I'm having a hard time justifying blogging in light of what Marsha and her family are going through.  I have several posts ready to go, but just don't see them as important right now when I know how much a blogging friend is hurting.  I'll be back to post again sometime soon, hopefully in time for the next CM Carnival.  Please keep Marsha's family in your prayers.

In the midst of sadness, the Lord sent some little friends to lift my spirits today.  This is a day old tomato that was bumped out of the bucket on its way to the compost pile.  Butterflies and moths made it their home all morning.

Please pray for Marsha and her family.  They lost their sweet three year old son yesterday in a drowning accident.  My heart is breaking for them.

In our quest to learn Early American History this year, we began by studying early American explorers.  I used a book from Evan-Moor titled Who Discovered America? as the spine for information, notebooking pages and activity ideas.  It seems as if this book might no longer be in print, however.  When searching Evan-Moor's site, I found Explorers of North America History Pockets that looks to be similar - and possibly even better.

Because my main goal was to help the kiddos understand that the famous Christopher Columbus wasn't the first or only person to "discover" America, we didn't spend too much time delving into particular explorers.  A brief history of how natives were already in the Americas, a look into the Vikings, and short spurts of Columbus, Cabot, Vespucci, Balboa and Magellan were all we covered. 

Two of our favorite books from the unit were:

Leif the Lucky

and

   Encounter (this book gives an unusual view of Columbus from the native's view point)

Even though Mahayla is a voracious reader, I didn't do a very good job of finding good literature that went along with our units last year.  She would find plenty of unrelated books to keep her busy, but I wanted to be sure to assign her at least one book to go along with each history unit this year.  Her assigned book for this unit was Morning Girl.  Besides simply reading her assigned book, she will be responsible for at least one project or writing assignment to show her understanding.  This book's assignment was to draw a picture from something she read in the book, and then put herself in the shoes of one of the main characters as she wrote about what was going on in the picture. 

Now we're on to a study of Native Americans.  I'll be sure to post notes from that unit when it's finished!

The green and orange peppers are finally coming on the garden.  Freezing them is such a snap that I can have a whole bucket done in about 15 minutes.  Wash, cut off the tops, take the seeds out, slice, parboil for three minutes, place in ice water, dry and freeze in ziptop bags.  It's that easy!

We took a trip last week to the local orchard to stock up on peaches and apples that had been graded out.  (They're much cheaper that way!)  Again, freezing is easy.  Wash, peel, cut in slices, sprinkle a little sugar over the peaches or dip apples in water with a little lemon juice, place in ziptop bags and freeze. 

All of these things can be used in a recipe just as you would use them if they were fresh.  They aren't great, however, for thawing and eating plain.

I promised a couple of ladies that I would share recipes throughout the year using things I've canned or frozen.  Here's a fried corn dish we had at supper last week.

Ingredients

• fresh or frozen corn cut off the cob
• fresh or frozen green pepper, chopped
• fresh yellow squash, chopped
• fresh or frozen onion, chopped
• butter

Melt butter in a frying pan.  Saute all veggies until crisp-tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Yummy!

One week down, 35 to go!

On the first day (as has been her custom since she was a Kindergartener) Mahayla dressed up.

Caleb chose the opposite attire for his first day back. 

And Eli....Well, I think this sums up what we can expect from him this year.

Melissa and her family came to visit us this past weekend!!  We've been friends for nearly ten years, but have lived an hour and a half away from each other for six of those years now.  Thank the Lord for internet and email service!  :o)  We share so many similarities from curriculum choices to food sensitivities to a love of nature that it's no wonder our friendship flourishes even at a distance.

Here are a few pictures from the much enjoyed visit.  Come back soon!!  

Our first Fine Arts Tuesday has come and gone.  What a lovely day it was!

We will soon be listening to Peggy's Violin: A Butterfly in Time (which is a wonderful story of the life of a violin, by the way!)  Woven into the story are several classical music pieces by famous composers.  One of the first is "Canon" by Pachelbel.  Before heading downstairs for our artist tea, we listened to "Canon" on the computer.  The kids were very excited to know this piece was played at my wedding! 

Then we headed downstairs for some peppermint tea and cookies. 

We did a picture study of "Lilacs in a Vase" by Manet.  After a brief biography session, we used the idea from Discovering Great Artists to create melted crayon still-life paintings.   

Caleb chose to do a still-life of red hot  peppers in a vase, while Mahayla found some clover in the yard. 

They had fun, but we had to continually stop painting to re-warm the crayons in the oven since we don't own a warming tray.  (Don't use a good muffin tin - it will never be the same again!) 

We didn't do a morning nature walk this week because our Creation Club met in the afternoon.  Here are a few pictures from the wildflower walk and journaling time.

I can't wait to keep you posted on our Tuesday learning!  I think Tuesdays will turn out to my favorite day of the homeschool week - never mind the kids!

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Carnival Back To School Planning Bash!

This has turned out to be such an exciting and busy carnival that I feel like some sort of festive music should be playing - like you might hear on a merry-go-round.  :o)   I just know you're going to enjoy post after post of planning and organizing wisdom.  In fact, you may want to have a pad of paper and pencil ready to jot down all the wonderful ideas you'll come across!  Don't get overwhelmed, though.  One idea at a time......

Daily Schedules and Curriculum Choices

Erin from Delighting in His Richness tells us how her plans are coming along in Ready, Set...Still Working on the Set Part.

 

Kris from Musing Mom gives us a glimpse into her day in Our Schedule for Next Year.

 

Makita from Twinkling Stars Family School shows us her detailed plans in Our 2008/09 School Plans.

 

Kathy from Piney Woods Homeschool tells us how she plans practically using the Ambleside curriculum in Scheduling CM.

 

Barb from Harmony Art Mom gives us some planning ideas for older children in Our Plan for High School: Tapestry of Grace ala Charlotte Mason.

 

DeeDee from Doing Things Anglo/American Style shows us how she is easing into a CM lifestyle in Wanna Be Charlotte Mason Homeschooler.

 

Tiffany from Homeschool Nature Study lays out how she plans to begin implementing some serious CM plans this year in Charlotte Mason Back to School Planning Bash.

 

Amada from Manifold Musings of a Missionary Mom takes us through her planning in What to Teach?

 

Sandy from Falling Like Rain reminds us that not everyone is cheerfully planning and preparing for a new school year.  She gives some great advice in Homeschool Fatigue.

 

Jimmie from One Child Policy Homeschool has been evaluating her homeschool in Some Homeschool Goal Setting.

 

Dawn from My4Sweetums has also been setting some goals for the year in Charlotte Mason Planning Bash.

 

Elizabeth from In the Heart of My Home shares her fall term plans in Sneak Preview - What's New for the Fall Term at Serendipity.

 

Tammy from Adventures on Beck's Bounty shows us how she plans her lessons in Planning at Beck's Bounty. 

 

Keri from Sunny shows us how she goes about planning in A New School Year.

 

Swylv from Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life answers several planning questions in Back to School Edition Submission.

 

Sonya from Simply Charlotte Mason shares how she makes time for larger projects in A Project Week Idea.

 

Sheri from On the Right Track talks about how she planned for fun learning in Summer Session Success.

 

Rebecca from Home Sweet Homeschool gives us a peek into how she plans using the Ambleside Online curriculum in Week-at-a-glance.

 

 

 

Schoolroom and Other Organizing Ideas

Candace from His Mercy is New gives us a couple of great ideas in Our Bulletin Board and Prayer Door.

 

Melissa from In the Sparrow's Nest has organized all the toddler toys and big kid manipulatives in Busy Bookshelf.

 

Barb from Harmony Art Mom share a simple organizing trick in Need Some Inspiration: Try an Idea Portfolio.  Also be sure to glean ideas for organizing an art study area in Our Van Gogh Wall.  I couldn't resist adding one more of Barb's wonderful organizing tips in Keeping Your Art Supplies at the Ready.

 

Cindy from On Our Journey Westward (that's me!) hopes to encourage you that the schoolroom can at least make you smile one time a year (before the children enter the room or area for the first time) in An Organized Schoolroom.

 

Leslie from Pockets of the Future shares an organizing tip about printer ink in A Key Homeschooling, Homesteading, Self-Sufficiency Item You Can Buy in Bulk. 

   

 

Plans for Particular Subjects

Candace from His Mercy is New has a fun plan for Fine Arts Friday at her house this year.  Along the same lines, be sure to check out her post about their Music Appreciation Time.

 

Kysha from Love's School tells us about her new approach to spelling plans in My Rambles On Spelling.

 

Mama Squirrel from Dewey's Treehouse shows us the fine arts side of her second grade plans in Crayon's Grade Two: What's Left? (Art, Music, This and That).

 

Mary Beth at Cheaper By the Half Dozen has reminded us that adding fine arts into our curriculum is not only important, but easy in Picture Study the Charlotte Mason Way.  Be sure to see the second part of this idea at More Picture Study Tips.

 

Leila at Fredom Academy has started what sounds like a very fun group.  You can read about it in a Charlotte Mason Co-op.

 

Lindafay from Higher Up and Further In offers her plans for CM-style testing in Year 4 Exams - Term 3.

 

Keri from Sunny shows us how she incorporated history in History with Story of the World.

 

DeeDee from Doing Things Anglo/American Style has a great idea for those wonderful read alouds in The End - Finally!

 

Andrea from Kids and Nature shows us how she plans to use the zoo in her homeschool this year in A New Approach to the Zoo.

 

Ritsumei from Baby Steps shares how she does nature study with preschoolers in Munchkin Nature Study.

 

Rachael from Homeschooling Kiwi Style takes us through a year's worth of picture study in Monet and the Impressionist Picture Study Plan. 

 

Lisa from House of Many Blessings shows how she spices up school in Artist Study and a Little Bit of Fun.

 

Amy from Growing Fruit...Part 2 shares how she includes literature along with math in Living Math Books.

 

Jenny from Chartwell Academy and Pook's Hill Nursery has a fun idea for using postcards to enhance a wall timeline in Postcards from the Edge of Educational Tourism.

 

Melissa from In the Sparrow's Nest gives a great overview of how and why to include nature study as part of your curriculum planning in Carving Out Time for Nature Walks.

 

Cindy from On Our Journey Westward (that's me, again!) offers her plan for artist, composer and nature study in Setting Aside Time for the Good Stuff.

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting and/or participating!  Remember, everyone enjoys positive comments (even me.)  :o)  If you like someone's ideas, let them know!

Thanks to Jimmie and Swylv for some of the pictures for the carnival!

Let's continue with another super year of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival.  Keep submitting those great posts!  Our outstanding leader, Barb, will be hosting the next carnival on September 2nd!

I'm the first to admit that "fitting it all in" is hard.  And in the past, to my shame, the first things to go when "school" seemed to be pressing were the richest learning experiences of all - artist study/art opportunities, composer study, and even nature study.

I don't know why it seems like those studies are the easiest to drop - especially when they tend to bring the most joy into our learning time.  And all things considered, it's so easy to integrate other academic areas into art, music and nature, that I feel a bit like a dunce for neglecting them over the years. 

Not so this year!  To be sure these subjects are enjoyed every single week, I've taken a an idea from Melissa and flown with it!  We're scheduling a whole morning dedicated specifically to art and nature.  It's entirely possible that writing, math, other sciences, history and such might find their way into our lessons, but the main focus will be nature study with an artist/composer tea to follow.

Beginning our morning with a Bible lesson focused on praise to our Creator, we'll go outdoors directly after for nature study.  After a bit of fresh air, observation, nature journaling and/or a nature related activity, we'll come in to a cozy tea time.

The day before, one of my children's assigned activities will be to try a new recipe for us to enjoy at tea time - muffins, scones, cookies, biscuits, granola, snack mix, etc.  We'll sit in some cozy spot enjoying our snack while reading about either an artist or composer.  Afterwards, we'll head to the art table for a project, while classical music plays in the background. 

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this morning set aside for the "good stuff".  I'll be sure to post about how they go and what we learn!

As another addition to our more purposeful artist and composer study, Candace gave me the idea for a bulletin board in the schoolroom.  Here's the finished board with our first artist (Manet) and composer (Pachelbel) ready and waiting.  At the bottom of the board I have placed a memory verse.  As the artist and composers change, so will the memory verse. 

I hope you have (or are having already) a wonderful school year! 

A sinkful of fresh tomatoes in our house turns into about eleven quarts of diced tomatoes!

And here's a new recipe I concocted to use up the canned tomatoes.  I had a quart that didn't seal, plus some corn and peppers that needed to be used.  I didn't have any ground beef, but I did have some shredded chicken in the freezer.  So I made a *yummy*....

Chicken Chili

• 1 quart diced tomatoes and juice
• 1-2 green peppers, diced 
• a cob or two of fresh corn cut off the cob (or a can, drained)
• a can of beans -any type- with juice (I used great northern) 
• shredded chicken, about 2 cups
• about 1/2 cup of chili mix
• extra water to suit your taste

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  As you can see, the recipe isn't a science, but it sure is yummy!

Now for the serious stuff.....Where are your Charlotte Mason planning and organizing posts???  I know, I know, they're coming.  I see many of you are procrastinators like me, huh??

We're not looking for huge, in-depth posts (unless you want.)  Just a simple post about something you have planned or organized to enhance CM-style learning. 

• Have you made an artist study plan for the year?
• Have you put together a nature study area?
• Have you decided on a living book list for the semester?
• Have you made a plan for specific handicrafts?
• Have you organized any areas of your schoolroom?

Okay, you get the idea.  Now, go write!  :o)

Oh, and submit your posts here.

DIng Dong, the schoolroom's done!

The schoolroom's done!

The schoolroom's done!

Ding Dong, the big ol' schoolroom's done!

This little tune from The Wizard of Oz has been going on in my mind ever since we finally tackled the schoolroom this morning!  School was supposed to start this week.  I don't know about you, but I just can't wrap my mind around a new school year until everything in the house is in place.  Instead of a pregnant woman nesting before birth, I nest before school!  LOL

Anyway, we decided to hold off for one more week on our studies while we tackle some much needed areas of the house.  By the time the week is finished - Lord willing - we will have a fresh, clean and organized house through and through! 

This morning's big job was the schoolroom.  Remember the picture I showed you at the beginning of summer break?  Well, I'd picked and poked at it off and on over the summer, so it wasn't quite that bad, but we still had A LOT to do. 

Clean school desks.

Organized books.

Organized resources.

Organized craft supplies, manipulatives, colored paper and folders and science kits.

Remember the bookshelf?  It's now home to our chapter books and basic school and art supplies.

A semi-organized play area for little guy.

A new toy jail downstairs so little guy can't break in and free the captives while we do school work. 

And a new spot for linens since the new toy jail used to be my linen closet. 

The last task for the schoolroom may or may not be done any time soon.  Hubby has promised to put in florescent lights (or some other lighting solution) in place of the very dim "regular" lights.  Our schoolroom is in an upstairs bonus space.  It's a wonderful room, but very dim because we only have four small windows, two at either end of the room.  Come winter time, I *need* more light.  I believe I suffer from SAD anyway, but I think anyone might with the lighting in our schooolroom.  Hopefully, hubby will tackle the lighting project soon.

I'd love to go on a "tour" of your schoolroom.  (I'm always looking for wonderful organizing and decorating ideas!)  Let me know if you post about your schoolroom any time soon, or if you have already!

Melissa has given me the Arte y Pico Award!  The award is dedicated to those who "nourish and enrich the spirit of creativity."  Melissa honored me as a "teaching artist".  :o)  Thank you , Melissa!!  If you've never visited her blog, you simply must.  She is a very creative and gifted homeschooler who will inspire you often!

I'm supposed to pass the award on to five others who I find creative and inspiring.   I read so many blogs that inspire me often!  Here are just a few of those....

Barb at Harmony Art Mom - I learn wonderful things and get new ideas from her **constantly**.  Seriously, I have no idea where so many great ideas come from!

Candace at His Mercy is New - Her house and school projects have spurred me into action on many occasions lately!

Dawn at My4Sweetums - She's a master at hands-on learning with her children.  I've followed her lead often!

Jimmie at One Child Policy Homeschool - Her creativity amazes me!  From teaching her daughter to developing wonderful tutorials, this gal's super-dee-duper.

Nora at Living By Faith in Kentucky  - This real-life friend of mine is one of the most creative organizers I've ever met.  She hasn't shared much of her organizing wisdom (yet, I hope) on her blog, but she's a whiz at it!

I was only allowed five.  So many more of you are awesome and creative and inspiring!

Candace asked for these recipes.  I thought others might benefit, too.  So here ya go.....

Both of these recipes came from the cookbook I found at the www.msgmyth.com website.

Shake-n-bake Mix

• 4 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs, finely crushed
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp flour
• 6 Tbsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp (or less) red pepper
• 1 tsp sage powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic powder 
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix well and store in airtight container.

To uses: Dip meat (chicken or pork) in oil, then shake in a cup or two of the mixture that has been placed in a plastic bag.  Bake approximately 1 hour in a 375 degree oven.  Turn halfway through baking.

White Sauce (aka Homemade Creamed Soup)

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• salt and pepper to season

Melt butter and add flour.  Cook on low heat, stirring at all times, for 1 minute.  Add milk and whisk smooth.  Cook, stirring until thickened.

Variations:

1. Add 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1 additional cup milk and 2 cups cheese for cheese sauce to be used with vegetables or mac-n-cheese. 
2. Add parsley and minced onion, then add to sliced potatoes for scalloped potatoes.
3. Beat 1 or 2 eggs with 1 cup milk and add to cream sauce, then cook until thickened.  Add to top of casseroles, pasta dishes, cooked vegetables, stuffed peppers or eggplant.  It's a tasty substitute for cheese.  A tsp of parmesan cheese or nutmeg is a good addition.
4. Add curry, paprika, garlic powder and any favorite herbs.
5. Add 4 large chopped mushrooms to the butter, then saute for 2 minutes before adding the flour.  Thin with water to desired consistency for mushroom soup.   

School is just about up and running again and schedules are getting back on track.  I sure love the freedom that summer brings, but I'm always ready to get back on schedule.  School schedules, chore schedules, weekly engagement schedules.  Somehow, life is just calmer when it's scheduled (around here anyway.)

Here's a rough sketch of this year's daily schedule and school routines.

• Breakfast
• Praise, Prayer, Bible
• Chores
• School Work
• Lunch
• Free time for big kids while mom gets little man down for nap
• While little man naps - read alouds and/or game time
• Free time for big kids to explore nature, handicrafts, projects, play, cooking....

School time is shaping up to look something like this:

Mahayla

Mon                       Tues                           Wed                          Thur                            Fri

Bible w/all             Bible study                  Bible study                Bible study                  Bible w/all

Saxon                   Saxon                         Problem solving        Saxon                          Problem solving

Spelling                 Nature Study              Spelling                     Spelling                       Spelling test

Journal                  Artist Tea                    Writing                      Blog                             Foreign lang

Grammar Lap       Club meeting                Grammar                  Grammar                    

Typing

30 min reading     30 min reading            30 min reading         30 min reading            30 min reading

Piano                    Piano                          Piano                         Piano                          Piano

History                                                    History                      Chemistry                   History

Caleb

Bible w/all              Bible study              Bible study                 Bible study                 Bible w/all

Math                      Math                         Math                           Math                           Math

Phonics/Read        Read Alone              Phonics/Read            Phonics/Read             Read Aloud

Spelling                  Nature Study            Spelling                     Spelling                       Spelling Test

Journal                   Artist Tea                Cursive copywork     Cursive copywork      Foreign lang

Grammar                Club meeting            Grammar                   Grammar

Piano                                                       Typing                       Piano

History                                                     History                      Chemistry                     History

You can see many of our curriculum choices here.  We will do the following subjects together as a family:

• Some Bible
• Nature Study
• Artist Tea
• History
• Chemistry

Our small county homeschool group already meets for Creation Club and 4-H.  Since both groups already meet on Tuesdays, we decided to add two more clubs to round out the month.  We'll have a club four Tuesday afternoons a month.  The other clubs will vary between art, chemistry, a book of the month club and play dates thrown in for good measure. 

Oh, and I got the wonderful idea to dedicate a morning to nature and art (integrating other subjects) from my beautiful friend, Melissa.  Our Tuesdays should turn out to be wonderfully rich and exciting. 

Central/Northern KY ladies, have I found a bargain shop for you!  The Farmer's Mill, located in Cynthiana, KY is worth your drive for spices and other baking supplies! 

Run by a Mennonite family, most of the food comes from the Amish community.  Besides spices and baking supplies, they sell homebaked pies, prepackeged jellies and salsas, unusual chips and candies, and cooking mixes among other things.  They even have a deli with weekly specials. 

The real bargains, though, are the spices and yeast.  I bought large containers of all my pickling and canning spices, a huge bag of yeast and a special chocolate treat the other day for just over $15.00!  I think I figured that I would have spent well over $50.00 at the regular store, maybe closer to $100.

I just bought a 4oz container of yeast at Food Lion for almost $7.00.  At the Farmer's Mill, I only paid $3.05 for 16oz!  $28.00 vs. $3.00!!!

I also just bought 1.4oz of mustard seed at Walmart for over $3.00.  At the Farmer's Mill, I paid only $1.43 for almost 1/4 lb of mustard seed!

Just like I've found it worth my time and money to take a trip to Aldi's once a month, The Farmer's Mill is now on my regular shopping schedule!  Let me know what deals you find there.  :)

Whether you've already started school, you never stopped or school is just around the corner, planning is always in season.  And what better way to kick off a new year of the Charlotte Mason Carnival than a Back To School Planning Bash?
 
On August 19th, Our Journey Westward will host this exciting CM inspired event (the brilliant idea from our fearless leader, Barb!)  It's time NOW to send in your best planning or organizing post!  Topics could include things like:

• How you decide what to teach
• How you set up your year
• How you keep plans, keep records, or store work
• How you organize your schoolroom, supplies, literature books
• Where you go for CM planning inspiration
• How detailed you plan for a particular subject or how far in advance you plan
• What your plans are for one of (or all) your subjects
• A new project you've completed to compliment CM style education

Give us a glimpse into your mind, your plan book, your schoolroom or anything else that will supply us with wonderful ideas for our Charlotte Mason inspired homeschools.
 
Spread the word and let's make this a huge carnival full of planning and organizing wisdom!  Click on the bash button above if you'd like to copy and paste it into your own blog.  Copy and paste this message on your blog, too, if you like.
 
Oh, and if you would like to send in a picture for Cindy to include in the carnival as visual inspiration (an ordered shelf of supplies, an open plan book, a stack of great literature....), please do!  Send it to cindykwest@hotmail.com.  But hurry!  She doesn't want all the lovely pictures and outstanding blog posts to come in at the last minute!  :)

Thanks, Amanda, for the very cool bash button!

Sunday was a lovely day in Central KY - maybe the last for several days as a heat wave rolls in.  My mom and dad came for a visit.  Mom's homemade fried chicken, our fresh garden veggies and a game or two of croquet made the afternoon extra special.

My mom and I took a few minutes to explore the latest nature find on our farm.  Noticing them for the first time a few days ago, we looked at the MANY very large "ant" hills with extra large entrance holes scattered along our electric fence line.  As we observed, it became clear just what type of creature frequents the dwellings - GROUND HORNETS!  I have no idea how many hornets can live in one nest, but there must be dozens of hills with many more entrances all up and down the fence line!  If anyone has wisdom to offer about handling these mean little hornets, I'm all ears!

Well, here's a post I started way back in May about what I planned to do to keep the kids busy (educationally) this summer.  Sadly, as summer break is winding up, I'm just now getting around to posting about it.  Oh well, the idea may come in handy for someone sooner or later........ 

Summer break has officially begun for us, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to do.  Have you ever met a bored child in the summer?  That's one of the worst types of children to be around!  :)  Children homeschooled Charlotte Mason-style are usually good at keeping themselves busy, but I have a trick up my sleeve for those inevitable times when the kids need an idea or two for fun on their own.

I've posted before about summer ideas here, here and here.  This year, I've been gathering fun things and hoarding them away in a box that I'm calling the Super Sensational Summer Sparks box. 

I've found cheap experiment sets, art/craft books, manipulatives and such at curriculum and yard sales that I've stashed away.  I've also pulled out some things that have been sitting on the shelves for a while that will seem like new. 

One or two afternoons a week, I'll let them browse through the box for an activity.  The box will be off limits the rest of the time so it will seem like a treasure chest waiting to be explored.  Or at least I hope it will.  As the box is emptied, I'll fill it again with new items.  I'm even thinking of adding things like a baggie of ingredients for playdough, a box of shells with a magnifying glass, a bag of water balloons.  Things I already have around the house.  I have a feeling that finding these things in the Super Sensational Summer Sparks Box is going to be much more fun than if I just say, "How about making some playdough today?"

AKA - Our Red Food Coloring Story

Even though I shared my MSG story first, I really believe that this story is a more important message.  Why?  I see children every single day that are either out of control and their parents are at their wit's end OR the parents have already lost hope and have put their children on a brain altering drug like Ritalin only to wonder if there's a way out. 

Let me back up for just a minute and say that I don't intend to offend anyone who either is going or has gone the Ritalin (or some other medicine) route.  I'm in no way judging you, I promise.  I am only speaking because of the countless parents who have said to me, " I wish there were a way to get him/her off this medicine.  My baby isn't the same."  I'm also not here to say that Ritalin is a bad drug or no one has true ADHD.  I don't believe either thing for one second.  Again, I'm only telling my story and hoping that it might benefit someone. 

First, let me introduce you to Mahayla.

She is truly one of the sweetest young ladies you will ever meet in your life.  She cares deeply for others, will do anything for anyone, can run a household by herself and gladly takes on most tasks set before her.  She is very bright, a wonderful friend, and generally a quiet and calm person.  She is extemely obedient and wants to please her parents.

Not so when she was three.  I found myself in the pediatrician's office without Mahayla, but with my husband discussing with the doctor our options for my truly wild, loud and uncontrolable child.  Lucky for me, the doctor refused to label her as hyperactive at three.  Even though I could check off a "yes" for every single symptom of a child with ADHD, the doctor said there would be no way to start medicine in a child as young as her and we would have to wait until she were at least five. 

Let me stop here and say that medicine is NOT my first choice for any situation.  It certainly wasn't here either.  We were simply grasping for something, anything that would tame this wild child.

She wasn't a wild baby.  In fact, she was a wonderful baby - happy, a great sleeper, a good eater.  By two, things started changing.  She was getting louder, harder to get to sit still, less obedient.  You might say, "That's normal, Cindy!"  Yes, but by three, it wasn't at all normal.  We would hear her screaming (for the fun of it) from her Sunday School class on a different floor of the church.  We would watch her literally climb walls at out house.  What was most apparent, though, was that she wasn't ALWAYS like this.  Often, yes.  But always, no. 

We would catch glimpses of a "normal" little girl in all her sweetness and then turn around a hour later and her eyes had almost glazed over as she turned into the tasmanian devil and couldn't be stopped. 

After being sent home by the pediatrician and told we would just have to wait it out, I cried out to the Lord telling Him that I knew she needed some sort of help.  Her parents needed help, too!!  Just like with my MSG story, once I cried out to Him, low and behold, the answer was there almost immediately. 

Again, the internet was where I turned.  All of the sudden, every search kept leading me to the same things - artificial food colorings, artificial flavorings, Feingold, artificial preservatives.  I didn't know exactly where the answer was in the midst of everything I was reading, but I knew it was there.  Her problems didn't start until she started eating "real people food" which made complete sense with all I was reading.

The word that kept popping out at me the most was RED food coloring.  So that's where I started.  And, praise the Lord, that turned out to be the culprit.  We got rid of everything red, pink, purple, and orange.  As long as those colors were gone, we had a normal four year old again.  As soon as something "slipped" in, her eyes would glaze over within an hour's time and she would be w-i-l-d, whiny and uncontrollable again.  The effects would last for hours.

Very few people believed that red food coloring was really the answer.  My family raised their eyebrows (until they saw the proof first hand!)  The pediatrician said she seriously doubted food coloring was the culprit and suggested we see and allergist for food allergy testing.  The allergist gave us some vague food allergies she had, but thought there wasn't enough research to suggest food coloring allergies were real.  The Sunday School teachers scoffed when I asked them to run all snacks and drinks by me before feeding her.   But we KNEW it was real.  We lived with the proof daily!!  No red food coloring = a sweet little girl.  Red food coloring = someone else.  Someone else in attitude, stature, facial expression and action.  The scariest part was the change in her eyes - this child wasn't my own.  I've heard other moms mention this change in the eyes, too.

As Mahayla's gotten older, she is actually better able to handle red food coloring.  Mind you, not in large amounts.  If she happens to accidentally ingest a decent amount, she no longer goes wild, but she gets jittery, s-u-p-e-r cranky and v-e-r-y emotional.  And it takes a couple days to wear off completely.  I know you're asking how an 11 year old accidentally eats or drinks red food coloring.  It's really very easy.  Just like MSG, red food coloring is hidden in things you would never expect - blueberry muffin mix, prepared brownies, cereal....

I also ought to mention that it took a long time for Mahayla to understand that she had to make the choice to say no to foods and drinks with red food coloring.  I had to be the food police for several years before she was able to recognize the change in herself when she ingested it.  She prefers to stay as far away as possible now because she knows how awful it makes her feel.

Anyway, in trying to wrap this up....WE HAD A NEW CHILD!  A child that was set on the path to Ritalin and a lifetime label of ADHD was "cured".  Of course, she never really had ADHD, but that's where her path was headed if we hadn't found the truth. 

I read all I could from the Feingold site and in trying to get rid of red food coloring, we actually attempted to get rid of as much of the artificial colorings, flavorings and preservative as possible.  We're not fanatical about this, but do our best.  If they (Caleb struggles with red coloring, too) are offered colored things at a church function or a party, I allow it as long as it isn't red.  We typically don't buy much with those ingredients at our house, though. 

I'm passionate about sharing this info with parents who care to hear.  I'll be happy to answer questions or tell more detail to our story if anyone is interested.  Just ask.

Here are some websites that might be helpful:

About.com

Allergic Child

All Natural

Nature Moms