Making breakfast great (again?)

 I've been sharing with friends that I had gotten into a happy state of letting the kids make their own breakfasts.  They had boundaries of choices-healthy choices.  But I found that as we went through the day people were either hungry very early in the day (9:30-10) or found that they had forgotten completely to make their breakfast!  So I'm mixing it up!  

I have been a strong advocate for a high protein, low sugar, moderate balanced fat breakfast from the beginning.  My husband is happy with some left over veggies and scrambled eggs for breakfast, but the kids were not going for that as much....

This was what I needed:  good amount of protein, low sugar, balanced fat, tasty, easy to cook, ability to make ahead during meal prep the night before, cooks for an hour or less,  and EVERYONE must like it! Is this too much to ask?  

So this month I have chosen to find breakfasts that I can make the night before.  All the prep can be done and all that is left is the heating or baking in the morning.  I like to exercise and pray a bit before the day, so I wanted something that I could pop in the oven before I head out for a walk...or something that takes just a little heat attention.  I wanted the breakfasts to be ready by 7am so we could begin school by 7:30. 

Does this sound like something that you want too?  

Here are the recipes:

Spinach white bean quesadillas

Kale and tomato egg bake

Sweet Potatoes Hash

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Crustless Quiche

Here are the recipes that we tried and the ways they were able to help us get up and get going and stay going until lunch!  Hope they help you too!  

(Should I share like this for our lunches and dinner too?  I have had a few requests for meal planning help.  It can be quite the decision fatigue to make a menu over and over!)

See my stories on IG for photos.  

 

Managing a 'large' household Part 3

I want to say again that I'm a work in progress as we have to adjust every term to find the best set up for where everyone has most of their needs met.  This term I have one daughter taking a college composition course two mornings a week (so she is missing some of our morning time), I have another daughter that is taking an art class at the local highschool every other afternoon.  These options might not always work for us, but we are giving them a try!
I am currently teaching/learning with one senior in highschool, one freshman, one 7th grader, one 4th grader and one 1st grader.  Also a 4 year old tag along is teaching me.

Here are some questions people have asked me:
How many hours per day do you devote to homeschooling?
I spend from 8-1130am doing school with the kids.  We usually have 8-915 as group time. I do have one child who gets up at 5:30 everyday.  I've "trained" him to start the coffee and bring me a cup.(The water and coffee are prepped the night before)  After I have done my morning prayers, he and I will do his school work from 6:00-7:00 before we wake up the other kids.  (This is my 1st grader--he is such a morning person!)  I'm trying to meet him where his needs are.

Are you able to finish by lunchtime? I personally finish by lunch time mostly....My older kids usually have some individual work to finish up (7th grade and up).  I have worked our "acts of service" towards each other to include each child making a lunch once a week.  This allows me to work with some individual kids right up to lunch time rather than stopping to make lunch each day.  Sometimes my older kids need more support in the afternoon on their individual works or they need to orally narrate to me.  My youngest kids just don't retain anything if we try to do work in the afternoon.  I also have less strength to read aloud in the afternoon...perhaps because I am more mentally tired?  Perhaps it's my attitude?  Am I getting older?

How do you divide your days? This year I committed to doing nothing outside of the house before 1pm.  In the past I have been part of bible studies one morning a week.  As I re-evaluated last summer, I saw that I needed to have a singular focus each morning.  
We do group work every morning.  The youngest two might need to step away when things are more than they can handle.  I call it "getting off the bus".  They are expected to have quiet calm activities on the main level of the house while I am reading aloud or they can 'get off the bus' and play loudly in the basement or outside.  When the weather is warm enough, we move to the back porch outside for this morning time.  This time for us currently includes Bible reading, Saint study/biography, Plutarch, Composer Study, Picture Study, Poetry, History of Literature, Architecture, Shakespeare, Hymn, Folk Song, Patriotic Song, Sloyd, Solfa, Swedish Drill and a epic poem.  We do not do all of these on one day!  These are spread out over a week.  Some are one day a week, some are twice.  

You gave us a glimpse of some subjects you do together in the mornings, and you mentioned that you do a nature walk before lunch. Could you share any more of what is working for you? I combined many of my Form 2 and 3 books into one book read.  I have a slow reader in 4th grade and a great reader in 7th grade.  I combined my Math drills and warm ups for my 7th grader who is a whiz with my 9th grader who needs support.  I only do a daily nature walk with my youngest three.  The others have scheduled nature walk time they do on their own.  We have a ramble together once a week and it's in the afternoon and takes up a few hours.  There are some times we need to move the ramble to a Sunday and then we include daddy!  I have scheduled a walk while one child is making lunch.  This allows us to arrive to the lunch table very hungry!  I don't have much trouble getting my littles to eat well.  

What do you save for afternoons and evenings?   Tea time!  Poetry recitations-either read or memorized.  We have some days that our morning is interrupted and I might have to do some of our morning time after lunch.  It's important for me to make our house open to others.  There are times that a neighbor stops by or we have an animal need...so we try to be flexible and not rigid.  The atmosphere needs to be light and joyful even in our drive to have a feast of learning.  
I also like to have some open time for discussions.  Right now I have two boys that get up early and stay up later than I would like due to older siblings.  This actually works to my benefit in that I get to read some quiet time read alouds with them both around 2pm and they both usually take a nap!  I wake them again by 4 at the latest.  I can use this time to work on lesson plans for the coming days, read a book (FOR MYSELF!), or work with an older child who needs extra support.  I didn't think I would be able to get a 6 year old to take a nap, but he does when he knows I am in there with him.  

I have slowly helped my children learn how to make dinner too.  So four nights a week they also make the dinner for our family.  I worked alongside them for many weeks, then was available for help, and now they are on their own.  It seems to be a huge developmental change around age 10/11 in which a child can do more in the kitchen if they have been introduced at a young age.  

My husband reads a biography in the evenings for everyone to enjoy.  This happens about 5 times a week.  I have been very careful about what things we do in the evening.  I have to take into account my introverted husband who works in an extroverted job all day.  We have one night a week as a family in which we volunteer our time.  Another night per week my older girls play in a youth symphony.  That leaves us four nights during the week to have family meals and prayer time together plus our weekends that are mainly home.  If I have meetings outside the home, I try to be part of dinner before I leave. 

Our afternoons vary, but I really try to be home.  I let the younger kids find their interests.  My 4 year old loves electricity kits and snap circuits, handicrafts like needle point and latch hook, etc.  My children are in 4H and some afternoons are spent working on projects for the Fair.  We have one afternoon of music lessons.  I have limited my time outside the home for shopping and errands as much as possible.  

This works for us for now.  It may not work for others.    It's really about seeing the developmental needs and learning styles of each child and balancing it against the goals you have set for your family.  
 

Wow. That was short.

Yes.  These are all timers.  

You just can't have too many ways to mark the time with six kids.

They help me (the mother) develop in my students the habit of attention.  

Charlotte Mason encouraged joy and ease at every turn.  

That means we need SHORT LESSONS!  And what a fun way to make sure it's short.

We need to keep the important and exciting parts moving.  

And leave plenty of room for when we don't use the timers.  

You know, we don't need the timers when we are out on a nature hike.  

We won't use them when we bake a cake or count to one hundred.  

Who needs a timer when you read one poem? 

 Or look at one amazing painting? 

By all means, remove the timers when you've gotten into the meat of your favorite handcraft in the afternoon.

So remember:  

Let's use the timers to keep our reading aloud to 20 minutes or less.  

Let's use a timer for a quick 7 minute written narration when we are just now 10 years old.  

Let's use a timer to see if we can shorten the time it takes to do our chores.  

Let's use the timer to keep our math lessons to 20 minutes or less.  

Let's use a timer to find a way to be focused in prayer.  

And please let me stay with this hard book just for 10 minutes and come back later in the day for another 10.  

And by all means (please mom) can we use a timer to keep our quiet time to a quick 60 minutes.  

Mother Culture

A Charlotte Mason approach to learning means the whole family continues to learn.  It's not just a 8 to 3 kind of learning focus.  You can't find a time that learning isn't happening...in most homes.  It's just what kind of feast is being offered in those times that are "designated school time".

Are the off times of learning still full of excellent books?  Are the parents stimulated with all kinds of new learning as well?  It becomes a modeling experience when a parent can be found with a book in hand.  ("Whatca reading, Dad?")

I like to find new ways to creatively contain the mounds of things required to keep a household of nine running smoothly.  (That means reading books and perhaps a blog about being minimalist, storage or throwing away clutter.)

I don't appreciate the ways I revert to my authoritarian self when interacting with my children and husband.  (That means you can find me reading all sorts of books about being a better parent--Scream free parenting is the current read.)

My continued spiritual growth is only because I constantly try to empty myself of selfishness so that the Holy Spirit is doing the work in me.  (That means I read the Bible everyday and loads of writings from Christians who have walked this road ahead of me.)

And besides reading, learning means being calm and quiet to allow all the conversations and moments of reading to get down from my head into my heart.  I can listen with my head, but until I hear with my heart and allow it to soften I'm not really growing, learning, changing.

So I'm creating a feast for myself when I make a feast for my children.  (Now to find a way of combining my clutter of books with the feast of learning...new bookshelves?)

Four weeks...

Yes, it's been four weeks.  I'm ready for a break.  Seems like we are finally reaching a rhythm to our school year after only four weeks.  And it's been full of challenges and new things!

I'm getting close to having all the books assigned to each child and them understanding what is required of them.  I actually have made dinner more than I thought I might for the first four weeks.  

It's so much about an atmosphere and a life around here and I think I'm finally getting into a discipline of it all too.  When everything is balanced I am able to keep it spinning (by God's grace!)

It's when I let one area slack that it seems all areas begin to follow.  So here's to another couple of weeks before we break for the holidays!  It was my plan that this term would last 8 weeks...so this should be the downward half now...

So have we done anything different?

Industry

I've been contemplating how to help my children become well rounded adults for many years now.  I mainly want them to grow into people I continue to enjoy being around!  (That's what I mean by well rounded!...having a wide understanding of many things and ability to speak about many topics)

One thing I want them to do is to carry on conversations with people of all settings.  And to make those people feel welcomed and at home with my children.  To do this, they need to know the basics of keeping a house.  And they need to know an inch deep into every thing I can introduce them to over their 18 years in my care and under my roof!

I wrote a guide for growing in Industry for my oldest child the year she turned 10.  We made it into a celebration and ceremony for her.  I am beginning this with my third child this year.  I've tweaked the booklet I made to reflect things that a boy might find a bit more interesting.  I'm looking forward to seeing how he approaches this.

I've been so pleased with the growth that my daughters have had with this prompting.  I encourage them to spend about 10 minutes per week planning a way to work through this book.  It might mean adding things to the grocery list so that they can cook something during afternoon occupations.  It might mean asking a grand parent or older adult to model how to compete a task.  It's been a gentle way to become a person of Industry!

Click here for updated version!  And by all means, adjust it to fit your families needs.

Welcoming Guests

car c'est en donnant qu'on reçoit  

What a mystery to open your home to a guest.  It's like opening a present.  You are never quite sure what to expect.  
I grew up in a home that welcomed guests.  My parents still continue this tradition of hospitality.  Early in our marriage we began the habit of having guests.  Often.  

Perhaps the Letter to the Hebrews has been an encouragement.  A command.

Hebrews 12:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

It doesn't always mean hosting for over night.  Sometimes it is offering a meal.  Sometimes tea and cookies.  A letter in the mail.  A letter to their prison cell.  A hug to the one suffering under a burden unspoken.

This past month we hosted a visitor from France.  Before she came, she was a stranger.  But now she's become a dear family friend.  It was perhaps more delightful for us than for her.  We learned all sorts of French knowledge and context.  Our lives were broadened.  And we gave up some of our natural selfish nature.  

It was a growth in our understanding of Charlotte Mason's "Science of Relations".   From the youngest to the oldest.  And even extending to our family who lives outside this house. Sometimes when we host a guest it's more trial than cheer.  And we are all the better for the practice.  

This recent extended visit of three weeks was delightful.  There were wet eyes all around when she left.  The parting of friendship.

We claim to grasp a sliver of the mystery of Abraham's hosting three visitors.  
Of the desire for the Divinity within the context of our humanity.  

We recognize the feeling of communion with others and our desire of more of this mirror of the Trinity here on earth.  When loss occurs or separation for a time, we hurt.  

Oh to consider the great hospitality of our Lord in heaven!  One day that communion with Him and others will be complete and unending.  Until that time, we will continue to host guests.  And open our hearts to knowing them.  

Have you seen this program of welcoming visitors?  I think it fits in nicely with a Charlotte Mason education.  

sap results

Our final line up in the pantry of homemade maple syrup.  We've given some away.  This was two days worth of "cooking" from 5 maple trees.  We will do this again next year.  

And few more photos of our "process".

Boiling the sap

our makeshift "buckets" 

Removing the taps and plugging the holes

Just breathe...

It's been a busy first few days of spring for us.  And I'd like to think that I'm breathing the fresh air in deeply and slowly...but it's been more like gulping.

In talking with other "homesteaders", it's been a hard winter.  We've had loads of snow.  We've had so many friends loose livestock.  There were ice storms.  Weekly.   We even missed church one Sunday!

It's been our first time to use a plow and tractor to shovel the driveway.  It's been our first winter to chip ice out of the chicken waterer.  We've learned to fill the wood burning stove day after day after day.  It's been the first time I wished the snow would melt away.

And it's been work.  To feed the animals.  Remove the snow.  Warm the house.  Even just to get warm enough to feed the family.

It's been tiring.  It's been rewarding.  It'a allowed me a slower pace.  More time to read and pray and to school the children.


It's been exhausting.  It's been eye opening.  It's been a long winter. (thank you Laura Ingalls Wilder.)

A homeschooling mom asked me if I was shocked about what living in the country was like this winter.  And I have to admit, I've surprised myself.  I'm happy that we are here.  It was a learning curve.  This year we got the highest curve.  If years to come are less severe, we can totally do this forever!  I actually enjoyed it when things got cancelled!  We achieved so much on those days at home.  We could school in the morning and then sled or skate in the afternoon....or just sip hot chocolate with floating marshmallows.

So as I'm raking away the dead leaves of the winter and watching the snow melt, I'm refreshed that we made this leap to the country.  I'm more physically fit after a winter in the country in Illinois.  I never left the winters before feeling fit for sure!

And here's my surprised 3 year old noticing that the chickens have taken a walk all the way to the front yard.  (They are happy it's spring!)  The windows are open and we can hear them too.  I'm breathing fresh air.  

Epiphany...

More than six weeks ago we had a snow storm.  It was Epiphany.  And we still had our annual Epiphany blessing by a priest.  We've had plenty of snow since then.

I wanted to post these "before"photos because we finally have ripped down all the wallpaper and painted.  But it was a glorious celebration.  And so many great shots!  (thanks honey for letting me get a "fancy" camera!)

Special epiphany water and chalk.

A special wine bottle cover from a friend. And a glimpse of the wainscoting and wallpaper that was to come down.

Beeswax candles.

Magi painting.

Incense.  Frankincense of course.

The priest.

And enough incense that you can't see the walls.  On the left was removed wallpaper and a first coat 

of paint.

Writing 20+C+M+B+14 over each doorway.

lots of sprinkling of water.

Here you can see ALL the wallpaper that we tried to hide under kids artwork and Christmas cards.  BUSY walls!

Front door. (see that wallpaper!)

3 year old couldn't stay awake anymore.

The Trinity icon that hangs in our dining room.

A child's penny doll house needed blessed too.  

And now all the kids eating dessert with the priest.  

Settling into our environment...

It's been a challenge to know how to get this house in an order...it's got so much potential.  And we have too much stuff.

Which prompted me to re-read Simplicity Parenting.  At least the chapter on environment.

Here are some notes from when I read it before.

I'm slowly trying to make sense of our Fine Arts Room.  It's that extra bedroom that has violins and art supplies and boxes and clarinet and viola and ironing board and a pile of ironing in it.   Everything does not have it's own place yet.  And it's driving me wild.

So I wonder.  Does a cluttered environment make you have a cluttered mind like me?  When I find that every room in the house has toys and clothes and left overs from life in it, I can't seem to be open to learning new things.  My mind freezes on the crumbs trailing across the floor...the shoes randomly placed.  I brought this up at a discussion with some other homeschooling moms.  Do YOU struggle to find calm in your mind when your house is in shambles?

We've got a bathroom all torn apart that will find order this month!  (or at least the tile man says!)  We've got a chickens that are waiting for a coop.  I've got a kitchen that is calling back to the 70's for help.  I have a basement full of toys.

Where to start first?  I have four garbage bags waiting for this week.  I will conquer this chaos.  It's been four months here in this house.  We will have order soon.

And just because there is SOME order around here.  

(and it's only really bad for me...other people like it here)

I'll include these photos of #6 (one year old) at our prayer table in his pajamas.

Home improvements

So our house work continues.  All 21 windows with their 42 shutters needed updating!  

You can see how they were faded maroon/country red in the before photos.

It took husband, father and father-in-law several days to accomplish this.  We are so grateful that we didn't have to do it alone!

And now they are all black.  We also took out all the overgrown shrubs across the front as well as a tree that hiding the front door.  There are tiny blueberry bushes trying to live across the front now.  

I'm not so fond of the brick, but haven't quite figured out how to balance the heaviness of the brick fireplaces with the original section of the house.  A porch someday, maybe?

The kids were handed brushes and paint and asked to update our mailbox as well.  It's a cheery welcome now at the end of the lane.  

House work

The large upstairs bedroom in this old house needed some updating.  

There were only four (!) layers of wall paper to remove.  That took me (and my helpers) about four days of work.  

 (see all those beautiful trees out the windows?)

(color coded closets in case we forget...these are boy closets!)

 Fresh paint!  And the smell!  WONDERFUL.

Thanks to my painter helpers.  This project might have never been finished without their help!

A house blessing

There's nothing magical about comitting your house for God's use.  Choosing to have a house be a blessing to others is a yearly commitment we make at Epiphany.

But then we moved!

So after we moved we asked our priest to come and help us bless this house for God's use.

Here are the photos (long overdue!) from the blessing in July.

May God take this little abode and turn it into a blessing for others.  

(and thanks to a God mother who took all these photos!)

Breathe

I've been catching my breath as we work on this house and property.  There is so much to do!

But was reminded of the fleeting of this life when a friend lost her husband this week.  It makes the worries about the colors of paint and the length of the grass seem meaningless.

I'm taking more moments these days to be grateful for crying children and tired husband.

And breathing.

Ora et labora

Pray and Work.  It's supposed to come in that order.

Work and pray.  It's been like that, mostly.


Pray and work.  (and that can be done at the same time, thank you!)


We need to balance things out nicely around here.

More photos of the ....before

Between the kids, hubby and I, we've got grand plans.  

And we've begun many projects.  So here's some of the before photos.  

The upstairs bathroom.  The wallpaper removal began very quickly.  

(this is the teenager in the house taking photos)

Main living room.  Has a pretty fireplace and stairwell.

Upstairs bedroom.  The kids were begging for this to be the first room to remove the wallpaper.  Little did we know it had four layers.  But they are off...  

Thanks to all my helpers in the family and some friends.

The floor in the kitchen and dining room.  This will be a slower to finish project.  

The playset and the strong men who helped move it.  It was full of laughter.

The sunroom after the move.  All boxes.  Overwhelming.

Helpers in the move.  Fridge on the back porch.  Mother onlookers.

The grass patch between the house and the garage.  

A different view.  

(Yes, that is a truck load of shade loving plants to be made into a garden there...)

The outbuilding.  (the roof and gutter cleaning had begun)