You Might Be a Redneck If...

I grew up hearing all of Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck if..." jokes. My grandpa was obsessed with them. I suppose the fact that I grew up roasting cochon de lait (suckling pigs) on a spit in the front yard of a fishing camp or going hunting for snapping turtles didn't register in my mind that I was a "redneck." Still doesn't. My boys may be slightly obsessed with wearing camo, but I wouldn't call us rednecks. I may have a love/hate relationship with hogs head cheese and fatty cracklings, but I wouldn't call us rednecks. 

Until going to our friends' kid's birthday party last weekend. We all have our kids around the same age and they've been friends since our first were crawling. We went out to their new land to find a redneck Mecca - an old motor cross track turned farm. They had taken one of the hills, dug a ditch at the bottom, covered it in visqueen, and stuck a hose and sprinkler at the top. Put it all together and what do you have: a water slide! 

The kids loved it! T would slide down until right before the water but not get in, he is his daddy's son. Auds was a water baby and didn't want to get out. Drum just watched with glee. Then everyone went mud riding. Almost makes me want to get some land. But then I remember I already have to drive far enough to the store and I don't want to make the trip any longer. ;)

Homeschooling Detour

We're still going to be homeschooling, I know that title probably makes it sound like I'm giving up. Haha. But we're going in a different direction. We've been doing Abeka because the private school we had Auds in for the blink of an eye used it and she thrived on it. I didn't want to rock her boat any more than it already was being rocked, so we stayed with it and she love it. We intended to keep using it for simplicity's sake since it was working and I like having everything laid out for me with my busy schedule. 

Well, I totaled up curriculum costs for this year and for Auds and T it would cost over $200. I just couldn't justify spending that on preschool and kindergarten this year. Granted, it's cheaper than private school tuition, but when our A\C needs replaced and our roof needs fixed, and we need a new mower, and etc. and so on and so forth because life happens, it just wasn't worth it to me. Plus, we can always pick it up next year. 

Enter Pinterest. I searched for kindergarten curriculum and found a site that had their yearly sale on digital curriculum. Basically, they give you the e-copy and you print it and do it. No shipping, no taxes. They were having a 90%ish off sale and a buy 2 get one free. Which means I could get curriculum for all three kids for the next few years for less than half of what Abeka would have cost. And if we go back to Abeka, we would have supplementary materials. Not too shabby. 

I'm purchasing a Charlotte Mason, a Tots and PreK, and a K-3 early learner curriculum bundle to combine and use together. It's a mix of CM and traditional materials all Biblically based, which I think will give us some well-rounded stuff. 

The Charlotte Mason bundle comes with: 

The Charlotte Mason Way Explained

Discipleship: A Character Curriculum Using KJV Scriptures

Fine Art Collection 1 (which features Saurat, my favorite artist!)

Hymnological Journey to the Cross

Reading Lessons through Literature

Writing Lessons through Literature 

50 States and Where to Find Them

Grapevine Studies: Old Testament

Write From Ancient History (still deciding if I want to do script or print)

Sheldon's New Primary Language Lessons

Nature Study Notebooking pages - all of them 

Jim Hodges audiobooks

Because I Said So - Biblical Lesson in Obedience

And a bonus How to Build a Strong Christian Home: One Step at a Time for me

That's a lot, but because of the sale and me wanting to get stuff for T, too, I'm getting the preschool kit. And if I'm getting the preschool kit, I might as well get the k-3 and get free stuff, right?!

This is what's in the preschool bundle:

Raising Rockstars Preschool Curriculum

Proverbs for Preschoolers (which is perfect because our Bible Quizzing material this year is Proverbs, so this will be awesome to do in conjunction coz T really wants to quiz even though he's too young) 

We Choose Virtues Bundle

Character Badges

Grapevine Studies Old Testament prek

Creation Coloring Book

Be Thankful: Cultivating Year-Round Thankfulness

Little Lads and Ladies of Virtue

101 Independent Activities

1777 New England Primer Manuscript

Basic Shapes for Beginners

New Testament Bible Reading Journal

Hands-On Character Building

Character Traits Flashcards

And bonus for me: HomeschoolingLarge  Families and Character Concepts for Preschoolers for Moms 

The k-3 bundle comes with: 

Creation Science

Early American Settlers Unit Study

Reading Lessons Through Literature

ABCs for Godly Children

Write Through the Bible Philippians (which I'll probably do later on since we're in Proverbs for BQ)

Math Mammoth -Place Value and +/-

Botany in 8 Lessons

Asia: Its People and History   

Raising Rockstars Kindergarten

Character Badges

Grapevine Studies Old Testament Beginner

That's a lot! 

I'm still trying to figure out schedule, but here's what I'm thinking:

Bible history and Proverbs everyday after family prayer 

Monday: 

Handwriting and History

Tuesday:

Science and Literature (Auds ballet lessons are Tuesdays, so we'll likely do reading in the morning and then a nature walk/ botany experiment in the afternoon)

Wednesday:

Art and Math

Thursday: 

Character development 

Friday:

Geography

Should I combine lessons and do more repeating during the week? Like math/history/literature more than once a week? I realize it's only pre-k and kindergarten, but we are in the formative years and I want to give them a good foundation. Plus, it will be such a change from the stringent schedule of Abeka. 

I'm excited and nervous about all of it. Not having a box puts more pressure on me for developing a schedule, but also opens it up for flexibility when I've got big projects. I'm looking forward to the character development. I've been working on it as situations arise, but it'll be nice to have stuff to work on before talking to the kids after correcting them. 

Wish me luck! 

Rain Rain Rain

It's summer, which means that it rains frequently. Huge summer showers are the norm instead of the exception. They're so common, in fact, that in the tiny town where I grew up, we had tornado sirens so you could know when a bad storm was coming. I guess being surrounded by swamp we needed to take extra precautions from the water to sandbag our houses. 

Trying to make the most out of my abundant time with the kids and be a good homeschooler, I try and take any opportunity to teach them. One particularly cloudy afternoon we did a quick lesson about clouds by watching water cycle videos on youtube, the water cycle Magic School Bus, and doing the heat boiling water and put it in a container with a cover to make a cloud thing. I don't know why I didn't think to snap pictures. 

Today it's raining yet again, so I figured I'd capitalize on it. We watched the storm episode of Magic School Bus, put a very primitive rain catcher (i.e. a cup in a Tupperware), did some coloring activities, and made a cloud experiment. 

I wrote prompts for wind, clouds, rain, and lightening. Auds is on top and really enjoyed drawing an explaining her drawings. Tony got bored quickly and didn't finish. Lol. 

Then we got to our experiment. I took a thick layer of paper towels and secured it over a Tupperware with a rubber band. Then I took some food coloring and dyed a container of water blue. I gave them each a medicine dropper and told them to slowly add the blue water to their "cloud" to see how much it could hold before it began to "rain." Then they got to play with it and see how much rain they can make. Actually, they're still doing it now as I sit down and nurse Drum. 

The basis was that when the gas water vapors cool, they condense to ice/snow/water depending upon the height and temperature. The more they condense and gather, the heavier the cloud gets and eventually when it's too heavy it turns to precipitation. 

That's T checking out his rain progress. Pardon the big chair in the way, I'm on the couch next to it. Our living/dining/kitchen is one big open area so I can still participate in things the kids are doing even while I'm nursing or cooking. That's the one good thing about our ranch-style house: all the bedrooms are on one side for quick access to nightmare comforts and all the living space is on the other so mischief is somewhat manageable. :) 

Grrr Blogger

For some reason, I make blog posts and they either don't publish or just flat out disappear. So this will be a collection of random stuff to make up for that. 

Drum is one! His birthday weekend was quite eventful. I had a council meeting the night of, so I had B and the kids meet me in town. We went to a local fast eating restaurant - no fast food coz they cook it to order, but certainly not ritzy or pricey - for dinner. This place actually started as a Econ project for the owner in college he got a "C" but his restaurant has done so well it has expanded all over the South. Take that, teacher! Lol 

We never go out to eat, so it was a treat even if it was just a casual dinner. Then we went to a bakery for cupcakes. The bakery even had a kid-friendly area where we sat and they provided a candle for Drum since it was his big day. (I got a wedding cake cupcake since it was close to our seventh anniversary.) 

Saturday was the party and we had it outside with kids running around, B manning the grill, and an ice cream theme with homemade ice cream cake and ice cream from a local creamery. We had 13 kids with only four families coming. It was a great - and tiring day. 

Sunday was Father's Day and we just had a normal Sunday but told B "Happy Father's Day" about every minute. The kids loved spoiling him. 

That Monday was our seventh year anniversary and we treated it like any other Monday. We decided we would rather make the investment in Drum's first party than to spend money on flowers or gifts. But lots of sweet sentiments were shared. I'm blessed to be married to the love of my life. 

Since then we've traveled to Bible Quizzing tournaments, drafted proposals, helped friends move (poor Auds, her two best friends moved within two months of each other because the parents were called out to pastor churches), and just enjoyed our time with our babies. We even took the kids to our alma mater and showed them around. They got to meet the tiger and play with him. 

Auds has been blooming into such a beautiful young lady. She's as dainty as they come and has started to develop a precious relationship with Jesus. She wants to read her Bible everyday, practices writing scriptures for handwriting work, sings hymns and worship songs all day, and preaches to her baby dolls. When we get to church early she kneels down to pray, worships during singing, and sits on the front row during youth services -all without being asked! I pray He continues to draw her close to Him and look forward to seeing that relationship develop. Tony sleeps through night services in church, but has been learning the books of the Bible and knows most of them. His favorite are the major and minor prophets (I think he likes the sound of their names).

God has been faithful to us. We were given a push mower randomly. Turned out, the next day out riding mower bit the dust. Now B gets to mow an acre with a push mower, but at least we get to still get it done and not have to buy a new mower or pay someone! He provided for us before we even knew we had a need! 

Last weekend we had our state's 100th anniversary Camp Meeting. Basically, it's a week of old-fashioned church services that have been held the first week in July
every year for the last 100 years. People come from all over the state to participate and worship and fellowship. We only get to go one night a week, but got to watch the other services through online broadcasting. It was great. The night we went they took a commemorative picture in the huge sanctuary (The "camp grounds" also is the headquarters for our state's superintendent and bishop of the church,  and also hosts kids camps throughout the summer and events throughout the year so it holds a large church, admin buildings, rec buildings, and small cabins, too). We got to sit front and center for the picture. I can't wait to see it and look for us. What a treasure to be a part of such a historical moment for our church! 

I'm back to watching Taitum since summer school has started. It's fun watching four kids five and under play together! 

This weekend is Vacation Bible School for the kids and we'll have two evenings with only Drum - craziness! The kids are looking forward to it and can't wait. I think B and I might have a couple of "date nights" at home. :) Sunday is B's big 3-0. The kids picked out what cake we'll make him and we'll probably send him out on an errand after church so we can continue the tradition of "surprising" him with decorating the house. 

I can't believe that it's already halfway through the year! It just started!

I'm a Chef!

Not really, but I did figure out how to make tomato soup from scratch! 

I hate buying canned soups - too many preservatives and chemicals and they taste awful. But it has been pouring cats and dogs here lately (thanks, Southern summers!) and I wanted some comfort food for dinner. More specifically: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. 

I figured it takes tomatoes, seasonings, and a cream base, all of which I had on hand, so the kids and I got to it and made the kitchen look like a murder scene. 

Not that anyone cares, but here's what I did: 

Chop up tomatoes. I used about a pound worth. 

In a hot skillet, reduce some sweet onions in some butter. Add the tomatoes to get some flavor and soften up. 

Place the whole mess in a blender or food processor and add some seasonings. I added Tony's (a gift from God Almighty that goes on everything here and is way too high in sodium), garlic powder, and chopped basil leaves. 

I then pulverized them to a liquid-y pulp. 

Next I added some milk. I used cooking milk, but it could be subbed with heavy cream or unsweetened nut milk. I just kinda eyeballed it. Mix again. 

Then we tasted it. It was such a sweet moment to watch my kids taste something they helped make. Even Drum taste tested, before he tried to steal my spoon. 

We added some more seasonings to taste and then mixed again and

poured it into a quart jar to save for dinner. 

It took all of fifteen minutes, and tastes much better than store canned soup.  

Now, I'm sure there are fancier methods and recipes and I could figure out how to make them and how to can so I can make big batches to save. And maybe one day I will. I'm just thrilled I figured out how to make a quick and easy soup! Usually my recipes require a lot of simmer time, so this will be awesome for quick lunches and dinners. :)