Andrew

Andrew turned 3 today. He is an amazingly energetic, constantly talking, full of energy little boy. If you are a friend on Facebook, you've read about the numerous "Andrew Antics." Thankfully the antics have slowed considerably, so I'm hoping the next year will be a little calmer. Andrew definitely keeps me on my toes, but oh, how I love that little guy.

School projects

Last week we completed our first unit of history which included a multi-week study of WWI. Emily created a display board on WWI which included informative articles, poetry, maps and even a love letter from a wife to her soldier on the front line.

Hayley completed a lapbook on various WWI era topics provided by Tapestry of Grace (our history curriculum).

Luke and Will made a salt dough map of the European countries at the beginning of WWI.

Continuing a Tradition

While growing up my mom, and sometimes my aunts, would make a Brunswick stew every year. This was done outside in a large pot over a fire. Stew days hold wonderful memories for me. I remember my grandmothers standing at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes, my Aunt Jean doing her "witch's laugh" while stirring the pot, being reminded MANY times not to let it stick while I was stirring, all of my nearby relatives coming to eat lunch when the stew was ready and my grandmother's apple pie being served for dessert.

My mom and I have made several stews since I've been married, but this year she and my dad came to my house to help me make one. It was today's homeschool lesson.

Here's the recipe we used. It was created by 2 of my dad's sisters. There are probably as many different variations on Brunswick stew as there are people who make it. We used a 10 gallon pot, but you could reduce the recipe and make it on the stove.

10 lbs peeled and diced potatoes

5lbs dried baby lima beans

4 qt chicken broth (may need more)

3 gal tomatoes

5 large onions

8-10 pints corn

1-1 1/2 c. sugar (add 1/2 of this and then more to taste)

1 c. salt (add 1/2 of this and then more to taste)

10 lb cooked beef

10 lb cooked chicken (I use 20lbs of chicken and no beef)

4lbs margarine (I used 3lbs)
3 pods red pepper
black pepper to taste

Put beans in soak the night before. Next morning pour off the water and put beans in the pot. Cover with water and cook until soft. Add onions, potatoes and enough chicken broth to cover. Cook until potatoes are soft.

Add tomatoes. (We use tomatoes that my mom cans. We run them through the blender first.) Add remaining ingredients. Add additional tomatoes or broth to taste and to get desired consistency.

WWI

We are studying WWI in history. In keeping with my desire to make school a little more "fun" this year, I bought WWI army men for my boys. I found American and German soldiers in Hobby Lobby recently. The boys have really enjoyed them. They are looking forward to taking them with us to the beach next week.

Birds of a Feather

This year in science Hayley, Luke, Will and I are studying Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Apologia divides zoology into 3 years and introduces animals in the order of God's creation. This year we will be studying birds, bats and insects.

In order to study birds, we needed to be able to see birds. We have set up several bird feeding areas in our yard. We hung a thistle feeder to attract goldfinches. We used an empty soda bottle to make a feeder filled with sunflower seeds. To attract insect-loving birds, we made suet. We mixed together oatmeal, peanut butter, lard, cornmeal, sugar, raisins and birdseed.

Next we placed the suet in zip top bags and then in the freezer to harden. Once the suet was hard, we removed one block from a bag and placed it into our suet feeder. The suet is now hanging in our backyard. It took about a week for any birds to find it, but we have had several visitors this week.

Before we began this study, birds in our yard didn't receive much notice. Now as soon as someone spots a bird whatever else we are doing stops, the kids grab the binoculars and the guide book and start trying to make an identification. So far we've seen a Blue Jay, male and female Cardinals, Song Sparrow, Eastern Wood-Pewee, lots of Mourning Doves, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Mockingbird, Robin, Wood Thrush and the Carolina Chickadee.

A New Year...A New Resolution

No, it's not January and even if it was, I wouldn't be making a New Year's resolution. We are into our 5th week of the school year. So far things are going fairly well. This year we have a 9th, 7th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd and Pre-K student. Andrew (2.5) has a different playmate every 30 minutes to help keep him out of trouble and Daniel (16 mo.) naps through the majority of our school time. I've probably got about another month of relatively smooth days until Daniel gives up his morning nap. Once he does that, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm praying now that the Lord will give me wisdom for handling that new "wrinkle." (By "smooth" I don't mean perfect, I mean Andrew only interrupted 5 times as opposed to 20, no one has "lost" their reading book, I have all the supplies for the science experiment and Luke and Will aren't wrestling in the floor as opposed to doing their math!)


My resolution for this year is to make school more "fun." When I taught public school my students didn't use a textbook and at least 1/3 of my lessons were hands-on. When I first started teaching my own children, we did a lot of hands-on projects. As our family/school grew those types of activities began to fall by the wayside. Somewhere I became more concerned with "getting school done" than with making learning come to life. Now I don't think everything a kid does needs to be fun. Not all of life is fun. It happens to be a lot of work, and school is a place where kids should learn to be diligent. However, that doesn't mean we don't need to mix in fun projects along with memorizing multiplication facts and writing reports.


I think a lot of my hesitation about doing projects/activities is related to my "Yes Mom" post below. I don't like messes. I don't like being inconvenienced. I don't like getting side-tracked and not accomplishing my "to-do" list for the day. Notice a pattern? All of my excuses are about me, me, me. Christ asks us to die to self and serve others. This year I'm going to try to die to my own selfish desires and do the things that I know will help my kids have wonderful memories.



So quiet down textbooks, spelling tests go to sleep
I'm making memories with my kids...memories they will keep.

Being a "Yes" Mom

My friend, Kimberly, at Raising Olives wrote an excellent post on being a "yes mom."My kids would definitely call me a "no mom." I admit I am guilty of often saying no, because I don't want to be inconvenienced or deal with the mess. Kimberly gives 2 questions she always asks herself before giving an answer. I am trying to make changes in this area and have adopted her questions.

1)Is there a real reason to say no? (dangerous/destructive)

2)Are they supposed to be doing something else? (schoolwork/chores)


If they answer to both of these is "no", then I am trying to say "yes." Tonight I let my kids go out and play in the rain. Some might wonder, "What's the big deal?" For me, it was a huge step. They had fun and I enjoyed watching them have fun. Maybe next time I'll take an even bigger step... and join them!