Homeschooling

When you think of a homeschool family, what do you think of? I am often asked what it is like to homeschool my children, so I thought I would do a series of posts about homeschooling.

Here is what "school" looks like in our home:

Each girl has woken up without being told to, eaten breakfast and is now completely ready and eager to start school. They have cheerfully done their chores, and have asked how else they could help out around the house.

Then, they sit quietly at the table, and we recite "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Pledge of Allegiance". We sing a few hymns, and recite scripture verses and poetry aloud.

The girls will calmly, and quietly, complete all of their schoolwork in a timely manner and without complaining. There is never a need for me to raise my voice, because they always listen the first time...

OK.... enough lies.

This is what a lot of people THINK it is like to homeschool. That because you choose to homeschool, you must have exceptionally well-behaved kids, you must have the patience of Job (and practically be a saint), and your life must be just like a fairy tale.... perfect in every way!

When people find out that I homeschool my kids, many of them look at me in awe, and tell me that they could never do that. They picture me as somehow more qualified than they are.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I am not the most perfect homeschool Mom. I am not very organized, I tend to be a bit lazy, I am selfish at times, and I can be very impatient (just ask my kids!) I am more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl than dresses or jumpers. I don't make from scratch, gourmet meals every night for dinner. My house is not always super tidy, we have more of a "lived-in" look going on most of the time. Most importantly, I do not possess a teaching degree.

And yet....I homeschool. If I can do it, so can you! All you need is the desire to teach your kids at home.

In this series, I am going to hopefully cast a more realistic light on what it is REALLY like to homeschool your kids.

At The Fair

Let me start out by saying that I am just blown away by the fact that I now have 27 sweet people following me! You all made my day :)

In my previous post, I mentioned that my girls were entering projects in the fair for the very first time. Here are the finished projects.

First, they did the tie dye t-shirts. One thing I learned is that you really cannot mess up tie dye. Even if you accidentally use too much black, it will still turn out beautiful. Kind of like how God can take the ugly, sinful parts in our lives, and turn them into something good.




Here is what they entered for tin punch.





My middle daughter decided to do sand art. We found this beautiful, heart-shaped bottle at my favorite store (Goodwill) for .99 cents. I thought she did a spectacular job for her first time, but the judge, who was an older lady who spent about 30 seconds with her, gave her a B. Imagine our surprise, when we went to the fair, and saw that they had changed it to an A! I guess someone realized that she really deserved an A......well, other than her Mother.



My oldest daughter entered several things in the photography/digital imaging division. She received A's on all of her entries, and won "Honorable Mention" for her amazing picture of my middle daughter. I think it looks just like a Senior picture, and so did the judge.



After looking at the fair projects, we went and saw "Amiee," the sheep. Here she is with her....ummm....partner. His name is "Doug". Just so you know, Hubs' name is NOT Doug. The male sheep is named after another friend of ours. Awkward.



Some friends of ours were showing ducks, and I actually got to pet one! Remember when I said that I always want to reach out and pet one when we go and feed the ducks at the park? My dream came true, and they are just as soft as I imagined them to be. Apparently, you have to hold them like this so they don't claw you to death. I did not know that ducks had claws, as I have never seen one this close up before.






Whenever I go to the fair, I realize again, how much I am NOT a country girl. I have a hard time picturing the sweet animals as someones dinner. I'm sure I would have cried if I had been in the 4-H program as a child, and had to sell my animals at the end of fair.

Also, mucking out the stalls and washing animals covered in manure? Not really my thing.

We went to the Demolition Derby with our friends, as we do every year. This year, however, they had very little demolition going on. Also, they raised the price of admission by $2. So, they advertised a "Demolition Derby" but what we got was a race (sort of) for most of it, and one round of demolition at the very end. Nothing says fun like being splattered with mud, and sitting on a hard, low, back-less bench for several hours.



See? Mud. It hurts when you get splattered with it. I got hit right in the face, but there isn't a picture, because I was not sitting next to the photographer. Bummer.








It is neat to see the cars crash into each other though, and this year, they actually had lawn tractors involved in their own category. A 70 year old man took home the trophy. I was very afraid that someone was going to get their leg plowed into, as there wasn't any protection on the sides.



The kids love going, and this year, we brought my nephew along for the fun.



And..... a great time was had by all.

Lazy Day Hodgepodge

1. If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why?

* I am so glad that Joyce provided us with a list, because I had NO idea what they were! I think I would like to work for the Administration for Children and Families. I saw there was an adoption section, and I would love to help families find each other through adoption.


2. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

* It can be very difficult to forgive someone, when they are not sorry for what they have done. The Bible says in Matt. 6:14-15 "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (NIV)

So....I forgive. With God's help.


3. What is your favorite meatless supper?

* I love stuffed shells! It is a super easy, and delicious meal to make. This is one of my family's favorite dishes :)


4. Wednesday August 10th is National Lazy Day...will you be celebrating? If so, tell us how so we can be lazy too.

* No, I probably will not. I have a lot of work to do around here, and I am desperately trying to win books for school on eBay, so I must be vigilant. Ha!

5. As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they? If you're a parent did you carry on those traditions with your own children?

* I always enjoyed going back-to-school shopping with my Mom. We would get new clothes and school supplies.

Since we homeschool, and the dress code is pretty casual around here, I don't really buy my kids all new school clothes. They get new clothes throughout the year whenever they need them, instead of right at the start of school.

I do make sure to buy new pencils, paper, folders, notebooks, etc. for them. It is always fun to start the year out with new things!

We always take the girls' picture on the first day of school. It is fun to look back at the end of the year and see how much they have changed from the first day.

6. Write a summer tongue twister.

* Billy is balancing bouncing beach balls by the boardwalk.

7. Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

* I HATE needles! I look away whenever I have to get my blood drawn. No, I would NOT want to observe a surgery. I can't even bear to watch surgeries on t.v.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

* My youngest daughter just informed me that she thinks I need to start practicing making "harder" cakes ( I just made her a Barbie cake. You can read all about it in my previous post) so that I can make her a "homemade" wedding cake. She hates the taste of "bought" ones.

She told me that she likes this one.

*www.omahaweddingcakegallery.com

Hmmm.....better start practicing. She is only 9 years old, so I think I have a few more years. I think it's funny that she chose the one called "Drama in Pink and Black" because the word "Drama" should be her middle name.

How To Make A Barbie Cake

First, let me start out by saying, this is going to be a LONG post.

For my youngest daughter's birthday, she requested a Barbie cake. We saw one at a local bakery, and she just HAD to have one. I told her that I would do my best, and I would try to make it look like the one in the store. It couldn't be that hard....right?

I started my search for the perfect cake recipe. I only use box cakes, by the way. They are easier, and they taste better too. At least we think so!

I have a Pampered Chef batter bowl, that I bought years ago. The consultant had said that with it, you could make a Barbie or princess cake, among other things.

So, I am going to tell you, and show you, just how I made my daughter's dreams for a Barbie cake come true.

First, I used three cake mixes. One for the batter bowl, and two for the round cake pans. Make your cakes as directed on the box. If you choose a lighter color cake, it will be easier to frost.

I found this video that was very helpful.




I did not follow this to a "T", but looking back, I wish I had! She really gave a lot of great tips, that would have made it easier to make, and assemble. But, as usual, I was in a hurry.

My batter bowl is bigger than the bowl she used to create the "dome" shape. You can probably use whatever you have, as long as you think it will work, and it is safe to put in the oven.

Make sure you grease your pans thoroughly with Crisco and flour. Unless, you discover that the Crisco has gone bad. How do you know this? It smells horrible, and it is a strange color. Not green (I have a friend who had hers turn green) but it was just clearer, and greasier than I remember it being. But, the smell? YUCK!

If that happens, use plan "B" and spray the pans with non-stick spray. Not so much that you almost pass out in a coughing fit from all the fumes. Not that I would know anything about that. *Cough*

If you do have the PC batter bowl, you have to bake it at 325 for 1 hr. 10 mins. to 1 hr. 15 mins. or until you test it, and it doesn't leave "goop" on your cake tester (or knife, if you just can't find that cake tester....again.)

The thing is, it takes a LONG time to cook. I can't tell you the exact time, because every time I checked it, it was goopy. So, I just set the timer again. And again. And again. By the time it was completely cooked, the cake itself was rather....hard. This part is not moist and fluffy, but you need the "dome" to make the skirt. I have been told it still tastes good though.

Bake your two round cake pans the normal temperature and the normal amount of time. Or, if you are like me, and want to kill two birds with one stone (ACK! I can't say that! I have a pet bird!) just plop them in the oven with the batter bowl. That will work too, just cook them for the regular amount of time, as directed on the cake box.



Here they are, out of the oven. There is only one round cake pan shown, but I did cook two.

Let them cool for several hours. Or, if you are in a rush, put them in the freezer, and pray they cool off QUICK!

Carefully remove them from the pans. Slice off the "dome" that was created by the batter bowl top. It will be rather hard and crunchy. What do you expect for something that has cooked that long? My daughter called it "The Dome Of Death". She tends to be a bit dramatic. I'm not sure where she gets that from. *Wink*

This is what it looks like when you take it out of the batter bowl.

Flip it over, and cut off the top. Make sure it is even!

Slice off the tops of the round cakes also. If you watch the above video, you will notice that she cut the "domed" cake in half. I didn't do that, but wish I had. I just rushed through the video watching, and missed that part.

The nice lady in the video used a pastry cutter, but since I don't own anything like that, I used an old water bottle top to cut circles in the middle of the cakes. You can just call me MacGyver. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGyver (Rest assured, I did not use any duct tape or a Swiss army knife for this recipe).

I didn't cut a hole in the "dome" cake, because the top of the cake had already split some, and I figured I could just shove the Barbie in.

You then need to frost the cakes. Start with one of the round ones. Make sure that the top of the cake is even, or your Barbie will be lop-sided. I tend to use a lot of icing. For this, I used one can per round cake. It doesn't need to look pretty. No one will see this part.


Stack the second cake on top of the first one that is already iced. Frost the second cake. Again, just slap the icing on.


Now, here is where I ran into trouble. Had I been a good girl, and let my cakes cool the required amount of time (3 whole hours) I may not have had this happen. But, as I attempted to put my (heavy) "dome" cake on top, it appeared that the cake just might *gasp* CRUSH the other cakes! It was that heavy. That puppy was solid.

I tried to make a platform to sit on top of the round cakes, so the "dome" cake could sit on top of that. Since I am not a professional cake decorator, I didn't have anything that would work, so once again, I improvised. I cut a Cocoa Pebbles cereal box (Ha!) into the shape of a circle, with another circle in the middle, and tried using plastic straws as "stilts" (again.....MacGyver), but I just couldn't make it work. About an hour later, I gave up on that, and just stuck the cakes back in the freezer again. I let them sit in there for a little while longer, and tried again. This time, it seemed to work better.

I then carefully frosted the "dome" cake. VERY carefully. More praying. If you take your knife, and make little "swirls" in the icing, it will look pretty, and you will not have to be precise. I probably used a can and a half to two cans of frosting for this part.


I then had my girls decorate her "skirt" with little candy flower sprinkles, and my oldest piped frosting around her layers.

My daughter had picked out a fairy Barbie, that had hair almost the same color as she does. Her arms would not stay down, as she is a "flying" fairy. So, the girls decided that Barbie would just be holding a sign. Works for me.

We wrapped the Barbie up in plastic wrap. We made sure to buy a Barbie with a plastic bodice that was pink, so we wouldn't have to decorate it.

I shoved the Barbie down into the hole that was made from the split (I helped the split along a little bit with a knife) and she went right down into the holes I had made through the other cakes.

There was a bit of a gap around Barbie's waist, so we piped some frosting around it to fill it in. We also tied her hair up, so her hair wouldn't get any frosting in it.

We made a sign for the birthday girl, and taped it to Barbie's hands.

Here is the finished product, complete with the most adorable little red-head you will ever see.

What NOT To Do On Your Blog

Since I have not been a blog writer for very long, I don't have any words of wisdom to share about how to get other people to follow your blog or how to make money from it. But, Kelly at http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ is asking us to share blogging tips, so I will try. Since I have been a blog reader for years, I will share what I think you should NOT do on your blog, from a reader's viewpoint. I look forward to reading all of your responses about this subject!

* Don't choose a heavily decorated background, and then write your words on top of it. It is just too hard to read, and with so many blogs out there to choose from, if yours is too hard to read....I'm not going to read it.

* Don't write in other colors. It hurts my eyes.

* Don't write in long, rambling paragraphs. Same reason.

* Don't write like you are writing a paper. Yes, I know that is the "proper" way to do it, but it is not pleasant to read. Be sure to space often!

* Don't write things in detail that you wouldn't want read in public. Remember, your blog can be read WORLD WIDE, unless you have it private. If you are writing about what a crazy old bat your dear Aunt Suzie is, and Aunt Suzie reads it....that could be bad.

* Don't write things to purposely embarrass your family and friends. Would you want them to write that about you? Think before you type!

* Don't keep your pictures turned sideways. It is too hard to see them.

* Don't post what you are doing or going to do every single minute of the day. Some people may care about that, but that is certainly not why I would want to read your blog. It is OK to do an occasional post about your day, but when that is the only you thing you do, it gets rather tedious to read.

* Don't only post about reviews or give aways, unless that is the main purpose of your blog.

* Do make your site as easy to see and read as possible.

* Do comment on other blogs. Other people like to get comments as much as you do!

* Do post pictures, and not just words. It is interesting to look at pictures.

* Do try to post at least once a week. If I am following your blog, and you don't post for a while, I will get tired of following you and seeing.....nothing.

* Do try to be kind when you are posting a comment on a blog. If you have something to say that is not kind, send them a private message. No need to be nasty! Remember, if you don't agree with what someone is saying, you are not being forced to read them. *Smile*

Hope this helps!

Happy Little Hodgepodge

1. Share a favorite song lyric.

~ I'm going to do one serious, and one funny. My serious one is the song, "My Own Little World" by Matthew West. Here are my favorite parts of it:

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population me

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your Light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
That I could be living right now
I don't want to miss what matters
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
So I can start livin right now
Outside my own little world





My funny one is this song from "Enchanted" because I tend to hum or sing when I am working. My youngest daughter does the same thing :) If only the woodland creatures would help ME clean!



2. When was the last time someone yelled at you?

~ Today. I was yelled at by my daughters because I was making them work too hard and going through their "stuff" for "The Great Purge" (see my previous blog post for details).


3. Money, fame, happiness...are they mutually exclusive?

~ It seems like sometimes they are, but most of the time they aren't. You can have all the money in the world, and still not be happy.


4. What is your favorite dish to prepare for family and friends that doesn't require turning on the stove, oven or an outdoor grill?

~ It has to be Grape Salad. I had this at my friend's house, and couldn't stop eating it, it was THAT good. Here is the recipe:

2 lbs green seedless grapes
2 lbs red seedless grapes
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Topping Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar, packed,
1 cup crushed pecans,(I toast the pecans because that is the way I had it, and it really brings out the flavor)

Directions:

1 Wash and stem grapes.
2 Set aside.
3 Mix sour cream, cream cheese, white sugar and vanilla until blended.
4 Stir grapes into mixture, and pour in large serving bowl.
5 Chill overnight.
6 For topping, mix together brown sugar and crushed pecans.
7 Sprinkle over top of grapes, making sure to cover the top.

Enjoy!

5. The first week of August is National Simplify Your Life Week. What is one thing you could do this week to simplify your life? Will you do it?

~ Trying to get all of my homeschool stuff sorted and organized, so I know exactly what I have, and what I don't have and need to buy. Yes, I am doing it!

6. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being 100% and 1 being not at all) how tuned in are you to your country's national political scene?

~ Maybe a 2? Sorry, my life is just too busy right now to worry too much about "debt ceilings". Unless it is my own.


7. What are your final parting words to the month of July?

~ I can't believe you are gone already! And, why did you have to be so incredibly hot?!


8. Insert your own random thought here.

~ My youngest daughter's birthday is this Thursday. She will be 9 years old. I usually make the girls' birthday cakes because I am cheap, er....umm...frugal. She has requested a Barbie cake. So, I will be attempting to make one with my handy-dandy Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl. You all can say a prayer that it turns out :)If it does, I will post pictures. If it doesn't, I will be crying into the Batter Bowl. Either way, she will still turn 9 years old. *Sob* I have a hard time with my babies growing up :(

The Great Purge

We are going through "The Great Purge" at our house. What is that, you ask?

Things have gotten a little.....well.....cluttered at our house.

As we were going through stuff from downstairs, and had totes scattered and stacked all over, a neighbor, whom we had never met, came over. Of all the times.....

We looked like we should have been on an episode of "Hoarders". She was asking if we had seen her lost dog. As we were talking, I could see her glancing in the door. I failed to tell her that our house normally doesn't look like this. And, I don't always wear scrubby clothes. Ha!

So, we cleaned it all up, for the first party. This is the party house. That's what people call it because we have so many parties, and we have a house that is designed for having a party.

For your information, when I say "parties," these are not college frat house like parties. These are family friendly parties, people. Just so you know.

Currently, things are scattered all around again. At least in areas people can't see. I am throwing things away left and right.

I get in these "moods" when I just want to throw things away. Hubs is VERY supportive of this. He thinks I save way too many things. He is right.

I also have daughters who like to save. Even more than I do.

The oldest asked if I had thrown away anything "important". What is important? If she has ever written on it, looked at it, or held it in her hands.

Going through the toys, we have to save everything. The problem is, where do you put it all? Now, we live in a fairly large house. However, we will soon have to rent a storage unit for all of this "important" stuff if we don't start getting rid of it.

We joke that we want to see her playing with her toys if we have to save them. She is fourteen, and is not so interested in playing with Barney, My Little Pony, or Elmo anymore.

I now understand why my Dad would get so frustrated with me when I was younger. We moved a lot when I was in high school. I was pretty adamant about my "stuff" coming with me. Even when I moved away to college, my stuff stayed with my parents, and they had to move my stuff along with them.

As I was sorting through all of those "important" things in the basement, I was envisioning myself standing in my house, in the middle of the room, surrounded by stuff. There were just small paths to get through. Totes stacked clear to the ceiling. There I stood, muttering how my daughters wouldn't let me get rid of any of their things, so we were forced to live in squalor.

I found this hilarious video about junior "hoarders" and just had to share.



I have started telling my daughters that if it is important enough to be saved, and I don't think it is, then you get to keep it in YOUR room, and you can find a place for it. *Smile*

Now, I have to clean all this stuff up for parties #2 and #3 coming up this weekend. I seriously should have bought stock in garbage bags and totes.