Joy Homeliving

Large Family Camlebaks

2012-02-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

For the last year or so we've used Camelbak Water bottles for all water drinking. These are HUGE lifesavers! Each of the children have their own color and design. We keep them filled and lined up on the kitchen counter. When we leave the house for the day we grab these. And for most meals we use them as well. Generally we drink milk with one meal a day and use glasses for that. We love our Camelbaks! And the parts are pretty cheap to replace as well.

Teaching Children Not to Waste

2012-01-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

As a mom one of the many challenges is encouraging my children not to be wasteful with what the Lord has given them. What a tough lesson to learn!

Food:
-Try not to give them an opportunity for failure. Smaller portions of new foods or for finicky eaters. No one likes to through away plates of mashed, played with, or partially eaten food. For my 3 year old I give her a few tiny spoonfuls of foods Im not certain she will eat, or she has proven to not like before.
-Serve what they like! If dinner was a flop for everyone involved dont try it again (unless you messed it up or they need to learn to like it!) Again tiny portions of what they dont to teach them to eat what they dont always like. Im NOT saying if your kid says they dont like everything but chicken nuggets to only feed them chicken nuggets.. Im saying if that spanish rice recipe came out bad, dont keep it unless you can remake it and like it. It teaches your children that they have an option not to like something. If the food is always good, they will always eat it. But if you child says they "hate" peas, keep serving 4-5 peas at a time or hiding them. In our house eventually the stubborn "I dont like it" gives way when they find a recipe where they like that item. My pea hater LOVES them in chicken noodle soup. ;)
-Always make great food! Dont feed it to your family if you burned it or ruined it somehow and even YOU dont like it. You'll just teach them to turn their noses up at something on their plates. Just make really yummy, good smelling hearty meals! If the plate is full of good food they will always eat whats on it.
-Enjoy family meals together. If its fun, they will come.
-Linger at the table. If you require everyone to sit at the table and enjoy the company, picky eaters will "pick" at their plates while they are waiting. Serving good whole foods, and not encouraging snacking keeps down the temptation towards over eating, so no worrying about that.

Clothing:
-Teach children to care for their clothes. Fold and put away, putting dirty clothes in hampers, helping with laundry by spraying stains. All teaches children not to abuse thier clothing but treat it with respect.
-Have them help select their clothing. If they like it they will care for it better.
-Remind them that there are clothes for play and clothes for going out.
-Napkins and bibs also help protect clothing and teach them to care for them.
-Smaller wardrobes.. No one needs gobs of clothing, just what it takes to get them to the next wash day.

Toys
-We struggle here the most! Teaching children to clean up toys and keep them nice. Not to break them for fun or use them as they werent intended.. Those are all great virtues.

The Home
-Teaching children to take care of the house, participate in chores and cleaning that is not just their things has brought "some" respect of the home to our children. They still can be a bit wild and abusive, we are working on that.

Ultimately we try to teach them that the Earth is the Lords and all it contains and we shouldnt mistreat it but treat it as the gift God intended it to be.

Its a Boy!

2012-01-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

Our #7 blessing is going to be a boy! That makes 5 boys and 2 girls for us!

Before Baby Comes List #7

2012-01-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

I have dropped off the planet with horrible morning sickness. Just a few weeks back all that passed and now we are enjoying little pokes from #7. So exciting! Let the nesting begin!

~~Revamp our OAM menu and grocery list with more veggies and fruits~~
~~Finalize school list for 2012/2013~~
Purchase and organize school for 2012/2013
Complete 2010/2011 school year and 1/4-1/2 of Jadons Kindergarten
Declutter and organize

~~5 Bedrooms~~
~~Basement School/Play area~~
Utility room
3 Bathrooms
~~Hall and Coat closet~~
Pantry
~~Kitchen~~

Larger Table
Move Jadon downstairs with Big Boys
Aquire second crib (acquired but not here yet)
Purchase new mattress for current crib
Prepare and Freeze 30 meals or meal starters.
Big shop before baby comes
Spring Clothing sort
Garage Sale?
Night train my bedwetters (2 down 1 to go!)

Food Waste Friday: What to do with leftovers?

2011-11-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

We are all bound to have a billion leftovers after thanksgiving and if you are like me you probably were good about keeping the fridge clean to hold those leftovers. But what do we do with all those leftovers when another turkey dinner doesnt sound good at all?

Turkey Lattice Pie
Using your leftovers from Turkey Day layer chopped turkey, green beans, stuffing, cover with gravy, top with strips of crossaint dough (you know from the can). Bake till bubbley! Yum!

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes!
Mix 1 cup leftover mashed potato per 1 cup pancake batter.Or eyeball it. :) Cook as usual. I suppose you could do this with sweet potato as well. Yum!

Leftover Oatmeal Pancakes!
Mix 1 cup LO oatmeal per 1 cup pancake batter. Or eyeball it! Cook as usual.

Leftover Iced Tea
Pour over your plants.

Soup Veggies
In your freezer keep 2 gallon ziploc baggies. One for veggie scraps to use for making broths, either veggie or add to your soup bones for flavoring. The second bag use for cooked chopped veggies to use in your soups. :)

*I did throw out one rotten tomato.. ;)

Weekly Menu Plan

2011-11-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday
A. Hot dogs and Fries
B. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
C. Leftover Chili Frito Pie
D.Chicken and Tots.

Monday

A. Chicken and Dumplings

Bread

B. Beef Stew

Bread
C. Hamburger Soup
Bread
D. Leftover Stoup
Bread

Tuesday

A. Chicken Rotel Rice

Salad

B. Beef Taco Rice

Salad
C. Tatertot casserole
D. Other Casseroles using Rice, Meat, Sauce, Veggie

Wenesday

A. Bean Bowls

Chips, Salad

B. Chili

Cornbread
C. Lentil Casserole
Canned Veg
D. Cowboy Beans, "My Best Beans", Italian Beans
fried potato

Thursday

A. Spagetti

Salad

B. Chicken Etti

Salad
C. Homemade Mac and Cheese
Salad
D. Homemade Hamburger Helper
Salad

Friday

Homemade Pizza and Topings

Saturday

A. Fish Hot Pot

Bread

B. Baked Fish Rice and Peas

C. Roaster Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots

Bread

D. Roast Beef, Potato, Carrots

Bread

Lunches

Sandwiches on Homemade Bread

(Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Peanut Butter and Jelly)

Hot Side Dish

(Mac and Cheese, Ramen Noodles, HM Veggie Soup, or leftovers)

Sunday Evening before Church "Lunch"
Popcorn, Protien, Veggi, Fruit

Breakfast

Dad's Pancake Breakfast on Saturday

Muffins on Sunday

Waffles

Oatmeal

HM Granola

My First Ever: Food Waste Friday!

2011-11-18T10:15:00.001-08:00

Shame on me!!! Ew! Yuck! In my defense I'm newly pregnant.. Ha!

1. White correlle dish: Burnt potato soup that I couldnt toss Monday Night.
2. Pyrex #1: Failed attempt at homemade butter from this summer
3. Pyrex #2: Failed attempt at pickles I made this spring, dont ask.
4. Out of date Stoney feild farms yogurt from weeks ago.
5. Some taco soup in the cottage cheese container that was a fail. Its probably 3 weeks old.
6. My DD's leftovers from last weekend.
7. Little containers of different failed babyfoods for the baby. He's allergic to a lot. They are MONTHS old.
8. Out of date Tatar sauce, like a year out of date!
9. Mountain Dew that my 4yo one at the Fall Carnival at church that NO one likes in our family.
10. Dried out Cream Cheese from Who knows when.
11. And what you dont see, some corn from Tuesday night.

Frugal Living Lessons:
1. Clean your fridge more.
2. Toss the "failures" right away.
3. Dont cook during the first trimester, you'll burn it.

This was a great excersize! Thanks Frugal Girl!

When a day goes as planned..

2011-11-16T11:53:00.001-08:00

You just have to blog about it!

We started our morning with our scaled back school work. I had the older three do their "grid" work: Math, LA, Spelling, Handwriting, Assigned Reading..all while I minded the little kids and cleaned my kitchen. I "fed the servants" (ran the dishwasher, ran the washing machine, and started my breadmaker)

Then we had a mini snack, because Mama's got to have her crackers and cheese..

After snack we wisked downstairs for a shortened MFW day. Made our hieroglyphs. Read about Abraham and Sarah entertaining angels (week 7, CTG) and corrected our work from earlier..

Then off to LUNCH! Wonderful leftovers from last night, Taco Rice. Yum! We also watched Davie and Goliath and Vivaldi's Winter on You Tube.

After lunch we hurried through our Motivated Mom's chores and finished up the bread I started during my morning with the little guys.

Its been several weeks since I could function on this level, ah! Much better.

I just can not focus!

2011-11-15T07:04:00.001-08:00

Its not my fault, Im pregnant!

Say Hi to Number Seven!

Due June 2012

2011-11-13T14:39:00.001-08:00

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 3

2011-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Logan had fun with Math U See, building his x5's.

Benjamin wrote his first notebook page on his own.

Solomon became a great review for the word Biblioclast.

We celebrated the Creator with Rosh Hoshana.

And made Cuneiform Tablets out of Sugar Cookie Dough.

We also discovered Spelling Power while great for my DD was not great for my son Logan. So we ordered Spelling by Sound and Structure for grade 3 for him. He just needs more phonics instruction. Life lesson here, dont use Teach Your Child to Read with 100 Easy Lessons alone for reading. :) My two that followed up the book with phonics are great spellers, my one who didnt, struggles.

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 2

2011-10-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may thoroughly equipped for every good work.~2 Timothy 3:16-17

Monday:

The Williams Family studied the Fall in the garden. We discussed how God took care of us even then by providing Jesus and teaching us about the need for death for the covering of Adam and Eve's nakedness and ulitimatly our sin. We also learned how sometimes God has greater plans in store for us as I was leaving the kids with our great babysitters we recieved a call that one of Natalie's dear friends broke her arm and her mother couldnt get her to the ER. So I missed Bible Study but was able to help this family because I had sitters already in place.

Tuesday:

After reading Tanglewood secrets, Natalie and Logan went out and made a wigwam and began to keep their own nature journal. I love that they are best friends! The Husband and I spent some time watching the bible study I missed together. :)

Thursday:

We had some visitors to our "class" as we measured out the Ark and learned about Myths and why we must understand truth so we can separate it from Myth. We also learned how Myths are stories passed down from generation to generation about true events or people. The Epic of Gilgamesh shows us for example that people all over the world experienced a flood and tried to explain the phenomenon. We played "telephone" and learned how words can be miss-heard or warped through the passing from person to person, but the Word is Truth because it was directly inspired by God.

Friday:

We skipped school to go out with Dad and the Lord greatly blessed us with a great deal on a couch for the school room at a Garage Sale! Now the whole family can enjoy our space and it isnt just a table and some toys! Im looking forward to reading our school books and watching video's with our family in our new family room! Unfortunately we will have to make up our Friday work over the weekend. :)

*I still can not figure out this picture thing, though we were too busy this week to take any.

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 1

2011-09-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

"All Scripture is God-Breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"
2 Timothy 3:16

The first week of school is a creation week. We enjoyed reviewing the order of creation and the truth about dinosaurs along with many interesting facts.

In Greek we had fun with the root word Biblos learning some very hilarious words like bibliomania, bibliophobia and bilblioklept.

Our whiteboard has proven its worth as a guide for our week.

The children tried to draw with out thier hands and learned that Art is also about frustration.

The most memorable experience was our Shabbot celebration. Even Dad got into this activity. It brought a lot of great discussion to the table.

Fiddler on the Roof was enjoyed by all as a follow up to our celebration.

This weekend we jumped into a different time period and attended a local "Bean Eatin" in memorial to the Post Civil War Era where North and South in Missouri had to learn to live at peace. We enjoyed many aspects of the visit including the cannon firing, childrens games, music and of course..giant pots of beans!

I had all these great pictures on my phone and I can not for the life of my upload them. Ah for another week..

2011/2012 Homeschool Curriculum

2011-09-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

We went back and forth for most of the summer about whether or not we would be sending our kids to public school or keeping them home. After much deliberation and prayer we decided to continue to homeschool would be the better option.

I had a hard time picking curriculum this year as I didnt make it to convention, my weekend away to pray and seek what the Lord would have us use the next school year. And we also didnt have much in the way of budget for homeschooling this year. But overall I knew somethings wouldnt/couldnt/shouldnt change for us.

This year we have a 5th, 3rd, 1st and 3 "preschoolers" in our homeschool. Now on with the show...

1. This year we will be studying ancient history from Creation to Greeks. We choose to go with the deluxe package including God and the History of Art and music by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. The kids and I are most excited about learning about the biblical feasts through out the year.

2. Also following My Fathers World suggestions we are using Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons for Natalie and Logan. This is my 5th year using Emma Seryls books and I feel combined with the teachers manual AND My Fathers World unit study approach to notebooking, vocabulary and writing it is VERY complete and my favorite short and sweet!

3. Speaking of short and sweet we have grown to love Spelling Power over the last two years. The first year we opened to book we thought we'd hate the idea of testing daily (4 times a week) and the more mom intensive studies after using a workbook approach before. But in the last year it grew on us how simple and thorough Spelling Powers approach is.

4. Another hit this year is Writing Strands. Logan, my 3rd grader is using level 2 and Natalie my 5th is on level 4. They love the humorous approach to writing.

5. A Reason For Handwriting is another old stand by in our homeschool. We use this program for re-enforcing neat handwriting as well as teaching cursive. Its a simple book with short lessons (can you see a theme here?) that makes a great opener to our day. We are using levels A, C, and E this school year.

6. And last but not least we are using Math U See for all three school aged children as well. Mr. Steve as we call him is a great teacher and the lessons are SHORT (are you shocked??) and easy to understand. My children have a very firm grasp of the concepts being taught by Steve. I do find that math u see isnt as strong in Time and Money but we've found our way around that by using a Morning Board with our Preschoolers including time and money in our day. The older children take turns leading morning board.

7. An honorable mention: McGuffy's Readers are also a stand by in our house. We use them for reading on fridays when I take the time to listen and teach phonics and elocution to my "students". This year we are using first, third and primers.

NO TV ALLOWED or How we became less dependant on media

2011-07-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last week our TV died and we've been with out TV and video games for days. I found it very interesting how my whole family reacted. At first Mom and Dad were panicked and planning how we might purchase a new TV, but then quickly we remembered our finances and the quest to be debt free and dropped the idea all together. We just decided to tough it out. The oldest children cried as if they were being denied some basic human right! I knew our TV addiction was bad but I had no idea how bad! The younger children at first began to play pretend as Super Mario, Zelda and their favorite cartoon characters. My morning coffee was greatly disturbed by my lack of baby sitter. Being TV free has created a messier house and more work.

What we thought would be tragic has proven to be wonderful! As the days poured on I began to read more. I mean I read before but not for HOURS! What a joy that has been to snuggle with my little ones and my cup of coffee and read a story or five. The children began to create more. Last week the big deal at our house was water color! We have dozens upon dozens of water color paintings created by the children (and parents). There has been less bickering over whose turn it was to choose a game or who lost the remote. There has been more time for cooking, cleaning, and caring for children.

Then the last few days we've begun making a habit of watching movies on my laptop and im noticing the addiction creeping its ugly head. The lesson Im learning is that TV is such a time waster. It doesn't add much to your life and takes away more than it gives. It definitely becomes an idol.

Our culture is over stimulated. In the grocery store there are brightly colored signs, screens playing commercials, music in the background and way too many choices. Churches have large screens, up beat and fast paced media driven childrens programs, and Pastors preach shorter sermons. We have internet on our phones, DVD players in our cars, and Ipod, Ipad, Itouch you name it.. Do you ever wonder if we keep our minds and hearts so stimulated that we miss that still small voice? Or do we miss our lives all together?

This begins a journey for our family into looking at the way we entertain our selves and making a change hopefully for the better.

ABC's of Parenting

2011-07-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

My Natalie will be turning 10 this month and it has me thinking about how far I've come and how far I have to go as a Mother. Its been a rocky road and Im sorry to say I've not always made the best choices or trained my children as dilegently as I should. I do believe I've been able to preserve relationships even through my misgivings as a parent.

I learned a few things from my own father about parenting. Most of them bad habits unfortunatly. There are three keys I learned from him as a father that mimic our relationship with Christ. I love the acronymn from Vacation Bible School: ABC's, Admit Believe Confess.

Admit:
Children need to know when we make mistakes as a parent. Especially oldest children who get parents with no training! It seems hard to just admitt that you may not be doing things right but truthfully admittance is the best form of authenticity. Dont try to be right all the time. My children know that I've not always made the best parenting choices for them. My son has been known to tell me "Its okay Mom I know your just learning". The best lesson we can teach our children is that its okay to be wrong.

Pride leads to destruction; humility leads to honor. Proverbs 18

Believe:
Show your children your faith. They need to see Mom pray, read her bible, and live out her faith. I know that the easiest way is to do your bible reading behind closed doors but we must pray, read and discuss spiritual things with our children. Your turn to be Kay Arthur will come when they are grown. But for now the most important lesson you can learn is to let your light shine before your family and to be a city on a hill. They will not remember if you knew the greek phrase for this or that but they WILL remember that you prayed daily and often for them, that you read your bible till it was well broken in, and that you shared the gospel with them.

¹⁴You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, ¹⁵and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:12-14

Confess:
Be quick to repent and ask forgiveness for an offense. Modeling repentance to our children will help them learn to repent to our Savoir. When you mess up do not just admitt but also ask for forgiveness for the offense. They must know that you are NOT trying to get a get out of jail free card but that you are seeking to restore their hearts to yours.

Parenting is a long, hard, rocky journey with so many lessons to learn. We all make mistakes and must try to keep the hearts of our children in the meantime.

Finding FUN in Family!

2011-06-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Having a large family is a lot of work! There is so much to do and keep up with. In our home you cant let down your guard for one minute or the whole house is a wreck! Often times I find myself becoming Drill Sargent Mom just to keep things from spiraling into utter chaos!
So how does one have fun with a family full of littles and still keep her sanity??

1. Enlist Your Helpers! If Mama's working, everyone is working. That way when the work is done EVERYONE can relax! It also keeps little hands busy and not tearing up what you just cleaned up!

2. Gate it off! I learned this from an online forum I frequent. Clean up an area of your home and gate it off, shut the doors and dont re-enter! I try that with the bedrooms in the morning. Clean them up, make the beds and shut the doors till bedtime! That way they are peaceful and tranquil for sleeping. Also this can be done in our upstairs. We try to clean it up, vaccum and set to order, then we can head downstairs for the morning or outside for the afternoon.

3. Laugh it up! Instead of getting upset at every single thing learn to laugh at the faux-paux's your children make. Better to giggle and remind them to say excuse me then to scowl and reprimand. Also making a silly voice when your asking them to do something unpleasent or when the 2 year old is throwing a fit can get them on the right track.

4. Leave the house! Sometimes the best way to have a good time with the kids is to just walk out the door and away from the responsiblity of keeping the home. Clean it up and shut it off! Then go to the park for a picnic, for a walk, to the library, run errands. Whatever it may be. Then when you come home you come home to a tranquil home, ready for resting after a long days outing. Leaving the house can also help with cabin fever!

5. Read a book! I love snuggling with my children reading a book. I dont do it as much as I should. Right now we are in a "too much tv" phase and Im trying to see book reading as an alternative to tube watching. But instead of sitting everyone down to a movie while you nurse the baby, read a book, listen to an audio book, have an older child read a book. If you "shut it off" then little ones can be free to quietly play on the floor with out worry of them running off and getting into something.

6. Be well rested! Take naps, go to bed early, wake up on time, drink your water. I know I know.. sounds like a lot.But a hydrated, well fed, well rested Mom can find much more joy in her family then flaws. :)

7. Get creative! Think outside the box! Step out of routine. Have a backwards dinner with dessert first. Eat a picnic on the floor. Make a tent in the bedroom or put a tent in the yard. Fill an old tub with water and soak old tshirts to sit on and slide down your slide. Have a water balloon fight (which is more fun if ONLY mom and dad have the balloons!) Make Sundays, bake cookies, let them cook the meal. Close your eyes to mess and let your hair down! And while your at it let the girls paint your nails! Wear jammies all day, let them wear their clothes to bed. Do a craft *gasp*! Enjoy being a "yes" parent every now and again (with in reason).

Deuteronomy 16:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

Finding JOY in working together

2011-06-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

"Many hands make light work" is the joy of having a larger than average family! A messy living area can be quick cleaned in a few minutes if everyone does their part! 2yo grabs all the trash, 4yo picks up toys and shoes, 5yo can fold blankets, 8 yo can run a vaccum and 9yo can dust, wrap up video game controlers, and help the littles with their parts all while Mom finishes up dinner before Dad comes home! What a Joy to come home to a straightened living room and a hot meal!

It is easy to surrender to the end of the day exhaustion and leave the "chores" for when Dad comes home. We all feel the "need" to go off the clock when he comes through the door. Better still to have it all done before he gets there so that we can all take some R&R.

I heard a mother say that she first trained "babysitters" and then she trained children with her family of 5 children. I love the idea. The diligent training of older children in helping around the home is a blessing as your family grows. I hesitate to use the phrase "helping around the home" and would prefer to use the phrase "participate in the family" or better still to "contribute". Growing our family into a team of children and parents all unified to one purpose, a peaceful home.

A peaceful home is one that is a joy to enter in. Where friends and family can come together for fellowship and to relax. A peaceful home is a place where ministry happens! The pulpit for preaching and a home for evangelism. A family working together opens their peaceful home to neighbors and friends and is a light unto its community. A family working together provides a peaceful home to a tired father after a long days work.

A clean, orderly home is a peaceful home. With many hands the task is managable for certain! As a keeper of the home it is our duty to orchestrate such and endeavor. As a family member it is our responsibility to contribute our efforts in that direction. As a family it is our ministry to those we invite into our home.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Finding McGuffey on Our Homeschool Journey

2011-05-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

In 2006 when my daughter Natalie was finishing up her Traditional Textbook kindergarten curriculum I began to look for other cheaper options for homeschooling. That year we combined a textbook phonics, language arts and math with the Five in a Row book I found second hand. I just LOVED the literary education Natalie was getting. We had a blast reading great books, looking places up on our map, and doing crafts things to go along with it. Basically that year we did the workbooks, memorized some scripture and read! I look back fondly on that school year. The following year I looked into other high end curricula that followed the same literary bent. Since I couldn't afford that curriculum I began researching cheaper options. That's when I came across McGuffey's while researching Charlotte Mason.

I loved the simple appeal of the books. Cute, moral stories with sweet pictures that werent offensive to the intellect nor unappealing to the eye. That year we read them for fun! We ditched the textbook readers and just did McGuffy with another workbook for phonics. I had discovered copywork by then so we alternated between a sentence or so of a McGuffy's lesson and the bible memory verses we were using. I did not know much about copywork at the time so I would pick a selection and write it out on paper making a space between lines for Natalie to copy underneath. I didnt pick out grammar or spelling nor did I do dictation. I just selected wonderful quotes, wrote them out and she copied.

A few years later when Natalie was in 2nd grade my son Logan began to use McGuffey much in the same way. We read them aloud, we read them silently, we read them for fun. We just enjoyed McGuffey! My son especially enjoyed the stories and often read them for fun.

This last school year a friend sent me a copy of Beechicks Parents Guide to the readers. I had read Beechick before and LOVED her ideas. Not being a teacher myself I had a hard time implementing them but for some reason this year it all clicked! So I began using McGuffeys again with my second son Benjamin. Im still using other phonics and language arts programs at the moment but the more I get into McGuffy's with the help of Beechick, the more I understand how the Eclectic series really can replace your phonics, spelling, grammar and writing programs.

Usually what I do is sit down with my "student" and listen to them read or narrate what they have read. Natalie, age 9, would be narrating at this point from the second reader. Logan (8) and Benjamin (5 and an early reader) reading aloud from the first and primer readers. As I sit down and before they begin reading I quickly glance at my Parent guide and discuss anything she mentions or that I see needs mentioning. Things like phonics rules, vocabulary or new punctuation. I write those things on the white board and we make a word list (either for new phonics rules or for vocabulary) to write in our notebooks later. I listen to the lesson or narration and then we discuss the moral or idea in the lesson. Then I will assign the white board work to be copied in thier notebooks and will assign another task to go deeper for them.

For example lesson XI in the first reader is about boys flying a kite. Beechick suggests the word "rude" for vocabulary. I might point out the word rude and write it on the white board as we are reading. The end of the lesson McGuffey's draws your attention to "bad words" and how God doesn't want us to use "bad words". Then I might talk a little bit about words that aren't acceptable to use and why (also a Beechick suggestion). Then I might find a scripture that goes nicely (Romans 5:8 or one about the tongue) and we might write that on the board for copying. The assignment for the day would be looking up the word "rude" in the dictionary and copying the definition, then copying the Bible verse we found. Sometimes I will have Logan narrate to me his lesson and I would write it down for him. Then tomorrow we might orally test the vocabulary word, dictate the memory verse and then have Logan copy his own narration in his notebook. And maybe on the third day we might correct the dictation and rewrite it if need be. This way we only do one or two lessons a week leaving more time for leisure reading for fun, except Ben who needs daily instruction in reading as he is just in the decoding stage. Natalie's instruction might include some more intense writing and revision. Ben's might just include phonics and some copywork. Occasionally Beechick suggests some further study in a topic and I will include by utilizing the internet.

McGuffey's readers are such a great resource. I cant imagine why they took them out of the schools. Except maybe that they take a wee bit more time to use then say a ready to go workbook. We like them and find them a very useful and frugal addition to our school.

God Made You Special

2011-05-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

My four year old son, Jadon said to me, "Mom I just dont like my hair."

"Why Jadon? Mommy Loves your hair!"

"I just dont like my blonde hair." says he with a frown.

"Oh but Jadon, God loves blonde hair and He made you with beautiful, shiney, blonde hair!"

"Ya!" with a big grin. "And its soft too!"

*I guess he just needed me to remind him.

His JOY comes in the MOURNING..

2011-05-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

A post from October 2007

"L0ve and faithfulness meet together;

Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed give you what is good,
and your land will yield its harvest.
Righteousness goes before him
and prepares the way for his steps."
Psalm 85 10-13

The Lord is so gracious to me and provides the HOPE I need. This morning I was able to have the first QT in nearly a week. Actually I need to go finish it. But what encouragement again spills forth from the pages! The earth is faithful, rotating and changing seasons..symbolizing the winters and summers of life. And took look in the sky and see God's Majesty.. And HE will give you what is good, if not here, in Heaven. My works will "yield harvest" if not in my generation perhaps in my children, or grandchildren. He prepares a way for me. And his righteousness goes before me! Thank you Abba Father. Your Love endures forever~

When Frugal Isn't Frugal

2011-05-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

As a housewife I love my "job". Figuring out how to raise a family, a larger than average family, and cheap! That's no easy task when gas is $4 a gallon and milk is nearly as high! Building a strong, healthy family with out breaking the bank is a never ending task!

Frugal isnt frugal when you compromise health. We all know that eating all the over processed nutritionally void foods is the cheapest option. Yes hamburger helper is only a buck and then the $1.50 for the beef to go with it you think your being frugal. But when your children are dehydrated and starving in an hour you'll think twice. Yest toss them a handful of chips or cookies is "cheaper" then an apple or a bannana but its also nutritionaly cheaper. Take the time and figure out how to make healthy foods as frugal as possible. You'll never turn up void. :)

Frugal isnt frugal when you buy things of lesser quality that wont last. Have you heard the quote "buy used save the difference"? Well I say "Buy cheap PAY the difference." Quality matters. Stay away from cheaply made items and look for quality craftsmanship, interchangeable parts, non-consumable versions of things (like school books, cloth instead of paper, containers that are reusable instead of disposable for your kitchen). You will save in the long run by stocking your home with quality items. Now I DO believe in buying used, but think quality used or consider buying the item new for its quality.

Frugal isnt frugal when you eat sleep and breath your research. In my house I call it obsessing. Do your research and shut the computer off! Often times obsessing leads to neglected families, household duties and over spending trying to do it "right". I suggest stopping and praying when you feel your are going too far. Also take notes, print things off to put into your homemaking binder or a file of some sort. It will keep you from returning like a dog to his vomit, to your obsession. Also discuss with your husband or a friend. A lot of times they will catch you obsessing before you do. remember anything can become an idol if we let it.

Frugal isnt frugal when you buy too much because its cheap! If the spinach goes on sale and you buy 5 bags, but your family will only eat one before it spoils.. it isnt frugal! Now if you figure out how to freeze said spinach thats another thing. Also just because you can get said fancy toy for a cheap price doesnt mean its frugal! You must be sure you ahve the budget for the item. Cloth diapers is a place I once stumbled. Buying every type out there and all the cute fabrics is NOT frugal. Often times we spend more than we save! So be careful.

Frugal isnt frugal if frugal is put on credit. Often times you will pay more in intrest than you saved to begin with. We usually have great motives to start "I will pay this off right away." and then the car breaks or there is a camp or sport to pay for. My suggestion, If you dont have the money now then God will make up the difference later.

Im often times reminded of this verse:

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Pray and ask the Lord for wisdom in your quest for frugality! He will bless you and give you wisdom! He will never leave you with out your needs. This summer we were desperate for clothing for the children. The Husband and I prayed for the Lord to send us clothing for them because we did not have the finaces to go out and buy for all of them, even used. Day after day piles of bags of clothing came in for our children. Except one little boy, Logan. One day Logan said "Mom I need shorts its getting so hot!" and I told him we should pray and ask the Lord to bring him some summer clothes. A few weeks later a town nearby had a city wide garage sale. With cash in hand I chose to go and see what the Lord could provide. Before I left I prayed that the Lord would help me to only purchase what we NEED because money is so tight at the moment. I prayed specifically for Logans summer clothes. The VERY first stop I made was full of quality summer clothing in my sons size for $1 a peice! I was able to purchase his entire summer wardrobe and some winter items for $35! Praise the Lord! He is faithful and good! So trust Him, pray and be patient for My God will meet all my needs!

What Mama Has to Say About Healthy Living

2011-05-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

What Mama doesnt love to shop?? And not just for a good fashion bargan but for nourishing food to set her table and fill her families bellies with? Its become a hobby for me to learn how best to feed my family. Its more than just about eating your veggies and clearing your plate. Its doing it cheap!! Now cheap is relative. Frugal bargins arent bargins if you have to eat more to feel satisfied. Nor are they bargins if you have to carry around the access pounds, deal with cranky attitudes and feign off cravings associated with the foods your setting before your children..

I've been mothering and preparing meals for my children for 9 years and Im still learning. There is balanced nutrition, whole foods diet, orgainic, raw, vegan.. you name it all.. We strive for Whole Foods. Thats not just a market.. Its the idea to eat foods as close to the way God created them. Fruits, veggies, grains, legumes are great to consume! They are also some of the most frugal foods around. With these basic ingrediants I can make great meals for my family. Add in some meats, eggs, cheeses and milks and my family is full and healthy.

About 6 years ago I began to read about foods and how best to prepare them to keep my family healthy. Which is a stewardship issue in my opinion. If we are tired, hungry and slugish we cant very well do the will of the Father.. But that is another post entirly..When it comes to preperation there seems to be a good, better, best mentality...

Lets take Milk. Whole Milk is good. The fat in the milk is good for developing brains, calcium good for the bones. Milk is a wonderful food. Notice I didnt say beverage.. But BETTER is a hormone free NOT ultra pasturized milk. This type of milk doesnt have the hormones that speed the growth of our children and its not ultra pasturized as to kill ALL the beneficial nutriants found in milk. Now BEST would be Raw milk. Yes Raw. It is rather safe if handled properly and has life giving probiotics that aid in digestion of dairy products and reduce allerigies. Again its full fat and provides plenty of calcium. You dont need to fortify Raw milk because nothing was taken out that needs to be put back in.

And on to eggs and meats.. Good is the consumtion of full fat eggs and meats of all kinds. Fat is so essential to our bones and joints. It also keeps us fuller and our hair healthier. Better would be a hormone free organic meat or eggs for the same reasons as the milk.. Best would be a local grown free range animal. Not only is free range local meets better for our families but also better for your local economy.

Further more the same is true of fruits and veggies. Whole unprocessed raw or homecooked veggies and fruits are so important to our bodies. Full of vitamins and fibers. Wonderful stuff. Better would be organic pestiside and genetically modified ingredient free.. Best of course is local!

But grains are a bit different. Grains are hard on the body to digest.. So following the same rules but adding Good being whole grains cooked at home. Better would be local or organic whole grains. But best would be soaked and lactofermented whole grains like oats, wheat, barley, millet, spelt, brown rice. Unprocessed unrefined.

It was like information overload for me. What do I do with all this.. I cant live on a farm. I cant even make my own bread when I started. What is soaking a grain!? And beyond that I cant afford all of these things!

So another principle came to play. Budgeting. Now at certain times we are able to afford better quality foods. But for the moment the best we can do is "good".. And we can treat our "good" food in a better way. Avoid white, processed and boxed foods and eat Whole foods the best we can afford. It seems to be working for our family as we are better behaved, less sluggish and better able to serve our father in heaven on such a diet.

Some Great Books on the Subject:
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
What the Bible has to say about Healthy Eating by Rex Russell
Sue Gregg Cookbooks

Webpages I've learned a lot from:
More Month Than Money
The Family Homestead
Hillbilly Housewife
Kitchen Stewardship

Still here.

2011-05-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

Still here. Unsure of the place that blogging has in my life. So humbled. God is so good to me to constantly show me himself and myself in relationship to him. Miss blogging. Miss sharing my thoughts and my family. So Im still. here... empty blog and all. :)

Yummy Crockpot Sloppy Joes!

2011-01-23T14:59:00.001-08:00

3 lbs ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup prepared mustard
4 TBS vinegar
4 TBS worcestershire sauce
3 tsp chili powder
hamburger buns

Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic, drain.
Combine ketchup, water, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, worcestershire sauce and chili powder in crock pot, stir in meat.
Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

~~Joy Homeliving~~

Large Family Camlebaks

Teaching Children Not to Waste

Its a Boy!

Before Baby Comes List #7

Food Waste Friday: What to do with leftovers?

Weekly Menu Plan

My First Ever: Food Waste Friday!

When a day goes as planned..

I just can not focus!

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 3

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 2

MFW Highlights: CTG Week 1

2011/2012 Homeschool Curriculum

NO TV ALLOWED or How we became less dependant on media

ABC's of Parenting

Finding FUN in Family!

Deuteronomy 16:14 (NIV)

Finding JOY in working together

Finding McGuffey on Our Homeschool Journey

God Made You Special

His JOY comes in the MOURNING..

When Frugal Isn't Frugal

What Mama Has to Say About Healthy Living

Still here.

Yummy Crockpot Sloppy Joes!

Joy Homeliving