comb it! 

And here she is now, all healthy again!

(She could not be disturbed for a front shot, sorry!)  If you'd like to see more entries, please see Mary. 

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! 

I've been working on this list for a week.  It is not complete.  Just thought I'd post it now that we are in the full swing of summer.   

• Make studying my bible a priority. 
• Train my kids to keep their rooms tidy.  (Grace's room is in disaster mode again.)
• Continue reading aloud as a family.  (Dune Boy by Edwin Way Teale)
• Clean the house on a regular schedule, not just in crisis mode.
• Visit my grandparents weekly. 
• Catch up with dear friends.
• Order our books for next year.
• Make a plan for Science studies next year.
• Loose 10 pounds.
• Sell some extra books.
• Purge our belongings. 
• Make weekly library trips.
• Read for pleasure, starting with Maria Von Trapp's autobiography. 
• Work on a routine for fall which would include chores, lessons.
• Swim with friends once a week.   
• Teach my boys to be less dependent on screens.  Side note:  I am embarrassed to say that my boys have forgotten how to entertain themselves without a Wii or the computer, a skill we once boasted.  I will have to double my efforts to make them less reliant.  They do fine when we are camping, so I don't understand why they pine for them so when there is no school.  I am praying about what to do.  I do limit their time with a timer.  That doesn't seem to help.  I would love to just unplug them both and send the cords to work with their daddy!
• Go camping!

So do you have big plans for this summer?

~Jenn

Good morning and thank you for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world.  Near and dear to the hearts of the men in our family is karate!  And last night was the end of the year tournament with awards. 

Our little guy (not so little, I should say) was really working hard to advance in his rank the last few weeks.  Here he is getting his new belt.   

And then we got a really big surprise, Grace was advanced in her rank because her coach thought she deserved a boost.  Her coach said that Grace had improved a lot this year.  Hopefully this will improve Grace's attitude about karate as well!  Many weeks she would go only because we made her! 

Last but not least was Ryan's surprise.  He won "Most Overall Improved" and 2nd place in his class!  He was very happy and a bit surprised as well. 

We took everyone to McDonald's for icecream afterwards to celebrate.  Can't wait until next year! 

Please see Mary, if you'd like to see more Show & Tell posts.

Only 2 pills into my antibiotic and I started to feel so much better.  Right now, I feel almost normal. It's a wonderful thing.  Wish I had gone a few days earlier! 

~Jenn

Does anyone else have to keep telling themselves that today is not Monday?  Long holiday weekends mess with my sense of time, I guess. 

It was great having my husband home for 3 days, but that was almost all that was good about it.  I've struggled with breathing,coughing, having a sore throat and no energy all weekend. 

We did go looking at RVs, which was fun.  We actually put money down on one.  Then we came to our right minds and cancelled the deal.  (They said we could do that.)  Oh, but it was beautiful.  Next year we will get one, I hope.  Right now, not having that debt is more important.  And the tent is working just fine. 

Today, I am going to see my doctor.  I've not had to go for an illness in a very long time.  I was thinking of trying to put it off another few days, but since 2 of my kids already have appointments today, I might as well join them. 

This is the first day of our summer break.  Maybe next week will seem more like a break. 

Have a great one,

Jenn

My week has taken an unexpected and most unwanted turn.  I was feeling a little bit of an allergy attack coming on Tuesday, which turned into a full blown fever episode and a couple lost days.  I am feeling better now, except for having very little energy. 

We've had to change a lot of plans this week .  When the teacher is sick, the kids suffer.  OK, they did not really suffer.  They have had a great time playing outside, playing Wii for hours on end and watching movies with mom on the couch.   And they've been quite helpful little people, too.  Today my oldest made my bed, cared for the cat, and processed the laundry.  It was my goal today to make dinner and do some laundry.  Plus we did a little school work.  We only need 1 day more to get our 180 done.  I guess that makes tomorrow our last day, if I can pull it off. 

One benefit to being sick is that we've had time to watch some neat WWII era movies.  Yesterday,we saw The Flying Tigers and today part one of The Sound of Music.  My 7 year old asked me today during The Sound of Music when the war action parts would come.  He is into the fighting scenes.  Grace has found a way to enjoy these movies, too.  She can spot the love interest for John Wayne in an instant.  Yesterday she said, "There is the pretty nurse who is going to fall in love with him."  All I can say is that a sick mom can't have enough old movies on hand. 

You might be wondering if we are going camping this long weekend, the first unofficial weekend of summer.  The answer would be no.  Trevor has a sleep over at Nana's.  Grace has a slumber party with her best friend.  We want to get the lawn mowed after all the rain.  And the vehicles need washing.  OK, I will admit it.  We tried to get reservations and all the parks were full!  Next year we'll make our reservations 6 months in advance like everyone else.  It's just that 6 months ago we did not know how fun camping would be. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. 

...and don't waste time and energy fretting about what you don't have!  That's my frugal tip of the day.  Here is an example of this principle in my own life.  I have always wanted to have a clothes line outside.  For one reason or another, it has never worked out for any of the houses we've lived in,too many trees and not enough money topping the list.  So, now that I have the use of this wonderful deck, I've decided to put it to good use, as it is too sunny for sitting on for long.  Oh, and the playset has handy little rings for hanging up as well. 

If you'd like to learn more ways to save money, drop byMary's blog and join the fun.