the real life home

This blog has moved

2009-05-12T14:35:00.003-04:00

Dear Readers,
I am unable to get tech support for the 'comments' issue I am having and I don't know what to do.

Please visit me at my new blog home.

I am in the process of getting all the old posts to the new place. Please update your bookmarks/blog reader/links. :)

See you there!
Christine

Defining Real Food

2009-05-12T07:36:00.003-04:00

Photo courtesy of Esteban Cavrico

I don't really trust anyone in the "food" industry to tell me what is and isn't a real food. They are constantly changing what they say is healthy and important to eat. While I find the idea of 'superfoods' very annoying and trendy, I do think they are an improvement over the idea that we can somehow make up for an unhealthy diet by taking artificial supplements. If we truly cannot get what we need to live from our foods then something is terribly wrong with our food supply.

And, I think that is definitely the case. However, that is not what I wanted to talk about today.

Like you, I live in the real world, too. I don't have a two acre, bio-dynamic organic garden from which I can pick everything we eat. I don't have a farm that houses a small number of harmonious animals living out a life of country bliss until the day that their lives are ended (in a humane way) so that our family can have meat we know comes from an animal who has been treated ethically. We don't milk our own cows, collect our own eggs or dry our own salt. I don't make cheese or have summer sausage curing in a shed somewhere.

But I could, if I really wanted to.

That is my definition of real food. Even if it is not prepared by me, I think real food is something I could make myself at home if I really wanted to. For example, I could skim cream off the top of a pail of milk and make whipped cream. I could not make the chemicals and do whatever it is they do to make 'whipped topping', however. (I also could not add all the preservatives and other weird ingredients they add to most creams, so I look for whipping cream that lists 'cream' as the only ingredient.) While I could skim the milk, I could not homogenize it. I also would not skim the milk, throw away the cream and drink the milk skimmed.

I could, if I really wanted to, slaughter a chicken, remove feathers and -- gulp -- the beak, feet and insides and roast the bird for dinner. I could not, however, make a typical chicken nugget. And, I would not slaughter our family's chicken, cut out the two breasts, bone and skin them and throw out the rest of the chicken!! I could churn butter. I could not make margarine. I could make lard. I could not make hydrogenated vegetable oil. I could pick, dry and roast coffee beans (cheers go up from my readers!). I could not make solvent to add to make the beans decaf. I could, however, perform the 'swiss water process', if I really wanted to.

I think it is particularly important to keep these ideas in mind when you are shopping at a natural foods store. I love our local natural foods store and my natural foods buying co-op. However, they do contain lots of factory-made foods. Yes, I could make whole grain pasta and cheese sauce with whole ingredients. No, I could not make whole foods into powdered cheese sauce. Just because something started out with quinoa or organic navy beans does not mean it goes into your body in a whole foods form. It is easy to spend a whole lot of money on foods that, while slightly better than their grocery store counterparts, are really of low nutritional value.

I don't always follow my own philosophy perfectly and I don't always know how everything is made, so I can't always say if I could do it myself at home or not. I just try to keep my philosophy in mind when I shop and do what I can. I don't stress the rest.

Comment Problem

2009-05-11T12:17:00.002-04:00

Hi Readers,
I am currently having trouble - AGAIN - with the comments on my blog. I think that you can post comments, but I am unable to answer them! I am currently trying to get Google to fix this, as I believe it is a glitch on their part. Hopefully, I will receive an answer/fix soon and I can answer the questions/comments some of you have submitted on recent posts. I'll get to it as soon as I can.
Christine

This week's Parents' Review article: Hero Worship

2009-05-11T09:06:00.002-04:00

For our Mommy-brain sharpening this week, we will be reading together the article, Hero Worship from the archives of the Parents' Review. Comments will be posted on Thursday. I hope you will join along in the reading and post your thoughts. I really enjoy this topic.

Christine

Thank You Socks

2009-05-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

Sheri's Posies Socks, pattern by Wendy Johnson

My dear friend, Irene, has driven my oldest daughter to and from her homeschool high-school co-op once a week for this entire year. It is about an hour away, so it would be a huge effort for me to work this out on my own. However, the co-op is fantastic and we really wanted dd to participate. Irene drives her own daughter (and her daughter now drives sometimes, too) and my dd, waits around the whole day and then drives the girls home. Sigh. I could never repay this kindness to Irene, so I am just tucking away this and all of the other generous things people in my life do for me. One day, I will bless other homeschooling moms with lots of little ones at home who cannot do all of the things they would like to do for their older children.

I decided to show Irene my love and gratitude by knitting her a pair of socks. I used my very best sock yarn, Pagewood Farm's Alyeska Hand Dyed Sock Yarn, which is a cashmere blend. The pattern is 'Sheri's Posies Socks' from the book, Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. If you look closely, you can see the flower motif along the front of the socks. I thought this was like giving Irene a big boquet of flowers -- only better!

Flower Teaching

2009-05-07T08:20:00.006-04:00

Photo courtesy of p!o

This week, we are reading the Parents' Review article, Flower Teaching by Dorothea Beale. This article is a re-print of a collection of poems about Daisies, originally printed in the Cheltenham Ladies' College Magazine along with some introductory comments about the importance of encouraging a love of flowers in our children. I must admit that a lot of the article was a stretch for me to understand. However, I did take away a few nuggets.

According to Mrs. Beale, it is important that a "love of flowers should be fostered in all" because:

It develops a love of the beautiful
It fine-tunes observation skills
It develops the sense of order as the child observes the patterns of leaves and petals and learns to classify flowers

The author tells of a favourite activity of the Division III students. ( I am wondering what age this is, since the age groups are generally referred to by 'Class'. Do any readers know to what age 'Division III' refers? Of course, it doesn't matter a whole lot to homeschoolers.) Each child contributes a large page about his/her chosen flower. The article doesn't say whether the plant is pressed or painted, but the parts are all labelled. The child also chooses a poem about the flower and copies it onto the page. The sheets are then bound together so that the class has a lovely book to look at, to which each child has contributed. In the family setting, of course, unless you have a gigantic number of children, it would probably be nicer to have each child contribute several flower pages over the course of a couple of months. Otherwise, even for large families, the book would be pretty sparse! I think we will make this our spring/summer/early fall project. I like this idea because I think it is important to have some things that we do together as a family, co-operatively.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the spiritual aspects of the article. I wanted so badly to really grab hold of the similarities between flowers and our connection to our Lord, but I couldn't wrap my head around the ideas except for a very small preliminary understanding. I did really enjoy the story of the father and son, where the father shows the son that if he breaks the seed, there is nothing inside. Yet, that seed contains the entire essence of the Nyagrodha tree. Given the right growing conditions the seed will become just what it was destined to be.

Taking this further, there are so many factors that affect the way the tree turns out, the quality of the soil, the place where it was planted, the availability of water, and, of course, the nourishing and life-giving presence of the sun. All of these can determine life or death for the tree. Within that life, these factors will determine the strength of the tree to stand up to storms, to live a long life and to be fruitful. Nothing can change the tree from a Nyagrodha into another tree. That was determined by our Lord. How great a Nyagrodha tree it becomes, however, is affected by many things.

I love the parallels of this story to the lives of our little plants, our children. They are going to be the people God created them to be. They come with a destiny, a nature and a special purpose. We cannot change them into someone else anymore than we can change the seed of the Nyagrodha tree into a grape vine. This isn't our job, though. Our job is to help our little plants become strong so that they will be able to stand up to storms, to live a long life and to be fruitful. And, best of all, when they are strong, trees point straight to our wonderful, generous and loving Lord. :)

What did you take away from the article? Do you have very many flowers out where you live, yet?

Today I am thankful for...

2009-05-06T08:28:00.003-04:00

cupboard doors! We are doing some renovations right now, including the painting of my kitchen cabinet doors. My mom was wonderful enough to take home all the doors to paint in one -- well, two -- fell swoops. Baby guy thought this was an excellent and rare opportunity, as it gave him access to all kinds of goodies he doesn't normally have access to. The vinegars proved to be great fun, as did the dishwasher detergent, which was, sadly, moved before he had time to really enjoy it.

If my mom wanted to get a picture for her blog of me right inside this cupboard, she should have been quicker with the camera!

Unfortunately, for baby guy, my mom brought back a big stack of doors about an hour after I took this picture. I could never have open shelves in my kitchen. It is amazing what a difference it makes to the look of organization to have my stuff all covered with doors! Of course, there is also the issue of the six children. :)

Thank-you, Mom!!

Spring Cleaning Party!

2009-05-05T12:53:00.004-04:00

My friend, Monique, pointed me in the direction of Simple Mom who is hosting a Spring Cleaning Party. I am a day late in starting, but I think it shouldn't be too hard to catch up. We are super busy doing lots of painting and renovating at my home, so the mess is driving me crazy! I'm going to do what I can. If your home needs a Spring Cleaning, I hope you'll join me. If it doesn't need cleaning, maybe you can start a blog and give the rest of us some good tips!

This Week's Parents' Review Article: Flower-Teaching

2009-05-04T12:03:00.003-04:00

Photo Courtesy of Kinderash

I just love this time of year when each time I walk or drive around, I notice some new flower or green thing springing up. I thought it would be appropriateto sharpen our Mommy Brains this week by reading together the article Flower-Teaching by Dorothy Beale. We'll see you here on Thursday for a discussion.

Christine

Speaking of Great Parenting Advice

2009-05-02T07:00:00.003-04:00

If you can't see the whole ad, just click on it and it will open without cutting off at the side.

Family Bickerings

2009-04-30T20:07:00.003-04:00

This week, we are looking at the Parents' Review article entitled, "Family Bickerings" written by Leader Scott.

I don't know about you, but I was amazed the relevance of this article, written over 100 years ago, to the modern family -- at least it was very relevant to our family!

Scott is clear that bickering in the family leads to lost love and loosening of the family bond. While the quarrels of young children often centre around possessions or rights, if allowed to continue, they will simply become more sophisticated in adulthood. The 'heart issues' behind the quarrels will not go away as a child grows simply because he has gained in years.

The author points to moral training as the key. A few parents seem to know this is the case, but most don't. (I certainly didn't really think there was a whole lot I could do about it.) Scott says that a child's character contains everything necessary for the development of a host of good qualities, but depending on the training, each quality can become a virtue or it's opposite -- a vice. For example, "generosity may become either a Christian liberality, or a selfish wastefulness." (This reminds me of a family joke we have that puts a sarcastic 'positive' spin on greed. "Well, B, you were certainly very generous -- to yourself.") We make virtues grow by teaching a child to love others and vices by indulging the love of self.

According to Scott, family bickerings are caused by: 1. selfishness and 2. harsh judgment of others. He confirms my own experience the punishment in useless in changing bickering to harmony. Basically, he says indicates that virtues will only come forth with inspiration -- never by force.

A few practical points I enjoyed from the article:

Keep your cool when children bicker. Avoiding your own anger, explain that the children's unhappy feelings are the natural result of being unkind to others.
Inspire children with stories of goodness, of love and self-denial.
A terrific parenting book I read said that, 'You get more of what you focus on'. In essence, this is what the author of this article is saying, too. He says that it is much better to tell a child that they love their sibling and should, therefore, share the snack with them than to say they are being greedy and should go away. I don't think we should ever point out negative qualities to our children, but inspiration is usually positive and the idea that we love someone is much more likely to inspire us to generosity than the idea that we are greedy. I often remind our that our children are friends and friends need to be good to each other. (Yes! A parenting star for me!)
Offer children opportunities to practice sacrifice (but don't force acceptance) for a sibling. He gives the example of offering a child the opportunity to give up her 'turn' to go for a drive with mom in order to make a younger sibling happy. We are warned that the child will very often say, 'No' and we can simply respond by pointing out the happiness he has missed in giving a gift to another.
Have a strict policy of not allowing children to criticize each other at all. Scott says that this will stop over half of all bickerings.
Inspire your family with scriptures. There are a number of excellent ones in the article. Memorizing as a family ensures everyone is on the same page. I am going to add these ones into our regular memory rotation.

I found the author's approach to this subject very refreshing. I think, particularly, one idea that inspired me was that I don't have to constantly 'get to the bottom' of a quarrel. I can remember talking with a friend about this saying, "I just don't have the parenting skills to figure these things out -- to perform an inquisition each time there is a fight!" My friend, whose children generally get along quite well (certainly largely due to their excellent parenting) replied that she often just speaks to both children generally about treating others with love and respect. She asks them to think about whether they would like to be treated the way they had treated the other sibling.

Using family bickering as an opportunity to inspire our children to banish selfishness and cultivate generosity and self-sacrifice seems like the best possible character training 'program' in existence. Real life situations that arise in safe, family relationships are the perfect context. Good thing we have so many opportunities for character development here!

What were your thought about the article? Did you find some inspiring ideas for your family?

Whew. That was interesting.

2009-04-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Late Sunday afternoon, I was finally prepping my kitchen for a desperately needed paint job. I really dislike doing home renovations, so for me to get over the hurdle and begin a job like this involves a lot of effort. While I was busy wiping down walls with TSP, my three-year-old came into the house howling saying she had been hurt. Apparently, my 10-year-old son tied our wagon onto his bike and was pulling her around 'slowly'. (10yods and I have different definitions of 'slow'.) The wheel on the wagon buckled under, the wagon tipped and my daughter was flung out (of the slow-moving wagon).

I didn't like the way she was screaming and grabbing her neck. I am a non-worrier almost to a fault. Taking after my own dear mom, our kids have to practically have a limb fall off before I will take anyone to the doctor. However, when my child is screaming and grabbing her neck with no apparent injury on the outside, my mommy-antennae go up. We quickly decided she needed to go to the hospital. For a moment, I considered the fact that it is unwise to move someone with a neck or back injury, but decided we should go by car. However, our oldest daughter spoke out what I had been thinking, saying we should call an ambulance. She was right and I made the call.

The ambulance attendants were wonderful. Afterwards, my oldest daughter and I actually wondered if they send out specific people when they know there is a child hurt because they seemed to be so terrific with our little one.

While the attendants were checking her over, they became reassurred that there was no head or neck injury. However, as soon as they started to check her clavicle (collar bone), Steve and I both slapped our foreheads, "OH! Of course! The collarbone!" Our 5 year old daughter broke her collarbone when she was three and this daughter's behaviour was completely consistent with that injury.

We had a fun ride to the hospital in the ambulance. One attendant made our daughter a purple rooster by blowing up a glove and tying it off with medical tape. Upon arriving to the hospital, we were met by some lovely and reassuring nurses who were very sweet to our little injured girl. Shortly after, she saw the pediatrician who complimented her excellent verbal skills. "She is able to say just what is wrong, like an adult!" I think she is very articulate and speaks quite clearly, but I think what really makes a difference is that she is not shy. Any of our other children and the majority of three year olds will clam up when a stranger talks to them, particularly a male. However, our 3yo will just start chatting up a storm!

She was x-rayed and the break was confirmed. The doctor advised us that there was really no treatment necessary for a broken clavicle, but we could use a sling on her arm if that made her comfortable and give her pain meds. We were back home within 3 hours of her injury! (A medical miracle in itself.)

She had a pretty restful night, all things considered and required no pain medication after that first night. She is quite a little trooper, just going about her normal activities with her arm in a sling. She still has her hospital bracelet on. I'm not sure how I will get that off of her. I think she really likes it.

We'll see you tomorrow for a look at this week's Parents' Review article, "Family Bickerings".

This week's Parents' Review article: Family Bickerings

2009-04-28T07:21:00.005-04:00

In continuing our 'mommy brain sharpening', this week, we will be reading the article entitled, Family Bickerings by Leader Scott. I will post my thoughts on Thursday and I hope you will post yours, too.

A Proud Knitting Achievement

2009-04-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

I started knitting almost exactly two years ago. As I have said before, I hate relaxing. I find it very un-relaxing. Now, that doesn't mean I don't like to sit down. I just hate sitting there doing nothing. I am even wound up enough that during the first 24 hours after having a baby when the midwives force me to stay in bed and rest, I am dying to get up and at least go downstairs where all the action is! Knitting allows relaxing, for me, to be relaxing because I am being creative and productive while I am doing it.

Two years ago, I decided to learn to knit specifically so I could knit socks. Handknit socks are beautiful, useful and very portable. My purse almost always contains a small work-in-progress bag housing a pair of socks I am working on so that I can whip them out anytime I have a few minutes to fill. It makes unexpected waiting around very pleasant.

When I first started to learn to knit socks, I knit 'plain vanilla' (meaning just stockinette -- or for non-knitters, that means just straight knitting around and around) socks which were jazzed up by the use of self-striping sock yarn. Self-striping yarn changes colour all by itself giving the impression that you have done a whole lot of fancy colourwork. It is terrific for anyone, but particularly for beginners. Two years ago, I tried to learn everything I could about knitting socks. I used to look longingly at other people's complicated projects, sighing as I realized they were so far beyond me that I would probably never knit like that and would always just knit plain vanilla self-striping socks. I can remember, specifically, looking at several people's Twisted Flower socks such as these or these (this one is the designer's blog). I knew I would never be able to make them.

Well, guess what?! A few days ago, I finished up my very own pair of Twisted Flower Socks! And, after two years of knitting, I can honestly say they were a breeze. I didn't feel stressed out or even overly challenged while knitting them. I feel as if I have truly arrived in the sock knitting world. If you are a new knitter, I want to offer you a huge round of encouragement. It doesn't take long before you will be knitting things you never dreamed you could knit.

My very own Twisted Flower Socks

(For those who are interested, I knit these on 2.5mm needles, magic-loop, two-at-a-time, using KnitPicks Risata in the Dusk colourway. I really love the feel of the Risata yarn, which is a cotton/wool/elastic/nylon blend. It is very cushy feeling and my socks fit perfectly.)

Internet Addiction

2009-04-25T17:00:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy of ex_magician

I have been wanting to write a post on my own experiences with internet addiction, but I haven't been quite sure how to go about it. I am still not completely sure, but I am eager to write in the hopes that it might be helpful to another mom somewhere out there.

About three years ago, I started to become very concerned that I might be addicted to the internet. I was visiting a wonderful message board way, way too often. I would check in multiple times a day (and that is an understatement) and post frequently. I enjoyed the things I learned, but what I really loved was helping others. I was delighted to encourage a new mom or to be able to perk someone up when they were needing a 'friend'. I built a real community on the board I visited. The problem was that when I tried to read a book or make a meal or clean my home, I felt almost magnetically pulled back toward the computer. I couldn't seem to tear myself away. There were times I would log onto the message board and two hours would go by. After I logged off, I would actually have physical affects (panic-like symptoms) from being on the computer for so long. I prayed and prayed about whether or not I had a problem. Being fairly certain I did, I then prayed a lot about what to do. In the spring of 2007, God allowed our computer to crash so that we could no longer use the internet at home. We took our time having it fixed and I was gifted back a huge amount of time I had been missing from my life.

I suppose you could say that my addiction ended cold turkey. I had been unsuccessful at setting limits for myself in the past, so this was truly a huge relief for me. During the period our internet was not functional, I had a lot of time to think about why I would have become addicted to a message board. I believe that, for me, it was a matter of my need for community. Knowing why it was happening was a big part of being able to get past my addiction.

The internet is often used for forming community with others. This could be good in some circumstances, but I think for many more people -- definitely for me -- it is harmful. Using the internet to meet my needs for community meant a number of things were happening.

First of all, it took up time that I would otherwise be spending elsewhere, in all likelihood on something more worthwhile. I found that my internet time was coming from keeping my home tidy, parenting my children, spending time with my husband and reading good books.

Second, when meeting my need for community on the internet, I found that I had less need (and time) to spend with my real-life friends. I have some fantastic real-life friends and I am very grateful that God led me to a place where I recognized what was going on before I seriously damaged my friendships.

Third, I believe my sense of reality was being skewed. This one is more difficult to explain. When a group of people participate in a message board/e-list on a particular topic, the group often does not mimic any group of people that could possibly exist in real-life. For example, let's say you participate on a message board for people who eat marshmallows for breakfast everyday. There could be 100 active participants on the list and tons of interesting off-shoot topics to read. If you spent enough time there it would start to feel a lot more 'normal' than it really is. Without anyone to say that eating marshmallows for breakfast was unhealthy or unwise, there are no checks and balances for the participants. Everyone there eats marshmallows for breakfast. It is very unlikely that your real-life friends would 'understand' your marshmallow philosophy (and your need to constantly shop on the community's Marshmallow For Sale or Trade board) so you would end up feeling less connected to your real-life friends and more connected to your internet 'friends'. I was just starting to feel this way when God graciously pulled the plug on my internet.

I am by nature an introvert. I am friendly and comfortable around people and love to spend time with friends. However, I am energized by quiet and solitude, whereas an extrovert is energized by being around lots of people. As much as I do enjoy being with people, I am a real homebody and often have to force myself out the door. It just feels like so much work to go out. As an introvert and a mom to many young children, it was extremely easy to meet my need to connect with others via the internet.

When I realized what was happening, I determined that I would avoid any kind of 'friendships' on the internet. I immediately stopped posting on the message board and decided I would no longer participate in any type of message board. Later on, I did find that I sometimes really needed some information or a question answered that was best done on a message board/e-list. Being broken of the constant habit of 'checking the computer', I can now use internet message boards on a minimal, non-relational level quite safely. However, I always keep my antenna way up for any signs that I might be getting too involved. I participate on a knitting board, but the second I find myself typing up posts encouraging someone in parenting, I feel a red flag go up and I stop typing and turn off the computer. There is no point offering parenting encouragement while allowing my own children to parent themselves.

Awhile ago, I came across a blog post entitled, "I was a better mother before the internet". It was very helpful in inspiring me to reach for something better than being a mom who spends hours and hours on the computer everyday 'learning' about parenting and homemaking. I love my family, as all of you do, and I want to do my best to fulfill the wonderful calling God has given me in caring for them. The article helped me to ask myself the question, "Is this particular use of the internet a help or a hindrance to my calling?" I find I can also be pulled away from my family if I start to invest too much time reading blogs. Obviously, I think blogs are terrific and I love to encourage others through my blog. At the same time, I think they can be a snare to us because they connect us to the writer in a way so that we feel as if the writer is our 'friend'. Too much of that and a mom can find herself hooked on the internet as I did two years ago.

I am praying today for everyone reading my blog. I really care about you and your families and I hope that if you are reading today my blog will be one that will be a help to you in your calling as a wife and mom. If it is a hindrance, I pray that you will be wise, turn off your computer and go and hug your sweet babies. :)

Parents as Inspirers

2009-04-24T20:57:00.004-04:00

We are keeping our Mommy Brains sharp by reading along some of the articles in the archives of The Parents Review. This week's article is entitled, "Parents as Inspirers" by Charlotte Mason.

Charlotte Mason compares a child's destiny to virgin soil -- nothing has been sown in it. I like this idea because that soil has a capacity to grow beautiful, abundant fruit, to bear a thorny bush or, worst of all, to bear nothing. She points out that the first sowing is done either by the parents or by someone the parents choose.

Charlotte tells us that parents are to sow the mind's proper food - ideas - and, in fact, this is our only educational instrument. What does this mean, that ideas are the only educational tool we really have at our disposal? It means that a child will retain nothing his person does not have need of. The only things a person will truly retain and use are those things - good or bad - that have affected him in some meaningful way. And, really the only things that can do that are ideas.

She points out that if it were any other way, if children were empty containers to be filled with information, putting them into an educational system and depositing the same information for everyone, then everyone would end up being exactly the same. Rest assured, she reminds us, that there is no danger of this because God has taken care to craft each person with a unique personality that He will ensure is preserved to be used for his purposes.

I love the idea she sets forth that parents are 'inspirers' as opposed to 'modellers'. While Charlotte speaks seriously of the intense responsibility this entails, I actually find it very freeing. A 'model' is something that is directly copied. It must be perfect since the 'copies' can be nothing more than the original. Any defects will be reproduced exactly, as will the positive features of the model. It will be exactly the same. An 'inspirer', however, is entirely different. Just like a stunning landscape may inspire a weaver to make a beautiful cloth of many shades of green or a painter to create a lovely piece of watercolour impression, a child living alongside his parents will be inspired by their character, their behaviour and their hearts to become the artwork God has created him to be. A child is never to be a direct reproduction his of parents, simply copying modelled behaviour. (Thank goodness!) A parent inspires one child in one way and another in a different way, despite the fact that the parent is the same person.

Charlotte reminds us that "To excite this appetency towards something -- towards things lovely, honest, and of good report, is the earliest and most important ministry of the educator." This reminds me of when our first son was about 5. We used to drink soy milk at that time and were out somewhere where my son was offered a glass of milk. He brought it to me, very displeased saying he couldn't drink it because it tasted awful. I tried it and it was perfectly fine. The problem was that after he was weaned from mommy's milk, the milk he knew tasted completely different than that which he was given in this place. Charlotte says that many times our children do not and, in fact, may never think specifically of the ideas we inspire in them, but "all his life long they excite that 'vague appetency towards something' out of which most of his actions spring." Our children will face all kinds of things in the world. What we are trying to do in our homes, is make sure their palettes have developped a taste for goodness so that when they encounter something wrong in the world, it will be uncomfortable to them even if they can't always identify exactly why.

We cannot set about to complete a simple course of study and teach these things one by one. Rather, a child is inspired by his parents, and I would add of course many others in his life, as he lives alongside them, watching their interactions with others, reading books presented to him, having conversations. This is why God tells parents, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Dueteronomy 6:6-7) We learn about things as we live, when we are ready to learn them.

The fact that, as parents, we have faults -- serious ones -- that we are sinners is not the point. No matter what we do, our children will also be sinners with faults. What I find so exciting is that, as inspirers, I need not be perfect. I need only to rest in my Heavenly Father's calling to be a humble servant. This is his desire for my children and the greatest thing I can inspire in them.

I'd love to hear your comments, whether or not you read the article.

Apologies for those looking to sharpen their Mommy Brains

2009-04-23T22:23:00.004-04:00

Something came up today and I wasn't able to put together a post about our current article. I expect to have this together for you tomorrow. I hope you will join me.

Also, I have prepared a post on Internet Addiction that will be added to my blog on Saturday. I hope it will be helpful to someone.

Lots of Love to you and your families,
Christine

Sharpening up the Mommy Brain

2009-04-20T14:52:00.006-04:00

You know...in high school and in college I was very articulate. I could use all kinds of adjectives, adverbs and beautiful phrases. I never forgot a noun and I certainly got the names of all my friends and siblings straight.

However, when Steve and I gave birth to our firstborn, I realized that at the tender age of 21, my brain seemed to be rapidly going downhill. What was wrong with me? Could it be the onset of early dementia? How come I seemed to be so suddenly...well...dull? Interestingly, scientists now agree that this is not a mom's imagination. Termed momnesia by one researcher, it appears stress, sleep deprivation and hormones are at the root of our declining mental agility.

You know what else I think is to blame? I think it also has to do with the particular kind of brain exercise a mom is often lacking. Before having children, I had more flexible time with far fewer interruptions. I would read lengthy and challenging works much more often. Nowdays, I am much more likely to skim through a parenting blog or a magazine article. These can be valuable, but are not sustaining for the brain by themselves. Often this type of reading contains mostly information whereas Charlotte Mason said that a brain's proper food is ideas.

Recently, a friend recommended a particular article from the archives of the Parents' Review at AmblesideOnline. I printed it off to read and found it quite challenging. The article, written over 100 years ago, was full of literary language that I don't read very often these days. On one hand, I felt inspired by the article and refreshed to be exercising my brain in a way I hadn't done in awhile. On the other hand, I found myself getting antsy and longing to put the article down and read a 'snippet' of something easy.

I did, however, persevere and was very pleased that I had worked to excavate some wonderful ideas I could digest over the next several days.

Beginning this week, I am hoping you will join me in a weekly 'Read-Along' of some of the articles from The Parents' Review. I will post a link to an article each Monday and will share my thoughts about the article each Thursday. I would love to have several of you share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section of the post on Thursdays. Sound good?

This week, we will read, "Parents as Inspirers" written by Charlotte Mason. If you would like to participate, I suggest printing the article and reading through with a pencil in hand to underline those things that stand out as you read. Check in on Thursday to read my thoughts on the article and to share your own. See you then -- I'm looking forward to it!

Making the Homeschool Conference Work for You

2009-04-14T12:26:00.005-04:00

This is fresh in my mind since I recently attended our local conference. I love the grassroots feel of hundreds of homeschoolers coming together to be encouraged and empowered. Now that I've been attending for about 10 years, I love it for different reasons. I need less of the 'how-to' type of information sessions and more of the inspiring sessions. I also love the opportunity to peruse the vendor tables, though these days I usually know exactly what I am looking for.

Because this my one 'professional development' day of the year, I like to make the most of it. I have developed some tips which I find helpful so that I end my day feeling as if it was a successful endeavor.

Dress in layers. I find that the temperature of the different areas in the building can vary widely. Occasionally, it has been warm enough outside that a friend and I will eat our lunch out of doors (and need our sweaters/coats). At the same time, I always find that - particularly by afternoon - the session rooms can be stifling, so I want just a t-shirt. Dressing in layers leaves my options open. Also, be sure to wear very comfortable shoes. There is nothing worse than your feet aching just when you are starting to close in on that perfect math program. I also suggest bringing a water bottle to avoid dehydration-type headaches.
Prepare ahead. Doing your homework ahead of time can make your time more efficient. I like to do two things. First of all, I like to make a spreadsheet listing all the resources I would like to purchase at the conference. I look at a couple of different catalogues and online sources to get an idea of prices. I don't necessarily have to get the cheapest price, but I do like to be in the ballpark. I check to see if the item is widely available used and list an approximate price for that, too. Often 50% off bins at the conference will contain resources that end up being cheaper than the same item used purchased online (with shipping charges). The second thing I do is go through the syllabus, reading the descriptions of the sessions and circling those ones I am interested in attending.
Be baby-free, if possible. I would be the last one to suggest ditching your 6 week old to attend a homeschool conference. However, if you have an older baby who still needs to be with you, I highly recommend hiring a young homeschooled teen to play with your baby at the conference while you are in the sessions. Several of my friends did this and it worked very well. Most babies over the age of about 2-3 months will not sit happily all day, peacefully sleeping while you listen to speakers. I think this is a really important day for homeschooling moms and if it is possible to meet baby's needs at the same time as your own, that's perfect.
Take in at least one 'inspiring' session (versus informational). Usually there is someone speaking at the conference who is well-known for leaving audience members feeling renewed and supported in their calling. I highly recommend choosing one of these types of sessions during the course of your day. The sessions that give information about specific subject areas are also very important and not to be missed, but be sure to leave the conference both equipped and energized.
Consider skipping a session to shop and talk to vendors. Because I am an experienced homeschooling mom, I generally know what I am looking for and just go and get it. This year, however, I was looking for something less specific for my oldest daughter and took some time to talk to a vendor in lieu of attending one of the sessions. She was a wealth of information and very helpful, directing me to consider items I would never have found or looked at on my own. When sessions are in progress, vendors tend to be much less busy and can offer you excellent personal help.
If you are a speaker, plan to miss the session following the one you are hosting. You will probably have lots of people wanting to speak to you and ask questions and you likely will not be able to get a good seat or will be late for the next session anyway. If there is a session you are dying to attend, I suggest having a friend (or talk to the speaker ahead of time to do this for you) save you a seat near the door so you can slip in late without interrupting.

On My Needles

2009-04-13T09:35:00.003-04:00

I've been doing a fair bit of gift knitting lately for people who I think might read my blog, so I haven't posted my projects. :) I do have two pairs of socks on the go right now that I will share with you. They are for my favourite person to knit for -- ME! Why do I like knitting for myself? Well, I am always grateful. I always appreciate the amount of work that has gone into the making of the item. I can always take my measurements to give the best possible chance that the item will fit. And -- I usually like the colours I choose!

What's on my needles at this time?

First of all, I am knitting Cookie A's Twisted Flower socks. I remember when I started knitting almost two years ago, these socks looked hopelessly complicated. I looked at them and thought, "Wow. I will never be at the stage where I could make socks like that." I was sure I would always knit plain or almost plain socks with self-striping yarn to make things interesting. However, I can honestly say that these socks are a breeze now. I am knitting them two at a time on magic loop. They are part of a knit along on a Ravelry group called, Makin' Cookies. The yarn is Knit Picks, Risata, which is a wool/cotton/nylon/elastic blend.

Next, I am knitting some socks called Brainless. They are created toe-up, my preferred method, and I am working them two at a time. Don't be fooled by the name or by the simple appearance. I actually find the pattern a bit more challenging than the name suggests. It isn't that they are difficult to knit, but rather just that at times interpreting the pattern can involve some mental work.

These socks are part of another knit along, one of the April selections for the Thrifty Knitters Sock Club on Ravelry. (I think these Ravelry links will only work for those of you who are Ravelry members.) I am using some lovely hand-dyed yarn gifted to me in a swap a couple of months ago.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! Steve is still off work today, so we are enjoying a relaxing family day today.

Incorporating Read-Alouds When it Seems Almost Impossible

2009-04-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

Photo courtesy of Neal the Ranger

It was back in October of this year when I finally admitted to myself that read-alouds just weren't going to happen very much in our home. It was very difficult to accept this truth because so much of our homeschool is built around reading great books. Several of our children are competent, skilled and independent readers, but I longed to return to the days when we could just snuggle on the couch under a big quilt and live a wonderful story together. I used to love reading chapter after chapter, even spending an entire afternoon in front of the fireplace hearing the adventures of Bilbo Baggins or devouring an inspiring missionary biography.

I re-scheduled and re-scheduled, but nothing I could come up with could put the needs of my babies and toddlers (and sometimes preschoolers) on hold so we could accomplish this worthy pursuit. Our little people needed me and didn't want to be pushed aside so we could spend hours on something that did nothing to draw them into our family circle. It was then that I came to the realization our leisurely read-aloud days weren't over forever, but were going to be on a loooooong vacation.

At a homeschool conference a few years ago, I attended a session presented by Bev Rempel, an expert in writing instruction and a former homeschooling mom. She said that it was very important for children to hear language being used, in the form of literature read aloud, in order to be competent writers in the future. These days, I need to be creative to make sure our children are being read to.

Here are a few ideas, if you struggle like I do with this:

Little Ones' Sleeping Time: Either during a nap or after they have gone to bed, make it a priority to drop everything and grab a book. This is your big chance, so don't mess it up by checking your e-mail or a message board first. If the kids are doing other school, they can set it aside. When my baby guy falls asleep for his daytime nap, that is our signal for Bible time. He has been an erratic sleeper, so we do Bible immediately. Because there are still other littles around, we don't abolish all interruptions, but they are drastically cut down.
Dad Reading Aloud at Bedtime: My husband has just finished reading Alice in Wonderland to our 3, 5 and 7 year old daughters. A lot of families find that having Dad read to a group of fairly sleepy (therefore mellow) children works well.
A Special Book with Grandma/Grandpa: If your children's grandparents live nearby and you see them frequently (once a week or more), you might ask if one of them would be willing to have a special book from which they will read a chapter at each visit. If you and the grandparent have a similar philosophy on what constitutes good literature, it is particularly meaningful to have the grandparent choose the book.
Books on CD: Digital read-aloud versions are available for many classics on Librivox. They are free and can be easily burned onto CDs for your child to listen to independently, at bedtime or during car trips. Younger children may enjoy the wonderful stories from Story Nory.
Getting Help from Your Older Children: If you have an older child, you can consider asking them to watch a baby/toddler while you read to the other children. Alternatively, you can watch the baby/toddler while the older child reads aloud. A key to success here is to have the reading done in a different room than the entertaining of the little ones. Some moms find that children are more attentive if they get to pile onto Mom and Dad's bed for a read-aloud, even in the middle of the day.
Contain Little Ones: As long as it hasn't been overused, older babies/younger toddlers are often content to sit in their high chairs munching on a snack. Preferably, this will be something that will take them awhile to eat and that they enjoy. I don't know why some babies who are normally very active are content to sit in a high chair, but I do find this sometimes works for short periods of reading aloud.
Hire a Mother's Helper: Several homeschooling families I know without older children have hired a 10-12 year old homeschooled young lady to come over once or twice a week and play with her children while she remains in the home, safely close by. This frees her up to have much needed time to herself, work on projects, have a nap or...read aloud to children who are old enough to listen!

Please recognize that as great as any ideas or plans might sound, life with very young children is filled with interruptions. No matter what you do at this stage, it is unlikely to yield hours of read-aloud time. Young children's needs are often immediate and their immaturity means they need lots of shepherding.

Motivation for Christian Mamas

2009-04-08T08:00:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading an excellent post by a new visitor to my blog. I could summarize it here, but I would love it if you would head over to her blog and read her urgent words yourselves. If you are a Christian mama, I highly recommend Passionate Housewife's wonderful post:

Against the Norm

I am working on a post on creative ways to incorporate reading-aloud into homes like mine where it is extremely difficult. Look for that post tomorrow.

"What are you doing for...?"

2009-04-06T10:23:00.006-04:00

What a wonderful and very busy weekend I had! I just love going to my local homeschool conference. When I get to present a session, it is even better. :) The initial feedback I received was the moms left feeling inspired. I am very grateful to God that He made this happen.

Here is a quote from my prayer journal on March26/09:

I pray for my talk next weekend. I wish so much I was better prepared. Please help me pull things together this weekend. I pray it will really minister to the moms and dads in attendance. Let them feel your love and grace and freedom through my words. You are so great and so very gentle and so very good.

I never did pray that anyone would learn anything from my session. I do hope people had some good take-away, practical ideas, but my heart really just longs for homeschooling moms to feel the freedom that the Lord wants them to have when he calls them to homeschool.

One lovely mama at my session asked if I could post a copy of the overhead I showed that was a chart of the 'schoolwork' three of our children are currently doing. A copy of that particular overhead is below. When a child finishes a particular book or resource, we just replace it with a new one. I generally select the kids' books from the year on Ambleside Online that corresponds to their grade number (though Ambleside years are not the same as grade levels in school). Our oldest daughter, who is in her grade 9 year is working mostly independently on Level 100 of the Sonlight Curriculum.

I hope this chart will inspire you when you see that we aren't doing a huge amount of 'schoolwork', but are getting wonderful results. I didn't indicate how often children are reading from particular books, as this varies according to age. We homeschool Monday to Thursday and generally get most of our work done by lunchtime. We usually do Nature and Art in the afternoons.

Click on the above image to enlarge in a new screen.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you have in the comments section of this post. If you are visiting my blog for the first time -- Welcome! It is great to have you here. :)

The big draw!

2009-04-03T07:00:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in my very first give-away! I hope I can knit some more goodies in the future for you.

My 10 year old son did the honours.

And the one with the toasty toes will be......

Congratulations, Maria!

Your socks will be on their way very soon. If you leave me a comment on this post with your e-mail address, I won't publish it, but I can get in contact with you.

I just loved reading everyone's wonderful comments about their husbands and families. I am certainly blessed to have such a generous and loving blogging community. :)

I'm off to a homeschool conference this weekend, at which I will be speaking on "Charlotte Mason Style Education - Guilt Free!!". I know it will be a joy to attend and to encourage other homeschooling moms and dads. I would love it if you would pray for me, if you think of it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The pros and cons of the homeschool lunch

2009-03-31T14:00:00.004-04:00

This was today's lunch. Nutty Nut Butter & Jam sandwiches, some home-canned fruit and local fresh veggies.

Pro: I don't have to try to make a whole bunch of lunches the night before. The hurdle of trying to dream up and prepare a host of interesting and nutritious things has caused even the most health-conscious mom to abandon her principles and start buying little packages which are slyly oh-so-convenient to 'toss in a lunch'.

Con: I still have to try to dream up something interesting and nutritious for lunch everyday. (I'm not one of those cool moms who makes faces on her kids sandwiches with veggies, either.) I need to make it in a large quantity and have it ready fairly quickly to leave room for the other things we want to do.

I find it really challenging to come up with good ideas that are healthy, not too expensive, involve real food and can be made fairly quickly. I thought I would share with you a few ideas I serve that meet the above criteria, in hopes that it will entice you to share your ideas with me. :)

A mainstay in our homeschool, my number one lunch idea is 'snack lunch'. An ingenious phrase coined by my mom during my own childhood, it instantly becomes fun to be served a bunch of unconnected, though nutritious foods. If you are a really cool mom, you can serve this lunch in muffin/mini muffin tins with different things in the cups. (Unfortunately, again, I'm not this type of mom.) It drives me a bit crazy to chop up and prepare all these things, but several of our children love to do so. Ideas for snack lunch include:

chopped fresh fruit and veggies (avocado is great to serve with snack lunch)
(or just put out a bowl of apples)
cheese - cubed or sliced
crackers
summer sausage pieces
nuts
dried or canned fruit
hard-boiled eggs
my oldest daughter, our main snack-lunch maker, often makes us deviled eggs
pickles
a healthy milkshake or fruit smoothie will round things out if you don't have much food in the house
hummus

Next, I suggest leftovers from last-night's dinner. Having a big family, however, doesn't usually leave enough leftovers for everyone, so this is usually out, unless we have several days worth of leftovers and then I announce a free-for-all, which our children surprisingly enjoy.

We also have sandwiches a lot, particulary peanut butter and jam. They are healthy and inexpensive, though they can get a bit boring if you overdo it. If you are using natural peanut butter (just peanuts), you may find like I do that the sandwiches can be a bit 'dry'. I have discovered that buttering the bread before putting on the peanut butter makes a world of difference. While we are on the subject of natural peanut butter tips...when I open a new container of peanut butter, I scrape the entire thing into my mixer bowl, attach the 'cookie' paddle and mix it up on stir speed for a minute or so to get everything homogenized again. I find if I do this, it will not usually separate again before we use up the container. (Also, I never keep it in the fridge, as recommended, but we go through it pretty quickly.)

Today, I made some great sandwiches, if I do say so myself. A few summers ago, when camping near Ithaca, NY, we visited the Moosewood Restaurant and one of our children ordered (if you can believe it) nut butter, bread and fruit. The nut butter was fantastic. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I was inspired to jazz up our own peanut butter at home. So, I invented the 'recipe' below. I didn't actually use any specific quantities when I made it, so I'm guessing here for your sake.

Nutty Nut Butter

1 c. natural peanut butter (just peanuts), well-combined
1/4 c. almonds, chopped fairly small
2 T. sunflower seeds

(You can substitute other seeds/nuts in this recipe -- whatever you have around. You can also switch out the peanut butter for almond or other nut butter or use a blend!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Put nuts and seeds into a cast-iron frying pan and cook until they are nicely toasted, stirring occasionally. You can also do this on the stove burner, if you trust yourself to watch them.

Stir nuts/seeds into peanut butter.

Your turn! What are your healthy lunch ideas?

Handknit socks -- they're yours!

2009-03-26T11:31:00.005-04:00

Okay, so they are only for one of you. :)

Last night, I finished a pair of socks based on Cookie A's Monkey socks. This version is a no-purl, toe-up, free pattern found here.

Don't worry -- they aren' t baggy. My 7 year old is my model for this picture. :)

These socks fit my feet okay, but not really great, so instead of wearing them, I'm sharing them! I have been wanting to do a giveaway for awhile and I thought now would be a great time. These socks are 90/10 superwash wool/nylon so they have a little strength and are able to go in the washer. I think they will fit best on someone with a shoe size of about size 7-9, but that is just a loose estimate. (They don't seem well-sized for someone with a very high instep.)

Please leave a comment if you would like to win them telling us something you love about your husband or child or someone else in your family. Don't be shy, even if you haven't commented before. I'm completely okay with that. I will ship anywhere, so comment away. I knit lots of love into them and am excited to share. :)

I will be drawing a name on Thursday, April 2nd before I go to bed and I will post the winner on Friday morning. I'll give instructions for contacting me at that point. Good luck!

The Makings of a Great Day

2009-03-24T07:09:00.004-04:00

Photo courtesy of Kinderash

I love the days when I just know things are going to go well, that I will plunk into bed at night with a sense of accomplishment, good family memories and a peaceful heart. I wish I had a day like that every day. Yesterday, I knew it was going to be one of those days and I thought about what circumstances or decisions set up a day to be 'good'. These will be different for everyone, I know. For me, three things stood out.

Being in a good mood. What makes me in a good mood? Of course, the number one thing is to make a choice to be in a good mood. God tells us to take every thought captive. When I choose not to complain and argue, it goes a long way to boosting my mood. I am also in a good mood when: I don't have to go anywhere that day, my home is relatively under control (we know where the homeschool stuff is, the kitchen is tidy, we have clean clothes, surfaces aren't full of clutter), and Steve and I are in our groove together.
Beginning early. When I hang around in my pj's knitting and going on the internet until 9am or later I am not left feeling energized. I think both of these things can be reasonable uses of time, but spending a couple of hours of prime morning time pursuing them does not set me up for a 'good' day. The kids know exactly what is expected of them in the morning, but they won't get started on it with me setting a bad example.
Having a clear plan. I am terrible at menu planning, (I really need to start working on this. I used to be great at it.) but when I do have at least that day's worth of meals all planned out in my mind, I am free to think of other things. I find when I don't know what we are going to eat that day, I am burdened all day long. As well, when my household tasks are planned and written down and the kids homeschooling assignments are well spelled-out, there is less to think about and we can just do.

Obviously, everything is not in our control, but in general, what sets up a day to be 'good' for you? Are there things you find that are under your control that help your day go well?

Flowing Blessings

2009-03-23T09:52:00.007-04:00

Photo courtesy of telachhe

I find it adorable when one of our babies tries to grab the stream of water I pour from a container into the bath water. His little face lights up with concentration as he tries several times to take hold of the sparkly, seemingly-solid object in front of him. Eventually, he will just learn to enjoy the feeling of the water flowing over his fat little hand, knowing it is not something to be grasped.

It occurred to me that God's blessings, particularly the gift of childhood, are just like this flowing water. They are beautiful. They are intriguing. And, they are flowing. Once we realize that, like the stream of water, they are not something we can catch and grab hold of, we know that our only option is to embrace the gift of each blessing flowing through our lives.

Our current baby is the worst sleeper we've ever had. I can count on one hand the number of times I have put baby guy to bed and he has not woken up 20-40 minutes later, needing to be put back to sleep. In his first 10 months or so, it was impossible to get him back to sleep most nights and he would end up awake, hanging out with me. I often reminded myself that I loved him, loved being with him and that it wouldn't last forever. A lot of times, though, I complained about not having any time to myself.

A couple of nights ago, I was upstairs snuggling beside baby guy as he drifted back off to sleep. I thought about how much I loved his adorable baby breath, his chubby face in the light peeking in through the blinds. My tears started pouring forth as I realized how very much I would miss this someday. I wanted to stop time and lie there forever, kissing his beautiful little cheeks. I determined to do my best to savour the blessings God pours into my life, particularly the ones that I am tempted to complain about because it is probably these little things I will miss the most.

The Homeschool Afternoon

2009-03-18T14:02:00.004-04:00

One of the things I appreciate most about homeschooling is the freedom. Homeschooling allows us to be free in so many ways, but from a purely practical point of view, we have freedom of choice in how we spend our time. We have always aimed to get the majority of our 'school' work done in the morning hours so that we are free to choose our favourite things to do in the afternoon. We usually eat lunch quite late (1-2pm), but the academic work has been finished for the most part.

Earlier this year, the kids and I sat down to brainstorm some ideas for how we could spend our afternoons. Sometimes we have outside-the-home-activities we need to go to, but we always relish the time that we are home and can just enjoy our time together. There are many of these activities we have done, some we will do at some point and some we will never get to.

Here is our list:

Tea with poetry reading
Hot chocolate
Finger painting
Visiting other branches of our library
Painting
Puzzles
Crafts
Read-alouds
Topic study
Colouring
Going to the park
Visiting a nearby river
Swimming
Watching Little House on the Prarie/Other old shows
Family sport time (basketball, soccer, baseball, hockey, etc.)
Serving (picking up garbage, delivering gifts to neighbours, etc.)
Writing
Gardening
Selling stuff
Sewing
Card-making
Scrapbooking
Book-repair
Book-making
Cooking/baking
Visiting the Village Sweet Shop
Visiting Museums
Having guests over
Going for a hike
Preparing a special snack (ie. ice cream sundaes)

We had loads of fun coming up with this list. Sharing it with you is also very motivating for me to be sure to make some time in the near future to pencil in some of these activities.

One year ago...

2009-03-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

...another little person arrived to share my heart. Amazingly, God not only provides exponential love for each child, so that none ends up with less love when a new little one is born, but He teaches us to value and cherish and respect and admire them more and more, too. I thought you might enjoy my birth story. I am basically copying it directly from a post I made a few days after our birth on a message board I used to participate in .

Our baby has FINALLY arrived!!
As per my usual pattern of each of 6 babies arriving later and later than the last one, I was 11 days past my edd on Friday, March 14th. I agreed to go on Friday morning for their stupid biophysical profile after declining the first one. Everything looked great and it was actually a very positive experience. Dh and I went for coffee and then went home for lunch and to get the kids ready for a March Break Lego program at our local library at 2pm. I felt a little 'birthy' while we were there, but I feel like that a lot.

After the library, we headed over to my parents for our weekly 'pizza night' where my mom and I make homemade pizza for our family. We made all our pizzas and I had noticed my 'Braxton Hicks' getting to be fairly frequent as the evening went along. However, they were not painful or regular or overly intense. Eventually, around 7:30 or so, I was thinking maybe it might be a good idea to finish up our evening and head home to get kids to bed in case the baby was born that night.

We got everyone to bed and it became evident that I was in labour. Again, contractions were not really regular or overly painful, so I didn't call the midwives at that point. Most of the time, I birth quickly, but with my last birth (#5) they were there for several hours before dd was born and I felt pressured to perform (though the midwives put absolutely NO pressure on me at all -- they are great and very patient -- it was just their presence I found a bit distracting). My friend is going through the doula certification process and asked me to call her nice and early because in order for my birth to 'count', she had to be here before I was in active labour. Around 8:45pm, I called her to say it was still early and the birth was not imminent, but she could feel free to come by.

Elisa arrived just after 9pm and my contractions seemed to be very manageable, short in duration and alternating between 4-6 mins apart. My plan was to call the midwives either when my water broke (which, in the past, has meant a birth is going to happen very soon) or when my contractions hit a solid 5 mins apart and were regular and more intense.

Steve and Elisa and I had a nice chat and I made everyone ice cream sundaes. Elisa read something, I think in Ina May Gaskin's latest book, that arm wrestling can help to move labour along, so she suggested an arm wrestle. We started, but I was afraid I would actually injure my arm if we kept it up, as we seemed quite well matched for strength. It was a draw and my contractions were still about the same -- I described several of them as 'just a mini', in fact. Elisa and I decided to go for a walk while Steve checked something on the internet. After I was several yards from my front door, I had a more intense contraction. At this point, I was shaking, but I wasn't cold. Elisa commented on my shaking and that I must be freezing, but that wasn't it at all. A couple of minutes later, I had a very intense contraction and I told Elisa we should go back. She suggested walking just to the end of the road (not far) and going back after. (Contractions were very intense, but short in duration.) I tried to walk a little further, but another contraction was close behind and I recognized it as transition. I told her we had to get back VERY fast. We were no more than 50 feet from my house at the farthest and I had another contraction on the way back, practically running by this point.

We got in the door and I grabbed the phone to call my midwife. Steve, oblivious to what had just happened, said, "Hey! I didn't even get to check what I wanted to check!" I whipped off a quick message to my midwife, basically saying, just start driving here fast. She hopped in her car and called back, saying she would be 20 mins. I started crying and said she wasn't going to make it and my legs started shaking. Steve said, "Oh, Christine...I don't want to deliver a baby." I said, "Too bad." and we rushed upstairs.

I whipped off my clothes and hopped in our birth tub, which we had filled up when we got home from my parents since the brochure said it would stay warm for hours. I could feel the baby crowning and there was no way I could stop pushing. My midwife called back to tell Steve her cell number in case he needed any instructions on what to do. No time. Our baby's head was out in one push, still in the amniotic sack! Elisa suggested hands and knees for the rest of the body. I was able to move and baby's body was born smoothly in the next push. A BABY BOY!!! (We knew all along!!) He looked nice and healthy and big. I didn't like the way he didn't cry, but he was breathing and moving a bit, though I thought he was too blue even after a few minutes. We rubbed him and tried to get him to cry, but he stayed pretty mellow. Fortunately, we knew the midwives would be there any minute with all their gear and we weren't worried that he was in true danger, just that he needed a bit of help. We forgot to look at the clock, but estimate it was 10pm when he was born.

I'm hoping this pic isn't too racy for you because I really wanted to share it.
It definitely captures the emotions I was feeling over giving birth 'unassisted' so suddenly!

Midwives arrived at 10:14pm. Baby looked great, but was breathing extremely quickly. I got out to deliver the placenta on the bed (and my sweet midwife got my oldest dd all gloved up and had her do the 'delivery'...pretty cool!) while we tried to help our little guy slow down his breathing (which was at times 118 breaths a minute). We tried lots of tricks, but couldn't get it to stay down, so my midwife said we would have to go to the hospital. I was so sad!!

Since it was urgent, but not an emergency, my midwife called ahead to the hosptial and we went by car. At the hospital, baby guy was diagnosed with Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN), which was caused by his fast birth. It is common in c-section babies and was caused by his not getting his lungs nicely squished out during his birth. The special care nursery nurses call babies like him 'Flyers'.

The worst part was not the I.V., but the fact that he was not allowed to nurse until his respirations were 60/min or less, as babies breathing that fast are at risk of aspirating anything they are given by mouth. My midwife said it would take at least 12 hours and sometimes 48 hours. I was just devastated. It ended up taking 36 hrs and it was all of a sudden completely gone. Our first nursing was one happy moment. In the meantime, I had asked for him to be fed my colostrum via gavage since he was seeming really hungry. The doctor readily agreed and this did seem to settle him nicely. We made sure to let him suck our finger a lot so that he would remember sucking well when he was finally allowed to nurse. It worked well since when we were given the go-ahead, he nursed like he hadn't missed a thing.

I have to say that I was shocked by the wonderful things I saw happening at the special care nursery while we were there. We are not very medically-oriented and I expected to have to fight for everything and listen to cranky nurses giving out bad bfing info and trying to bottle every baby that came through the door. What I witnessed was the absolute opposite. The nurses just LOVED the babies, almost treating them like they were their own. Most of them were lactation consultants and lactivists, even the ones in their 50's, and I overheard them give one mom after another encouragement and wonderful, accurate, up-to-date bfing info and help.

On Monday morning, we were discharged and dh and I and baby guy tucked ourselves into bed, Dh and I had a glass of red wine and a nice long nap, the three of us in a little stack. It was the best feeling in the whole world, being back in our little nest, just like it was supposed to be from the start. I actually decided to treat it like he was just born and I put on my pyjamas and stayed in our bedroom for two days. I just came downstairs this morning, which feels great, too.

My MIL brought the kids home a few hours later and we were altogether again. Sigh. It was bliss.

Baby guy is doing fantastic and has absolutely no signs of any traumatic beginning. We are ECing as always, nursing lots and we never put him down. Life is good.

Happy Birthday, my little baby man. I love you so much that some days I think my heart will burst.

(Baby Guy was glad to see the purse thieves weren't interested in Sophie la Giraffe!)

Homeschool Organization

2009-03-12T08:45:00.003-04:00

Photo Courtesy of odmayhea611

I have been feeling convicted lately to start keeping better records of what we have done in our homeschool, particularly for my oldest who is grade 9 age this year. I have always wondered how to go about this since we use a Charlotte Mason approach. Like many other styles of homeschooling, we do not assign grades or give our children tests. We also have only a few subjects for which we can say, "Completed lessons 1-18 of such and such curriculum". In preparing for speaking at an upcoming homeschool conference, I stumbled upon this organizer/scheduler. I dutifully watched all the intro videos. It seemed very compatible with the way we homeschool, so I am currently using the free 30-day trial. I love it, but it is seriously expensive - well, after the free trial, that is! One thing I really like is that it is very real-life friendly and guilt-free. If you don't finish something that day, it just moves it onto the next scheduled day. Woo hoo! I also like that it can generate 'reports' on what you've done for the last day, week, year, etc.

Someone also pointed me in the direction of a free program called, Homeschool Tracker. The way they make money is by offering a for-pay upgrade program with more features. I am going to have a look at it later today.

(I almost hesitated to post anything about either of these programs because I don't want this to ever be a 'product endorsement' blog. I'd love your opinions, though.)

How do you keep records/schedule your homeschool?

Thank you for your prayers!!

2009-03-05T14:33:00.003-05:00

I spent an hour, with my dad, scouring the woods/dumpsters/roadside for my purse today with no luck. We did run into several people at the park who immediately went back to their vehicles, took their purses out of the front seat and put them into their trunks. It seems I am not the only one deluded into thinking our small town is immune to crime.

After realizing it was very unlikely that my purse was coming back, I started to make phone calls. The bank recommended closing our account and opening a new one since our cheques had been stolen. I didn't go with this option right away. I called Steve and we commiserated awhile on what to do about the bank account, the locks on the house (since there was a house key in my purse), the fact that I had NO identification since I kept all of it in my purse, etc.

Once we were finished talking, I noticed there was a message on the phone. It was Sargent Gordon calling to say that a gentleman had returned a bunch of the contents of my purse!! Woohoo!! The stuff is all mixed in with another lady's stuff, so I need to go to the police station and separate everything. I am trapped here for now, as my oldest is out (no babysitter) and my car is at the repair shop. Anyway, they have at least my driver's license and birth certificate and I think they have my chequebook and house key. I am just praying for the kids birth certificates and our health cards. I am also really hoping the thieves didn't take the $100 gift certificate to the lingere store that Steve gave me for our anniversary. Ha ha!

We're also hoping for Sophie la Giraffe's safe return.

It must have been a pretty depressing theft...I can almost hear them now, "WHAT?!? One cent? A bunch of baby toys? Diapers? A gift certificate for a BRA store?! This sucks!!" They didn't take my iPod, which was in plain view -- if only they'd known they could have listened to hours of knitting podcasts!

The $1000 error

2009-03-05T08:43:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I was feeling pretty good about myself. We got all the school done, did our home blessing jobs, had a meal ready to go for a family from church and decided to go for a hike on a beautiful winter day at the conservation area near our home.

We took the van to the conservation area, even though it isn't too far, as I didn't want the little ones to wear out walking to the hiking place before we could even begin our hike. As we were getting out of the car, I looked at my purse between the van seats and thought, "I should move this. Naw. It looks like a diaper bag. Besides, nothing ever happens in our small town." We locked the doors, I tossed baby guy onto my back and we left for our hike. Less than an hour later, we finished our hike and walked back to the van. As we approached, I saw shattered glass everywhere. My first (naive) thought was, "Oh no! Someone has accidentally hit the van mirror with their car." Then, I saw it was the driver window. Then, I saw the big rock on the passenger seat. Then, I saw the empty spot where my purse was. My heart sank as I realized I had all of our birth certificates (why didn't I leave them in a file at home?), our health cards and a bazillion other things in there. UGH. This was going to be a long haul.

Cancelling and replacing the VISA is the least of my worries. VISA is so concerned about making sure you have a card to use, I was surprised they didn't say they'd drive right out to our house immediately and bring me a new one!! They were good enough to say they would just put a hold on the card for a few days, in case it was returned. I couldn't make purchases with it, but if I needed to make a payment, I shouldn't be concerned because I could still do that. :)

Today, I need to take the car to the mechanic who will replace my window. He says this is the second one he has done this week. :( I am also going to have a quick look through the woods across from where my purse was stolen to see if they dumped it there.

The frustrating part is that the police officer said that all they were after was cash. How much cash did I have in my wallet? I had - LITERALLY - one cent. I figure by the time I replace all the government issued things, the window on the car and account for the cheques in my wallet that I hadn't cashed and may not be able to get back and the gift certificates that the stores may not re-issue, this will probably cost us $1000 and a fair bit of heartache. I'm so sad. Why would someone be so selfish? Can you pray that I will find my purse?

At least I didn't toss in my sock knitting at the last minute, like I almost always do when I leave the house. :)

This week's food: CSA and Frozen Foods

2009-03-03T17:02:00.005-05:00

Today was our bi-weekly CSA pick-up at Whole Circle Farm. (We pick up weekly in the summer when there are tons of veggies.)

In this pick up, we received:

2 lbs carrots
2 lbs potatoes
2 lbs rutabagas
1 lb onions
2 lbs parsnips
4 c. dried black beans
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 cabbage
4 dried chili peppers

After the farm, I dropped by the frozen food place. I love the quality at this particular, independent store. I would say I go about once every 3 months, more often if we are in a real smoothie phase and not at all over the summer months, except for ice cream.

2 - 2 kg bags of strawberries
1 kg pineapple chunks
1 kg mango chunks
5 lb box of wild blueberries
2 L of really good butterscotch ripple ice cream

And thus ends a week of food buying in our household. I don't normally make quite so many stops in one week, but we seemed to run out of so many things all at one time, so I thought it was a great time for blogging my adventures.

This week's food: The coconut outlet

2009-03-02T10:59:00.005-05:00

I couldn't believe my luck when a couple of years ago, I googled sources for coconut oil and found that there was an outlet that supplied large quantities of very high-quality organic coconut oil within about 20 minutes of my home! I only go about twice a year, but it is very convenient.

Today was my bi-annual trip.

1 gallon of Virgin Coco-Creme Coconut Oil (for times when it will be eaten raw)
1 gallon of Fine Organic Coconut Oil (for cooking)
1 kg of unsulfured organic dessicated coconut

Why do we eat coconut oil? Sometime I will do a blog post on the subject, but for now, you might enjoy visiting this website. If you click on 'Research on Coconut Oil', you will find several easy-to-understand articles.

Weekend Gift-Knitting for a Baby

2009-03-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

WHY does she always make me do the hat modelling?!

A terrific guy that Steve works with just had his second child and is returning from paternity leave today. In my usual fashion, I didn't begin to make the baby's gift until Wednesday. Fortunately, I chose two quick-knit items.

First up, a little Norwegian Baby Hat. I just love this style of hat. It is very cozy warm because it fits snuggly, has ear flaps and, best of all, ties on so baby can't remove it (which is probably the number one reason it is cozy -- because it isn't on the ground, but on the baby's head!). This is a super easy and free pattern, but I add a caution. If you are making one, please watch the sizing. Many knitters have complained that, even though they get gauge, the hat turns out way too small. I actually cast on the smallest size (6 months) at first, but it was so small that I ripped it out and began again with the largest size (2 years). As you can see in the pictures, it just fits my 11 month old without much room to grow.

In keeping with my love for sock knitting, I also made a pair of baby socks in about a 12 month size. I used a fabulous pattern for the leg which is very simple. To do this pattern, you need a multiple of four stitches. (I used 32 stitches with a sport weight yarn and a gauge of about 7.5 sts/in). It is a four row repeat. On rows 1-3, you K2, P2. On row 4, simply K2tog without slipping them off the needle, then reinsert the needle into the first stitch, knit it and slip both of the needle, then P2. Easy peasy. I like this pattern, called "Baby Cable" because it is nice and stretchy.

I was able to knit both these items from a single skein of Louet Gems Sportweight 100% superwash wool, which I purchased from my local yarn shop. I still have enough leftover to make baby guy a pair of socks, too. (I used the 'Caribean Blue' colourway.)

This week's food: Farmer's Market, local shops and quick grocery store trip

2009-02-28T11:53:00.010-05:00

Saturday is my favourite day of the week. Steve and I have a weekly date morning where we go to the Farmer's Market and then out to the best cafe in...well - maybe in the whole world. :) We also do short errands on Saturday mornings if we have them, such as going to the thrift store or other quick stops.

Today, we went to the market, out for coffee and then to the natural food store and my favourite baking supply shop. Later on, we dropped by the grocery store.

Here is our haul from the Farmer's Market:

a large bag of gala apples
a large bag of pears
organic broccoli (This isn't local, but sometimes in the winter we are desperate. I like that this is actually a local farm which supplements their income in the winter by bringing in a bit of high-quality organic produce.)
an organic avocado (ditto to above)
1/2 lb black forest ham
some honey-garlic sausages
3 kg. pail of delicious raw honey

Our next stop was the natural foods store:

3 containers of half & half cream for coffee - I like this kind because the ingredients are: (get ready, now...) cream, milk. (Here are the ingredients in the cream we used to get from the grocery store: milk, cream, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, carrageenan)
1 container of sour cream - Guess what's in this? Just cream, bacterial culture. It is actually real cultured sour cream, not something that has been chemically 'soured'.
a nice big bottle of cod liver oil capsules - this is the only supplement we take on any regular basis. I particularly like it in the winter when we are indoors a lot and aren't eating as wide a variety of foods as we are in the summer. I like it because it is a food supplement, not a faked up one.

Then, we stopped by my favourite baking supply store. It was a somewhat unsuccessful trip, as I was in need of some wheat berries and they didn't have any large bags. I need to remember to call ahead next time. I did put some on order, though.

large package of yeast
unsulfured banana chips
unsulfured and unsweetened dried pineapple
unsulfured dried cranberries
brown sugar

Lastly, we dropped by the grocery store that has cheap butter. We go through a lot of butter in our family. I don't mind grocery store butter too much, though I would prefer if they didn't colour it and if the cows were treated better. Nevertheless, with the amount our family uses, I can't be spending $8/lb on organic butter. At least in Canada rBGH is banned. Because I stock up, I always get strange looks and usually someone asks me if I am doing a lot of baking. "Well, yes, actually...I always do a lot of baking."

10 lbs butter
I possibly bought some chocolate easter eggs, too, but I can't take a picture of them because someone ate them on the way home.

This week's food: Farm and Co-op Order

2009-02-25T12:22:00.008-05:00

I thought it might be fun to chronicle the foods our family buys for a week. This doesn't reflect what we actually eat for a week, since I stock up when I shop and we also eat lots of food that I have canned or frozen.

So...without further ado, our first stop is Whole Circle Farm, where I picked up a few things from the farm store as well as our natural foods co-op order. We order from Ontario Natural Foods Co-operative once a month. I have been a member of an ONFC buying club for about 14 years, now. My orders vary widely so that some months I get lots of staples, like dried beans and bulk grains. Sometimes, like this month, there are more convenience foods such as crackers and pastas. (I always order Steve and I a nice chocolate-y treat, too.) While our philosophy is to eat whole foods, we aren't perfect and we do what we can to try to buy fairly high quality when we do get non-whole foods.

I think one important thing in our view of food is that while we eat convenience foods sometimes, like crackers and pasta, we don't convince ourselves that these are as nutritious as whole foods. It is simply not possible to outsmart God. Only He knows why he put foods together the way He did and we can't begin to be smart enough to take them apart, rearrange them and expect to get them better than (or even as good as) He did.

What was in my order this month?

a 25 lb bag of long-grain brown rice
4 boxes of nut/rice crackers
mango-passionfruit herbal tea
ginger-peach herbal tea
two packages of firm tofu
a small block of raw milk parmesan cheese
a small block of goat's milk feta
a 1 kg. bag of millet
a bag of ginger snaps
a jar of mayonnaise (I like this one because although the oil is still canola, which I am not big on, at least it is expeller-pressed)
2 boxes of kamut/quinoa pasta
2 boxes of parsley-garlic pasta
a yummy bar of milk chocolate - fair trade -- just trying to help out...not because I love chocolate or anything. ;)

Also at the farm, we picked up:

4 dozen eggs
a package of ground beef
some pepperoni for pizza night on Friday

I thought you might also enjoy this picture, taken by my oldest daughter, of the happy chickens at Whole Circle. I think it is hilarious how Johann and Maggie, the farmers, use a school bus for a chicken house!! Johann just moves the bus when he wants the chickens to have fresh pasture.

Photo Courtesy of Brianne G.

Adorable and Easy Knitting Project

2009-02-23T17:18:00.004-05:00

I recently participated in a terrific swap on Ravelry in which participants swapped sock yarn, a Cookie A sock pattern and other goodies. I had a great time putting my package together and I received a very generous package in exchange. One of the things included was a skein of one of the most beautiful handspun yarns I've ever seen. Here is a picture:

Nice, hey?

I've been trying to decide what to do with it and today, I cast on a very cool and very easy project. Calorimetry is an online freebie pattern from Knitty for a hat-substitute that will work well when you are wearing your hair up in a ponytail or a big barrette. I estimate the entire project took me about 1 1/2 hours of knitting time. It was a breeze. This would be a great project for adults or young knitters. Please watch the size, as a lot of knitters have complained that it is a bit loose. I used 108 stitches for mine and I like the fit. You can really use just about any stitch count that is a multiple of 8.

Sorry this is cutting off on the side. You can click the picture to see the whole thing.

As always, I'd love to hear if you make one!!

Simply pathetic

2009-02-21T07:46:00.003-05:00

I learned the word pathetic when I was in grade 5 and my friend, Maureen, learned it - and used it - very often. We were in the gifted class together, so we found, errrrr...odd ways to amuse ourselves.

In case you don't actually know the word, pathetic, I thought I would give you a picture which defines it quite well. Here is baby guy in a photo taken a few days ago. Sigh.

Funny food is normal food

2009-02-19T16:15:00.008-05:00

These two carrots are best-buds.

I just love the treasures we find in our bi-weekly CSA share. (During the summer, we collect a share every week.) The farm where we get our CSA is both organic and bio-dynamic. This means we get real-looking food, as opposed to perfect, uniform produce. As an adult, used to regular grocery-store food, it has taken me awhile to appreciate the beauty and 'realness' of food that is not factory-farmed. Our children, however, raised on just such food seem to think the more interesting our food looks, the better! When the kids come along to pick up our weekly share, they delight in searching out the carrots with 4 ends or the squash that is bent back around on itself.

The above picture is one very cool finding from this week. We weren't there to pick up the share this week, so my mom chose out these two carrots, who are obviously very closely connected, knowing our children delight in just this type of thing. I decided to have them finish out their life in the same soup. Oddly enough, the one carrot was just hugging the other one. They came apart fairly easily.

I encourage you, particularly this summer when the fresh, local foods start to be more prolific, to find the joy in 'oddball' fruits and veggies that have been selected and grown for their nutritional value and their taste, as opposed to their ability to travel well and be uniform. It is funny that we have come to associate these latter qualities with 'goodness', while the actual value disappears from our food.

Well, I'm off to eat some split pea soup with fresh bread!

Communicating with Boys

2009-02-18T14:37:00.005-05:00

I am reading an excellent book right now called, That's My Son: How moms can influence boys to become men of character by Rick Johnson. I am finding it to be both readable and enlightening. The author communicates in a very real way that I find to be helpful in understanding my sons and my husband. I highly recommend it to anyone with boys. Even if you don't have boys, the book is terrific for helping you understand the males in your life and to help your daughters do the same.

A particular chapter that I enjoyed was the one on communicating with boys. In order to be really inspired (to make it your own!) you will definitely need the context of the author's original words and his personal anecdotes. However, I would like to share a few of his tips with you.

Be Brief - Don't give lectures. Rather, just take 1-2 sentences to make your point. (This is a real struggle for me and for many of our children. The gift of brevity has not been bestowed upon us!)
Tell a story, particularly one based on personal experience, to illustrate your point.
Ask for a response. If there is none, ask for a story. "Did anything like that ever happen to you?"
Listen for key words in what your son says. Usually, they will centre around primary emotions -- words such as afraid, hurt, Wow!
Use the key words you hear to lead into further communication. "What were you afraid of?"
Be comfortable with silences. Boys often need time to think and process.
For deep conversations, do something physical while you talk. Shooting hoops or going for a walk are a couple of ideas. Many males dread, and feel intimidated by, conversations that involve sitting down with long times of direct eye contact. I remember Sally Clarkson saying that her boys often open up the most when she is scratching their backs. When they are not feeling threatened, it is much easier for them to share.
Let the boy have the last word whenever possible. Sadly, men get used to being overrun by females who, in general, have superior verbal communication skills. It isn't that women are truly right more often, but many times they can make more persuasive arguements and end up leaving the men in their lives apologizing when they aren't really wrong to begin with. In the case of discussions with your son, let him leave the conversation feeling like he is a respected member of the family team.
Expect to have to bring it up again. Often boys don't 'get it' the first time around.

One more thing that was helpful to me in my relationship with the men in my life was the author's sharing of the concepts of love and respect. He said that men value respect so much that for many of them, it is more important than being loved. Contrast that to the way the average woman feels! Showing our husbands and our sons that we are proud of them, and making sure to never hit below the belt will go a long way to helping them communicate with us.

Easy and Yummy Breakfast

2009-02-17T09:32:00.004-05:00

I am really missing blogging! The truth is that we have been sick constantly for several weeks. It is never anything horrible, but just constanly one person after another with some kind of low-grade sickness. I couldn't believe it when another child woke me up in the middle of the night last night with the sickies. I think it is due to my bragging that our family is almost never sick (which is true).

Anyway, many of us are at least semi-well and I was feeling inspired to serve something different for breakfast. I baked bread yesterday, so we had lots of that to work with. Being too lazy to make French Toast, I decided on a French Toast Strata. I made this up, being inspired from another recipe.

French Toast Strata
makes a full 9 x 13" pan (serves 8, I would say)

1 loaf good whole wheat bread (stale is just fine)
2 c. milk (please use whole milk in your homes - un-homogenized would be preferable)
8 eggs, slightly beaten
1 T. cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
A couple of handfuls of chopped nuts (I used walnuts, but almonds, pecans, or hazelnuts would be tasty, too)
2 apples, sliced (I admit that I peeled mine this time)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13" pan. Cube bread and put half of the cubes into the pan. Sprinkle with the sliced apples and chopped nuts. Top with remaining bread cubes. Combine eggs, milk, salt and cinnamon and drizzle slowly over bread, trying to cover all the cubes. Take the fork you used to mix the eggs/milk and squish down the cubes a little to soak up some more of the liquid. Place in oven for about 35 mins. Serve with maple syrup.

Nursing Strike Update

2009-02-13T16:27:00.004-05:00

Well, after a loooooooooooooong three days, my baby guy is finally nursing again! I consulted with various friends, my naturopath and my chiropractor and we determined that he was both teething (molars) and clogged up from the sicknesses that have visited our home recently. His ears were pretty good, though one was a smidge inflamed, but not infected. Our naturopath recommended:

a homeopathic remedy for lymphatic drainage, four times a day
massaging his neck and upper shoulders to aid drainage
gently pulling his ears out away from his body a bit and moving them around to help his ears drain well
chiropractic adjustment
applying 'Respiratory Rub' to his chest and feet before bed, covering his feet with socks and his body with a couple of cozy layers
breastmilk to his eye (he has pink-eye) four or more times a day

Last night, as he was fussing around, I tried expressing some milk into his mouth and he got the best look on his face, as if he was saying, "Heeeeeeey...I remember that great stuff!" and he actually nursed for about 30 seconds with only a few bites. I couldn't get him to nurse again that night, but this morning, I repeated what I did last night and he had a great nurse. He seems to be back on track. Thank-you, Lord! I missed my little breast friend.

Guess what I'm not doing?

2009-02-10T15:15:00.004-05:00

Nursing. :(

My 10 month old is officially on a nursing strike. He has not successfully nursed since he went to sleep last night. He chose to fuss and flip about on the bed on top of Steve and I last night instead of nursing the entire night. Anytime I try to nurse him, he bites. Ouch. He has actually been on the verge of a strike since about Sunday morning, but it has become a full-blown refusal to nurse at this point. I think it started because he has a cold and it was difficult for him to both breathe and nurse. Being the smart little fellow he is, he chose 'breathe'.

About mid-morning, I realized that all I was thinking about were breasts. If you have been a nursing mom whose baby has suddenly not nursed for a long period of time, you will know what I mean! As a result, I determined that I needed to get a breast pump - and fast. Fortunately, one of my dear friends has a pump belonging to another dear friend, which she agreed to loan to me. Although I am not an experienced pumper, I managed to 'download' 6 oz. pretty quick! Now, at least I can think about blogging about breasts.

Editing to add a picture of what my 'breast-friend' and I are doing to maintain our snuggly closeness during this little phase. :)

Later on, we will try nursing in the bathtub.

Have any of you had a baby on a nursing strike? What did you do to get them through it?

Dyeing, Spinning and Knitting!

2009-02-09T12:07:00.002-05:00

I'm hopelessly cheap...errrr, I mean frugal. However, I do love beautiful sock yarn. If you aren't a sock knitter, you probably can't understand why anyone would pay $20 plus for a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn that will make one pair of socks when you could just go out and buy a whole finished pair of socks for a couple of bucks. Well, I can only say that if you knitted socks, you would understand.

I knit fairly quickly, so I am always on the lookout for good deals. Recently, I schemed up the idea to spin and dye my own sock yarn. There were two hurdles to overcome here. First of all, I wasn't aware you could purchase superwash fibre with nylon to spin. (This is the kind of yarn I like for my socks because it is washable and durable.) Second, I didn't actually have any clue how to spin.

I came across The Black Lamb and a super-amazing deal on mill-ends roving that was superwash with nylon! I was thrilled and ordered some right away. It actually arrived the next day! Woo hoo! Hurdle number one solved.

Hurdle number two, the part about my not knowing how to spin, was to be solved at my mom's. My mom is an accomplished spinner, having spun the fleece from their own sheep and made sweaters and lots of other wonderful handmade items for years. Although my first spinning lesson went well, it was evident that I was not going to be whipping up skeins and skeins of sock yarn in the next short while. So, my mom saved me. :) She spun up some of the roving into lovely yarn without my even asking. Thanks, Mom!

I decided that the first pair should go to my mom, seeing as she did so much work. I started a pattern called, Betty Cable Socks. (This is a Ravelry download, so you must be a member there to get it.) It does have errors, so I wouldn't run out and download it if you are not at least a little experienced in sock knitting. If you are, you should be able to easily spot the errors and correct them. I am also not sure about the effect of reversing the cables as I go up the leg. You can see the 'loops' in the picture, near the working ends of the socks.

Well, I'm off to homeschool skating with the kids. It is a beautiful, sunny day outside, as it was yesterday. It is such a good feeling when you know Spring will be arriving in the near future. :)

The cheaper the better?

2009-02-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

Photo courtesy of avlxyz

It is not easy to live on one income these days, particularly with a large family. I am continually aware of the cost of gas, of sources for inexpensive clothing (the thrift store and hand-me-downs are my best friends!), of ways to save on electricity and the necessities of life. When searching for money-saving tips, I often come across articles on cutting the grocery budget. Sometimes, these articles are fabulous, offering great tips on eating real food and preparing it from scratch. However, I do come across lots of them that just don't sit really well with me. Sometimes, I find the authors seem almost hooked on the idea of getting the cheapest 'food' (and I use that term loosely) no matter what.

In our family, I try to cook as economically as possible, but the bottom line is not how cheaply we can eat. It is how healthy we can eat. It is about the nutritive value of what we put into our mouths, not the price tag. There are lots of foods with high nutritive value and a low price tag. Dried beans are a good example. There are also lots of foods with a high price tag and low nutritive value. A good portion of what you find in the average grocery store is a good example of that.

I took out a cookbook from the library a couple of days ago, called Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook by Jamie Oliver. I had heard he was a kindred spirit in terms of his love for real food and I was not disappointed. As I browsed through the chapters, I was struck by some of his comments on meat, which I would like to share with you. I think these apply to all food, but for some reason, especially so to meat.

Jamie shares that it is amazing how people are so aware of quality and value in the products they purchase. They know which brands are important to them and will often pay a hefty price for just the right one. He asks the reader to imagine he has just gone to the pub and asked for a particular brand of beer. If the pub doesn't have it, he will ask for a second favourite. If they don't have that, he will probably never return. He will certainly not say, 'What is the absolute cheapest beer you have?' Jamie adds, "When kids go to buy running shoes, they don't say to Mom, 'Any pair will do, the cheaper the better,' they are totally specific: Adidas, Nike - the ones with the blue stripes, the tag on the back, whatever."

The story is completely different when it comes to meat (and most other food, too.) Most people don't care where it "comes from, how it's been fed, looked after, slaughtered or butchered." Isn't that the truth? I would say that in our culture, people care almost exclusively about cost. I think most people believe that the nutrients and quality of the food they eat will remain the same no matter how cheap it gets. Sadly, that is far from the truth. In order to lower the price, corners must be cut. In the case of meat, this happens when animals are fed as cheaply as possible and housed as cheaply as possible. The result of an animal eating improperly is that the resulting meat will suffer in terms of quality and nutritive value. Remember, "You are what you eat?" There is an excellent article on one of the nutritive differences, specifically omega 3/6 ratio, between grass-fed animals and standard grocery store fare on Dr. Mercola's site. I really encourage you to have a look at it. (It is not at all difficult to understand, in case you are concerned about that!)

I remember last year at Christmas time, a local department store proudly displayed on the sign outside their store, "Shrimp Rings: 2/$3". Ugh.

Nightweaning in our Attachment Parenting Family

2009-02-05T08:22:00.008-05:00

Photo Courtesy of My Aim is True

Nursing a little baby in the still of night can be magical. The whole house is quiet. Your husband is asleep. It is just the two of you. The moonlight drapes over your sweet, chubby baby as he snuggles beside you in your big, warm bed. Bliss.

When thinking of nightweaning, please keep in mind that night nursing is partly a habit, yes, but it is not a bad habit like smoking. You cannot simply prune a nursing away until they are all gone. (I never understood that advice, because who knows how many times I nurse at night, anyway?!) It is a completely adaptive behaviour with benefits for the child and the mom. Please don't take this post as my suggestion that everyone should nightwean at any particular age. If you are happy with night nursing your older baby or child, that's great. :)

However, I choose to nightwean my babies somewhere between 12-18 months for two reasons. First of all, my fertility works in such a way that night nursing is a sure thing that I will not conceive again. Secondly, by 12-18 months, I believe our babies are capable of learning to go the night without needing food and not nursing during the night helps me get a better night's sleep.

I would like to share with you the way that we go about nightweaning in our family. Having nightweaned 5 children so far, I have learned a few things that work well for us. These might not be the same in your family situation, of course.

Children who have unlimited/almost unlimited access to the breast are very unlikely to give up night nursing on their own. I don't mean they will never give it up, but it will probably not happen on its own in the first couple of years.
Children who no longer nurse at night may or may not immediately start sleeping through the night, but nightweaning (once completed) has never made my sleep worse. The only exception is getting to sleep. Prolactin knocks me out like nothing else. :)
In our family, children 2 1/2 years and up seem to give up night nursing very easily. At this age, explanations, preparation and alternatives work well.
For younger children (12-18 months is when I wean these days), cold turkey seems to be the most gentle and quickest way to go because it is not confusing to the child.
Night weaning a child before 2 1/2 years may require a lot of parental resolve. It might not be too pretty.

Our first two children were nightweaned later, at ages 3 (that's years old) and 2 1/2 years. This was my method:

During the day, explain nightweaning in whatever terms your child will understand. You may choose to say we won't be having nee nee until the sun is up or until Daddy gets up for work or whatever you decide. Also, explain what the child can do when he wakes, such as have a drink of water (show the sippy cup as a visual reminder), hold hands, etc.
Repeat step 2 several times during the day.
If you are nursing to sleep, you will probably want to continue for now, but you are the mom, so whatever you think will work is great.
When the child wakes, simply follow through on what you decided on for alternatives. (I should interject that some families like to have mom sleep elsewhere and dad take over. We haven't done that, but several friends have and find it works very well.)

If this is something you have decided you really want, stick to your guns and don't give in in the heat of the moment. Don't convince yourself that your child is hungry, or else you are likely to try to give him a snack (or a nurse). The idea is to try to help the child sleep, not to wake him up. Most children in our culture are not nursing during the night. I am not saying this is the golden standard. I am just saying that they are sleeping all night and not eating -- and not starving. Thirst is another issue, though. Lots of adults need a drink of water during the night, so it makes sense that a child might, too. Offering a sippy cup of water, I think, is an important element.

For our children ages 12-18 months, I do something similar:

Decide ahead of time if this is something you really want as opposed to something you just want to try. If you really want this, you will need to be very clear, purposeful and guilt-free in your own mind because your child will probably cry a fair bit. While this doesn't seem ideal to me, I believe it is a small sacrifice our children make for me and for our family. I sacrifice lots for my children and I don't think this is a huge deal. When I think of the fit our 10 month old has when I take him off the stairs and put up the baby gate - for his own safety - I realize that just because a child cries does not mean they are indicating a need. Little babies wants and needs are the same, but this does not apply to older babies and children.
Try to get a good night's sleep the night before you start nightweaning. I know you are doing this because you want to sleep better, but do whatever you can. Go to bed early, have a nap or whatever you need to do. Going into this exhausted will not be beneficial.
I really don't see much point in explaining things ahead of time to a child of this age. I know children understand a lot more than we give them credit for, but this age is pretty little. Children this age live in the moment, so I don't believe they can really understand the concept of what will happen later that night.
Assemble supplies: sippy cup with water, a special soft toy (if your child has one -- most attachment parented kids don't), your loving arms and lots of resolve.
Ahead of time, pick a time you won't nurse before. You may choose to go until 5:30am or you might choose to go for 3am, which is a very common 'awake' time for babies everywhere. I think expecting a child to go from 7pm-7am without nursing on the first night is a bit much. I generally go for 5:30am. Whatever you decide, make sure you decide ahead of time. We want as little 'deciding' happening in the heat of the moment as possible.
Nurse to sleep as usual, if that is what you do.
When your baby wakes up, don't jump in at the very first fuss. I think I often wake my children up by pouncing on them as soon as I hear them stir. Give them a minute to see if their fussing is going to escalate into a cry or just fade out.
If he is crying, try cuddling first. Keep the end in mind. We want the child to learn to sleep through the night without waking, so we are working from the alternative that is least disturbing to their sleep to the ones that may have them more awake, if needed. So, don't haul them out of bed and try the sippy cup first. And, certainly don't try changing a diaper on the first fuss!
It is okay for them to be crying in your arms. It is very unlikely that you will be able to avoid their crying -- and there may be lots of it. If you really want this, take the attitude that you are going to do your best to help them through this hurdle. I find that, depending on the child, cold turkey can involve insane amounts of crying the first night, a fair bit the next night, but it is smoother sailing from there. After a week, our babies are often sleeping through the night or at least not needing a whole lot of hands-on parenting.

Our youngest is 10 months old, so I will be referring to this post in a few months. I'm not sure when I will be able to be bothered...maybe in the summer??

Pomatomus Socks...All Done!

2009-02-03T10:48:00.003-05:00

There is one good thing about being sick. Unless I had a terrible, hand-crushing incident, I'd still be able to knit. :) I managed to finish my Pomatomus Socks. They were a challenging knit and I am really happy that I tried them. They didn't end up being nearly as hard as I thought they might be.

Bitten by the Bug

2009-02-03T07:24:00.003-05:00

...the flu bug, that is! I will spare you a photo.

We are very rarely sick, so everything kind of shuts down when we end up with an illness. (My 10 year old son, with the immune system of steel, of course is not sick at all.) I think we are on the mend, but I wanted to apologize for not posting in the last few days. I do have a post on night-weaning drafted out which I will post in the next day or two. I also have a cool knitting project to show you when I can get a picture up.

I hope everyone is making lots of whole wheat bread! I gave six of my loaves to my sister on the weekend so I need to use my new mixer again. Darn. ;)

The Art of Bread Making

2009-01-29T13:12:00.010-05:00

I love making bread. I have been making our family's bread for just about as long as I can remember. As a result, it is very easy for me and I can whip up a few loaves at a moment's notice. (Okay, I actually need about 3 hours notice, but you know what I mean). Homemade bread is so wonderful that when you bring a loaf to someone, they act as if you have just mastered French pastry-making!

One time, I can remember, we were having a backyard barbecue for a few friends. It was raspberry season and I had gone the day before to pick raspberries with my sister. I slaved over the making of two wonderful raspberry/peach pies. I poured my heart into them, even making woven lattice for the top. I couldn't wait to offer them to my guests. A few hours before they were to arrive, I got concerned that we might not have enough food, so I decided to whip up a few loaves of bread. Absent-mindedly, I tossed the loaves together and baked them.

When dinnertime arrived, the comments rolled forth about my bread. "Oh, this is the best bread I've ever tasted." "Oh, I can't believe you make homemade bread." "How in the world do you do this?" "I could never make bread. It is so difficult." I don't think it took more than about 20 minutes of my actual attention. When I served the pies, which were delicious I might add, I think a couple of people said they were good. Humph. THOSE had taken forever!

Many times, I get asked for my bread recipe, which I willingly share. However, several times the recipient has told me their bread didn't turn out the way mine did. That is because bread-making is an art, not a science. You can't just get a recipe, follow it exactly and have great bread. There are a number of factors at work:

the bread-maker's intuition (which comes from experience)
the quality of the ingredients (type of flour, freshness of yeast, type of fat/sweetner, etc.)
the equipment used (oven temperature, pans, mixer, etc.)
the environment (temperature, humidity)

Keeping these factors in mind, I would like to share my bread recipe/method with you. This is a basic recipe for a 5 qt. Kitchen-Aid. Bosch users can double the recipe. It can also be halved. In fact, you can adjust it just about any way you like. :) It's a free country. Also, following, I will share my recipe for a 20 qt. Hobart mixer. Through trial and error, I have found that our family likes mostly whole-wheat, but not totally whole wheat. This recipe yields a bread that is about 2/3:1/3. This is kind of a tutorial, though I don't have very many pictures. Let's get started.

Mostly Whole-Wheat Bread
makes 3 - 1 1/2 lb loaves

3 c. warm water
1 T. yeast
1/4 c. fat (I prefer melted butter or coconut oil)
1/4 c. sweetener (I use either honey or organic unrefined sugar -- use whatever you like, but no artificial sweeteners, please! We are trying to feed the yeast and yeast, unlike humans, is too smart to consume them.)
1 T. salt (I use a coarse, unrefined gray salt)
6 c. hard wheat berries if you have a grain grinder or 6 cups whole-wheat bread flour, if you don't
3-4 c. unbleached bread flour
1/3 c. gluten flour

(A note about flour: In doing the detective work with people who have told me their bread didn't turn out as well as mine, I have found the culprit is often the flour. The grocery store just doesn't seem like it is a very good place to buy flour. We have purchased for years from a local flour mill and can now buy the same flour at a small local store. (The mill stopped selling directly.) Grinding your own wheat is also an option with many benefits. Alternatively, you could try a food buying co-op or a health food store or maybe a local bakery. The exact brand of flour is not the issue. It is the freshness. Find good, fresh flour and your bread will be much better. Be sure to get 'bread' flour, not all-purpose. It has the highest protein content, making well-developed gluten.)

Place the water in the mixer bowl with the yeast. Stir a little to combine. Leave it to sit for a few minutes while you melt the butter. Yes, you can do this in the microwave and I admit that I often do, but it really isn't good for your food. Just get out a little pot and melt it on the stove. Stir in the salt and sweetener and combine. It doesn't matter if they dissolve. Grind your wheat if you are doing so.

Add the whole wheat flour, gluten flour and butter/salt/sugar mixture to the bowl. Put on the dough hook and turn on the mixer (stir speed at first, then speed 2 when the flour is no longer in danger of flying out) to combine everything. Once it looks pretty uniform, you can either leave it to sit for 15 minutes or so (sometimes I do, mostly I don't) or you can just start adding in your unbleached flour.

With the mixer running on stir speed, I add in the first couple of cups of remaining flour one cup at a time. Allow the dough to assimilate the flour before adding more. After the first two cups, I start adding it 1/4 c. at a time, mixing well after each addition. Knowing when to stop adding flour is a learned skill. You want to watch for the dough to start cleaning the side of the bowl. At first, when there is not enough flour added, you will notice that the dough will start sticking more to the sides. Add some more flour and wait patiently for it to assimilate. Eventually, it will become a nice smooth ball and will clean up the bowl. (If you aren't sure, err on the side of a little too sticky.) Now, you can turn the mixer up to speed 2 to knead the dough.

Knowing when to stop kneading is also a learned skill. With the Kitchen Aid, I find it is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 6 minutes. However, this is a very general guideline. When you think the dough looks nice and smooth and has kneaded for awhile, stop the mixer and pull off a golf-ball sized piece of dough. It should feel a bit like your earlobe. More importantly, though, you can do the 'window test'.

As you can see in the above picture, when stretched, I can see light through my dough without it ripping. This means the gluten has developed enough and the bread is ready to be set aside to rise. If you try to stretch it and you cannot get a window without it ripping, be patient and knead it some more until you can.

Remove the dough from the bowl and put a little splash of oil in the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and turn it around in the oil to coat both the dough and the bowl. Now, cover the dough. It would be much more romantic and healthier to cover the dough with a nice cloth. However, I find that I end up with dough sticking to the cloth, even if I wet it. I hate to post this, but I actually cover it with a plastic bag. (I'm so sorry.) I find it keeps the dough from drying out.

Place the bowl in a warm oven. 110 degrees is ideal, but many ovens don't have a 'proofing' setting. I was seriously ticked off when we bought a new stove and I found out it didn't go below 170 degrees. Apparently, the manufacturers think people are too dumb to cook their food at an appropriate temperature, so they make the oven unable to go below a setting which will sterilize the food. We need the yeast to stay alive to rise the bread, so killing it will not do. What I do is, begrudgingly, put my dough in the oven, set the temperature to 170, turn the timer on for 2 minutes and turn the oven off when it beeps. At no time do I open the door. This seems to work well.

Let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour or so. Punch it down to deflate it and squish it up a bit. Now, I suggest using a kitchen scale, but you don't have to. Measure out 1 1/2 lbs of dough, or just cut it into about 3 equal parts. I like measuring because then they all turn out even. Of course, adjust quantities up or down a little to even things up.

Prepare your pans. My friend, Elisa, shared a kitchen secret that has changed my life. If you combine 1/2 quantity of liquid lecithin with 1/2 quantity of oil, mixed together and brush this very lightly on your pans, grains will never stick to them. It is like magic. No more muffins sticking to the pans. No more bread ripping off in chunks. It is wonderful stuff. :)

(A note about pans. The type of pan you use makes a difference, particularly when baking whole wheat bread. Whole wheat bread needs a slightly narrower pan for support than white bread. My favourite pans are Norpro, which I bought here. She also has great bread bags, by the way. I was also lucky enough to find a few very similar pans with the namebrand 'Kaiser' at Winners, but I haven't seen any there since.)

Shape into loaves. To do this, I form each piece into a ball and then pinch the bottom in a few times. Making nicely shaped loaves is another learned skill. :) Place in pans and return to oven. Make sure they have lots of space around them to rise. Warm oven as above and leave to rise. Watch until the loaves are risen a bit less than you want them to be in the end. Leave them in the oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees F.

Bake somewhere around 45 minutes, give or take. Knowing when to take the bread out is...say it with me, now...a learned skill. I watch for:

smell - you can tell when they are done because the house just smells right -- like super-yummy bread, not too yeasty and not overdone. You will get to know the smell. (You can use the smell method for cakes, too, by the way.)
sight - the bread will be nicely browned all over
sound - if you tap the bottom, it should sound hollow. I admit that I don't completely get this one, but it might be helpful for you.

If you aren't sure, err on the side of a little overbaked, rather than underbaked. Another 5 mintues at 350 degrees won't hurt.

Tip the loaves out right away and leave them on a rack to cool. Let them cool as long as your self-control allows before slicing. 30 minutes is pretty good. If you slice them before this, you will probably crush them. I have also heard that too much steam will escape and the remaining bread will dry out too quickly, but we don't have experience with any 'remaining' bread. ;)

Bread Recipe for 20 qt. Hobart Mixer
makes 12 - 1 1/2 lb loaves

12 cups warm water
1/4 c. yeast
1 c. honey/sugar
1 c. melted butter/coconut oil
1/4 c. salt
3/4 c. gluten flour
20 c. hard wheat berries
Approx 8 c. unbleached bread flour

I combine everything but the unbleached flour and then leave to sit for 15 minutes, or just jump into the next step. I follow the basic method outlined above, except that I add in the flour 1 c. at a time. I timed how long I had to knead after adding all the flour and was very surprised that it took 20 minutes on speed 1 before the dough passed the window test.

I need to do two bakings, since my oven will only really hold 6 loaves at a time.

I hope this is helpful to you! I love helping others learn to make bread and would be happy to answer any questions in the comments section. :)

Organizing more than I bargained for.

2009-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today I thought I would tackle cleaning out the cabinet under our kitchen sink. It houses a few cleaning products, the dish rack (so it isn't on the counter all the time), the crock pot and some junk. It is all just kind of shoved in there with no organization and I didn't like it one bit. So, I found a sturdy plastic bin to house all the cleaning supplies and I was ready to hunt down the junk and leave the cupboard nice and tidy.

I got started and noticed that things seemed to be kind of wet. Awhile ago, I had given baby guy his last sink bath. It was his last because he did an insane amount of jubilant splashing and made a large mess. I thought maybe this was leftover water that I had somehow missed. I pulled out a few more things and was horrified to find that the board at the bottom of the cupboard was completely wet. It was like a wood-sponge. Ewwwwwwww. Now, this board was lining the bottom of our cupboard because the previous owners of our house had some kind of leak, the bottom of the cupboard ended up with a hole and we just stuck a nice sturdy board on top of the hole instead of ripping out the whole bottom of the cupboard. Well, now I had to pull out the good board and survey the damage. At this point, I did what any capable adult woman would do. I called my dad.

I had to drive to the store to buy a flashlight because we never seem to have one. This one will stay in the kitchen and I will guard it with my life. With my trusty new flashlight, my dad coached me through the diagnostics and I discovered that it didn't seem to be coming from an actual pipe or the drain. The problem was around the plate at the base of the faucet. When Steve and I put in a new faucet a few months ago, we didn't caulk it. Whoops. Combined with the fact that the sprayer had twisted a bit loose and would pour out water along the hose every time the tap was turned on, we had a fair bit of water under the counter.

I had to pull everything out from the surrounding cupboards to check for water. Of course, with everything out, it was a good time to wipe down the insides of all the cupboards, a job that - in all honestly- rarely gets done. We tightened up the sprayer, caulked around the faucet and have banned everyone from using the kitchen sink for 24 hours until the caulking is good and cured.

I must say...if I had to choose between having a functional kitchen sink and not having a functional kitchen sink, I'd choose to have one.

Awarded!

2009-01-26T21:10:00.004-05:00

Woohoo! I am so excited. I got an AWARD! That is an honour for me since it was given to me by a reader and fellow blogger. :) Thanks so much, Debbie.

Anyway, though I can't think of 10 blogs to award, I would like to pass this award onto the following worthy and wonderful blogs:

Eyes of Wonder
Large Family Mothering
PeaceLedge
The Garden Gate
Elsa Beauty
Herbs and Health

Congratulations, ladies! To claim your award, you need to:
Thank the person who gave the award to you, post the award on your blog or on a post, nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude, link to the people you chose on your post, and comment on their blogs to tell them about the award! Don't forget to click on the image in this post so you can display your award in a sidebar. :)

That was so funny I forgot to laugh.

2009-01-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Photo courtesy of Márcio Cabral de Moura

Oh my gosh. I just finished listening to my children sing about 1,000 different versions of "I see London, I see France, I can see your underpants." Is there no mercy for the hardworking mother?

I have something to tell you.

2009-01-23T10:29:00.005-05:00

My red mixer is broken.

I happened awhile ago as I was mixing up a batch of 9 loaves of bread. I heard a clunk that didn't sound at all good, along with a nasty dragging sound. The hook had stopped turning. Very worried, I took out the dough, which by this time was pretty much done and turned on the mixer briefly. Nope. It was definitely seriously broken.

Upon investigation at the repair shop, it was discovered that a gear was broken. It had been repaired before, apparently, but the problem was not at all helped by the fact that it was completely dry. Jim, the wonderful man who gave us the mixer, had told me he had greased it, but we needed to do it again before using it. I didn't and that is why it broke. It is not a nice feeling to know you have been responsible for breaking an antique Hobart!

Our main problem at this point was to try to find a new part. It was not going to be easy as Hobart is not able to identify the model number of my mixer since it is an antique. My dad said he would take on the task of trying to find something.

The next thing I knew, though, my dad called to tell me he was driving to a little town a couple of hours away to buy me a new Hobart! (Well, not new. Probably by now you know what I mean when I say, 'new'. We do have a certain level of thriftiness to uphold, afterall.) Steve and my dad took a long drive last Friday and arrived home with this:

It is a 20qt. A-200 Hobart. I am floored. What a blessed mama I am to be surrounded by such incredibly generous family members. Imagine being given two Hobarts! I was immediately back in the bread factory business. Yesterday, I mixed up another 12 loaves. Here are the first six in my oven, ready to start rising:

I was thrilled to be baking bread again and our tummies were very happy, too. Sadly, though, my heart was still heavy. I had been given a beautiful, antique mixer by two very kind and generous people, we had it painted up to be a stunning accent in our kitchen (some people thought it looked like a fire hydrant, but what do they know?), baked up a few large batches of bread and cookies and proceeded to break it. It seemed such a shame to just abandon it for lack of a gear. I prayed for a solution for several days.

I hadn't told many people about the mixer breaking, as it was too sad for me. However, one day I shared the news with a dear friend. After consoling me (and congratulating me on the new one), she asked me what I was going to do with the old one. I had my answer. Her husband believes he knows someone who can make a replacement part. She will give the mixer a new home as she bakes bread for her five children and I can still come and visit it. Thank-you, Lord!

Knitting: Charts vs. Text Directions featuring Pomatomus Socks

2009-01-22T08:56:00.002-05:00

(This is a little bit of knitting technical stuff, so if you aren't into knitting, feel free to skip today's post. Mostly, it is to be a home for the text directions I've 'interpreted' from a chart of a sock pattern I am working on. I want to be able to link others here who prefer text directions.)

When knitting, there are two ways instructions for the pattern are written, in text or chart format. A chart uses symbols to represent the different stitches to be worked. Text format just tells you outright. Some people's minds work in such a way that the symbols just make perfect sense to them and are very easy to understand. Other people find it tedious to work with symbols because their mind never seems to 'click' to get into the rhythm of understanding them this way and a lot of effort is required to knit from a chart as a result. I am this second type of person. I just need it spelled out for me.

I had been working on some new, lovely socks called Pomatomus Socks. The designer, a knitting genius, has a mind that just seems to 'see' the pattern from the symbols on a chart, so her patterns are often written this way. I was enjoying the pattern, but finding it very tedious, so I decided to type up the directions in text. To make them easy to follow, I created a little set of index cards that I could flip over as I completed two rounds.

Here is how to make your own cards like I did:

Type up the text instructions from the chart, round by round. (Of course, copy mine below if you are doing Pomatomus socks.)
Double and triple check them, making corrections as necessary.
In your word document, set up the page in 'Landscape', change to 'two columns', and add two spaces between each round of instructions.
(I changed the font to 14.)
Print the pages out.
Cut the directions out into strips of two rounds at a time.
Glue the strips onto index cards (so that two rounds are on each card).
Hole-punch the cards and put them onto a little ring.

I believe that I heard this idea from Kelley Petkun on my favourite kn itting podcast, KnitPicks.

If you are here just for the text directions for Pomatomus Socks, here you go:

Cookie A’s Pomatomus Socks

Chart A (each line is repeated 6 times per round)

Round 1: (K1 tbl, P1) 5 times, K2tog tbl, YO

Round 2: (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, P1, YO

Round 3: (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, k2tog tbl, P1, K1 tbl, YO

Round 4: (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, P1, K1 tbl, P1, YO

Round 5: (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K2tog tbl, (P1, K tbl) 2 times, YO

Round 6: (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1, YO

Round 7: (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, YO

Round 8: K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, P1, YO
Round 9: K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, YO

Round 10: K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, P1, YO

Round 11: K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 5 times, YO

Round 12: YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 5 times, K2tog tbl

Round 13: P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl

Round 14: P1, K1 tbl, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K2tog tbl

Round 15: P1, K1 tbl, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl

Round 16: (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K2tog tbl

Round 17: (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl

Round 18: (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl

Round 19: (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, P1, YO, K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl

Round 20: (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, YO, K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl

Round 21: (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, P1, YO, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl

Round 22: (P1, K1 tbl) 5 times, YO, K2tog tbl

Chart B

Round 1: *(K1 tbl, P1) 5 times, K2tog tbl, YO, repeat from *, (K1 tbl, P1) 5 times, Sl 2, Place sl sts back on left needle, K3tog tbl, YO

Round 2: *(K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, P1, YO, repeat twice more from *

Round 3: *(K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, k2tog tbl, P1, K1 tbl, YO, repeat twice more from *

Round 4: *(K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, P1, K1 tbl, P1, YO, repeat twice more from *

Round 5: *(K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K2tog tbl, (P1, K tbl) 2 times, YO, repeat twice more from *

Round 6: YO, *(K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1, YO, repeat from *, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1

Round 7: K 1 tbl, YO, *(K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, YO, repeat from *, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1

Round 8: K1 tbl, P1, YO, *K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, P1, YO, repeat from *, K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1
Round 9: K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, YO, *K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, YO, repeat from *, K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1

Round 10: (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, YO, *K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, P1, YO, repeat from *, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1

Round 11: (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, YO, *K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 5 times, YO, repeat from *, K2tog tbl, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1

Round 12: (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl, *YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 5 times, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 13: K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, *P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 14: K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl, *P1, K1 tbl, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 4 times, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, P1, K1 tbl, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 15: K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, *P1, K1 tbl, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, P1, K1 tbl, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 16: K2tog tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 17: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, repeat from *, (P1, K1 tbl) 2 times, P1, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 3 times

Round 18: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, YO, (K1 tbl, P1) 2 times, K2tog tbl, repeat twice more from *

Round 19: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 3 times, P1, YO, K1 tbl, P1, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, repeat twice more from *

Round 20: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, YO, K1 tbl, P1, K2tog tbl, repeat twice more from *

Round 21: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 4 times, P1, YO, K1 tbl, K2tog tbl, repeat twice more from *

Round 22: K1 tbl, *(P1, K1 tbl) 5 times, YO, K2tog tbl, repeat twice more from *

Need a great story for bedtime tonight?

2009-01-21T15:06:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of YlvaS

I just finished reading this story aloud to the children as we cozied under a blanket. It is a hilarious story for everyone, but it is a must read if you have boys! You know you have a living story on your hands when adults' and children's imaginations all run wild. :)

Boys and Girls are Different

2009-01-21T11:14:00.001-05:00

Here is some recently shared wisdom from my three-year-old:

Boys have a peanut. Girls have a china.

Just in case you didn't know.

The Art of Being 'On Time'

2009-01-20T06:52:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of laffy4k

This is definitely a learned art, except for those few very lucky people to whom it seems to come naturally. It does not come naturally to me, though I am learning. I think the biggest secret is I have come to accept the reality that, left to my own devices, I have no realistic concept of time. My husband, on the other hand, is always on time. He gets to places nice and early, with time to get a coffee if he wants or just get into his meeting, help set up chairs, and take off his coat. We have been married nearly 18 years and it was only about two years ago that I decided he might actually have something to teach me.

I watched him for awhile and realized that he started getting ready to go WAY before the idea would have ever even occurred to me. If he is going to hockey after the kids are in bed, he will start getting his hockey stuff together after work. When leaving for church on Sundays, he will suggest getting the kids' coats on at least 10 minutes before I would have started. He is either one of those lucky people who have a built-in realistic clock or he has learned the art of being on time.

As someone without a realistic internal clock, here is what I do:
First of all, I listen to Steve if he says we have to get ready at a particular time. I used to always disagree, saying, "Oh, we don't have to leave then. We don't want to be too early." HUH?! Why not? And, was this ever really a problem for me, anyway? Nope.

Second, I take a couple of minutes to make a realistic mini-schedule for myself. This is a little secret that has helped me immensely in the art of being on time. Yesterday, we had homeschool skating as we do every week. I took out a little scrap of paper and wrote the time skating begins and the kids have to be on the ice. Next, I wrote when we wanted to arrive at the arena. Then, I worked backwards writing the things we had to do to get ready to go and assigning lots of time to each thing. Here's how it turned out:

11:10am Heat up soup
11:15am Pack Car
11:25am Eat Lunch
12:15pm Get outerwear on and get out to car
12:45pm Arrive at Art Store (I had an errand)
1:10pm Arrive at rink
1:30pm Skating starts

We arrived on time and the kids were ready to go when they needed to be. The great thing about making a mini-schedule is that there are all kinds of little checks in place to keep you on track. It is hard to remember that it takes a long time to get several children ready to go, especially in the winter.

Well, I'd better go take my own advice. We have a very busy week and we need to get ready to go!

Home Blessing as a Family: Step Two

2009-01-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of merwing

I am re-vamping our Home Blessing schedule and assignments. If you would like to join me, please head over to my first post on the topic for your first step.

If you worked alongside me, you will now have your room-by-room task lists completed. Were you as surprised as I was how many little jobs there are needing to be done? I think I need to get myself some more kids!

The next step is deciding how often you would like to have each task done. I suggest you assign the frequency of the tasks according to your realistic ideals. So, dream a little, but don't be silly. An organized home is a blessing, but there is more to life than housework.

I am going to take my notebook and simply note beside each task one of the following:

D - for daily
EOD - for every other day
W - for weekly
BW- for bi weekly
M - for monthly
EOM - for every other month (my 14 year old is reading over my shoulder and groaned when I wanted to put 'BM' for bi-monthly)

If a task needs to be done less frequently than every other month, I would consider that to be different than the regular maintenance tasks we are scheduling here and would take it off the list.

After making the above notes, I am going to enter the tasks into the computer in an Excel spreadsheet to make things easier for the next step. My next post on Home Blessing as a Family will be about that. :)

Charlotte Mason Basics: Composition

2009-01-18T17:35:00.004-05:00

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but...once again, Charlotte Mason's method for this subject is simple, effective and natural. Charlotte's students learned composition by continually reading living books and narrating what they had read.

Throughout history, one of the most effective and most common ways people acquired skills was to apprentice. In an apprentice relationship, the apprentice works alongside the master craftsman, assisting him in his work, all the while learning the life skills necessary to one day continue on his own as a master craftsman himself. The apprentice does real work while he gains an understanding of the art and practical skills his master shares with him.

Narration, the simple retelling of what a child has read or heard read, is composition. In effect, the children are the apprentices of master craftsmen like Charles Dickens, Thornton Burgess, Beatrix Potter, and C. S. Lewis. The children study directly under the authors (by reading their works), learning their style, paying close attention to the way each author weaves a story together, the vocabulary they use, the structure of their sentences. They learn what sound right and what doesn't. They learn when to use colourful descriptions and how to make use of quotations. The best part is they learn it all simply by performing the most enjoyable of tasks -- retelling the story they have read.

In Charlotte's schools, the children narrated orally beginning at age 6. Continuing with oral narration, written narration was added at about age 10. Formal and specific teaching in 'essay-style' writing was not added until age 14 and was fairly minimal. Charlotte found that when children were experienced in oral and written composition through narration, the skills of learning essay writing were very simple. I have also found this to be true. With my 14 year old daughter this year, the teaching of essay writing was essentially a one-afternoon task. It was so simple because she had long-ago learned the art of effective composition and storytelling. Describing and implementing the essay format was very basic and she picked it up effortlessly.

A word about beginning written composition/narration: for the first couple of years, I encourage you to allow your child to just write without giving them any rules to follow. Let the flow of their writing develop without their feeling hampered by trying to remember to vary the length of their sentences, to use quotation marks in just the right spots, etc. I like to help our children make a 'good copy' of their written narrations later on. This is eased by the use of the computer, which makes correcting a simple task. In our family, I have our children do a combination of handwritten and typed narrations.

We are conditioned to think that to truly learn something, it must in the boring format of: memorizing a formula with lots of rules and applying them in workbook/test format. Anything else seems almost a bit of a gamble. In reality, though, how many of us would be operated on by a surgeon who had never worked directly under another surgeon? What about having your house wired by an electrician who had never actually seen anyone do proper wiring? The real gamble, then, is to assume our children can ever learn to write effectively without studying under master writers.

Karen Andreola, in The Charlotte Mason Companion, says that Charlotte's method of learning composition is so simple that it feels as if we are cheating. That is music to this hard-working, homeschooing mom's ears.

Made up and ready to go!

2009-01-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have loved make-up since I was thirteen. I remember being on a grade 8 school trip to our nation's capital, Ottawa. I had $40 of babysitting money all to myself to spend anyway I wanted. Our chaperones let us loose in the mall (???) and a friend and I headed for the nearest drugstore where I blew all $40 on a bunch of CoverGirl. I never looked back.

Each day, I would faithfully rise early and spend about an hour or an hour and a half doing my hair and make up. In 9th grade, it took a long time to get that ridiculous poof of bangs just right on the top of my head. Of course, at lunch hour, I would also need to head to the bathroom to 'refresh' my hair and makeup. Fortunately, I had an extra stash of makeup and a butane curling iron in my locker.

Nowdays, my make up routine is much simpler and I have graduated beyond CoverGirl. Sometimes my routine is non-existent, but I admit that I do feel great when I have put on a bit of make up and done my hair a little. (I don't do the poof anymore, though.)

If you are a mama who likes make-up, I thought you might enjoy this great post on applying mascara. I enjoy reading the Elsa Beauty blog and I found her post particularly helpful.

Charlotte Mason Basics in the Real Life Home

2009-01-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

...means that I do what I can, but sometimes I can't post as I've planned. Today was a very full day and I didn't get to prepare my post as I'd hoped. I will do my best to get it posted this weekend. I do have a post scheduled for tomorrow, but it isn't Charlotte Mason-y at all. :)

Thanks for your patience! You are all very important to me and I truly appreciate your time and your reading my blog so faithfully. :)

Quiet Time Challenge Check-In

2009-01-15T17:00:00.001-05:00

How is everyone doing on their quiet time? I almost decided to miss mine a couple of nights ago when it was quite late, baby guy was still awake and I was pretty tired. However, I decided I would just read one chapter of the Bible (which is my normal amount) and pray for a few minutes with baby guy crawling around at my feet. I was so glad that I did. It reminded me that something is better than nothing. Sometimes I have a lot to give and sometimes I don't, but I'm going to do my best to give what I have...and I will try to slot it in earlier in the day, too!

I'm looking forward to covering teaching composition tomorrow as we continue our series on Charlotte Mason Basics.

Also, for those of you following along on the Home Blessing as a Family plan, make sure to have your room-by-room cleaning task lists ready for the next step on Monday. There is a sample here if you need some inspiration.

Oatmeal for Breakfast...AGAIN?!?!

2009-01-15T07:38:00.004-05:00

Photo courtesy of Kristin Brenemen

We have oatmeal a lot for breakfast in the winter. I generally make steel cut oats and I try to make them interesting sometimes by adding home canned fruit or apples and cinnamon. By this time of year though, I am hearing a bit of grumbling - and it isn't their hungry tummies.

However, I will not give in and buy cold breakfast cereal. I buy high-quality cold cereal occasionally in the summer, though I always prefer homemade granola. In the winter, though, it isn't happening. This morning, I came across a post at Robin's Heart of Wisdom/Heart at Home blog, which includes a huge list of toppings to spruce up oatmeal. Today is egg day at our house, but you can bet that tomorrow morning, I will be making jazzed up oatmeal!

Editing to add that I am not into all the 'low fat' and 'non fat' things she recommends. We will use this list as a stepping stone and substitute in the whole foods versions (or just skip some of the suggestions). Fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K, cannot be absorbed without fat. We, of course, don't microwave our oatmeal, either!

The Faithful Home Helper

2009-01-14T09:34:00.003-05:00

You have never met a more faithful or dedicated 10 month old baby. It amazes me how he searches out jobs that need to be done and does them. For example, we have a large bookshelf on our main floor that houses all the books we are currently using for homeschooling. Each day, several times, my baby guy will -- without being asked -- clear off all the shelves for us - faithfully cleaning them off so that they are spic and span. Also, we have a shoe shelf in our entranceway where everyone has a particular spot for their shoes. Baby guy will take the initiative once a day to clear off the whole shelf. It amazes me how tidy he likes the shelves to be.

Other examples? If there is anything placed on the coffee table, he is right on it. He clears it off for us in a flash. He is also very fond of making sure any baskets or bins are cleaned right out. If he comes across a bin with something in it, he will give it a quick turn over to make sure it is free and clear of any clutter. I only wish we could all be so motivated to keep things as tidy as he does.

He even likes to get involved in the daily table jobs. Three times a day, after each meal, it is my 10 year old son's job to vacuum under the table. No matter where baby guy is, no matter what he is doing, he will always drop everything to come right over and unplug the central vac again and again for us while the vacuuming is being done. No one asks him. He comes just like that. Isn't it amazing?!

Sewing + Knitting = Sewing for my Knitting!

2009-01-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

What could be better?!

I made a few of these bags to keep my WIPs (works-in-progress) organized. It makes it easy to toss a project into a bag and also easy to leave a project lying around without my baby terrorizing it. However, this bag would work for anytime you'd like to be able to quickly identify or label the contents inside.

This is simply a basic drawstring bag with a toggle and a clear window. I was too lazy and cheap to go to the fabric store for some vinyl for the window, so I started scrounging around the house to find something suitable. I came across a clear zipper bag that our sofa cover came in. I found that it had a totally unnecessary pocket inside, so I cut it out. (Actually, I ripped it because, again, I was too lazy to go get the scissors.) It was enough to make about a half dozen little identification windows.

I cut a piece of the vinyl about 2 x 3"...

Interruption: OH MY GOSH! You should see how much my sweet little baby is walking right this very minute!! Very exciting. I knew he was advanced. ;)

...and then I turned one short edge under just a little and topstitched. After that, all that was necessary was to topstitch the remaining three sides to the bag where I wanted the I.D. pocket to go. It was a cinch.

Socks for my Big Guy

2009-01-11T19:05:00.006-05:00

...as opposed to for my man or for my baby guy. ;)

My 10 year old son picked this yarn from my stash. I'm glad I asked him, as I had purchased some more boring guy-type plain colours and I thought he would have picked one of them, but he went for seriously snazzy. The pattern I used was Toe Up Jaywalkers. I did like the pattern, but I didn't believe I had to keep my gauge to the suggested and that got me into trouble. I normally knit a smidge tighter than suggested, as I like my socks to fit snuggly. With this pattern, though, it is not very stretchy at all, so you need to knit as written. My son can just barely get them over his instep! Oops! He certianly won't need the extra length I knit into them.

Here they are in all their colourful glory:

I'm now working on some plain vanilla (meaning just plain old knit -- though I'll probably rib the legs) socks for me and they are knitting up extremely quickly.

Sigh. I love knitting.

Professional Development for Homeschooling Moms

2009-01-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

I heard an excellent tip on professional development for homeschooling moms which I would like to share with you. At the beginning of our homeschool journey, we are often very excited and will gobble up any books we can get our hands-on about homeschooling. Over the years, we can easily allow our freshness to wear off as we become familiar with homeschooling and settle comfortably into our routine. The recommendation I heard was to purchase (and read!) one book each year on homeschooling philosophy, something which will give you fresh vision, a new perspective and a few exciting ideas.

Each year at my local homeschooling conference, I select one book which I think will inspire and encourage me. If you are interested in Charlotte Mason's philosophy, you might consider purchasing one of the books from yesterday's list. I am also partial to the Clarksons' books. Particularly Sally's books on mothering are wonderfully inspiring. I have been continually blessed by adopting this idea of professional development. Making sure that we, as homeschooling parents, are kept fresh ensures that we will have the fuel to keep our 'vehicles' running when the road is bumpy.

I hope you have a wonderful, refreshing weekend. :)

Charlotte Mason Basics: Resources for Parents

2009-01-09T08:43:00.004-05:00

It is such a pleasure to be a homeschooler in these days. We have a wealth of information and resources available to us. If we search any subject we are interested in, our search will turn up a relatively large selection of books and websites. Recently, Charlotte Mason has gained popularity, as parents search out a style of education that is natural, enjoyable and simple. As a result, books on using the Charlotte Mason approach in the modern homeschool have been written in recent years.

I thought I would kick the year off by suggesting a few print resources you might wish to look at if you are interested in learning more about Charlotte Mason's style of home education.

Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series: This is a meaty set of books that will give you the benefit of Charlotte's own thoughts on education. There are six volumes in her set. They are also available free online in their original language or in an updated, modern language, which some find more readable.

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola: A wonderfully written and illustrated, large - but not intimidating manual covering just about every facet of Charlotte Mason's style. The author has an obvious passion for this style and is a lovely, experienced homeschooling mother. (She is responsible for the republishing of Charlotte's works.)

Charlotte Mason Education: A How-to Manual by Catherine Levison: This is a quickly-read, crash-course in Charlotte Mason's style. Catherine does a lovely job of making the simplicity of Charlotte's style shine through.

More Charlotte Mason Education: A Homeschooling How-to Manual by Catherine Levison: A follow-up to the previous book, this one takes the reader further into some of the practical logistics, such as planning and scheduling, high school, and making a book of centuries.

When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy for Today by Elaine Cooper et. al.: This is my all-time favourite book on Charlotte Mason education. It is intensely readable, combining enough philosophy to empower the reader with a thorough understanding of the 'whys' behind the method with loads of practical suggestions for application in just about every subject.

Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner: This book is designed to deepen your understanding of Charlotte's Original works, but is most certainly also a stand alone book. Penny also has an excellent website.

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay: One of the first books written on Charlotte Mason, this is also a great one to start with. It is a gentle introduction which I find inspiring and soothing. Oddly enough, the first time I read it, I didn't like it at all. When I finally decided to return to it after learning more about Charlotte Mason, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Later on, our Charlotte Mason study group decided to study it and I read it a third time. This time I loved it.

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson: Anything the Clarkson's write is wonderful and this book is no exception. I just love it. I think the big strength of the Clarksons' books is that they offer incredibly inspiring vision, but still seem 'real'.

"Mommy? I'm scared,": Legit or sham?

2009-01-08T15:20:00.007-05:00

Any parent of a child old enough to talk has probably just drifted off to sleep, desperate for a few hours of much needed respite, only to be wakened by little (or big) feet padding down the hall, a little hand opening the door and a little voice saying, "Mommy? I'm scared." Different families will handle these inevitable times in vastly different ways according to each family's needs and beliefs. I thought I might share how we handle things in our family.

First of all, Steve and I practice attachment parenting. While the practical working out of this differs from family to family, it is essentially recognizing the crucial importance of helping each child to form a secure bond with her parents. One way we see this at work is through nighttime parenting. Attachment parenting recognizes that our job as parents does not end at night. Children have nighttime needs as well as daytime ones and those needs are equally important.

However, moms and dads have needs, too. Moms and Dads need sleep and need time alone together. It is not easy, but it is possible to make sure everyone's needs are met.

In our family, we keep our babies nice and close until I have nightweaned them (at about a year old) and they are sleeping through the night reliably (12-18 months?). After that, they are moved in with a sibling, but they still continue to 'visit' us now and then -- sometimes a lot of 'now and then'! If we have no current baby in with us and the child is still little (say, under two or so), they are free to just climb into our big bed. Otherwise, they can visit the quilt basket:

This basket stays under my dresser and contains two quilts and one waterproof, flannel-topped pad. If the child has any possibility of wetting at night and isn't in diapers, they/we put down the pad. Then, they can grab a quilt and rest securely beside our bed. The philosophy behind this arrangement is that it meets our children's need for security (to be comforted by Mom and Dad's presence) without making it too comfy and encouraging them to visit when they aren't legitimately scared. Sure, they'd love to sleep with us all the time, but they have each other. :)

(Just for interest's sake, the two quilts are large 'crib-sized'. One was made by a friend of mine for my older son when he was born and the other one, I made myself! It is the only quilt I ever did and it is from the book, Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.)

What about your family? How do you handle nighttime visitors?

Knitting Evangelism

2009-01-07T10:40:00.001-05:00

Can I let you in on a secret? I hate relaxing. I know that sounds insane, but it is true. I find relaxing very unrelaxing. Just sitting there drives me crazy. After I have a baby, I manage to spend the first day in bed with the new baby because the midwives pretty much force me to. The next day, I sit on the couch downstairs in my p.j.s and after that, I just can't stand it anymore and I get up and get dressed and start back into life. Knitting has been my sanity saver during forced 'relaxation'. I didn't realize how much I would love it when I first started learning about 2 years ago.

Why do I love knitting?

it is productive
the finished projects can be very useful
I can still be 'social' when knitting
it is very portable, unlike my other favourite hobby - sewing
I can pick it up and put it down easily
it makes me feel smart!
it is not overly costly
it is beautiful

As you know, socks are my favourite thing to knit, probably because no matter how fast I knit them, we can never have too many. They are such a useful, luxurious and beautiful thing to make. Contrary to popular belief, they are not hard at all. I started my first pair of socks about two weeks after I started knitting.

Lots of people start knitting by making a scarf. If you are thinking of learning to knit, I would encourage you to consider making a dishcloth for your first project. The yarn costs very little, the dishcloth is immediately useful and, therefore, gives you the instant gratification you need to get you excited about your new hobby. There is a terrific yahoogroup called, Monthly Dishcloths. Twice a month, the list owner will e-mail out about 9 or 10 lines of a simple pattern everyday for about 5 days and everyone knits the dishcloths together. The first pattern of the month is a seasonal picture and the second one is a repeating pattern with a new 'stitch' to learn. Both are perfect for learning to knit, as you can practice your skills on something that doesn't need to have a specific gauge. The picture above is the dishcloth we just finished. (It is a skate, if you can't tell!!) It used only knit and purl stitches, perfect for the beginning knitter. And, knitted dishcloths are wonderful to use.

When Quiet Time is just Quiet Time

2009-01-06T19:38:00.004-05:00

Today as I sat down to have my quiet time, there were a number of distractions. I normally have my quiet time earlier in the day, but today it didn't work out until later. Steve was putting the kids to bed and our 3 year old's pillow was missing. Don't ask me how a child can misplace a pillow. Anyway, there was quite a kerfuffle over it and I found it hard to concentrate. I was also at the place in my Bible reading where I read Philemon. I wasn't feeling very connected to the scripture, though, of course, I see value in reading it regardless of how I feel. I started to pray, but I didn't feel like I had much to say. So, I just sat for a few minutes. God was silent and I was silent. That's okay. In fact, it is kind of refreshing. Every time I sit down to spend time alone with God doesn't have to involve His revealing new meaning in a particular scripture or my unloading a whole bunch of requests. Sometimes, it is just quiet.

I must admit that I like the really snazzy, inspiring times a lot, but God doesn't work that way all the time. We need a breather sometimes, a time to let the lessons and ideas of other days sink in and take hold. For today, I just ended my quiet time by listing all the little, mundane things I was thankful for, the things I don't often take the time to appreciate.

I'm off to paint my bathroom, now. My dear mother-in-law primed and put the first coat on earlier. It was a fairly hideous yellow-green before and is now a beautiful, soothing and sophisticated 'Papineau'.

Home Blessing as a Family - First Day's Chore Lists

2009-01-05T15:33:00.003-05:00

Done! Earlier today, I blogged about my new plan to revamp our Home Blessing system. It starts with listing all the chores that need to be done in a particular room, one room per day. I actually chose two areas today since I was just sitting watching my pathetic, sick, 5 year old daughter be soothed by a warm bath. Naturally, I listed the chores for the bathroom I was in and I also did the hallway/stairs just outside the bathroom. It is definitely essential to be able to see the area for which you are making the chore list.

I thought the lists would be very short. I was surprised to see how many individual jobs there are to be done. Here are my lists:

Upstairs Bathroom

wipe counter and back of toilet
empty garbage
wash shower curtain
wash bathmats
vacuum/sweep floor
clean sink
clean/shine faucets
clean mirror
clean soapdish
clean toilet inside and outside
check floor for clutter
change handtowel
clean tub/faucets/showerhead
wipe shower walls
clean window
sweep cobwebs
dust medicine cabinet/baseboard heater/candle
wipe baseboards
wipe down walls

Upstairs Hall/Stairs

sweep cobwebs
wipe walls/baseboards
wipe doorknobs/light switches
vacuum
check for clutter
dust pictures
wash window
wipe window ledge

WHEW! It makes me tired just listing everything. Good thing I have so many little workers!

Home Blessing as a Family

2009-01-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

Photo courtesy of Geekgirly

I love the term 'home blessing' coined by the FlyLady. I think that it truly depicts what it is we are doing when we are cleaning our dwelling. More accurately, we could call it 'family blessing', but that sounds like someone is preggers. ;) We are not merely 'doing chores'. Rather, we are taking an opportunity to serve one another and to serve alongside one another as we maintain our home. We are, in effect, washing one another's feet.

Anyway, I realized recently that my plan for home blessing needed some improvement. Now that I have several children who can help out in a significant way, I need to re-vamp our system and outline more exact specifications for each job so that everyone isn't floundering wondering what they should be doing during home blessing time.

I have a plan which will leave me with the specifics I need to assign tasks to everyone on an age-appropriate basis. Care to join me? Let's get started:

Grab a small notebook and a pen.
Each day choose one room of your home to focus on -- not to clean, but just to plan for.
List all the cleaning chores you can think of that need to be done as regular maintenance for that room. Look at walls, floors, horizontal surfaces. At this point, you don't need to decide when or how often to do the tasks or who will do them. Just list them for now.

I'll give you (and me!) two weeks to finish up this task and then we'll move on to the next phase.

Stylin' in the Kitchen

2009-01-04T14:19:00.005-05:00

I don't always post pictures of my crafts because:

sometimes it is embarrassing how many I do
this isn't specifically a crafty blog and non-crafters might get bored

However, I thought everyone might appreciate this lovely apron. I bought this pattern 10 months ago, just before my youngest baby was born. I thought I'd make it before his birth, but I just managed to get to it yesterday. I also made my sister an apron for her birthday earlier in December and I 'winged' one inspired by the pattern for my 7 year old daughter for Christmas.

The pattern is called, Emmeline published by SewLiberated. I really like it because it is so non-aprony and will actually make me feel dressed up a bit when I am just wearing my regular stay-at-home clothes. Shallow or not, I find that looking nice always raises my spirits a little. :)

Here is my new apron!

And, it is reversible!! This is actually my favourite side.

This is the one I made for my daughter for Christmas. She is such a lovely, willing helper in the kitchen that I thought it would be fun if we could match. She says I can wear the pink side of mine when we are working together and the other side when I am working alone. :)

Do you have a favourite apron? I'd love to hear about it, if you do!

A New Year's 31-Day Challenge for Christian Mamas

2009-01-01T07:59:00.009-05:00

Photo Courtesy of amanky

Happy New Year! Did you stay up to ring it in? Like most years, I sort of did. I do try for the sake of my husband and the children who are old enough to care, but it just is not terribly exciting for me and I usually fall asleep. :)

Sometimes I make New Year's Resolutions, but mostly I don't. I think I am afraid of failure. If you read the statistics, though, New Year's Resolutions are actually very effective in comparison with the things people resolve to do at other times on their own.

Over the past couple of months, I have been addressing my sporadic quiet time and trying to figure out why I am not more consistent than a few times a week. I think it is a couple of things. Firstly, I think I believe I am too busy. Secondly, I think I don't realize how much it matters. Are you like me at all?

"I'm too busy." Of course, I know I am never too busy for God, that He is my most important priority, etc. However, on a practical basis, when I have 1 hour to be out of the house and I still have to dress children, have a shower and scrape the ice off the car, I believe I can't 'fit it in'. Over the last couple of months, I have played a little game with God. I said to Him, "I know you are the most important priority in my life. You are more important than a shower or eating breakfast, but these things are still important. I am going to choose to put you first and I will trust that you will help me to get everything done that needs to be done." I didn't have ridiculous expectations of sitting in my room absorbed in worship and prayer for the full hour or anything, but I did need a few minutes to read God's Word and to talk to him and sit with him. In the many times I have tried this, God has never let me leave the house in my pyjamas or without eating.

"I don't realize how much it matters." I think, in my human state, this will always be somewhat true. I don't think I am capable of truly understanding the importance of my relationship with God, but I can try! For the month of January, I am going to trust God to show me what a month of consistently spending time with Him everyday will mean to my life. I am hoping some of you will join me, so you can share your stories of encouragement with me, too.

So, the challenge is to spend just a few minutes praying and reading God's Word for the next 31 days - every day. Please don't feel you have to set aside a half hour or to get up at 5:30am, if this isn't going to work for you. Let's stretch ourselves, but also be realistic. If you are not already having quiet time consistently every day, then anything will be better than nothing. Start very small. I know God will bless any efforts we make with a whole heart. Reading a few verses and praying for five minutes is worthwhile. Don't let the belief that you should be doing more rob you of spending time with our Lord.

If you would like to join me, leave a comment on this post. I will update my progress on a little sidebar. I can't wait to see what the Lord will do!

Gorgeous Yummy Granola

2008-12-29T09:19:00.004-05:00

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed Steve's homemade apple pie as usual, complete with a birthday candle and the singing of 'Happy Birthday Jesus', followed by the reading of Luke 2. It is always a very special morning with our immediate family and my dear Mother-in-Law, who sacrifices sweet sleep to drive to our place very early every year. Later on, we all trek over to my parents' home to join my parents, my siblings and their spouses for some extended family time.

On Boxing Day, I made some granola from a recipe that my dear friend, Elisa, made for the craft exchange I participated in in November. We are big granola lovers in our home. Many recipes are very similar, but this one was just different enough that I thought it was worth sharing with you. I only very rarely buy cold cereal, as it is way too processed for my liking, but I love the convenience. Granola that has been made ahead is just as convenient, much tastier and very healthy.

Molasses Maple Nutty Granola
(from If Kallimos had a Chef ~~ Debra Stark)

1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup canola oil

4 tsp cinnamon
6 cups oats
1 cup walnut halves
2 cups pecan halves
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
(I have also added sesame seeds)

Preheat oven 300 degrees.

Combine wet ingredients. Combine dry ingredients. Pour wet over dry and mix well. Divide granola between shallow baking pans and bake in a 300 degree oven until roasted and dry, about 1 1/2 hrs. Stir every 15-30 mins. (Mine was ready after about 45 mins.)

Let granola cool completely before storing in air tight containers.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. We love granola with farm fresh milk and home canned fruit. The only easier breakfast to make in the morning is 'geturoni', which is another one of my favourites. ;)

Don't Go Surfing...Let the Blogs Come to YOU!

2008-12-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

Photo courtesy of e³°°°

Awhile ago, I read an excellent article on 'subscribing' over on the Simple Mom blog. Up until this point, I had my blogs bookmarked individually. It took a fair bit of time to click on each one, only to find that many hadn't been updated. (Not many moms have time to blog every day.) Learning to subscribe to my favourite blogs was a real break-through.

Subscribing means that the blogs come to you whenever they are updated, just like getting a letter from a friend. I was concerned that all the updates would come to my e-mail account, cluttering up my inbox, but this is not the case. Using a free 'reader' page on the internet, you simply click to subscribe to the blogs you read. When they are updated, they will show up on your 'reader' page, all in one organized place. It is a huge time-saver and makes reading blogs much more fun. You can even organize the blogs you have subscribed to by category (ie. inspirational, homeschooling, cooking, crafts), if you like.

Rather than trying to give you all the information on subscribing, I am going to refer you to Simple Mom's fantastic article. Taking a few minutes to understand RSS subscribing will be well worth it, I promise!

I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas tomorrow!

Enough Already

2008-12-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of *Ann Gordon

(This isn't my kitchen. I was too lazy to take a picture of mine.)

It's time to get your kitchen counters clean. There is no tidy house fairy that will be visiting your home to do it for you. It is up to you. ;)

Now, here is what I want you to do:

Get a nice clean dishcloth, but don't go putting in a load of laundry or run to the store for a new one or anything. Just do your best.
Next, get it wet. You don't need to find Grime-O-Remover or Sudsy-Suds or any product; just some nice hot water will do the trick.
Start at one edge of the kitchen and get wiping. If there is something crusty, I find a green scrubbie pad helps (but for heaven's sake, don't go buying any in the middle of my lesson!). Otherwise, it is just you and the cloth and some hot water. Please move every single thing out of the way temporarily to another part of the counter and wipe the WHOLE thing. You might have sparkly counters, in which case you can ignore me and this entire bossy post, or your counters might be really cluttered. If so, just move the stuff, wipe the surface down and put the stuff back for now. When you are all done...GOOD FOR YOU!! Isn't that nice? No crumbs or sticky stuff anywhere.

What you have done is the easy part. The hard part is training yourself to be in the habit of maintaining. Every time you do anything in the kitchen that makes even the smallest mess, grab that cloth, wet it and wipe it up. Every time. EVERY time. Don't leave the crumbs from toast-making until after breakfast to do a 'mass clean-up'. Clean people don't do mass clean-ups. They clean as they work. I know from watching my super-clean friend, Leslie. Wipe it up right away because knowing that your kitchen is tidy will make your breakfast better. :)

You can do this. I promise. I used to have a sticky, crumby kitchen counter. It would drive my husband nuts that when I cooked, I made a huge mess in the kitchen. Now, I am so used to cleaning as I go that when it is time to serve dinner, most of the time the kitchen looks very nice. I had prayed that God would give me a vision for homemaking and He helped me to see that doing little things right away makes my job a million times easier. If you have an icky counter, please just try for the Christmas holidays to wipe your counter constantly. You will love it and by the end of the holidays, you should have a well-established habit.

Can you take more sock knitting pictures?

2008-12-22T07:00:00.001-05:00

Because I have to have someone to share them with!

Here are some socks I did for my five-year-old. I did them with Cascade Fixation, which for those of you who don't know, is a cotton yarn with some elastic in it. I thought I was a wool-only girl, but I just loved this yarn for kids socks. They are probably the best-fitting socks I've ever made. I did them toe-up in a basic 2 x 2 rib with a picot bind off.

Here are Steve's boring work socks all finished. They turned out well - fit great, feel nice and look good. These were a 3 x 1 rib (finished in 1 x 1 rib for 1 1/2 inches or so). I used this pattern, which is my new go-to sock pattern. Sigh. Why don't guys like lace? I am the model in this pic, so the socks don't fit as snugly as they do on Steve.

And, some Basic Dude Socks I made for my dad for Christmas. I don't think he reads my blog. I'll have to warn my mom not to read this when my dad is in the room! These socks are made with worsted weight yarn (actually, three strands of sock yarn twisted together). They knit up VERY fast. I could get used to this! Again, I'm the sock model here, so they look baggier than they will be on my Dad.

And, that's it for finished objects. I've cast on some little socks for my baby for Christmas, which I think will also work up quickly, seeing as his little feet aren't very big.

Well, I'm off to knit!

"I don't know how you do it."

2008-12-21T09:33:00.005-05:00

Probably if you are reading this blog, you have heard this before. I hear this very frequently and it always makes me feel a little sad. I feel especially sad when I hear it from other homeschooling moms or other moms with lots of children. It is my heart's desire to minister to other moms by being a real person. I'm not going to unload all my baggage or to say anything that might hurt anyone in my life, but I am far from perfect and I do try hard to let that show. We all have struggles. We all have past hurts. We all have hang-ups. AND...we all have dirt in our homes (well, except for my friend Karen B. LOL!!)

You know, this being true, I think people must mean something different when they tell me they don't know how I do it. I think the real meaning behind this statement is the real reason so many people don't have more children today. I think what they mean is...

...they don't know how I can possibly handle all the adorableness that 6 children (that's SIX BABIES) brings!!! Frankly, I don't know how I do it, either! I know the Lord says He will only give us what we can handle, but sometimes I think he pushes me right to my limit of daily cuteness. Do you know how adorable is the sound of a crawling baby's hands slapping on the ceramic tile floor as he comes to find me? It is almost too much for one person to take. I think that is why the Lord has given me 5 other children and a husband - to spread the cuteness around, just so we will all be able to cope.

Next time, someone tells me they don't know how I do it, I will continue to answer honestly that it is only by the Grace of God. And, I will mean it.

Good Moms Make Waffles

2008-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Photo Courtesy of groovehouse

Hey, I didn't say how often they make waffles!

Yesterday was one of those days where it was dreadfully snowy outside, several children slept in, and I started knitting and sewing before breakfast, which always leads to my being distracted and no one eating for awhile. Soon enough, it was 11am and everyone was complaining about being hungry. (Kids are so demanding, aren't they?!)

I decided to pull out the 'let's have a special brunch' card. This works very well for turning the work of two meals into one. And, better yet, the kids think you are great! The only stipulations are: it has to be something out-of-the-ordinary and relatively substantial and you have to offer some kind of half-decent snack in the mid-afternoon.

What could be more special than waffles?

I normally avoid making waffles, save once or twice a year, because I am too lazy to do all the work of beating egg whites and 'folding' them in. However, I found the ultimate lazy-mom's waffle method yesterday. Everyone LOVED them. They were completely whole-grain and extremely easy, but they didn't taste grainy at all. The recipe is from my MOMYS cookbook. We found this was enough for us with 4 1/2 waffles leftover. So, if Steve had been home and our baby was eating more, I think it would be about right for eight people. I love leftover waffles because they can go in the freezer and then I can knit instead of get the kids something to eat!

Blender Batter Pancakes or Waffles
(submitted to the cookbook by AnnMarie in Florida)
4 c. Buttermilk or Milk with 1T. yogurt (I used lemon juice)
1 c. Whole Millet
1 c. Whole Brown Rice
1 c. Oats (I used steel cut)
1 c. Soft Wheat Berries or other grain
1/3 c. Oil (I used unmelted butter -- I'm not a huge fan of seed/vegetable oil)
2 Eggs (I used three)
2 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Salt
1/2 t. Baking Soda

Place milk, oil/butter and grains in blender. Blend at highest speed for 4 minutes. If this is too much for your blender (ours is a Vita-Mix with a 2 litre capacity), reduce recipe. If the mixture does not hold a vortex, add a bit more milk. Cover this and let soak overnight or proceed to next step (I didn't soak the grains overnight). Add eggs and blend 1 minute. Add baking powder, salt and baking soda and blend briefly to mix in leavenings. Prepare pancakes or waffles from batter.

I used about 3/4 c. batter per waffle in our Belgian waffle maker. I let it cook 3 mins and they turned out perfectly. I served them with home-canned peaches and maple syrup.

Charlotte Mason Basics: Self Education

2008-12-19T06:46:00.006-05:00

In Volume 6 of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series, she asserts, "There is no education but self-education and only as the young student works with his own mind is anything effected." (emphasis mine). Over the years, I have mulled this over many times. I'm all for self-education, but to say that there is nothing else? Do I really believe this? What does this look like? As a person raised in a traditional school system, when I hear self-education, it drums up images of struggling through a dreadfully boring correspondence course. This is not what is meant by self-education.

Let's start with something near and dear to my heart - a baby just learning to walk. To my heartbreak, my sweet little baby boy has decided to try walking at 9 months. He isn't walking yet, but I've caught him taking a step and he stands alone. None of my other children walked this early, but let's say I had wanted them to. Here's what I would not have done:

Research walking on the internet and at the library. Find out the most important parts about the history and physiology.
Create a walking textbook (with a dvd, of course!) of just the most important points I discovered above.
Schedule in a structured time for baby's walking lessons. (Consistency is key!) I want him to be advanced so I will start at 7 months.
Sit baby down and read from textbook. Give baby a quiz afterwards to see what he has remembered. Hubby will do remedial help in the evenings for anything baby was struggling with.
Get baby to memorize 'steps to walking' so that he will be fully ready when we start the practice sessions. (See step 6)
Once baby has the steps memorized, schedule in practice times. Again, consistency is key, here. We find that if parents are very diligent about following the steps exactly as outlined, starting at 7 or 8 months, virtually all babies should begin walking anywhere from 9-15 months of age.

HUH?! Ridiculous, when I put it that way, isn't it? Why? Because the above points do not take into consideration:

how a baby learns
the baby's readiness
the baby's motivation

The above method only takes into consideration that which is measurable and practical for the teacher. It also takes all the fun out of it. And, it complicates things way more than necessary. :)

When Charlotte said that the only education was self-education, she did not mean that the student did not need a teacher anymore than a baby learning to walk could do without parents. As parents of a learning-to-walk baby, we are there to model walking, to offer little helps and guidance, to provide a safe place for baby to walk, to encourage with our words and facial expressions and to offer guidance and support when baby falls. We cannot, however, walk for the baby.

In Charlotte Mason education, a student learns by experiencing for himself, which is truly the only way we ever learn anything. Without experiencing something for myself, I have nowhere to put the information I hear or read. It just floats around, not hooking onto anything and will soon float right out of my head.

The great thing about a Charlotte Mason education is that a child can experience something for himself by using the wonderful tool of imagination. Our children don't have to have survived the American Revolution to be able to 'remember' vividly what happened. They can experience it by reading the stories of those who did. It is only when they read what happened in story format that they will really remember because it is the story format that allows the child to enter into the place or the event and 'experience' it for himself. Once a child enters in, imagining himself a part of the story, he has made it his own and he will remember because he has lived it.

My darling little baby boy will soon be a toddler. He will never forget how to walk because he will have struggled for each step on his own. I can't do it for him, nor do I want to. Besides, it is so much more fun this way.

Charlotte Mason Basics will be on Christmas Vacation for a few weeks, but I will continue blogging now and then. Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season to Use Whole Nutmeg

2008-12-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Photo courtesy of annosvixit

I know this is kind of insane, but I actually avoided using whole nutmeg because I thought you had to have a little, teeny grater to use it. I guess I knew you didn't have to have one, but I didn't bother to look for any alternatives that already existed in our home and kept using pre-ground nutmeg.

One day, I was making eggnog. I like to make eggnog to round out a lunch that I haven't made enough of an effort on. It is quick, healthy, a kid-favourite and guilt-banishing. Anyway, we were out of nutmeg. I remembered that my Mother-in-law had given me a couple of whole nutmegs (nutmeg cloves? nutmeg seeds? nutmeg pods?) several years ago. I hauled them out and thought about how I could grate them. Well...the grater, of course! I have one of those four sided cheese graters and I really only use one side. The side with the small bumps worked very nicely and the nutmeg was delicious in our eggnog. I knew I would never be buying ground nutmeg again!

The next time I made eggnog, I realized that my stainless steel rasp (which I use to grate lemon zest and other things) would probably do a great job on the nutmeg. I gave it a try and it was even better than the cheese grater!

If you aren't using whole nutmeg, I really encourage you to try using it. It made a huge difference in the flavour of our food and really wasn't very expensive at all (seeing as nutmeg does not take up much of our food budget)!

Oh, here is our eggnog recipe, in case you spend too much time reading blogs today and need to add something to your lunch of cheese, crackers and cucumber slices:

(We have a Vita-Mix, which holds 8 cups and this recipe fills it pretty well after 'fluffing'. Adjust quantities if your blender is smaller.)

Eggnog
Place in a large blender:
- 3 farm-fresh eggs
- 1/3 c. sucanat or unrefined sugar (okay...or just regular sugar!)
- a splash of vanilla extract
- some freshly grated nutmeg

Then, add milk to about the 5 1/2 c. level and blend slowly until well-combined. If you zing it around on high, you will regret it as it will make a lot of foam which will fall out of the top when you open the lid. You can grate a little extra nutmeg on the top of each glass if you like. Mmmmm! I almost want to go make some right now!

One-Step Menu Planning

2008-12-15T13:58:00.006-05:00

Menu Planning in One Easy Step:
1. Ask your five-year-old what she thinks you should have for dinner tonight.
"I think we should have chocolate chips for dinner...or, we could have soup."
Soup it is! (Wasn't that easy?!?!!)

Charlotte Mason Basics: Short Lessons

2008-12-12T07:04:00.004-05:00

Photo courtesy of apdk

As we have discussed, narration is invaluable for building a host of skills, one of which is the habit of attention. This habit is one which will serve our children well for their entire lives. It will allow them to gain all kinds of knowledge from the things they read without having to tediously review and quiz themselves.

The habit of excellence is another wonderful servant. When we keep our children's lessons short, we help them cultivate this important habit. We do this when we end a 'lesson' before our child becomes 'dull', as Charlotte would say. In Charlotte's schools, lessons were very short for young children (15 mins, for example) and lengthened as the children got older. It is tempting for me to give you a list of appropriate ages and their corresponding lengths of time, but this misses the spirit of the idea. Charlotte's schools had to be timed for practical reasons. There were many students in a classroom that needed kept moving along, aiming to serve the majority of students. In our homeschools, however, we are free to move at the pace we deem appropriate for each individual child.

How do you determine what the appropriate pace is? Like so much of parenting and homeschooling, you watch your child. The concept of short lessons is very simple. We are aiming to end the lesson while the child is still fresh and before the work starts to become tedious or sloppy. We do this regardless of whether an entire math page has been completed or a whole copywork selection copied. Let's look at the example of handwriting for now.

Let's say our young child is practicing her 'C's. If she copies 5 lovely 'C's and we notice she is starting to become fidgety and the next couple of 'C's aren't quite as nice as the previous ones, it is time to end the lesson (and to aim to end it a little earlier next time). I know it is difficult when the page is not finished, but this concept makes sense. If we allow her to continue past the point where she had enjoyed printing and has done beautiful work, we teach her two things. First of all, we teach her to produce poor-quality work without a good effort. She learns that working for the sake of working is more important to us than her taking pride in her work and doing her best. When she is no longer able to give her lesson her full attention, we have effectively handicapped her from being able to do excellent work. Secondly, we leave her with a bitter taste in her mouth for the task at hand since it has gone on for longer than she has the ability to concentrate. We leave her wanting less of the work and not more.

Charlotte believed that it was better to write a few letters beautifully than a page full of sloppy ones. I agree wholeheartedly. In this way, our child learns that she can produce beautiful work and this becomes the standard, as opposed to the work produced from a half-hearted effort. She enjoys her work because it has been interesting and she knows she has done something worthwhile and beautiful.

This is another one of Charlotte's concepts that I find very freeing. It allows me to be free from the prescribed length of a handwriting page or a math page. It allows me to encourage a child to take a break from a very challenging read to do something else for awhile, regardless of whether or not the chapter is finished. A big task is always better completed when we take regular breaks, divide the work into manageable chunks and arrive back with fresh perspective. I think this is an excellent life-lesson.

Does this mean our children are never encouraged to persevere when something is difficult? Not at all. Finding something difficult is different from finding something boring. However, when something is very challenging, it is can quickly become boring or frustrating if we don't refresh ourselves regularly by taking a break. I believe that keeping our lessons short will actually help, not hinder, our children to develop the ability to persevere because they will learn the skills they need to get through difficult tasks.

Another question I am often asked about short lessons is what to do when a child is fully immersed in something they love, wanting to keep working on a particular task. The concept of short lessons is a servant, not a master. If a child is truly fresh and enthusiastic, they can certainly work longer. However, we don't want to allow the work to continue until we are starting to see boredom set in. If so, the lesson has already gone on too long. You are a student of your child. Learn when he needs to switch gears and help him do so while he is still fresh and attentive, not when his attention is beginning to wane. It makes homeschooling so much more pleasant, and efficient I might add, when our children enjoy their work.

God bless and enjoy your weekend! I have a busy weekend ahead of me with two of our girls in a Christmas Highland Dance recital. They are just adorable in their full Scottish outfits! We are also celebrating several family birthdays on Saturday. I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful extended family on both sides.

Christmas Book Organization

2008-12-10T11:22:00.004-05:00

For a long time, I wanted to make our Christmas books 'special' by taking them out in December and giving them a dedicated place for everyone to enjoy. It would always be a pain in the neck to go around to our various bookshelves and try to collect them. Inevitably, some would be missed, or of course, misplaced! A number of years ago, I solved the problem by creating a special box they could be kept in.

I took a sturdy, cardboard box, tucked in the flaps on one end and wrapped it in Christmas giftwrap. I actually added some nice ribbon and a pretty matching bow, but this has since been ripped off. You can imagine that part. It was really quite lovely. However, this is 'The Real Life Home', not the 'Faked for Photos' home, so I decided to leave it as it was instead of fancying it up for you. (I also photographed the box in front of a real life wall in our real life home, complete with real life gouges in our baseboard!!)

I keep the books in this box during the year on a shelf in our basement and when December 1st comes along, everyone is excited to take out the box. I like the idea of the box looking like a gift because I think books are a wonderful gift from God to His children.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging too Much Lately

2008-12-09T14:38:00.010-05:00

I am hopelessly enjoying sock knitting!

I finished a pair of socks for my 5yo daughter. I'll post a picture another day...one of the socks is in the wash!

I finished a gorgeous pair of Baudelaire socks for me. True Love.

I am busy working on a pair of boring work socks for Steve. Fortunately, they are made with a lovely wool/silk blend. Unfortunately, the most exciting thing that happens is that I purl every 4th stitch.

Well, I'd better run. Baby is under the weather and there is the matter of the socks needing knitting. ;)

A Great Read for Homeschooling Moms

2008-12-09T13:53:00.005-05:00

Have you had a picture-perfect homeschooling day today? Did your children finish off a big list of different subjects this morning? Did you get up a half hour before the children to have quiet time? Did you plan 3 nutritious, homemade meals and 2 healthy snacks? Do you look put together? Are you together?

No? You may want to read this article.

Charlotte Mason Basics: Living Books

2008-12-05T10:52:00.006-05:00

Have you ever had a time where, in reaching the end of a chapter of a read-aloud, your children begged you to read 'just one more chapter'? Were you encouraged to continue because you loved it just as much as they did? I'd be willing to bet that the book you were reading was not a textbook! What you experienced was the power of a living book.

What is a living book?
Charlotte Mason talks about the mind being an living entity that needs to be fed, not a container to be filled. This important distinction sets the stage for understanding the concept of living books. If the mind were a container, we could simply give children a list of all the 'facts' or information they needed for life, get them to spend their days memorizing it and they'd be educated! However, this is not the way the mind works. The mind, being a living thing, needs the food of ideas, not information. Ideas feed the mind because they stick and they take on a life of their own. They originate in the child's mind. They are not put there by someone else. A worthy idea is like a room in a beautiful home. It becomes a place all our own where we can store the treasures we want to keep. Information is just stuff. Without a place to put it, it gets lost, it is not useful and it is a burden to try to drag it all around since there is nowhere it belongs, nowhere we can put it down.

This is where living books come in.

Living books are those books that inspire ideas - the unique thoughts originating from the thinker - not information which originates elsewhere. They inspire because they are written in a story format by an author who is passionate about the subject, making his interest contagious to the reader and sparking an emotional response. These books leave the reader wanting more of the subject, not less. They contain literary language, intended to help the reader's mind form a vivid mental picture. If there are illustrations, they are accurate and inspiring.

How do you know whether or not something is a living book?
Of course, you could read the entire thing, but in the middle of a giant used book sale, this is not practical. ;) Karen Andreola, author of A Charlotte Mason Companion, suggests doing a 'one page test'. After judging the book for general suitability, she recommends reading one page aloud to your children, while you watch for signs that their minds are opening up. She says that a living book can be identified by the children begging for more! I would suggest that you can do the very same thing, without your children, if you are on your own. Pick up the book, decide whether it promotes ideas that are true, noble and beautiful. Choose a page and read it to yourself. You should be able to tell soon enough if you have found a keeper. You will want to continue reading.

It is also a great benefit for a mother to learn who may be trusted to recommend true living books. There are a number of great lists available in print form or online which are helpful in choosing books. Sometimes, you will find librarians who really understand the concept of living books, as well as homeschooling companies who promote the same kind of education you are seeking for your children. (I know I can trust anything recommended in the Ambleside Online curriculum, for example.) These are all terrific sources, since it is impossible to preview all the books your children will want to read. My children have far more time to read than I do!

One caution I would add is not to buy into the idea that a book has to be old to be worthwhile. Or, that all old books are living books. Or, that all Christian books are worthy of our time. Charlotte Mason was always on the lookout for newly written books for her students. There are books being written all the time that are true, noble and beautiful and fit the criteria of living books. You will also find there is a ton of old twaddle (and plenty of Christian twaddle, too).

What is twaddle?
I find the word almost self-defining. Twaddle refers to books that are 'dumbed-down' to a level beneath the child. They are books that lower, not raise the bar. A red-flag for me is when I see a shelf full of nearly-identical looking series books. The books may appear to have one author, but often the name is really a pen-name for a team of authors all cranking out book after book in a single year. Often, the books are connected with television in some way.

I have heard it said many times that it doesn't matter what a child is reading, as long as he is reading. My friend Sandy responds that this is like saying, "It doesn't matter what they are eating, as long as they are eating!" Of course it matters. The act of reading by itself does not encourage a healthy mind anymore than the act of eating alone encourages a healthy body. In fact, if we are not careful about what is going in, it will actually do the opposite.

In our family, I do allow a little bit of twaddle, which we call junk-food books, as long as the content is not objectionable. However, I severely limit the quantity. The children are allowed to choose only one 'junk-food' book when we go to the library.

On the subject of living books, we have a favourite Christmas tradition I would like to share with you. Each year, in December, we read the book, Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkein. We read one letter each night. They are absolutely hilarious and each one is accompanied by a lively illustration. Our entire family loves this tradition and we never tire of hearing the letters again and again. I can highly recommend this book.

Do you have a particular favourite living book your family or your children are currently reading?

This is the life.

2008-12-04T14:53:00.007-05:00

The older children are playing outside in the snow, my three year old is snuggled with me under a quilt, napping. My sweet, chubby baby is at large - as always - exploring and already no longer needing me as much as he did only weeks ago. The 'official' homeschooling is done for the day and I can sit for a few moments of quiet, focusing on my knitting and the blessings of this beautiful life that God has created for me.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

See you tomorrow as we take a look at Living Books, the next topic in the Charlotte Mason Basics series. :)

Need me to bake you anything in LARGE quantities?

2008-12-01T09:36:00.009-05:00

This summer, we were on vacation in Northern Ontario on a small island which used to be an old Anglican Church Camp. No longer in use as a camp, the island is leased out to cottagers, but the old kitchen with all the big equipment still remains. My brother-in-law's father and uncle joined us, too, for about a week to do some fishing. While they were there, I was coveting the beautiful, large and unused 20qt. mixer in the backroom of the kitchen and wondering if there was any way Steve and I could purchase it and haul it home. Ian's uncle piped up, "How big a mixer do you want?" I said the one in the backroom was perfect. His response? "Well, I have a Hobart mixer about that size in my garage. If you want it, it's yours." WooHoo!!!

Jim's dad used to be a baker and Jim kept this antique, but well-working mixer in his garage. His wife, Wanda, was very happy to see it out of her garage and into a new home which would use it . :) Jim was kind enough to put on a new switch, power cord and do some greasing to get it running very smoothly. It needed some aesthetic help, which we finally ended up having done by a wonderful, local man who sandblasted the whole thing and painted it a fire-engine red! The other challenge was to find a dough hook. It wasn't easy, since no one could seem to identify the model. My dad and I were finally able to locate one at a restaurant supply place about 1 1/2 hours away. They were extremely helpful. We finally brought our new mixer home on Friday night and I was able to start using it on Saturday! So, without further adieu, I present...my new mixer:

I know the bowl isn't perfect and shiny like the rest of the mixer, but it is very functional. On Saturday, I made 9 loaves of bread at ONE TIME!! I actually had to do two baking sessions since my oven can only hold 6 loaves. Yesterday, I made a huge batch of cookies, which I normally have to mix by hand in an extra large bowl because the recipe is too much for my Kitchen Aid.

My three year old thinks the paddle is great for licking, since it is many times bigger than the normal paddle she gets to lick!

Just for interest's sake, here is my mixer before we had it painted:

Pretty amazing, hey?

And, here is the Hobart's dough hook beside the Kitchen Aid's dough hook:

Funny, before we had six kids, I thought the Kitchen Aid was really big. ;)

I know we are going to get lots of use out of our new mixer. It had become a hassle to make a batch of bread (I could do three loaves at a time in my Kitchen Aid) knowing it would all be gone before the end of the day.

Jim and Wanda...God bless you! We are just loving our new Hobart!

Charlotte Mason Basics: Copywork Resources

2008-11-29T14:59:00.003-05:00

Photo courtesy of fortinbras

Last week we looked at copywork, the whys and the hows of including it in the modern homeschool. This week, I hope to inspire you with a few resources that you may find helpful in assigning copywork for your children.

The number one living book, of course, is the Bible. I often have our children select passages that we are currently studying and I like to vary the translation used. A particular favourite for copywork is the King James version. We use this version occasionally to read from, but I enjoy it a lot for copywork. The language is rich and beautiful. Most of the Bibles in our home are not King James, so I find it much more convenient to obtain a passage online. I really like this site for finding Bible passages. It is simple to search for various translations and it is a snap to paste selections into Word, change them into a suitable font and print them out for a child to copy.

Another fabulous online resource for copywork is the Ambleside Online copywork yahoo group. A huge number of the books Ambleside suggests for reading have selections chosen specifically for copywork purposes. The file section contains a wealth of great passages from a large number of common books. Whether you are using Ambleside Online or not, this group is terrific since it has copywork selections from books your child has probably read and enjoyed.

As for print resources, our children enjoy using The Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum by Laura M. Berquist. This is a well-known book in homeschool circles, which can be used for a variety of things besides copywork. We have also made use of it for recitation and, as the sub-title suggests, for dictation. Another big favourite around our home is Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Our children love to find quotes from famous people whose lives they have studied. (They particularly love the obscure quotes!) A searchable, online version can be found here.

Poetry is probably my children's favourite thing to copy. We make use of many different poetry books, but the one we come back to again and again is Favorite Poems Old and New compiled by Helen Farris. It contains hundreds of poems, listed by topic, which I find very helpful. The arrangement makes it fantastic for finding poetry to add to a nature notebook, or for finding a poem on a particular topic of interest for a child to copy. It is a great resource which we have enjoyed for years.

Do you have other favourite online or print resources you like to use for copywork? I'd love to have your ideas included. Just add a comment in the comments section.

Next week, Charlotte Mason Basics will continue as we look at the topic of Living Books. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. :)

Charlotte Mason Basics Postponed until Tomorrow

2008-11-28T21:29:00.002-05:00

Sorry...my day was packed full, so I was not able to write up a post for you today. I will be posting on Copywork Resources tomorrow as part of the Charlotte Mason Basics series. See you then!

Last Day for Holiday Homemaking Freebies

2008-11-25T14:00:00.004-05:00

Have you enjoyed the freebies at Joyous Home? I have downloaded a number of them. This is the last day there will be a freebie posted. Since they are up for one day only, if you are interested, head on over there! Today's is a wonderful tutorial/recipe for delicious Holiday Bread. I am definitely going to make this...only not in the next few days because I am hopelessly hooked on knitting right now. ;)

Will work for high fives

2008-11-24T06:59:00.004-05:00

I like to keep our main floor, the one on which most of us spend most of our day, in relative tidiness. I feel particularly stressed out if there is a lot of clutter on surfaces, so I do my best to keep those clear most of the time. It is inevitable, though, with seven of us home all day that there will be some mess. The key, for us, has been to manage the mess with frequent, regular tidy times. For years now, we have tidied the main floor:

before mealtimes
before Daddy gets home
before bed
before anytime we leave the house

This ensures that the children and I learn to pick up our things after we use them, or at least relatively soon after. Charlotte Mason was a huge believer in training children in good habits and orderliness is one habit that did not come easily to me. I want it to come much easier to our children.

However, my children would tell you that they don't enjoy hearing me bark at them all day to pick up their stuff. I don't enjoy barking either. So, I try to use a variety of things to make tidying time more pleasant. The first is attitude. We are tidying because it brings us pleasure and calms our minds to have tidy, serene surroundings. We can find things easier and we don't have to shove stuff aside every time we want to use a table or an area on the floor. It is also much less embarrassing when people drop over. It feels good to be able to welcome them in without having to worry that the place is a mess! So, cultivating the attitude that tidying our home is a blessing to us and others makes it more pleasant to do the work than to leave the children thinking tidying is a punishment.

As far as the actual tidying part goes, I find the best way to get the children to tidy happily is to work alongside them. This can be a hassle if I have something else to do, like making lunch or caring for a baby, but it makes all the difference in the world. What looks like just a few things to you can be an overwhelming job for young children, particularly if you have a child who is not inclined to look after their things. One of my children, when told that it was tidy time said, "But Moooooooom, I can't clean up because I'm toooooo lazy." Isn't that the truth?!

Finally, I have found that some kind of encouragement along the way works wonders. I have a little song that I sometimes sing while we tidy. I learned it from the Waldorf school years ago when we attended a parent and tot class. However, you can easily make one up to a favourite tune (Row Row your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle, etc.). Basically, you just start singing about what you are tidying up, or what needs to be tidied up, while you work. The children just seem to join in like magic. It doesn't work every time, so I like to mix it up a bit.

I also use the high five system, which is a particular favourite. I will tell each child one thing at a time that needs to be tidied. "Please pick up the puzzle and put it in the bin." Then, as the task is completed the child runs to me for a high five. This works really well and helps keep things from being overwhelming. Before they know it, the room is done.

What things do you do to encourage your children to tidy their surroundings? I'd love to hear some ideas.

Quick winter knitting

2008-11-23T08:45:00.004-05:00

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?! It was a nice, quick project from the current issue of one of my very favourite magazines, Living Crafts.

I promised myself I would not to cast on the snowman until I had finished two knitting projects I already had on the go -- the socks I posted the other day and a pair I had almost finished for Steve. I finished Steve's socks yesterday and cast on this little guy last night. I'm going to have to make a few more of these for our winter decorating!

Knitting...the final finish

2008-11-21T14:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it was pretty touch and go, but the yarn held out and the socks are finished. They are lovely and fit very nicely, if I do say so myself. :)

You can click the above pic to enlarge and see the detail.

And, just for interest's sake, here is the amount of yarn I had left. Trust me...it isn't very much!

In case you didn't see it, today's installation of Charlotte Mason Basics is underneath this post. I don't know how to get it to be first!

Charlotte Mason Basics: Copywork

2008-11-21T12:36:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of greywulf

You know, one thing I truly love and appreciate about Charlotte Mason's method is how inexpensive it can be. Using her methods, a child can have an excellent education making liberal use of the library and materials from home. Copywork, like narration, is another one of those facets that are simple and inexpensive, but very powerful.

Charlotte's methods are freeing to me as a mom, too. Because of their simplicity, I don't have to try to decipher a complicated curriculum or do a lot of mental gymnastics to dream up a new way to try to get my children to learn something.

In Charlotte's schools, learning was natural and made common sense. ( If you are just joining us, you may wish to read through the Charlotte Mason Basics previously covered.) We have looked at narration already and have seen that our children begin to learn story composition by retelling the stories in the high quality literature they read. Similarly, our children learn grammar, spelling and penmanship by doing copywork, that is copying worthwhile portions of literature precisely and in their best handwriting.

Children still have specific penmanship lessons and in our modern home, these take the form of completion of the Getty-Dubay series of workbooks on Italic Handwriting. Ideally, the children would be doing specific penmanship lessons alongside copywork, but in our home, I find it more practical to work on the italic workbooks at the beginning of the year and then move to focus exclusively on copywork.

Gathering materials:
Our older children each have an attractive, lined journal-type notebook for their copywork, as I hope this will be a treasure they will want to look at again and again in later years. Younger children (about grade 3 and under) need to copy from a separate page specifically made for them in the style of handwriting I want them to use as opposed to the original source, so I find it more practical to give them a binder with page protectors.

Older children in our family use a fountain pen purchased at the local Waldorf school, while younger children just need a pencil and an eraser.

Choosing a passage to copy:
The possibilities are endless here. You can choose from Bible passages, selections from the literature the child is currently reading, or from poetry. You can even use the words of a beautiful hymn. I have even read of people assigning math times tables for copywork! For very young children, to get them excited about copywork, I have occasionally used something they have dictated to me about a subject they love. I correct grammar and print out a page for them to copy. They can then reproduce their own words and even add a picture. Here is an early example from my son's work when he was about five:

Older children can choose their own passage or have one assigned. To encourage variety, I like to have a mini-schedule.
Monday - Literature
Tuesday - Bible
Wednesday - Poetry
Thursday - Free Choice

The selection needs to be somewhat challenging. As they get older, watch for opportunities to encourage children to learn the use of quotations/quotation marks, to include challenging vocabulary, and to practice difficult spellings or unusual punctuation. Also, the selection needs to be long enough to be appropriate to their age. As with narration, we are going for quality. You are aiming to end the copywork before the child gets tired and bored and the writing becomes sloppy. This trains them to do their very best work. It is better to have one line done beautifully than a page full of sloppiness. Also, keep in mind that it is not necessary to finish a passage during one session. You can make it an ongoing work. For example, a child might copy one verse of a poem each day until it is completed.

Finishing up:
When the child is finished, check their work against the original. This gives you a chance to check spelling and punctuation as well as to gauge if the passage was a good length for the child, neither too short nor too long. I get our children to date their work. (And, I won't tell them the date. I will help them look it up on the calendar, if necessary, but they have to find out for themselves.)
I also encourage our children to add a beautiful coloured border or small illustration to make their work even more aesthetically pleasing. We certainly don't do this every time, but it is definitely a special part of their books.

Next week, we will look at some great sources for copywork, some books and some online sources.

God bless!