Critical Thinking=Common Sense

 One of my favorite daily activities is "WakerUppers." Before we start any of our curriculum, Sierra prints two copies of this creative collection. It requires them to open their minds and "think outside the box."

The girls do these together as they are a little difficult for Maddie to understand sometimes. I love listening to them try to figure out some of the puzzles and laugh at their pictures. Because these have no real label on them as far as what they are asking, the girls really have to READ THE DIRECTIONS.

 New wall post for Maddie after our difficult school day this week. I am thankful for a husband who fully supports this decision to homeschool our children. He printed this, posted it and told Maddie whenever she starts to get an attitude about schoolwork, to read it.

 Every week Sierra and Maddie pick a meal to plan and prepare for dinner. Sierra's favorite is "breakfast for dinner." Last week she even took it a step further and created a menu for all of her guests. Look at all the BACON! The idea is to learn to plan, practice buying groceries and experience cooking. It is so rewarding to see the excitement in their eyes at what they just accomplished.

Sierra even hired a waitress to take orders. Not only is she a good little chef but she knows how to delegate ( ;

Flu Season

Flu Season is here. We see it in our grocery stores, schools and churches. The commercials for the vaccine began in the fall and continue into winter. You know, those commercials about how you need to protect yourself and your family from this nasty illness that reportedly has countless Americans hospitalized every year. Countless because they really are countless. Many mistake the flu symptoms as a common virus.

My concern here is the hype. We are willing to inject our children with a vaccine, filled with unknown added ingredients just for the chance that they might get the flu. And even if they do get the vaccine, it's not guaranteed to combat the flu.

http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/October-2012/Influenza-Deaths--The-Hype-vs--The-Evidence.aspx

Did you ever stop to wonder who is pushing this vaccine? Drug companies. And why not? They make billions. Do you trust the drug companies?

I understand the risk of complications with influenza. I also understand that compromised immune symptoms have to weigh out the risks/benefits with making this decision. My concern is in the marketing. It is beginning to lean toward not having a choice but to get these vaccines. We are slowly accepting these "recommendations" as mandates. 

It is so ingrained into mainstream media, that we don't even question the side effects. Here are just a few:

• Reported moderate reactions to influenza vaccine include fever, local reactions (pain, redness, swelling at the site of the injection), headache, fatigue, sore throat, nasal congestion, cough, joint and muscle pain, and nausea. Reported serious complications include brain inflammation, convulsions, Bell’s palsy, limb paralysis, neuropathy, shock,  wheezing/asthma and other breathing problems. Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a disabling neurological disorder that involves temporary or permanent paralysis that can lead to death and has been causally related to influenza vaccinations.
• As of November 2013, there have been more than 93,000 reports of reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following influenza vaccinations made to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), including 1,080 related deaths, 8,888 hospitalizations, 1,801 related disabilities and over 1,700 cases of GBS. In 2013 the Federal Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) voted to add GBS to the Vaccine Injury Table within the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). -http://www.nvic.org.
   
   

Homeschooling for Dummies

Update on homeschooling at the Ambler household:

Maddie has decided that she hates doing schoolwork and added that reading is not the way to learn and has absolutely nothing to do with horses. Sigh.

The benefits far outweigh the challenges but sometimes I wonder if the fight is worth it. What does a homeschooling parent do when her 7 year old blatantly refuses to add two small numbers together and concludes she would rather stare at the floor? Hmm . . . I will not lose this fight.

An hour later, Maddie continued to stare at the store but now she was considering deal offers.

Deal attempt#1: She said she will not go outside and be with the horses today if she doesn't have to do her math. Negative.

Deal attempt#2: She will sit there all day and starve. <Hard to keep a straight face with deal #2 Negative.

I maintained the illusion that I was busy on the computer while she struggled with a new deal. Finally, after a long dramatic sigh, she began writing. Score 1-0!

Bacon and Sausage

 Appointment Set for Bacon and Sausage. Our first experience raising pigs has been mostly successful. We are still learning and will make some changes next year. 

Pigs are VERY destructive. We have not been able to construct a temporary shelter that they have not torn down. They also eat WAY more than we expected so the cost of feed is an issue. I did some research on pig feed and found that much of it is medicated. We have been careful to use a feed that is not but we will likely be more careful next year in what we choose to feed. 





A friend who has experience raising pigs estimates them above the 200 LB level, meaning at the end of the month, they should be perfect size for butchering. 

Pigs refuse to leave anything alone. Next year, we will need to construct a watering system that they can not tip over.

 Because we live in an old farmhouse, we have to purchase oil in order to heat this house. We have stocked up on wood to try to save on heating costs. Last time we filled the oil tank it was over $700.

Times of unemployment, although stressful, allow for more cuddles, reflection and home projects ( ; Mike is back to work now running the truck crane. 

One of our long term goals is to purchase a truck so that we can be owner/operators. This would allow us more freedom as a family.

 Family game night is now scheduled for every Sunday night (when football playoffs are over). Our first game choice was Monopoly. This is a learning game on so many levels. Sierra is working on money in her studies so she was nominated "banker." I hired Maddie as realtor and property manager. She had to sound out the names of the properties in order to hand out the correct card. Ty was in charge of rolling the dice for me and counting the dots.

I'm not sure Mike is a big fan of the "no cable TV experience" when it comes to Bronco Football games. But if it were on a big screen TV, it wouldn't be an experience right?

Overall 2014 began with many changes for us but we are rolling with these and trying to think of them as new opportunities ( :

Everybody's Fine

"Everybody's Fine" is a movie starring Robert De Niro. De Niro, "Frank," is a widower and father of four. In the beginning of the film, Frank (De Niro), is busy preparing his home for a visit from his adult children who live all over the country. He mows the lawn, cleans the house and buys expensive wine in anticipation of this gathering. One by one, his children call and cancel their trip because of business, timing, etc.

Sierra and I were watching this together and I told her how this broke my heart. Maybe it is because I am so close to my father. Maybe it is because De Niro is an awesome actor. Maybe both. But what I do know is that this isn't the children's fault. This is our culture. This is what we teach them.

What is a successful life? Seems like a fairly simple question. We raise our children to be independent, so much so as they often feel this need for freedom. Many go away to college, get married and start a career far from home. We get together on holidays . . . if we have the time off of work and enough money for a plane ticket. If not, it's okay. We can pick up a phone. This is success.

Enter in a loss in the family . . . instant reevaluation, guilt and regret. This is hindsight but it is for a reason. It is our second chance to get it right.

But what if we taught our children that they need their family, not just in their youth, but through life. Because when does it get easier and when do you not need the support of your family? In many cultures, three generations live under one roof. Much of this is economical but it just makes sense in so many areas of life. The problem is our society looks down on this. We are supposed to grow up, move out, go to college, get married, start a career and then have 1.5 children.

I told Sierra that this movie makes me sad. She told me that she would never get a job where she couldn't tell her boss she was going home to visit her family. This was after she told me that when she grows up, she and her husband were going to live in our basement ( ; Okay so maybe I made my bed.