Motivation

This English library is at our school. Now that I am homeschooling, I am so thankful for it.

Gas station... $4.94 a gallon--- sad! That in a country where the daily wage is $5-15 a day.

The human side of the "block" apartments

The square and the park by it. Fall is here!

Today I finally got motivated AGAIN to keep a tidy house... I wish it would be second nature, but maybe it never will be. I am so distractable- I must have a system or else nothing gets done.

1. I must take my basket and trash can into each room and go clockside around the room.
2. Anything that doesn't belong- goes into the basket.
3. Then clutter, junk and garbage into the trash can.
4. Go around clockwise again and wipe and dust everything.
5. Finish the room with a vaccum.
6. Put away stuff in basket
7. Move to the next room
   

If I don't do this, I will end up cleaning ALL DAY and NEVER EVER see a cleaner house. Why? Because I do a small project in each room and never finish a whole area. Sad to be me! :( I even have to add "clockwise" to my routine. From where I am standing and around clockwise, so that I can't even distract myself deciding where to start. Is this normal?

I probably have ADD... oh well. I'm used to it now! I have a clean house... yay for me. I subscribed to a organizational blog- www.organizingyourway.net

Helps keep me focused on cleaning up when I check email each morning! ;)

A Bread Anyone Can Make

Do you love crisp artisan breads? Couple this with a slice of cheese or soup and that is one of my favorite meals.


I found a recipe that is really to good to NOT share. It is a bread recipe for fresh bread that literally takes 5 minutes a day.


You all know I am a terrible baker--- well I haven't been able to mess it up, so I know that you will have luck.

Here are the full instructions-(reduce salt to 2 teaspoons- it calls for 1 1/2 Tablespoons too salty)


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx



Basically you mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon in a big bowl. (NO KNEADING OR RISING) Then let it sit on the counter for 3-6 hours. Then you throw it in the fridge.



When you want bread- you take out a blob from the bowl- plop it on a floured cutting board and turn on the oven. Put a heavy pan or pizza stone inside the oven so it gets really hot. Once the oven reaches 450 degrees you cook it for 30 minutes. Done!



For those of you in a really hot area, a toaster oven would work fine! or here is a link for focaccia bread on the grill-


http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=698#more-698


It is really that easy. I mix in my favorite spices and today I put roasted garlic in it and then rolled it into a loaf shape. It made a nice sandwich bread.



It is very versatile too. You can make cheese breads, dinner rolls, English muffins, flat bread, even apple cake with crumb topping all from the same dough in the fridge.



My kids are eating pizza bread on a stick right now. You just grab a blob from the fridge roll up out the dough, spread on sauce, cheese and toppings and roll it like a cinnamon roll. Cook it for 20 minutes and it's done. What is that food in the freezer isle? Pizza Pockets? It's sort of like that, I guess (never had one!) It would make a great lunch food. You could make a batch and then freeze them. Throw them in lunch boxes or into a picnic basket. You could make them for a kids party too. A pizza tree! Cute.

Weston just loves posing for pics- can't you tell!?

Tomorrow I will try another way to use the dough with a recipe from this website-

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Try it, I know you'll like it.

"A towel prom dress" ~Peter

(This is full sized for printing, moms)

I am on a sewing kick. I am making the kids a few Christmas gifts. They really like it when I make things for them. This age is so great, because they like everything I make!!!

I know a in a few more years they won't be so willing to play along with me! :)

While I was up with Sierra in the middle of the night, I thought of this design. I was trying to use the time and not be upset I wasn't sleeping!!! :)

I had made her a poncho cover up that was hideous and is now in the garbage!

I really like this style! So sassy.

I like the kids to have a coverup when they get out of the water. I don't like how towels always slip off or get stepped on while they are walking.

We are going to Thailand in Feb so I made this for Sierra.

Isn't she a doll?

This was super easy to make- I made it during two episodes of King of Queens. I just measured a shirt that fit her and cut the tube top part- I sewed it together and then added a bit of elastic at the top. Then I made the short skirt by gathering it and sewed it on to the tube top part. Then I hemmed the bottom.

I wanted it to slide right on- with no sleeves on wet little arms! So cute.

Next I am making Weston a army print flannel and fleece sleeping bag- I know he'll love it!

We had a great trip to Darhan

Darhan is a city about 60 miles south of here that has a nice department store. We went there and stocked up on some food items. We bought 20 bags of oatmeal and 15 pounds of cheese! You can't buy things like that here. I will grate the cheese and freeze it so it keeps a LONG time.

We also got a school table for the kids and some chairs. It is cute to see them sitting at their own little table!

We stopped halfway here and walked in the forest. The trees are changing colors here and it was beautiful.

I was so careful to bring my camera and extra batteries- BUT I forgot the memory card. You'll just have to imagine how beautiful it was- sorry.

Homeschool week in review

Homemade Easel-

a wooden one is one of Peter's next projects, he just doesn't know it yet. Sierra mostly enjoyed moving the clothespins!

Homeschool is going well. Armed with my bean jar reward system, Weston and I can tackle any subject, so far! We study each day around 1pm when Sierra is napping. Weston is tired from playing all morning, but it really works well so far. When it gets colder, I think we'll be doing most work in the morning. It is hard to have him stop playing now, since the weather is so beautiful.

He is really improving in his ability to color- he is staying in the lines. You should see him stick out his tongue and flap it when he is concentrating. His next goal is to color with more than one color.

He drew these himself!!! Do you like the way he signed it with a W? Love it!

His writing and drawing are really going well. He is able to write well, AND hold his pencil properly without a fuss. Both huge accomplishments for this boy who hated anything pencil/paper a few months ago!

He wrote the one on the bottom, I wrote the one on the top!

I swore I turned this picture! We are heading to Darhan tomorrow. I will look for a small table and chairs there. He is always writing up on his knees-- the teacher in my cringes!!!

This is Peter- don't worry, that's his "bottom." I like his curly hair the best!!!
Math is a breeze for him. I am using Saxon, which is all hands on so far.

We read the children's Bible each day, this week each story was about Joseph. Remember those blue hard cover Bibles that we had when we were kids? They always had them at the doctors office I went to when I was a kid. My grandma had the full set too. I think this is the same one. Do you remember these illustrations?

We have learned A-G well. He is NOT interested AT ALL in putting the sounds together to read- YET! He colored, cut and pasted these pictures that start with G. Pretty good.

We are studying art that have children in the painting. This one is a picture of King Edward the IV when he was one. Weston wants me to sew him clothes, just like that! Funny boy.

Science is another of his strengths. This week we studied dirt. We looked under wood in the yard to observe insects, we found a frog too. I put it in a bowl. He sat and observed it for about 30 min. We studied the small particles as well. He is well versed in dirt... how could he not be living here in a HUGE dirt field!?

I know I turned this one? blogger is freaking out!

OK those are the highlights of our week! Pretty fun huh? Tomorrow we are heading to Darhan to buy some things (I'm MISSING cheese!) We'll stop on the way for our fall forest walk and eat Indian food at a great cafe (I hope!)

Great Fall Recipe

It was late... there was no meat cooked. I usually have meat cooked and ready since it takes 5 hours to cook meat here. The kids are getting cranky- they are tired and HUNGRY.
What's for dinner? The age old question!

I look in my very bare fridge. Oh good potatoes-
I begin to clean peel, I am scanning my mind for good dinner ideas that revolve around a potato, no sour cream, no cheese.... think think think. The whining is getting louder and it's getting dark.
I have no clue- OK cookbook.

The Better Homes and Garden cookbook saved the dinner hour- this is so easy and so good.

Cream of Veggie Soup
Boil 3 cups chicken broth or bouillon.
Throw in 3 cups of peeled potatoes, and three cups of winter squash (or some carrots or any veggies you have)
Boil until tender.
Put in blender- throw in tomatoes if you like them. You know the old ones that are no longer suitable for a salad.
Blend until smooth.
In the same pot, put in 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 c onion chopped. Saute until tender.
Add 2-3 tablespoons flour and 2 cups milk.
Add your favorite seasonings to taste. I added dill- my favorite!
Add in the blended veggies.
salt and pepper to taste.

Last night we topped with croutons
Cut up old bread that is not suitable for sandwiches or the crusts that your kids won't eat! ;) Toss with oil and seasonings and a little salt. Broil while you simmer soup.

Do you notice that I had a lot of food that is "not suitable?" I need to go to the store!

Today for lunch left overs I added a little crumbled sausage on top of the soup--- PERFECT!
Homemade sausage-
Put 2 cups ground beef in a bowl add and mix-
1/2 t salt, 1 teaspoon sage, 1/4 t pepper, 1 t cloves, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 t sugar (if you like sweeter sausage)

Shape into patties and coat in flour. Fry them up... done.

This has MUCH less fat than store bought. I freeze it in cooked patties and then cut it up eat it on pizza, in eggs, on soups.

Kitchen Remodel by the Culture Shocked Mind!

We bought a little house in California during April 09. Perfect timing for first time buyers… we got a foot in the market. It is rented now! We know that we are blessed to have a place to call our own someday!

We are planning for the future and considering remodels that are needed to make it a bit more modern and useable. The current kitchen has four feet of counter top and five cabinets! It also hosts the washing machine. It is the poster kitchen for the 1960’s. :) There are kitchens with more storage in some RVs! It would definitely be enjoyable to have a more modern kitchen and it is an investment in our eventual resale.

So we plan ahead and will save up little by little. It is funny to budget for this and make decisions about things while living here. The comparison of our worlds is laughable….

I really like my kitchen here in Mongolia. I am so blessed by it. It has everything I need and want and it has more counter space than any I have ever had- 13 linear feet! NICE. Our new tile countertop cost $25 and looks pretty good, considering that we have never installed tile and had no proper tools! It is extra special because Peter built the bottom cabinets! We purchased the top cabinets for$40! They are beuuu-tiiii-ful white laminate pressboard! ;) wink wink! They are held together with ½ inch screws an L brackets. I have a tiny oven with 2 burners, and only one of them will boil water. It is fine though. I know how to juggle things and get a meal made. I don't need anything more- remember I am trying to be a minimalist now!

Because I am used to these things, it is hard to trust myself to choose things for a remodel in America. It is hard to know if I am choosing something nice enough for American standards, does that make sense? To me most EVERYTHING I see in America is beautiful.

We probably won’t do anything to the house for several more years, but it is fun to dream and in the mean time, save up.

So anyhow, just some thoughts from my culture shocked mind! :)

Puppies are getting bigger...

They are 4 weeks old now. They are so cute. It is fun to watch the kids play with them. They are all friendly and it is fun to cuddle with them. It is fun to see some of them getting personalities. There is one who has great coloring and is medium in size. She is the only one who wags her tail and she is the first one to come out and want to be pet.

We are thinking of keeping two, one for each of the kids.

Figured out the Template and Creative Recycling

Yay... probably most of you were sleeping when my blog was caddy wompus today... it's fixed!

Since I am logging on to check if it is fixed, I thought I would show you one of my projects today.

Sierra had two stained shirts and a stained skirt and a dress that was too small. Weston had a pair of shorts that were too small. So I put them all together and made these:

The heart patch is from the stained shirt I made the frogs out of and it is covering a bad stain on the bottom of that skort! The second outfit is an old dress that was too short for Sierra, so I cut it apart and sewed the skirt on to Weston's old shorts. I made a patch to cover the stain on this shirt out of scraps from the shorts and dress. It really looks cute.

I got the ideas for this at http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/07/twirly-jean-skirt.html

format trouble...

sorry this is all messed up... I can't figure out what is going on with my blog... watch for super cute new template soon!

Fall

Weston really loves plants. I think this must come from me and Papa (my dad) constantly talking about them. He understands where plants come from and how the seeds are in the flowers. He constantly collects seeds. This helps him to LOVE fall leaves. He spent a long time collecting them.

Then we made this fall garland for our
"Welcome Home the Kenworthy Family Dinner Celebration!"
It was fun to let Weston use a needle to string all the leaves on to the thread. Peter came home and said, "hmm, interesting."

But I really like it, especially because Weston collected the leaves and made it all by himself and we grew the pumpkins in our garden! Weston also drew all the rainbows on the table. He really DID NOT like the brown table cloth. He said, "It needs pretty colors!"

I forgot to take pictures of our dinner party. We were too busy chatting. But it sure is fun to catch up and talk. Our kids got along really well. Weston has really matured a lot in the last year and Sierra was so excited to have a friend to play with she could hardly contain her joy! She was jumping all around! Their daughter has gotten so big and she is super cute. Their two month old baby boy is adorable. It is amazing how small they are when they are first born!

PS do you see my new teacups? PRETTY. I realized I didn't have four matching cups left, so I bought 8 new ones! I really like these!

Snowy, Seasons Changing Saturday

We woke up this morning and opened the curtains to a THICK blanket of snow. I love snow, especially on Saturday when we are all here together. The children were so excited. We pulled out the winter coats, snow pants, and new boots. They ran outside and played!!! It was fun!

Then Peter and I decided to have a celebration of the first day of winter. We made doughnuts with sprinkles (and some maple bars for Peter... his fave.) The children came in with red, rosy cheeks and enjoyed our celebration with SUGAR!

Sierra's rosy cheeks... I love this picture. I was wrestling her and hugging her and taking the picture at the same time!

Later on they made a snowman with Peter! This is the first snowman we've ever made here. The snow is usually so dry, that it won't stick together but today it was perfect. Quarter sized snow flakes drifted down all day long! It was so beautiful. That nice white blanket makes everything look so clean and fresh.

Then I decided to make some frog beanbags. We've been reading about frogs and studying the letter "F." To top that off, one of Sierra's green shirts was in terrible need of recycling! I chopped it up and made two soft frogs. The kids enjoyed throwing them around. Weston made up a game. He put the frog on his head, and Sierra copied. Then they jumped and the frog flew up and they yelled, "jump." Funny!

I got the pattern for this idea at http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/

Talk about a creative lady!

Homemaking is Creating Beauty

This is not news to most people, but it has taken me almost 9 years to get it. It is a good thing that I have such a wonderful and encouraging hubby.

Peter took a class with our company called, Intentional Living. The gist of the course was to live and work and focus where your God given talents are. Hmmm? Kind of hard to apply... for me at least.

I have SOOOO many areas to improve, why not focus on bettering those areas? I cannot live a pie in the sky life and only focus on what I am good at, right.

Then through a series of events, it hit me. I can apply myself to the tasks at hand through my strengths- with more success.

I am creative, but not very skilled or artistic. But creativity is one of my talents. I can think of outside the box solutions-- sometimes WAY outside! Sometimes it is not useful and it gets me in trouble because it means that I think in a different way. BUT it is a strength.

I also LOVE beauty, like most humans.

I LOVE delighting my children!

I HATE mopping and laundry!

Ah, do you see where I am going? Housework is creating beauty! Mopping and housework are part of creating a beautiful home for my children to grow up in and remember fondly.

For some reason, this makes me smile. I am CREATING beauty when I vacuum, pick up toys, redress Sierra for the fifth time today, label school materials, or set the table! It gives me greater purpose and satisfaction.

It is not just work to do because I have to, it is a service to my family- to see Weston's eyes light up because we work on a project together or have a "party" dinner, or to tuck Sierra in just the way she likes and snuggle her, to help Peter be who he needs to be and wants to be and to honor him with tidy beautiful things.

I feel as though I am growing now. Maybe this is why people love their 30's. Knowing who they are and WHY they do things and not caring as much what others think.

Sierra and Mommy Midnight Waltz

Sierra, oh Sierra.... its a good thing you are so cute!

She woke up at 1:30am screaming, she was still asleep and I went to comfort her.
back to bed
she is crying againg... i go back down the hall
she points to her water- nice. I place her cup in her cubby little hands and lay down next to her.
she calms down and is sleepy
i kiss her and go back to bed
she gets up 15 minutes later
she gets toys
i can hear her...
should i get up? nah- maybe she'll go back to bed
then i worry
i get up i peak in
she has laid all her dollys in a line on the floor... at least they are sleeping.
she sees me, "ma" she yells
i go in, and lay down with her. i read her a book. i wait til she falls asleep.
i get up and go back to bed.
30 minutes later- she toddles into my room
i take her back to her bed, inform her that she MUST day in her room
i go back to bed- now WIDE awake
i fall asleep
then i hear it- her feet OUT of bed.
she is getting toys-
i don't care now.
i doze off again.
then i hear the loudest (and coolest) toy we own the jet... "mission control you are clear for take off----we need air support NOW-----boom, boom, boom"
i think i PRAY... let her put that down, surely she knows she is wrong.
NO SHE DOESN'T STOP.
oh the agony if Weston wakes up....
so i get up and go down the hall.
she has taken her whole bed apart.
i take away the jet
put back her bed--- let her know there will be TROUBLE if this keeps up.
i go back to bed
SHE GETS UP AND COMES DOWN THE HALL-
nice mommy is GONE
She gets a discipline (maybe what she needed an hour and a half ago, but believe me we've tried that too!!!)
i need to add on a sound proof, padded room... i am only KIND of joking. :)
she is almost 3 and has only slept through the night MAYBE 30 times
i'm tired

An Ode to My Treadmill

I do love the treadmill...

I know for some the treadmill brings to mind a hamster on a wheel, and for others the thought of staring at a wall while essentially running in place is an appalling thought!

But for me the treadmill is-

• inspiring to have the programs pushing me to go farther and to jog uphill
• an oasis where lock myself in a room, turn on the music and just go
• comforting because I don't think about what I look like.
• a wonder to run in my ripped pants that have seen better days and NOT care.
• a joy to not be afraid while walking and jogging alone
• freeing that no matter the temperature or time, I can go and run.
• a little friend who keeps track of my miles and calories and who is always happy to see me.

Now I am doing a program that walks fast 2/3 of the time and jogs uphill 1/3 of the time. It is perfect for me now.
Friday- 1.37 miles- 192 calories
Saturday- 1.88 miles- 238 calories
Today- 2.11 miles- 270 calories

Now I have to NOT forget how much I like it and visit with my friend everyday! :)

Weston

He is such a cute age! He does and says the cutest things.

His puppy is named Sockers. She has white socks! He is cute and he checks on her everyday and holds her and always informs me of how she's doing.

Yesterday he ran into the house and said, "There's a wasp in the doggy cage!!!!" He looks so worried and so Peter asks, "Is it dead?" Weston replies, "No, it is crawling around and looks like it came all the way from America!!!!" Peter, "Wow, it must be tired!"

The Beginning of a New Patio!

Yesterday, Peter worked on the patio and he finished a 6 x 6 foot patio right in front of the porch! I am so happy!!! I am also hoping that it will keep more dirt outside where it belongs! He worked all morning making the dirt level and sloping it away from the house and then he used premade brick forms to pour the concrete. You can see the forms in the pictures. Each form is 2x2. They are so easy to use. Just lay them down and then fill with concrete. Then pull up the form ten minutes later and it leaves the impresson of bricks!

It was so easy that when Peter went to work, I was confident enough to do three squares by myself!!! Laying the forms was the easy part and mixing concrete by hand in the wheelbarrow was the HARD part. It was a nice workout for my arms though!

We will continue and make a larger area for the children to ride bikes on. Our plan is to make a large rectangle and leave two flowerbeds in the middle of the patio, so it makes a little track for the children to ride around on, and also make it look pretty from the inside of the house.

While Peter and I worked on the last square together, I hurt my hand SOOOO bad. I was walking over to get some water to wet down the patio and in true Three Stooges form, I stepped on a rake. The rake handle came up so hard and hit my hand. I didn't see the rake and it was shocking!!! I started crying instantly and thought, "I'm going to Korea tonight to get a cast- it is definately broken." Peter was panicked too. I don't cry that easily and this time I was SOBBING! After icing it and calming myself down I am glad to report that I am fine, bruised, but fine! I am really fortunate that it hit between my pointer finger and thumb. (and that it didn't hit my face!) If it had hit more directly on a bone, I don't think that I would have been that fortunate! Thank you Lord!

I am so thankful for the patio too!

Quiet Day

This day has been a quiet one, that's nice. We are enjoying the cool temperatures of fall and the end of the gardening season. There is a lot to do in the way of raking and harvesting potatoes outside.

I continue working on organizing the house one room at a time. It has been great!

Homeschool is going well... I need to think of some games for reviewing letters sounds to break it up. We have studied A-E so far... he's got those sounds down. We will do F and G next week. We will continue with 2 letters a week for the next 10 weeks until he has all the letter sounds down pat. Then we'll start in with short sound phonics. I have been trying to have him put sounds together... HE WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT! He likes just focusing on one sound/letter for now, so I won't push.

Sierra is doing well... smart as can be. She is turning into a major climber. I found her on TOP of the green house about 9 feet up.... nice! I have to watch her. She loves dancing, music, clapping and holding the puppies. Can you continue to pray for her to talk, it is hard not to worry- she'll be 3 in December.

Peter is doing well. He is working on a small patio/porch for me now. He is such a hard worker. He is getting more compliments on his Mongolian language skills, although he says he is rotten at it! He really is learning and growing. He continues with his hobby of guitar and really is getting good at that. He has learned another song in Mongolian and he played that on Sunday morning.

Ok... enough with my Christmas letterish report!

Minimalist Day 3 and some thought on grace... random

Well I'm working on Minimalist Day 3... Yesterday's master bedroom project was so big, I am doing something a little more easy today. I have actually spent my day ripping CDs to my computer so that I can store the CDs in a box or something- NOT in my closet!

I also spent some of the day taking pictures of Peter's old college notes.... mindless and strange! We have notebooks full of notes that have been shipped across the ocean!! So I looked up an automatic feed scanner...300-500 dollars! So I took pictures of each page instead. I poor man's trick. It works great. It doesn't take that long either!

So far I have gotten rid of two CD cases and one notebook! Yay.

I was listening to my MP3 player as I was walk/jogging and I heard this song. It is a rock version of Come Let Us Adore Him. I don't know the artist... sorry!

It says, "Come let us adore Him! He has come down to this barren land, and all I have have to give Him is adoration!

There is a line that says, "He raises a wrinkled hand through the dust and the flies, wrapped in rags like we are...."

FLIES... yuck. I HATE, HATE, HATE flies. When it gets cold here they try desperately to get in the house so they won't die outside. I swat hourly to keep up with their disgusting numbers!

We live in a neighborhood that has WAY WAY more cattle, goats, and sheep than cars (hence the flies!) They are NOT clean. They are NOT like a picture book. As we walk past them on the way to the store they are covered in flies, poop, and mud. They are not cute! (ok sometimes like in Spring when all the baby animals are born!) :)

Anyway, the words "through the dust and the flies," really got to me. There was the Son of God, rolled up and put in a food bin for animals. He humbled himself down to an infant covered with flies among yucky animals.

Grace beyond grace. It is to amazing that God decided to do that for us.

Peter get a good laugh out of hearing me yell the lyrics to music while I treadmill with my earphones on. When I come out he just smirks and chuckles. One of the benefits of running IN the house, I can scream the words without looking like a total freak. Oh ya, except for my dear family. My kids will think it's normal to do that. So if you see them running and scream/singing (which many of you have) you'll know why!

Minimalist Challenge

I am trying to be more a minimalist! I am drowning in a sea of clutter.... it is ALL going away. I want to be a better housekeeper, so here I go!

I went through my kitchen yesterday! I threw out four bags of stuff! I cleaned off the refrigerator, and the countertop. I covered the windows in my cabinet doors so that all the junk wouldn't show through. It feels good and looks good!

Now I am working on the bedroom. I am almost done with the closet now. I am working on labeling everything and putting away a mountain of DVDs, then it will be done. Then I turn to the bookshelves. Books are so tricky... it is good to have them but SO annoying to store them, but they too WILL GO!

I will post a picture of my bedroom results tomorrow... back to the clutter pile!

Cows in the Corn

I have been a terrible gardener this year. The only thing I have successfully grown in every area are weeds!!!

God blessed my work anyway and we did get some veggies though!

This morning when we woke up, all the corn was knocked down. I thought maybe it froze... but cows had gotten in and ate all the corn right off the the stocks!!! SAD--- bad cows!

Amazing Site

I have been thinking about education and studying Charlotte Mason's ideas. I found a place to download her original writings from the 1880's. I will read her writings this year. If I want to use her ideas, I will be able to start with Weston next year.

The site I found is truly amazing. It is a group of ten homeschool moms who educate their kids with the Mason method. They have organized and designed a website to help other moms.

It is completely free and they have each year preplanned and with the click of a button you can find almost anything you need there! They have book lists, ideas, artists, music, science all there. Another amazing thing is that they found so many online downloadable books, art prints, and music. With the click of the mouse I have what I need here, even in the frozen tundra!! :)

I do think that children should have real books and be able to hold them, understand how they work and follow along, but sometimes having the no bookstores or libraries here make the online features very useful!

So if you are interested in reading about Charlotte Mason, downloading her writings or her homeschooling methods check out
www.amblesideonline.org

Rain and Cute kids in raincoats!

They are the cutest in the world! How did I get so lucky?

Thoughts on education

Charlotte Mason is such an interesting Christian lady. She was born in 1842 and was educated at home by her parents. She was orphaned at 16 and went to teachers college. She became a teacher shortly afterward and realized that parents needed help with their children. She gave a series of seminars that were later published with the title Home Education. This was the beginning of the Parents’ Education Union.

She helped expand education to all classes of children. Her philosophy of education is interesting to me, “Two key mottos taken from those principles are "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations."

Her ideas include the use “living books” not textbooks and to replace the practice workbook with narrations. As little children they are read to and then asked to tell what they learned the mother writes it down. As the children grow, they will read and write part of their ideas and later they will write their narrations in entirety.

Science it taught mostly by observation, and a nature diary where the children draw and write what they learned through observation.
Art is also an area of real learning. Studying at least 5 paintings from the same author in a semester. Studying mostly just means having them one painting propped open on the table. The mother should also know about the artist and answer questions or tell stories about the painting or artist as well.
Spelling and grammar are learned in the mix with the narration, again in a real life context not a booklet/lecture.
History as well is learned from “living books” biographies and autobiographies.
Music is taught by listening to great composers. Later children who study instruments will be delighted to play what they already know.

She also had an interesting and challenging idea of motherhood. Since mother was the teacher, she had to always be learning and growing. The mother must take time for herself to read and learn or her teaching will dry up.
When I wrote my first application for teaching, I wrote that my goal was to, “educate lifelong learners.” I knew at the time that it sounded good and would help me get hired, but I really meant it. I really enjoy learning and reading and challenging my mind to new things, and continually learn and grow being a lifelong learner. How comforting it is to see that can overflow into motherhood and “home education” and how it already has in Sierra and Weston.

I have so much to learn about mothering, especially nurturing with gentleness, which I am sorely lacking; but one of my strengths is teaching and reading a summary of Mason’s ideas made it clearer to me how that can run over into mothering and help me to create a better environment of home and learning. That is in a sense, mothering. Mothering and teaching are really not able to be separated. The teaching really does begin at birth and what a mother knows naturally flows from her into her children’s minds.

It is freeing too to take the mystery out of education and realize that I am not really a home “school.” I am not part of the machine of school that includes tests, pressure and labeling. I am free to educate my children aside from these things. I am free to find the most interesting, entertaining and good books read them and share them with my children. To teach them to read, write, figure, and think in those contexts. How wonderful.

First Week of Homeschool

Our first week was really great. It was full of fun projects! I am making sure to make it super fun, I don't want to just check off the boxes and make him "hate" learning or even dread it.

I am surprised how quickly a school day wraps up. We start with Bible, reading a bit from the Children's Bible, then a memory verse, then letters/reading, then writing, and last math. We follow that with a break. It only takes about an hour though!

He is not restless, except for writing and sounding out words. These are the hardest things for him, so he of course doesn't care for them. During that time, I have a bean jar to help motivate him. Today he earned 30 beans and sounded out 4 words, "dad, cab, bad, and cat!" When the bean jar is full, we'll go to the store and he can pick something to buy! He LOVES the bean jar.

Then we have a break. The children are outside now having "recess."

After that there we have literture reading time, history or science, crafts/art.

Then we eat lunch. The whole "school day" is about 2.5 hours. It is really nice. I should have started with the kids earlier.

We made pinwheels this week... here is a cute picture!

Baptism Pics

I am slowly catching up and posting pictures from the time my camera was broken. I borrowed a friends camera, but needed the cord to get them onto my computer.

Anyhow, here are pictures from the baptism 2 weeks ago. It was a good day of fellowship and the celebration of following the Lord!

Puppies-8 in all

Our dog Sam is a great dog mommy. Peter is making dog food almost everyday. She is a hungry dog, caring for her pups. They pups are all doing well. Here are some pictures.