Isolation

 Being the homebody I am, I didn't expect to feel isolated when we chose this path. Part of this is due to inexperience and not knowing and reaching out to support groups, co-ops, etc. I realize it won't always feel this way but I am used to people! I miss my gym ladies and "me" time.

 It's a very humanizing decision . . . one that keeps me humble daily. I am really terrible at this. I can't remember all the grammar rules, math still stumps me and my organizational skills are lacking. And this is just the homeschooling aspect of our day.

Because we have limited ourselves to going into town once a week, I have forced myself to make do with what we have. Mike loves having an onion bagel in the morning. My attempt at homemade bagels was sad. Are they suppose to taste like chalk?

My little Maddie is a cowgirl in spirit and really wanted to just be herself for Halloween ( ; We searched and searched for a simple, inexpensive vest for her costume. When we ran short on time before Halloween, I decided I was going to need to figure something out. We took an old piece of material and made her one. Now, I do not sew. I despise it actually but we have to do what we can with what we have.











I am not a big fan of Halloween. I do not believe in the whole ghosts and goblins night.  I feel there is enough horror in the world that we don't need to have a night celebrating it. That being said, I feel our children already miss out on many social activities and it wouldn't be fair to not allow them to participate.The way of the world is different than when I was their age but as parents we can do our best to make Halloween a safe and fun night.

Week 10 Critters

During pre-schooling morning prayer, Ty: "Dear Lord, Thank you for giving my sins in case I lose them . . . "

We are entering week 10 of our homeschooling experience and are beginning to find a routine. One of the many bonuses of teaching here at home is being able to incorporate many life experiences into everyday learning. As much as I try to fit everything into a nice little perfect organized bundle, life just isn't that way.

Meet Stormy, Ambler rescue project #6008 ( : We brought this starving little female home on Sunday. When we woke up Monday morning, she was soaked in her own urine and feces. Apparently, the new food was too much for her system. Stormy received her first bath at 7:00am. Homeschooling time was put on hold as we spend time cuddling and drying.

I call it a lesson in compassion.

On Meals and Manners

Ty: "Dear Lord, wait my tummy is trying to tell me something <BURP> okay, Dear Lord . . . "

Part of our experience has been to integrate respect into not only the household as a whole but primarily when it comes to meals. This has not been easy for us as we are often finishing up chores outside and/or waiting for Mike to get home from a late day at work. I am tempted to grab a box of Mac and Cheese or some Dinosaur Frozen Chicken pieces. I know the kids will eat every bite and ask for more. But, if we are to promote and provide healthy family meals, we need to condition ourselves to home-cooked dinners and stay away from the fast food alternatives.

By praying before meals, we teach our children to be thankful for what we have. We do not allow them to waste any food or drink that they ask for. They must try everything but are not forced to eat anything. I believe they are learning to like raw foods. Eventually our cravings for these prepackaged meals and snacks fade.

A little over a year ago (yes it took me this much time to implement this), I read a book entitled: To Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford.

http://www.amazon.com/Too-Small-Ignore-Least-Matters/dp/1400073928

This book has had an enormous impact on my growing faith and my view of children in this world. The idea of investing in our children is not foreign but I believe as a culture, our investment has turned away from investing time and turned toward investing money. I began feeling the Lord calling me out on this over this past year while working on building the Youth Ranch. "But what about your children. Don't cast them aside. This was never what I meant for you."

This is what ultimately led to our homeschooling decision. Do we want other children to teach our children how to behave socially? Do we want to give up our parental rights for 8 hours a day? The answer to this question is easy . . . NO. But, in saying "no," we must say "yes" to the alternative. And that was the hard part.

Against all odds . . .

 Think about it.
















There was a bomb threat this week in our local county schools and parents scrambled to find answers. They were asked to step back. Homeschooling never looked so good. All of our petty irritations and inefficiencies, faded away. Time to get organized. If we are going to do this, we are going to do it right . . . darn it ( ; 

 This is how Ty feels about all of this. At least he is dressed in this picture. I spend a good portion of my day putting his clothes back on.

Tuesday is local market day. Home school is put to a halt for a "field trip."

There is nothing that makes me happier than to make a great find and save money, At Idaho Youth Ranch today I found this desk from "Kidscraft." It's retail value is $150+ and we got it for 50% off of $38. Yay!! Score.

Hypocrisy

Minutes after I posted yesterday's blog, I felt convicted. That post represented an "ideal" day in a homeschool household. I was humbled and reminded yesterday that this is not always the reality.

Although, I cherish the time with my children, I am human. I lose my temper, say things I regret and feel like a failure quite often. Yesterday was a hodgepodge of unorganized activities. My 3 year old thrives on this chaos. He kicks at us while we try to do our reading, pokes at the printer while I copy worksheets and rips our books. Sierra, my oldest, wanders off and hangs out by the window, swatting flies. Maddie spends most of the time organizing the unorganized and thus adds to the problem by moving all of our books and papers to another location. Sigh. How in the world am I going to do this.

These feelings lingered throughout the rest of the day until my husband returned from work. We sat the children down and talked to them about our concerns. I apologized for being frustrated and quick to anger but we asked for their help in all of this. We need to help each other in order to make this work. Mike stands beside me and is supportive as he knows that this is not an easy road we have chosen.

The evening started on a better note and the girls helped me make pizza ( :

Typical cost of Dominoes when we order 2 large 2 topping pizza: $24

Typical cost of comparable homemade pizzas: $4 Plus the girls enjoy our time in the kitchen.

Homemade pizza

1 cup water
1pkg yeast
1 teas sugar
3 cups flour
1 teas salt
3 TBSP oil
Herbs and Spices (optional)
Pizza sauce
Cheese (Jack and Mozz)
Toppings (whatever is leftover in fridge)

Bake @ 450 for 10-12 min.

Today is also Bountiful Baskets Day. It is a wonderful co-op program where families can order produce. They have an organic option as well.

http://blog.bountifulbaskets.org/

Dear Lord, we pray for a better, more productive day. Please help me be a better Mom to these children. Amen.

How it Works

Going back to basics means exactly that, basic. Simplify. Mike is the provider and I am the homemaker. This reality does not come easily for me. But, I feel called to this roll. Therefore, in order to make this work, we had to go over all aspects of our finances and prioritize:

Fixed:

#1 God's money: 10 percent goes back to God's kingdom before anything else. Period. Whether we make $100 or $1000 a week . . . 10 percent back.
#2 Gas: We have to buy gas in order to get to work and to get the supplies we need. This is mandatory for Mike but not for me if I am to stay home with our children. If I quit my job, that would save us roughly $100 a month.
#3 Housing/Mortgage

Variable:

All items under this can be manipulated. Here is where we could make our cuts. One major expense is food.  Raw milk and organic foods are more expensive and this doesn't help with the food bill UNLESS I was able to cook from scratch.

First essential food item is milk. Our local raw milk is $6 a gallon and needs to be picked up on Tuesdays right down the street. This ends up being $48 a month.

 Next essential item is eggs. There is NOTHING better than fresh free range eggs. We have about 10 chickens at the moment who provide us with all our eggs.

Our meat is purchased from our local, family owned Vogal Farms. I order our meat and pick it up on Tuesday mornings along with our milk.

Homemade bread is delicious and very inexpensive to make! This was my first attempt ( ;

Easy Homemade Bread:

2 packages yeast
2 cups water
10 teas sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter
2 teas salt
6-7 cups flour

Bake @ 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 2 loaves

Meet Bacon and Sausage. We bought these little piglets when they were 2 months old. We feed them basic growing feed and all of our leftover food daily.

The idea: Nothing goes to waste. Eventually, we plan to build a greenhouse to have fresh vegetables year around.

Not working means limited driving. Limited driving leads to a huge gas savings and more time at home with my family. I enjoy the simplicity of my days now that I have the time to invest in my children.



We are becoming more organized and are now able to get most of our schooling done by lunchtime each day and then have the rest of the afternoon to bake, do chores and ride horses. I am noticing the changes in my children. We pray together, read together and now play together.

Back to 1942

  If anyone asked me if I would be one of those homeschooling Moms, my answer would have been . . .  absolutely not. Why would I do that when all our children are given an appropriate free education? I grew up in Southern California. We watched our mothers succeed and excel in careers outside of the home. We went to school and then on to college. We were the next generation of women! 

The purpose of this blog is not political in nature, however I will need to touch on what spurred our current situation. 

Our Christian family culture is dying. Our children are told they cannot pray or mention God. Our federal government has taken over all aspects of our personal and private lives from what happens in the bedroom, to our public schools and even down to what we eat. What has occurred in result of this is unhealthy but inexpensive foods, laced with hormones and other additives, history that has been altered, and our rights to worship our God slowly stripped down until we can hardly recognize who we are anymore. 

SO . . . we have decided that it is our responsibility to raise our own children in a traditional household. This decision did not come easily as I did not want to give up my job, the little "me" time I had, etc. God put it on my heart and two weeks later, we dropped out of school, quit my job and started school . . . in our living room. 

This blog is going to be about our experiences, both triumphs and the trials. 

Our first week we stopped buying store bought meat and dairy, and started raw milk and GMO free locally grown beef. I began trying to bake. I say "trying" because . . . see below. Each day, the girls and I work on a baking project as part of their school curriculum. They learned recipe measurement and what happens when you do not follow the directions ( ;

 

The beauty of homeschool is that you decide what you want your children to learn and focus on. Our day begins with prayer and Bible study, includes all subjects, carefully tailored for their learning level, and ends with a healthy dose of Leave it to Beaver or a good movie classic. This is the first few months of our journey but already I have found that I am so very human in my selfishness of my time and my patience level. But they are patient with me. They love cuddling around the fireplace with a good book and being able to hug their teacher. This experience is making me a better Mom.