we had a WONDERFUL school day today-just love the freedom to be able to homeschool. i have been out of touch over that last couple weeks with doing a devotional with the kids so last night before bed, with all the kids snuggled close, we prayed aloud together that God would help us focus on Him today. By morning, I had forgotten that I asked God for Him to help us but something made me grab our daily devotional at breakfast and read from it. I read the kids a Bible story from Genesis about trusting God. It wasn't until after we read that I remembered I had asked God to help us focus on him. Whether you believe or not, things like this happen in my life often. He is on my side. He is here.

We have not had this productive of a school day in a while, so it makes me wonder too if we had an angel near us while we studied to help me realize how much I am meant to be home with my kids, teaching and building them up. While school takes most of my time, I realize it is more important for me to sit and truly listen to my daughter read to me than be nodding and saying "mmm hmm good job" from a distance while I try to do the dishes or toss one quick load of laundry in. Kids are smart, they need our undivided attention. If you are interested, they won't be either.

After we completed our lessons, we all agreed that some housework needed done before we could play. We were in disagreement on which room to clean so I taught the kids how a coin toss works today. Heads was the family room and tails was the family bedroom. It landed on tails so we worked together on tidying our room. We all were smiling, laughing and joking while cleaning and before we knew it, it was done!

Feeling accomplished, we were all energized from this! Had a great evening picking out some more seeds for our garden and watching movies. My son, who is all boy, loves mowers and as I mentioned yesterday, we just got a new-to-us push mower so him and Dad got to do some mowing. My son is paralyzed from his waist down so he could not push a mower, but he desperately wanted to help Dad. We don't have a baby wrap (wish I did!) so my husband wore him in a back pack and put safety goggles on him so he could help Dad mow. You shoulda seen the pride in my little boys face, in my husband's face, in my face. Love those boys, love this life.

Why me? Am I deserving of this? Dunno. Thank you, God for today, it was pretty great.

YOU DID IT!

Was blessed with an opportunity to go swimming at the YMCA today with a couple other homeschooling families.  We had so much fun and it wore us out!

Of course, with swimming comes laundry and extra jobs-wet towels, bathing suits, hanging life jackets out to dry, putting goggles away, bathe the kids, unpack the cooler (because you can't go swimming without snacks!)  etc etc etc .

Well, normally all those above mentioned items or duties get left in my car or put on the back burner for a week until I notice a smell coming from the car of musty towels or we are all missing our bathing suits.

TODAY, I actually unpacked everything when we got home, put most of it away and washed the towels and suits already!

I am feeling proud and accomplished!  Yes, you may think this is lame, but I am proud (with a capital P) of myself.

You see, when I don't do things right away I set myself up for chaos, moldy towels and bathing suits, and misplaced items resulting in spending money to replace the lost items (non-organization is expensive-trust me).

My point is-if you did anything like this today, you know, the small things you do to keep your family functioning smoothly that no one notices, tell your self GOOD JOB! Treat yourself to expensive coffee, lipstick, a house plant-whatever it is that makes you giddy-treat yourself and don't feel guilty for doing so!

If it weren't for small (yet big) favors like these that we do for our families day in and day out, we would be running a zoo with no keeper.  We would have grouchy disappointed family members.  You would be more stressed.  But you aren't!  Because you do so much!  You are the key ingredient to your family!

Don't forget it!  And remember, when it seems like no one is listening, watching or appreciates it, God is listening, watching and smiling as your care for your family!

Meal Plan Part 2

 My grocery list for the previously mentioned meals in blog post Meal Plan Part 1.

stew meat

pork chops

4 packs chicken breast

5 pounds hamburger

(we try to buy our meat as local as possible

chicken broth

mushrooms

10 lbs. potatoes

2 bundles of kale

spinach

arugula leaves

carrots

black olives

2 loaves of good bread 

bowtie pasta

dairy free butter

frozen corn

1 lb fresh green beans

3 cans good tomato sauce

brown rice

flour

4-5 bell peppers multi color

2 cans black beans

4 packs soft taco shells

1 pack crunchy taco shells

2 lbs. good cheddar cheese

8 oz. monterey cheddar cheese

2 jars salsa

3-4 avocados

2 almond milk

2 cow milk

frozen berries

corn chips

kosher salt

whipping cream

broccoli

parmesan cheese

tomato juice

3 cans kidney beans

2-3 bunches of bananas

2 tomatoes

green chiles

enchilada sauce (need to look up a recipe for homemade!)

noodles

ketchup

sour cream

crackers

I may be missing some things.  This is just what I needed, some items I already had in my panty.  Just a general idea.  This will last us close to 2 weeks, but may have to run to pick things up here and there.  Since we have cut out processed foods and pre packaged meals and frozen dinners, our grocery bill has gone down considerably!  Spent around $40 on meat and around $240 on the rest. That breaks down to $140 per week...pretty darn good for a family of 5!  In addition to this list, we bought cereal, yogurt etc for breakfast and more fresh fruit a few other snacks and drinks as well (included in the $240).  All of our snacks, breakfast and lunches are mostly homemade as well.  This series of blog post covers mostly dinners.

Look for blog post Meal Plan Part 3 for the recipes for the first 5 meals mentioned in blog post Meal Plan Part 1.

Meal Plan Part 1

Every two weeks, I sit down and make a list of 10-12 meals that I will prepare for the next 2 weeks.  I typically grocery shop and meal plan bi-weekly.  Recently, we have adopted the whole food, unprocessed food way of eating.  Basically, I try to make everything from scratch and I do not buy any frozen dinners or boxed meals.  I am not a nutritionist and I have not perfected this way of eating yet, but have been making improvements every day.  We have also eliminated fast food all together, unless something comes up where we are given no other option (ie: birthday parties, traveling etc.)  We understand the importance of staying flexible, but in our everyday lives, we are following these principles.

Some things to keep in mind:  

• My son has milk, egg and peanut allergies so some meals are free of these ingredients.  If the meal has these ingredients, I modify them and make a batch of whatever it is, just for him. 
• I buy as many of my groceries local and organic as possible. 
• I have basically taken our favorite classic meals and made them more nutritious.  We are still in a transitional period, so I feel it is important to keep it basic for the kids, so they don't turn their nose up to new ways. It's all in our approach ladies.
• I don't use many measurements. Just a pinch of this and dash of that!
• I use the word good a lot when naming ingredients. By good, I mean to buy the best you can.  Grass fed, organic, all natural, minimal ingredients BPA free canned stuff etc etc. Basically get the ingredients in their rawest form.

Here is my latest meal plan: (in no particular order)

1. Homemade Chicken Tenders with Homemade French Fries
2. Shepard's Pie
3. Spinach and Bean Enchiladas with brown Rice
4. Stroganoff with Homemade Mashed Potatoes
5. Pork Chop Casserole

(Find the recipes for these first 5 meals in blog post: Meal Plan Part 3)

1. Homemade Pizza with green salad
2. Chicken, Broccoli, Alfredo with garlic toast
3. Stuffed Peppers
4. Tacos
5. Chicken Pot Pie
6. Chili
7. Chimichangas with rice

Those are the meals I planned for the next couple weeks.  They are all homemade.  Look for blog post Meal Plan Part 2 for the complete grocery list for these meals.

Meal Plan Part 3

Part 3

Homemade Chicken Tenders & Homemade Fries

I buy good quality chicken breast and cut into smaller hunks.  Dip in almond (or cow) milk, then dip in a mixture of unbleached flour, good salt and pepper.  Bake or fry.  Cut potatoes into fries and bake or fry.  Will probably serve fresh fruit with it.

this is a dairy free meal

Shepard's Pie

Brown  good ground beef or turkey with fresh onion and fresh garlic.  Put in casserole dish.  Add a can of organic tomato sauce. (Or learn to make your own!  Look for food labels with minimal ingredients like whole tomatoes. I used to use campbell's tomato soup in this recipe, but that has so much extra junk in it that I switched to plain tomato sauce.)  Add fresh or frozen organic chopped veggies.  Cover with homemade mashed potatoes.  (we make our mashed tomatoes with good cow milk and real amish butter or grass fed organic butter or we make our own butter from cream.)  Bake for half hour. Salt and pepper to taste.

We take out potatoes for our son and add a butter substitute and almond milk and take the meat mixture out and bake his in a separate casserole dish.

Spinach and Bean Enchiladas with brown rice

Chop fresh, organic spinach leaves in a food processor.  Put them in a large mixing bowl with a can of black beans strained (eden's organic if you can find them), about a cup of corn, fresh shredded good cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of cumin.  Mix together.  Fill whole wheat tortillas with mixture.  Place in casserole dish and cover with good salsa.  Bake until done...

Brown Rice
Real brown rice. Cook in good broth according to package label.  Don't use the minute rice.  I buy Ben's Brown Rice. Takes about 40 minutes to cook. I add green onions, butter, salt, pepper, fresh garlic. Really you can add anything to make it Mexican or spicy. There are no rules.

*this is a meat free meal, to give your body and wallet a break from meat!

Homemade Stroganoff and Mashed Potatoes

Cook good stew meat for a couple of hours in plenty of water in a crock pot or dutch oven or roasting oven.  The more water the better because you need to make broth to use later in the recipe.

After meat is cooked, place in large skillet. Reserve 1 1/2 cups broth from the meat, set aside.  Add remaining broth to skillet with meat. Bring to a boil. Add good ketchup or tomato sauce.  Let boil. Add onions, fresh garlic and fresh (not canned) mushrooms. Let simmer 5-10 minutes.  Add the reserved 1 1/2 cups broth shaken with 3 tbsp of good flour. Pour in skillet and stir well.  Add some heaping scoops of sour cream. Stir.  Serve over noodles with mashed potatoes.

Pork Chop Casserole

Slice potatoes and place in casserole dish. I would grease the bottom with oil (I use refine coconut oil) to prevent sticking.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in saucepan. Add 1 cup of broth and 2-3 tbsp flour.  Stir constantly. Add diced onion and fresh diced mushrooms for flavor.  This makes a nice creamy sauce. Set aside.  Brown good pork chops in oil for a couple of minutes on each side.  Lay them on top of the potatoes in the casserole.  Pour sauce over pork and potatoes.  Bake for an hour. Check meat temps for safety if you'd like.

Ok-there are 5 meals from scratch!  I will post 5 more, soon!  Good luck!  Just think whole ingredients, where did this come from, what is in this before you buy things!

to be continued......

We love Lewis and Clark!

We have been learning about Lewis and Clark this week and when I say "we" I mean myself included. It's amazing how much you don't retain from school. We have been enthusiastic in learning about their journey. We found a documentary for children on Lewis and Clark and watched it in bed lastnight. My oldest was getting frustrated as my middle child was being noisy and restless and it was distracting and my oldest couldn't hear. She asked me to rewind it! I don't know about you, but when I was 8 i didn't care about Lewis and Clark. Homeschooling allows you the opportunity to make things exciting and to be able to talk about a subject as long as you need until the kids understand it. We had an interactive lesson, my daughter was tracing the map with her finger where the pioneers traveled West and was excited to see the rivers and mountains that she learned about in the lesson. I am able to ask her questions and have her retell the voyage of Lewis and Clark until I know that she truly grasps what happened. I never had a teacher sitting right in front of me teaching in a way that they knew I understood it and not moving on until they knew I totally understood. It's just such a rewarding experience teaching your kids. I want her to know the story. I want her to be confident in retelling this to someone if ever prompted too. And I can safely say, that she knows what she is talking about.

We have read about Sacagawea and saw her in the film last night. My girls think she is amazing. She made her own clothes, knew about wild edibles and carried her baby in a wrap throughout the whole journey. My girls are intrigued by her, and I am going to bet that if they were at public school, they would be intrigued by the pretty girls wearing justice clothes and lipstick. And thats ok, too. But girls should know there capabilities and that there are many other things to be good at.

So technically, according to the curriculum, we are done learning about Lewis and CLark and must move on. But we aren't moving on. We like Lewis and Clark. We like Sacagawea. So we are going to keep learning about them. I believe that a lot of public school teachers would pick up on cues from their students that if the kids were engaged in the topic, they would want to fuel the fire and learn more. Sadly, the state is so involved that there is no time for this. Everything is rushed because teachers are forced to get so much in before the year is over.

Anyway, that is besides the point. Just sharing how much we have enjoyed school this week. I enjoy watching my kids learn. Seeing a child jump up and down and shout "I found the Rocky Mountains" on the map as they trace the route that Lewis and Clark went is amazing. I never had moments like that in school. Actually, if a child is curious and gets up to look at a map in a classroom, there is a good chance they will get in trouble. That is a problem! Let the children learn!

do your own thang

at the beginning of the school year, i was so set on waking up early, starting school right away and finishing right before dad gets home from work.

that doesn't always work!

if you are a new homeschooling parent, you will spend the first year trying to un-train your self of the idea of what you think school is, the way school was when you went to school.

get it out of your head!

school or learning does not have to happen on a set schedule, it does not have to consist of the core subjects, it does not have to happen at a desk with a pencil in your hand.

typically, we wake up, sit at the table together and eat and talk and sometimes pray. then we all go our own way for a couple of hours. i might start laundry, do bills or read. the kids play baby, watch a movie, paint, ride their scooter in the basement. whatever they want to do.

then, we regroup, have a snack if we want and talk about what lessons we should get done for the day.

last night, we did school after dinner. after the kids freely played all day, rode their bikes, played with the neighbor boy, we set up school at the dining room table.

we learned from 7-10 last night. i brewed coffee, got everyone a snack and we learned. we did social studies and language arts. learned about the civil war and slavery and ella read a few stories and wrote about it. a few math worksheets for fun, really and we called it a day.

when i don't think or worry about how typical school goes, i am so good at what i do. stop worrying about your schedule, what people will think and just do what feels right.

for me, it feels right to give my kids some free time and space before we start school. we all do better this way.