Saponification.......

Saponification: A process that produces soap

I love that word. It sounds so cool . I just wanted to give everyone a little update on last weeks post about the documentary "Chemerical"

Last weekend I went out and purchased the supplies to make the "Chemerical" laundry detergent. The total cost to set up this little experiment was $15.00- including the 5 gallon bucket to store it in. Everything ( excluding the bucket) could be purchased at my local supermarket. So all I needed was Washing Soda, Borax, and a natural soap- in this case I used Kirk's Castille.

The kids helped make the soap so it took a total of about 15 minutes
You should know that the mixture needs to set for 24 hours before you use it so that it  can gel.

 Left over supplies - enough for two more batches

For the recipe, check out:

http://www.chemicalnation.com/downloads/chemerical-cookbook-sample.pdf

 If I calculated correctly each batch would make 130 loads - conservatively - if you are using 1/4 cup per load. So for my $15.00 investment I can do 390 loads of laundry. I can tell you that if you buy T*** laundry detergent you will pay $19.99 for 96 loads. So if you are looking to be friendlier to the planet, friendlier to your self  health wise or just want to save some money this seems like the way to go.




So I am talking about saponification and I think Quinoa? The mother grain of the Incans?Yes, because Quinoa has naturally occuring saponin/ a soap like resin on it's seed coat . Kinda cool. The saponin actually prevents bugs and birds from eating it! This is why you must wash/ rinse quinoa before you cook with it.

So what do you do with quinoa? Well you can make salads from it or use it as a side dish similar to rice or couscous. You can also make lettuce wraps like we did this week in the picture below. Romaine lettuce boats with quinoa, black beans, tomato, onion, salsa, sour cream, and balsamic dressing for those avoiding the sour cream. What is also great is that Quinoa  is a complete protein ( the only grain that I am aware is) so if you are vegetarian on vegan this is a great source.

 



So that was my update! I hope you enjoyed! If you have any comments or information you would like to share on this topic please do  so at the bottom of this page. Thanks!

Lorax, Borax, and time to Relax....

Reflection is such an interesting thing, especially in regards to self.  Small choices made over many years have begun to solidify.

O.K...... maybe it's more like gelification, but regardless there is a shape emerging.

Somewhere along the way I/ we became what I would call a "natural" family. I am not sure if that is the right word but I don't want to use the word "green" because it doesn't quite fit.

Maybe it was the choice to give birth to all three of my children "naturally"? - yep that's right not even a Tylenol in sight..

Maybe it was the choice to give birth to my last child at a birthing center? Did I mention my husband helped deliver baby number 3?

Was it the decision to homeschool? What could be more "natural" than a mother teaching her children?

Or could it have been when we decided to start growing vegetables organically in our back yard? Could we use nature to grow food naturally?- YES!

I know........... it was 1 too many documentaries!

What ever it was, I like where things are going, and what I am beginning to see, how we can live quite happily, naturally......... - Woo! Did  I just break out with a little Dr. Seus-ness of my own?


So here are a few things I wanted to share with you........


This week we went to see "The Lorax"  We loved it- surprise!


A few weeks ago our family watched a really neat documentary called Chemerical. It's funny and informative. It documents one families experience as they exchange their commercial cleaners for more natural alternatives.

Check out their site to see the trailer:

http://www.chemicalnation.com/content/

* If you have Netflix you can watch it instantly!

So if you watch the documentary you will find out that borax is one of the "natural" alternatives for things like laundry detergent boosters. It also happens to be a key ingredient in making  FLUBBER! All you need is Elmer's school glue, borax, and water http://www.food.com/recipe/flubber-134095

This girl surprises me all the time. You can actually blow up flubber with a straw!

 Mom note: This is not at all a  messy thing and if it gets in your carpet or on your kids clothes it easily comes out with white vinegar- I tested it for you!


When we have time to relax the kids and I love to spend time outside and lately that includes photographing butterflies. Some of my favorites:

GARDEN

This season we decided to try our hand at growing loofah. Those are the natural bath sponges you see in the store. So far they are looking good and we have a few buds and"baby" loofah. By December we should have the final product.

FOOD

I have a new addiction!........Monster smoothies! No they are not really called that but they are green and so the name fits. I wish I could take credit for the recipe but I can't so here is the link : http://joythebaker.com/2011/01/kale-spinach-and-pear-smoothie/

Wish I had a picture...... I know Kale, spinach, and pear smoothies probably do not sound delicious but it is so good!

So until next time.................

“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.” 
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

An Extra Post

I try my best each week to make school as fun as possible and this week I think we did a pretty good job making that happen. So although I normally blog just once a month, I wanted to get this post up before I forgot some of the fun things we did. Our theme this week was Egypt and Desert Ecosystems. Although not all of our weeks have a theme, I do think it helps with giving me direction and aids me in including some fun things we may not get to otherwise.So here is a peak at some of our week.

    So each day before school or as part of our school day we start with a Bible lesson. This weeks lesson was themed around trusting and obeying and since we were talking about the desert and Egypt who better than Moses to discuss. In this picture they had just finished with a lesson on God providing Manna and quail in the desert. The kids used sand for the desert and pearled barley for the manna along with a picture of themselves and the title Trust in the Lord. I think they liked it!

This week During Social studies we discussed Ancient Egypt and touched on things like the Nile River, deltas, silt, crops, the invention of the shaduf, etc. So as a reinforcement activity we made our own Nile out of colored sand including the surrounding deserts. The best part was when they found out that the sand we used was glow in the dark and they got to take their projects in a dark room. The glowing blue Nile was a hit!

This is a photograph of a science experiment that we did after discussing how certain plants are able to survive in the desert. We made two sets of leaves using construction paper and paper towels. We then sprayed them with water and wrapped one in wax paper and left the other as it was. We then moved them to a window sill and came back an hour later to see which one had held on to the most water. It was a great way for them to see hands on how the waxy layer or coating that some desert plants have aids them in surviving, This experiment was found in a publication by Harcourt science.

You simply can not talk about Ancient Egypt and deserts without discussing pyramids which we did and then followed it up with a "sweet" project that no one complained about doing. Building your own pyramid using sugar cubes. It was interesting to see the different techniques used by each age level. Of course mummies were also discussed and with that I found a great little online activity from Discovery Kids called Mummy Maker.What I loved was that it was educational and not at all hokey. Here is the link if you are interested: http://kids.discovery.com/games/just-for-fun/mummy-maker

 Hieroglyphics were a blast! We started off with our book lesson and then as an add on I found a site that allowed you to type your name and have it translated to hieroglyphics. The kids each did their own and then printed them. What was nice was that it printed the name of each child and then also the symbols for all 26 letters of the alphabet. The kids then got a small piece of clay each and were able to carve their own hieroglyphic messages using a toothpick .This is the site for the hieroglyphic translator: http://www.eyelid.co.uk/hieroglyphic-typewriter.html


So that was some of our week and I hope that you enjoyed reading about it as much as we did learning about it!

Garden Tip!

So we did a little globe trekking this week for school and our garden tip is similar. For our tip we travel to India! One day as I was flipping through a book on natural pest control I learned that different spices could be used to deter certain bugs, and that is when it hit me. Most of the spices could be found already combined  for me in the Indian Spice tea I had in my kitchen cabinet. So I thought why not. I had been battling ants in my garden bed and nothing seemed to rid them. That is until I took a few of those bags of tea and buried them throughout my garden bed. Voila! Ants be gone!

Food! 

In keeping with our Globe trekking I wanted to show you a very cool version of rice that some may not be familiar with. It is called Black rice but also goes by the name of purple rice, forbidden rice, or imperial rice and it is grown in China. It is said to have been eaten by Royalty. Simply follow the directions on the bag and  you will have a great side dish similar in  texture and nuttiness to brown rice but way cooler, because if you eat enough it tints your teeth purple.It is a bit of a splurge but well worth it and can be found in your local supermarket.    

Frugality and Some Fun

Frugality. What a great word! I feel like I have been drawn to write about this topic because it seems to  creep into conversations at every turn. Economically frugality is good; environmentally frugality is good, religiously frugality is good and the list goes on and on. Today though I want to focus on the frugality of homeschooling. I can not tell you how many times I have heard someone say to me "Oh yes, I would home school if I could afford it". While it is true that I am blessed and exceedingly grateful there is a bit of assumption made in that comment. The assumption is that in order to home school one must have a spouse who brings in XXX amount. This is so sad, I wonder how many people have decided not to home school because they didn't think they could afford it! There are tons of ways to save and I want to share some of them with you today.
So my first tip is in regards to books, curricular and supplemental. When buying curriculum's decide on what you want or think you want. If possible borrow or look at the curriculum's, either via other homeschoolers or curriculum fairs. After you have decided, see if one of those homeschoolers is willing to sell you (at a discounted price of course) their old curriculum. Also, and this is my favorite buy new in package curriculum through online sites like eBay or Amazon.In the 4 almost 5 years I have been homeschooling I can not think of even once when I paid full price.
Tip number two visit your local dollar store. The one in my area has a school supply section with lots of things you will love including bins to store supplies, educational posters, flash cards, and reward stickers/ certificates. Let's be honest about something, you don't need fancy construction paper or glue for the 300 crafts your child will make each year- that just get tossed out!
Tip number three is you don't need school desks or a "classroom" to home school. Even though the kids do have desk spaces lots of times we school at the kitchen table or even on lap desks that I picked up at my local craft store for just $10.00 each. If  $10.00 is still too much you can get clip boards at the dollar store :) If you want it you can do it!
Tip number four is go to your local library, books are free( as long as you return them on time- oops!) We have found lots of great books on topics we were studying or just books for pleasure. Most libraries offer computer services so if you do not have a computer you can look things up there and even print!
Tip number five is hook up with a local home school group or at least join their homepage so that you can see events that are free in your area, find out about home school field trips which are super cheap!, and also find out when their book sales are.
I also want to make a small disclaimer, I drive cars that are between 15 and 17 years old, I don't do a lot of shopping for extras, and we only do things we can really afford. That said, I want you to know that cars don't matter to me, I dislike shopping, and I dislike "extras" aka clutter! You may have to decide what does and does not matter in order to make it happen but I promise you that I have never felt I have lacked or given up anything. In fact I have been given a great gift, time with my children, something I could never replace or put a monetary value on.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." --Albert Einstein


 So for the Frugal Photos........

Dollar store find

Posters and baskets from the dollar store

Lap desks from the craft store

Chapter books from Targets dollar section! (Ages 7+ about 170 pages each) 

Library find. The book that made writing enjoyable for all of my kids- even the kindergartner

So the title was frugal and some fun well,  this is the fun- homegrown popcorn

It was delicious!

More fun! The hubs working on a project with the kids

The results of that project - Table air hockey!



Gardening tip! Grow things you don't like, or you thought you didn't like! You probably think this wasn't  really a tip but it's one of the most important. There are  plenty of things I am sure my kids would not eat  (or my husband for that matter) if we didn't grow it. I am pretty sure my kids would not have liked brussels sprouts as much had we not grown them , or peas, etc. You may change your mind if you do................


Recipe: Chickpea Salad


Chickpea salad

- 1 large can of chickpeas- drained, the juice of 1-2 lemons ( I like 2) , 2 cloves crushed garlic, a sprinkle of  dried rosemary, fresh dill- about 1 tablespoon (more if you like) , 1 small carrot diced, 1 Tablespoon of celery sliced as thinly as possible, 2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion, 1 Tablespoon red pepper, 2-3 Tablespoons dried mixed berries or cherries, 2 tablespoons Olive oil, salt , pepper, and garlic powder to taste. ( these are all just estimates though- if you like more add more For best results this needs to sit overnight if not 2 nights and if possible stir a little each day to make sure the juices on the bottom get redistributed.



P.S. After looking back at old blog posts it has come to my attention that when I blog at 1:00 a.m.  the rules of grammar and spelling fly out the door. So please bear with me!

Anyway hope you enjoy!

Summer Magic

Summer Magic

Maybe it’s because I watched too many movies when I was a kid or maybe it’s because I am just an old fuddy duddy romantic but, I have to tell you that today I feel like part of that old Hayley Mills movie “Summer Magic.”  Burl Ives is in the background singing “the ladybug crawl.” Summer is knocking on our door.  I am feeling the magic. Few things inspire and refresh me like some simple garden goodness. There is something beautiful about waking up in the morning to clean grassy smells and spotting bright red and orange tomatoes dotted between leaves like the adult version of a treasure hunt. Little jewels just waiting to be plucked. Even more lovely is walking through the dewy earth, picking out flowers to look at with my little boy, getting to explain the difference between a male and female squash blossom, and the look of excitement when he understands and can tell me on his own about the one he has found. The rewards of the garden are numerous. 


Today I wished for scent-o-blog. You know where you can actually smell what I am talking about. I wished it today when I sliced open the first heirloom rainbow tomato of the season and the smell wafted up all tangy and clean. I wished it again as we roasted a batch of tomatoes to be later made into sauce for our linguine at dinner. The smell of sweet tomatoes, drizzled in olive oil caramelizing in the oven.


There is something called a mandala in Eastern Religions ; a part of their sacred art, a representation of balance. The word mandala in itself means circle in Sanskirt. Interestingly enough I first learned of the mandala through a gardening article and although I am not a follower of these religions nor do I  see the mandala as a representation of  any belief system I can see how the garden is similar in some regards. I easily see the beauty, the art, the sacred gifts, blessings given by God.  Playing out in a circle or more accurately  the cycles of the garden. Unfragmented , cyclical, beautiful, the art of our Creator.  


My hope for you is that what ever it is you choose to do with your time, be it gardening, or art, music, etc., that you are experiencing some summer magic!

 Heirloom  Rainbow 

Roma and Heirloom Rainbow tomatoes for sauce  

Roasted tomatoes     

Sauce! 

Better Boy tomatoes we used for bisque earlier in the week. That day we had almost 2lbs of tomato      

  Tomato bisque

I could not close this entry without a nod to the movie “Fresh” another great movie with an emphasis on healthier, more sustainable food.  To see the trailer please click on the link below.
http://www.bbsradio.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=23628

Five of Five!

Five posts, One week. It  has been awesome to capture and share our week with all of you ! Thank you for taking the time to read this. My hope is that if you are just getting started with homeschooling that this week provided some ideas for how things could be done. I wish there was enough time and space to share with you all of the other wonderful websites and blogs, books and programs there are but I thought I would just give you my top 10 places to get information and inspiration.

1. The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer (this is the best book I have seen for outlining what children should be learning broken up by grade and also providing a critique of the best curriculum out there)

2. Accountable kids ( a program to create accountability, develop values, respect, etc.) 

3. BrainPop jr.(K-3)/ BrainPop (4th +)- their is a 1 week free trial 

4. Study Dog - another amazing site for reading- their is also a free trial for this site

5. If you have young children DLTK is a free site with printables and craft ideas

6. Education.com- a free site with printables that are amazing!

7. Family education.com - again, amazing free printables and some lesson plan ideas

8. Scholastic.com  has a website with some free printable material and lesson plans and additional ones for members

9. Keys for kids:  Online Devotionals for kids: You can listen to the key of the day or select from the menu  a particular topic/need   

10 . I Love Being a Mom by Therese J. Borchard ( a book full of encouragement)

( I left out the 101 Devotionals for homeschool moms because I told you about it earlier in the week but it would have made the top 10)

There are some things I think I have to say before I close this post. Most importantly, my way is not the only way to homeschool. There are plenty of moms out there who are doing wonderful things with their children in a different way. Some moms co-op, others use online/ Virtual school to homeschool their children, sometimes both parents work alternating schedules and both parents homeschool while holding jobs outside the home, some are unschoolers.  I love to garden , cook, and craft with my kids, take walks in the morning with them before school, and spend the last 15 minutes of our day together doing yoga, oh and drink coffee :) I love the freedom I have to choose how I want my children to learn. My kids have been in a community play, taken art classes at a local business, played basketball through inter-mural  activities at a local private school, etc . I say all of this because the point is , no matter how you decide to homeschool, make sure you stay true to yourself and your children. You will always fail if your heart says one thing and your actions are another . I wish I could take credit for that tidbit of wisdom but it came from a really funny Ghanese  man I knew who use to love to share African proverbs and wisdom with me. None the less it is true. You don't need to be Martha Stewert,  the Queen of bedazzling, or even wear a denim jumper -heehee! You just have to be you! 

Alright that's all I've got so go be the best you that you can be!  Oh and scroll down to check out a few pics from today's Adventures at Dinosaur world. 

You've heard of the eye of the tiger, well this is the mouth of the dinosaur...plus a few kiddos

Ya, that guy who looks like a tourist- that's my guy.

This is the rear view of a very rare Lucasaurous

 

Fish !

Kinda self explanatory

Giant sandbox!

This is the crew!

Digging for fossils

Seriously sifting sand for souvenirs- sorry we learned about alliterations this week :) 

I Took His Hand and Followed
Mrs. Roy L. Peifer

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I...
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood...
My kitchen wasn't swept today
But life was gay and good.

We found a cool, sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest,
Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill...
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky,
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth
Will know, or even care.

But that I've helped my little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

 The poem came from here: http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/child_poem.html 

Day Four of Five !

Many of you are familiar with " The Gambler Song" by Kenny Rogers. Ya know the song that says "You got to know when to hold' em, know when to fold'em , know when to walk away, and know when to run! Sometimes homeschool is like that! I wish you could see me laughing right now! But in reality life is just that way. I had intended this morning to talk about something totally different and then my day kinda turned out like "The Gambler Song" It started this morning, I usually start my day before the kids are up dinking around the garden, checking out what's growing, smelling some clean air, listening to birds or frogs. But today was a little different. The last few days have been drizzly and grey and that is not a good thing because it usually means lots of slugs and bugs and today it also included having to re-stake tomato plants that are almost as tall as I am now. With all the wet weather they have also added a lot of weight in fruit and so some of them were lying on the ground. Thankfully none of them snapped. The squash and cucumbers were yellowing and have been for a while. About three weeks ago we had a full week of cold weather and it hit them pretty hard. A few more sunless days this week finally did them in. So I could try to save them but honestly they were pretty sad. It was a hold'em or fold'em moment. And I folded. I pulled all my squash and cucumber plants, save one. Homeschool is sometimes the same way. Today was one of those days, but it wasn't a bad day at all.  It was a  Test day. Science tests, Math tests, Writing activities,  and checking for comprehension. Everyone got A's in Math and Science and the lowest Writing grade was a B. But the day still had it's trials. One child had a melt down when they saw the science test. It could have become ugly but we were able to turn it around and once that child began to realize they knew the answers things got brighter.It was a hold'em moment , giving up was not an option. We had another melt down during writing because someone had writers block half way through their story. This was almost a fold'em moment! Luckily we were able to find some creative ways to resolve the crisis.I had to be a bit flexible but the story got written.  So how do we differentiate between hold'em or fold'em moments? There are a few questions I ask myself that I think might help others along!
1: Is my child capable of doing the work? Yes - Hold'em but be willing to bend a bit if need be to get the job done.

2. Am I teaching something at a level beyond what they are able to comprehend? Yes- fold'em
   
3. Are they bored?  Yes:- you have two options at this point:  a) hold'em if you are able to think of another way to explain it on the fly that is more fun or b) fold'em and revisit the lesson another day when you can come up with way to get the information across.

4. Am I as the adult being stubborn (gasp!) or unreasonable( double gasp!)? Sometimes outside opinions are needed to realize this one LOL!  Tug O War is not what we are after.  You should probably fold'em

   5. Is your child crying? STOP IMMEDIATELY! Time for a heart to heart. You need to get to the root of what is happening . Progress has ceased at this point!

Sometimes when I feel a little fuzzy I like to take a minute to take a look at the situation as an observer. This is hard and if you are frazzled it is even harder! One key thought that has brought me back time and time again to where I need to be is this: What snapshots are they putting in their memory album? I am not sure where this idea came from because it has been so many years but boy does that hit home for me.

Another  thought I loved especially when the kids were smaller was from the site DLTK. It is called " A Child's Ten Request-ments"

http://www.dltk-kids.com/school/a_childs_ten_requestments.htm

O.k. So our day.............

May 17, 2012

Bible: Joshua takes Charge/ Setting up Memorial stones

Tribes of Israel Worksheet

Review Rock Formation /Earth Science Transparencies

Test Day! Science C28-29 (Girls)

Saxon Math: (Individual lessons)

K: S3

A:S2

L:S1

Adventures in Literacy:

~Using bullet points

~Points of view

~Opinion

~Pro “vs” Con

Question to be posed for Example: Does a Dinosaur make a good pet?

Writing Activity/ Fiction Prompt: The Day my Dad brought home a Dinosaur!

Reading: L: HOP Red Level 1.5 

Science Test Time!

Math: Spinning ruler tricks included for free.

Cowboys can read too ma!

Shenanigans during school!

Just a funny list with reasons why dinosaurs make good pets

reasons dinosaurs make bad pets

Dinosaurs are big so if you write a story about them you need big paper right?  And the little monkey in red has nothing to do with it he is just a ham :)

                                                                         

Proud of his story

 
"Be clear about your goal but flexible about the process of achieving it." Brian Tracy