Saturday

Today began with a big breakfast, you know biscuits and gravy, hash browns, eggs and bacon. That sticks with you all day!
After breakfast we went our separate ways boys to our chicken manure lady's house to help with some chicken coop cleaning. They brought home 18 eggs!!! I want chickens.
The girls and I went to church, they to a birthday party and I to clean up the room that contained all the wedding decorations. Yes, I procrastinated. Then I joined the party to socialize and watch the festivities.
The girls and I came home and I started dinner while they skied. Dinner is over and I think I will head out to ski after the kitchen and dining room are cleared up. Then I need to mop and print school papers and maybe do some comb binding. Yes, my life is over stimulatingly exciting. I love every minute. Oh, iron, I must iron church clothes.

Lollipops and daily duties

Last weekend Judith tried making lollipops while I was cleaning in the boys' room. The sugar burned and we didn't have time to try again until today.

I made some breakfast food for the freezer. We are trying to break the cereal habit here. This is bacon, sausage, egg and hashbrowns in biscuit dough. I almost ate one for lunch but instead I had a bowl of the leftover filling.

Hello Feedly, goodbye Google Reader

Feedly, I choose Feedly because of the positive reviews for the app, as I read  mainly using my phone. So far I am liking it. Easy to use, synced Google Reader info right over. Love the layout and font better than Google Reader so that is a plus.

Now let's see if Google Reader really goes away. I began using bloglines many moons ago and they announced a close date and failed to close due to user requests...that's when I switched to Google Reader.

Helpers and chores

Benjamin was being naughty and into stuff and even whining, one of the three all day long.  I realized I am missing an opportunity with him. He needed order to his days, he needed more Mommy time. You may ask, but you are home with him all the time, what do you mean by more Mommy time? I was focused on my agenda and schedule. I expected him to play quietly while the older Blessings worked and just be. Well, four year olds can only be for so long. They crave attention and activity and order and sequence.
Take today, I got my shower before breakfast, somedays the shower comes after. Benjamin was thrilled when it clicked that his school could start right away because I had already taken my shower.
He has also become my laundry sorter helper and kitchen helper and dishwasher helper. I have noticed that the requests to watch something have decreased a tiny bit.
And that is why our dishes are stored down low. They have been since Judith was about four and I guess they will be until Benjamin can reach the upper cabinets. But, I will probably have a revolt if I change the location of the plates and bowls, they may just stay there forever.

Tidbits from today

•We now have about twelve hours of daylight a day!
•We rarely turn lights on anymore until evening or when working in the kitchen
•Around noon today my throat barely hurts, only when I swallow is there a tiny bit of tenderness. I'll take it, it is improvement
•I used to strongly dislike politics and the like, funny how furlough makes the ears perk up

Oh how I've changed

Should things change?  Yes. Should things stay the same? Yes. Confused yet? Years ago one of my favorite preachers came here and he asked those two questions. I have never forgotten them.

Boy have I changed and this change is a good change. I used Before Five in a Row with my older Blessings but they have no documentation because pretty much we read the books and did a few activities but I was still trying to figure things out and there was this little problem of perfectionism.  As you can see by the pictures below, I have pretty much let go of my past perfectionistic ways.
When I first learned about lapbooking I printed lots on cardstock but I have since learned that printing everything on cardstock is not necessary. Every so often something gets printed on cardstock but not nearly what used to get printed.
At this point it is important to do the work and get it in the notebook. I am no longer caught up with how it looks or needing x,y and z to create what is in my brain.  I missed so much with my other Blessings because of my perfectionism and I have learned from it and plan to not miss this time.
Benjamin and I are working through our books, learning counting
and numbers, sizes, story sequencing, letters, rhyming, cutting and pasting, colors, animals, etc. and so forth. And we are creating a notebook. I love sources such as the free fold and learns from Five in a Row, homeschool share, homeschool creations to add to our learning journey. Benjamin likes the pencil and paper, cutting and pasting work so I am just going with it for now. 

Our notebook isn't beautiful but it represents Benjamin's learning.

Monday

I went to bed Sunday night with a sore throat and woke up with a sore throat. I have taken it easy today and am thankful for leftovers for dinner tonight.

We began a new unit today and that helps me see we are moving forward. The day hasn't gone as planned but the day has marched on.
Benjamin began rowing Goodnight Moon today. I didn't get pictures during our learning time but I did get a couple of his building with Math U See blocks.

Sunday

Our entire family made it to Sunday School and church today! I am coughing but with constant water drinking and cough drops I can make it through.
After church we came home and had moose & caribou roast, mashed potatoes,  carrots, rolls and chocolate pie.
After the Blessings cleaned up the kitchen with a couple of rough spots, they are going through a tough time with group chores. Learning to deny self is tough and learning to not complain is even more tough.
And, I finally got a project on needles again Friday night. This is just a swifter mop cover thing but I am thrilled to be knitting again. I haven't knitted since before the wedding.

Moose Stock

Friday I made moose stock. The stock I made a few months ago is long gone so it was past time to make stock.

My set up is fairly simple. See the wire coat hanger holding rings? That was an idea I got from watching the West Ladies canning dvd. That tip has been a great organization help for me as those rings were all over the place. My library has quite a few of the West Ladies dvds so that is a huge blessing.

Why makes stock? It is so good for us and I really do enjoy canning.  I love to see the jars lined up on the shelf. And, I cannot let the birds get all the enjoyment out of the moose bones!

I almost forgot a picture of the finished jars. I ended up with about sixteen quarts of stock.

We finished another unit

Benjamin began our presentation time with his Before Five in a Row book, Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack  but we didn’t get any pictures.

Levi presented about Francis Scott Key, the presidents they studied during the unit and he read a poem he wrote.

And when you have a four year old little brother, he insists on helping with your presentation.

While Levi was presenting, Judith was finishing up some last minute things for her presentation. Oh, she is my child.

Judith and Levi got new glasses, here are Judith’s I really like them.

Benjamin keeping busy with silly putty

Elisabeth’s power point presentation about flag code

Our unit was called Nation Building, so Elisabeth shared how land was added to the United States.

When your map holder gets side tracked you hold your own map.

Elisabeth created a flag for our family.

Her speech about Francis Scott Key

Judith began with a song and the words on a power point presentation.

She then had a power point about the unit in general

She read the words to the Star Spangled Banner

And she told about one of the books we read, The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

When we read the Postscript from the Author yesterday we realized that my husband might be on to something with his new word parfictional. Read the second paragraph here.

The girls science study for this unit was oceans and they made this salt dough model. I really tried to stay out of this one and let them follow the directions and complete this project. They did a really good job. They still need to paint, which they may do so this afternoon.