Fun DIY Project~Make Your Own Butter

If you're looking for a fun and cheap activity to do with your kids, this is it!!  I recently did this with my homeschool co~op class and they loved it!  Since then, Sweetcheeks has been asking to do this almost every day!

It really is quite simple!  You just need some heavy whipping cream and a glass jar.  A hand mixer works well also, but then you'd miss out of the "funnest" part {sweetcheeks' description}!

Add some cream to the glass jar.  Any amount is fine.  If you want a small amount of butter, just add a small amount of cream.  If you're looking for an upper arm workout, then fill that jar!!  You can also add a pinch of salt if you want.

Next step.  Shake jar. 

 

Shake some more. 

 

Keep shaking.

 

When you get tired of shaking, have someone else shake the jar!

Look, you now have whipped cream.  Too bad that's not what we're making today!

Keep shaking!

 

Almost there!

Shake your entire body!!

Look, you now have a soft lump bathing in milk!

You did it!!

Yep, that's butter!

Strain the milk from the butter.  Save that milk.  This is buttermilk and can be used in recipe's.  Then wash the butter in cold water.  This gets the buttermilk off the butter which can make the butter go bad.

Put your butter in a container, and enjoy!

Blessings,

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Homeschooling During The Holidays

One of the things I really love about homeschooling is the flexibility it brings our family.  With 5 kiddo's, one of them with multiple appointments during the month, things can get crazy in a hurry.  I am still relatively new at homeschooling (we're just starting our 3rd year), but I don't stress over these things like I first did.  We'll still get our school year done, it just may not look the same as someone else.  That's OK!

I *think* I may have mentioned once or twice that I LOVE Christmas time.  I also love having our kiddo's home and creating happy memories during this time of year with them.  Our "formal" schooling is on hold until the second week of January.  What our homeschool looks like for the next several weeks is to just enjoy one another.

We're planning on baking and creating Christmas goodies next week.  We then take some of them to our neighbors and relatives.  We'll send out our Christmas cards next week also.  We're going to create some holiday crafts~something that Sweetcheeks is really looking forward to.  We're going to watch holiday movies, and read books together.  We're going to read the Christmas story together, and have a family Christmas eve worship time together (I'm really looking forward to this!).  We're just going to take it easy, enjoy our Christmas, enjoy each other, and reflect on the real reason for this season.

I pray you also can enjoy the Christmas holiday with your loved ones!

Blessings,

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
1 Corinthians 10:31

Homeschooling~Why or Why Not?

While there are several homeschooling families in our area (and growing!), I still get the wide eyes when I tell people that we homeschool.  When I tell them that we send one of our kids to a public school, many can't believe it.  Why would we homeschool some of our kids, but not all?

Homeschooling is a very personal decision.  Many factors went into our decision of whether or not to keep our kids home.  This is not a decision that any homeschooling family takes lightly.  We know our kids and want what is best for them. 

Our middlest child is on the autism spectrum.  He also has a physical disability.  He see's a psychologist and a psychiatrist to help him sort through his emotions and behaviors, and physical and occupational therapists to help with his disability.  He has certain needs that must be met for him to function well during the day.  Some of these needs just can not be met with homeschooling, especially since I'm also teaching 3 other kiddo's.  He benefits greatly from the services he receives from our public school.

Our oldest son struggles with an un~diagnosed learning disability.  He was struggling in a school that thinks all children should fit into one mold and learn the same way at the same pace.  He actually asked if we would homeschool him.  At home he can learn at his own pace, and in a way that is easier for him to learn.  He benefits greatly from homeschooling.

This is just a couple of examples from our family.  Every family has a story.  The point is that we love our children and want them to blossom.  There are benefits and disadvantages to take into consideration.   And just because something is working now, doesn't mean it will in a few years. 

Let's encourage one another in our decisions for our families.  Don't judge others because they are not making the same choice for their children that you make for yours.  You never know what is going on in those families and how hurtful your responses may be to them.

Blessings,

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
1 Corinthians 10:31

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Winter Fun!

We finally got our first big snowfall last week, and are expecting more snow tomorrow.  We were pretty excited about that around here as it meant some snow fun (and some income for one child who helps out neighbors by shovelling snow!).  But now we have some frigid temps keeping us all indoors, so I had the little kiddo's do a craft and make a snowman.  We used marshmellows to make them.

First we need to plot out the snowman!

One for the paper, one for my mouth!

Team work always makes things easier!

Having a little trouble with the glue (it was closed!)

This is what Sport was doing while we were making the snowmen :(

This one spent more time doing this than making the snowman!!

Finished project.  He was so proud of his snowman~it made me smile!

Another finished snowman.  Looks great!

The finished project!

Hopefully now the weather will warm up a bit and with the snow tomorrow we'll be able to make REAL snowmen!

Blessings,

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"
1 Corinthians 10:31

Homeschooling: Fall

We've been plugging along with homeschooling and it is going very well so far.  We are happy with our curriculum and we are keeping on track.  We will be starting a homeschool co-op after the holidays and are looking forward to meeting some new people there.  We had fun making a project for fall, working together and learning new things, and Sport had fun learning about cells and eating them!

We're off to a great start.  This week we're looking at things we have to be thankful for, and we'll be taking a bit of time off during December so we can focus on our family during the Christmas season.  We'll be doing lots of baking, decorating, celebrating, singing and enjoying time together.

Blessings,

First Day of School!

Yesterday we had our first official day of school.  It went much better than I thought it would.  It was almost 90 degrees outside yesterday and the sunshine was calling us saying "summer isn't over yet!!".  But we kept at it, and even got done sooner than I expected.  We started with Bible readiing and a prayer over our school year, and ended with Math for Sport.  Luckily math was mostly review, so it wasn't very painful!  He will really enjoy the map book that goes along with our Social Studies.  He would much rather do art than almost anything else! 

I am excited to see how this year goes, and I am really looking forward to seeing how Sweetcheeks grows this year.  We are working on her letters and numbers, and right now we're working on more vs. less.  She was having a bit of difficulty with it until we used some things she could understand.... "would you rather have 4 M&M's or 7 M&M's?  Suddenly she understood the concept!!  It was quite funny!  She gets to do lots of coloring which is something she also enjoys doing!

Yes, I know baby Moses' face is purple.  When I asked her about it, she just simply said, "that is how he looked!"

We are thinking about what we want our Bible verse for the year to be.  We want our year to be productive, but also to grow in the Lord.  I'll keep you updated.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

School year 2011~2012

UGH!!  It just seems too early to be writing about the next school year.  This summer has just flown by (as it always does!) and I just don't want to give in and admit that fall is just around the corner.  

Our school year is going to be a bit crazy this year.  We enrolled Spud in public school.  He was just having too many problems to continue at our local Christian school.  I really wanted to start homeschooling him this year, but both his psychologist and psychiatrist thought that would not be a good idea at this time.  We need to trust their opinions, so he will be starting public school on Sept. 1.  A new experience for our family.



Sweetcheeks working on a project from Rod and Staff books last winter


Sweetcheeks will continue with her books for schooling.  We are not jumping heavily into homeschooling her yet.  She just turned 5 this month, so we are opting to hold her back a year as far as the school system regulates.  That is the beauty of homeschooling.  We can opt to "hold her back", but if we feel she is ready to begin something we can just start teaching it.  I am excited to begin her homeschooling journey as she is the first child I will homeschool from the beginning.  We started the ABC series with Rod and Staff books last semester, so she will just pick up where she left off.  I LOVE this series!!  It is just simply teaching letters, shapes, and numbers...but in a way that is fun and engaging for little ones.  She is always asking to "do school" and she can't wait until homeschooling begins again!

Sport will have an exciting year as well.  I mixed things up a bit as far as his curriculum goes.  Last year I just ordered a whole curriculum from one company, and although we did like most of it, there were some things both he and I struggled with.  Here is what he will be studying this year...

Bible and Language arts:  Christian Light Education
Science:  Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Psyiology
Spelling:  Spelling Workout
History and Art:  Notgrass America the Beautiful and Learn to Draw
Music:  Guitar Lessons
Math:  Rod and Staff

He is excited about Science as he will get to do some experiments.  I am super excited about Notgrass' America the Beautiful.  It is an awesome set of books that tells about America's history from the year 1000 until today.  Hubby and I have read much of the books and have found it very interesting.  Mom will be learning some new things (or more likely forgotten things) alongside him this year.  We are going to start on Sept 1 and I'm excited to complete a full year of homeschooling!

Stinkerbelle will continue at the Christian school for her first year of high school.  She started on August 24 and is looking forward to the whole high school experience.  While I really wanted to homeschool her also, hubby and I decided that she could continue going to the school she has always attended.  She had no interest in homeschooling.  I am still struggling with this, but I have been (slowly) letting it go.  We're continuing to hold this in prayer, and maybe we will homeschool in the future.

And we can't forget Sunshine.  He has some learning to do this year also!  We will be potty training him soon.  This is something else I'm struggling with right now.  When he is potty trained, we will not have a child in diapers in the house.  That hasn't happened in 7 years.  He is the first child I have used cloth diapers on, so I really won't miss the diaper pail or cleaning diapers!  I mourn the passing of each stage with our kids, although I still enjoy the next stage.  Our baby is growing up so fast it's hard to believe sometimes. 

So that's our school year in a nutshell.  My greatest desire is that each of our children grow closer to the Lord this year, and closer to each other as well.  I also want to remember to enjoy teaching at home, and enjoy our children.

Have a great day!

Blessings,