Nature Study Plans

We love nature in our home. We all love to be outdoors and we are constantly learning more about this beautiful little world right here in our backyard. But.......I tend to stay indoors way too much. There is always something begging for my attention in doors! My kids add to their nature journals much more frequently than I do. In fact, I'm ashamed to say how many entries my journal contains. My children also take pictures more often than I do of the beauty around us and they even grab the field guides more often than I do.

I'm hoping the challenges posted from The Heart of Harmony will help to break me out of this rut that I am in. I plan to participate in her projects, not as a way of encouraging my children, but as a way to motivate ME! Of course, my children will most certainly be happy to participate ~ they always are delighted to see mom outside!

I've copied off my challenge and plan to post the results my homework sometime this week. I'd love to join in her sketching challenges, also, but at the moment I just enjoy seeing the art that is presented each week.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been enjoying the images at NYPL Digital Images!

President Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

I don't seem to ever tire of reading stories to the children about Abraham Lincoln. And they are always eager to listen. To celebrate Abe's birthday we read some picture books about this great man and also read an illustrated version of The Gettysburg Address by Michael McCurdy.

The pictures in this book really make it come to life and it would be an effortless way to memorize this great speech.

In the book Heroes of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln by Susan Dye Lee an incident is related that I don't recall ever hearing. Abe becomes a lawyer and turns out to be quite the clever lawyer.
"In one case, a rich man asked Abe to get $2.50 owed to him by a poor man. Abe took the case for $10. Then he went to the poor man and gave him $5. The poor man then paid the rich man and had $2.50 left over. The rich man was happy, and Lincoln made $5."

Sweet Baby Boy

Zeke was sick with a fever, cough and runny nose all of last week. One morning, he was feeling especially bad and I thought he'd benefit from an early nap. We laid down in my bed and I started to softly sing to him. After the first song, his weak little arms raised up and he gave me two little claps and then his quiet little voice whispered, "Again." And this is how it went for some time. He then treated me with his songs. He doesn't sing the words in English to any of them but he knows the tunes very well. He would pause, I would clap and say, "Again."

Such sweetness I want to hold to and never let go!

Rachel Carson Picture Book

I really enjoyed reading this picture book to the children. It is filled with full-page pictures that are lovely! I feel as though I received a very informative and interesting overview of this unique lady's life. Although, I don't hold to her belief that the world is millions of years old, I do believe she obtained wisdom by being in nature and keenly observing what our Creator has given to us.

This past fall I picked up a 1955 version of The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson at our library book sale. I'm looking forward to reading it sometime soon.

February Financial Goals Update

I really enjoyed reading Money Saving Moms update on their financial goals. I suppose I'm a bit strange in this area. I love to read about money and how people use it. I especially like to think of ways to save it or maximize what I can get out of it. Boring, I know!

I wrote the following with a week left in January:

I am committed to sticking to our new budget for this year. I'm kind of an all or nothing kind of person and so can get discouraged when I realize I fall short, which obviously I did already this first month of the new year. But my husband tells me this is just a learning experience and we'll do fine and learn from this. :) I'll tell you what sent me over my limit. I bought a gallon of maple syrup at $45.89. Ouch! It will last me a long time which makes me feel better, you know, like buying it was a sort of investment. See, I'm thinking positively. The other set back of the month was spending a little over one hundred dollars on processing a side of beef. But, again, that was an investment. I really need to set aside between $50.00 and $100.00 a month for meat purchases that I'll make throughout this year from local farmers.

My food budget is $500.00 a month. I know there are many moms who feed their families for much less than this. And my hat's off to them! Food is very important to our family and there are some things we just aren't willing to give up. For example, we love honey, agave nectar, maple syrup and good chocolate. We use whole grains often and never use bleached flour. I try to purchase as much of my meat as possible from local farmers and we supplement our egg supply with local farm raised eggs. In the summer we support our local Farmer's Market. We love fresh vegetables and fruits and like for our diet to consist of as much of these fresh foods as possible!

I overspent for the month of January $45.73. We've sure been enjoyed that maple syrup, though! :)

We did finish out the month just fine. You can't imagine how much I've enjoyed shopping this week! Taking two weeks off was tooooo long! :) I hope to keep some money available at all times this month.

We've especially enjoyed all the fresh food. These were a couple good buys that we've gobbled up!
16 pounds of oranges! $5.98
10 red peppers @ 50 cents each
Oh, and this was a wonderfully yummy and easy recipe!

Fill a salad bowl with baby spinach greens. Fry one piece of bacon and drizzle the grease and crumble the bacon over the spinach. Mix. Add a splash of Sushi Vinegar. (I used Nishiki 100% Natural Sushi Vinegar a seasoned rice vinegar. Imported form Japan. I liked the taste very much but I'm not an expert in rice vinegars. I only paid 99 cents for this bottle.) Viola! Simple can be so good!

The bacon I purchased on sale for $1.99 a pound and the baby spinach was marked down to 99 cents a box (5 ounces, I believe).

Pineapple Coconut PIe Filling

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
3 eggs beaten
1 stick butter
1 cup drained pineapple, crushed
1 cup flaked coconut

Heat, first four ingredients well and stir all the time while butter is melting. When butter is melted removed from stove and add 1 cup drained crushed pineapple and 1 cup flaked coconut. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Directing you to Another Give-Away

Ummmm....what would I choose if I were to win this $100.00 gift certificate from Vision Forum???

All of my children would have an opinion. One little boy in my family has a birthday coming up very soon and I think he'd have a wonderful time spending that money! :)

You can enter for a chance to win at Biblical Womanhood, just leave a comment on Crystal's blog.

Pie Day, Frugality Week, and Budgeting

These subjects all collided today as I was so glad to have an excuse to bake a pie, but I had already over spent on my food budget for the month (yes, I realize I have quite a few days left in January). The National Creative Frugality Week idea saved the day, as I just decided to use what I had to bake a pie. I chose the one printed on the front of the Community section of our local newspaper, for no special reason other than that I already had all those ingredients on hand and I always enjoy trying out a new recipe! Here's a picture of our Coconut-Pineapple Pie.

I decided I'd make enough pie crust to throw together a Pot Pie for supper, using up leftover vegetables and meat. While the above pie was baking, I whipped up some gravy and added that along with some onions to the pie and baked it. I had a little bit of pie dough left over so I wrapped the dough around some Date Filling that I'd had sitting on my shelf for way too long. This is the picture of them baking as I was cleaning up the kitchen.

I am committed to sticking to our new budget for this year. I'm kind of an all or nothing kind of person and so can get discouraged when I realize I fall short, which obviously I did already this first month of the new year. But my husband tells me this is just a learning experience and we'll do fine and learn from this. :) I'll tell you what sent me over my limit. I bought a gallon of maple syrup at $45.89. Ouch! It will last me a long time which makes me feel better, you know, like buying it was a sort of investment. See, I'm thinking positively. The other set back of the month was spending a little over one hundred dollars on processing a side of beef. But, again, that was an investment. I really need to set aside between $50.00 and $100.00 a month for meat purchases that I'll make throughout this year from local farmers.

My food budget is $500.00 a month. I know there are many moms who feed their families for much less than this. And my hat's off to them! Food is very important to our family and there are some things we just aren't willing to give up. For example, we love honey, agave nectar, maple syrup and good chocolate. We use whole grains often and never use bleached flour. I try to purchase as much of my meat as possible from local farmers and we supplement our egg supply with local farm raised eggs. In the summer we support our local Farmer's Market. We love fresh vegetables and fruits and like for our diet to consist of as much of these fresh foods as possible!

We're off to enjoy our Pot Pie with a fresh mixed baby greens salad.

Quote from Gladys Taber

I'm thoroughly enjoying The Book of Stillmeadow by Gladys Taber. I find it to be a very relaxing read. I usually read a few pages after I crawl into bed for the night. I really like this paragraph and especially the part that is in italics.

As for the actual physical components of a home, they can be very simple. It is how they are put together that gives them charm. Color, for instance, is not expensive. A room can be warm with daffodil yellow, or cool and quiet with apple green, or poetic with blue, whether the curtains be cotton or satin. It is much better, it seems to me, to make something of what we have and can afford, than to yearn for something more expensive and fashionable.

Isn't that a wise attitude?! I am so blessed already and when I am content in my heart, I feel so rich! I love the feeling, usually felt when I come home from grocery shopping and my cupboards and counters are filled with delicious, whole, and healthful foods. I feel it when all of our family is home together cuddled up reading a good book or outside working together on some project. I feel it when I get to play in the rich, brown dirt in my little gardens. And I feel it when all the sheets are freshly laundered and back on the beds.

All pretty simple things, aren't they?!

Blueberries for the Queen

Another great historical fiction book!

From the cover flap:
"It's summertime in New England during World War II, and a boy named William likes to imagine at bedtime that he is a brave knight fighting great battles to end the war.......Then a real queen moves in just down the road: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands."

Very cute story! And a true one!

A New Business

And another give-away! Storybook Woods is hosting a drawing for a free skirt or pants. Join in the fun, just leave a comment at her blog and you'll be entered! Click on the picture above to look at what Christy has to offer!

Kate DiCamillo

We've enjoyed several of her books now ~ The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Because of Winn-Dixie. Guess we'll have to look for her others! Tonight we read Great Joy, published just this year. It's just a sweet fictional story about a little girl who truly cares.

Picture Books

I picked up George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz at the library yesterday. It's a brand new book to our library and therefore it's all shiny and perfect looking but in reality it was published in 1969. As we all gathered around for our read aloud time, Nathan said, "Oh, it's a Jean Fritz book, it'll be good!" Don't you just love it when your children recognize and love certain authors?! It's a good feeling knowing my children are making "friends" with books. Nathan has certain books that he tells me will be "required reading" for his children.

And so today we recommend to you George Washington's Breakfast!

We also enjoyed The Farewell Symphony by Anna Harwell Celenza, another new book to our library. The author explains that the story is true and the characters really did exist. You will meet Prince Nicholas, Haydn, Tomasini, and the other musicians. A CD of Symphony No. 45 "Farewell" (in F-sharp minor) is included with the book. What a fun way to learn!

I'm so glad to back into our school routine. Breaks are always welcomed but I'm always ready to be back into our normal routine. I'm off to play some math games now.

Edit: Micah just found George Washington's Breakfast on our shelves! :) It's not a sign that we have too many books, is it? Or that I'm getting very forgetful?

The Current "Stack"

I tend to always have a "stack" going beside my side of the bed. The "stack" includes articles I've printed off of the computer, magazines I plan to peruse, and books, always books!

I'm currently reading The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace, Shop, Save, and Share by Ellie Kay and the book of II Samuel. Yesterday I picked up three new to me books at the library that I hope to be able to read or at least glean some information from them. I've been waiting for The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Our children's librarian is an amazing artist and this book comes highly recommended by her. I hope there are parts of this book that I can share with my children. I also happened to notice The Perricone Promise Look Younger, Live Longer, in Three Easy Steps by Nicholas Perricone, M.D.. We'll see what I think of this book. And the third book I picked up was The Book of Stillmeadow by Gladys Taber. I'm looking forward to lazily reading through this little journal of sorts. I picked it up because I always pay attention to book recommendation from my friend Gumbo Lily! (I've never met her in person but she's been my homeschool mentor for the past 7 years!)

I'm off now to enjoy some reading aloud time with the kids! I hope I will ALWAYS have someone who wants me to read to them!

Financial Challenge

Over the last few years I've enjoyed reading about Crystal's (Biblical Womanhood) daily life as a stay at home wife, mom, and home businesses owner. I loved it when Jesse and Crystal stayed out of debt, living only on $1,000 a month. Well, Crystal is hosting a financial challenge for the year 2008. She starts it off by posting their personal budget, something I'm just a bit too private to do. I do love looking at numbers, though. I like discussing grocery budgets, ways to save a few bucks, and of course, ways to live better on what we already have! I will follow her posts with interest.

And I will join in making the commitment to stick to the budget that my husband and I just created this past week.

Praising God for Who He Is

While thanking and praising God, I often find myself thanking Him for what He has done and for what He has given to me. I am so extremely blessed....physically and Spiritually! I have a wonderful husband, four precious children, an awesome extended family and many dear friends. I lack nothing physically speaking. The Lord has supplied all of my needs. And he deserves all of my praise and thanks!

As the children and I were reading together this morning from Lessons From the Farmyard by Emilie Poulsson, I was again reminded of the fact that (and I quote) "The Lord would be worthy of our praise and adoration even if He never created a wonderful world or saved a guilty soul." And this is so true. God is GOOD. It is His very nature. "Far too often, we permit our attitude of gratitude to slip away because we perceive that God is not giving us all the physical blessing we think we deserve."

Hymn of Thanksgiving

For the blessings of the field,
For the stores the gardens yield,
For the vine's exalted juice,
For the generous olive's use;

Flocks that whiten all the plain,
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain,
Clouds that drop their fattening dews,
Suns that temperate warmth diffuse;

All that Spring, with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land;
All that liberal Autumn pours
From her rich o'erflowing stores;

These to Thee, my God, we owe--
Source whence all our blessings flow!
And for these my soul shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.

Yet should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the ripening ear,
Should the fig tree's blasted shoot
Drop her green untimely fruit--

Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store,
Though the sickening flocks should fall,
And the herds desert the stall--

Should thine altered hand restrain
The early and the latter rain,
Blast each opening bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy--

Yet to Thee my soul should raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise,
And, when every blessing's flown,
Love Thee - for Thyself alone.
~~Anna Loetitla Barbauld

Comforting Words

What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.
~Martin Luther

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:29

Do the Next Thing
At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
There came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
That, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
Like a low inspiration, do the next thing.

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
Who placed it before thee with earnest command,
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance, be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons, do the next thing.
~Author Unknown

I Mustn't Quit!

While flipping through one of my daughter's story books, Treasury of Christian Classics for Children, I ran across this poem, one that I really needed to read today!

You Mustn't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must--but never quit.

Life is strange, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out,
Stick to your task, though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with one more blow.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt--
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that YOU MUSTN'T QUIT.

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Anonymous, (commenter #21) who has won the drawing for the book The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady. I will e-mail you and you can then send me the information I will need to get this sent out to you.

This giveaway has been a lot of fun! Last I looked there were 600 and some different contests going on! Lots of prized being given away this weekend!