Oct. 15, 2009 - Flying

This week Taylor got to go “flying” with some friends from our homeschool group.  Our group has been having these one day “workshops” on various subjects.  This one was on radio controlled planes that his friend Keaton did.

They had instructors there to help the kid “fly” the planes.  The instructors used a control box that has connected controls so that they can take over if you mess up.  It’s called a buddy box.  Taylor was really concerned about wrecking a plane so this really helped him feel comfortable.  He actually did very well and didn’t need to worry about “messing up”.  The instructors do the take-off and landing and guide you what to do in the air.

I actually tried it too and it was pretty fun.  Taylor said he was pretty good at it from playing flying video games.  Since I don’t play those games it took me longer to get used to the controls.

His friend gave a talk explaining how the planes work.  I was really impressed about how much he knew about aviation and engines.

Oct. 7, 2009 - New Way of Eating

This fall has found our family on a new adventure with a different kind of eating.  With some of the issues my husband has been having with his Stills disease we were led to start investigating how foods relate to your heath.  It’s been quite an experience!

It all started back at homeschool family camp in late August.  Chris was on some pretty significant drugs and having some pretty big side effects and pain from his disease.  In talking with someone he met there she mentioned she had a lot of success in curing her Rheumatoid Arthritis through her diet.  He talked with her quite a bit and had some names of books she recommended that we went home with.

Well long story short, we did a lot of ready in a short amount of time and felt like this was an answer or at least a possible avenue God was nudging us towards.  Basically the ideas presented from multiple sources (books by Fuhrman, McDougall and China Study) all support that people who eat exclusively plant based diets have virtually no chronic conditions.  In fact they site many instances of people being “cured” of MANY chronic conditions through food choices.  It is really interesting reading even if you’re skeptical.

We are starting on our 5^th week of eating this way and so far we believe it’s helping.  The thing with his disease is that he has ups and downs so it will be hard to tell positively for awhile but it seems to be helping.  He’s definitely not getting worse (which he was day by day until we started this) and he has reduced his medications considerably.  He would like to be off them completely but they are not the kind of things you should quit cold turkey so it’s a weaning process.  I do believe this is an answer from God.

Now, do me a favor, if you’re a believer stop reading right now and just send a bullet prayer to God.  You see every time we give God glory in this area Satan attacks so your prayers will help cover us.  Thank you!

Okay, back to the issue at hand… 

Now the hard thing for me has been cooking for this!  Those that read my blog probably know I’m big into freezer cooking and my lifestyle is not real condusive to figuring out each day what we’ll eat that night.  Frankly it stresses me out!  So I’ve been on a search for recipes that will fit his new eating plan that I can make ahead!

Thankfully, I do now have a few in the freezer which will make my life SO much easier.  Last week I did 50lbs of potato’s in various ways (all that he can do) that are now stashed in the freezer.  If you want to know what to do with 50lb’s of potato’s check out this blog.  This time I modified that plan a little (vegan cheese, soy bacon crumbles etc…) but did essentially the same.

Another recipe I modified and created last night was Black Beans and Rice.  It was incredible!  I made a double batch so we’ve got one in the freezer but next time I’ll definitely make 4 or more!  Even non restricted eaters would love this one!

Black Beans and Rice (this makes two small or one large)

2 cans black beans drained

1 can of corn (or you could use frozen, I was out)

2 cups uncooked brown rice

2 jars salsa (I used one mild, one medium each 16 oz.)

1 jar spaghetti sauce (think this was 20oz, I used Vegan friendly kind but use what you like)

½ t. cumin

½ t. oregano

Combine all the ingredients and pour into a large 10X15 or two smaller casseroles.  Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes (till rice is done.)  Either eat right away or cool and transfer to freezer bags to store for future meals!  I served shredded cheddar on the side and I didn’t have sour cream but that would be a great side topping too!

Sep. 17, 2009 - Grandma's Jars

 Yesterday I finally got some more canning done.  Why is it that Fair, Family Camp, School starting and Canning season all have to happen in the same 3-4 weeks?  It sure is a busy time of year to be trying to put up all those tomatoes but now I’m feeling better about our stash.

This year I got to use some old canning jars that were my Grandma’s.  She died some years ago but they are finally cleaning out the house and my Aunt called and asked if I wanted canning jars.  After qualifying that they were really CANNING jars I said of course I could use them.

You have to understand Grandma was from a different era where they kept and used everything so I remember many peanut butter jars and the like being used that by the standards today wouldn’t be acceptable. 

My Aunt told me there were Blue jars which I’ve never had but by the time the box got to me they were gone.  I would have probably displayed those in the kitchen with dry beans or something anyway. 

Some of the jars were square which was kind of neat and a couple had the 1776 logo on them.  I’d had a few of those before that a neighbor gave me.  One broke while canning which is always disappointing (and messy!)  That has happened before when I’ve used old jars.  I’m not sure if it’s because they’re old or more likely that they’ve been out of use (same reason your supposed to rotate your crystal and use it all not just the glasses in the front of the cupboard!)   

Well I did plain tomatoes and salsa yesterday.  Last year I had four quarts of tomatoes left over and the year before I ran out in February so who knows how many we’ll need.  It depends on what kind of cooking we do that year I guess, some years we must make more chili and goulash!  I only spent $9 on tomatoes this year, the rest were from my garden.  I think we’ve got 21 quarts of tomatoes put up (which I’m guessing isn’t enough!) 

I definitely would have canned more but the garden only did “fair” this year.  The weather was very cool and then really wet for two weeks straight (I think the wet is what got them!)

Only got a double batch of salsa done which made 6 pints plus what we ate at dinner which I know will not be enough.  We still have some tomatoes in the garden so maybe I’ll get another batch done yet.

Sep. 4, 2009 - Back from homeschool family camp

We made it back and the kids are sulking around the house wishing we were still at camp.  In truth I probably am a little bit too.  I’m not ready to start school Tuesday!  Do you think maybe we can move Labor Day?

Camp was great as always in fact Taylor thought it was the best family camp ever!  Everything was good; fellowship with like minded families, freedom to let your kids roam with other kids who have similar values, great praise and worship, awesome speaker (Todd Wilson), amazing activities and scrumptious food I didn’t have to make!  What could be better?  Ariel wants to know if they offer a month long camp.

Here’s just a few shots of the fun.  The only shot of the whole family was on the camp camera.  They’ve promised to email those but I haven’t received them yet but here’s a look at our week.

Aug. 27, 2009 - Fair

We’re just about recovered from our fair week last week.  It’s a great week but it takes about a whole week of prep, then the week you’re actually there and a week to recover.

This year we had a lot of rain and spent a lot of time with wet feet.  Monday when we got there many of the barns had flooding.  None of our exhibits or animals got wet, but it did make finding dry wood shavings for the pens challenging at times!

Of course we had our surprises and disappointments as always.  Logan once again took Champion for the Intermediate Showmanship division which landed him a trophy.  He was hoping to take Grand Champion but couldn’t quite get it done.  Next year, he says!  Taylor also got 3rd in that same showmanship class which was great for his first year in Intermediate division.  Logan's Rhode Island Reds who won Grand Champ as pullets last year placed third as hens this year too.  Lexie, Taylor, Logan and Ariel all had honorable mention on at least one bird but our pullets were young so they didn’t place.

Ariel had an exciting year as she received Champion for her Speech for the first time.  She also got chosen to be on the Ag Olympic team which for some reason she was very excited about.  They draw names for this and when her name wasn’t drawn for the poultry barn she went to some of the other barns where she also exhibited to see if she could get on a team.  Home Economics was the winner, I think partly from her bugging the lady ever hour or so, although Ariel will disagree with me on that point.

It’s really a bunch of silly races they do on the last day but for some reason she was very excited to do this.  Home Economics ended up in the finals and placed 3^rd so she got another ribbon and some other rewards.

When it’s done we load up all our canning, sewing, crafts, photography, pictures, chickens, bunches of ribbons and head out a little after midnight.  Then we spend the next three or four days trying to get it all put away along with getting all the things like laundry and housekeeping that didn’t get done while we were at fair.

Is it worth it, definitely.  Is it tiring, absolutely!

Jul. 28, 2009 - Fort St. Joseph Archeology

Taylor got to participate in an archeology program last week where he actually got to do the  work of an archeologist.  On the last day I said to him, “Well, now do you have a little better idea what it’s actually like?”  He replied, “Mom, we DID ALL THE STUFF.”  His answer was said with an attitude of, “No, Mom, I really was an archeologist.”  Though he would say it like that, he’s much too mature now.

It really is a great program where they do all the parts including the set up, digging, dusting, watering, cleaning, paperwork and more.  He found several beads and some bones while he was there.

If you are anywhere near Niles MI it might be worth a trip to check it out.  They have a public open house this weekend where you can see the process as well as re-enactors portraying life at the time and showing artifacts, weapons and tools that have been found.  We’ve gone several times and we always enjoy it and learn something.  Apparently this dig site and program is the only one like it in the Midwest which is kind of neat for anyone near here.  Click here for more information on the Fort open house  .  

Jul. 1, 2009 - Cherry picking

We got to go pick tart cherries on Monday.  I thought the season was just about done but to my surprise it was actually the first day they were allowing people to U-pick.  It's so beautiful with the sun hitting the red cherries.  This year I didn't bring my camera but I did take a couple with the cell phone camera, thought they're not quite as sharp.  The boys stayed home this year, so it was just the girls.

Once we got home we canned and dried.  I was disappointed in the jam however.  On the way home we stopped at Save A Lot and picked up some of their brand of "Sure-Jel" which I was initially thrilled with as it's only .99cents versus $2 for the brand name.  Well not so thrilled because it didn't work!  The first batch which I used real Sure-Jel set great like always.  Second batch I used the other brand and it didn't set, very disappointing!  We'll use it for smoothies or something but still disappointing.

We also froze a bag of prepared cherries for a crisp and dried a bunch to use in muffins and granola.

This year I also tried a cherry salsa recipe.  It's different and good.  I'm not sure if it will can well.  I may freeze a cup or two and try it that way first.  So far we've ate it with chips but I think it would be great over a pork roast or something too.

Cherry Salsa

1 1/2 cups tart cherries chopped

1 T. fresh cilantro snipped

1 clove of garlic crushed

1 T. of finely chopped jalapeno pepper

1/2 purple onion chopped

1/4 cup of finely chopped dried tart cherries (I used what we had left from last year!)

Some cherries juice (probably about 1/4 cup) with a teaspoon of cornstarch blended in. 

Mix all ingredients in sauce pan, stir in the juice with cornstarch and heat until slightly thickened.  Cool and serve.

Jun. 24, 2009 - Rhode Island vacation

 Crab CoveFound a starfish (alive)

 found a ray

One of the things we always do is have steamers and lobster.  They go pick them right from the fishing boats down the road in Gailee which is fun for the kids.  Plus it’s a whole lot cheaper that way then buying them imported to MI!  Taylor especially likes Lobster and ate four that day (not all at once, he just kept eating leftovers!)  Steamers are kind of a Rhode Island thing.  They are actually cohogs which are similar to clams of mussels.  I don’t like mussels but I like cohogs as long as you get the sand out. 

eating steamers

My sister-in-law recently got married and her husband is from Lebanon, he’d never had steamers.  He had to try them but it took him till we were down to one left to get up the nerve.  Turns out, he likes them but they were gone by the time he figured that out.

The other thing that always seems to be a problem for us is the early sun in Rhode Island.  We’re on the West end of the Eastern time zone so it doesn’t get light quite so early.  Out there we’re up by 5:30 a.m. thanks to the sun.  Most mornings it makes for a nice quiet walk on the beach (except half the days when it rained) and a good long quiet time before all the kids are up!

We did drive to Boston one day but I’ll save that for another blog.  I’ve got a lot of pictures from the Freedom Trail that I’ll post.  It was defiantly worth it but it takes WAY longer (at least for a homeschool family) then any review I’d read before we went!

It’s good to be home…even if only for a few days.  We leave for our last convention soon…so if you’re going to CHEO, look me up!

May. 27, 2009 - 16 years ago

My oldest is 16 years old today, how life has changed in 16 years!  Do you remember your life before kids?  I’m not sure I do remember it clearly anymore….

I have to say that Logan certainly changed my life.  His birth was the most difficult for me physically and emotionally and changed my perspective on health care forever.  Our experience with sending him to school changed our thoughts on schooling forever.  And of course, being my first he taught me what motherhood was all about.

He is a pretty neat young man if I do say so myself.  One of my prayers for him was that he develop strong leadership skills and he sure has.  My prayer for him also was that he would find Jesus at an early age and he did.  He’s becoming quite the Godly young man.

For his 16^th birthday we chose to give him ring as a symbol of what he’s working to be.  He chose the ring which has the words El Shaddai Warrior on it.  With it we gave him a framed piece stating what this ring and “El Shaddai Warrior” represents.  Here’s just part of what’s in his frame;

 “If I have the COURAGE to face my fears; HONOR , which I show to God and my fellow man; the proper ATTITUDE  concerning myself and my circumstances; the MENTAL toughness required to make hard decisions; PURITY  of the heart, mind, and body; the INTEGRITY to stand for what I believe, even in the most difficult situations; effective OWNERSHIP of all that is entrusted to me; and focused NAVIGATION in order to successfully chart my course in life; I will live as a true EL SHADDAI WARRIOR, committed to battling evil and changing my world for God’s glory.”

We adapted most of what we put in his frame from a book called Teknon Warrior that my husband had used with him over the last few years.  When presenting it to him my husband pointed out that this isn’t an ending but a starting point and his training in becoming a Godly man continues.

I thank God for a husband who is willing to take ownership of this area of parenting and care enough to train our boys into the men God wants them to be.  I also thank God for a son who is willing to take up the standard and become the man God wants him to be.

May. 12, 2009 - Winding down

How’s your end of the school year going?  We’re winding down but not fast enough for my liking.  Some years it seems like no big deal and other years we’re just ready to be done!  This is one of those we’re just “waiting” to finish.

Part of the problem is we tackled a very difficult book for the end of the year and it really seems to be draining us (it’s Pilgrims Progress but more on that in another blog…)

Activities are coming to an end which is good.  We had our talent show last week (which is the end of band), and our History Fair last month.  The kids didn’t do Spring sports this year which was VERY nice!  Awana ended last week too.  I think summer really will get here!

The Band pictures turned out really dark (they always seem to at the church we use for that) and the Awana award pictures not so good either so I’ll post a couple from the science fair/derby.<>

In the picture with the three boys, my Taylor's the one on the left but I put the one with his friends in because it's so cute.  They are sure growing up.  My oldest didn't do a fair project or car, he was working (refereeing soccer.)  Time flies...

Hope the rest of the schoolwork  flies!  We should be done May 20th.  Then we'll have to do something fun on the 21st to celebrate!

Aug. 31, 2008 - Homeschool Family Camp

It has been a busy August!  We just got back from homeschool family camp at Bair Lake Bible Camp .   The week was amazing!

I’m not sure exactly why family camp is so great for us but I think a big part of it is that you are there to have fun as a family with no responsibilities!  It’s great to be able to “play” all day with your kids and sometimes your husband too and not have to clean up, set up or cook dinner! 

So what did we do?  For the boys their favorite activity of the week would I’m sure be the paintball.  The girls like the arts and crafts as well as the zip line and rock walls.  This year they had a new indoor rock wall for us to try too!  The big event for me was actually doing one of the rock walls myself!  My husband did take pictures but I will spare you those as any of you know who have put those harness on know there is no way to look feminine in those things!  But I did it, didn’t think I could but I did!!!!

Let’s see, we also participated in lots of games like scavenger type hunts as well as regular things like volleyball.  There were also BB guns, archery, skeet shooting, canoeing, kayaking (my husband got REALLY wet doing this! LOL), BMX bikes, Mini-golf, swimming, Rocket launching, Eating (seemed like all the time and WAY too much, who says camp food is bad?) and probably a whole lot more I’m forgetting.

We’ve been to Bair Lake several times before for family camp but this was a first for the “homeschool” family camp.  It was an added bonus to be with other homeschool families and have a homeschool speaker.  I guess you could compare it to camp with the bonus of convention workshops!  I got a lot out of that part which I’ll save for another blog.

So if you’re in MI, IN, OH and IL you should really check out this camp and maybe we’ll see you there next year!

Gina

Aug. 24, 2008 - trip to Ohio

Wow, has it been crazy around here lately.  Just when we finished up fair we started packing for Cedar Point.  Not every year, but twice now we’ve meet my father-in-law in Sandusky Ohio.  We stay at the Great Wolf Lodge which has a water park in it and visit Cedar Point which is the coaster park mecca of at least the Midwest if not the USA.

I have to tell you I much preferred the water park to the amusement park, maybe I’m getting old?

The day we were at Cedar Point was very hot which didn’t help.  I’m not sure what the temperature was but driving at 8p.m. that night we saw a sign that said 88 so it must have topped 90 earlier!  We did the water rides which helped cool us off but also kept us wet throughout the day.

At the hotel we could take a more leisurely pace and enjoy all the waterslides.  The kids loved it and when we got tired of sliding we enjoyed the adult only area with great hot tubs for our aches and pains! 

Oh, and I have to tell you about the God sighting on this trip.  When we left Cedar Point to go back to the hotel there were funny sounds coming from our engine.  We made it back to our parking lot however before the car was undrivable.  It was our serpentine belt.  As I called my Dad who does most of the work on my car to see what we were looking at as far as major or minor repair we noticed two guys with a big tool box under a car a couple rows away.

My Dad said we could fix it but we need a tool to do it.  Since we just spotted these guys under a car with a tool box we thought we'd walk over and ask!  Turns out, the one man was a maintenance employee for the hotel.  We had to go get the part and he put it on for us in the parking lot.  I don't think he knew it but I think God sent him!  Major problem averted.

I hope you’re all making the most of the end of your summer too!  I’m not ready for school yet!

Gina

Aug. 17, 2008 - 2008 Fair

Fair is done!  Wow, what a week.  We had a lot of fun but are always glad it’s over!  There’s always some fun surprises and some disappointments too.  Here’s a few of our highlights from this year.

It was definitely Logan’s (my 15 yr. olds) fair.  There’re just those years that everything goes their way and this was his year.  To start it right off he took Champion of the Intermediate division in Showmanship.  This is the event where he shows the judge what he knows about the chickens and how to handle them.  I had told all the kids this was there area to shine this year since our birds were not in the best show condition.  He got 100% on his score sheet.  He was thrilled!  He’s got lots of placings and even reserve champion before but this is his first trophy.

Next, even though I thought our birds didn’t look very good, he got Champion pair of laying pullets with his Rhode Island Reds which are his favorite chickens.  I was quite surprised!

To end the fair on the last day he did his illustrated speech on the Roman army.  My  younger son also did his speech on the Atmosphere.  Logan took Champion of his class and Taylor took reserve for his!

Taylor (12 yr. old) also placed 3^rd in showmanship (for the second year in a row, seems to be his spot), and had two chickens with honorable mention I think.  For sure though his highlight was showing his bird called “Tweety”.  We’ve had her for about 14 months before the fair and just one week before we left she started crowing!  When we got to fair needless to say we had to change her/his class!  He created a lot of attention being such an unusual bird and Taylor loved showing him.  The judge even gave him an honorable mention which was a real surprise because he’s not a “recognized” breed.  He’s called a “show girl” chicken which is a cross between a Turken and a Silkie.

Lexie (my 8 yr old) also did very well in Showmanship placing 4^th.  Her list wasn’t quite as long as her sisters but she did several other things including a pillow, a poem, art, photography, muffins, cookies, jewelry and probably a couple more I’m forgetting.  She feel asleep on her pillow in the car late last night while we were bring everything home.  It was very cute!

We may do some things differently next year but we had a good year all in all.  Grandma and Grandpa came the last day to see everything and spend the day with us which is nice.  They are also a big help in getting everything at 11p.m. to go home!  Many hands do make light work!

So here’s to memories of a good week and a chance to relax now and rest for at least a day or two!

Jul. 11, 2008 - What I've been up to

Well, you may have noticed the blog enteries are fewer and farther between this summer.  I'd like to say I'm sorry but I'm not.  I don't mean to be rude but I think when I show you you'll understand.

Here's what we've been busy doing.

 I've been trying to keep up on my garden.

This may not be the greatest looking salad ever but I grew it all in my garden!  A little success....  Some things aren't going well (like the carrots that didn't come up and the snap pea's that something besides us ate!)  Need to get out there as soon as I'm done and pick raspberries...ymmm!

This was strawberry day.  We made up strawberries for shortcake and jam.  We like the freezer kind the best.  Lexie made that all on her own.

This is one of the fun things we discovered a couple years ago, tart cherry picking!  It makes the best jam, cherry pie filling, crisps and much more.  Each year we can never pick enough and it's so gorgeous while we're picking.  This year we had a light rain while picking but it kept us cool.

This picture my dauther took on a recent trip to the butterfly building at our local zoo.  She took tons of pictures that she hopes to make a scrapbook with for fair.

There were also black raspberries but we ate those before I got a picture.  We are lucky enough to have those growing on our property wild.  We got enough for a batch of jam, a pie and a lot to eat with milk and a little sugar (my favorite way!)

So blogging friends I'm sorry if I haven't kept up on your blog, it's nothing personal just my priorities this summer are taking all my time.  I'll be checking in, if sporadically, over the summer.  I hope your taking time too to enjoy!  Stop and smell the roses!

Happy Summer!

Gina