Gentle Art of Chaos

A Pizza Confession

2011-10-05T20:03:00.000-06:00

I am about to share something with you that just might shock you. I don’t like pizza. I don’t. I think it’s gross. My family, on the other hand, loves it and they want to disown me. They love it so much they’d eat it every meal, every day, for the rest of their lives and never complain. The only thing standing in their way is me.

After many years spent debating Pizza or No Pizza I’ve reached a painful decision. I’m just going to have to embrace pizza. I don’t want them sneaking out of the house to eat pizza. Or lying about going to someone’s house to get a pizza fix. They might even rob a store to get pizza money. If they’re going to eat pizza, I’d rather it be somewhere safe, somewhere where I can control the pizza. I’m going to have to make pizza at home.

A part of that decision is to try to make it as healthy as possible (which isn’t much). The other part is to save money. At least once a month the boys (and my husband) will get a little pizza crazy so we’ll order out (or go to the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet a.k.a Heaven). This costs much money. Much, much money. Sometimes up to half my weekly grocery budget.

So, the hunt for the best homemade pizza dough is on. I’m going to be trying a lot of whole wheat ones, but I may end up compromising for part white flour. I’ll keep you updated (aren’t you excited?).

My kids are rather boring. They like cheese pizza. Just cheese. If they’re feeling a little crazy the older two will go for pepperoni. And if I’m going to be forced to eat pizza I’ll have an alfredo or garlic sauce with spinach, onion, mushrooms and perhaps a bit of bacon. And I’m REALLY embarrassing because I eat it with salad on top, using a fork and knife. Do you see now why they want to disown me?

My first 5K

2011-09-10T15:20:00.002-06:00

I did it. I ran my first 5K. The one I wanted to run last month was cancelled, which was a good thing because I hurt my knee and had to take 2 weeks off to recover...and then I got a cold and couldn't breathe while I ran with boogers running down my face (pretty)...and then....just kidding, that's the end of my list of complaints.

My crazy neighbor ran with me for most of it, even though she’s 8 months pregnant. She had to slow down after a bit due to some pain, but she insisted I continue without her. After ‘yelling’ at each other for a bit (and some emotional “we leave no men behind” and “go on without me” type drama), I moved on ahead and kept my promise to not walk any part of it. I finished with a personal best of 36:54 and she finished too! Her husband came and walked/ran with her for most of it, and I went back after I’d finished to walk with her and we ran over the finish line together.

It’s been a fun journey. No, fun isn’t the right word. Running isn’t FUN yet, but I like feeling healthier and it does help me feel a bit more mentally stable (which is always a good thing in this house). There are a few more races before the year ends that I’m going to try to hit, but I’ll be doing it solo since my friend will be giving birth here shortly. Good thing I have an iPod to keep me company.

So far I’ve lost 17 pounds and went from an XL running pant to L. I almost cried in the dressing room when I pulled up the XLs and they fell down to my ankles!

This picture shows me running across the finish line, looking rather happy and peppy. It’s a fake. My husband didn’t get one the first time so I had to re-do it, but by then the giddiness of having FINISHED had set in so I was able to ham it up a bit.

THANK YOU MARIA!!!!

And thanks to our husbands who put up with our 3x a week running then hour-long gab fest while we “cool down”.

Raising Real Men - a review

2011-09-05T22:42:00.020-06:00

So here’s a confession, I’m a girl. I was never a boy nor will I ever be one. But I am currently raising four boys. And I have no idea how boys think. They are foreign to me. Sometimes I look at them and can’t figure out how their brains came up with whatever behavior/game/idea they just displayed/played/told me. Truly. They think differently. They react differently. They are different. Some days I’ll ambush my husband when he comes home to tell him all about the crazy things his sons did, to which he’ll reply, “So? What’s weird about that?” Huh? It’s weird because a girl would NEVER think of that.

I’ve always wanted an Owner’s Manual for Raising Boys. Then I was given the opportunity to review Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys by Hal and Melanie Young as a part of the Timberdoodle Blogger Review Team and I think it’s as close as I’m going to get! I have had this book on my list of “to read” for years and now that I’ve read it I’m sorry I waited so long.

Written by conservative Christian homeschooling parents of 6 boys and 2 girls, this book was full of funny anecdotes, real life example and practical ideas. Over and over again I found myself saying, “Hey honey, listen to this”. In fact, he left the room several times because he couldn’t get his own work done with me interrupting him every two minutes. Reading this book was like light bulb after light bulb going off. “Oh, so THAT’S why!” “Okay, NOW I understand.”

The book is divided into two sections. The first deals with “values” or “virtues” and discusses such things as the need for heroes, what play for boys really is, leadership, and whether to allow weapons or not. The second half talks more about “civilizing” a boy or the things which will help them grow into well-rounded men. The authors discuss, among other things, education, responsibility, dating, manners, and whether boys should help in the kitchen.

Some ideas I had heard before, some were completely new to me. For example, the Youngs discuss how boys are born with the desire to be leaders. It’s how God made them…because one day they will be in charge of their families, their employees, their community. They state, “We’ve got to teach them how to submit to authority without destroying their leadership.” This put disobedience and their often challenging behavior in a whole new light.

There were a few points I didn’t necessarily agree with, and a few scripture references I felt didn’t support their arguments. It is also written by a couple who firmly believes homeschooling is the best option and a person who doesn’t homeschool might feel a little ‘judged’ or excluded in some of the comments. The book, on the whole, however, was well worth reading. In fact, I’m going to read it again and mark it all up and take notes and write down ideas I have on what I’d like to change about my parenting, new things I’d like to try. You don’t have to agree with everything to make a book or idea valuable and instructive.

As a mother of boys, I highly recommend this book. It has changed how I view my sons and helped me create a better vision for how I want to raise them. I feel like I understand ‘boyness’ just a little better. This book will stay on my shelf for years to come, and I know I’ll reference it often. Along with Last Child in the Woods and Boys Adrift, this should be required reading for all parents of boys.

By the way, if you haven't heard of Timberdoodle yet, check out their free catalog. I do a lot of our school, birthday and Christmas shopping there. (which is why I wanted to review for them...I like 'em!)

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Legal Disclosure:

As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Raising Real Men in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

Stories That Build Statesmen

2011-09-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

I recently listened to a talk given by Marlene Peterson entitled "Stories That Build Statesmen". She shared some wonderful examples of the power of stories and the need to teach through stories. It truly inspired me to look at what I'm reading to the boys, and what they are reading in their spare time. And just when I thought I had all my plans finalized for the year!

I highly recommend you listen to it...and I found it free here. It's on the right-hand side, towards the bottom.

I'd love to know what your favorite stories are!

Kid History

2011-08-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to pass on some videos that my children LOVE. This is the first one, but there are 6 in total so make sure you watch them all (each of us thinks a different one is the best). Before you watch you need to know this....some brothers in their 30s asked their kids/nieces/nephews to retell some stories about their dads/uncles lives and then the adults acted out the stories. FACT - it's hilarious. And as an aside, my husband and I have been laughing our heads off about #6 where the mom cooks healthy foods and says to her poor kids, "Here are your perfectly normal pancakes....You'll never taste it!" Oh, the times I've said that to my dear children...

Frogs by Nic Bishop

2011-08-24T19:50:00.003-06:00

Frogs by Nic Bishop

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As strange as it may sound, we're reading this for Circle Time! My little guys are LOVING the book. The pictures are amazing. If I didn't know it's impossible to do, I'd say that Bishop was staging the photos and asking the frogs to pose. There is just enough information to keep it interesting without feeling like you're reading a textbook. We've read many, many books about frogs and this still has new stuff to learn. My 5-year-old has been walking around for days spouting frog facts. The older boys have read it 3 or 4 times themselves. And I'll just say it right now....see-through frogs are gross. My 7-year-old has commented many, many times, "I didn't even know they existed!"

We own several Nic Bishop books and I will continue to buy them whenever I can. (I could check them out from the library but they are so well done I want them in my home library as I KNOW they'll be read over and over again.) At the end of the book he spends a page or two discussing what it was like to shoot the pictures and travel around. It makes you feel like a real person made the book and that that person is your cool friend.

Highly recommended.

Here is a list of his other books (done in the style of Frogs)....I hope he makes many more!
Lizards
Spiders
Butterflies and Moths
Marsupials

There are two "field guide" type books, but I've never seen them in person.
Backyard Detective: Critters Up Close
Forest Explorer: A Life-Sized Field Guide

And a Scientist in the Field series...but I think he's only the photographer in these. I'm not sure if it's the same great style as the others.

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow... I love this version

2011-08-21T15:00:00.000-06:00

In an attempt to cheer up a sulky 11-year-old my husband was playing all sorts of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and other uber happy songs. He came along this version which neither of us had ever heard. I instantly fell in love. I love the music, his voice, his smile. And I cried to watch the end of the video, the celebration of his life instead of the sorrow from his death.

Help! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom

2011-08-20T13:00:00.001-06:00

Help! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom: Showing Dads How to Meet the Needs of Their Homeschooling Wives by Todd Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book helped me realize that I'm not crazy or weird. I'm just like most other homeschool moms - stressed out!

Seriously, I laughed a lot while reading this book. And nodded my head over and over in agreement. The author completely understands the heart and mind of homeschooling moms and offers valuable insight to the husbands. And great ways in which to support them as well.

Highly recommended for moms and dads. It is another part of my permanent homeschool shelf and I pull it down to read when things are getting hard. And for the record, I do NOT own a demin jumper.

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George Washington (one of many!)

2011-08-19T20:49:00.002-06:00

George Washington by Ingri D'Aulaire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My kids were enthralled with this. At one point someone commented, "George Washington moved around a lot just like us!" Being military kids they were able to identify with some of his earlier life.

The illustrations were lovely and the text easy to understand. It was a great introduction for the younger kids. My older boys will need more but this was a fantastic start.

Highly recommended.

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Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe

2011-08-17T09:00:00.003-06:00

Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe by Todd Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great book by Todd Wilson. I really love his humor and his honesty.

In this book he looks at the common 'lies' we homeschoolers all seem to believe like "everyone has a clean house except me" and "everyone else's kids are really obedient, talented, smart, etc". He points out the lies and then shows WHY they are lies and how to feel differently about them.

I so identified with many of the points made here and it helped calm my fears and doubts. If you are at all worried you're not doing a good job homeschooling your kids or that you're the only one who doesn't have it together, this will help. This book will stay on my shelf forever, and I try to re-read it every year to not only remind myself that everything will be okay, but that I need to set an example of transparency for those around me, to show that I am human and not Super Homeschool Mom, because I'm not!

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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?

2011-08-16T21:07:00.000-06:00

Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My boys really enjoyed this and told me that 'lots of other kids should read it because it's so funny'. We read it in two days and I've found them looking through it over and over again.

The book treated King George very well and we learned a lot about him we hadn't already known. I liked that it mainly focused on him and not so much on the battles. I liked this better than George vs. George for actually learning about the King. George vs. George, however, discussed the battles more in-depth.

A nice addition to our study of the American Revolution. Highly recommended. This would be best for elementary or early middle school.

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Portuguese Lesson 1

2011-08-16T13:51:00.000-06:00

So, I spent 18 months in Brazil doing missionary work for my church, many moons ago. I failed to teach my children the language when they were young, but we've started now and hopefully it will all come back to me.

I couldn't find a program I liked (that didn't break the bank) so I'm sort of piecing stuff together and figuring it out as I go. If any one has any suggestions or wants to have me review their program for free, just let me know!

I'll be posting lessons every day or so, possibly once a week. I'm not sure of the format I want to use yet so it may change over time. We're writing things down on a white board so they can see it every day and use it to practice, but I also want a more permanent "book" for them so we can review it as needed. I need to figure out how to make the accents and such too, so I may have to come back and revise this as I go.

You can learn along with us, or completely ignore these posts! We starting out SLOWLY. Some of these lessons you will be able to do all in one day, as opposed to spreading them out over a period of days.

Underlined words are the new words of the day. You will have already learned the words/phrases in previous lessons.

Greeting
Day 1
Person 1: Bom dia! Como vai?
Person 2: Bem, obrigado.

Translation:
Person 1: Good day. How are you?
Person 2: Good/well, thanks.

My best attempt to give pronunciation hints:
Person 1: Bone jee-a. Como vye?
Person 2: Bain, o bree ga do. (If you're speaking to a female add an "a" instead of an "o" at the end - o bree ga da.)

Day 2
Person 1: Bom dia? Como vai?
Person 2: Bem, obrigado. Como vai voce?

Translation:

Person 1: Good day. How are you?

Person 2: Good/well, thanks. How are you?

Pronunciation:

Person 1: Bone jee-a. Como vye?

Person 2: Bain, o bree ga do (or o bree ga da). Como vye vo-say?

Day 3:

Person 1: Bom dia! Como vai?

Person 2: Bem, obrigado. Como vai voce?

Person 1: Bem. Eu sou ___________.

Translation:

Person 1: Good day! How are you?

Person 2: Good/well, thanks. How are you?

Person 1: Good. I am _________.

Pronunciation:

Person 1: Bone jee-a. Como vye?

Person 2: Bain, o bree ga do (or o bree ga da). Como vye vo-say?

Person 1: Bain. A-o so ___________(say your name).

Cashew Almond Butter Chocolately Goodness

2011-08-16T11:55:00.000-06:00

This recipe comes from my good friend Misty. It is one of my favorite smoothies because it tastes like a milkshake. I save it for a treat, for when I need something sweet.

4 c frozen bananas
1/2 c cacao nibs
1/2 tbsp cashew butter
2 c vanilla almond milk*
1/4 c agave (I use raw honey)

Blend all ingredients in high powered blender like my beloved Blendtec. I should give that thing a name.

*Sometimes I don't have almond milk so I just use raw almonds (soaked and dried) with water or homemade almond milk. I also usually add in a few handfuls of raw cashews (also soaked and dried) and sometimes some almond butter.

If you make your own almond milk and/or nut butters this would be considered a "raw" recipe.

Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire

2011-08-15T22:21:00.000-06:00

Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D'Aulaire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The boys loved this book. It was always their first choice of which books to read in the day. The information was clear and interesting. The illustrations very d'Aulaire. We enjoyed reading the various sayings of Franklin's listed on each page and trying to figure out what they meant and how one would say them in modern English.

Excellent choice for learning about Benjamin Franklin.

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more Starfall

2011-08-14T18:09:00.000-06:00

Have you seen the more.Starfall.com site yet? It's lovely. Well, a better description would be cool, colorful, engaging, fun.

My two youngest (ages 7 and 5) had been messing around with the free version for a few months. While they loved what they saw, they were always mad there wasn't more. And I was too frugal to want to pay $35 for a one year subscription.

Fast forward to me agonizing over school plans for the upcoming year and wondering what to do with my 5-year-old who technically only has 30 minutes of "school" time, in addition to story time. He usually sits in with us but sometimes (okay, often) gets bored with us and starts to cause problems. I know MOST 5-year-olds would not do this...he's an unusual child.

So I sat down and gave the more.Starfall site another look. Hmm, early phonics and reading. Games. MATH! Colors. Nursery rhymes. I took the plunge and bought the subscription and that's when my jaw dropped.

I now have access to HUNDREDS of worksheets. Now, I'm not a worksheet mom but they do have their place for keeping little hands busy. These are fun worksheets, cool activities, puzzles, word family printables, handwriting, sorting, coloring and the list goes on.

AND THEN...I saw the lesson plans. They have 31 weeks worth of lesson plans (mostly geared to kindergarten) which blends phonics, science, math, reading and all sorts of fun things. It gives you the teacher prep involved plus lists what you’ll need each day then gives you step-by-step instructions on how to mesh everything together. I'm not sure this is something I'll use, but it's nice to know it's there!

My two little guys have loved using the full version. They can easily navigate without my help (the interface is just like regular Starfall). When I’m teaching the older boys their individual subjects (math, reading, spelling) I let the younger boys explore more.Starfall or work on some of the activities I’ve printed. I'm so pleased with the variety of tools it provides, not only for the kids, but for me as the teacher/parent.

Our LAST kindergarten year

2011-08-03T15:53:00.000-06:00

Here is the NON-plan for my 5-year-old. He is just barely starting “school” as I wait until a child shows interest in reading and writing before beginning. He participates in all our family studies, at whatever level he feels comfortable with for that day. Sometimes he sits on my lap the whole time (with or without a back scratch), other days he plays (not so) quietly on the floor while I’m reading out loud and still other days he goes upstairs to play by himself, watch a “school” movie or use the iPod apps.

He gets about 20 to 30 minutes of individual teaching time a day where we work on handwriting and reading. We also have “circle time” with the 7-year-old where we sing songs and read picture books.

This is also his first year trying workboxes – at his request. His older brothers are moving out of their 6-drawer workboxes into milk crates so littlest brother wants both of theirs! I’m not sure we’ll use all 12 for him each day….we’ll tinker around with it the first few weeks. Every night I put in his handwriting book, a reading game and a worksheet or two. He helps me choose the remaining activities from his activity bag file folder box.

Handwriting

I use Handwriting Without Tears and have for years. All my boys have used it because it’s the easiest and best system out there! We work on one letter a day, although sometimes we spread a letter out over a few days. Since he knows the letter names and sounds already, we don’t need to spend extra time drilling those. It’s just the physical exercise of writing them.

I have also printed some “worksheets” from Confessions of a Homeschooler for him to use in his workboxes. He particularly enjoys the dot-a-dot and toothpick poke pages. We also use the “circle the correct letter” pages. He does activities from the Letter of the Week and kindergarten sections of her printables so make sure you check out both.

We just subscribed to the more.Starfall site and I was thrilled to see they have multiple (read many, many, many) printable sheets for reading and writing. I’ll be printing out some fun pages to keep him occupied.

Reading

I don’t follow a single reading program with my kids. I sort of mix-and-match the resources I already have.

I love Happy Phonics and use the games to practice and reinforce various sounds and concepts.

For beginning readers I prefer the Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos. I pull out the book that corresponds with the lesson we’re learning in Happy Phonics….or vice versa.

We have used Starfall for years and he is now progressing past the letter sounds and moving into the early reading games. As I mentioned above, we just joined the more.Starfall section and it is AMAZING. There are so many wonderful activities for a beginning reader. I need to spend some time looking through it. I may create an “order” for him to do them (corresponding with the Happy Phonics and Now I’m Reading) or I may just let him play around with it. Okay - I did create one. And here it is! They even have lesson plans for each week, but I’m not sure if I’ll be using those or not.

In addition to the above, I also let him watch the LeapFrog videos, WordWorld and the Preschool Prep Company dvds. I love, love, love the Preschool Prep Company dvds. We have Meet the Sight Words 1, 2 and 3 as well as the new Meet the Phonics series (Meet the Blends and Meet the Digraphs). They have been great for the 5-year-old as well as the already reading 7-year-old. They’ve even been useful for my struggling 11-year-old reader.

Other activities

Over the past year or so I have created various “activity bags” to keep his little hands busy and his great brain engaged. He has been asking for more “school” stuff, meaning worksheets, so I’ll be perusing Confessions of a Homeschooler, more.Starfall, and Homeschool Creations Preschool Packs for printables. I pick and choose which ones I want – I never print the whole shebang.

The Reading Plan

2011-08-03T15:35:00.000-06:00

I'm teaching my last child to read. It's a bittersweet thing. I've used this same general plan for all my kids....he just has a few resources that the older boys didn't have.

It's hard to show in a list like this, but once he starts reading the Now I'm Reading series, he will read one book a day AND play a game or watch a Starfall video. We spend between 10 and 20 minutes on 'reading instruction'. Some time in a book reading and some in a hands-on type activity. I usually have him watch the movies on his own, during a time I'm working with his older brothers. So, on any given day he reads a short book with me, we play a game, and he then watches a movie, plays around on Starfall, or does a worksheet.

I use a lot of games from Happy Phonics (HP). I'm only going to link to it once!

Leap Frog Videos

Starfall (basic ABCs)

Keep Away*

Letter Go-Fish

Alphabet Bingo

Muffin Match (upper/lower case letters) - from HP

Castle Game (short vowel sounds) from HP

I Can Read Cards (HP) – CVC words - from HP

Starfall Learn to Read games 1-5, Skills movies #1-3

more.Starfall – Word Machines

more.Starfall – Short Vowel Pals

Meet the Sight Words (dvd – watch one video every few days, do coloring pages)

Build a Sentence – some sight words, mostly CVC -from HP

Scrambled Sentences - sight words, mostly CVC -from HP

Meet the Blends (dvd)

Starfall Learn to Read, Skills movies #4-8

Meet the Digraphs (dvd)

Start Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos

Animal Antics books 1-5, then Playful Pals 1-5….

then go back to Animal Antics books 6-10 and Playful Pals 6-10

Read one book a day, repeat the same book for 2 to 3 days….continue to move through the series (Clever Critters, Snack Attack, Amazing Animals, On the Go**)

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away*

Silent E game (HP)

Starfall Learn to Read games 6-10

Climb the E Tree (HP) – various sounds of “e”

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

CH, SH, TH, WH Game (HP)

The E-A Game (HP) – watch Between the Lions EA video

Starfall Learn to Read game 11

Starfall Learn to Read, Skills movies 9-11

Climb the E Tree, gradually move up to level 4 (HP)

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

First Nurse Game (HP) – er, ir, ur, wor, ear

Starfall Learn to Read games 12-14

Y Not? (HP) – y_____, _y, ___y, and __y__

Three in a Row (HP) – oi, oy

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

Boat Launch (HP) – au, aw

Mountain Climber (HP) – oa, ow, oa

Silly Sentences word strip game

Space Race (HP) – gn, kn, wr, ____b

Climb the E Tree last level

Begin Dr. Seuss, Frog and Toad and other books

Begin All About Spelling Level 1 (unless his writing is good enough to start earlier) - I feel like this program fills in any holes I might have missed.

* Keep away is a game where I hold a stack of cards. I show him one card at a time and if he knows the letter sound, name or word he can keep the card. If he doesn't, then I keep it. Whoever has the most cards at the end, wins. I always lose.

**more.Starfall has many beginning reader books in the “More Phonics” and “Backpack Bear’s Books” sections if he needs more practice than the Now I’m Reading books.

Preschool/Kindergarten Activity Bags

2011-08-03T13:05:00.000-06:00

Oh, how I wish I'd known about these when my oldest boys were little! These bags are a great way to keep little ones busy, but still learning.

To make activity bags I print, cut out, laminate, sort, etc and place everything into a gallon-size zipper plastic bag. Please use your best judgment with a child – my son does not place things in his mouth (never did) but if your child does, don’t include activities with small items. Also, gallon size baggies can fit over a child’s head so please teach them to keep it off their noggins.

I’ve found it helpful for many of these to have a small tray or cookie sheet available so that when something gets “dumped” it’s contained in a specific area instead of all over the table or floor.

How we use them: Last year we’d just grab out a handful of activity bags and use them while I read out loud to the older boys or at the school table upstairs. This year he’s using his own workboxes. He wants to do 12 a day – we’ll see how that goes. Every night he helps me choose 2 or 3 things he wants to include (one in each drawer – I choose the other activities). The next day he pulls out one activity from one drawer, plays with it/completes the worksheet, then returns the activity to the bag and to the drawer. I store most of them in a hanging file folder box, each activity in a separate, labeled folder. The bigger, bulkier items are in a dish pan in the school closet.

Here is a list of activities we’ve created with his reactions to them:

Paperclip color matching game – loves it

Color and shape matching wheels – loves it as do all our little visitors

Color matching with objects – loves it

I used foam sheets (you could use cardstock or felt) and collected a ton of small objects in various colors (between 5 to 10 per color). To play he lays out the color sheets and dumps the bag of objects on the floor. He then places each object on the corresponding color sheet. For example, the green frog would go on the green foam. The pink pig would go on the pink foam.

Clothespin Counting game – loves it

Hide and Seek – chooses this one a lot

Take pasta, dry beans or rice and put in a tupperware like container. Hide some small toys and have them search for it.

Mix and Match – uses it but gets frustrated sometimes

Have a bag full of different items, 2 of each. Have them find the matches. You can time it if you want - how many can you get in 1 minute? Or just let them make the matches. It can be whatever - milk jug caps, coins, small toys, stickers on small pieces of paper, paperclips, etc.

Alphabet train – doesn’t use this one very often

Print and color (there's a color version but would probably use a lot of ink) or print on colored paper.

Shades of color – he hated this and told me to get rid of it

Get some paint chip "ladders" (strips that are the different shades of same color). Make a master list with the color at the top and squares to put the other colors. Have them sort into the grid. Can use velcro, magnets or just have them lay it on the paper. If you use magnets they can be put on a cookie sheet or magnet board. I picked up some cards at Walmart but their selection was pretty stinky. I think Lowe's would have a much better, and larger, selection.

Measure it – only used a few times and said it was “boring”

Print this onto cardstock or laminate. Cut pieces from ribbon, yarn, pipe cleaners, etc. Have the child measure each thing to determine where it goes.

Spooning beads – does this one over and over again

Get 2 small bowls, and a spoon (check $ store). Put all beads in one bowl and have them spoon to the other bowl.

Counting frogs – loves it

Make a mat for each number, like 1, 2, 3, etc. Have them put right number of frogs on each mat. Or flowers or whatever small item you can find several of.

Patterning pom-poms – will do it if I set it out, but won’t choose it on his own

Make some pattern strips for using the colors of a bag of pom-poms. Cut some strips of paper about 8 1/2" by 3 or 4 inches and color circles to match the pom-poms. The child should place the pom-pom either on top of the matching color or underneath it. You can have a set pattern like ABAB, or ABCABC or just a random mixture of colors.

Double Trouble Shapes – new to try this year

Make some grids and laminate. Across the top row of each make some shape combinations (a circle on top of a heart, etc). Glue all together. Child needs to find both shapes needed to complete a square. Separate each grid's shapes in different bags.

Mini clothes line – thinks it’s hilarious

Cut small pieces of clothes from felt or other fabrics. String twine between 2 sticks and use mini clothes pins to secure them. For the base you could drill holes into a wooden plaque or glue it to the inside edges of a small box. We use this tied between two chairs. We have an alphabet set too – each clothespin has an upper or lowercase letter written on it and he pins the corresponding letter (written on paper) to the line. It could just be an index card with the letter on it or you could cut out “clothes” shapes. You can mix and match this as well – uppercase pins to lowercase, upper to upper, etc.

Stickers and paper – I have to regulate this and only do it once in a while because he goes through stickers so quickly. Include a variety of stickers and some paper (or cardstock) and let them go to town.

Pringles Can color sorting – loves it

I covered the can so he wouldn’t get all excited that he was getting a snack. I also used a few more colors than pictured, and made two with different colors on each one. All the kids that come to visit have loved this as well.

Pumpkin transfer – loves it

I picked up two small plastic pumpkins on clearance and filled one with small foam thingies (airplanes, frogs, bugs, shapes, etc). He loves to transfer it from one pumpkin to the other – he uses his fingers, kid-sized chopsticks or tweezers.

Cutting – loves it

In a bag include child safety scissors and cardstock, which is easier for them to cut. You can also include some patterns for them to cut if you want to teach more control.

Gluing – loves it

Include items for them to glue to cardstock/construction paper. Die cut pieces, shapes, letters, whatever. I patrol the craft stores for clearance items (think collage) and use what I can find.

Marble counting – loves it, but loses his marbles

We used foam sheets but you could also use plastic lids. Punch a hole in the foam sheet and write the corresponding number on it. For example, punch one hole and write “One 1”, punch two holes and write “Two 2”. The child then places the marble into each hole. I matched up a hole punch with the marbles at the store before buying to make sure the marble wouldn’t fall through the hole. I also made sure to get a hole punch with a longer reach so it could go in an inch or so from the edge.

Black Scratch paper – loves it

I only buy this when I see it on clearance. It’s one of his favorites but he’ll go through a whole package in one sitting so I only give in two sheets at a time.

Parmesan cheese can – loves it

When you empty a plastic Parmesan cheese container, clean it out and pull off the label. Fill it about ¾ full with small pom-poms, bells, coffee stir straws, anything that will fit through the hole. To play, unscrew the lid and dump it all out. Put the lid back on and open the side with the small holes. Have the child place each item in the hole….it takes a long time but they usually stick with it. 45 minutes of blessed silence.

Pipe cleaner beading – loves it

String beads onto pipe cleaners. As they get more agile you can use shoe laces or strings created especially for beading.

Maze book – loves it

I ripped a maze book apart and put each page in a protective sleeve. He uses a dry erase marker and then wipes it clean at the end.

Chalkboard – loves it

You can use a sponge to “draw” or include a small bag of chalk and a damp sponge for an eraser

Places to look for more ideas

http://lapbooksbycarisa.homestead.com/ToolsforTots.html

http://www.monthome.com/

http://www.filefolderfun.com/

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm

A peek into the chaos of our upcoming school year

2011-08-02T17:49:00.000-06:00

It’s that frantic time when most homeschooling parents are realizing that they actually need to PLAN the upcoming year. And just so that I feel like a part of the craziness….here are our plans for the 2011-2012 year (subject to change!)

And just for reference, I have four boys, ages 11, 10, 7 and 5. We also school year-round so we’re actually right in the middle of some studies, halfway through levels and other such confusing things.

Devotional – family, daily, 30 minutes

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and will be reading the Book of Mormon and Old Testament as a family. My two older boys will be doing a study from Discover the Scriptures.

We will continue to work on our Scripture Memory Work using this system.

We are working our way through the hymn book and children’s songbook from our church (we sing the same hymn every day until we know it). We also read the children’s magazine put out by our church called The Friend. And we choose one “religious” book to read – right now it’s a history of our church. Next will be a scripture hero book.

And this isn’t a part of “religion” but we also do the following during devotional time:

One idiom - (I have the old version)

Vocabulary Cartoons (2 pages)

Manners Made Easy

History – family, 4 x a week, 20 to 30 minutes

We are finishing up American History (we’ll stop right before WWI). We’ve used a booklist I compiled. We should be done in another month or two and will then move to the Ancient World again.

Because I like pain, we’re going to try to cram Egypt, Rome and Greece into one year. I’ll use the Simply Charlotte Mason guide books and their suggested readings with a few books of my own choosing thrown in.

Science – family, daily, 20 to 30 minutes

We have a few weeks left of chemistry and will then move into an eclectic mix of biology, physics and earth science. We’ll finish Flying Creatures (younger Apologia series - we did half the book last year), and work on Ocean Animals as well as Land Animals (from the same series). For physics we’ll be using Real Science 4 Kids. And for earth science I’m undecided. We might do a week or two on botany as well (the boys vetoed anything longer).

We’ll also throw in some nature study books here and there (actually, on Fridays). I have a ton downloaded on my Kindle or bookmarked around the web.

Piano – individually, daily, 20 minutes

Taught by dad. Mom is not talented that way.

Foreign Language – family, daily, 10 minutes

Starting Hebrew and Portuguese. My husband is a Hebrew speaker and I’m a Portuguese one so we’ll be teaching them ourselves, using our own small brains. I’ll be trying to use the Sarah and David Hebrew books with them as well.

Math – daily, 30 minutes each (all taught separately)

Right Start for all of them. Still love it almost 3 years later.

Spelling – individually, daily, 10 to 20 minutes

We use All About Spelling. They are each in a different level. Love, love, love it.

Literature/Read-Alouds – daily, 20 to 30 minutes

I use this list for the family. I read one book to them during the day and their dad reads one at bedtime. We’ll try to get through as many as we can.

The younger boys and I have “Circle Time” where we sing songs and read a few books from this list. The older boys work on their workboxes or chores during that time.

On Fridays we read Fairy Tales (currently an Andrew Lang Fairy book).

Geography - family, once a week, 30 minutes

Instead of history on Friday, we work on geography. I use Galloping the Globe as a guide and grab whatever books I can from the library about a specific country. It takes us several months per country. China is next. And we haven't voted on the one after that.

We also do a Map Drill on Friday with our geography. Currently we're working on the United States. All four boys participate (I write for the 5-year-old).

Artist Study – family, once a week, 10 minutes

I’m following this list I made. We are on Botticelli.

Composer Study – family, once a week, 10 minutes then listen to pieces throughout the week

Following this list I made. We just finished Mozart.

Poetry – family, once a week, 10 minutes

I just grab a poetry book and we read from it.

Art – family, once a week, 10 minutes

A woman from our church unit comes and teaches them about art and does projects with them every Thursday afternoon. I get to play with her baby girl.

Older boys:

Each of them has a workbox (milk-type crate with file folders). They will do the following subjects (daily) on their own:

Scriptures – read 10 minutes a day
Discover the Scriptures Book of Mormon (as listed above)
Copywork
Grammar – we use Growing With Grammar
Explode the Code
Cursive – Handwriting Without Tears
Math worksheet – a one page practice sheet
Geography – Daily Geography Practice
One boy is doing Star-Spangled States
Switcheroo – every day I change what is in the folder – homophones, story prompts, crossword puzzle, etc.
Exercise – 20 minutes, they choose the activity

Then 3 times a week they will do some independent reading in history or science. They will work on transitioning from oral narrations to written narrations this year. Yippee!

Once a week they will have a Logic class and we’ll be reading and discussing The Thinking Toolbox together.

One of my sons needs extra reading practice so he works with me an additional 30 minutes or so a day, using Happy Phonics for games. The rest of the time is just spent reading outloud.

7-year-old
He joins his older brothers for devotional, history, science, read-alouds, foreign language, and the other family studies. He works individually with me for math and reading/spelling. We use Happy Phonics for reading games.

His workboxes contain:

Scripture reading – 10 minutes with mom
Math worksheet
Explode the Code
Handwriting – printing, Handwriting Without Tears

He will probably start copywork with year.

5-year-old

His job is to stay out of my hair and not jump all over our stuff. He has a variety of games, activities, iPod apps, etc to keep him occupied.

He is working on his handwriting using Handwriting Without Tears. He is also learning to read using a crazy and disorganized mix of Happy Phonics, Now I’m Reading series, Starfall and the Preschool Prep dvds. He also sits in on all family subjects and on the 7-year-olds math and spelling lessons (his choice).

Homemade Lara Bars aka Lara Balls

2011-07-21T08:33:00.001-06:00

I made four versions of Lara Bars yesterday. Here are the recipes and results. Use nuts that have been soaked then dehydrated and dates/raisins/prunes that have no preservatives. Because I made most of these into "ball" shapes, my 7-year-old dubbed them "Lara Balls". The Protein Bars listed at the bottom need to stay refrigerated, the Lara Balls do not.

Coconut Cream Pie
1 1/2 c. dates
1/3 c. almonds
1/3 c. cashews
1/3 c. coconut

I used 1 cup of dates and 1/2 cup raisins. In a food processor, mix the dates (and raisins) until it forms a sticky ball. Remove to a mixing bowl. Process the nuts (with coconut if it's not already shredded super small) until mostly fine, but with a few smaller chunks. Add them to the mixing bowl. With your hands knead the mixture around until it's combined. Shape into bars or balls. I opted for balls. Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars.

This earned 5 out of 6 thumbs up.

Cashew Cookie
1 1/2 c. dates
1 c. cashews

Again, I used 1 cup dates and 1/2 cup raisins. Process the dates (and raisins) until it forms a sticky bowl. Remove to a separate mixing bowl. Process the nuts until mostly ground, with a few smaller chunks. Add them to the bowl and mix with your hands (sort of like kneading bread) until combined. Shape into bars or balls. I opted for balls. Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars.

This earned 2 1/2 out of 6 thumbs up, with it being "the favorite" of the 7-year-old.

Apple Pie
6 dates
about 1/4 c. dehydrated apple slices
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. honey
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. almonds

In a food processor, process the dates, apples, cinnamon and honey until it forms a sticky ball. Remove to a mixing bowl. Process the nuts until mostly fine, with a few small chunks. Add to the date/apple mixture and mix with your hands until combined. Shape into bars or balls. I opted for balls. Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars.

This earned 6 out of 6 thumbs up. I may try it with more dehydrated apples next time to make it a bit more appley. Many of the recipes I saw online used raw apples for this, but said they were runny. Some also added 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, but I don't like the taste so I left it out.

Protein Bars
2 c. almonds
1/4 c. flax seeds
1/2 c. prunes (or dates or raisins or mixture)
1/2 c. coconut (I left it out)
1/2 c. almond butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. coconut oil
1 tbsp. honey
2-3 tsp. vanilla (I left it out)

Add all the dry ingredients in the food processor (or blender like Blendtec) and process until almost fine. In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil. Then add the honey and vanilla if you're using it. Add to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Press into an 8x8 pan and let chill in the fridge for about an hour.

This earned 4 1/2 out of 6 thumbs up.

I got off the couch

2011-07-10T12:40:00.000-06:00

So, I have this crazy neighbor. Let's call her Maria. She's 5 months pregnant. And she wants to keep running. Her running friends have all moved away so she went recruiting. I was one of her first targets. What better way for a big pregnant lady to run, than with her totally out of shape, hasn't done any exercise for years friend! I don't know why I agreed. But she's crazy so I did.

I have now officially finished Week 4 of the Couch to 5K training program. The first two weeks I thought I would die. But each run got a little easier. Not a lot easier, but a little. Enough that I notice it. Good enough for me.

Our first race is in 6 weeks. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I'm actually going out 3 nights a week in order to train for a race. Because I hate running. It's good for me though so I keep doing it. We are TRYING to wake up and run in the mornings before our husbands leave for work, but she's tired because she's pregnant and I'm just tired so usually we go at 9:00pm when it's cooled down to 97 degrees or so. No joke.

If you are at all interested in getting started I would suggest two things:

First, get one of the Couch to 5K apps. There are several to choose from. When I run I take my iPod Touch and some lovely British lady tells me when to walk and when to run. Actually, she's not lovely. I don't like her very much. She causes me pain.

Second, get yourself a crazy friend. The kind that will show up at your door and drag you out if necessary. If you can find a pregnant one that works even better because then you think, "If she can do it, so can I."

I've lost weight and my clothes are fitting much better. Between the running and our GAPS diet, I just might get healthy!

And if I, a 38 1/2 year old, 190 pound (now 178 pound) couch potato can do it, so can you.

Sing what you hear

2011-06-05T19:34:00.000-06:00

The other morning my two youngest sons were sitting at the table singing about 'nasty nachos'. For a brief moment I thought they'd listened to some horrid rap music and were trying to mimic what they'd heard. I questioned my husband on this and he started laughing. He'd been playing the Marriage of Figaro and they were singing what they heard.

At first I thought it was a terrible way to introduce them to opera. They would never appreciate the true beauty and power of the music. They would think it silly. I changed my mind, however, as I heard them ask to listen to it over and over. As I saw them crowd around the computer with big smiles on their faces. And as I watched them laugh and laugh over what they heard. Here are some examples:

Nasty nachos

Oh pajama!

Hot dog protector

Spaghetti

Potato

Mozart may or may not be mortified at this introduction to his opera. On the one hand he took his music very seriously. And on the other he had a rather quirky sense of humor.

For now, my kids are interested in listening. They find it enjoyable. And I hear them humming the music around the house and singing what they hear.

Marriage of Figaro (also known as Mozart’s Wedding by my 7-year-old)

Act 3 Ecco La Marcia

Chemistry Fun

2011-03-29T22:16:00.003-06:00

I may or may not have told you recently that we're studying chemistry. So, we're studying chemistry. It's our second time through and it's fun to be working at a bit higher level.

We're using Real Science 4 Kids and adding in some "extra" books to make it more exciting. And because I can't use any curriculum without messing around with it. I have issues.

There are three resources that have been particularly fun though, thus the purpose of this post.

First, the book The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray. My boys have spent hours looking through this large, glossy book. It's fascinating to actually be able to see some of the things we're reading about and to see what they are used for.

Second, another book called The Periodic Table: Elements with Style! by Simon Basher. This is more cartoony, but still gives solid information in a way my boys appreciate and remember.

We use it in conjunction with these videos from the University of Nottingham (heehee, I love that name!). They have a video for every element (except two or three) and they show you what it looks like, the professor discusses it and they do an experiment or two. I thought the videos might be over their heads, but they love them! We read about one element per day and watch the corresponding video.

The kindness of strangers

2011-03-21T21:18:00.000-06:00

The other day my husband received an email at work, asking if there were any homeschoolers in the squadron. We weren't exactly sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing, and if answering would reap benefits or punishment and ridicule.

But we answered and the Chief Master Sergeant, himself a homeschool dad, bequeathed to us a new microscope with all the supplies and books for a full year's study. His daughter was off to high school for her last year and they wanted to find "a good homeschooling home" for the equipment.

We have had the greatest fun the last few days looking at all sorts of prepared slides and making a few of our own. We've seen frog ovaries and human blood, motor neurons and amoebas. We've also seen a rather large booger donated by the 4-yr-old which won all sorts of "gross” and “really cool" comments.

Some days we just need a reminder that the Lord is aware of us and concerned for our needs. And that He is looking down and blessing our efforts. Usually, He does it through other people.

Things I've learned from being chronically ill

2011-03-18T14:03:00.002-06:00

I've decided that I just need to come to terms with the fact that I have a chronic disease, one for which the experts say there is no cure. For years I've tried to ignore it, pretend it isn't there. But it keeps rearing its ugly head and letting me know that it is, in fact, a part of my life and that it will, in fact, affect me in various ways at various times.

I have what is called ulcerative colitis and without going into much detail my colon looks like a knee with road rash. Sometimes I am in remission and my body functions like normal. Other times I have flare-ups and then I have to use the bathroom constantly, 3 to 5 times an hour. I also have horrible stomach cramps/spasms which leave me curled up in a ball, usually crying. Often I can't eat because of the nausea. This last bout left me throwing up hourly and I ended up in the hospital needing IV fluids and some pretty serious pain meds.

But this post isn't about my actual health condition, it's about what I've learned, and am learning, along the way. And many of these lessons can be applied to any illness whether it be chronic or a 3-day cold. They could also be applied to life in general, because you never know what will happen!

1. It does no good to lay in bed and cry all day about the unfairness of your condition. Or to scream "WHY ME?" into the universe. The fact is, it is your lot to carry. And if you put things into perspective, it could be a lot worse. I would much rather carry the burden of my disease than cancer. Or AIDS. Or any number of diseases. Or to be going through what the Japanese or Libyan people are dealing with. It's taken me a long time to reach this place, this place of accepting what I've been given and then trying to learn from it. What lessons does the Lord want me to learn? Not why do I have it, but what can I learn from it? How can I grow from it?

2. Turn to the Lord for comfort. He knows all pain, all despair, all fear. He understands how to relieve the pain, how to lift you up when you feel like you can't go on. He can give you the strength to get out of bed and make breakfast for your children. He can calm your fears and guide you as you make choices about what you eat and how to use the energy you have.

3. Take care of your spiritual health. The times that I've let this go are the times I most despair, the times I feel like a failure as a wife and a mother, when all I can see around me is what I am NOT doing. By reading my scriptures first and praying every day I can often find a way past the pain and fatigue to get things done. And I find the patience and grace to deal with my children in a calm manner. Without that spiritual foundation I find myself getting snappy with them and focus more on my pain, my discomfort, my 'heroic' efforts to school them or cook for them and I forget that it is only through the grace of God that I'm able to do those things. And I forget what a joy and blessing it is to have such wonderful children.

4. Take care of your physical health. Sometimes I feel like there isn't much I can do about this. But there is. I can exercise. I can eat as healthy as I know how to. I can research diets and treatments and supplements and voodoo magic to see if there is something that mainstream medicine doesn't know about my condition. I can sleep.

5. Train your children while they are young and when you are healthy. It has been such a blessing during the last week or so that I've been sick to have 2 10-year old boys that can make breakfast and lunch. One day I casually mentioned that we might need to take some time to clean later in the day and one of my sons cleaned the entire house, by himself. They all know how to clean, including the bathrooms, to cook simple meals and to help with the laundry. I did notice some gaps in what they can do so once I'm fully back on my feet we'll be working on those. It was so wonderful to see the looks of pride and confidence on their faces as they were able to truly help the family in a time of need. They were contributing, even running the home, and they felt that satisfaction of serving others.

6. I'm learning to use my healthy time to the best of my ability. We get out in nature with the kids as often as possible during those times. You can't really go hiking when you have massive diarrhea. I'm just saying. The healthy times are when we work most on habit training and fun family times. We get extra schooling done and clean out closets, organize and dejunk. It's both a time for work and a time for play.

7. Sometimes you just have to say no. Sometimes I can't go out with friends. Sometimes I can't be in charge of a big project at church. Sometimes I can. It's hard for me to talk about my illness with others, mainly because it involves talking about the bathroom and nobody really wants to talk about that. But I'm learning that sometimes I have to let them know that it's not that I don't want to spend time with them or help them, but that I physically can't take on more right then. Other times I can, and then I do.

8. Have cooked food, or easy to cook food, in the freezer. I should know this because I've had crazy pregnancies requiring bed rest, but I'm still not good at it. As soon as I get sick, like in bed can't move from the pain sick, my husband takes over cooking dinner (with the boys doing breakfast and lunch). Most of the time husband-dinner involves take-out - pizza, burgers, etc. Expensive and not healthy, especially when your guts are super sore. If I had been prepared we could have been pulling things out of the freezer that were wholesome and inexpensive. He's actually going to take some time off of work next week to help me do some freezer cooking (and clean out the closets and such). Bless his heart. I'm also trying to work on pantry cooking - having easy meals that can be made from canned or boxed foods. Wait, that doesn't sound healthy does it? I guess I'm thinking more like the "basic" cans and boxes - what can be made with a few cans of beans or pasta? Or flour and some eggs and milk? Stuff like that. We're also going to be preparing a list of super easy meals that husband or boys can make with fridge or pantry items that might not be good to freeze, like quesadillas or egg salad sandwiches. Sometimes you forget that there are simple things to make in time of sickness because they aren't part of your regular menu plan.

Having food in my freezer also means I can give service even when I am sick. If there is a need to bring meals to a new mother or a sick family, I can easily pull it out of my own freezer for them. Serving while I am sick is such a blessing.

9. Have a system or schedule in place so that the house and life can keep functioning. Sometimes my brain is only working at 1/4 power and it helps to know what comes next or what I'm supposed to cook for meals. If I'm completely out of commission, then the kids and husbands know what to do next and can keep things moving forward.

10. Give yourself permission to not be Super Homeschooler. I am the Queen at Kicking Myself for what we didn't get done that day. For seeing all the undones. I have a brilliant husband though who is very, very good at finding what I did do that day. Maybe we didn't get 2 math lessons done, or read 50 pages of history and 35 of science and work on dissertations in quantum physics or solve world hunger. But maybe we played games all day, read books together, watched some scripture or Popular Mechanics videos, maybe they played outside all day while I sat in a chair watching and reading a book. Maybe they just 'socialized' with each other. In the grand scheme of things, it's okay to have a day off, or six.

11. Plan ahead when going out. Maybe this applies more to my specific problem, but I know where the bathrooms are in every store. At first I needed to know this when I had babies in diapers or potty-trainers who couldn't hold it for long. Now I need it for me. If we're going to a store I don't know well, I find the bathroom first. I've also trained my kids on what to do if mom has to dash into the bathroom. Being that I have 4 boys, they typically don't come in with me. I also make sure I have snacks in my purse because sometimes I can't eat for long periods of time due to pain or nausea, but then my blood sugar drops quickly and I need something to pick me up fast. Larabars work well for this. Although I want to figure out how to make my own. If we're going to be driving for a while I plan bathroom breaks and meal times. Usually I won't eat for several hours before we leave so there is nothing in my system that needs to come out. Pleasant, I know, but it's the reality of my life.

12. Learn to laugh about life. If I couldn't find the humor in my situation or life in general I would truly be miserable. When I'm talking with doctors about the very nitty-gritty specifics of what is happening I try to have fun with it. My current GI taught me this. When I first saw him I was all embarrassed to be discussing such gross and personal things and I stopped and said, "I hate talking about poop." In his huge Texan drawl he yelled, "I LOVE IT!!!" In the ER Wednesday the doctor asked if I had any other chronic problems, I looked him right in the eye, and said through clenched teeth, "No. I think this one is enough." His mouth dropped open a bit and he moved on, shaking his head. I'm working on finding ways to laugh about this....I also find that it helps my kids feel more comfortable with the problem. If we can say something funny about mom having to sprint off to the bathroom then it's not "a disease" to worry about, it's just silly mom. And for the record, I'm not crude about poop humor. My jokes are not about that...it's more about life in general and the challenges that sometimes happen. And laughing makes you feel happier and healthier if it's good laughter so that's what we aim for.

13. I feel a greater importance in telling people how I feel about them, in making sure that my husband and children hear how much I love them and how grateful I am for them. I also make sure that my children know of my faith and my love of the Lord. I try every day to write in a journal for them, telling them what we did that day, any funny comments they made, to document their kind deeds and to express my testimony of the gospel to them. Someday I hope it will be a joy and comfort to them to have their life's deeds recorded and to hear my counsel and advice as they get older. I don't think this disease will kill me, but if it does I want to leave a legacy of wisdom and love for them, through my daily actions and my written journal.

14. I value simplicity more. I want meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. I don't want to spend 2 or 3 hours a day cleaning my home. We have dejunked and dejunked and dejunked and organized and organized and organized. And we are going to do it again. It makes it easier for us to maintain together, and easier for the kids if they need to pick up the slack for a while. Even my 4-year-old can completely clean most rooms now. Every little bit helps! Life it too short, and healthy time too precious, to be spent dealing with stuff.

15. Stock your pantry and toiletries while you are healthy and when they're on sale, if possible. It's much easier for me to stock up every time I shop and then send my husband to the store for a few items, than it is to send him with a massively long list. I also take my husband and boys shopping with me on occasion so I can to teach them how to pick out good produce, what brands I prefer to use and where to find certain things (like the taco shells are near the bread, not the Mexican aisle).

And now I'm going to take some of my advice and go spend time with my kids. And cook a big pot of soup to eat for dinner and freeze half for another meal. I might even get some laundry done.

Enjoy the life you have. It is a gift and a blessing.

A prayer from my 10-yr-old

2011-03-07T20:00:00.001-07:00

Last night one of my 10-yr-olds was praying. Here is a small excerpt:

And please bless the countries in the Middle East that they can get a better government and have freedom. And bless the people of the United States that they will make better choices so America can get back to normal.

A conversation with my 4-year-old

2011-03-06T18:19:00.004-07:00

I was standing in the kitchen, making dinner, when my four-year-old walked in.

"Mom. Do you love everyone in the whole world?"

"Yes," I replied, "I love everyone in the whole world."

"But not Satan. Right, mom? You don't love Satan, do you?"

"Right. I don't love Satan," I said.

"Mom. God said to love your enemies." And he turned and walked out of the room.

All About Reading

2011-03-01T14:32:00.002-07:00

As I've mentioned previously, I love the All About Spelling program. And now they have All About Reading Level Pre-1, available tomorrow!!! I have been (impatiently) waiting and I'll be first in line to buy. (There will be other levels in the near future and all will correspond with the AAS program.)

The author, Marie Rippel, has offered two free e-books for you to preview. You can download them here. If you want to buy the program, you can purchase it from the All About Spelling site (please use the link on the right so I can get a small commission!) or you can use this link.

Here is more information from their official announcement:

Level Pre-1 teaches preschoolers and kindergarteners a very specific set of skills that we call the Big Five Skills. These five skills help young children understand the basics of language and how it works, preparing them to learn to read.

With All About Reading Level Pre-1, your child will play special games, enjoy little crafts, and engage in charming storytime activities--all the while absorbing these all-important Big Five Skills.

Updated to add:
They just lowered the price as of last night! And they are offering $20 in free product if you order before March 7th.

Updated August 2011 - I did order Pre-Level 1 and then I returned it. My youngest son (who was 4 at the time) already knew his letter names and sounds and was putting simple words together. This program, while EXCELLENT, was too easy for him. I loved the activities and instruction and really debated whether I'd use this for him. I even made my husband sit down and look through it (twice). The conclusion was that it would have been busy work for him - he would have enjoyed doing it, but he had already mastered the skills. Pre-Level 1 would be perfect for a child just learning their letters and sounds and the activities are varied and fun. Some days I wish I had another child to teach reading to....

Succotash

2011-02-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't told you about the easiest meal to make yet. Bad, Heather, bad.

Anyway....I first made this as part of our Pilgrim celebration. Everyone loved it and said we should add it into our meal rotation. It's been over a year and everyone still loves it. It takes about 15 minutes to make and truly is one of the easiest things ever.

1 lb. beef, cut into bite-size pieces (stew, stir-fry, steak, whatever)
corn - either 1 16oz. pkg frozen (does not need to be thawed) or 2 cans, drained
1 can lima beans, drained
butter
salt
cinnamon

Brown the beef in some butter. Add the corn and the lima beans. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon. I use about 1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon. I just lightly sprinkle it over the whole dish until it looks dusted, but not covered. Stir and let cook until corn and beans are heated through (you can add a little more butter here and there if things start looking dry). Serve.

My kids will CHEER when they see this on the table. They cheer for LIMA BEANS. How fun is that!!!

Two of my smartest organizing ideas...ever

2011-02-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not a natural organizer, but I find much peace in being organized. So I organize. Some times my attempts work beautifully and other times they leave much to be desired.

Here are two that have worked so marvelously well over the years that I'm surprised they came from my personal brain.

1. We were constantly losing cards or game pieces and when it was time to play, we couldn't. In our play room I placed a small basket (plastic box, whatever) on top of the shorter bookcase. Whenever we're cleaning or digging things out from under the couch and we find a game piece or card or something we set it in the basket. If we want to play a game with a missing piece we check the basket first. About once a month I'll go through and put all the lost parts in their proper home.

2. We're a reading family. And we never had enough bookmarks so my kids would use dirty socks, toys, the dog leash, whatever they could find to mark their places and many books were damaged in the process. I put together a stack of bookmarks and put them in the corner of a shelf on one of the bookcases. They now know that whenever they need a bookmark, they can go there and find one. When they're done with one they return it to the same place.

I'm a broken record

2011-01-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

About two years ago we decided that we weren't going to "do snacks" anymore. I didn't feel good about feeding them crackers and cookies and other processed snack foods. And the cost added up quickly with four boys who would eat an entire box of crackers in one sitting and STILL be hungry.

So we made a "fruit" rule. If they are hungry they can always have fruit. Any time of the day. Fruit is the answer. You wake up early in the morning, and you're hungry before breakfast, have some fruit. You want a snack before lunch? Have some fruit. Feeling hungry around 3pm? Have some fruit. Going to bed and want to top off the tank? Have some fruit. I figured if they ate fruit and were too full to eat a good lunch, oh well. They got full on fruit.

For TWO YEARS when they say they're hungry I tell them to eat fruit. AND THEY STILL KEEP ASKING.

It's like they're hoping I'll have a fit of insanity and say,

"Oh, you're hungry? Eat this bag of Doritos then have a gallon of ice cream."

You can tell which of my kids were little when this started. The 10-yr-olds fight me the most on fruit and one will just walk away and eat nothing (which I think means he wasn't really hungry in the first place, just looking for a sugar fix). The 7-yr-old eats fruit fairly well. The 4-y-old eats mainly fruit (and all varieties) and we have to work really hard to get him to eat anything else.

This is how I handle The Stocking of the Fruit -

fruit bowl filled with apples and pears - always

clementines or mandarin oranges - if they don't cost a fortune

bananas - always - usually 3 bunches a week

grapes - whichever color has a good price that week

baby carrots - it's not a fruit, but the same principle applies

persimmons - depends on price

pineapple - cut into chunks, once or twice a month

watermelon (or other melons) - once or twice a month

berries - whenever I can get a good price

lettuce & spinach - they know how to make their own salads and they do (don't fight me on the "it's a vegetable thing" - it still counts in the Have Some Fruit campaign)

I have been providing unsweetened applesauce, but have decided to stop that. I'm going to teach them how to make applesauce in the blender instead. How could they possibly resist the power of the Blendtec?

Now, what fruits or easy-to-serve vegetables am I missing??????

The End of Raw

2010-12-28T23:26:00.001-07:00

I officially lasted almost two weeks on raw. I had a series of minor breakdowns, followed by a biggie that had my husband wondering if he needed to lock me in a padded room. It was ugly. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but it’s taken me quite a while to get back to feeling like me again.

I spent quite a while feeling like a total loser because I couldn’t even go 30 days.

30 days is nothing.

Or so I glibly thought.

I kept telling myself that those darn people on Simply Raw went 30 days. And they had detox like I did. They wanted to give up. They had breakdowns. And THEY KEPT GOING.

Why couldn’t I????

As my husband pointed out…

1. They were at a retreat where their food was made for them. And most likely it was delicious.

2. They were at a retreat where they did not have to take care of laundry and dishes and kids and homeschool and church service and many other things.

I was in no such place.

I will openly admit that the detox was bad. Really bad. The first week or so I was feeling great…and then I started crying…and getting angry…and crying…and getting impatient…and edgy….and crying…and raising my voice (which I NEVER do)….and crying….Most of my detox was emotional and my kids were noticing. I didn’t like the mom I was becoming and felt very little control over myself at that point. That made me cry even more.

By the end of the almost two weeks I was a quivering mass of depressed mucous-covered raw nerves. My husband called an end to the insanity and I started eating “normal” food. And wouldn’t you know it, within a few days I was happier, calmer, and in control of my emotions again. And fatter. I regained the 7 pounds I lost.

I’m currently working on a semi-raw diet. So far I’m doing well emotionally and physically. I eat raw for breakfast in the form of a large smoothie (usually a green one). Lunch is either salad or vegetable soup/chowder with another massive smoothie. Dinner is a small portion of whatever I cooked for dinner with veggies and fruit on the side. I’ve been making a lot of vegetarian meals lately and tons of soup. I feel so calm, so healthy after a big bowl of veggie soup with homemade broth. It is very grounding. I’m also trying to avoid sugar and bread.

But they are NOT trying to avoid me.

My husband still thinks that raw is a great idea, in moderation. He also suggested that I try various recipes out while eating “normal” thus building a collection of meals that I enjoy…after a while I should have a supply of “go to” raw recipes that I like, instead of ones I throw in the garbage.

So, our current goal is to maintain the status quo albeit a modified status quo including many, many more smoothies….and work on building a repertoire of raw and/or vegetarian meals. Are we giving up meat and dairy? Not for now. But we do want to decrease the amount we eat…and increase the quality.

I found that I don’t really care for “gourmet raw”. I don’t like the fake sour creams and fake noodles and fake whatevers. They taste fake. The things I enjoyed the most were raw foods acting like themselves – a salad acting like a salad, veggies tasting like veggies instead of like some nasty sauce, fruit that still looked and tasted like the actual fruit. Gourmet raw relies on a lot of nuts and seeds, which I found somewhat irritating (to my gut). And expensive. Some recipes used hardly any veggies at all – it was all nuts and seeds. That didn’t feel “raw” to me. Just fake. (The repeated use of the word fake in this post has now ended.)

I have learned a few things from this experience:

For my mental health and well-being, I need to make gradual changes to my diet. Some people may not have this problem. I do.

I was surprised at how strong a hold food has over me. How emotional eating is. I want to work at freeing myself from this dependence. Food is my drug…and I want to break the chains. Any suggestions?

Food tastes best when it is in its most natural state. Covering it with a sauce, even a raw sauce, usually doesn’t enhance the food.

Blended soups need my attention. I must figure out how to make more blended soups…but make them chunkier …and warmer.

Smoothies are my friend.

There is really no replacement for a great salad. All the gourmet raw in the world doesn’t beat a salad with a fantastic dressing.

Foods eaten in their natural state are faster than making fancy recipes. That’s a big duh, but I need to learn it. A nectarine is much faster, much tastier, much easier than putting together a frilly little doo-dah to snack on.

For now, raw is done. It was not fun. Hey, that rhymed! I’m still learning though, and still experimenting with raw recipes. Just at a slower pace.

I’m taking one day at a time and doing the best I can that day to be healthy.

My lovely long skirts

2010-12-10T18:41:00.002-07:00

Sadly, I do not sew. Let me amend that. I do know how to sew but I do NOT know how to cut out a pattern. My grandmother always did that part, then she'd pin it together and I'd sew it on the machine.

I have set a goal to learn how to sew, really sew, but haven't found anyone in my local area that can teach me.

So, I bought some skirts. To tide me over until I learn....whenever that is.....

Some of you asked for pictures. My camera is broken, or it hates me, I'm not sure which. But I got them at New Creation Apparel.

Aline Seams Heather Gray 98% cotton, 2% Spandex Brick Red Flax 53.9% flax 46.1% cotton

Black Diamond Comfort a combination of cotton, spandex and polyester

This last one is my absolute favorite and it's the one I went walking in!!!! It has a zipper on the bottom allowing it to "open up" for walking. It is 98% cotton, 2% spandex. The one to the left of it is also a blend of cotton/spandex (70%/30%).

The customer service is absolutely incredible. They were out of stock on a few items and they immediately contacted me via email, then phone. They worked very hard to make sure I was happy. Shipping was fast and quality is excellent.

If you know of any other companies/persons that sell modest skirts, please let me know. I'm always on the hunt for good quality, attractive, feminine clothes.

I walked a mile in a long skirt

2010-12-09T10:06:00.002-07:00

I did. And it felt great. And a little weird. I went swish, swish, swish the entire time.

So, you should know two things. First, I've been wearing more skirts lately (don’t laugh, mom). Like several times a week. I thought I'd hate it but I actually love it. Wearing a skirt makes me feel pretty and homemakey . The big kicker for me is NOT to wear pantyhose with them. I reserve pantyhose for special occasions like weddings and church. For daily kicking it with my kiddos, it's just a long skirt and bare feet. Ah, the freedom!

Second, I'm walking every day. Winter has settled upon us here in West Texas. Today it is in the high 50s/low 60s - we wore t-shirts to the park. About halfway through our school day I send all my kids to the park to play and I walk around the neighborhood so I can still see them. I walk around and around and around. Then around some more.

The neighbors probably think I'm crazy, but at least I'm doing something healthy! I've been doing a little over a mile each day, for the last 5 days. Dragging my little mutt behind me. Seriously, he’s so out of shape….worse than me!

And today I was wearing an ankle-length denim skirt with black tennis shoes. Perhaps not my most lovely fashion statement, but I've proved to myself that I can exercise anywhere, anytime. It doesn't matter if I don't have the right clothes or "enough time". Excuses are no longer valid. Well, at least for now.

My boys love being able to play outside for long hours everyday without frying to a crisp. I love the fresh air and bright blue skies. We all feel happier, calmer and sleep better at night.

I love Texas in the winter!

My latest venture

2010-12-08T19:39:00.002-07:00

I want to introduce you to a fun project I'm working on. It started over at my beloved Simply Charlotte Mason forum when someone asked how to stretch your money at the grocery store. Seven pages of comments later we decided to start a blog to create a one-stop place for all our frugal tips, from scratch recipes, and information about repurposing clothes, gardening, canning and such.

You can find us at Penny-wise Women. We welcome any and all submissions relating to thriftiness, self-reliance, being a good steward and all that jazz. I hope you enjoy!!

A (Not Gross) Raw Recipe

2010-12-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

For lunch today I made a raw "chicken" salad. It was rather tasty! If only they all were.....

Raw “Chicken” Salad

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 3 hours

1/2 cup cashews, soaked 3 hours

2" piece cucumber

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1/2 celery stick

1/4 cup pecans pieces

1 teaspoon dill

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice from 1/2 lemon

lots of ground black pepper

one half carrot (optional)

In a food processor bowl fitted with a metal blade, combine all ingredients. Pulse to combine. It should be a finer texture than regular chicken salad--that helps it to stick together. The cucumber and nuts and carrot should release water after it sits. Stuff sweet peppers or wrap with Romaine.

I just pulsed everything in my Blendtec. I had to stir it around a few times to make sure everything got their turn on the blade. I didn't soak the nuts because I decided to make it last minute; it turned out just fine.

I'm still raw...and I hate it

2010-12-03T00:30:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted for the last few days. I'm still raw. I hate it. I've had several recipe disasters lately which has me feeling demotivated to keep going. I can't tell you how awful it is to cook a meal for the kids, make a raw meal for me and hubby and then taste it and realize it's putrid...and then have to go back in the kitchen to try again.

The kitchen is my prison. I spend so much time there right now. I feel like the only thing I do, all day, is cook, "uncook" and wash dishes so I can do it all again in a couple hours.

Not to sound any more pathetic and whiny than I already do, but mealtimes are now a dreaded part of my day. I have actually spent the last two dinner preps crying the entire time. It's difficult to chop veggies with a sharp knife while tears are streaming down your face. Try it sometime. Okay, don't. It's dangerous.

The thing I was most unprepared for was how the whole diet change would affect me emotionally. Warm food calls to me, beckons me, mocks me and makes me sob.

Warm food……

My husband is encouraging me to continue. A part of me is grateful for that…..the other part is really angry. I want him to say it’s okay to eat comforting, delicious food again. I’m tired of eating weird tasting COLD food.

I want a steak.

I’ve lost around 7 pounds. That should encourage me. It does. Sort of. I’ve resigned myself to not enjoying my food for the next three weeks. In fact, I’m on a short of uncooking strike. I’m eating salads and drinking smoothies. All those fancy schmancy raw food recipes are just sitting on my counter gathering dust right now. Too many failed recipes. Too many ingredients wasted.

Have you ever noticed that most raw foodists are single? Okay, some of them are married, but they only have a designer dog. They’re not trying to prepare food for small children. They’re not trying to maintain a home filled with small children. Small children who need attention and who make messes. Not that my children would ever make messes. They would never take the entire bucket of Legos and dump it on the floor. Okay, they might. They did.

I need to go shopping tomorrow. It’s a serious debate for me whether I buy another week’s worth of “raw food”.

It cost over $230 last week.

That’s over HALF of my monthly budget.

That’s a lot of money.

And did I mention it’s gross?

Thanks for listening.

I will now go back to my normally scheduled happy mood.

After I eat a steak...

Maybe.

Raw - Day 4

2010-11-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

The big news.....so far I've lost 6 pounds. Since Friday! I'm not sure where I'm losing it from because I don't see much of a body change yet. Well, my belly is a bit smaller, so is my rear end and my double chin is shrinking. I'm also noticing that I don't have my afternoon crash - the one where I need to take a nap around 3:00.

I've had headaches off and on (but I have a lot normally) so I'm not sure if I'm detoxing or just being me. I'm surprised at how I'm not feeling hungry. I sort of expected to starve the whole time and feel like I was never getting enough to eat. But I've felt full after every meal and rarely feel like snacking. The thing that's the hardest is the temperature. I miss warm/hot food! I'll be eating something and think, "This would taste so much better if it were warm." I hadn't realized that I equate comfort with food warmth.

I ate a late breakfast and my husband came home early for lunch so I ended up eating Pad Thai for brunch.

Breakfast
Pad Thai with Kelp Noodles - recipe by Ani Phyo

1/2 c. almond butter

1 c. coconut oil

1/4 c. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

1/2 c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. jalapeno

2 tsp. coriander

1 1/2 c. water

Blend. Toss with:

2 to 4 packages Kelp noodles

½ c. basil

2 c. shredded cabbage

My thoughts...it tastes nothing like pad thai, but was still very good. Pretty much nothing can taste like pad thai unless it's pad thai from a little restaurant in Seaside, CA called Baan Thai. They make the absolute best pad thai (and singapore noodles) on the planet. When we lived in CA we ate there almost every week. They knew us so well they bought us a Christmas present! Nothing beats sitting at the beach eating great pad thai.

Um, back to the recipe. This obviously makes a lot so I halved it. I soaked the kelp noodles in warm water with some lemon juice. Within 15 minutes they were nice and soft. The fresh basil was such an amazing addition. I now want to grow a basil plant so I can put it on everything. The sauce was quite lemony so the next time I'd decrease that a bit. I didn't halve the cabbage though, and I liked having a lot of crunchy veggie with my noodles.

Lunch

1 pomegranate (I'm so loving them right now)

Cream of Zucchini Soup - Jennifer Cornbleet, 'Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People'

½ cup water

1 zucchini, chopped (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups)

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon mellow white miso

½ teaspoon crushed garlic (1 clove)

¼ teaspoon sea salt

dash cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ avocado, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh minced dill, or 1 tsp dried

Place all of the ingredients except the olive oil, avocado and dill in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add the olive oil and avocado and blend until smooth. Add the dill and blend briefly just to mix. Serve immediately. Serves 2

My thoughts...If I hadn't gone a bit crazy with the raw garlic, this would have been a nice, mellow soup. Don't do as I did and add two large cloves of garlic - more is not always better.

I didn't chop anything. I just cut stuff into two or three pieces and added it to the blender. I don't think it serves two. I came away with one and a half bowls...which I ate myself! Like the last soup I made it was very, very thin. I like thick soups. Even chunky ones.

Dinner

Mushroom Tacos with Mango Salsa

Tacos

Portabella mushrooms

zucchini

olive oil

Nama Shoyu

garlic

sea salt or seasoning salt

lemon juice

I cut up 2 large mushroom caps, after chasing the kids around with them. I cut the zucchini into small strips. Then I just sort of drizzled or dashed stuff on top and stirred it around. I made it at breakfast and let it marinade all day (stirring whenever I walked through the kitchen). By dinner time they were very soft and seemed almost cooked, albeit not warm. I was surprised at how much the mushrooms reduced. From filling a small bowl at the beginning to barely covering the bottom!

Mango Salsa

1 mango

a nice medium tomato or a few small ones

some onion

a bit of garlic (unless you're still burping it up from lunch)

salt

cilantro

a lime

avocado

I cut up the mango, seeded and chopped the tomatoes, tiny diced about 1/4 cup onion and skipped the garlic. I added a large handful of cilantro and chunked the avocado, sprinkled with salt, then squeezed half a lime all over it and stirred.

To serve, I used romaine lettuce leaves (I ate 4). Add the mushroom stuff and the salsa, roll and eat.

My thoughts...these didn't taste like tacos. But I'm a diehard taco fan (they're my favorite food, followed by pad thai). But they were tasty. They dripped a lot (I should have drained the marinade better), but I liked the combination of slightly sweet and salty. Towards the end I just ate the salsa and mushrooms with a fork and yes, I ate the whole thing by myself.

Playstation Nation

2010-11-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are having conversations right now about whether or not we keep the Wii. And if we do, how do we use it. But first, let me tell you how we got to the point where we're thinking of removing it.

It all started when we moved to Texas. We'd never had a gaming system before, but our boys were getting older and we felt that they were 'missing out' on something. We originally decided to get them a trampoline, but the summers here are scorching hot, so it wouldn't have been used for 6 months out of the year. And in base housing, sometimes you have room for one, sometimes you don't. (Then there's that nasty 'weight limit' when they move you and tramps are heavy.) We thought, "A Wii would allow them to stay active in the house during the hot months and it would be a fun activity to play with their friends."

So we bought one. At first we only allowed 'active' games and they had to stand to play it. I'm not sure how it happened but after a while we had some Lego games - to play you just stand there and move your guy from place to place. No real physical movement or logic involved. And when their friends came over they all just stood in the room, playing a game and not talking. It was like a room full of zombie kids.

There began to be fights. Major fights. "He hogged the Wii. He didn't share." There was name calling and put-downs. Sometimes they would play all day and I'd find out they hadn't let one brother have a turn. It became an obsession for them, how much time could they play? They were constantly talking about it, begging to play it, crying if they couldn't. All their imaginative play was based on the computer games they played. No more knights or heroes or soldiers or whatever. Only Wii characters. All the time. I often found them just sitting in a room discussing "plans" for the next time they got to play. And they were ALWAYS asking to play.

Sadly, it became a crutch for me. When I was sick or tired, or both, I'd tell them to go play the Wii. It was too hard for me to deal with all the whining and begging while laying in bed wanting to throw up or pass out. Part of why we're discussing getting rid of it is based on my own weakness to rely on it as a babysitter.

So, as I started to think about it my friend Misty over at Misfit Cygnet recommended that I read Playstation Nation by Olivia and Kurt Bruner. When I got it in the mail my boys were so excited - 'Mom has gone crazy and now she's going to get us a Playstation'. They were less than happy when I told them what the book was really about!

Playstation Nation talks about video game addiction and what parents can do. The authors use examples from their own family and interviews with many other people. They also discuss many of the studies done about video games and their effect on emotion and behavior, including what actually happens in the brain.

I enjoyed the stories and interviews very much, but I especially appreciated the 'science' behind it. I had already seen what it could do so it was chilling to understand what was going on in their little brains, and the damage it might be causing.

I went into the book thinking we'd just limit the amount of play, an hour a day or maybe one day a month. One particular man quoted in the book said that he wished his parents had just gotten rid of it, because even though he could only play once a month or so, he still thought about it, it consumed his thoughts even if he wasn't playing it or talking about it. I don't want video games to 'consume their thoughts' (which I had already seen that it did) and this made me think deeply about what I truly wanted for them.

After reading the book, and observing my own children's behaviors, I'm convinced that the Wii needs to leave our home permanently, never to be replaced by anything else. My husband is not so convinced. I've asked him to read the book, which he agreed to, but hasn't had time yet. One of his main arguments is that "it's fun". Well, many people would argue that taking drugs, sleeping around and drag racing are fun, but that doesn't make it right. He has also expressed concern that "we spent money on it" so it would be a waste to get rid of it. I countered with, "If you made a mistake, you correct it and move on. If you give up drinking but have a year's supply of beer in the house, you don't need to keep drinking it until it's gone. Get rid of it!" And he's worried that the kids will feel deprived or weird because they're one of the few without a gaming system. I worry that they'll grow up addicted, unmotivated, unproductive and consumed with unimportant worldly things. (Reading the book Boys Adrift further convinced me that this most probably would happen.)

At the moment we're at an impasse, but we've decided to not let them play until we make the decision. The first bit was rough, but now they are playing imaginatively again, reading books, going to the park, riding their bikes and most especially, the tone of our home is calmer and more pleasant. We don't have multiple screaming or crying fits a day. No more nagging me then lashing out because I said no. They are doing their school work independently if I'm sick or playing with their younger brothers or reading to them - they're using their time productively. Without complaint. The noise level has dramatically dropped.

We did let them play one day (on Halloween instead of trick-or-treating) and it took almost 2 weeks for them to stop asking to play, complaining, crying, or yelling about not being able to play. Now, peace has been restored and I don't want to interrupt it again!

Raw - Day 3

2010-11-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today was a slightly weird day for raw because we had church, and additional church leadership meetings and visits and such. But, I made it through another day!

Breakfast
Fruit smoothie
1 banana
several cups of frozen strawberries, blueberries and cherries
1 orange
about 2 cups coconut water

Blended in the good old Blendtec and gulped it down before we ran out the door.

Lunch
1 persimmon

Nori Rolls
1 avocado
salt
a tsp. or so Nama Shoyu
a bit of garlic powder
a splash of lemon juice

Smooshed it all together in a bowl with a fork. That's what us old-fashioned people without food processors do.

On a piece of seaweed we spread some of the smooshed avocado along one edge. We added:
the leftover "noodles" from last night
broccoli slaw
spinach and butter lettuce, sliced small

Then we rolled it all up and dipped it in the Raw Asian Dressing and Spicy Peanut Sauce (separately), both from yesterday. The overall taste was very nice - the dipping sauces totally 'made' the meal though. I don't think I would have been able to eat the seaweed without them. Thanks Misty! You totally saved my bacon (except I didn't eat bacon).

My two oldest, once again, decided to try these on their own. They made up a roll, dipped and had 2 or 3 bites and said they were done.

Dinner
I didn't get home until after 8 so I just made a quick soup.

Thai Vege Soup - posted by Ocean at Raw Freedom Community

1 orange pepper

1/2 tbsp. sea salt

3 carrots

3/4 c. cashews

4 radishes

2 c. warm water

1 tbsp. curry powder

3/4 c. almond milk

1 tbsp.. Nama shoyu

1 tbsp. agave

1/2 tbsp. jalapeño pepper

1/8 cup green onions

Add everything to a blender and blend until blended. (That's a lot of blending!)

My thoughts....very tasty. I used two small sweet peppers, one yellow and one orange. I cut off the end of a jalapeño and used that instead of measuring. And I didn't use the green onions because I think they're nasty.

The soup was very, very thin. I'd like to make it again and use less liquid, and possibly add some veggies right at the end so there's some chunkiness. I ate my second bowl with coconut milk stirred in, which made me think that using coconut milk instead of water might be a tasty replacement. I love curry, and this definitely had the curry taste. I might decrease it though because it overpowered everything (in a mostly good way).

This whole "blended soup" thing has me thinking about all the soups I can make for my family and, instead of using a water or broth base, I can blend a ton of veggies making a smooth base and then add chunks and textures to give the mouth feel that thin, watery soups make me long for.

We finished the meal with another fruit smoothie, at the insistence of my 4-year-old. Three of the four boys joined in and by the end there was barely enough for me!

My 4-yr-old is funny

2010-11-28T14:00:00.001-07:00

The other day he told me, "I'm the boss of me. So I'm going to tell you what you're going to do for me."

To understand the following you need to know that my husband speaks Hebrew and the boys call him Abba, instead of dad. Tonight the 4-yr-old was discussing the fine art of making guacamole. He wanted to know if there were "mama-cados". Because obviously you make guacamole with "abba-cados".

He also tried to insist that he get two bags of fruit snacks because "only one side of my mouth got to eat them and the other side is so sad."

Raw - Day 2

2010-11-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not sure I'm going to make it!!! Eating raw is already starting to annoy me. Maybe I'm just detoxing lots of negative emotions....

First of all, I hate having my entire fridge full of produce. It's so full I can't find anything. And there isn't room for anything except produce. And it's getting squished. I only did a one-week shop because there is no way I'd be able to fit more than that. It was expensive.

Second, if a meal flops, there isn't much you can grab at the last minute so you don't starve. Most of the meals require quite a bit of prep and many need "marinating" time. Essentially I'm making 6 meals a day, 3 for my kids and 3 for my husband and me. It's a deflating thought to have to go back into the kitchen and make something else if the first thing tastes yucky.

That being said, here's what I ate today.

Breakfast
Hot Pink Smoothie - recipe by Green Smoothie Girl
1 1/2 c. young Thai coconut water
1 large carrot, cleaned and cut into pieces (or 5-6 baby carrots)
1/2 medium raw beet, peeled
1/4 c. cashews
1/4 c. chopped dates
2 tsp. vanilla
12 frozen strawberries
2 tbsp. kefir or yogurt (optional)

Puree all ingredients except strawberries for 90 seconds. Add strawberries and puree on high until smooth.

Okay, here are my thoughts after having made this a bazillion times...the coconut water can be obtained by cracking open a young Thai coconut (look for the white pointy one, not the brown hairy one). You can also use canned coconut water if needed. I also scrape out the coconut meat and add that to the smoothie.

I don't add the dates. I also don't add the vanilla.

I add way more than 12 strawberries. About a cup or two. I often add a berry mixture instead of plain strawberries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and/or blackberries).

I also just throw everything in at one time. I love this smoothie and drink it about once a week. Thai coconuts cost $2.29 each so I don't use them every day. My husband thinks this tastes "too beety", but I enjoy the taste and don't find it overpowering at all.

Lunch
Romaine Wraps with Sweet Mustard

3 leaves romaine

1 cucumber

1 carrot

1 avocado

2 tbsp raw agave

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup mung bean sprouts

1 tsp mustard powder or 1 tbsp prepared mustard

salt and pepper (to taste … about 1/4 tsp each)

Mix agave, mustard, salt and pepper and set aside. Chop cucumber into sticks, shave carrot curls with a vegetable peeler, slice avocado into strips. Divide all equally between the romaine leaves, drizzle with the sweet mustard sauce and wrap up. These are juicy and messy. This serves 1 person.

My thoughts....these were fantastic. My husband and I agreed that we'd eat these again, even if we weren't on a raw diet. And here's a funny thing about me - I hate cucumbers. But I loved them in these wraps.

We each ate 3 wraps worth (3 leaves) and felt pleasantly full. I cut the cucumbers into small matchsticks (and only used half of a large English cucumber). I used a handheld julienne peeler for the carrots (I used 2, one for each of us). One avocado per person. I didn't use the onion and I didn't have any sprouts.

For the sauce I used agave, but if you like raw honey (like I do) you could easily switch them. I also used prepared mustard (French's, which probably isn't raw but it was the easiest to find while making lunch). I added salt and pepper, then some garlic and onion powder. I kept tasting until I thought it was right. Then I doubled it because it was so good! So per person I used 4 tbsp. agave + 2 tbsp. mustard and the seasonings.

Eating these were messy. Very messy. But yummy. I think next time we'll make this into a salad - same ingredients, but chopped up and eaten with a fork. One of my 10-yr-olds asked me to show him how to make the dressing and he ate a huge plate of salad with it and said it was "one of the best I've ever had".

Dinner

1/2 of a pomegranate

Sesame-Mixed Vegetable “Noodles” with Herbs -  from Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis

Sesame Dressing

1 cup sesame tahini 

1/4 cup sesame oil 

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1/4 cup mellow red miso 

3/4 cup plus 2 Tb. filtered water 

1/4 cup black sesame seeds

In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/4 cup of the water. Add the remaining ingredients a bit at a time and continue whisking until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds and set aside.

Vegetables Noodles

4 cups daikon radish, julienned on a mandoline 

2 red bell peppers, cored and julienned 

3 medium zucchini, julienned on a mandoline

 3 medium carrots, julienned on a mandoline 

6 baby bok choy, leaves thinly sliced on a bias 

3 scallions, whites and about an inch of the green, thinly sliced 

1 big handful cilantro leaves 

Sea salt

In a large bowl, toss all prepared vegetables and the sesame dressing until evenly coated. Season to taste with sea salt. Serves 8-10.

My thoughts....the sesame dressing was disgusting. I tried the sauce after making it and knew I would never be able to eat it. That sparked a "discussion" with my husband about how all raw food was gross and I just needed to Cowboy Up and eat it. We went back and forth for a bit and I just made a different sauce (actually two of them) to serve with the noodles. At the table my husband insisted on serving himself the sesame sauce, and said "It isn't bad. Just what I expected raw food to taste like." A few minutes later he said, "You're right; this is bad." He then sampled the other sauces and enjoyed them much more!

The 'noodles' themselves were great. The daikon was a bit peppery, and next time I'd use less. I didn't use the quantities in the recipe because I didn't want to serve 8 to 10 people. I just julienned (with my hand-held gadget) the amounts I thought looked good. I also only used 3 baby bok choy.

For the sauces I used two that Misty over at J&M Ranch shared.

Raw Asian Dressing

1/4 cup safflower or grapeseed oil

1/4 cup of agave

2 Tbsp Nama Shoyu, San J Tamari, or High Quality Soy Sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sesame oil (optional)

Blend on low power in Vita Mix just until blended. Store in a mason jar or salad dressing jar in the fridge.

My thoughts....very good. I just used a small hand whipper thingy because my Blendtec doesn't like small quantities like this. I think I added a bit of salt too.

Raw Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup raw peanut butter 

1 teaspoons Chinese hot chili oil with red pepper flakes 

3 teaspoons Nama Shoyu or organic soy sauce 

1 clove minced garlic 

Coconut milk 

In a food processor combine everything except the oil until well blended. Add the coconut milk just until the sauce is of the consistency you like. Adjust shoyu and chili to taste.

My thoughts...I don't have a food processor so I just used the hand whipper thingy again. We all really liked this.

I preferred the peanut sauce on the 'noodles' (the Asian sauce would be better as a dip or lettuce salad dressing). One of my older sons had 2 servings of the noodles, plain. The other 10-yr-old ate a big helping of the noodles with the peanut sauce. Neither was required to do so, they just saw it and wanted to try it! We ate them with chopsticks which made us feel super cool.

This is very similar to a recipe for Asian Noodle Salad that I tried (and liked) from Pioneer Woman, but which isn't entirely raw.

So final verdict...I'd made the noodle part again and use the Raw Spicy Peanut Sauce or similar delicious sauce. I might also try the PW salad without the noodles. Or with them when I'm unraw again.

Raw - Day 1

2010-11-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

Today is Day 1 of my Raw for 30 Days.

Breakfast:

3/4 of a persimmon

Green smoothie consisting of:

1 apple

2 seckel pears

some frozen mangos and pineapple

1/2 frozen banana

4 large handfuls spinach

3 large handfuls "mixed greens"

a little over 1 cup coconut water

Have you folks tried persimmons yet? I had never tasted one before and I love them! I've only tried the Fuyu kind which I've read is sweeter. I just washed it, sliced it and ate it, skin and all.

Lunch:

Uh, I was grocery shopping and skipped lunch.

Snack:

Cauliflower popcorn

This was pretty tasty. It didn't taste like popcorn, but it was a pleasant way to eat raw cauliflower. My kids were not impressed, but my husband said it was "okay". One head of cauliflower made way more than I could eat, and it gets rather soggy if not eaten right away. If you're making it for just one person, only cut up what you'll eat in one sitting.

Dinner:

Tacos

Salad with guacamole

Pineapple

I have a lovely picture of this, but can't find my camera cord. I guess tomorrow will be a cleaning day!

Tacos

1 c. pecans

1/2 c. sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

3/4 tsp. coriander

2 tsp. Nama Shoyu or Bragg's Liquid Aminos

3 tbsp. water

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Pulse until chopped but not blended. To assemble, place a few spoonfuls of 'taco meat' on Romaine or butter lettuce. Top with chopped tomatoes and avocados. This would also be good with chopped cilantro, sprouts and/or cucumbers.

These were actually quite tasty. The nut meat tasted very tacoish. I couldn't get my sunflower seeds to crack (I used my Blendtec and it didn't like the small amount of ingredients) so the texture wasn't quite what I wanted. I only had coriander seeds and I think next time I won't use them, or I'll try to find ground coriander. I found large chunks of them while chewing and it overpowered that bite (and several after). I ate 4 lettuce leaves worth and along with the salad and pineapple was rather full at the end.

Fruit Cereal

2010-11-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

One of the "raw" recipes we experimented with a few months ago was a huge hit. We've had it at least once a month for the last little while. Here's what we do....

I set out a bowl for each person and put whatever fruit we have in the house on the table. I go around the table asking who wants a banana, or an apple or some strawberries, etc. I cut up the fruit into smaller-than-bite-sized pieces and put it in the designated bowl for that person. At the end, everyone has a bowl of their favorite fruits.

I know what you're saying, "Hey, that sounds like fruit salad." Well, it is, sort of. But it's different for each person and my kids hate fruit salad. They love fruit cereal. (It's all in the sales pitch!)

All of them like it with a drizzle of raw honey. A part of me cringes at that, but a bowl of fresh fruit with a small amount of raw honey is much better than two big bowls of Cocoa Puffs. Some of them like to put milk on theirs, others prefer it without. You could use cow milk or nut/rice milk. One of my boys loves to eat just bananas for his "cereal". A bowl with 2 bananas cut up. Fine by me!!!

Some suggestions for fruit....
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Grapes (green, red or black, just make sure they're seedless)
Cherries
Nectarines
Peaches

I prefer not to put citrusy-type fruits in mine because I think it overpowers the sweet berry flavors, but you could certainly add them to yours.
Oranges
Grapefruit
Kiwi
Pineapple
Mango
Papaya

Any leftover cereal gets recycled into a lunch smoothie!

Stuffing

2010-11-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

On my quest to find simplicity and health, I've determined that our "holiday" meals don't need to be quite as extravagant as they have been in the past. I can't totally downsize because Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are my husband's favorite meals EVER. I'm not willing to fight that fight and lose!

In my pre-planning I have tried to figure out what can be done ahead of time, what doesn't need to be done and what can be done differently. Today I'd like to share what I do for stuffing.

Growing up, I hated stuffing. It was soggy and mushy and tasteless and didn't feel good in my mouth. But I ate it because Grandma made it. I continued hating stuffing until Stove Top entered my life. And I'll say this here and now - no matter how healthy I get, or how drastically I change my eating habits I WILL NEVER GIVE UP MY STOVE TOP STUFFING. I know it's bad for me, but I love it.

I don't make it as directed on the box though. Well, sort of. I do make it as directed (I use 2 packets worth), but then I do this....

chop one medium to large sweet onion and cook until it's nice and soft, almost translucent. I add finely diced celery (about 3 stalks worth) and some grated carrots (about 2 big ones or 2 handfuls of baby carrots). I cook them with the onions until they too are nice and soft. Then I add 3 or 4 leaves worth of diced kale (I cut it super small), and cook just until wilted. I add all these tasty veggies to the prepared stuffing. It "takes it up a notch", or several. It's almost like I made it from scratch!

I like to think that by adding all these healthy things, I'm negating the 'bad' in the Stove Top. I'm not, really, but it makes me feel better. And it tastes great. Now I love stuffing with Thanksgiving dinner!

Last Child in the Woods

2010-11-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

My mother and I were talking the other day (we do that sometimes) and she mentioned that she had just finished an interesting book about nature-deficit disorder and the importance of getting kids outside. She graciously mailed her copy to me and I just finished it a few days ago.

Written by Richard Louv, this book discusses why we need nature, what has happened to create the disconnect between children and nature and what steps we can take as parents, and as a community, to change this.

It was a fascinating read. He presented several studies to support his ideas, but most of the information was anecdotal. I felt that while it was well-written, the language is just a little too scholarly which makes it inaccessible to the average parent or community planner.

As I read the book I kept wanting to give a copy to the housing office so they would see the importance of allowing free, open play spaces instead of small playgrounds. I wanted them to relax their rules about building forts and treehouses and allow us to walk in the "undeveloped" areas. But I knew the language of the book would stop them from reading it and/or understanding it.

Many of the author's ideas, and those of the experts he interviewed, are a little 'out there'. I do not see our society embracing, or even accepting, a move to a planned rural community where everyone has their own garden and each person works to support the needs of the community. We're not there and we are not moving in that direction.

I have seen my children become more calm, more cheerful, more talkative as we spend more time outside. Each of them, at different times, have told me how much they love to be outside, how it helps them feel calm and that they love to "get away from it all." They seem more grounded and more at peace the more time we spend outside. My house is also cleaner since they aren't around to mess it up!

I took away the following ideas I hope to implement in our family:

1. More time outside. Lots more. And try to spend time outside in different weather. Just because it's raining doesn't mean they shouldn't go outside.

2. Try to find natural spaces for them to explore. This is hard. We live in a planned community and the trees are 1-year-old (tiny little things). We also live in West Texas and there are no forests, no beautiful green places, nowhere to hike or explore. It's mostly cacti, and cacti and a few more cacti. We are searching out places though and are trying to learn to appreciate the beauty of where we are.

3. Learn to identify the plants, trees and animals in our local area. As Louv pointed out kids know more about the rain forest than they do about their own backyard.

4. Allow them opportunities to interact with nature. I'm the kind of mom that tells them not to pull leaves off trees or pick flowers or move rocks to look for bugs. "Leave no trace" is my motto. Well, I'm trying to change that. We're pulling acorns off trees and peeling them apart to see what's inside. We're opening seed pods and digging in the dirt. We're touching and feeling and smelling. As much as possible we try to do minimal damage, but I want them now to know nature, not just know about it.

5. Continue with our nature study. The author expressed concern that there is a shortage of people who can teach geology, biology, and other 'nature' type classes. I want my boys to have that knowledge, whether they use it professionally or not. We're slowly building a library of natural science books and investing in tools like magnifying lenses, microscopes, binoculars and such.

6. Plan for nature experiences. I've found that if I don't plan on taking them on a hike or camping or to 'be' outside, then it doesn't happen. We are now putting it on the calendar. On this day we WILL go to the river or into the wash or whatever. This also creates an anticipation which makes the experience more magical.

Overall I highly recommend this book. The language can be a little stiff, but it's worth slogging through. It's a fantastic motivator for overcoming any hesitations you might have about getting outside.

I'm going raw

2010-11-08T13:48:00.002-07:00

As most of you probably don't know, because I don't talk about it much, my body is falling apart.

I'm 37 years old and have probably had more colonoscopies than all of you combined.

The entire left side of my colon looks like it has road rash. I know this because I've seen pictures. I can share them with you if you want. But you really don't want.

My fasting glucose levels are 160. They should be under 100.

My blood pressure was 144/95 last time they checked. That's bad. Really bad.

My cholesterol is 236, which is bad, but it's come down 30 points over the last few months.

I weigh 187 pounds and am 5'6". That's overweight. And I carry most of it in my stomach. That's the dangerous kind of fat, by the way. It's hard to find shirts that look nice with a 3-month-pregnant-looking belly.

I am exhausted. But I can't sleep. I am often awake until 1 or 2 in the morning, doing nothing other than wishing I could fall asleep. I walk through life feeling fuzzy and tired. I never, ever feel well rested.

I'm always sick. Always. If there is a virus in the area, I'll get it. And keep it for a long time because apparently we become good friends and can't live without each other. I just finished having pneumonia and then got a bad cold so basically I've been sick for over a month straight. My nose is literally peeling off my face.

I've reached a health crisis in my life and something needs to change. My doctor wants to give me more pills. And diagnose me with things I don't want to be diagnosed with. As my husband and I were discussing what we should do, I came across the movie Simply Raw. Well, not so much the movie, but the website talking about the movie. I have been watching their fascinating videos.

I have read about, heard about, learned about the raw "movement" for a while, but was not interested. Too much work. Too many weird ingredients. Too many expensive things to buy like dehydrators and food processors and such. And most of it is just plain weird...and I didn't want to eat it so I'm sure my kids didn't want to either.

Well, the thing that caught, and held my attention, on these videos (and the movie concept) is that for 30 days six people with diabetes (some with Type 1 and some with Type 2) went raw and every one of them was cured of the diabetes and no longer required medication. They also lost 20 or more pounds. Um, I could use that. The other interviews talked about reserving heart disease, overcoming chronic illness, high blood pressure and the list went on.

I thought, 30 days. I can DO 30 days. So, I'm going raw for 30 days and my husband is going with me (bless his heart).

So, the day after Thanksgiving we'll start eating as raw as we can and will go until Christmas day. At that point we'll discuss whether we want to continue raw, modify it or chuck it out the window altogether.

My initial thoughts are that I will most likely never be 100% raw after this initial 30 days. I love food, maybe I love it too much. I also think there are a lot of really healthy, wholesome, nutritious, necessary foods we should eat and they are cooked. I can see our family moving more rawish though. Perhaps we'll have a Raw day once a week like Monday is chicken, Tuesday is beans, Wednesday is beef, Thursday is raw. Or maybe we'll do 2 raw meals a day and one cooked, or vice versa. Who knows?

Once I officially start I'll be posting the recipes I use each day and how well we liked them and if they are "keepers". At the end of the 30 days I'll get re-tested for glucose, blood pressure, etc and post those numbers.

If you want in on the fun, I'd love to have company! Let me know if you want to accept the challenge and I'll link up with you every day so others can see your progress as well.

These are my "rules of operation" -
1. Eat as close to 100% raw as I can for 30 days. But I'm being realistic here. If a recipe calls for coconut water, I might buy a young coconut and crack it or I might use a can of coconut water. Depends on availability and price.
2. Minimize the use of recipes require a dehydrator since I only have a cheapy one
3. Use what I can find locally with only a few internet purchases - in other words, try to keep the price down!
4. Buy organic if I can and not worry about it if I can't
5. No raw meat (my son wanted me to make sure you knew that)

We plan on involving the kids in the following ways:
1. No cow's milk for the month. We'll be testing nut milks and such. We'll let you know what we think.
2. No breakfast cereals. We'll be eating raw fruit breakfasts, or raw, sprouted grains. I'm also going to 'allow' baked goods for the kids like muffins, bread, etc.
3. Have them drink at least one smoothie a day.
4. A large salad with each dinner.
5. More fresh fruits and veggies for each meal. I'm good with serving them at dinner, but not breakfast and lunch.

I'll continue to make regular foods for them, but will try to incorporate more raw foods with each meal. And if they ever want to try what I'm eating I'll share. Maybe. If it's really delicious I just might keep it to myself!

Here are some good resources for finding more information on raw eating and raw recipes:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/VideoSeries/ (p.s. I love David Wolfe's hair. I wish I had hair like that.)
The Raw Chef
Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)
J&M Ranch - this is my friend Misty's site and she has a few raw recipes
Gone Raw - has a helpful forum and a great recipe section

I have found that if there is a product you really want to try, most of the time Amazon has it much cheaper than the "raw sites". The manufacturer also, usually, sells it much more cheaply that the raw sites. Check prices before you buy!

Funderwear

2010-11-05T12:43:00.000-06:00

I have 4 boys so potty-training has been, well, interesting. And each of them was very different so what worked for one kid did NOT work for another. Heaving a big sigh.....Some of them took much longer than others. Each did it in their own time though. And joyfully, it DID happen. Even during the most difficult times I would remind myself that most 18-year-old boys were potty-trained and my boys would be too...someday.

Today I just wanted to share a trick we learned with our youngest. He was 3-and-a-half-ish when we introduced underwear. His response, "No thanks. I'll just go potty in my diaper." We figured if he was old enough to think logically through the whole situation he was old enough to use the toilet. He didn't see it that way. We started a battle of wills. Not our best parenting moment, but it can really chap your hide to pay $80 a month for diapers when your child TELLS you he's just going to 'go' in them. (We tried Pull-Ups but those were just extra-colorful diapers to him.)

One day when my husband was feeling especially impatient, I took over and asked if our young son would like to wear underwear. No, he wouldn't. So I replied, "But underwear is fun to wear. It's FUNDERWEAR!" His little blue eyes sparkled....fun??...underwear was FUN to wear??? Well, he wanted anything to do with fun so he put those things on and was potty-trained within a few days.

To this day, a year later, he sings the little song I made up to go with it, "Underwear is fun to wear." He even calls them his Funderwear, or Fundies for short.

It's all in the marketing!

Our "Gratitude" Wall

2010-11-01T23:26:00.000-06:00

Last year we decided to document what we were grateful for every day, for a month. We started on Thanksgiving day and went until Christmas day. I cut circles out of construction paper and every night at dinner each person told what they were thankful for. The boys really enjoyed it and it was a wonderful exercise for them to see how truly blessed they are. They loved it so much that we left the circles up for months afterwards. The boys read them often and so did the visitors to our home. It was such a huge hit that they asked to keep doing it, but my husband was tired of having a wall that looked like a weird chemistry molecule so we purchased a nice journal and are writing down what we are thankful for in the book. Unfortunately, it's harder to remember to do this because I don't have a huge visual reminder like the wall. I'm hoping to create the habit though so we'll keep plugging along.

We did have to make a rule that they couldn't name specific foods. After a while the wall looked like "pizza, cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Sprite, 7-Up, Root Beer....." It was almost like the only thing they ever thought about was food. Now that we're not constrained by the size of our blank wall, we are allowing them to express gratitude for whatever foods they want!

Things I've learned from this bout of illness

2010-10-31T18:40:00.000-06:00

After my stint with pneumonia I had two days of good health and then I caught a cold that has hung on for over two weeks with no real sign of leaving any time soon. Two of my four sons have the same cold. Here are the things I've learned recently about colds.

1. Essential oils work to stop the coughing. I use doTerra oils (and sell them if you're interested). We used Breathe and Eucalyptus with great success. They'd be hacking up a lung at night and I'd go in, oil their feet and throats and they'd sleep quietly the rest of the night.

2. Eating raw garlic burns.

3. Placing raw garlic cloves between each of your toes and trying to sleep is rather painful. I made a valiant effort and woke up at 1:30am with aching toes. Once I pulled out the garlic my feet felt much better.

4. Eating raw garlic mixed with butter on bread only prolongs the pain. It still burns, only you get to enjoy each bite with the burn.

5. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, raw garlic burns your mouth.

6. Even if you've lost all sense of smell and taste, others around you have not and they will think your breath is stinky. They'll even tell you to your face. And pretend to faint every time you walk by.

7. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in and a plop of raw honey feels wonderful on sore throats.

8. Steam showers work for calming coughs and unclogging noses. So do steam baths with essential oils added.

9. Hot and Sour soup has wonderful healing properties. So does Chicken Noodle soup. It's been scientifically proven. Really. I alternate between the two. Although I have to get the Hot and Sour from a restaurant. Does anyone have a good recipe for making it at home?

10. Warm apple cider with a whole lemon squeezed in AND some ginger tea (make by boiling water and shredded ginger together) with honey also feels really good. It's a little spicier though.

11. Add cayenne to your chicken noodle soup for some extra healing power. If you have lost your sense of taste and smell you can add quite a bit. You know you've added too much when your tongue starts to burn.

12. You can keep your other kids healthy by making them do all the stuff the sick people have to do - eat the soups, put on the oils, go to bed early, etc.

13. Using On Guard (from doTerra) on the healthy boys feet seems to have helped in keeping them healthy since they are still healthy.

14. Drinking On Guard is truly disgusting. Peppermint oil though is great and eases the congestion.

15. Eating On Guard on crackers with honey and butter is even worse. I made my kids promise me that if I ever tried to get them to eat On Guard they were to run screaming.

16. You can make garlic oil to put on your feet and chest by cutting up some garlic and just barely covering it with extra-virgin olive oil. Let it sit for at least 2 hours, or a few days if possible. Cover the bottoms of your feet (and the top, right where the toes join the foot) and put on some socks. You can also spread it on your chest and throat, but your clothes might get greasy. Then pretend you live in an Italian restaurant because everything will smell all garlicy. Do not, however, lick anyone's garlic feet.

17. Sleep as much as possible.

18. You'll get better faster, or not even get sick in the first place, if you eat healthier. If you do get sick and start feeding your kids (and yourself) cold cereal for breakfast and lunch, they will get sick too. If your husband goes out for burgers or pizza or other such sundries every night because you're sick, and you, the sick person, eat it, you won't get better anytime soon. And everyone else will get sick. Don't fall back on junk food when you're sick.

19. Pray.

20. Pray some more.

Things they say outloud

2010-10-20T22:04:00.000-06:00

We babysat my friend's two little boys Monday night while she was having her baby. Tuesday morning she came by (with her husband) to pick them up and brought her one-day-old daughter. And I got to hold her!!!!

My 4-year-old was sitting on the couch between us and he looked from the baby to my friend to the baby to my friend and back and forth for a bit. Then he looked at me with great confusion, "If _____'s baby is out, why is her tummy still fat?"

He looks at me and continues, "Are you SURE you don't have a baby sister in your tummy, mom? You're fat too."

Nice.

My favorite things for teaching reading

2010-10-15T13:01:00.001-06:00

I am by no means a reading expert, although I do like to read. And I've taught 2 of my 4 children to read - the 3rd taught himself when he was 4 so I'm not sure he counts in the total. Anyway.....

I have tried a number of reading programs/books and have finally found the ones I like best, the ones that work for my kids (all of them!) and the ones that are easiest for me to wrap my brain around.

1. Happy Phonics. This program contains mostly games. It follows a logical sequence and has a great little teacher's guide to help you understand which order to do things. My kids LOVE the games. Even after they have "graduated" from a game, they will go back years later and play them. The older boys are asking if they can play with the younger ones. Not only does the program work, the kids have good memories of it!

One of the things I like best is that because they are games, struggling readers are more willing to practice over and over. Reading (well, language in general) is very hard for one of my 10-yr-olds and Happy Phonics worked marvelously for him. We could go over the same sounds, in the game, over and over again and he wouldn't complain one little bit.

I did cut out and laminate all the cards so that the program would last longer...that took a while! But it has lasted for over 5 years now with one more boy to go.

2. Now I'm Reading Series by Nora Gaydos. These books work PERFECTLY with Happy Phonics. Each book focuses on a specific sound, or combination of them. The illustrations are fun and the text is silly. My boys love them and I don't mind hearing them read them over and over and over again.

I have used Levels 1, 2 and 3. By 3 a child could most likely start reading "easy readers" but Level 3 was specifically requested by my 6-yr-old so we're using them.

Each time the child reads a book they get to put a sticker in the front. Sadly, there are only 4 stickers per book and we've read them more than that. And now my youngest son won't have the coordinated stickers. I do wish you could order additional stickers.

The books (10 in a set) are kept in individual plastic sleeves, housed in a hardbound book. They are excellent for keeping all those small books together.

Updated to add: I love how the books build on words. For example, the first page might read, "A cat." The next page will be "A tan cat." The next will read "A tan cat sat." And it builds from there. It has really helped my boys with their confidence because they can read faster and they remember the words better.

I just read through Snack Attack with my 4-yr-old this morning and I noticed 2 of the books have characters that steal things and there is no remorse, repentance, punishment, nothing. Not so cool with that. I might have to go in and edit the book. Or pull them out. I haven't had that problem with the other books.

I'm working on a list of how Now I'm Reading correlates with Happy Phonics. I'll post that soon.

3. Starfall. It's an online program and it's free. I use this mainly when they are younger to help learn their letters and the sounds. As they progress there are some fun little videos and short games they can play. I consider this more of a supplement than an actual program, but it is well loved in this home.

4. Explode the Code workbooks. My kids will say they don't love these, but they do work. I wouldn't say this is "my favorite" but we keep using them because they have really helped them understand the language better.

And in case you are interested I tried the following without much success:

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Phonics Pathways
Progressive Phonics
The Reading Lesson
various levels of Bob Books

Well, I should say we had success with one boy, and not much with the other. In every one of the above mentioned programs/books he hit a wall and couldn't get around it until Happy Phonics. I'm sure any of these books would have worked for the now 6-yr-old, but he heard us doing Happy Phonics so often that he learned to read on his own.

Defending the size of my family

2010-10-11T19:53:00.000-06:00

Do you often feel like you need to "defend" the size of your family? I do. And there aren't that many of us!

Either I'm dealing with nasty looks or comments like "Oh, you're having ANOTHER one" (said when pregnant with my 3rd) when I'm out and about with my four boys or I'm trying to explain why I ONLY have four kids. I either have too many or not enough. I can't win!

I wonder sometimes why I feel like I have to defend my choices. I also wonder why people ask the most impertinent questions and seem to feel entitled to very personal information. In asking questions about my adoption one woman asked if I was raising my husband's illegitimate son from an affair he had had. Uh, NO. There was no affair. Just an adoption. Why jump to such crazy conclusions?????

One of my sisters is unable to have children of her own. She has endured years of people asking hurtful, personal, unthinking questions. Why do we do this to each other? Why do I feel like I have to tell everyone I can't have more children for medical reasons? Why can't I just be content and tell people to mind their own business? Why don't they mind their own business? Why don't I?

One of the things I struggle with in defending my "large" family is the question of courtesy. Let's say we want to buy a snack. We go and stand in line and wait 10 minutes or so. We finally get to the front and there is a single person behind us. Do we let them go first? Do we order and make them wait? How about at the grocery store when I have my cart LOADED with two weeks worth of groceries and I'm about to put them on the conveyor belt. I notice a person behind me with half a cart. Should I let them go first?

My husband and I debate this all the time. He calls it courtesy to let the single person (or several single persons or smaller families) go first. I claim that if I stood in line and have "done my time" I should not feel pressured to stand aside. I also don't want my children feeling like we have to apologize for having four kids. That because we 'have so many people' in our family that we need to feel like we're a burden and thus let others go first. I constantly wrestle with being 'thoughtful' to those around me and helping my children feel that they are just as valued and important as those with fewer (or no) kids.

Am I even making sense? For the record I like to let old people and pregnant women go ahead of me in almost any situation. But what is the proper thing to do in other situations? Why is buying a Slurpee such a moral dilemma????????

Washington's Rules of Civility #2 - Modern Interpretation

2010-10-11T15:36:00.000-06:00

Washington's Second Rule of Civility:

2d When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usualy Discovered.

Modern interpretation by two 10-year-olds and a 6-year-old:

Don't touch your privates or do anything gross with your body like pick your nose. You shouldn't touch parts of your body which are covered by clothes when you're in public - pick your toes, scratch stuff, things like that.

The State of Our Union

2010-10-04T20:40:00.001-06:00

Last month I posted that I had taken away our various sources of online movies and movie clubs. I also decided to put the TV in the closet. And the Wii went with it. It's been a month now....this is the State of the Union.

1. The kids were rather put out the first few days and there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. After that they rarely talked about it.

2. The house is cleaner because we have more time to clean and because they earn the privilege of cleaning if they complain about the lack of TV or Wii.

3. The boys are reading more. A lot more. One of the 10-year-olds is reading huge, gigantic books. 700+ page books in 2 days. The other 10-year-old who HATES reading (what happened there?) is actually sitting down and reading books of his own free will. He even told me the other day, "Since we don't have TV now I'm finding lots of great books to read."

And the 6-year-old has discovered that HE can read books on his own. He actually taught himself to read at 4, but has only read during the times we sit down with the express intent to read. Lately he's been picking up books and reading them to himself. But even better, he's asking his 4-year-old brother if he can read a book to him. I find the two of them curled up on the couch many times during the day, with the older one reading to the younger. How precious is that?????

4. There is less fighting. We used to have major fights many times a day. I thought this was probably normal, having four boys and all. Well, since the TV has been off we haven't had more than 3 or so fights for the month, and even those were little.

5. Everyone is playing together. Nicely. It's been incredible to see them all playing together, including each other, helping each other. The older boys are more patient with the younger ones and they do EVERYTHING together now.

6. The house is quieter. In a good way. There is a feeling of peace and serenity now, instead of noise and confusion and loudness.

7. They do their schoolwork cheerfully. In fact, they CHEER when I say it's time to do school. It's a treat, a privilege, something to be valued now.

8. They are much less anxious and stressed. They used to hurry through their day, complain during school, worry about when they would be able to watch a movie or play the Wii. It consumed their every waking thought and they were constantly asking when they could play, or planning what they would play, or acting out what they would play. Now they just play, read, laugh, and don't worry. It's like a huge load of concern/stress/worry has been lifted off their shoulders.

9. We have had almost no behavior problems during the month. One of our sons is famous for digging in his heels and refusing to do pretty much anything without a huge fight. We've had one incident thus far. They all are much more willing to help with chores, have better attitudes, are kinder to each other - pretty much any good thing you can think of for "good behavior" and we've seen it.

10. I'm spending more time with the boys. I thought I read a lot to them....but I'm reading even more. Instead of "checking out" in the afternoon because I was tired or feeling sick, I was "forced" to actually deal with my children, to parent them, instead of saying "Go watch a movie." We read more, played more games, went outside more often, cooked together, drew pictures together, and just talked more. We also spent more time organizing, cleaning and getting rid of stuff we don't need.

11. We're listening to great music more often. Because there isn't that constant noise in the background (either from fighting or the TV/Wii) I feel "up to" listening to music during our breakfasts and lunches. Previously I just wanted some QUIET, so I rarely played music. (Oh, I also go rid of every CD that wasn't classical or church music. And a few kids songs CDs. The rest has left the building.)

12. Our days seemed calmer, less rushed. We got more things done and had more free-time than we had previously. It almost felt like we'd been given extra hours in the day.

My husband and I are discussing when and if the TV and Wii ever come back. I've been so happy with the State of the Union, that I'm ready to get rid of them!!!! We can always watch a select movie or two on the computer if we REALLY had to.

And the Wii is just a trouble maker, in my opinion. We originally got it so they could get some exercise during the scorchingly hot Texas summer days. But they weren't getting that much exercise. And if one boy was doing a "workout" while the others did schoolwork, well, those doing schoolwork always ended up in the room with the Wii and then they'd get in trouble, blah, blah, blah. (The Wii Active workout is AWESOME, but I'm not sure I want to keep the huge TV and the Wii just for that. All the other garbage comes with it then.)

The thing that concerns me most with the Wii though is how they obsess about when they'll get to play. They count days, watch the calender, ask repeatedly about when they'll be able to play, plan what they'll play. It's non-stop. Instead of reading or playing they talk Wii ALL THE TIME. It's been wonderful to hear them actually talking about other things, and doing other things. If we kept the Wii "only for Saturday" they would (and have) spend all week waiting for it. If the Wii was "once a month" all their time and energy would be spent waiting, planning, discussing, worrying about that one day a month.

So, we're trying to figure out where to go from here. It's a hard thing to be different from everyone else. To be the only people around without a TV or a video gaming system. Peer pressure is an awful way to make decisions for my family....sadly it does play a part though.

My husband and I are discussing phrases like "intentional parenting", "courageous parenting", "parenting is not a popularity contest", "creating a refuge from the world", "stand for what is right at all times and in all places" and others.

I'll let you know what we decide.

Washington's Rules of Civility - Modern Day Interpretation - #1

2010-10-04T12:17:00.001-06:00

As a family we are going to take George Washington's Rules of Civility and give them a modern day interpretation. Well, as "interpreted" as 2 ten-year-olds and a 6-year old can get! Most likely we'll work on one a week. Here's the first.

1st - Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

Do stuff that's nice. Don't do things unless you're called on.

You should show respect and you should also do what you're asked to do. You should do what every else is doing (follow their example), unless what they are doing is bad.

You should do what you're supposed to do. You should treat other people nicely.

Cheers, and prayers, for my mom

2010-10-01T07:05:00.001-06:00

Today, Friday, my mom is defending her Master's thesis before a panel of professors. She'll be able to revise it one more time and then SHE IS DONE!!!!!! It's taken my mom a bazillion years to finish school. Okay, not quite a bazillion, but close. I think almost 20???? She's had to work full time while going to school and care for her family and serve in her church. It's been a hard load. But she did it and she didn't go crazy like we thought she would. She even made the Honor Roll every semester.

So, today, I'm praying for my mom that all will go well with her professors. And I'm so grateful she's finally done.

While I wish the road had been easier for her, and that she hadn't had to do so much, I'm proud of her for doing what she had to do, and doing it with dignity and quiet grace.

I love you mom. Congratulations!!!!! Now go get some sleep.

I cancelled Halloween

2010-09-30T13:46:00.000-06:00

Remember how I took away Neflix and various other movies? Well, I also put the TV in the closet so it's been unavailable for use during the month of September. (More on that later) Needless to say, my popularity plummeted even further. Since I was already in negative poll numbers my husband and I decided to take it one step further. Halloween is officially cancelled.

To be honest, I've never really liked Halloween. There are a number of reasons for this.

1. I've never liked the scary, gross, bloody costumes.

2. I DO like the candy, but in a non-healthy way. As in a "I eat too much of it and it's really bad for me" way.

3. I also get seriously annoyed with the greedy, "give me" attitudes of trick-or-treaters. Typically we do a Trunk-or-Treat in our church parking lot, but that means that each kid comes around 3 or 4 times, never once saying thank you or acknowledging me in any way, shape or form (okay, there are a FEW who do, but they are the exception). I should probably be a grown-up in this situation and understand they are kids all crazy and under the influence of sugar and artificial coloring....but it still bothers me.

4. We buy the GOOD candy, the delicious candy, the kind you'd buy for yourself to eat at home. And my kids bring home GARBAGE. (I was going to say another word....I didn't) They seriously come home with the cheapest, grossest, most yucky tasting and looking candy ever. I grieve for the loss of my luscious Twix bars and gooey Milky Ways. I also buy A LOT of candy because I feel personally responsible to make sure there is enough candy. How's that for twisted?

5. I'm trying to reduce the amount of sugar and artificial coloring my kids (and myself) eat. Halloween does not help this. It provides either several days of gorging or several month's worth of "one piece a day". We don't need it. My kids get all whacked and some of them even steal/lie about it. It changes their behavior and attitudes. Is candy SERIOUSLY worth crying about? Or screaming, thrashing around and spitting on me about? And I'm not just talking the 4-year-old.

6. It's expensive. I've kept track over the last few years and Halloween costs between $100 and $150. FOR ONE NIGHT. That is beyond ridiculous. Aside from buying the "good" candy, we have costumes to pay for. I make most of them, but material costs money. And time. Even getting costumes at thrift shops costs money. Multiply that by 4 boys and it adds up. I try to use clothes from their dress-up bucket, but most of the time they want something completely different than they've ever had.

7. I don't even want to talk about the time I spend making costumes only to be told it's ugly, they don't like it, they changed their mind, etc. It's not easy making four costumes (many late nights and pricked fingers)......

8. This year I have 2 kids in braces. Most of the stuff they'll get they won't be able to eat.

So, we're not going to the Trunk-or-Treat. We're not going trick-or-treating. We're not getting costumes. I DID make a compromise though, since I've had some feedback from my husband that I'm being "too weird". We are going to have a family party. Each kid will get to choose what they want for dinner - so it will be a buffet of random favorites (right now we have pizza, chips & salsa and orange chicken on the menu). They will get a small amount of candy, to be eaten at the Party. And we're having a Family Wii Tournament. It will be the first time they've seen the Wii in 2 months.

I expected all sorts of push-back, but they're actually quite excited about it. Maybe it will become a family tradition. Maybe being weird is okay....

Mookies

2010-09-29T10:17:00.000-06:00

I hate to wash dishes. Even more though, I hate to wash muffin pans. I love to eat muffins. I just hate to wash the pans. I could use paper liners, but it seriously bothers me that so much of the muffin sticks to the paper, thus wasting a large portion of the muffin.

It's a lose-lose situation making muffins at home - either I have to scrub out each cramped little hole (several times because it never comes clean the first time) or I cry as I throw away half the muffin stuck to the paper.

Enter Mookies. Many, many months ago I decided to try making muffins on a cookie sheet. It worked. My kids loved it. Mostly because they thought I'd gone crazy and was feeding them cookies for breakfast. Clean up was a snap. So much so that I gave away all my muffin pans!

I've used a multitude of recipes and almost all of them work beautifully. If the batter looks really runny, I'll add a bit more flour.

We tried many names for this new creation. Cuffins. Cookins. Muffie. MuCookie. Mookies stuck.

Sad news

2010-09-28T18:05:00.000-06:00

My son would like me to let you know that our bird passed away on Friday. It has been an extremely difficult time, but we've had some good conversations.

We only had her for two weeks and she had to go to the vet twice during that time. The last time she was there for 4 days. We brought her home Thursday night, and we found her dead Friday morning. It has been harder than it needs to be because the pet store was exceptionally rude and made very unkind accusations. It's made the grieving process difficult, especially for me.

We loved that little bird and she had the sweetest personality. My 4-year-old is positive that Heavenly Father and Jesus are taking care of her and we'll get her back after the resurrection. He is very concerned, however, that Heavenly Father will be sad without her, even though He has millions of birds, so "we're going to share".

The son who owned Brittney was watching some of our church leaders talk when he started crying. He said that he understood then how Jesus had suffered for all our pain, that He even knew how it felt to have your pet die and "that Jesus knows how much I miss Brittney and how much it hurts." I'm so glad he has the Atonement to help him through the sadness.

We've decided not to get another bird for right now. We need some time.

My favorite smoothie

2010-09-20T09:46:00.000-06:00

I've been drinking smoothies for a while now. I love them. My favorite one right now is made like this:

1 banana
1/4 to 1/3 chunk of beet
1 carrot (with the peel)
1 small carton Greek Gods honey yogurt
1 or 2 leaves kale
a handful or two spinach
3 or 4 leaves Romaine lettuce
about 1/3 c. frozen blueberries
about 1/3 c. frozen strawberries
about 1/3 c. frozen raspberries
about 1/3 c. frozen cherries
a small carton coconut water
1 large handful raw cashews
about 2 tbsp. flax seeds (I throw them in unground and the blender takes care of them)
about 2 tbsp. hemp nuts
a few ounces whole leaf aloe vera juice

Oh my delicious! I'm feeling better and losing weight. My husband doesn't like this recipe because he says it tastes "too beety". I honestly don't taste the beet; I think the whole thing tastes yummy. This makes about 2 quarts - I drink one for breakfast and one for lunch.

I will often switch out the "greens" depending on what I can find at the store that week. I like collards, chard, kale, spinach, and romaine lettuce for my greens. Cabbage is a bad idea - it doesn't blend well and ends up tasting chalky.

For my kids I usually make something sweeter. They haven't fully embraced the smoothie revolution.

1 banana
1 pear
1 apple
about 1 cup frozen berries (a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries)
a small carton yogurt (usually a "red" flavor like strawberry or blueberry or cherry)
fruit juice
a small handful greens

We've made a deal that they'll allow me to add in smaller amounts of greens little by little. So each day we add another leaf or two of spinach.

I use 100% fruit juice and Stonyfield yogurt which has no artificial colors. I also keep the peels on the fruit.

The Newest Member of the Family

2010-09-12T16:18:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday we had a birthday. My first-born son turned 10. I now have two ten-year-olds. And that is making ME feel old.

For his birthday he received quite a bit of money. We told him he couldn't buy any new Wii games unless they were "active" games. We also said no to lots of little toys. He decided to save up for the new Hogwarts Lego Castle. But then.....

....he remembered that he really, really wanted a chicken for a pet, but the military housing office won't allow 'undomesticated' animals (don't even get me started).

The next best thing was a bird. So we headed to the pet store and looked at parakeets and cockatiels. We came home with this lovely little girl.

Her name is Brittney. She's a baby cockatiel. She's really nice and is learning to "step up" and be held. At times she is fiesty, but she's quickly becoming a boy's best friend.

He wants to thank all the grandparents who gave him the money. He's very happy with his new bird. And I'm happy that I'm not the only girl in the house!!!!

Does anyone know the cost.....

2010-09-06T20:05:00.000-06:00

....of living more pioneer-like?

For instance, how much does it cost a year to raise enough chickens to provide eggs and meat for your family?

How much does it cost to plant, harvest and preserve enough food for your family through the winter?

How about a milk cow? Beef cow?

My husband and I have been discussing what it would cost to "homestead" or live more simply. Where can we find more information on the start-up costs and the yearly maintenance costs?

I know you can do things like make and use your own candles, laundry soap, shampoo, etc. Make all your food from scratch, sew, quilt, raise bees. But how much does it cost yearly to keep those things going?

And how much room does a family of 6 really need in a house? We have 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, the biggest military house we've had yet! Do we really need that much room though? I think we could go smaller IF we lived on a bit of land so we could get outside.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? How do I find this information out?

Withdrawal

2010-09-02T22:10:00.000-06:00

I cancelled our Netflix.
I cancelled BrainPop.
I cancelled A+ Educational Video (an online rental for educational videos).

I am not a popular mom right now.
Apparently there is nothing fun to do in our house.
I didn't know it before, but now I do....everything is boring, boring, boring.
I've been voted the Worst Parent in the World Who Wants Her Kids to be Mad and Bored.
If we were on an island, I'd be voted off.

My house is really clean though.
Whenever they complain they earn the privilege of doing a chore.
Because I care.
And I don't want them to be bored.

They are reading a lot more now.
And we're playing a ton of games together.

Who knows what will happen next?
The DVDs are crying and trying to hide it a corner.
They know they're about to go.
The Wii is scared of me.
It should be.

What is beauty?

2010-09-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

I read a wonderful talk by Douglas Callister entitled Your Refined Heavenly Home. It touched my heart and made me truly desire for a more refined, beautiful home and an atmosphere that is more heaven-like.

There is one part, however, that I'm troubling over. I've discussed it with my husband, but still cannot find a decision I'm happy with.

"We must not “let ourselves go” and become so casual—even sloppy—in our appearance that we distance ourselves from the beauty heaven has given us. Every man has the right to be married to a woman who makes herself as beautiful as she can be and who looks in the mirror to tidy herself up before he comes home. Every woman has a right to be married to a man who keeps himself clean, physically as well as morally, and takes pride in his appearance."

So, I'm guilty of "letting myself go". I have long hair that I wear in a ponytail or bun every day. I wear jeans and t-shirt and am more than a few pounds overweight. But I've decided I want to change. For myself.

Every day I'm trying to do something to make myself more "beautiful" physically. The other day I plucked my eyebrows. Because I'm so loving, I won't include a picture of what they looked like before. I'm also trying to wash my face and use good products to help my skin look more attractive. And exercise is going to be my new best friend.

I'm trying. I want to be a refined woman. I want to feel like the daughter of God I know I am.

As I was discussing this with my husband, I asked for his definition of womanly beauty. I wanted to know if it was "beautiful" to have a nice haircut, to wear neat and comely clothes, have lovely skin and be in shape. Or did make-up need to be involved? I'm not against make-up. I actually have a lot of it (my sister-in-law is a Mary Kay consultant and I personally keep her in business). But I don't have a lot of time and energy to use it right now.

Since my time is limited I wanted to know if using the 15 to 20 minutes it takes each day to put on make-up would be better used in exercising so that I am healthy and have a lovely girlish figure. He replied that I should be able to do it all - exercise, fix my hair and wear make-up and that without the make-up it wouldn't be considered "beautiful".

I'll be honest and say that I ended up raising my voice at this point. A part of me chafes that for a woman to be beautiful she must wear make-up. A man is considered handsome without it. Part of me is unhappy that I can't be considered "naturally cute" or whatever. It's sort of like I'm not good enough unless I have it. I should probably let you know that my husband is a wonderful man, and regularly tells me he loves me and that I'm beautiful. In fact his nickname for me is "Pretty". But it still bothered me.

Can women be "beautiful" without make-up? Can a well-dressed, physically fit, smiling woman be considered beautiful? Has our society so indoctrinated us with artificial beauty that we can no longer appreciate natural beauty? Or is all the make-up actually a part of refinement and loveliness?

Rewards

2010-08-31T19:26:00.000-06:00

Have you ever noticed that most rewards are "stuff"? Little junky toys from the Dollar Store, a certificate that will get crumpled, some knick-knack you have to find a place for and then dust for eternity. Or food - cookies, candy, gum, doughnuts. "You did a good job, now eat something really bad for you."

As I've worked on de-cluttering my home (and gotten rid of 75% of their toys) I'm less and less inclined to bring junk back into the house. And we're working really hard on eating more wholesome foods so many "treats" are out.

Top this with the fact that we're really buckling down on learning chores, skills and responsibilities and my children can be heard to say, "What will I get? What will my reward be?" Oh, what an awful mother I am to have trained them thus!

I've been trying to find ways to motivate and encourage these new behaviors, without undermining the cleanliness of the home and health of the family.

Thus far we've used the Bean Jar and warm "thank yous." We try to take the time to inspect the job done and provide lots of compliments and meaningful praise (not just "good job"). I'm also trying to give them an inner sense of satisfaction in that they are contributing to the peace of our home and helping to create Zion. They don't really care about that though. I'm also trying to show them the practical side of doing their work daily (and cheerfully) - they have more free time! It took them 15 minutes today to pick up the play room, dust everything including the cleaning fan, and vacuum. It used to take an hour or two. They sort of get this, but it's still not enough for them.

I'm wondering if you all have any great ideas on how to reward, motivate, encourage, etc in meaningful ways. Things that will teach, not just provide a temporary happiness. Ways to find the deeper meaning in work and service and order.

Priorities

2010-08-29T12:40:00.000-06:00

My internet friends and I have been having an interesting discussion on education and religion and how to mix the two lately. In an effort to learn more about effectively teaching my children I've been reading a variety of wonderful articles. The one I'd like to highlight today is from Julie Beck, the president of the Relief Society (the women's organization in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). You can read the talk here.

She introduces a way to prioritize your time and energy which I thought very profound and one that applies to all women, no matter their religious preference.

First, think of those things which are ESSENTIAL. The things you need to do in order to be saved (whatever your definition of saved is). Add to this the things you need to do in order to have your family be saved. For my family it would look something like this - personal and family prayer and scripture study, attend my church meetings, live so I am directed by the Spirit that I may understand the will of the Lord.

Then add those things which are NECESSARY. Cooking meals, cleaning the home, creating an environment where the Spirit would be welcome. Learning skills of self-reliance and teaching my children (because I homeschool, that is a necessary here!)

The last category is NICE TO DO. Reading a novel, going to lunch with friends, attending a movie and so on.

I still need to sit down and seriously work through my lists and what goes in each category but it is helping me to see what is truly important and what I can let go without guilt. If it's not ESSENTIAL or NECESSARY then truly I do not need to worry. Or lay in bed all night worrying that I didn't do enough or that I'm messing up everyone's lives.

Prepared Dictation

2010-08-27T12:39:00.000-06:00

We're about to embark on the Prepared Dictation voyage. Here's how it works....

at about age 9 or 10 you have your child do prepared dictation once a week. They will look at a passage, paying special attention to how words are spelled. After a bit they close their eyes to see if they can remember how the words look. If they can't, they look again at the passage and try to "take a picture" of the words. It might help to trace the word on the table with their finger or to spell it out loud. After they are sure they know how to spell the words, ask them to look at the punctuation and capitalization. When they've had enough time to do this, you will begin the dictation.

Read the passage slowly, stopping after a few words so that the child can write easily. As they get older you'll be able to read longer passages, but at first keep it shorter. If they make a mistake immediately cover it up (Post-its work well for that) and have them continue. When they have completed the passage have them correct the mistake either on top of the Post-it or YOU erase it and have them respell it. You don't want them to look at the misspelled word because then their brain takes a "picture" of it and they have a hard time remembering the correct way to spell it. If you do this casually and without criticism the child won't feel 'bad' about getting things wrong.

I have prepared a "book" to help me do this. At first the dictation passages are short and in large print so the boys will have an easier time studying them. As they move further along the path, the passages become longer and the font reduces to more normal sizes. I've chosen to include several passages per page merely for the purpose of saving ink and paper. I intend to cover up the passages they are not working on so they don't get confused. I have noticed that many dictation books have one passage per page, but I was trying to be frugal here. I have done my best to make sure paragraphs or quotes remain o n the same page. For example, the beginning of the Declaration of Independence is several paragraphs long. Two or three fit on a page, then I pushed the next paragraph to a new page so it would not be divided. You can choose to have your kids do one paragraph at a time, or learn the whole thing (for older kids).

You could also use these lists for copywork. I have! I print them up and cut them out and stick them in my Copywork Jars. Every day the boys take out one or two strips of paper and copy them into their books. I'll post the other pages I've made for the Jars soon.

These lists would also make a great memorization tool.

One thing I want to do with dictation is to create a meaningful book of scripture, advice and encouragement. I've tried to keep all the quotes uplifting and worthwhile so that (hopefully) they will look back over this in years to come and find peace and guidance in the words.

I have prepared one file for with verses from the King James version of the Bible, with other quotes, etc and one for those who are LDS (Mormon).

Master Grocery List

2010-08-23T09:56:00.002-06:00

Here is my master grocery list in PDF And here is one in Word. It is arranged how MY store is arranged, making it easier for me to find everything. You can change the Word one around to fit how your favorite store is arranged. Note - some things I buy in bulk from a natural foods co-op in my area so they are not on this grocery list (things like oatmeal, brown rice, craisins, etc).

I just take my menu and recipes (which are in a binder now) and mark what I need - it takes about 5 minutes. I wanted to make pre-printed grocery lists for each week, but life happens and sometimes I don't get to the store on shopping day or I already have the ingredients on hand, or we have a birthday that week and they want something different. Pre-printed meant I'd have to go through and figure out what I DIDN'T need and cross that off. Too hard for me!!!

Favorite Quotes

2010-08-21T11:32:00.001-06:00

While I have been using a Charlotte Mason style education for 5 years now, I haven't (cough, cough) read her actual works. I've been busy!!!! But I'm taking the time to read them now...and it will take a while....

I'm going to be adding my favorite quotes from her books, mainly as a way for me to consolidate all the gems into one area. I won't be creating new posts each time; I'll just add on to this one. And I probably won't keep it strictly Charlotte Mason. It will probably morph into other thoughts, quotes and ideas as relates to education. My own personal page to inspire and uplift.

So if you're interested, bookmark this and check back often as it is a work in progess.

From Home Education (Book One) by Charlotte Mason

Children are thinking, feeling human beings, with spirits to be kindled and not vessels to be filled.

All children are entitled to a liberal education based upon good literature and the arts.

Liberal meaning, taking whatsover things are true, honest, and of good report, and offering no limitation or hinderance saver where excess should injure.

Education is an atmosphere - take into account the educational value of his natural home environment and let him live freely among his proper conditions.

Education is a discipline - the discipline of habits formed definitely and thoughtfully.

Education is a life - the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

Education is a science of relations - the child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts; so we must train him upon physical exercises, nature, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books.

We should allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and the spiritual life of children.

Do not let the children pass a day without distinct efforts, intellectual, moral, and volitional; let them brace themselves to understand; let them compel themselves to do and to bear; and let them do right at sacrifice of ease and pleasure.

The morning, after breakfast, is much the best time for lessons and every sort of mental work; if the whole afternoon cannot be spared for out-of-door recreation, that is the time for mechanical tasks such as needlework, drawing and practising.

The brain, or some portion of the brain, becomes exhausted with any given function has been exercised too long. The child has been doing sums for some time, and is getting unaccountably stupid: take away his slate and let him read history, and you find his wits fresh again.

Give the brain of the child variety of work.

No pains should be spared to make the hours of meeting round the family table the brightest hours of the day...Here is the parents' opportunity to train them in manners and in morals, to cement family love...

The whole house should be kept light and bright...indoor airings...ventilation of rooms

Intellectual, moral, even spiritual life and progress depend greatly upon physical conditions.

Never be within doors when you can rightly be without...food can be served outdoors...every hour spent outside is a clear gain.

Of the evils of modern education few are worse than this - that the perpetual cackle of his elders leaves the poor child not a moment of time, nor an inch of space, wherein to wonder - and grow.

When outside...they must be let alone...it is not the mother's job to entertain the little people...first send the children to let off their spirits in a wild scamper...then send them off on an exploring expedition.

Get the children to look well at some patch of landscape, and then to shut their eyes and call up the picture before them.

Children should know field crops, flowers, trees, the seasons. Mothers and teachers should know about nature.

Nature drawings should be left to his own initiative. Do not instruct 'this is how we do this' or 'that is how it should be done.'

Children should be encouraged to watch, patiently and quietly, until they learn something of the habits and history of bee, ant, wasp, spider, hairy caterpillar, dragon-fly, and whatever of larger growth comes in their way.

Every child has a natural interest in the living things about him which it is the business of his parents to encourage; for, but few children are equal to holding their own in the face of public opinion; and if they see that the things which interest them are indifferent or disgusting to you, their pleasure in them vanishes.

An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing.

It is infinitely well worth the mother's while to take some pains every day to secure, in the first place, that her children spend hours daily amongst the rural and natural objects...to infuse into them...a love of investigation.

Other inspirational education quotes

Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire. - William Butler Yeats

Son this is history. It’s our history. Some of it is painful, some of it is beautiful, but it is who we are. - Jason F. Wright

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans. ~ Dr. Voddie Baucham

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. - Roger Lewin

I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. - Albert Einstein

There are two types of education… One should teach us how to make a living…and the other, how to live. - John Adams

The idea is to educate, not follow anyone’s schedule about when something should be studied. - Ray Drouillard

I believe it would be much better for everyone if children were given their start in education at home. No one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a room full of pupils cannot do this. At home, too, they are in their mother's care. She can keep them from learning immoral things from other children. - Laura Ingalls Wilder

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. --Mark Twain

I still say the only education worth anything is self-education. - Robert Frost

He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn't know. - George Simmel

I learned most, not from those who taught me but from those who talked with me. - St. Augustine

Sitting together in the Big Creek auditorium at lunch, we taught ourselves trigonometry. I had discovered that learning something, no matter how complex, wasn't hard when I had a reason to want to know it. - Homer H. Hickam, Jr.

Our favorite math games

2010-08-16T16:28:00.003-06:00

We use RightStart math and love it. It is a wonderful curriculum that incorporates many games, fun games, fun MATH games. My kids enjoy playing them and don't realize they are learning....cue evil laughter. If you don't use RightStart, but want to play more math games, they have a book of just games (Math Card Games) I would recommend you purchase it as it has fantastic games that I won't describe here. You can also purchase the "kit" which has the book and the cards needed to play.

We also enjoy these math games:

1. Money Bags - I hadn't taught "money" to my 6-yr-old when we started playing this, but he can play easily now. We played this today and I totally lost...even the 4-yr-old beat me and he spent most of the time knocking other people's "guys" off the board and stealing money from the bank.

2. Sum Swamp - a great game to practice addition and subtraction. The 6-yr-old can play and so can the 4-yr-old with some help. My 10 and 9 year olds are almost too old for this, but they still want in on the action.

3. 4-Way Countdown - you can add, subtract, multiply or divide so it works well for kids of all ages. My only complaint is that it has only 4 players. Sometimes I want to play too (okay, all the time) and with 4 kids I'm always the odd man out.

4. War - yes, good old war. We play it many different ways. When they are little it's the traditional "highest" card wins. Or lowest card. We also do addition war where you play two cards and add them up; the highest total wins. Or subtraction war; play 2 cards and lowest score wins. We typically use the number cards from RightStart because they go from 0 to 10 and I don't have to try to explain queens, kings and jacks, but you can play with whatever you have.

I've thought about getting Presto Change-O. Any other games I should check out????

Two fantastic (and free) resources

2010-08-09T14:13:00.000-06:00

I was SO excited to find these and thought I should pass them on.

First, is My Audio School. It has a lot of wonderful, living books all neatly organized. You can access about 25% of it for free, the rest you need to pay $14.99 per year. I am trying out all the free stuff before I decide on a subscription.

Second, is Sqool Tube. This site contains many, many, many excellent videos. Think Bill Nye, Magic School Bus, Schoolhouse Rock, etc. Most of these I can't find at my library and buying them is too expensive (Bill Nye DVDs are $50 each!!!). But these are FREE! They have history, math, science, and many more. I hope this site never goes away. Ever. And I hope they keep adding to it. Wait, hold the presses....I just clicked around on some of their other links and they have a lot of books you can view online (or links to books you can read). Yippee! It will take me a while to explore everything.