Wife and best friend to one. Mother to five (and I pray more to come) Living on one acre with a dairy cow, dairy goats and chickens. Teaching my children with Montessori, Mason, Classical and Life inspiration. Feel free to share with me your thoughts. I LOVE to hear from others. Hebrews 10: 23&24 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 3 Mar 2009 07:53:00 -0600 Tue, 3 Mar 2009 07:53:00 -0600 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. and enter not into judgement with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soal thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me , lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning: for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein i should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me , O LORD, from mine enemies; I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness; sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut of mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/664566/ Tue, 3 Mar 2009 07:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/664566/ Okay, in a previous post I mentioned that I let my kids snack before breakfast. Why? you ask. Because it saves my sanity. They are hungry the second they wake up and I (although I am up early) am not usually ready to serve breakfast. So, I allow them to have a banana, apple, piece of bread or sometimes a homemade graham cracker. These things are healthy and I consider it part of their meal. Yes, I could have breakfast ready to eat the moment they get up...but most the stuff I make is better fresh as possible..plus, I never know exactly when they will wake up because most often it is staggered (meaning they don't all rise at the same time). I also enjoy the fact that the snack gathers them all at the table and keeps them busy therefore, delaying the morning pandemonium for a little while. This post is a part of Kitchen Tip Tuesday and Help for Growing Families. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/653907/ Tue, 3 Feb 2009 07:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/653907/ We love shepherds pie around here. Really, who doesn't? What you've never tried it?! Well you have too! It is the ultimate comfort food, I think anyway. There are a million different recipes out there...but I will share mine with you anyway. It is pretty simple and easy. 1-1 1/2lbs grass fed ground beef. 1/2 onion (we like sweet Italian red) 2 cloves garlic salt pepper 1c frozen corn 3 large russet potatoes 1/2c butter 1/2 c. cream 1c cheese *Peel potatoes and place in a large pot of water, bring to a boil and cook till soft. (for added nutrition leave all or some of the skin on, really it mixes in and most hardly notice) *Cook  hamburger, onion and garlic in a large skillet till meat is browned and onions are tender. * When potatoes have finished cooking, put into mixer bowl (or just a big  bowl) add butter, cream, salt and pepper. Mix on High until light and fluffy. *Place beef in a 9x13 casserole dish, season with salt and pepper. cover with corn and then top with mashed potatoes and cheese. * Bake 350o or until cheese melts. (or wrap and freeze for later use) *This can be bumped up a notch by adding crumpled bacon or sausage to the meat, but it is  very yummy as is. Enjoy. Look for more great kitchen tips here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/650855/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/650855/ "Enjoy them now, because before you know it, they'll be grown and out of the house." I hear this quite often. When I am in the thick of littles it is often difficult to remember the "enjoy" part and to focus more, instead on the "survive" part. However, I think if I throw this advice to the wind, I will miss out on the everyday blessings that God intends to give me. Children are a blessing. I have no doubt of that in my mind and in my heart. But, oftentimes when that alarm goes off  in the morning and I take off running, that fact gets lost in the shuffle. It is of utmost importance that I hear these words of wisdom and put them into practice. God has placed these experienced mama's in my life for a reason. They know the joys of watching children grow into beautiful capable adults. They also remember the joys (and work) of having all little ones. And really, the work will pass, but the love and attention I give now will have lasting effects. Although wiping tables (3+ times a day), sweeping (3+ times a day) and cooking (3+ times a day) can be grueling at times, I should focus on the why of it and not the blah of it. There are a few ways I am learning to do this. I am not through it yet, so I in no way am claiming to be an expert. But, my oldest is six and my sixth baby is on the way, so I have been kind of forced into some fast forward learning. So here are a few of my thoughts on how to go from just surviving to enjoying them now. * include them in the work. Yes, it takes longer and the result is most often less than perfect, but well worth your effort. Instead of shuffling them off and "getting them out from under foot" Let them join in. They love it! They love the time with you and the responsibility of being a helper. They even just love pulling up a chair and watching. Now, to avoid overload, I give them turns and let them help one at a time. This also provides the opportunity to spend some focused time on one child. I have also learned that I enjoy my work more when I have someone to share it with. * When they wake up, smile. This most likely require you being awake already. Because, I know it is hard to smile when being awoken for five requests for snacks (yes, they snack before breakfast, more on that latter). But, if I am awake and ready to greet them, I smile and let them know how happy I am to see them. I try to take this opportunity to cuddle and hug as well. And, even if I am still in bed, I smile anyway and invite them up for some snuggling. * Be a kid. You have got to admit it, kids are fun.They seem to be able to turn just about anything they are doing into a hooping hollering good time. Take time for pillow fights and wresting matches. Build a Lego castle or stage a mini car race. Even just run around the yard screaming for no good reason. Be fun! Don't be a bump on the log and send the "noise" outside so you can enjoy yourself. I need to take this bit of advice more often. Before I had my own children, playing with little kids was the ULTIMATE! I have lost this along the way and must find it, ideas? Well, that's all I have got for now, because, I need to go enjoy some short people that are screaming for my attention patiently waiting for me. Just remember enjoy them NOW. Oh, any advice from you experienced mamas? And check out help for growing families at ship full o' pirates! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/650353/ Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/650353/ So, from the beginning it has been a desire of Joe and my heart that we would homeschool. In order to do so he must work and I must stay here...otherwise the whole homeschool thing would be quite a bit more complicated. Well, as we all know one income can make things tight. But tight does not have to mean uncomfortable. Not only do we have just one income, but we have high standards for our food. We believe in real food. We desire to eat foods that God has made and to avoid foods that man has destroyed. We also avoid even healthy packaged foods, mostly because of the expense (not to mention the fact that they are rarely any better for you). This does require more work and planning, but is really not as hard as you may think.  We try to keep our bill below $300 a month. This may sound low for a healthy food budget...but there are some reasons for this. 1: We have animals...so milk and eggs are free, and really fairly unlimited (except in the winter, when those stubborn chickens refuse to lay!). Yes we pay for animal feed, but we also sell the excess of the product so we end up even. If we had to buy raw milk from grass fed animals it would be $5 a gallon and eggs from pastured chickens would be $3.00 a dozen. That could easily run us $90.00-$100.00  a month. So all the extra work and effort is worth it for us. I know this is not an option for everyone, but if it is consider it. 2: We buy most of our grains, beans and many other products in bulk. I do not have a big house where I can store all these things, but we have been creative with our space. Our house is around 1000 square feet. We have three bedrooms, but only use two. The third has been turned into a pantry/storage room. We use buckets (some five gallon and some 3 gallon (free from the Costco bakery)). This really does make a difference in the budget. If we bought these things individually it would cost way more and the bonus of having ingredients on hand is that we don't go to the store as often (which also saves money). 3: Our children are small and young.  They do not eat as much as an adult, but they do still eat quite a bit for their size. 4; Fresh produce is really important to us and while I would love that it all be organic...that is not possible because organic prices get jacked up ridiculously high.  We buy a large amount of bananas from Costco..they end up being about 25cents a piece, which is a pretty cheep snack. Plus bananas are low on the pesticide absorption list, as are avocados. On my last Azure order I ordered 40lbs of no spray apples for just $16! I was able to freeze and dehydrate these for future use. Also we pick our own no spray blueberries in the summer for just $1.10 a pound! So our freezer is well stocked with those healthy berries. We also grow a garden in the summer ( at least I am learning how) this helps and we have apple trees. I usually keep organic corn and green beans in the freezer and regularly buy spinach, broccoli, onions, peppers and garlic. 5: Meat, this is the one that grabs all our$$$$$$$. We buy grass fed hamburger from a local farm for $2.50 a pound. We buy whole foster farms chickens (not pastured, but a decent compromise) for 99cents a pound. We bought a whole pig from friends a while back but at $3.00 a pound it was not cheap. We hope to raise our own meat soon and sell so as to come out free on meat too! I also buy cheese, evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, raw honey, Celtic sea salt and a few other  condiments (barbecue sauce and raspberry chipotle sauce for hubby). Although I try to avoid anything containing high fructose corn syrup. So, we eat simply, but eat plenty (sometimes more than we should) and we definitely eat healthy. Not to mention our real food tastes delicious! You can eat a very nourishing diet and still keep a low bill. For Fantastic Frugal Ideas Click Here! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/649333/ Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/649333/ I have been blogging a lot about cooking lately, huh!? Well, I guess when you spend the majority of your day somewhere it is bound to be on the forefront of your mind ,is it not? Plus, in the winter I love baking because it not only heats the house, but warms our bellies. But, really, I do things outside my little kitchen quite often. Like just last week, I was at one moment researching bagel recipes and the next moment responding to a call from my hubby that our cow was in the neighbors yard a little down the road. So, I took the five year old boy with me to go get Bella and left the six year old to keep everyone happy for the few moments I would  be gone. When I returned I then I Had to go and locate two little girls that had gone AWOL in search of me. Praise the Lord ! They found their way to the friendly neighbors backyard! Then. the other day I was having a conversation with my son and he asked if we were going to adopt a baby someday. I told him I would not be surprised if the Lord had that for us in the future. To that he replies " Oh good, we should get one for me, one for Haven and one for Jubilee...that way we can each have our own baby! " Can you tell they love their baby brother  and are looking forward to the next. The more babies the merrier! Well, I guess we will have to wait and see what the Lord has for us. And, as far as school goes (this is homeschoolblogger, after all), I think we are truckin right along. We are reading through John, a chapter a day. Jubilee's reading out-loud skills are improving daily. We successfully memorized Psalm 1 and now we are moving on to 1 John 5. We have a blast belting out tunes from the hymnal (I am not sure it would be listener friendly, but we sure enjoy it). Jubilee is moving right along in her Miquon math book and I am growing to like it more daily as I catch on to what they are going for. She does a lot of writing and copy-work on her own...so I don't really assign that. Jack is learning to write his name and fine tuning his counting skills. The younger ones enjoy soaking up all the info they can. We keep reading good books and enjoying time together! I figure, at this point, the simpler I keep things the better. Oh!  and the most exciting news ever! I am going to have a camera again! Life is good! Well, I want to share more...but this post is already extremely boring and long. So, I will stop your suffering. But, soon I want to share more about bulk shopping and keeping the grocery bill low, while not sacrificing balanced meals and nutrition. I know, more kitchen stuff, what can I say? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/648755/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:24:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/648755/ I love cooking for my freezer! There is just something comforting about knowing I have something homemade and delicious to eat even if I don't feel like cooking. I also love the fact that It saves me money. I have already spoken in a previous post on how much cheaper it is to cook at home, not to mention the health benefits. Now, there is a bit of thinking ahead with freezer meals because you need to defrost. But I do have a couple tricks up my sleeve that help with that too. One of our favorite wintertime foods is split pea soup with ham. Now, I do not have a recipe, but this is what you do. Ingredients: Ham hocks or leftover ham on the bone from locally grown, antibiotic and chemical free pork. (I know there are many of you out there that do not eat pork...some other meat could probably be substituded, perhaps beef hocks?) Dry split peas. ( I buy the 50lb bag from azure standard ) Onions, garlic, celery and carrots. (or what ever is on hand) Water. Right after breakfast in the a.m.: 1. Place your ham hocks (or leftover ham on the bone) in a big stock pot (mine is 16quart).  2. Fill about a third full with dry split peas. 3. Cut up one onion, press five cloves garlic and add any other veggies that sound good (carrots, celery etc........) I just use what I have on hand. 4. Fill 3/4 full with water. 5. Place on Med low heat for at least 5-6 hours. 6. When peas are soft and mushy, pull hocks or bone out and remove and shred the meat. Place the meat back in the pot and discard the bones. (The meat and bones really give the soup an amazing flavor) 7. This makes a huge batch, so enjoy a bowl for dinner and when it cools either place in gallon size zip locks or canning jars (with about an inch of head space). 8. To defrost....If in a bag: tear off the bag and place soup in appropriate size pot...leave on low heat for 3-4 hours stirring occasionally to break up chunks. If in a jar: place the jar in Hot water...changing water out till soup is pourable..pour into pot and heat. We like this soup with sea salt and pepper. A side of biscuits is also a nice treat. Biscuit dough can be frozen as well. Just mix up a batch of your favorite biscuits place the dough in a gallon size bag and freeze. The morning of your meal take it out and place it on the counter to defrost. by the evening they should be ready to roll out and bake. If the dough has gotten a little sticky...just add a bit of flour as you roll. Oh...and one more tip for defrosting frozen meals. For casseroles I like to get out my big electric roaster. In the morning I put in my frozen casserole set the temp low (like 200-250) and at dinner time I whip up a salad and we eat!  This is a good one to do on baking day so you can keep your oven free. Which reminds me, I have successfully frozen many bread doughs and pizza doughs. I just mix em, let them rise once and them place in a freezer bag. It does usually swell and fill up the bag...but I have never had a mess. Then, when I want fresh baked bread. I take it out of the freezer bag and place it in a bowl or bread pan (If it fits) to rise. Then bake as usual. Hope you try this and enjoy it! It is a family favorite of ours and economical as well. Now I am off to get more freezer ideas! And to check out Kitchen tip Tuesday And to get  some Help for growing families.   Maybe I should pull out a freezer meal!? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/647705/ Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:34:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/647705/ So, I asked Joe to do a cost breakdown on our meals. Pricing each ingredient and figuring the cost per person.I asked him to do it because...well....he like numbers, and well, I don't. But, I wanted him to do it because: 1: I needed to be convinced that it really is cheaper than eating out. 2: I needed some encouragement and motivation to keep on cooking. I already know that the food I cook at home is far superior in nutrition than fast food or even convenience foods from the grocery store. But cooking from scratch takes a lot of time and effort and sometimes I just need a reminder that it is  really worth it. On nights when I am really tired and just want to buy a $10 pizza from Costco....I need to know that cooking at home is much better in every way. Well, I was actually blown away! I did not really think It would be THAT  cheap. Here are some examples of some of the meals we priced: Split pea (this is a good one to make a big batch of and freeze) Ham hocks                        1/2lb $1.50 split peas                           4c  $0.65 Onion                                 1/2 $0.15 garlic                                  2cloves $0.01 celtic sea salt                   2T $0.12 Total      $2.33  $0.33 per person (7) Roast chicken (We ussually only eat half the chicken and then have meat left over and bones for broth) Whole chicken                   4lbs. $3.96 onion                                   1 $0.29 Sliced potatoes    1           lbs. $0.30 Total      $3.55   $0.51 per person (7) Here are some breakfast examples: OATMEAL Thick rolled oats              7 cups $0.73 Brown sugar                     2 oz. $0.06 Raw Butter                        2 oz. $1.25   Raw cream                      1/2 pt. $0.75 Blue Berries(optional)   1/4 lbs.$0.27    Total      $3.06  $0.51 per person (6 hubby is not home for breakfast) Our Total     $1.06  $0.17 per person (6) (This is our total using our own cream from our cow, basically free because we sell milk to come out even) DUTCH PUFF eggs (8)                                8  $2.00 1.5 cups wheat berries)   1.5 cups$1.65 2 cups milk                           2 cups $0.75 .5 cup butter                          1/2 cup $0.50 brown sugar syrup(1/8 butter 1/2brown) 1/4 cup $0.16 Total      $5.06  $0.84 per person (6) Our Total     $1.74  $0.29 per person (6)(with our own dairy and eggs) This still just blows me a way! People wonder how we make it on one income...well...cooking from scratch and owning our own food producing animals is how. You really should do a cost breakdown on your meals. Even if you do not cook completely from scratch I think you will be pleasantly surprised! Or maybe you will be able to see some ways to cut costs. For some frugal inspiration.....visit Biblical Womanhood.             http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/646206/ Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:05:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/646206/ Lindsay over at Passionate Homemaking is hosting a bookstudy and giveaway. I am very excited about this and hope to win one of the !TEN! copies being given away. But even if I do not win, I would love to purchase the book and participate in the study. Both my husband and I have a heart for hospitality, but in the busy-ness of life we have not practiced much of it. It would be nice to read this book and possibly gain some encouragement and inspiration.  Here is an excerpt from Passionate Homemaking, Oh and to enter the contest...go Here!   “Believers can uniquely dis­play God’s love as they extend hospitality…Food and other ele­ments are merely tools used to express our love for people. Our moti­va­tion for being hos­pitable women is a response to God’s work in our lives. Hos­pi­tal­ity is one way we can tan­gi­bly demon­strate our love for God.” The call to prac­tice hos­pi­tal­ity is a com­mand given to all believ­ers (Romans 12:13).  “Practicing” means that we are to pursue, strive for, and actively look for oppor­tu­ni­ties to show hos­pi­tal­ity. As women of God, we are given unique gifts to demon­strate Christ’s love through being will­ing to open our doors in min­istry unto others. Hos­pi­tal­ity is a form of giving! It’s not about having our act together with a gourmet meal and per­fectly dec­o­rated home, but rather it is an atti­tude of the heart…a wel­com­ing, gen­er­ous, com­pas­sion­ate desire to serve and spread the love of Christ. It is also not lim­ited to your home, but rather a lifestyle of giving! Prac­tic­ing Hos­pi­tal­ity: The Joy of Serv­ing Others by Pat Ennis & Lisa Tat­lock will assist you in ful­fill­ing this com­mand through sup­ply­ing you with the vision and excite­ment to see how you can take part in extend­ing His king­dom by simply open­ing your home and life to others. The authors delve into topics of extend­ing hos­pi­tal­ity first and fore­most to your own family, keep­ing your house­hold man­aged so you can be pre­pared for hos­pi­tal­ity, in addi­tion to a wealth of ideas, recipes and resources for all aspects of serv­ing others. This book is for single and mar­ried indi­vid­u­als alike as the authors pro­vide tan­gi­ble ideas for both audi­ences on how to ful­fill this command. Please join us for our upcom­ing book study using Prac­tic­ing Hos­pi­tal­ity. Our study has been extended to begin on Feb­ru­ary 1st, and we will read one chap­ter each week and have a dis­cus­sion posted weekly on Mon­days after the con­clu­sion of each chap­ter, so order your copy today! Giveaway We would like to offer a copy of this book as a give­away, thanks to the folks at Cross­way Books. You can be entered to win a copy of this book by simply adding a com­ment below. To be entered twice in the give­away, pass on the word at your blog about this book study and give­away and come back and post a link to your site. We want to encour­age as many women as pos­si­ble to be blessed by the won­der­ful con­tents of this inspir­ing book! There will be one ran­domly drawn winner. UPDATE: Due to the won­der­ful response we have received in response to this give­away, Pat Ennis, one of the authors con­tacted me and would like to con­tribute another 9 copies of this book to our give­away. SO I am thrilled to say there will be ten winners! Give­away ends Friday, Jan­u­ary 16, at 5:00 pm PST. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/645714/ Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:01:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/645714/ So, I have been walking exactly twice since I mentioned the need last friday. Not bad if I do  say so myself. Each week I am sure it will get a little better. But, I have had to abandon the whole "taking all five kids with me" thing. I mean, really, what was I thinking? Sure, they love to walk with me, but probably not daily. And a nature walk (stopping every two minuets to stuff our pockets and stroller with dead leaves and heavy rocks) is not really what I am going for. Sure, I will still take walks with kiddos in tow...but for exercise something different needed to happen. Well, I decided  to take advantage of when hubby is home. Last Monday was his day off and I got the opportunity to walk with a friend. Sure I still took two kiddos with me...but all I had was a stroller and not a backpack and two on foot. Now...this is not something I will do very often (leave hubby on his day off to walk with a friend) but it sure  was a  fun way to kick things off. Now we have decided on a bit of a new routine. Hubby gets home about 3:30. So, I will take the two youngest for a stroll  power walk around the block while he tackles some projects with the older ones as helpers. This works. I get a good walk in and the kiddos get a little more individualized time. For more things that work. Go Here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/645307/ Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jumping/645307/