Jun. 30, 2009
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The Touched Twice Clinic in Eastern Kentucky
My husband and I have always wanted to do a mission trip together, but with four children, work, and our usually very tight budget, it seems like going away on a trip for missions together has always been just out of our reach. Well, several months ago we heard that touched Twice was going to Harlan KY (4 hours from here) to do a Touched Twice Clinic in Appalachia Ky. When we heard the date, just a few days before our 18th Wedding Anniversary, we knew this was going to be the trip for us! We books my dear mother to come from Michigan to keep the children, and we committed to the trip.
We have done T2 Clinics in Louisville on several occasions. Basically here is how a clinic goes:
A local church starts blanketing an area with flyers for the FREE Health clinic in the weeks leading up to the event. Then, on the day of the clinic, doctors, nurses, eye doctors, dentists, hair dressers, photographers, and just regular folks like us show up to serve.
As the guests enter, they are paired with an "advocate." The advocate sits with the client and helps them determine what services they would like to receive. All services are completely free.
As the client is taken from one area of the clinic to another, the advocate looks for opportunities to share Christ with the client. Also, every step along the way, the nurses, doctors, hairdressers, etc, all have impromptu opportunities to pray with the guest, to share their testimonies, and to love on the guest, all in the name of Christ.
On the day of the clinic, the client may leave with their medications (no narcotics are kept on clinic site), family photos, a new haircut, dental work completed, new glasses, a belly full from a hot meal, sacks of groceries and toiletries, a physical, and counseling of various sorts. They may also have a referral for a doc for follow up treatment at no cost to them as well. Each clinic is a little varied based on the community and the desires of the hosting church.
In Harlan, we had a full clinic. Medical needs were met. Eye glasses were ordered. Mamograms, pap smears, toiletry bags, haircuts, family photos, a hot meal- all provided for these families living in poverty in an area so close to us.
As Duncan and I drove to the clinic, we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery on our way through the mountains.
When we arrived we had a huge surprise. We thought we were going to be staying in a tent, and on the way we received a call that the Cumberland Church of God was going to host us. Pastor Wilcox and his congregation greeted us joyfully and lead us to our accomadations. They were more than we felt we deserved. The room was beautiful, clean, and very welcoming. It had an adjoining bathroom with a shower, and they permitted us to use the fellowship hall kitchen, which was amazing. At that point, we nearly cried. Here we had come from Louisville to "rough it"and serve fora few days, and instead this community was embracing us and offering us much more than we ever imagined.
Duncan lounging in "our" room. Isn't it lovely?
Anointing of the volunteers the night before the clinic, asking that they go forth and share the gospel. Yes, this room is FULL of volunteers who came to serve in the name of Jesus.
Volunteers:
States---------------10
Zip Codes------------189
Churches-------------160
Denominations--------38
Total # Vol-----------668
Clinic volunteers all gearing up for clients:
Each color shirt means something. They are used as a code for other workers to know who can help with different issues. That is Duncan in the Blue shirt. Handsome, isn't he?
Volunteers sorting medications for the onsite pharmacy.
For a variety of reasons, I did not take lots of pics during the clinic. I wanted all the guests to feel completely comfortable and not worry that people were taking pictures of them. Also, for privacy reasons, it seems like taking pictures may violate their privacy, but there was one young man who I specifically asked if I could take his picture.
I do not know much about him, but he and Duncan had a good time talking. One evening, after the clinic we visited a ministry called Club 180 and Josh was there, so he and Duncan struck up some games of pool. I specifically asked him if I could have permission to take his picture and share it on my blog, and he said yes. I really wanted to take his picture because I wanted the children to get to see the really amazing looking guy with rainbow Mohawk hair and tattoos play pool with their straight laced daddy. Josh was a neat young man and we feel privileged to get to meet him. Duncan visited with him far more than I did.
Those of you who know us well realize this is not our usual style of worship, but these bands were reaching the youth of Harlan with the gospel message in their "own language." The youth that come to Cafe 180 are discipled and loved by the workers there. Amazingly before we even went on this trip, Christina and Duncan were doing "Experiencing God" and on one of the weeks they interviewed a gentlemen working in Harlan with the youth and who runs Cafe 180. We got to meet him and serve alongside him at the clinic, and then felt very joyful in God giving us the opportunity to be there and see the Cafe first hand.
As for the clinic, there were 700 Guests served. 20 accepted Christ.
The final evening of the clinic we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to the pastor of the lovely congregation that hosted us. The Pastor and his wife seems very interested in talking with us, and the next day we stayed and attended church with their congregation. Duncan was given the opportunity to speak to the congregation and he shared with them our hope that the local community could put aside their denominational boundaries and just begin serving with all their hearts in Jesus' name and to let the barrier walls between the churches come tumbling down.
Afterward, pastor, his wife and another wonderful couple invited us to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. It was YUMMY and the conversation was hilarious. Duncan and pastor went turn after turn sharing jokes that kept the rest of us in stitches for most of the meal.
When we left, we felt certain that the Lord was calling us to go back for a visit in the near future to serve in some small way, so who knows where that will lead.
To find out more about touched twice, visit their site:
www.touchedtwice.org
Happy Homemaking!
Malia Russell
My husband and I learned about an upcoming touched Twice Clinic (more coming in a future post) taking place in Harlan, KY- about 4 hours from us via car. For quick basics- it is a mission oriented trip where the guests who come to be served come to have their physical needs met by a team of doctors, nurses, photographers, hair dressers, food preparers, etc who are all Christian who come to serve in the name of Jesus. This is a very short description, and I will share more later. But this post is about Sarah's Birthday Party.
Instead of having her friends over to shower her with gifts, Sarah asked that each girl bring toiletry items and bags to give as gifts to some of the teen girls who came through the clinic.
Additionally, we would be styling hair, putting on mail polish, etc for fun. We also took before and after pics of each girl. However, half the pictures were taken on my daughter's professional camera and she has it at work with her, so I cannot access those pics. But these should give you some ideas of how the party went.
Last year, you may recall that Anne Mary had an "Operation Christmas Child" Birthday party where we did a similar thing, but made shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child Instead. My girls love to have birthday parties (cake, balloons, presents, being the center of attention for a day)- who doesn't? But our family certainly is not in need of anything compared to those we can serve. By asking for contributions to charity and building a birthday party around it, the girls get to have all the fun and none of the wastefulness. To find out more about "Touched Twice" you can see our future blogpost telling about the clinic and their website: http://www.touchedtwice.org/ Happy Homemaking! Malia Russell
The proud Chefs! Sarah (11) and Anne Mary (8) This quick 4 week class went far too fast! We really enjoyed it! Want to learn about the Very Veggie Video class next time it is offered? Check it out here: Very Veggie Videos Happy Homemaking! Malia Russell
I wanted to spend just a few minutes introducing you to one of my favorite podcasts. JoJo Tabares of Art of Eloquence has a podcast (like a radio show, but on the internet) each week. This week's show will be:
The topic: Share how your culture affects your communication!
Even if you cannot make it to the show live, you can always go there and listen to past broadcasts. Her podcasts are FREE. If you are homeschooling older students, you might let them listen along as part of their speech or communications credit!
Every parent will face the day when someone calls their child a "geek" or weird. What separates us from other families (our homeschooling lifestyle, our requirement for modest dress, our faith in Jesus Christ, our vocabulary) is sometimes the thing that causes our child to be singled out. When this happens it is so easy to go on the defensive and want to do a little neck-ringing.
But when it comes right down to it, our Lord was called all kinds of names that were quite unfavorable. Blasphemer. Liar. Friend to sinners.
And his response? Godly silence. Quietness. Confidence. Strength. And, he prayed for his enemies.
Oh Lord, give me the strength to teach my children to respond likewise when they are called unkind names. The people of this world who despise our savior WILL, by association despise us as well. Let us count it all joy when people hate us because of him. Or when the neighborhood children hate out children, mock our children, and are unkind to our children.
Mar. 9, 2009
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Talking With Children About "Disabilities"
How do you teach your children about other people with "disabilities?"
This is a recent TwitterMoms discussion and one I felt would be really good to address.
Being home educated, of course my children are not around a lot of people with disabilities. Even our church is very small, so this is not much of a place to talk about it.
We have learned that it is best to prepare the children a little bit by describing what they will see in scenarios where they will see folks getting special assistance. One of the things we have done is to try to take the "mystery" out of disability by taking them places such as nursing homes where they will encounter a lot of people who have physical (and sometimes mental) disabilities. We take them on special days where they can serve folks who are different, so the focus is not on the disabilities, but upon the children doing something fun to brighten their days. For example, for Valentines' Day one year, we made a ton of valentines and delivered them in the nursing home. We stayed for quite a while singing songs, delivering the cards, and peeking in patient rooms to say hello. Certain rooms were marked in a special way for residents hoping for visitors. This was not only a fun time for the children, but it diminished the mystery of wheel chairs and other disability equipment.
Another thing we have done is to take the children with us to work the Touched Twice clinics here in town and work in the local soup kitchens. At these clinics, we encourage our children to smile, shake hands, and look people in the face for polite conversations. Some of these people look "different to us" because they have a different way to dress or talk (or even smell).
I hope that these experiences have made them sensitive to the unique needs of all people. People with physical or mental disabilities, and people who are simply different from us in behavior or lifestyle are all precious to God and should be precious to us as well. By selectively and purposefully exposing our children to those people with special needs, we hope we are stripping away the inhibitions that will keep them from being comfortable around all people. It is my heart's desire that they simply see people as people and have no need to stare, point, or ignore them.
Before we go to one of these experiences we do talk a bit about what they may experience. For example, on nursing home trips we remind them that people like to be touched, but not to be rough around elderly people who may be delicate. They can offer to shake a hand, pat an arm. Some residents want hugs. We encourage these, too. We also encourage big smiles and remind them that these people are looking forward to seeing fresh, young faces. We do the same with the clinics, but since this can be a bit dangerous, we stay right with them while serving. In all our years working these clinics, we have never had an uncomfortable or dangerous situation occur, but I still practice "stranger" safety.
So far on the few occasions they have been around people with disabilities, they have been fine. I have seen them rush to open a door for a person in a wheel chair without any prompting. I have seen them move aside to make room for a person trying to get through a crowded room with a wheelchair. And I have witnessed them making polite small talk with strangers in wheelchairs, just as they would for any other person they meet in public, which is, in the long run my heart's desire. I hope the children will continue to be sensitive to special needs, but most importantly to see people as simply other children of God whom they are to love and treat the way they hope to be treated in the same scenario.
Do you have a family member with a disability or special needs? The following website is a good place for resources and information on this important topic:
What about you? How are you preparing your children to include and love others with disabilities or special needs? Are you the parent of a special needs child? Are there things we should be doing to increase awareness and inclusion of your precious child?
I noticed a terrific blog post over at: http://www.growingingraceonline.com/ and the topic was her ten favorite kitchen gadgets. I thought that was a super idea. So, I borrowed it. Here are my favorite kitchen tools. I did not even try to put them in order because the one I am using at the time is always my favorite.
1. Pampered Chef Cooking Stones.
I use these for everything. Biscuits, bread, chicken, steaks, pizza, chicken nuggets, etc. We use them all the time. They are easy to clean. They are not so easy to store, so I store them up on their sides in a row, like books.
2. My tea pot. We like hot tea around here. Chamomile, Cherry Berry, Sleepy Time, Lemon Ginger (Thanks to Jill, the Veggie Queen who suggested this one when I was sick).
3. A plant. Having a plant in the kitchen really cheers me up. I have this one, given to me by my Father-in-Law. It is so pretty. Since it is right by the sink, I do not forget to water it. Home decorators say you should have a plant in each room. This is the only room where I keep living plants. The rest are (gasp!) fakes. I figured God does a better job of nurturing the soil and watering them than I do, so why put myself through all that torture? But I do love this one. And I love my aloe plant, also in the kitchen.
4. My coffee pot. I do not drink coffee, but this is how I brew my iced tea. Put two large family-sized tea bags in there with 10 cups of water and let it brew. Pour it in a pitcher and add 1 1/2 cups sugar (sorry Northerners and diabetics!), then fill the pitcher up to the one gallon mark with cold water, while stirring. YUM.
6. My mill. I mill my own wheat and this is my favorite mill. It has a large capacity, and it can be turned off and on during milling. That was my favorite feature because I have so many children and may need to turn that thing off any minute to deal with an *issue*.
7. My five loaf bread mixer. It seriously mixes and kneads five loaves of bread at one time. Perfectly. Every time. When I remember all the ingredients. :) Does anyone else ever forget the salt?
8. My Club Supra Pans. I wonder if they even sell these anymore. I received these when I got married. I have two of them. I make all my soups in these. They have nice, thick bottoms and never burn things. Well, except that one time I was making taco rice, but we do not talk about that.
9. Pressure Cooker! You can see a blog post about it here. Yes, I know it is the old-fashioned kind. When I am rich, I will buy one of the new-fangled ones. For now, this one is great. You can cook the best roast you ever tasted in 45 minutes. You can make chicken in about 8 minutes (oooh, check that time, I may be off on that one). If you want 1000 good ways to use your pressure cooker, check out the Veggie Queen's video. Now, she is a vegetarian, but she put together an AWESOME video about using the pressure cooker. I loved it.
10. Crock Pot. I can make dinner at 7 in the morning, when I still have energy. Nice.
Hmm... No pic of my crockpot. Sorry!
11. Oh, can I do a number 11? I really must. My deep freezer. I buy beef once a year. I freezer cook. I have wonderful hunters who give us venison. I buy in bulk when things are on sale. I freeze bread. I LOVE this thing. We actually had it "left behind" at my parent's house when they sold it to us years ago. At the time, I debating just leaving the thing. I consider it a necessity now. LOVE IT. Now I am pryaing that thing never breaks. Hmmm. I better add that as a category to my emergency fund.
12. Ok, I gotta do a number 12. Really. I must.
This makes your white sinks white, cleans the glass stove top better than anything and is cheap at the store. I love barkeepers friend, and I do not even have a bar!
Feb. 19, 2009
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Online Cooking Class Week 4 - Homemade Hamburgers and Fries
This week lesson was how to make homemade burgers and sweet potato fries. In addition, they learned to make homemade barbeque sauce. However, sweet potatoes are the one food I am allergic to, so we made Idaho potato fries instead. I spoke to our online cooking class instructor, Shelley and she told me how much time to add when using regular potatoes.
Sarah starts on the homemade burgers. Anne Mary told me she thought that if she touched the raw meat it might make her sick, so she just watched this step.
You may not be able to see this in the picture, but this made big, thick burgers, and half of one was more than enough for the children. We had leftovers for lunch the next day.
If you want to learn more about the classes from my friend Shelley at One Roast Vegetable, its an online class that takes place in your own home (no traveling!), and you can work at your own pace, so very low stress :)
Back to Basics Cooking Class http://tinyurl.com/oneroastveg
Each week you receive a new lesson, and you can follow along with her step-by-step instructions and videos. Youll learn the basics, like how to make a perfect hard boiled egg, how to roast a chicken (and what to do with the leftovers). And I know for a fact that in this class shes going to share her 3-ingredient recipe for cinnamon ice cream thats a real show-stopper! In fact, if youd like to see some of the preview lessons Shelley has created for the Back to Basics Cooking Class, then you should definitely sign up here and check them out:
Back to Basics Cooking Class http://tinyurl.com/oneroastveg
The class I am taking filled up the FIRST day it was offered, but I know she is offering it again soon. We think this will be a great "home-ec" class for home educators, and for moms who just need a little help!
I am finally relenting and doing a facebook questionaire thing. However, I do not know how to post to facebook unless I blog, then my daughter set up an auto feed into facebook. (and yes, she does that for other people for a very tiny fee).
So here are my Marriage Share answers:
Marriage
This is kind of like the 25 things - except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you and your spouse. Then tag whoever you want!
What are your middle names?
Duncan and Moana
How long have you been together?
20 years dating, Married almost 18
How long did you know each other before you started dating?
about 3.4 years I think.
Who asked whom out?
He asked me.
How old are each of you?
38 and 38
Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
Hard to say. Pretty even.
Do you have any children together?
4 wonderful children.
What about pets?
No pets right now. We like our freedom. But our children have Guinea Pigs.
Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
We need more sleep. We have so many things we want to do and accomplish, we never rest enough. Ever.
Did you go to the same school?
We were at U of L together for a time, but it was brief. I am not sure how many semesters he went there before he transfered ot Sullivan.
Are you from the same home town?
I have lived in Louisville since I was 8. Before that, I was an army brat, so I moved around.
Who is the smartest?
He is!
Who is the most sensitive?
Um, depends on the sitation. I tend to be pretty sensitive to the kids and people close to me. For other people, I would say he is.
Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Places we can afford to take the children and not leave broke. But if were were rich, we both LOVE Sakura Blue, Havana Rumba, and Outback. if only we could afford hem more often.
Where is the furthest you've traveled as a couple?
On our cruise. We went several places. I have no idea where, but they were far away. And warm.
Who has the craziest exes?
Exes? What are those. We have never loved anyone else. :)
Who has the worst temper?
Me except on days when it is him.
Who does the cooking?
I do the cooking. He is a terrific cook when he does cook, but it is primarily my job.
Who is more social?
Oh he is. i do not have time.
Who is the neat-freak?
Oh we pray that one of our children will be, by some freak of nature.
Who is more stubborn?
Me.
Who hogs the bed?
Neither. He does like my pillow, though.
Who wakes up earlier?
Duncan. Waaaay earlier. Except on weekends.
Where was your first date?
Our first outing was to Chi-Chis but his mother was along. our first date alone was to the movies (Chuckie-seriously it was!) and to Steak & Shake afterward.
Who has the bigger family?
I have four siblings. He has a more complex sibling situation, so he has more.
Do you get flowers often?
I get flowers. Some years more than others.
How do you spend the holidays?
My family comes here and stays for them usually. And we go see his family around town.
Who is more jealous?
Um, neither.
How long did it take to get serious?
4 months from when we started dating. He was serious faster.
Who eats more?
Um, now that is just rude.
Who does the laundry?
The kids.
Who's better with the computer?
Duncan-he dominates! See HIS site: www.crossbusinesstools.com
Who drives when you are together?
He drives. I sleep. Works perfectly.
Working with children on Time Management skills has become a recent goal of mine. My children are excellent with obeying me. If I tell them to go work on spelling, math, reading, handwriting or any other subjects, they will do so. However, they are getting to the ages where they need to pick up the ball a bit. I say this with a bit of humor because I did not really learn good time management skills until after I graduated college and started working in a professional field. Then, when I quit working in the corporate world and came home to be with my children, I had to learn how to manage all my own time without "outside imposed" deadlines. This was not at all easy for me to learn. At times, I still struggle. I will still take the path of least resistance at times.
My goal is for them to have excellent time management skills before they are grown and leave the house. Now I wonder how to implement those, so that when I am not dictating their schedules, they can do it on their own. Any suggestions?
Occasionally we have moments in parenting where a stranger says something so outrageous that it is all we can do not to laugh out loud....if it were not so personal.
I have been a mom for 18 years now, and have had many such moments. As a seasoned mama, these comments are now much easier to take, but here are a sampling of some of these comments over the years:
-When I was in college I had a lovely woman babysitting my oldest daughter Christina. I pumped milk at school (in the public bathroom with one of those noisy pumps). I would bring this "liquid gold" to the sitters in a cooler every day. Once, our sitter had her own doctor's appointment and had her mother come by to watch the children briefly. When I arrived, I went to the fridge to pick up any leftover milk and the whole week's worth of milk was gone. I quickly asked what happened to the milk. Had it gone bad? Did her mother feed it to the other children? Here was the response, "I don't believe that babies should be fed breast milk. You never know what is in there. Formula is the healthiest choice." retorted her mother. "So, I dumped it and gave her formula. I know you are a young mother and just don't know better."
Or how about this one. Christina never cried as a baby. Well, almost never. Some kids are just like that. I think David (my 4th made up for it). One day she did start crying. It was a loud, painful crying that would not stop. After several hours, I took her to the doctor. I was frantic. I had no idea what would change my usually sweet daughter into a screaming banshee, but it had happened. As I waited anxiously in the little exam room, the doctor walked in and asked why I was there. "She has been crying like this for three hours" I told her. The doctor stood in the room, sort of staring at me in disbelief, then said, "Well, I cannot examine her like this. I will come back when she has calmed down." Unbelievable.
Then, there is my favorite: Just 8 short years ago, I left my career in corporate America to come home full time and be a mommy. As I told my plans to the day care director she said: "I was off for two weeks with my daughter once and most days she sat in the corner with her hair unbrushed and food on her face. I was sick of it and could not wait to get back to work. You'll be back." Seriously. Those were her parting words to us as I took my children away from daycare forever.
I guess for me all these comments stick in my mind because I wanted to be sure I never said anything like them. All of these were from people who had no idea the work, the pain or the turmoil or sacrifices made for my parenting decisions. Nursing my daughter while in college (young and in a NOT pumping friendly environment), humbling myself to seek help, and taking the HUGE leap to quit work to come home were all deeply personal decisions, and outsiders walking in and making a snap judgment with no basis in fact were all too common. After all these years of parenting, I can now laugh at these stories and just pray I am not fodder for someone else's blog post in the future.
I just read about a website for people to use for referrals when they have to make important decisions about their own families. http://www.care.com is a referral network for babysitters, nannies, pet sitters and more. If you are seeking help in any of these areas, this may be a good place to start.
Care.com helps families find trustworthy babysitters and nannies for their kids (including children with special needs). They also help moms connect to home care for seniors, pet care, tutors and teachers, and housekeepers -- everything you need to care for your loved ones and home. Find a babysitter, nanny, or other caregiver by reviewing profiles of care providers in your area, running free background checks, and checking references. To ensure the quality of caregivers, their team of working-at-home moms pre-screens all caregiver profiles before they allow them into the Care.com community. If you are interested in their services, you can use the coupon code: TWMOMS
Now, for advice for young moms dealing with these situations. Here is what I learned pretty early on in the parenting thing: Whenever I get unsolicited advice that baffles me, I always say: "Thanks for the idea. I will think about it." This allows me to acknowledge that at the core, most of these people are really trying to share some wisdom they think you need. They are not being malicious. I do not waste my energy trying to prove people wrong, or give them a ten point list for why I am right and they are wrong. Unless they are seriosly in a position to put my child in danger, their deeply held convictions about nursing, working, or dealing with crying babies really is not my concern. By responding with graciousness to strangers, we can maintain our own ability to show kindness and be witnesses in a dark world
Jan. 22, 2009
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Review: Kit Book Electric Circuits
This week, the girls just finished doing a special unit study on electricity. Ok STOP! Before you think I am some superstar-brainy mom, let me tell you about this study. I did it the EASY way. I received this wonderful kit called:
Electric Circuits by Ed Basconi and David M. Jones.
The girls (ages 8 and 10) sat down together, read the lessons and did all the experiments ON THEIR OWN! Yes, they did this complete study on electricity with no help at all from me.
Each chapter had introductory materials on the topics to be covered and experiments to bring the lessons home. Along with the book came an amazing, self-contained kit that had all the materials needed for every experiment. My children LOVE hands-on experiments, and this is one area where I fall short. I do not like gathering up little things from all over the house to do a science experiment from a book. For a busy mama, this book was a true blessing.
The chapters covered some very interesting topics including:
What is electricity
Simple Circuits
How batteries work
Conductors and Insulators
Switches
Series Circuits
Parallel Circuits
Electromagnetism.
As part of the study, they conducted experiments including:
Building circuits including: Simple, Series, and Parallel
Lighting a lamp, a buzzer, and a fan
They used jumper wires to test conductiviry of different substances 9copper, rubber, etc)
Making switches work, including push and slide switches.
Electromagnetic experiements.
This book also had them analyze their environment to look for practical uses for each concept they learned. This book was a terrific blend of taking the theorectical aspects of science, and immediately applying it to the real world.
I would be remiss if I did not talk a bit about the layout of the book. Each page is written in a large enough typeface that it was easy for my younger reader to enjoy, The diagrams and pictues in this book are in full color. Nice, large margins make it easy on the eye. Also, the pages were not "too busy." My daughter, Anne Mary is very bright but does not enjoy books that have tons and tons of busy pictures all over the page. She finds them distracting. This book had such a good balance that both girls enjoyed reading it and doing the experiments together.
I know you are just dying to see some pictures of my girls working with this amazing kit, so keep going! I should mention that they actually keep getting this book and kit off the shelf to "explore" when they have down time. Apparently when working through the kit, they took turns on the experiments, and now they are going back to the experiments and doing their favorites all over again.
In case you are planning your curriculum, this is geared for grades 4-6. I would say though, if your older children have not yet covered electricity, this would be a quick, fun study for them as well. You could easilly do this together with a younger child as well.
This book was comprised of 8 short chapters. I would say for planning purposes, you could plan this as a four week study. Or, if your kids like to get totally engrossed in one subject for long periods of time, you could cover it much quicker.
I am going to find out if this company has any more kits, because I am sold! Well done, KitBook! See their site: www.kitbook.com
If you have been a reader of mine for long, you know I do not shy away from having my children in the kitchen cooking right along side me. So, when Shelley told me she was going to teach an online "Back to the Basics" cooking class, I knew I had to join that class. I have been cooking and improvising for quite a few years, but never really had "basic" cooking training. Many times, I just drag my kids into the kitchen and let them learn whatever I am doing. But I thought it would be fun for them to take an online class, and I could walk through anything too hard or dangerous with them.
If you are like me, and on a tight budget most of the time, knowing how to cook good, basic food from every day ingredients is key to feeding your family sensibly. This class was cost effective,and frankly has been quite a lot of fun.
This week, we learned how to test our oven temperature for accuracy without a thermometer! That will be handy if we are ever cooking out of town or move to a place with a different oven. We now have complete confidence that our current oven bakes at the temperature indicated.
We also learned proper measuring techniques for dry and wet ingredients. The girls learned how to make baked eggs, soft boiled eggs, hard boiled eggs, and poached eggs. If you read my twittters, you may have seen that Anne Mary thought poached eggs were "pooched eggs."
David decided to show up at key moments (whenever he heard a timer beep) and be our resident taster. Everything turned out perfectly and we all learned some things.
Here are some pictures from our classes this week:
From Dec 2008 Jan 2009
The girls also perfect soft and hard boiled eggs as well as poached eggs today!
If you want to learn more about the classes from my friend Shelley at One Roast Vegetable, it's an online class that takes place in your own home (no traveling!), and you can work at your own pace, so very low stress :)
Back to Basics Cooking Class http://tinyurl.com/oneroastveg
Each week you receive a new lesson, and you can follow along with her step-by-step instructions and videos. You'll learn the basics, like how to make a perfect hard boiled egg, how to roast a chicken (and what to do with the leftovers). And I know for a fact that in this class she's going to share her 3-ingredient recipe for cinnamon ice cream that's a real show-stopper! In fact, if you'd like to see some of the preview lessons Shelley has created for the Back to Basics Cooking Class, then you should definitely sign up here and check them out:
Back to Basics Cooking Class http://tinyurl.com/oneroastveg
The class I am taking filled up the FIRST day it was offered, but I am hoping she will offer it again soon, because I know this will be a great class for home educators, and for moms who just need a little help!
There are lots of ways to run a book club. I have hosted a book club here in Louisville for several years. If you are interested in running your own book club, you can see a very detailed description of running a book club on our main site:
http://www.homemaking911.com/2008/07/08/girls-book-club/
For awhile now, I have been thinking of ways to make communication with our book club families a little easier. Right now, I send most of our communications through a yahoo group, however, the group has over 750 families, and only about 18 are directly involved in book club. I do like the simplicity of an easy group address.
Well, this week I learned about a site called: QLUBB where I can create a club page, and it automatically generates a club email list. I quickly and easily set up our club's list, and now all I have to do is invite the book club families to join. There is a place where I can post pictures from our meetings, tell upcoming events and books and send general announcements. I think this will simplify my communications with the book club girls and will allow me to more safely share information JUST with those who need the information. I am really looking forward to implementing this with our group.
If you are interested in a club list for your small group, see: www.qlubb.com
Jan. 13, 2009
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Snacks and Eliminating Decisions
One of the things I talk about in my book, Chaos to Order, is to eliminate decisions. Well, recently our house has been filled with more snack foods than usual. My parents come in town in December, and we saw them again in January, and each time we get together, they bring snack types of food for the children. Since I am not really accustomed to having all these choices of snacks in the house, everytime snack time rolled around, the kids would ask me what snacks they could have.
Well, I do not care for sugary snacks much, so I would try to remember what was in there that was not too "dessert-like" and that they could eat. Then, of course, they would appeal for something different they had seen in the pantry that just had not come to my mind at the time.
So, I decided to get through these snacks (not wasting them, or letting them go stale), I would make a master snack list of "approved snacks" that they could have at each snack time without me asking. Now, they just check the list and choose the one that appeals to them.
Our list consists of fruit, yogurt, carrots, and the variety of pantry snacks like Nutragrain Bars, Kashi Bars, nuts, rice cakes, etc. Now, I do not have to stop and make a decision each time they would like a snack, and I know the things in the pantry will not be forgotten. As we use up an item, we simply mark it off the list.
Our family just returned from a quick trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio. My husband, our three younger children and my parents all stayed in a family suite there. This was a quick, fun-filled mid-winter break. The rooms were very nice, and the indoor water park was fabulous. We had so many fun moments as a family and were able to make some good memories.
One thing I noticed is that the children have an incredible amount of stamina. That place was filled with steps to climb for the water slides, water tubes, and indoor water roller coaster, and none of that phased the children. They climbed and slid and played in the wave pool tirelessly. David was hillarious. He was run to the top of the indoor playground to slide down the water slides over and over. We were one of the very few families there, so he never had to wait in line. He would slide down, then immediately head back up to the top.
Anne Mary is a good swimmer but she wanted to wear the life vests they had there. She felt very safe and comfortable the whole time. David also wore one of their life vests and he did terrific with it. I was a little worried that the life vest would make him a little "too confident" next time we are around water, so I will have to be on guard the next time we are around water.
My parents went with us and enjoyed seeing the grandchildren. My dad was actually roped into climbing the five stories of steps to the biggest ride - twice. Once with Sarah, then later with Anne Mary.
Here are the things we learned: The week we went the place was nearly empty. This was terrific. The children never had to wait in long lines. I could keep an eye on the kids from a little more distance than if there were a huge crowd.
Get there right as the doors to the water park open if you want to use their life vests. They were snatched up fairly quickly. I cannot imagine how much different David's time would have been without that safeguard.
The place is warm, at 84 degrees, so dress appropriately. Bring some kind of comfortable water shoes. By our final morning there, the feet of some of us were getting more and more sensitive to the ground there.
Bring a water camera. I did not remember to bring these, and I wish I had them. I took a few pictures with my digital camera but was worried about the high moisture, so I did not keep the camera out in the humidity for long.
If you go, be aware the food in the restaurants is over priced and not very tasty. You can bring your own food to your room (they have a fridge and microwave). There are also a few on site restaurants (like Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme and Starbucks) but we will probably bring more of our own food if we return.
I love so many things about Christmas. Since we have a three year old, there is the constant questions and wonders about the "miracles" of Christmas! The first miracle is the tree inside our house. David is amazed by it and loved helping us decorate it. He loves crawling under it to turn on the sparkling lights.
He has also learned that advertisements actually have things that people can buy. A few times lately he has found something in an ad or catalog and brought it to me with the following: "Can we have one of these at our house?" I usually just smile and look at it with him and say: "Wow, that is neat." Really, I do not recall any of my other children bringing me advertisements with things they liked.
Another miracle is the snow. He has very vivid memories of the big snow last year. he talks about our snowmen, snow ball fights, and hot chocolate. So every time we get a flurry he looks out the window all day waiting to see if this snow will be big enough to sled. He is watching the windows today.
The one thing he does not yet seem to comprehend is the connection of all these Christmas wonders to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I look forward to teaching him and talking to him more about Jesus this month. There are so many great books and resources for mothers to help teach their young ones- even toddlers about the Good Shepherd who came to earth as a baby in a humble manger. Snuggling up with the kids under blankets and reading the word will be a real treasure this month.
A sad part about this month is that Christina really is growing up. She was not there when we decorated the tree because she had already made plans. She won't be going to the Christmas plays with us this year because she is in college. I guess her schedule will dictate if she is able to do Christmas Crafts and Christmas baking with us this year. For some reason, I never imagined the day would come where she would not be around for all these simple ways we celebrate Christmas.
Oh, mothers with just littles in tow, enjoy those babies and all the simple memories you are making. Relax about the house, and spend time teaching the young ones in your care about Jesus and his great promises.
Happy Homemaking!
Malia Russell
For more Mondays on Mothering, head over to: http://bowofbronze.com/blogs/
Several facebook friends posted this video. Some wonderful friends of ours work for New Life International where they make water purifiers and install them around the world. Looking for a great cause this Christmas?
http://waterfortheworld.com/
This Weblog is meant to be a source of encouragement for Christian Home Educating mothers, with an emphasis on home management, homemaking, and multi-age schooling.
