Week Four of School

Well, I went to bed last night determined that this week we would compensate for our deficiencies last week due to illness. We got the bare minimums done but nothing more last week. Unfortunately both Jacob and Rachel woke me up in the night with high fevers so that will put a kink in the week from the get-go. Josiah is also still coughing horribly from the 2 week old cold so I'm taking him in to be checked. I'm parking Jacob and Rachel on the couch and schooling in the front room so that the rest of the kids can hopefully stay focused.

I'm looking forward to BSF tonight as we discuss John 1:1-18. Listen to this fantastic quote from the notes:

"Unless He died, His life could never be reproduced in sinful humanity. But, if he died, He would bring forth much fruit through the power of both death and resurrection."

I love the picture of Jesus' life being "reproduced" in my sinful self. The old is gone and replaced with the Holy Spirit. How wonderful!

On a practical note, I'm cooking my first pumpkin this morning in hopes of having fresh pumpkin for tomorrow's muffins. Yum! Gotta go ...

One more picture ...

My three little Princesses

"Revive Mom's Sanity Day 2009"

We took the day off of school yesterday. I had a rotten cold and a big fat lip after running into a door early in the morning in an effort to not turn on lights and wake up kids. This is what we did ...
It was freezing and wet out but that didn't stop my freedom-from-school loving kids ... Lizzy and Rachel.
Backyard football ... which led to culdesac basketball ... which led to scooters on roads made with sidewalk chalk ... I could go on ...
And while they played Grandpa and I canned peaches and Creole sauce made from fresh, garden produce ...
The reward at the end of the day ...

I must confess that by 4 o'clock because I was sick I felt like I was going to collapse. I probably should have rested on my day off, huh? Also, because the kids had played so hard, everyone needed tubs and showers before they could go to church. Oh, and Mike reminded me at 4:30 that we needed to bring treats for the kids at church ... I probably should have thought of doing that instead of canning all day. Ooops.

Everything from dancing to grape picking ...

I seem to be a bit behind on my picture posting and thought I'd catch up a bit. I can't believe I never posted pictures of Anna's first dance competition ... what kind of mother am I?!
Waiting to dance ... I wanted to squeeze in next to her and hold her hand but the dance Nazis wouldn't let me ...
Nice leap, huh!
Waiting for 2nd dance ... she had to count 6, 4, 6, 4, 6 ... that's tough for a nervous 5 year old ... but at least she didnt' leap into her neighbor like some of the other girls.
She placed 2nd in her 1st dance ... we are so proud!

Our friends, the Kahler's, have shared their farm produce with us this year. First cherries and then grapes. I forgot the camera when we picked grapes but this is the grape stemming project ... the bowl filled with 12 pounds of tiny grapes dumped at this point ...
Timmy and Jacob cleaning up the mess ...
Anna and Rachel "helping" ...
Jacob and Ben ... if there was audio you would hear me saying, "keep the grapes in the bins!" What a sticky, purpley, seedy mess BUT we made the most fantastic jelly with them!

And now on to the garden ... this picture is not for the faint of heart ... the result of lots of composting and careful worm farming ...
A 12 inch worm and yes that's my Dad wearing a green, toile apron ... he's man enough to pull it off.
A days worth of tomatoes, zucchini and peppers ... isn't that just fantastic!

I have more but need to go ... duty calls. I'll post what our "day off" looked like yesterday later ...

Week Three of School

We made it through 2 weeks of school and we're not behind yet! Miracle of miracles. Despite head colds last week we managed to stay on track.

Today we start week three. Several of us still have head colds plus it's dreary and rainy out ... this is making us all want to crawl back into bed. But we press on ...

Josiah is in a nice routine and seems to really enjoy school. I'm enjoying home schooling the younger kids more than I have for a long time. We're moving on from the Appalachian mountains to the English countryside this week while we read The Tale of Peter Rabbit. My copy of this book was my Dad's or maybe even my Grandmother's and is copyrighted 1925. Beatrix Potter is one of my favorite author/illustrators of all time. I love her art work, her style, her writing ... I love it all. In the past I've saved this book until Spring because it feels springy to me with Mr. McGregor's garden, bunnies and all. But it occurred to me that in the spring I will just be planting my garden and now I have it all in full bloom ... we can look out and just picture Peter sneaking in and stealing our bounty. The dreary, rainy weather is also a plus when picturing the English countryside.

I'll be canning more this week. I bought 50 pounds of peaches that are just huge and gorgeous! I'm going to add a section to my blog about canning. I'll include the recipes I've used this year and pictures/descriptions of how things turned out. This way I'll have a record for what to do and not to do next summer. So far I've made dill pickles, bread & butter pickles, pickle relish, dilly beans, pickled zucchini, Creole sauce, peaches, plum jelly and grape jelly. I've also frozen tomatoes, peaches and zucchini. Everything we've sampled has turned out well so far.

Week Two of School

We survived the first week of school. Transitioning Josiah from home schooling to Ridgeview was challenging, exciting, trying and fun all at the same time. He doesn't seem fazed by the curriculum (which is hard) or the homework (which is plentiful) but is struggling with timing, remembering what to bring where and the strict policies. I think it's the people pleaser in him ... I wonder where he got that from?! Here are our highlights from last week:

Josiah - "I got to debate the morality of Benjamin Franklin's choices in light of the Revolutionary War!"

Mary - "I was learning about Christopher Columbus while the littles were reading about Spain ... how cool is that?"

Luke - "I got to do multiple science experiments!" (Proof being Lizzy's dyed blue hand!)

Benjamin - "I get to read Geronimo Stilton every day at Rest and Read time."

Jacob - "The library has the newest Hank the Cowdog!" and quoting from The Story of Ferdinand, "If you were a bee and a bull sat on you, what would you do?!" Bahahahah! Gets him everytime!

Timothy - "I like plusing (addition)!" Ok, so I guess we need to work on terminology.

Anna - "I liked reading about when Ferdinand was a little bull smelling flowers."

Rachel - "I liked reading about when Ferdinand was a big bull and went to Madrid."

Elizabeth - "Can I watch my orange bideo?" translation, "Can I watch the new color videos for school?"

Now, I was hoping they'd remember things like Spain is the number one producer of cork which grows on Cork Oaks or Spanish is spoken in Spain or Spain is a country in Europe but ...

This week we're reading When I Was Young In The Mountains. I love this book. Everything about it warms my heart. So we'll move from Spain to the Appalachian Mountains.

This is also the first day of Bible Study Fellowship. I will admit I'm nervous. I thought they'd give me a group of young moms or people close to my age but they didnt'. The next youngest woman in my group is 50 and the oldest is 77. I'm somewhat intimidated but thankfully my main jobs are to listen and shepherd which I think I can do. All these years of juggling multiple schedules will hopefully pay off as I manage the time to the minute for 2 hours. I can do this right?! And so we begin ...

Making Spanish Lentil Soup with Anna

Since we're reading The Story of Ferdinand and learning about Spain this week, we checked out a Spanish cookbook at the library. I really wanted to make Paella but without fresh fish and saffron in my pantry I decided to make something that fit better in my budget. So Anna and I made this fantastic soup with things from our garden this morning with the recipe from our library book.
Mom and Anna
Anna dicing a green pepper from our garden.
Dicing and dicing ...

Normally Rachel and Elizabeth would be clamoring to help but they are really enamored with these new preschool learning dvds we bought and never even noticed Anna and I were cooking.



Here's the recipe:

4 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 T garlic, minced
2 T flour
2 cups diced tomatoes
3 carrots, diced
2 c lentils
1 T salt
8 cups water or chicken broth

Saute onion, pepper and garlic. Add 2 T flour then remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for 2 hours. Yum!

Without Josiah home Timothy and Jacob have decided to take Josiah's role as onion sympathizers ... believing that no onion should be diced for the sake of a meal. Oh, cry me a river ... no onion pun intended.

Pictures from the First Day of School

We began our day with Timmy losing his front tooth during devotions! It reminded us of the Veggie Tales song, "on the first day in the 2nd grade ..." Ha!


Luke and Mary


Benjamin, Jacob and Toothless Timmy


Anna, Rachel and Lizzy learning about Zero.


On the front cover of The Story of Ferdinand it says, " 09/23/99 Clover from Grandpa in Denver just like Ferdinand likes to lay in and smell." We were in Houston back then and Grandpa would send the kids fantastic care packages filled with thinks like this ... or empty pill bottles, nests he found, cartoons from the paper ... he's such a dear man.

Our first day of school ...

"I have set the Lord always before me ... therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices." Psalm 16:8-9

I'm diving off that waterfall today. Josiah just hopped in the shower, muffins are baking, his backpack is ready by the front door, the younger kids are actually excited to "do math" ... things look bright. In the night I was thinking how if I hadn't "set the Lord before me" with our decisions regarding school this summer I'd be much more anxious. God, in all his wisdom, opened and closed all the doors necessary that led us to Ridgeview. And, honestly, as we begin a new year a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I know Josiah will be challenged at school this year and, because we listened to his needs, I think he'll be much happier. I will also be able to enjoy teaching the younger kids much more knowing Josiah is where he needs to be.

This week's book for the younger kids is The Story of Ferdinand. I love this book and can't wait to share it with my little girls. It will spring board us into learning about Spain and art perspective and cork trees ... this is how I love to teach. The younger boys will begin the year with early early history and the science I do with the little girls. Mary and Luke have Switched on School house for almost everything this year except Science with we'll do with Apologia (sorry Mary ... it's a lot of reading for her ...)

Anyway, time is short and so I'm off ...

Three days until school starts ...

Josiah is up in his room typing the answers to his summer reading questions ... just a small taste of what lies ahead of him. He's very excited though. On Wednesday night we attended Ridgeview's Back to School night ... I anticipated a dry, boring evening during which I'd fight back tears at the thought of sending Joe to school all day, every day. But, God in his mercy, saved me from myself by allowing us to see the humor, wit, kindness and intelligence that embody the staff at Ridgeview. Each head of department introduced his fellow teachers and told a little about the teaching philosophy at Ridgeview and the year ahead. Several of the speakers were down-right hilarious. For example, the man speaking for the Science Department, looking exactly like a character from Revenge of the Nerds, walked up to the microphone, flexed his muscles (ha) and said, "SCIENCE!" He proceeded to give examples of many manly men of science ... finishing with "Science is Butch!" So, while I'd rather have Joe home with us I am more confident than ever that Ridgeview is where he needs to be. Tuesday starts a new chapter in our lives. I have the sense that we are at the top of a high waterfall with Josiah's college entrance at the bottom ... I guess on Tuesday we'll take a deep breath and dive.

Beef & Potatoes Crockpot Casserole

I put this in the crockpot before we left for Greeley today and we came home to what smelled like a big meatloaf meal! I'm not usually a goulash kind of gal but this was really delicious and so good after swimming for hours. I've been using my fresh tomatoes to make real tomato sauce as well which makes things so much tastier. YUM!

Beef & Potatoes

* 2 pounds lean ground beef, browned and drained
* 1 can (16 oz) tomato sauce
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 packages frozen green beans, corn, or mixed vegetables, approx. 4 cups
* 2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* 4 cups mashed potatoes
* 3 cups sour cream
* 1 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preparation:
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef; drain off fat. Combine browned ground beef with tomato sauce, chopped onion, garlic, mixed vegetables, salt, and pepper. Transfer ground beef mixture to crockpot. Combine potatoes with sour cream. Spread over beef mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours (HIGH for 3 to 4 hours). Sprinkle with the grated cheese 30 minutes before serving.
Serves 8 to 10.