Humble Beginnings

Canning & Baking Bonanza

This week on the New Harvest Homestead forum, there have been questions on canning beans and how to do it.  I have been canning our own beans for about a year now and truly love having the convenience of home-canned beans instead of spending my money at the grocery store.  I don't know ... call me crazy, but if I can can beans and save us money, then I'll can beans!

So, after some discussions and answering questions, I thought I'd go ahead and can up some more beans today.  I made a small batch of baked beans (5 pints) and about 9 or 10 pints of red beans (I can't remember right now as they're in the canner).

That wasn't enough, so I went ahead and made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, a double batch of buttermilk biscuits and I plan on making two batches of cookies:  Snickerdoodles (hubby's favorite) and Chocolate Chip Cookies (munchkins' favorites).  I should be done with all the baking by early afternoon. 

I just turned off the canner so once the canner de-pressurizes, I'll get those out. 

I haven't done much canning this summer (not compared to last summer).  Since the cucumbers didn't make it, I didn't can any pickles.  But, we had TONS left over from last summer to carry us through next summer.  Yep, that's how many we had!

Also, as the tomatoes aren't all ripening at the same time, I've been roasting and "food milling" tomatoes in small batches and putting those in the freezer.  I made a batch of homemade spaghetti last week using some of the roasted tomatoes and man, oh man, was it good!!!   I used our fresh basil and our dried oregano, fresh garlic ... mmm-mmmmm.  Talk about yummy.

We started homeschooling last week and it seems to be going pretty good so far.  We've changed the way we do our homeschool this year (as far as the way we homeschool) and we're accomplishing a lot but it doesn't feel like it...maybe because we're not doing the "busy work" we were doing last year.  We'll see how this year goes!!!

I hope y'all are all doing good.  God's blessings!!!

Homeschool Memoirs: Week # (Routines)

As you know, I participate in Homeschool Memoirs.  This week's assignment is to post our "Homeschool Routines".  So, here goes:

6:00 - 8:00 a.m.:  Wake up and work 2 hours

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.:  Wake up children, have breakfast, let them finish waking up (takes them awhile)

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.:  School work (no real schedule on what's done when - we have set items to accomplish during the day but the children decide what they want to work on first, second, etc.).

For James he decides the order to do the following:  math, literature reading (includes history, geography), journal writing, formal writing instruction, Latin, Bible study (Jonah), programming, science (Antarctica - goes along with the book he's reading)

For Lauren, she decides the order to do the following:  math, copywork, phonics, reading, Greek, formal writing instruction, Bible (Jonah), science (tigers this month)

Now, we don't do everything every day.  Some items we only do once or twice a week and others we do every day.  We work like this Monday through Thursday and then Friday we have a more relaxed school schedule that includes art or something like that.  We're still fine-tuning our routine this year so we'll see what happens.

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.:  Lunch & clean up from lunch

1:00 - 4:00 p.m.:  I finish my work for the day.  James & Lauren play quietly, do puzzles, run around outside, etc.

From then we just do what we want to when it cools off outside (it's been too hot to really do much during the heat of the day). 

Well, that's our typical day & routine!

Rag Curlers

I have always had curly hair.  Lauren used to call them "tangles" when she was little.  Yesterday when we were combing her hair she said I was lucky because I didn't have to come my curls.  So, I told her that after her bath that night, we would put her hair up in "rag curlers" - the old fashioned way - that way when she woke up in the morning she would have curls.

So, yesterday I cut up an old pair of flannel pajamas so I could make the "rags" for the curlers.  Here are a few pictures of how it all turned out last night.  Now, keep in mind that I've never done this before, so I'm pretty sure I can do better the next time.

You should have seen how sassy she was last night after her curlers were in her hair.  She was swaying and swinging her hips...very feminine...not sure where that all came from, though!

And, in the morning, this is what it turned out to look like:

Last night, with curlers in her hair, Lauren sits up in bed & says:  "I'll look just like you, Mom!"  Well...I think she does!

Fathers

Last weekend I fully understood the importance of fathers - my own father.  He suffered a minor heart attack and was in the hospital for many days.  They had to remove a blood clot from one of his arteries and determined that another set of arteries had already hardened and they were considering another bypass.  He had one 9 years ago.  He's 74 years old now and I was scared about them doing another bypass when he's so much older than he was last year.  The doctors finally determined that he wasn't going to have to have the bypass.  Dad simply needs to exercise more and eat better.  I prayed for days for Dad and now he's going to be fine.  I'm sure that his entire family was praying for him.

My Dad is very dear to me.  There's a long story behind my Dad - one I won't delve into here, but let me just say that he didn't have to raise me when Mom left, but he did.  See, Dad's my stepfather.  He & Mom married when I was four months old and he raised me as his own.  I'm the baby of the family - out of 4 children.  Two are "step" and one is "real" - whatever that means ... they're all my siblings as far as I'm concerned.

When Dad looks at my daughter, he always says it's "me" all over again.  I can see the softness in his eyes when he plays with her ... like he's reliving my younger years all over again.

It hit me hard that I'll lose Dad one day when he goes Home to be with the Lord.  I'm so thankful that He believes and that the Lord is preparing a mansion for Him beyond those pearly gates.  I'm also thankful that I'll get to see my Dad again when I get to Heaven.  But, the idea of not having my Dad around saddens me.  He was my rock growing up - the steady force when Mom left.  I call him (not as often as I should) and I go see him (not as often as I should).  But he's always there to answer gardening questions, laugh at the kids antics, crazy stories and wild adventures.  I think we're the bright spot in his day.  It will be a huge void in my life when he goes Home.

My husband is this same force with our children - the steady strength, the wild adventurer, the carefree spirit who wrestles and plays with them - guards them from the dangers of the world - teaches them right from wrong.  He reminds me a lot of my Dad.  He's a wonderful father for our children.  I am also thankful for that.

From a daughter's standpoint, go see your father.  Call him, mend fences and build the relationship that a father & daughter should have.  Don't take his presence for granted.  Pray for him.  Love him and above all - tell him that you love them.  He won't be around forever.

God's blessings,

Meredith

Homeschool Memoirs: Week #2 - Homeschool Agendas

This week for the Homeschool Memoirs, we are to discuss our agendas & plans for this school year.  Wow!  I've been fluctuating quite a bit on what exactly we're going to do so now is as good a time as any to put them into words.

For both children, we are going to be shuffling it up a little bit from previous years - which mainly involved established curriculums and workbooks.  This year, though, we're going to focus on reading and writing.  How?  Well ...

James (4th grade):

He's an excellent reader already although I don't know if he's "advanced" or not (we don't test the kids reading levels), but he can read extremely well.  He's mainly interested in battles, wars, military excursions, military vehicles and aircraft.  He loves a good scary story and enjoys R.L. Stein (in his spare time).  However, I do want him to broaden his horizon and read about other topics.  So, this year we're going to simply pick "living" books from the library and let him dive into them.  We're going to do this for most of our topics this year:  science, history, geography, etc.  Whatever we're studying about will be added to the history timeline book we created (and have really never used).  Depending on the book we're reading at the time, we're going to look up the geography of the area.  We may even use some of this material for art (haven't figured out yet).  He's also going to focus on writing more.  He's going to write 5 minutes every day in his journal - either by topics I decide or he thinks of (whichever works better).  We love the Math U See program and have it used since he was in first grade.  We'll continue to do that as well.  He's in the Epsilon book this year and learning fractions.  By the way, did I mention that he's a year ahead in math?  We were going to learn Latin this year and we may start on it.  I downloaded the Road to Latin program last week which contains a sample to start with - like the first few chapters.  We'll get started on that and go from there.  We just don't have the money right now to buy the full curriculum.  I'm also going to focus on more specific writing assignments and paragraph structure this year.  I think that James needs to really focus on the writing aspect more.  He's lacking in this area and hopefully by the end of the year we'll be able to do a better job.  Art's always been our weakest area - we study it some but not regularly.  I hope to do more with that this year.  And, as for science, hubby has a degree in Environmental Science so walks, etc. become a science classroom.  James has been practicing his archery this year - he hopes to one day kill a buck with his bow.  So, I consider that to also be part of "P.E.".  We're debating on putting him on a flag football team but can't justify the $95 fee right now.  So, he may have to wait until Spring.

Lauren (1st grade):

Lauren is also progressing quite nicely in her studies.  We'll continue to use the Math U See Alpha book with her this year.  She started on it last spring and didn't finish the first year (she was still in kindergarten so I didn't want to push her too hard).  We're also going to continue reading through the McGuffey series with her and we'll also do copywork and spelling out of the McGuffey readers.  As she progresses, I plan on bringing in other books for her to read.  Some of the history books, etc. we'll also listen to as James reads and go over the geography, history, etc. as he goes through them.  We may try to do a few lapbooks with her.  Sometimes she likes to do those and sometimes she doesn't.  I'm also going to have her starting on Greek (just the alphabet this year and the sounds of the alphabet).  That's how we started James.  I already have the curriculum for this so it won't cost us anything.

Scheduling:

Wow.  We kind of just wing it.  I've been keeping track of their work and schedules in the Homeschool Tracker  but as far as a daily schedule, hmmm... I also plan to use the new Schoolhouse Planner (which is way cool).  I hope to put everything down on paper this weekend.  We'll try this schedule and see how it goes:

Daily:

• Bible reading
• Math
• Reading practice for Lauren
• Journal Writing (James) and Copywork (Lauren)
• Latin or Greek
• Archery practice or running outside and being silly for awhile (maybe bike riding)
• Science - working on an experiment from an array of books James has or studying nature
• Reading/history/geography:  "living" books - I'm still working on a list so that's not ready yet

Weekly:

• Art / Music (maybe learn to play the guitar) - I have a book on that

We used to take Fridays off every week, then two weeks at Christmas and one week at Easter and one for Spring Break (sometimes these are combined).

I'm also pretty excited because the month of December is going to be preparation for Christmas - reading Christmas books about Jesus' birth, crafts, activities, putting all the Christmas presents together, etc.  We've never been able to do this and fit it around the other curriculums, so I plan on having a full month of Christmas this year.  That should be exciting.

Homeschool Memoirs: A Little About Me

The basics:  I am happily married to the most wonderful man in the world.  We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary in July and have survived beyond the odds and despite what many others thought about our marriage.  We had a whirlwind courtship that lasted 9 months from our first date until the day we got married.  Johnny proposed 6 weeks after our first date.  But, I find it amazing how strong your marriage can be when the foundation of your marriage is God. 

We have two beautiful children - James is 9 and Lauren is 6 (both have birthdays this fall so they'll soon be 10 and 7).  James is starting in 4th grade this year and Lauren will be in 1st.  We have been through many homeschool curriculums over the years and have shed many grief and tears while working through those curriculums - but we have finally found our groove (so to speak).  I discovered that I brought the public school mentality into our homeschool and it wasn't working (duh!).  And now the children enjoy school (okay, not every day and I still get the whining but they are doing so much better!).  I don't think it matters if children are homeschooled or in public school - some days they just don't want to do school!

This year we are taking a break from workbooks and planned curriculums.  We are focusing on reading and writing and using living books for our studies - more focused towards the Charlotte Mason method.  For math we are using Math U See (I love this program).  I would love to start the children on Latin this year but the budget is pretty tight this year (at least right now).  James and I worked our way through Hey Andrew!  Teach me some Greek! over the past 3 years and we're taking a break from it as well.  I might start Lauren on Greek this year since we're not starting Latin.

We chose to homeschool for many reasons, one of which was Columbine.  I think I was due or James had just been born when Columbine happened.  It really scared us to think that our child could one day end up in a situation like that.  Then, a few years later James was in a speech program at the local elementary (before he was in Kindergarten).  We went through 3 speech teachers in 1 month and the last speech teacher and James had a conflict.  Many weeks later (after working through the situation with James and the speech teacher), the speech teacher and I were waiting for the principal & Kindergarten teacher to come in so that James could be released from the speech program (he'd finished and was where he needed to be with his speech), the speech teacher told me he homeschooled his own children.  Wow!  In the meeting that followed were the speech teacher, the kindergarten teacher, the principal and myself.  The kindergarten teacher had been telling me what they learn in kindergarten and after the meeting, the principal asked me if they'd be seeing James in the fall for Kindergarten.  Without even thinking, I told him, "No.  We're going to be homeschooling James."  That was it.  I told hubby when he got home that night and we haven't looked back.  He'd been wanting me to homeschool James anyway so this was great news to him.

Also, I love to work in the garden, can, cook from scratch, quilt, read, spend time with my family, researching homesteading, planning our new home and how we're going to build it, helping hubby with his real estate business and I love to bake.  I bake all of our breads, cakes, muffins, cookies, deserts, etc. from scratch.

In addition to homeschooling, I also work about 30 hours a week from home for an insurance company doing their marketing, some programming, risk management, presentations, etc.  I long for the day that hubby's real estate will take off and I can focus more on the homeschooling and less on the work!!  So, if anyone is buying or selling their property in Central Texas, contact me so that you and Johnny can talk .

TOS Digital Magazine - how awesome!!!

I've been reading through my new digital subscription to TOS magazine and I love it!!!  If you haven't had a chance to try the digital version, when your subscription renews, you should give it a whirl.

I really like that I can have instant access to the magazine.  It doesn't get bent and torn up (and sometimes mutilated) like the print version I have.  I flip through the TOS magazine many times (not only when I first get it), but through the years I have gone back looking for specific articles or unit studies in old editions.  Now, it'll stay "crisp and clean" for years to come.  I can print what I want to and click on the advertisers that interest me.  With the print edition (which I still love), I would have little sticky notes sticking out all over the magazine with products that I wanted to go back and check out their websites later.  Now, I just click on the advertiser and there it is!  It's pretty cool.

When TOS says that it's just like flipping through the magazine, they're absolutely right.  It's the same format and layout, but a click of the button turns the page. 

Also, I have saved the TOS digital version under a separate folder in my "favorites" so it's easy to find everytime I want to go back to it.  If I'm going to be away from the house and want to take it with me, I can print out the articles I haven't read and take them with me (and my "original" magazine doesn't get ruined).

It's a great buy (at a much cheaper price than the regular print edition).  I highly recommend it for future subscribers!  Here's a link for additional information:  TOS Digital Magazine

The Schoolhouse Planner

Do you currently have the new Schoolhouse Planner?  I've had the opportunity to review it and let me tell you, it's an awesome accomplishment!!  I've used many planners and calendars over the years (even creating a few of my own) and this by far, is the best planner I've seen.  It encompasses the every day "homelife" as well as the homeschool activities.

The planner is divided out by month (starting with July - so you can use one calendar for an entire school year!!) and then each month has topics that relate specifically to topics of interest for that month (i.e. summer activities for the months of July and August) and recipes, homeschooling tips, etc.  The monthly calendar has spaces that are large enough to write in and easy to see (you don't have to write in teeny tiny spaces).  It also contains pages for grocery lists, weekly menu planning and even a food inventory log.  The latter portion of the planner is homeschooling related - pages that can be printed for each student for curriculum lists, test scores, schoolyear planning pages, goals, etc.  You name it and it's there.

I absolutely love the idea that you can type directly into the planner and save it!  That's a very unique and awesome feature of this planner.  Or, you can print the pages as you need them and fill them in by hand.  I like the option of doing either.

The only downside to the planner (and this is in my ever so humble opinion) is that if your printer doesn't print front to back, then you'll end up printing 247 pages - that's a lot of paper!  It might not be so bad if you could print front to back or take it to a printer (i.e. Kinko's) to print.  My only suggestion would be to add a choice when purchasing to either buy the e-book or a print version.

But, all in all, I absolutely love the planner and have already started using it!  I can't wait until school starts to really put it into use!

Homeschool Blog Awards - Blogger Class Mates

For those homeschooling moms out there, the HSBA is hosting "Blogger Class Mates".  Each Wednesday a new "assignment" will be posted on Wednesday that all participants can blog about during that week.  It'll run through June 9, 2009 (seems so far away!).  If you're interested, you can go to the link below to sign up.  It should be fun!

Blogger Class Mates

Relaxing on Sunday

I made a commitment this week to God to not work on Sunday.  I've been working 7 days a week and felt the need to no longer work on Sundays.  God's been talking to my heart lately and I know He's been telling me to stop working on His day.  So, I started doing that today.  Let me tell you, it's been such a blessing today!

We spent the morning at church and had an eye-opening conversation with one of our friends.  She's going through a difficult time at work right now and really wants to quit, but they are not in a financial situation where she can stop working.  My heart really goes out to her and I pray that God will help her through this situation and lead her where He wants her to go.  Our conversation, though, really made me realize how fortunate hubby and I are for the choices we've made.  I hope and pray that one day my friend will have the peace that we do.  I know we all have financial difficulties at some point in life, and that we've all faced jobs that would wear us out emotionally and mentally - jobs that you really don't want to do but must until another door opens. 

After church, we drove out to our new dairy and picked up a gallon of fresh raw milk (freshly milked this morning!).  Hubby met Aaron, the dairy farmer.  I think I'm a pretty sociable person, but it amazes how much my husband can relate to people and get them to open up about anything and everything.  We now have another source of beef (at a cheaper rate than our "beef lady", but we'll still buy from both).  It's just nice to know that we KNOW how the beef is handled, where it's processed, what they've been fed, whether or not they've had hormone injections, etc.  Buying local is truly the only way to go.  We're going to be able to get our ground beef for $3.00 a pound and it's hormone and antibiotic free, pretty much grain and grass fed.  I think that's pretty cool.  At some point we'll probably buy a quarter of beef from him but that'll be when we have freezer space.  Of course, I usually can all our ground beef.  It makes it so much easier to pop open a jar of canned ground beef and heat it up for chili!!  Hubby's been begging me to make chili for him but we haven't had any ground beef since April or May.  It's been awhile.

Anyway, hubby and I napped today after we got home while the kids played.  It's been such a relaxing day.  I am really glad I listened to God.  He's blessed my day, my spirit and my well-being today!!

I hope y'all are all doing well.

Beautiful Clouds / Sunset Last Night

We were enjoying the evening last night, when my hubby noticed the sky and the beautiful clouds and "rainbow".  My father-in-law said it was gas, but whatever it may have been, it was simply beautiful.

Homekeeping Tips

Tip #1:  We're trying to cut back as much as possible on our use of electricity.  Our electric bill went up $50 last month and another $20 this month (for a total of $70 over the past 2 months).  It doesn't sound like much, but every penny counts these days.  So, in addition to turning off all the lights in the rooms we're not in during the day, we are also turning off our water heater from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m.  Hopefully, that'll have a huge impact on our electric bill next month.  We just started doing it this week, so we'll see what happens!  Of course, temperatures around here have been 95° and higher (more like 100° and higher).  So, our A/C units have been running like crazy.

Tip #2:  I try to clean out the coffee pot every month - I mean a thorough cleaning.  I fill it up with vinegar and make "hot vinegar", which cleans out the internal plumbing of the machine.  When that's done, instead of pouring the hot vinegar down the drain, I take the opportunity to thoroughly clean the drains.  I pour some baking soda down all the drains, then follow that up with the hot vinegar.  It cleans the drains and I don't just waste the vinegar.  Then, once that's done, I make a pot of "hot water" to clean out the vinegar.  And, now the coffee pot is really clean and so are the drains!

Tip #3:  In order to make our food last longer, we tend to have 2 "cheap" meals a week.  This means bacon & eggs and biscuits one night and usually beans and cornbread or beans & rice another night.  This really helps extend the meat we buy and we still get the protein we need.  Of course, we also have fruits, etc. but these little cheap meals really extend our food budget.

PearSauce Recipe (canning)

I was able to put up 5 half-pints of PearSauce the other day.  I thought I would include the recipe that I used in case others wanted to try it.  It was really good!!  I plan on going back for more pears (I am able to pick them for free from a family in town) so that I can make "pear chips". 

PEAR SAUCE (LOW SUGAR)

Yield: 5 half-pints

Ingredients
12 medium apples or 16 medium pears
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
Ground cinnamon, to taste
Ground cloves, to taste
Ground nutmeg, to taste

Process
Wash and core the apples or pears. Peel, if desired. Cut into chunks or slices. In large, heavy stainless or enamel pot, cook the fruit with the water, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg for 20 minutes, or until the fruit is tender. Drain in a colander. Put through a food mill or sieve, if desired.

Pour the sauce into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe Rims. Remove air bubbles. Seal according to manufacturer’s directions. Process for 15 minutes in a simmering bath at 190 degrees F. Remove jars from canner and let stand for 12 to 24 hours in a draft free place. Store in a cool, dark, dry place.

To freeze: Prepare the recipe as directed. Cool the sauce, then ladle into freezer containers leaving 1/2-inch headspace and freeze. To serve cold, thaw the sauce completely in the refrigerator. To serve warm, partially thaw in the refrigerator, then warm in a covered saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Or microwave on high until warm.

What a day!

We've had an incredibly busy day!  We were up at 2:30 this morning with a sick child.  Lauren woke up throwing up from around 2:30 until 5 this morning.  Hubby had to be at work by 6, so this means he gets up at 4:40 - he didn't get much sleep!  The kids were on the sofa and asleep by 5 a.m., I was working and had most of my work done by the time they woke up.

I washed 3 loads of blankets and a load of sheets today (not to mention the regular laundry) and had them on the line before lunch time.

Lauren's tummy fared much better today.  We think she had some back chicken at Whataburger yesterday afternoon.

Anyway, I got 2 loaves of bread made, took a nap while the kids played around me and made a wonderful dinner of Italian Roasted Potatoes and Italian Chicken Breast Cutlets.  Talk about good...the kids ate it up.

We're headed off to bed now...have a good evening!

Poison Ivy Relief

I've been battling poison ivy for the last few days but I ran out of Tecnu this morning.  If you haven't heard of Tecnu, it's a "soap" you can buy at the grocery store or local corner market (i.e. CVS, Walgreens, etc.) but removes the oils of poison ivy and cuts down on the amount of time you have it.  It's expensive though at $12.99 a bottle (yikes!).

Anyway, I ran out of it this morning, so I went on-line to see if I could find any homeopathic remedies.  Oh, my goodness!!! There are so many options out there that are much cheaper than Tecnu.  I've got a link below that lists tons.

Poison Ivy Website (for relief)

I opted for the straight vinegar and it is really helping!!! Much better than Tecnu. It burns & stings like crazy when you first apply it, then it itches for about 1-2 minutes, but then it stops itching completely for about 3 hours (what a relief!).  It'll turns my skin red for a little bit but it makes the itch go away and dries up the poison ivy blisters.

Anyway, I thought I'd share what I found in case others out there are also facing the same problem!

Raw Milk!!!

I just had to share this information because I'm just so excited.  I received an email earlier this week from the lady we buy our beef from (Wild Type Beef) that there is now a local dairy that's selling raw milk.  I talked to the owner of the dairy farm yesterday and he's just as nice as can be.  He's been in the dairy industry for many years, operating a 1,000 head dairy farm in the Panhandle of Texas.  He and his family moved down here to Central Texas about three years ago to start their own dairy farm.  And, now they're ready to start selling to the public.

They grow their own food for their small herd, have them tested for diseases, do not give them antibiotics or hormones, are inspected by the state every month and are licensed to sell raw milk in Texas.  After speaking with our "beef lady" (Sarah), I'm going to buy our first gallon this weekend.  Yeah!!

It's cheaper than the organic milk we buy now and local!!  My goal is to spend only $100/month at our local grocery store and either growing our own food or buying it from local farmers.  I'm very excited about this.  I'll be able to make our own butter, buttermilk, whipping cream, and even cheese!!

Aaron (the owner) is also hoping to start a little market by the end of the year selling their milk, cheeses and other produce (from their neighbor). 

If anyone uses raw milk, please leave me a comment on how you do your own butter, etc. I can't wait to get started!!!

Mustang Grape Wine, Liqueor & Canning Lids

We picked more Mustang Grapes yesterday - making 6½ cups of juice.  I've got a batch of wine fermenting (should be ready in about a month) and 4 cups in the freezer.  I'd like to pick one more box or bag of grapes to make another 12-15 quarts of grape juice and then I'm going to try my hand at Mustang Grape Liqueur.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not in a previous blog, but I plan on giving a "trio" of Mustang Grape presents for Christmas this year:  jelly, wine and liqueur.  Hopefully the liqueur will turn out good as I've never made it before.  It's going to have to sit for about 2-3 months in a cool place - which means it should be good and ready by Christmas.

Also, does anyone have any clever ideas on craft projects to make with used (but clean) canning lids?  I've been keeping them when I open my jars because I can't bear to throw them all out.  I hope to make some pretty mirrors with the smaller ones (like purse mirrors) but any ideas for the larger ones?  I think we may paint some of them as Christmas ornaments (for our tree and for presents) but any other ideas?  I have about 50-100 of them (yep ... that many).

Thanks!

What a great weekend!

We took a quick trip up to Oklahoma this weekend with hubby's parents and brother and had a wonderful time.  It was a very spur of the moment trip and very much needed and appreciated!  We went to the National Wildlife Refuge right outside of Lawton, OK and drove to Meers, OK (which is also a beautiful drive).  We stopped in little Texas towns on the way up there and just had a great time.  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

This is the kids in front of the world's largest cedar rocking chair (isn't it huge?)

This is a haunted hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas (isn't that cool?).

Storm coming in while we were driving through National Wildlife Refuge.

And the beautiful rainbow and buffalo after the storm.

And finally, this buffalo was a mere 3-4 feet away from our truck.  The herd was moving across the road at the time we came across this intersection and cars were backed up waiting for them to move out of the way.

As I said, we had a wonderful time.  This was also a wonderful early anniversary present.  Today hubby and I celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss.  We've lasted longer than other couples who were married around the same time we were.  I love my husband very much.  He is a wonderful man and I couldn't even imagine being married to anyone else but him.

Beware of Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

As you know, I live here in  Texas - the grandest state in the nation.  However, as a homeschooling parent, I'm ever watchful of the wolves that may come to the door to invade my homeschool doing what they think is best for my family (state laws, Child Protective Services, truancy officers, etc.).  We live in a state that requires very little of homeschooling families - just so long as the basics are being covered, we don't have portfolios to turn in, or state assessments to meet, or even home visits.  We are truly free and independent to teach our children what we think is best for them.

I received a TOS Partner email this morning regarding Texas Tech University's Outreach and Distance Education program (they're calling it Texas Tech University Independent School District).  After reading the email and going over their website (TTUISD), it's pretty clear to me that the Texas Education Agency (who is overseeing this program) is trying an alternate route to reach homeschooling families in Texas. 

My guess (and it's only an educated guess) is that if this program takes off, they may try to make it mandatory to do "public school" in our homeschools.  This is nothing more than the public school education packaged for homeschoolers.  It's governed by the Texas Education Agency, has certified Texas teachers available to answer questions and is sent out through Texas Tech (which in all honesty is a great university).  However, isn't the point of homeschooling so that our children don't have to go through public school like we did?  That they can learn about what interests them in a fashion that best suits their learning styles - not public education in a box?

This is just a thought but I think this is also a way for the public schools to get "federal funding" for homeschoolers (in a sense).  They charge an incredibly high amount per class ($95 per course for kindergarten) - which probably offets the federal funding they don't receive since our children are at home, not in public school.

I think it's a little scary when the TEA is doing this.  They may try to casually start infiltrate our homes (okay - infiltrate may be a little strong, but I couldn't think of a better word) that we don't notice that our homeschooling freedoms in Texas are slowly eroding.

As I said, now's the time to watch for the wolves in sheep's clothing...they're coming faster than you think.

Mustang Grapes - tips & recipes + Homeschooling question

Mustang Grapes are in season!  We picked for 30 minutes yesterday and had enough grapes to make 20 quart jars of grape juice (super easy recipe!).  And, I've got a huge bowl of juice ready for jelly-making tomorrow.  In fact, I could probably make 3 batches of jelly tomorrow.  This is the beginning of the mustang grape season so we should have plenty of time to get enough for more grape juice (to drink).  I'd like to have a total of 40 (or more) jars of grape juice. 

Mustang grapes cannot be eaten raw or the juice either.  They are so acidic that they burn your hands when picking or preparing.  So, when I make the grape juice for drinking, I simply add 1 cup of grapes,½-cup of sugar and boiling water to quart jars (that have already been cleaned, sterilized and hot).  I can them in a water bath canner for about 15-20 minutes.  Everything processes at once so there's no need for any pre-mixing or cooking.  You need to let them set up for about 2-4 weeks before you start using them so that the grapes and sugar have time to blend together.  I also use this recipe for cranberries later in the year.  Last December our local grocery store had bags of fresh cranberries on sale for $.99.  I bought about 10 bags and made lots of cranberry juice.  I can make 3 quarts of cranberry juice out of 1 bag.  Also, if you mix 1 quart of grape juice and 1 quart of cranberry juice, it makes the best crangrape juice.

And, when I get the grapes ready for making jelly, I simply throw them in the pot, cover with water, turn the burner onto medium high and when they start to pop, I stir and mash them up.  Then, I strain them into a large bowl for several hours.  Once it's drained, the bowl goes into the fridge until I'm ready to start canning (usually the next day).  Or, you can freeze the juice until you're ready to make jelly.  I follow the recipe for making jelly that's included in the pectin box.

I'm hoping to also make a batch or two of Mustang Grape wine.  These will probably become Christmas gifts for my family.  If anyone wants the super-easy wine recipe, let me know and I'll post it.

We've also been busy cleaning out our shed.  It's been packed for many months - too packed.  Hubby couldn't even get in there to get his tools or store his tools properly.  So, today we cleaned it out and threw out half the stuff.  I plan on posting most of it on freecycle.  We have some really great stuff, but we just don't use it.  It's been in storage for 5 years!!!!  I am definitely sure we won't be using those things.  It's nice to know that we've pared down on a lot of what we use.  Having an extremely small kitchen, I quickly realize what I need or don't need and what I don't need or takes up space goes ... it's as simple as that.  We are down to one box of toys in the shed.  I'd say about 1/5 of the shed are bills/receipts and homeschooling material.

QUESTION:  We live in Texas.  What do we need to keep for homeschooling records?  I know that in high school we'll need to keep better records of what the kids have done for college, etc.  But, what about elementary school?  Middle school?  How are other Texas families keeping up with their children's school work?  Each child gets a box for the year (like a storage box).  If we keep this up, we'll have 24 boxes in the shed just for school work!!!  Any ideas?  What can we purge?  We should we keep?