Wordless Wednesday: Ugly Baby

Ok, I'm almost wordless this week!  I posted pictures of a nest with eggs in it a week or two ago.  Below you will see a photo of the first little baby bird that hatched.  The mommy bird loves aluminum foil and nicely wallpapered her home with it.  The baby bird, however, is not so interested in home decor, but he is very interested in being fed! The little bird kept stretching his little neck up to open his beak.  Then when his head got too heavy, he just slumped over.  It was a little bit funny to watch him doing that over and over.

I had never really thought much about what newly-hatched birds look like.  I'm sure different kinds of birds look different, but this poor littla fella isn't very attractive without his feathers!  I'll try to post more pictures in the following days and weeks as he grows if Mommy bird will allow me to get close enough to take more photos.  (That's a pictures of Mommy Bird sitting on her baby bird the same day that the baby bird hatched.)

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Strawberry Jammin'

What do you do when you have a flat of over-ripe strawberries?  Make strawberry jam!  My parents bought some fresh strawberries and couldn't eat them all, so they gave me a couple of quarts of them so I could make strawberry jam.  The first time I ever made it was last summer, and my sister helped me.  I wasn't sure if I could do a good job of it by myself, but I couldn't stand to see all of those yummy strawberries go to waste!

I don't have a water-bath canner, so I borrowed a great big pot from my mom-in-law next door.  I also didn't have any pectin, so I had to try a new recipe that didn't call for pectin.  I did (thankfully!) have some 4-oz. jars with flats and rings left over from last year.

The recipe sounded simple enough.  It only called for two ingredients:  strawberries and sugar.  While I cooked them, I put on a huge pot of water to boil.  Here's a tip for those of you, like me, who don't have a "real" canner.  Canners normally come with a trivet for the bottom of the pot so the jars don't sit on the bottom of the pot and break.  Since I was using a pot, not a canner, it didn't have a trivet.  A friend told me to use extra jar rings on the bottom of the pot as a make-do "trivet."  It worked really well!  Of course I had to be careful when placing my jars into the boiling water to be sure I didn't cause the rings to shift around.  It wasn't too difficult, though, and it was certainly better than putting jars on the bottom of the pot where they might break.  (That happened to me last year when I was canning tomatoes.  It was a terrible mess!!!)

Once the strawberry/sugar mixture had cooked to the right temperature, I put it in my 4-oz. jars.
I like to make plenty of small jars of whatever I happen to be canning so that my husband can give them to his office workers at Christmas.  Homemade pickles and jams are some of the things we've given his office folks in years past, and they are always enjoyed.  We feel like giving a few small jars of homemade goodies shows his office folks that they are appreciated and that we took the time to make something that we hope they'll like.  It's much more personal than buying gifts for them, and it's easy to dress up the jars with pretty fabrics or a pretty dish cloth.

I was able to make 14 (4-oz.) jars plus one jar of about 6-oz.  Because I didn't have new lids for the last 3 jars, I just put them straight in my refrigerator instead of processing them for storage.   My family will eat one jar of the jam, and we'll share the other two jars with family members.

The jam turned out to be really yummy!  It didn't gel quite as well as I would have liked, but it was certainly good enough.  And I was really pleased that I didn't mess up the entire kitchen making it, and it didn't take all day either!

I plan to let my younger daughter help with the next batch of strawberry jam that I will make in the next week or so before strawberry season is over.  She is really enjoying taking on more responsibilities in the kitchen even though she's only 9 years old.  I just have to remind myself to allow her to help and to encourage her efforts!

Do you have particular fruits or veggies that you like to can or freeze every year?  Do you include your children in the canning process, or do you prefer to do it with a friend of by yourself?

The Homeschool Mother's Journal April 2012

In My Life This Week...


My younger daughter and I drove to Memphis to attend the MidSouth Homeschool Convention this past weekend, and we had a great time!  I've never driven that far without my hubby, and I was really pretty nervous about it!  I took my GPS, though, and went anyway.  I'm so glad I did!  Mary Grace had lots of fun doing the children's activities, and I absolutely loved meeting lots of new folks, visiting the many vendor booths that were there, and buying a few books that I've been wanting to read.  I didn't buy any of next year's curriculum yet because I haven't totally decided yet exactly what I'm planning to do yet.  But that's a whole different post.....


My favorite thing this week was....


Mary Grace and I had a great time at the Memphis Zoo!  After the convention was over on Saturday, we spent the night in Memphis so we wouldn't be driving home really late at night.  (It's a 5-hour drive.)  We had planned to get up on Sunday and drive home, but Mary Grace saw some signs for the Memphis Zoo and decided she wanted to go there.  I was fine with that since it's supposed to be a really good zoo, and we probably won't ever drive that far just to go to the zoo.  So I figured we might as well visit while we were so close.  


I was really glad we decided to go!  It was lots of fun!  And Mary Grace totally enjoyed being the "only kid" for the day.  She got to choose which animals she wanted to see and in what order.  She decided when to stop for a snack or drink.  She got to pretty much be "princess for the day," and she totally enjoyed it!  I was a little concerned about making the 5-hour drive too late in the day because we were both tired from the convention.  We left the zoo at 3:00 p.m., though, and were home by 8 p.m., so it wasn't too bad.  I was awfully tired those last couple of hours, but I managed to stay awake!


Things I'm Working On...


I'm trying to force myself to make the final decision on what materials we will use for school next year.  I've got it narrowed down, and I've even made some definite choices, but I'm not quite finished.  Usually by this time of the year I'm already ordering next year's materials.  For the past couple of years, though, it's ended up not getting done in April.  


I'm also working on giving up sweets.  That's an especially hard one for me because I love sweets!  I'm not sure if I'll try to absolutely totally give them up, but I'm definitely trying to cut was down on them.  We'll see how it goes!


I'm Reading...


Right now I'm reading several books.  One of them is Titanic:  The Ship of Dreams.  I love just about anything related to the Titanic.  I really don't know why, but I do.  I love to watch documentaries about the Titanic and other sunken ships as well.  I love to get an underwater look at how everything looks now after it's all been under water for so long.  I haven't finished the book yet, but I am enjoying what I've read so far.


I'm also reading Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Noah had to read it for his Omnibus III online class.  I never had to read it when I was in school, so I decided to read it now that he's finished.


I'm also reading 1984.  This is another book that Noah has to read for Omnibus.  This time, I'm reading it before Noah reads it so I can discuss it with him.  (Since there are some parts of the book that I think we will need to discuss because of its controversial nature and topics.)  It's actually very interesting!


I'm reading Little Women:  Book 2 out loud to my younger daughter.  Each day we read a chapter or two.  I hadn't even known that there was a sequel to Little Women until Mary Grace asked me to check to see if there was one.  We already read Little Women and Little Men.  Mary Grace begged me to look and see if there were any more books (like a series) because she was so disappointed when the other two books ended!  


I'm reading Freddy the Cowboy out loud to all of my children each morning.  We love the Freddy books!  They are a little bit hard to find, though.  My whole family (from two teens to a 9-year-old and even my husband and I) loves these books, and the kids frequently ask me to read Freddy to them--even if we have to go back and re-read the ones we've already read!


I'm Cooking...


Tonight, dinner was a family affair!  My hubby grilled chicken and sausage on the grill, Mary Grace made homemade French fries and potato chips (Yum-O), and I took care of the baked beans and garlic toast.  It was all delicious!!


A Photo to Share:

Sleepyheads 

Should Your Kids Work Hard or Hardly Work?

( © Brad Calkins | Dreamstime.com)

Kids and housework.  This is an area I've struggled with ever since my children were very small.  When I was growing up, I had to do a lot of housework.  I also did a fair amount of work in the yard.  My twin sister and I were completely responsible for cleaning up our own room (we shared a room).  I don't ever remember our mom helping us clean our room.  


We also did the dishes every evening after we ate dinner.  Mother did all of the cooking because she didn't really want us to do it.  We made a big mess when we cooked, so she preferred to do that herself.  My sister and I set the table before dinner, cleaned off the table after dinner, loaded the dishwasher and/or hand washed the dishes, and dried the dishes and put them away.  


We helped with the laundry, although we weren't totally responsible for doing it.  I do remember sorting the clothes, washing and drying them, and hanging them out on the line during the summer.  We did most of the ironing too.  I remember standing in the living room watching t.v. with a long row of clothes hanging up waiting to be ironed.  For some reason, we ironed the clothes all at once and then hung them all in the closet.  We sometimes ironed for hours on Saturdays!  


We vacuumed, dusted, and did other jobs in the house as well.  Besides housework, we helped in my grandmother's garden every spring and summer too.  During the school year, we went to her house on Saturdays and worked.  Once school was out (my mom was a teacher), we went several times a week and spent the whole day.  We planted seeds, watered, pulled weeds, picked veggies. shucked corn or shelled peas, or did whatever else needed to be done.


I guess what I'm saying is that we worked pretty hard when my sister and I were kids and teens.  I don't really remember having any terrible memories of working, although I'm sure we weren't thrilled about it at the time.  But for some reason, I don't make my kids do nearly enough work in the house!  I know I should, and I'm trying to improve, but the honest truth is that I haven't required them to do a whole lot so far.  (Shame on me!)


About a month or so ago, I started having terrible back pain.  It turned out to be a protruding disc in my lower back, and it was very painful for several weeks.  I wasn't able to do much more than  sit on the couch each day and point out to the kids what needed to be done.  It was not any fun to be in pain and unable to get up and do much of anything.  It did cause me to realize, though, that my kids should be doing a whole lot more than they've been required to do up to this point!  


I was really proud of how Noah (age 15) and Mary Grace (age 9) pitched in to help get the work done!  They had to do laundry, do dishes, straighten up around the house and help keep clutter under control, clean their own rooms, and help cook meals.  They also, of course, had to keep up with their school work.  I could tell that they were trying to be considerate of me and do everything they could (well.....most of the time!) to help me while I couldn't do much for myself or them.  


My back is much better now, but I'll probably always have to be a little more careful about picking up heavy things, etc.  As much pain as I was in, I still think it was totally worth the lesson that my kids and I learned.  They learned that they can step up and pitch in when needed.  They realized that they are capable of doing so much more than I've been asking them to do!  They also realized (although I'm pretty sure they won't admit it) that housework won't harm or injure them in any way. (gasp!)  


I learned that they are capable of doing nearly everything that needs to be done around here!  They may need some extra instruction and assistance with new jobs, but they can definitely do all of the things that absolutely must be done to keep the house in order from day to day.  


In fact, my little "injury" caused me to have a revelation that I otherwise might never have had.  I decided that, since my kids were able to help cook dinner on nights when I couldn't do it myself, they are ready to start taking one night each week to cook dinner for the rest of the family.  That means that two nights a week I won't have to cook dinner!  Hooray!  


Do you have your kids do much work in the house?  What about in the yard?  I'd love to hear from you about the jobs you require your kids to do and at what ages you require them.  

Write with World

Do you have one of those kiddos who doesn't like to write?  I do!  My 9th grade son will freely admit to you that he does not enjoy writing!  He will occasionally write something like a short story on his own.  Something just for fun.  He absolutely detests writing for "school" though.  Over the years, I've tried several different writing programs with him and have had various levels of success.  The truth is, though, that he is in 9th grade now and really needs to be able to write!  If he decides to go on to college, he'll need to be able to write essays and papers.  If he one day gets a job in which he needs to be able to write reports, I want him to be able to do that!  I want to know that I did everything I could as his homeschool teacher to prepare him for whatever skills he will need as a teenager and later as an adult in the work force.


One of my very favorite things about Write with World is that it uses real world examples.  When my son is writing just for fun, he's writing things that mean something to him.  He's writing about things that he sees as important.  In short, he has a reason for what he's writing.  I realized that that was the main component missing from all of the different writing programs I've tried with him.  Although some of them have been great programs, he didn't see a reason for doing them!  And is he doesn't see a reason for doing the writing, he's not going to be motivated for very long to continue doing it.


Write with World is from the publishers of God's World News and World Magazine.  It is meant for use with students in 6th-9th grades.  It is also appropriate for use with students in high school who may not have had much writing previously.  Since I haven't done as much writing as I should have with my 9th grader so far, I felt like this level was fine for him.  


One thing I liked about Write with World is that the student book starts off telling the student why this writing program differs from others and why it will be useful to the student.  I could have told my son all the same things that were said in the introduction, but it wouldn't have had the impact on him that it had coming from the writers/editors of the book.  He really liked that the introduction part was directed to him.  I think that made a difference in how he reacted to the program in general and in his attitude toward it from the beginning.  


I also really liked that it explains that Christians need to be the best writers.  God uses Christian journalists, novelists, and song writers to reach the world for Himself.  I had never really thought about the fact that Christians have these important reasons for being good writers!  I don't think my son had ever considered that either.  I was very glad the curriculum mentioned that, though, because it certainly made an impact on us!


This program strives to be better than other writing programs by challenging the students using it to not only use good grammar, correct punctuation, and complete thoughts but also to use thoughtful arrangements of details, ideas, and words.  The publishers of this curriculum  want to see student writers become comparative readers as well.  They want our students to be able to see and explain why one sentence or paragraph "works" better than another or why one essay is interesting while another might be boring.  If we want our children to influence the world for God through their writing, they have to be able to write in a way that makes people interested in reading it!


If you'd like to see more detailed information about this writing program, you can do that at http://www.learnwithworld.com/writewithworld/.  You can see introductory information, sample lesson, and ordering information as well as a detailed table of contents.  


If you'd like to see more TOS Homeschool Crew reviews on this writing curriculum, just go here:  www.homeschoolcrew.com.  



I was given the first year of this 2-year curriculum in exchange for my honest review.  

Amazing Animals Review

Have you ever noticed the lack of books about Creation for children at younger ages? There are lots of books for older kids and teens, but there really aren't a lot for younger children.  The author of this book, Debra Haagen, noticed it too, so she decided to write a book to do just that.  This book is geared toward children from kindergarten through 3rd grade.  It helps them to understand that God created the animals according to His perfect design.  It also explains that God created each child according to His perfect design.


The book is 24 pages long.  The information is given in a way that is interesting and easy to understand.  My daughter, age 9, enjoyed the story and the illustrations.  At her age, she was familiar with the information given in the book, but she still enjoyed reading it.  She especially liked the illustrations.  If you are interested in buying the book,  you can do that at Tate Publishing.  You can buy the paperback book for $8.99 or the ebook for $7.99.  It is also available from bookstores and other outlets now as well.  


You can visit the author's website at http://debrahaagen.tateauthor.com/.  And you can visit her Facebook page here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amazing-Animals-by-Design/212074542163386?ref=ts.  


I think this book is definitely a good one for younger children.  It is short enough to keep their attention and colorful enough to be entertaining while teaching them about Creation and God's design for animals (and people!) at the same time.  If you'd like to read what other Crew members have to say about this book, take a look here.  


NOTE:  I received the PDF version of this book in exchange for writing this review.  I did not receive any other compensation.  The opinions in this review are my own (honest) opinions.  :)

Kiddo in the Kitchen

Tonight Mary Grace got her first lesson in cooking dinner by herself!  She got to choose the menu.  Then we went to the grocery store together to buy the things we didn't already have.  She even paid for the groceries without my help.  (Well.....she did use my money to pay.  But she did the paying herself.)

She decided she wanted to have spaghetti and fruit salad.  She wanted to make the spaghetti sauce from scratch like I do.  I did have her start with one jar of spaghetti sauce that we bought.  I thought that might be a little bit easier for her since she's just learning.  Then she added ground beef and spices to make it taste more "homemade."  We have our own little herb garden on our front porch, so she cut some fresh basil and oregano for the sauce.  We washed it, dried it, and then Mary Grace carefully cut it into tiny little pieces.  (She loves cutting things up!)

After that, she took a can of sliced carrots, mashed them up really well, and added them to the sauce.  We like to add mashed carrots to our spaghetti sauce.  It adds a little bit of sweetness, and it gets another veggie in there too.

Then she added some powdered garlic and onion (The kids don't like chunks of onion and garlic, so we usually used powdered.) to the sauce and mixed it all up and let it simmer.  It smelled so good!

After the sauce was ready, she got the noodles going while she made the fruit salad.  She wanted it to look really pretty, so she carefully arranged some mandarin oranges on each little plate, put half of a pear in the middle, added two pieces of mint for a garnish, and put a fresh strawberry on top to make it look (and taste!) even better.

The meal was definitely a success!  Everything tasted great, and she was so proud that she had cooked it almost completely by herself.  (Of course I closely supervised her.)  She wants to start cooking dinner once a week, and I'm all for that!  I think I'm going to have my son start cooking one night a week too.  He's 15, so he's plenty old enough to start cooking once a week.  It'll be good experience for him, and one day his wife will thank me!

Do you have your children help cook or let them have nights when they are responsible for cooking the meal? I'd love some suggestions for quick and easy meals.  If your kids don't help out with meals, how old do you think they should be before they do?

Easter Treats from Hershey's!

 

I remember as a child going to my grandparents' house every Easter after church.  My cousins and our families all ate lunch together.  (I don't know how my grandmother fed so many of us!) After lunch, the grown ups went outside to hide eggs while we kids waited very impatiently inside.  Once the eggs were all hidden, we went outside to hunt them.  One of the most wonderful things about hunting eggs was the chocolate bunny that one of us would find!  Out of all of the grandchildren, just one of us would find the coveted chocolate bunny!  Usually the youngest grandchild would "happen" to find it.  Of course, we older cousins were happy to help her consume it!  


Now I have my own children to celebrate Easter with.  My children are now ages 16, 15, and 9, so they think they are "too old" to hunt eggs.  They are quite happy, though, to carry on the tradition of eating a chocolate bunny!  


This year when I attended the Blissdom conference, the Hershey's folks were there!  YUM!  I was so glad to see them!  The Blissdom attendees were given the opportunity to sign up to receive an Easter basket for our children.  There are soooo many more yummy treats to choose from than there were when I was a child.  Since I have 3 children, I decided to request treats that all 3 kids can share.  


One of my very favorite Easter treats is Cadbury Creme Eggs.  They are so absolutely wonderful!!  So of course I had to request the package of a dozen mini Cadbury Creme eggs.  (Ok, so maybe that treat was requested more for me than for the kids.  I promise to share......maybe!)  The next item I requested was package of Reese's Mini Reester Bunnies.  I had never heard of these before, but they look delicious!  One of my son's absolute favorite treats is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so I know he'll love this one!  My 9-year-old loves Kit Kat bars, so I asked for a package of Mini Kit Kat bars especially for her.  I know she'll love them!  We will all enjoy the Cadbury Mini Eggs.  They are a favorite of all of us!  (These are the little eggs that are kind of like Whoppers.)  The final item I requested (We got to choose 5 items.) was Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans.  

When the basket arrived a few days ago, it was all we could do to keep from digging in right then!  We did open the basket and take a look at everything, but we managed to resist eating the candy.  


Since I wouldn't let the kids eat the candy that day, they got out the bubble wrap and the box that the basket arrived in and played with those!  You can see the photos below of Mary Grace playing with the bubble wrap.  Then the final picture is the cat, Hazel, enjoying the box!  


I just want to say, "Thank you so much!" to the Hershey's folks!  I pray that all of you have a blessed Easter with your families.  

NOTE:  I was not asked to write this post.  I did so to show my thanks to the folks at Hershey's.  :)

New Life

We found this little nest on our carport!  The eggs are about the size they look in this top photo.  We've seen the mommy bird, but we don't know what kind of bird she is.  (She likes to peek in our laundry room window at night!)  

The Homeschool Mother's Journal March 2012

In my life this (past) week:  
We had a busy, crazy, chaotic week this past week!  It seems like every single day something happened to throw us off schedule.  The good news is that I'm learning to be more flexible and not to let that kind of thing bother me too much.  That is a major accomplishment for me!  Woohoo!


In our homeschool this (past) week:
Believe it or not, we actually got a decent amount of work done!  The kiddos are having to learn to be a little more flexible too, and that means doing our school work in the mornings or in the afternoons (whichever works for that day) or even occasionally on weekends.  


Helpful homeschooling advice:
I've been reading and hearing from lots of homeschool moms that they just want to be outside for the beautiful weather we've been having lately.  My advice is, go outside!  I've been taking my kiddos and their work outside instead of staying cooped up in the house wishing we were out in the sunshine.  Of course I try to allow plenty of play time and/or time to sit outside and read a book or work in the flower garden or herb garden.  It's perfectly fine too, though, to take school outside.  We love it!


My favorite thing this week:
We had a wonderful time getting our herb garden started!  My younger daughter and I planted mint, oregano, basil, and thyme in our herb garden.  (In pots on the front porch.  They grow really well there.)  We also planted sunflowers (from seeds--it's a summer tradition for us), dianthus (our favorite!!  Mary Grace loves to dead-head them and watch the tons of "new" flowers that she gets), and marigolds (we love these because they can take the heat down here in the South).  


Things I'm working on:
I'm trying to get my house a little more organized!  I have too much clutter and "stuff" sitting around here and there.  I'm trying to tackle one little spot at a time so the job doesn't seem so overwhelming.  


A photo to share:
This is a rose from Mary Grace's rose garden.  We have 4 rose bushes that are already blooming and have tons more buds ready to bloom!  

What's going on at your house this week?  Gardening?  Cleaning?  Schooling?