Homeschool Mother's Journal 10/21/2011-11/4/2011

In my life this week…

We have been doing lots of partying lately. I love this time of year with all the fun parties that the kids get to attend, and we even hosted a party ourselves! We very rarely host parties, so this was a fun treat. We hosted a Halloween/El Dia De Los Muertos party. The kids had a blast. We did sugar skull decorating and made marigold necklaces from flowers from my garden. To prepare for the party I did a deep fall scrubbing on my house. I washed the floors, baseboards, walls, and cabinets. Even my oven is clean right now! I am loving having a super clean house. Now I just need to get a little more organized, and I will be a happy woman.

In our homeschool this week…

We have actually been picking up some history which is great. We got a cool nonfiction book from the library called, Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions by Don Wulffson. Little BBQ for once has not been fighting me on history. I am working on easing him into history lesson for awhile now, and he has resisted, so I decided to change strategies and teach history about things that he found interesting. I figure in our pre-k year we can splurge and spend time on odd and fun history.

I am inspired by…

We went to our friend's El Dia De Los Muertos party, and I was really inspired by her cool decorations and pinata. I did not decorate much for our party, but it was neat to see her interpretation of the holiday especially since the holiday has so much meaning for her because her first daughter was still born on El Dia De Los Muertos. As she elegantly put things in her facebook status, her baby has her own special holiday.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We were suppose to be a field trip today, but Little BBQ is sick so we stayed home instead. We have, however, gotten out of the house a lot lately. We went on a nature hike a few weeks ago which was a lot of fun.  We have also been bowling with our homeschooling group twice which is another fun every other week event. We also did our Halloween tradition with one our friends. We bring over a big turkey to their house and enjoy a big meal together after a full night of trick or treating. Little BBQ was a tree fairy. I made the costume myself. Miss Bubbles was a pink dinosaur. Both kids looked so cute.

My favorite thing this week was…

My favorite thing this week was our Halloween/El Dia De Los Muertos party. I made all the food vegan friendly since we have so many vegans in our homeschooling group. I loved seeing all the sugar skulls that the kids decorated.

Things I’m working on…

I am working on a care package for two friends right now. One of my friends just got divorced, and the other found out that her baby has an enlarged heart. Both will be getting a care package soon.

I’m reading…

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Issacson. I am really enjoying the book. I never knew that Einstein had a daughter out of wed lock with his wife before they got married. I am surprised by the great length that the scientist went to keep this a secret.

I’m cooking…

As usual I am cooking lots of things. I made four different types of Povitica, which is a Eastern European bread. I made the traditional walnut filling, chocolate strawberry filling, pear apple butter filling, and raspberry filling. I also made lots of vegan goodies that I am working on blogging about in my cooking blog as well. Currently, there is an excellent smelling roast in my crockpot which is perfect for a day with a sick kid.

I’m grateful for…

I'm grateful for my healthy family.

I’m praying for…

I am praying for my friend's sick baby. Her daughter has been transfered to a hospital in a larger city where I am hoping that the doctors can figure out what is going on with her daughter. I am praying for my mom to a new job as a public school teacher. She went on two interviews this week, so I am hopeful that she will get a new job.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Our vegan Halloween party!

Mothers Homeschool Journal 10/30/11 - 10/14/11

In my life this week…

We have had a busy past two weeks. I have been working on canning apples and grapes. We are finished with the grapes now, but we will still have some more apples to can. I am looking forward to a break.
In our homeschool this week…

We have had a busy two weeks. Last week we went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch with our homeschool group. The corn maze was huge with intricate patterns of a pumpkin, owl, witch, and other designs. The pumpkin patch was also very large. We were allowed to take home a medium sized pumpkin (I love living in area where pumpkins grow abundantly.) This week I organized an event in our homeschooling group to go on a hike along a river. I made a last minute decision to put together this event because we had an Indian summer at the beginning of the week which was fabulous. A lot more people showed up than I previously thought would show up.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Go outside as often as you can. Good weather does not last forever, so you want to enjoy it while it is here.

I am inspired by…

I am inspired by the leaves changing color outside. I have finally got into the fall spirit. I finally stopped lusting after the summer that has passed, and I am now fully enjoying the fall that is here. I am a summer baby, and I have never lived somewhere summer is so short, so I find myself feeling like summer never go started around here. I am slowly learning to adapt to my environment. I am focused on schooling the kids, wrapping up canning, and throwing our homeschool Halloween party.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We visited the corn maze and a park along the river. I think it has been for our kids to see some of the same kids over and over again. We were supposed to go to another pumpkin patch yesterday, but the event got cancelled due to rain.

My favorite thing this week was…

Dr. Lazy Palate and I were discussing what to get the kids for Christmas. I mentioned that I wanted to get Little BBQ a keyboard because he has been taking in interest in piano, but I did not think that we would be able to fit a piano into our budget. Coincidently, Dr. Lazy Palate and I were looking at dressers on Craigslist to try and modify for Miss Bubbles to turn into a doll house when we found a good condition organ on Craigslist for free. We contacted the gentleman, and he even delivered the organ to our house. The organ came with a bench, a light, and all the manuals. We plan to surprise Little BBQ with the organ for his birthday. It is amazing how life just works out sometimes.

What’s working/not working for us…

Little BBQ finally seems to be enjoying reading. He used to fight me when I mentioned sitting down and reading. Today he sat down with me to read three books including one longer book. I am very happy with his progress. With nonfiction he seems to be coming around there as well. He fought me on doing some activities based on a very short nonfiction book that he picked from the library. I wanted him to practice picking out facts out of a nonfiction book. I do the writing for him since he is a slow and messy writer, so I did not bog him down with handwriting, and he fought me. We ended up putting the activity down for a day. After discussing why he did not want to finish his school work with Dr. Lazy Palate, he told Dr. Lazy Palate that he did not like the book. I do not know what changed Little BBQ’s mind because the next day he reread the nonfiction book and picked out the facts for me write down. Then, he was upset when we returned the library book to the library. Sometimes it just takes time.

Questions/thoughts I have…

Please show me your best Halloween crafts, food, games, and decoartions!

Things I’m working on…

I finished canning grapes this week. We made Concord grape juice concentrate and grape jelly. Both are fantastic. I love grape juice. This just leaves apples to can for the season. I am switching my focus from canning to our homeschool Halloween party.

I’m reading…

I am still reading Chiles to Chocolate. I am almost finished with the book. I have been focused on so many other things that I have not had much time to read lately.

I’m cooking…

My cooking group this month made mu-hsu pork, Chinese pancakes, and hoisin sauce which came out amazing. The hoisin sauce was the best hoisin sauce that I have ever tasted. The sauce had the perfect sweet and spicy combination. Plus, the sauce was super simple to make. I can see myself making the hoisin sauce again with stir fry for a fast meal. I also made ground cherry pie filling from our ground cherries in the garden. The ground cherries taste like pineapple, and they are very easy to grow in the garden. They were Miss Bubble’s favorite thing that we grew in the garden this year. I also made a fruit kimchi which was spicy and excellent. I like the spicy fruit kimchi for breakfast. Lastly, I made a moussaka or Greek lasagna from garden produce for the freezer, so I can have some easy nights of cooking.

I’m grateful for…

I am grateful that I live somewhere with fall foliage.

Mothers Homeschool Journal 9/16/2011 - 9/30/2011

In my life this week…

In the past two weeks we have finally fallen into a homeschool groove. Little BBQ has been taking initiative to start some of his school work on his own, and he has chosen to do more educational things during his free time which is a really nice change from my constant nagging and worrying that I am doing enough with Little BBQ.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been doing lots of reading and math because it has been raining outside. Little BBQ will finally sit through books and make predictions about what is going to happen next. I am excited to see his reading comprehension grow. He asked to take a break from addition problems to learn subtraction. I was surprised when I showed him to subtract that he was able to do it correctly with bean counters after me showing him just one time. He now takes out his addition and subtraction flash cards and works out the problems by himself out loud. I can hear that he is getting the answers correct. I am pleased with his progress.

I am inspired by…

I have been really inspired by all the wonderful things that I see in pinterest. I have been saving ideas, photographs, and articles on topics that we are covering now and topics that we will cover in the future in our homeschool. I have also found lots more books that I want to read. I also found a fairy costume that looks fairly easy to make for Little BBQ's halloween costume this year.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to visit our friend’s farm this week to help them install some math and language software on their computers. Last week we went to the park with our homeschooling group. It was nice to get outside on one of the few nice days that we have had. I have also enjoyed seeing Little BBQ grow socially. He used to be socially awkward and have trouble making friends, but lately something just clicked with him socially. He has no problems walking up to other kids and asking them if they want to play.

My favorite thing this week was…

I enjoyed getting out of the house last week to have dinner with a friend. It was nice to get away and be an adult for a few hours. I am also looking forward to working on Little BBQ’s Halloween costume tonight with my craft group that meets about once a month. Little BBQ wants to a yellow and orange fairy while Miss Bubbles wants to a pink dinosaur.

What’s working/not working for us…

Little BBQ seems to be resisting listening to music right now. I am not sure what to do about it. He requested piano music from the library last week, but now he refuses to listen to the CD. I have tried to put the music on in the background while doing other activities, but he does not want to listen to that CD. The only music he wants to listen to right now is pure moods.

Things I’m working on…

I am working on Little BBQ’s Halloween costume. I enjoy making the kids costumes. I am also in the process of compiling a list of the DIY projects that I want to complete before Christmas. So far on my list is to make more felt board pieces, decorating some cloth bags to use as grift wrap for Christmas, and to make a dress up center for the kids.

I’m reading…

Chilis to Chocolate: Food the America’s Gave Us edited by Nelson Foster and Linda S. Cordell. The book is a series of essays on native food from America. I stumbled upon the book at our local library which was a coincidence because Little BBQ had told me that he wants to grow his own garden next year. I wanted to do something that lined up with our homeschool studies, so I was considering having him grow a Native American garden next year. This book has been a lot of fun to read about the different foods grown here in America and how the foods have changed over time. For example, amaranth used to grow only 1-2 feet high, but now the stalks grow 6-8 feet high!

I’m cooking…

I am always cooking lots of things during this time of year. Last weekend we smoked a brisket on the grill and we made the leftovers into chili which I am going to enter into a virtual chili contest. I have also been canning a lot. This week I canned plum sauce, plum butter, watermelon jam, canned whole tomatoes, and apple pear butter. Canning season is winding down after apples, and I am looking forward to a break.

I’m grateful for…

I am grateful for all the wonderful produce that we were able to can this year. This winter will be a real treat with all of our fun canned foods that we made.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I have started using homeschool skedtrack to document our homeschooling. I like that the program is free on-line and very easy to use. I have been documenting our homeschool on pen and paper, but I also like knowing that our records are also in another location if something ever happens to our house.

I have also been inspired by seasonal bucket lists, so I decided to make my own. I love fall.

Mothers Homeschool Journal 9/16/2011

In my life this week…

Wow it has been a very busy few weeks. We spent a day in Indianapolis. We went to the Scottish Rite Cathedral which has beautiful architecture and stained glass. We also went back to the Conservatory. We took a very short vacation to Michigan a few weeks ago. We have now seen Lake Michigan from the Illinois side, the Indiana side, and the Michigan side. We like the Michigan side the best. I climbed another sand dune while Dr. Lazy Palate and Miss Bubbles only made it about 25% of the way up. Little BBQ did eventually climb up the sand dune to watch the sunset with me, but in reality he was more excited to roll down the sand dune. Other than our short vacation our life has been filled with lots of canning. We have been canning peaches and tomatoes. Today we get 3 bushels of apples from a local orchard, so we will be canning tomatoes and apples next week. We are also making chili all week next week for freezer meals. We will be making several different variety of chili to give us some easy freezer meals.

In our homeschool this week…

Our homeschooling group has been revived after a turnaround in the leaders in the group. Everyone seemed enthusiastic, so I hope this enthusiasm continues and field trips actually get planned and executed. I would like to do more as a group. I also hope that some younger kids join the group so Little BBQ has some more kids closer to his age since all the young kids have moved away.

I am inspired by…

I have found Pinterest really inspiring. I like searching for topics that I plan to teach Little BBQ for ideas on activities that we can do since he is very hands on.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week we stayed close to home. Tonight we will be going to an open gym at a gymnastics center which is one of our favorite activities.

My favorite thing this week was…

It has been a long few weeks. Last week Miss Bubbles was sick. This week Little BBQ and Dr. Lazy Palate were sick. This has left me running myself ragged trying to keep up with everything. My house is a mess right now. So far my favorite thing this week was harvesting a bunch tomatoes, peppers, okra, and ground cherries out of the garden. I always enjoy working out in the garden outside. Too bad it rained a lot this week, so I did not get to work out in my garden as much as I would have liked.

Things I’m working on…

I have been working on the kid’s felt board. I have made several pieces. The kids seem to love the felt board. Miss Bubbles has used the felt board to learn a lot of different farm animals so everything is not a puppy any more. Little BBQ has finally started using the felt board to tell stories which is why I made the felt board. Now I have Little BBQ begging me to make more pieces.

I’m reading…

I read Intelligence and How to Get It by Richard E. Nisbett which was a great book to read. The book goes into a lot of detail on how we school and things that we do at home can affect intelligence. This book is perfect for a lay person. Nisbett uses a wonderful critical eye to examine the studies in the field and does his best to give a nonbiased report on the latest research. I also read Quirkology by Richard Wiseman, PhD which I really enjoyed. The book covers the psychology of quirky things in life like how to detect a lie, how to tell if someone is really smiling or not, and how superstition affects our society. I am currently reading 1491 by Charles Mann. This book is an alternative history on how Native Americans lived before the arrival of Columbus. The book really resonates well with me. He argues that Native Americans were not merely submissive characters in mother nature’s story but instead they alterned the land and became the master of their own destiny. He argues that the population of the Native Americans was much higher than historians originally thought. He argues that Native Americans routinely practiced controlled burning to keep their land fertile and they planted trees. It seems that their society was a lot more complex than we originally thought.

I’m cooking…

I have been canning tomato soup, ketchup, peach BBQ sauce, tomato consommé, peach sauce, peach pie filling, sugar free peach jam, pizza sauce, and tomato sauce.

I’m grateful for…

Everything.

Homeschool Mothers Journal June and Mid July

 In my life this week…

We have been busy this summer, so I have not updated in a while. We have been doing lots of gardening and lots of swimming since it has finally stopped raining here. Little BBQ has been jumping off the diving boards like a pro, and Miss Bubbles has been progressively getting better at swimming. She keeps trying to swim on her own, but she does not have the muscle mass yet to swim on her own. My garden has produced well. I harvested a bunch of carrots this week. My tomato plants are large, and I am waiting for my tomatoes to change color. I got my first three purple bell peppers this week. I am waiting for many more peppers to change color. This week Bushka (AKA grandma) came to visits, so we went to the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens in Indianapolis, IN. You can read about it here. It was an amazing trip.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been taking a break from schooling to enjoy summer. I have been busy planning for next year. We will be studying the 50 states, so I have been planning some hands on projects to keep Little BBQ interested.

I am inspired by…

Pinterest. I have found some many good ideas on that site. Send me an e-mail at nirvanaandlazy@gmail.com if you would like an invitation. I still have a few left.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We visited the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens in Indianapolis, IN.

My favorite thing this week was…

Swimming with Bushka and the kids. I enjoy summer. I love the heat and the sun. Swimming is one of my favorite activities.

Things I’m working on…

Canning. Lots of canning. I made glazed carrots, cherries in apple juice, blueberries in apple juice, blueberry butter, blueberry pie filling, cherry Danish sauce, cherry almond jam and cherry pie filling this week. You can follow my canning adventures here on my cooking blog.

I’m reading…

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser which is good, but I am not enjoying as much as I thought that I would. I just read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study by Howard Freeman and Leslie Martin which were both amazing, so I think Fast Food Nation is just having two tuff acts to follow.

I’m cooking…

Lots of different things. I made homemade ravioli, and tonight we are having a roast with rutabagas from the garden.

I’m grateful for…

I am grateful for Bushka coming to visit. I am grateful that everything in my life seems to be falling in place after a rough few years.

Mothers Homeschool Journal 5/27/11 ad 6/3/11

In my life this week…

Once again I will be covering two weeks. Last week I was so busy canning strawberries that I did not have a chance to update my blog. We have been doing a lot of things lately since the weather has finally started getting nicer. We visited Traders Point Creamery two weekends ago. We did the self guided tour and sampled some cheese and yogurt. You can read more about that adventure in my blog post about the field trip. We also picked strawberries last week. I am so excited for strawberry season. I love the ruby red fruit that welcomes summer weather. I took Miss Bubbles to a free art festival in our town to see some excellent works of art. Our town pool opened, so we have been enjoying going to the pool. Little BBQ has been going off the diving board. My garden has been very productive over the past few weeks. I have harvest lots of greens. I have also been canning like crazy. So far I have pressure canned pork broth, beef broth, and asparagus. I have boiling water canned strawberry syrup, strawberry rhubarb jam, strawberries in red wine, chocolate strawberry sauce, strawberry preserves, and strawberry BBQ sauce.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been working on adding double digit numbers and reading. I am so excited that Dr. Lazy Palate has come on board with reading to Little BBQ. I think Little BBQ loves when dad reads to him. We have also signed our entire family up for the summer reading program at the library. Our library even has an adult program which I think is so cool.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We have been doing lots of traveling around these past two weeks. We went to Traders Point Creamery, the art festival, the pool, and an orchard to pick strawberries.

My favorite thing this week was…

My favorite thing was taking the kids to the pool for the first time this season. It was really awesome to watch Little BBQ go off the diving board. Miss Bubbles also swam her heart out. She wants to swim independently, but she does not have the muscle strength yet, so I give her the bare minimum amount of support that she needs to maneuver herself in the water.

What’s working/not working for us…

Dad reading to Little BBQ is working really for us. It has doubled the amount of books that we can read in a day which is excellent.

Questions/thoughts I have…

I love summer!

Things I’m working on…

I am working on lots of canning projects. I am also working on making cheese. I have made paneer and whey ricotta this week. I am going to work on some goat cheese next.

Books I’m reading…

I finished The New Terrarium this week. It was a great read. I really enjoyed reading about plants that can grow in a terrarium. I think I am going to have Little BBQ make a terrarium this year as one of our science projects. I am also reading Liberty Defined by Ron Paul. I really like that Ron Paul is really transparent about his beliefs as a Congressman. He outlines his beliefs then he defends his beliefs. I really like that he is consistent. Consistent is something that I strive to be in my own beliefs.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Here are some links to artists that Miss Bubbles and I really enjoyed at the art festival.

Gary Love: landscape photography
Paul M. Jeselskis: pottery
Diane Overmyer: oil and pastel paintings

Homeschool Mother's Journal 5/20/2011

In my life this week…

This week was a nice slow week. Little BBQ seems to be maturing in some ways. He helped me clean up this week without screaming and yelling which was a nice change. He also put himself down for a nap one day this week which is also a nice change since he usually does anything he can to stay awake. I know he is getting tired when he starts begging for carbohydrates. I made some pork broth and pressure canned it for later. I have been buys collecting up recipes that we want to try for canning this year.  This year we will be pressure canning on top of boiling water canning so this opens up options for us like canned corn and peas. I am really hoping that the tomatoes in my garden do well so I can have lots of canned tomatoes. I got paranoid of tomato blight this week and put down more nonfat dry milk and egg shells around the tomatoes to prevent tomato blight. I hear that tomato blight is really bad around here, so I want to try and prevent it if I can. My lettuce is growing like crazy. My European salad mix section looks like a fancy salad bar. One of my pea plants has its first flower on it, so that is exciting.  Little BBQ has also been building lots of houses which I really love seeing him being creative.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been doing lots of reading and working on our soroban abacus. Little BBQ seems to be more comfortable adding numbers up to 9 on the soroban, so next week we might try adding double digit numbers.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We didn’t go anywhere special this week except for the library which is always nice. We are very fortunate that the librarians are tolerant of Miss Bubbles running around the library sitting on all the big chairs while I get more books and Little listens to books on the computers. We also went to a garage sale today. For $13 we got Miss Bubbles some dresses in the next size up since she seems to be in a growth spurt. I was hoping to find her more outfits to sleep in, but we did not find any sleepers for her.

My favorite thing this week was…

My favorite thing this week was watching a movie with Dr. Lazy Palate last night. We haven’t had a lot of downtime together lately, so it was nice to just relax.

What’s working/not working for us…

I think we are finally falling into a rhythm that is working for us.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I am crossing my fingers that the warm weather stays.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

This is a random project that Little BBQ made for me. I allow him free access to art supplies, and he just randomly sat down and made this for me. I love when gets a random spurt of creativity.

Homeschool Mother's Journal #17

In my life this week…

We had a lot of fun. We had 2 fires outside which both kids loved. Little BBQ climbed his first tree. We made pork broth to pressure can for later. I made gumbo for the first time with homemade sausage. I had my first garden harvest of some greens, and Miss Bubbles picked me some pretty flowers. Miss Bubbles is saying words like, “ball,” “more,” “thank you,” and “pizza.”

In our homeschool this week…

We made an abacus to learn addition. I love the visual method of an abacus. Little BBQ seems to be picking up counting with abacus quickly, so we are going to attempt addition with the abacus this week. We also found out that Little BBQ will be allowed to join the swim team this summer even though he is technically 6 months too young to join. He has been lap swimming since age 2 with me, so I am excited that he can finally practice with some kids closer to his age.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to Lake Michigan for mother’s day. It was wonderful. The beach was not too crowded yet, and we climbed on top of some sand dunes. We ate an excellent Italian restaurant. The rest of the week we stayed close to home to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Today we went to the farmers market where we got purple asparagus for $3.00, apple mint for $1.00, bok choy for $2.00, green asparagus for $3.00, raw milk for $4.00, and chocolate milk for $8.00.

My favorite thing this week was…

Mother’s day! It was a fun day. My family had been itching to go to the beach since we used to go for the day in April before spring break when we lived on the east coast, but the Midwest does not have any salt water beaches, and April was cold. It would have been nice to be able to spend more time in the water, but it was still a blast and the bugs were not out in full force yet.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I am in full planning mode for next year. We are taking a tour of the United States! We will be studying each state in depth. Since Little BBQ wants to be a chef, we will be making a recipe from each state that will be showcased on my cooking blog. I would like to know, is there anything unique that your state is known for or any unique recipes?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The flowers Miss Bubbles picked for me.

Homeschool Mother's Journal #15 & 16

I did not write up a review of last week, so this week I am going to include a reflection of this week and last week.

In my life this week…


Last week was spent recovering from Dr. Lazy Palate's overseas trip where he came back sick. We got to visit some friend's on their farm. The boys got to play together, and I picked up a half a pig. Over the weekend we decided to take a trip to Indianapolis to have some good quality family time. We visited the Indiana Medical History Museum which was a lot of fun. The museum turned out to be a hidden gem; I would recommend that anyone visit this museum.

The boys on the farm

This week, one of our vehicles had "catastrophic brake failure." These are not words that you want to hear your mechanic utter under any circumstances. The brakes failed while Dr. Lazy Palate was driving to work. Thankfully, he was able to get the vehicle to a repair place without hitting anything or breaking any traffic laws. The even better news is that the cost to completely replace the breaks was less than we had anticipated, so that was a sigh of relief on all fronts. At home the kids and I worked on expanding the garden to plant 12 tomato plants. I still need to further expand the garden to hold another 6 tomato plants and 6 bell pepper plants.

In our homeschool this week…

We have been focusing on reading and playing outside whenever possible. We have been digging for earth worms and making observations. We have been painting with pine needles and letting Miss Bubbles have her first painting experience. I have been research methods for teaching math. I have been making close observations about Little BBQ to understand how he learns, so I can prepare myself to teach him math.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to the our friend's farm and the Indiana Medical History Museum last week. This week we stayed close to home since we only had 1 vehicle. We did, however, find a beautiful blue robin's egg in our backyard which was an unexpected treat.

My favorite thing this week was…

My favorite thing last week was visiting the Indiana Medical History Museum. My favorite thing this week was painting with pine needles. I enjoyed watching Little BBQ explore using the unusual paintbrush.

What’s working/not working for us…

I think things are really tranquil in our lives right now which is great considering how stressful things could have turned out.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I am grateful that the week ended on a positive note.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I want to share a blog post from my friend. She is a very inspiring person. Her and her husband are building their own small house on their farm. I am impressed with her hard work, dedication, and ingenuity. She gives tips on how to frugally build your own house.

Homeschool Mother's Journal #14

In my life this week…

It was a very long week. Dr. Lazy Palate was out of country this week, so it has been just me and the kids. Two tornados touched down by our house this week, and a water pipe starting leaking all over our homeschooling room. I still have to clean up the house for Easter and work on cooking some food for Easter. We did lots of Easter projects this week which was a lot of fun. Our trip to pick up a half a pig was cancelled because of Good Friday. The farmers market had a special pre-Easter market today. We got celery for $2, green onions for $2, garlic onions for free, 5 lbs of honey for $18, and two cookies for the kids. It was a lovely day with lots of sun shining. My garden is coming along. The second set of snap peas has come up along with the Swiss chard.

In our homeschool this week…

We started listening to a book on tape; we are listening to Anne of Green Gables.  I am trying to slowly work on Little BBQ’s listening attention span; so far it has not gone over too well. I am finding the story enchanting, but Little BBQ does not want to listen, so we are still on chapter 2. Little BBQ is reading to me The Giant Jelly Bean Jar by Marcie Aboff. All of the words in the book are at his reading level, but the book is long at 32 pages with lots of words per page, so it is taking him awhile to read the book to me. We also read Commotion in the Ocean and made a wall of sea creatures. Due to all the rain this week, we were unable to be outside as much as we would have liked. To compensate we did a lot of Easter crafts from egg shell art, cascarones, molded crayons, and shaving cream art. It was a lot of fun.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

On Wednesday we went and visited one of our friends whom also homeschool. Little BBQ lost his pocket watch at their house a while back and they found it so that was an unexpected treat. It was nice to talk to another homeschooling mom who has been doing this for many years what curriculum she enjoyed and which ones she would have passed on in retrospect. I also enjoy getting her perspective on things.

My favorite thing this week was…

I think our favorite thing this week was making the cascarones. This year was the first year that Little BBQ was actually into dying eggs. In the past, he did not get into the activity too much, so this was an unexpected pleasure. We are going to dye some hard boiled eggs tonight so Dr. Lazy Palate can be there share the experience, and we will read the Easter book that we checked out at the library.

What’s working/not working for us…

I am not sure if the book on tape is working for us. I do not know if Little BBQ has the maturity yet to listen to a book on tape. I have heard of other kids his age loving books on tape, but I think Little BBQ might be far too active for this activity. I am going to give it a little more time and see how he responds.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

Does your child enjoy books on tape? At what age did you child start to enjoy books on tape?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Homeschool Mother's Journal #13

In my life this week…

A lot of cool things happened this week. Little BBQ can finally catch a ball! It is amazing that do an adult catching a ball seems so easy, but to a child catching a ball takes a lot of coordination. Miss Bubbles was able to sit on a picnic bench without assistance and eat her entire meal.  I think that is a great accomplishment for 15 months. Miss Bubbles also went underwater by herself for the first time at the poor. She was standing on the stairs and just dunked her whole head in the water. She did not panic and came up for air when she was ready. Our first set of peas is growing; they are now about 3 inches tall. There are tons of dandelions everywhere so we have been incorporating them into our art projects of the week. Our neighbor’s tulips are starting to bloom just in time for Easter. I finished reading, The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet which was a good fast read and perfect for a middle school student interested in space. You can read my full review here.

In our homeschool this week…

We spent a lot of time outside. We looked for earthworms after a rain one day. We picked tons of dandelions. We crushed egg shells to put in our garden to add some calcium to the soil. We went to the library and got more books. We went to see a reproduction woodland Indian settlement which was a lot of fun. You can read about our adventure here.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We went to the park one night and had a picnic at the park. It was a lot of fun and this is where Miss Bubbles sat on the bench by herself unassisted and ate her entire dinner. We also visited the Woodland Indian settlement.

My favorite thing this week was…

We made some Easter marshmallows this week which was so much fun. My original idea was to make Peeps® but it turns out that I was not coordinated enough to make Peeps®. Instead I traced cookie cutters on a piece of paper and put the tracing under a sheet of wax paper so I could make Easter shapes. Little BBQ made the number 16 with his marshmallow goo. It was a fun project. You can read about it here.

What’s working/not working for us…

Being outside a lot is working for us. It is amazing to watch Little BBQ and Miss Bubble’s gross motor skills improve so much.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I really enjoy homeschooling; I really enjoying being the one to teach my children.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

A photo of Little BBQ's "16" written in marshmallows with some chocolate on top.

  

Homeschool Mother's Journal #12

In my life this week…

It was a fun week, but I wish we had a little better weather. Wednesday was beautiful and we spent the day outside in the garden, but it was cold or rainy every other day this week. This week we built a new garden plot and planted carrots (5 types), rutabaga, peas (4 types), mixed greens, Asian greens, swiss chard, and spinach. I am anxiously waiting for my plants to grow. I finished reading, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs.  The book was a quick read. It was all right. I did not know what I was expecting, so I went into it with an open mind. The quest was a little odd. I guess I failed to see how spiritual enlightenment could occur just by following a series of outdate rituals.    

In our homeschool this week…

We made a zither which is a musical instrument. It was a fun little project for Little BBQ. We also learned about diffusion with Chinese Tea Eggs which was a lot of fun. We took our time and smelled every ingredient before we put it into the pot. We watched as the mixture heated up and bubbles started to form. We watched the egg transform from all white to pale brown and then dark brown. Then we got a great tasting treat in the end. We also started reading You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You which breaks Aesop’s fables into two speaking voices. I take one voice and Little BBQ takes the other. Little BBQ has been struggling with lying this week. He lied to us about taking pretzels into the living room (we do not allow food outside of the kitchen) and one of Aesop’s fables is about the boy who cried wolf. Little BBQ does not seem to understand what is wrong with lying. He knows that he will get in trouble for taking the pretzels in the living room, so he just tells us that it wasn’t him. Thankfully, he isn’t trying to blame someone else or his little sister for taking the pretzels into the living room.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We stayed close to home this week. We enjoyed every second we could outside. Little BBQ got to play with the neighbor girl, and Miss Bubbles crashed in on our neighbor’s bon fire. It was a good week.

My favorite thing this week was…

I really enjoyed making and planting our garden, but I also really enjoyed making the Chinese tea eggs. I cannot decide which item I enjoyed more.

What’s working/not working for us…

Hands on projects are working well for us. Little BBQ enjoys doing projects, and I enjoy the bonding time that I get with him from helping him make projects.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

I really enjoy homeschooling. I am in the midst of researching math curriculum. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am currently leaning towards the Singapore curriculum.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Here is a photo of our Chinese tea eggs which we a blast to make.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 11

In my life this week...

Well it was not a great week for us. On Tuesday, we tried to go to the local art museum only to find out that it is closed this week because they are changing out exhibits. Then, Little BBQ got the stomach flu, and then I got the stomach flu. It has not been a fun week.

In our homeschool this week...

We did not get a lot of schooling done this week due to all the illness. Since Little BBQ is young, I am the one driving the schooling forward, so if I am not healthy, then little to no schooling gets done.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We tried to go to the art museum this week, but it did not happen. We will attempt this field trip next week or the week after.

My favorite thing this week was...

My favorite thing this week was the Hawaiian kabobs that we had on the grill. We had sirloin steak, pineapple, bell pepper, onion, and potatoes on the kabobs. They were really tasty, and I love being able to cook outside on the grill. I look forward to more grilling weather this summer.

What's working/not working for us...

I have found that reading a new book to Little BBQ first, then having him reading it back to me works really well. When I read out loud to him, I read above his reading level, so it can be challenging for him to read back to me, but so far he is doing well with it.

As a follow up from last week, we have also made a new rule in our house that Little BBQ can only play wii on weekends and that is working really for us. He has stopped asking to play wii all the time making my day a lot easier.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

I finished reading The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. I enjoyed reading the book, and I have lots of thoughts on the book that can be seen on my blog post about the book since it is really long.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

I did some writing again for the Associated Press. I wrote:

1.       the best cooking blogs that are you are not reading (really you should check out these awesome blogs)

2.       items our family keeps in our emergency preparedness kit

3.       five ways to throw an ecofriendly birthday party on a budget

And a photo of a pretty building in our town:

Also posted on the Weekly Wrap Up.

Homeschool Mother's Journal #10

In my life this week...

My life this week was nice and slow. We had some nice weather at the beginning of the week, so we played outside a lot. We planted our herbs in recycled containers this week. We got the breaks on our car replaced this week.  The house is messier than normal, and it is driving me nuts. I need to clean it up.  I started readingThe Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. So far I am enjoying the book. I like reading about how different families school their children. I don’t think that their plan as written will work for our family because I disagree with the order of her high school science education, but I am still getting some good ideas.

In our homeschool this week...

Little BBQ has really been enjoying reading. He is asking to read more books which makes me happy.  His attention span is growing by leaps and bounds. Little BBQ could barely sit through one book back in January. Tonight he sat through 5 books.  He was really into the Curious George series. George’s mischievousness reminds me a lot of Little BBQ.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We visited some friends this week who also homeschool. It was nice to let our sons play together. They played really well together. There was a lot of banter back and forth along with some role playing on both sides.

My favorite thing this week was...

My favorite thing this week was planting the herbs with Little BBQ this week. He diligently filled each container up with dirt and diligently put seeds into each container. It was really cute. Then he wanted the herbs to grow NOW so he got a fake flower and put it in one of the containers. I really appreciated the effort.

What's working/not working for us...

Little BBQ can not handle playing the Wii for even short periods of time. He gets too temperamental over the sword playing game. He has to win. He gets upset if he does not win. I took away the wii for the whole week. Since taking away the wii he has been behaving much better. We are still struggling to find a way to let him enjoy the wii in moderation. We have thought about letting him play the wii only on weekends. It seems even if the wii is around, then he just begs to play it all the time. When the wii is hidden, then he doesn’t ask about making my life much more pleasant with him.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Does anyone else struggle with wii playing? How do you regulate playing time? How do you help you child cope with losing?

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

I have been doing some writing for Yahoo. I wrote several articles this week including one on noncandy inexpensive Easter egg fillers, another how to throw a graduation party on a budget, and ten weird things to do in Austin, Texas.