Summer Days

The Dog Days of Summer are mighty fine at our house! We've been spendin' our days relaxin' and playin'. Our biggest challenge is how to stay active when it is so unbearably hot outside. Since our kids are incredibly early risers, I am trying my best to stop fighting it and embrace it. Besides, we can get outside before the heat hits -like 7-8:00am -to bike ride or hit softballs. Yuck! I just want to sleep till 7:30 one day! I always thought they'd grow out of this early rising nonsense. However I've been convicted lately because isn't that a desirable trait? I should really be happy about these qualities in my children! Forgive me Lord, and help me to see it as such!

We've been going to the Y a lot! One of my summer goals is to be able to jog 5 miles without being winded, or at least collapsing. I think I'm close to this goal - I went to my first ever spin class and thought I was going to die, though! There were some crazy people in there - trying to kill themselves by standing up riding a bike with a perfectly good seat!

Belly flop competitions are always a fun summer pastime!

Since the vet said our lazy indoor dog is overweight we have to try to take the dog to the park in the evenings when things begin to cool off. Around here that is about 8pm! Our dog LOVES big slides! Is it a bad thing to let your dog go down the slide? We love going on long family walks!

Then of course there is cruelty to siblings. That was always my brother's favorite summer activity. We were away from home going traipsing in high weeds and Gracie needed some long pants. We dashed into a questionable store and these were all we could find, they said "Apple Bottoms" on the rear. We don't generally wear pants with words on the rear-end, that's just not an area I like to draw attention to. Gracie was pretty mortified to have to wear them. Big sister came to the rescue and pulled out a sewing kit and started ripping sequins out. However, she conveniently ran out of time and only got part of the sequins removed so that the jeans read, "Apple Butt." Sisterly love. Sweetness.

Gracie plays Basketball

Gracie read a book about a girl who plays basketball a month or so ago and has been wanting to be on a team for a while. So, she is playing at the YMCA. We don't play a whole lot of basketball around our house because we are a bit obsessed with the smaller balls hit with bats and caught with gloves.

They had one practice and then a game. It was a bit of a mess - playing too with boys up to age 12; I would've been a little overwhelmed. I don't think she was really sure what she was getting into at first, but she really loved it. Amazingly, she was really aggressive and sticking those elbows out and played pretty well. AND this from the kid who hates to play UNO because there are all those "mean cards" where you have to make other people draw 2 or 4 cards or lose a turn!

Homemade Laundry Soap Results

I shared with you 2 months ago my LAUNDRY EXPERIMENT. My 1st batch of laundry soap lasted me for 9 weeks - AND I gave almost a whole bottle of it away to my mom for her approval as well. That's pretty good, it certainly has been nice not to have to buy laundry soap for a while. Tonight I am mixing up batch #2 with the ingredients I still have on hand from before.


Overall, I did have a few problems with the smell not being quite as strong. It seems I do need to use a really good quality fabric softener just to make our laundry smell as great as I would like it to. I heard from a repairman that liquid fabric softener is really hard on High Efficiency washing machines, apparently it leaves a residue on the drum of the machine. I have been buying GAIN fabric softener sheets and the laundry smells great.


So, I would say the homemade laundry soap has been a success. Excellent stain removal and whitening. Fair in the smell department - maybe I should use a different bath soap in the recipe. My ONE complaint really is that it is incredibly messy! I think it is thicker than most or something. I kept it in an old laundry bottle, but it made a mess all drippy and got on my nerves. I finally started leaving it in the 5 gallon bucket and dipping it out with a measuring cup. That seems to work.

Twisted Bandana Necklaces

Ally decided to make some twisted bandana necklaces! First she cut some material into 2 inch strips (12 inches or so long). She experimented with different widths to make some fatter and skinnier.She mixed up a bowl of cornstarch and water. 1/2 cup cornstarch into 1 cup cold water, then she mixed in 2 qt. boiling water over it all. She whisked it alot to get all the lumps out.
She put the fabric in to saturate it completely.
She took each piece out and twisted it together and laid them out on the driveway with clothespins holding them twisted.

When they were dry, she put them on with a safety pin and WHA-LA -Way cool bandana necklaces! She made a whole pile of them from all kinds of fabric, and even twisted and braided some smaller ones together for a neat look!

Great summer cool wear for the pool!

Balance Benders Review

I love the Critical Thinking Co.! I love their catalog with all of the great educational toys and games - great Christmas gifts in there. If you haven't been to their website, your should check it out! I have long loved their Editor in Chief Series for teaching grammar. So, naturally, we all jumped at the chance to review some of their products! We got to look over the Balance Benders book for grades 2-6 - this is actually the Beginning Level, there are 3 more advanced for high school age students. This workbook has puzzles for logic and algebraic reasoning.

And they aren't kidding when they say Algebraic reasoning. It was hard for me to stretch my little arty brain around some of these puzzles. But, I guess that is the point, huh? Ally (6th grade) is a pretty logical kid and she is great at logic problems and complicated puzzles, she's had some pre-algebra too. She struggled with some of the puzzles and enjoyed the challenge. My 1st and 3rd grader were way overwhelmed by these.

The best thing about these books is that they really make the brain stretch! Exercising this area of the brain isn't easy, and most school curriculum really ignores this kind of advanced thinking -so these workbooks are great for that purpose. The activities reminded us of the Nintendo DS game Brain Age which includes a lot of similar activities. They say exercising this part of your brain prevents Alzheimer's in older people too! Maybe I should send this book to my mom when I am done with it.

You can purchase Balance Benders from the Critical Thinking Website HERE for $9.95. They are also featuring two neat contest each with a $500 gift card to use on their Critical Thinking products! A video contest HERE and another program HERE where you can nominate a teacher for a Critical Thinking HERO award.

You can also follow them on Twitter or Facebook. The Facebook page has a lot of neat information and links to neat critical thinking articles.

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by The Critical Thinking Co. for the purposes of review only.

8 inches gone

Football Superstar

Daniel is attending football camp this week. He has had a blast!

The girls came to watch a game today and their feminine sensibilities were appalled by his behavior; yelling at his teammates, "coaching" others, and showing apparent anger at a loss. I'll grant he was a bit aggressive, but basically it was not out of the order behavior, I tried to explain to them that these are just some of the things boys do when they compete, in football especially. The girls felt I should go drag him off the field and spank him. They were suprised when his teammates weren't upset, but just high fived him. His daddy would've been proud of him. Boys are just a different breed aren't they?

Review: Sing

Sing is the second book in the Homeward Trilogy by Lisa T. Bergren

This was a good book and can be read without reading the previous book in the series. Although I may have to get a copy of the 1st book because now I am curious as to what happens to the characters before. The final book in this trilogy, Claim has just come out this June and reviews should be available by July. Maybe I'll have to review that one as well! :)

There are some references which would make this book inappropriate for younger audiences. However, nothing too terribly graphic or descriptive. I just have to say that when it references are beyond what I would allow for my avid reader Ally (age 12).

Here is the publisher summary:


Sing explores the lives of two prodigals who must decide if they are willing to pay the price their dreams demand. Moira and Nic St. Clair have both defied their father’s desires for them and instead travel to the edge of their dreams and find themselves standing upon the precipice of decisions that will alter their lives forever.

Bergren first introduced the St. Clair family in the novel Breathe. Maintaining her strong and well-researched story line in Sing, she immediately transports readers to the end of the 19th century and weaves the plot amid scenes from Europe, Brazil and Colorado. Moira St. Clair takes center stage in this dramatic saga, as the reader follows her on a treacherous journey across the Atlantic into a lifestyle that proves to be even riskier and more daring than her life upon the stage of the European opera. Believing the promise that she could become “the perfect specimen of modern womanhood,” Moira travels farther and farther away from her family’s heritage of faith. When she encounters a deadly nemesis from her past, she must quickly decide what she values most in her life, before it’s too late.

Bergren takes the reader on a suspense-filled and arduous spiritual journey as she weaves the lives of the three St. Clair children into an unforgettable prodigal story. Her award-winning prose is a strong voice showcasing God’s mercy and grace in the lives of defiant believers, and her characters and their trials will be remembered long after the final pages. Sing is a brilliant addition to Bergren’s Homeward Trilogy, and fans will be eager to learn what comes next in the lives of the St. Clair family.

An Interview with Lisa Bergren

Q. This is mainly Moira’s book, but you also focused on Odessa’s growth and relationship in this novel. Why’d you think that was important?

A. Moira seems to steal every scene she’s in (Nic too!). But I wanted to show how Odessa, now physically healthy, still has some emotional growth ahead of her—like we all do. We’re all continually evolving, learning, changing.

Q. Is that why you were so tough on these characters in this book?

A. I think it’s easy to be a Christian when things are good. You show what your faith is made of—and possibly discover new depths—when you encounter the bad. Or you walk away. I was glad to see these three getting closer to God, but Nic obviously has a ways to go.

Q. You talk about the characters as if they have minds of their own.

A. [Laughing.] They do! That’s the fun of fiction. I have one idea, but then a certain spin occurs and casts them in a different direction, and I discover new things with them as if I’m riding along, observing. I always start with a rough outline, knowing some key things that will happen, and the ending I’d like to see, but I leave it to the characters to take it from there. When I’m invested in the scene, feeling it as if I’m in their skin, sensing their emotions and mind-set, the plot often turns.

Q. Why the title?

A. We often sing contemporary songs at church that make me think—phrases like “I will sing in the troubled times” and “praise You in the storm”—a pretty big challenge for most people. But learning how to do that makes the good, easy times even sweeter, and the rough times somehow bearable. It’s so important that we all find that deep assurance that God is with us, regardless of what is happening in our lives, good or bad. And when we do, the only proper response is to sing praises in His name. There’s a reason that heaven will be full of singing. They already understand what we’re still trying to get, down here.

Q. We’re in 1880s Colorado. It surprised me when we got to the conquistador gold—what inspired that?

A. The third novel I ever wrote was a romance called Treasure, in which the heroine was seeking Spanish gold as a nautical archaeologist. I think if I’d had half the chance, I would’ve loved the opportunity to be a treasure hunter myself. Indiana Jones and all that, you know. Childhood fantasies. So I always note treasure-ish things I come across, and I read about an actual legend of lost conquistador explorers, who left behind a bounty of gold when they got separated from the rest of their troops in the Sangre de Cristos. Reportedly, two lost hikers came across the cave in a snowstorm twenty years ago, marked it when the storm ended, intending to come back, but could never find it again. They spent years of weekends searching for that cave. Isn’t that fantastic novel fodder? Love stuff like that.

Q. What can we expect in Claim, the third book in this series?

A. Resolution is always nice, though I don’t like things tied up in perfect little bows. Life isn’t like that. But I’m striving to leave my readers satisfied and hopeful, right along with the St. Clairs. I think love is the key for all three. That’s all I’m telling ya. You’ll have to read the big conclusion for yourself.

About the Author: Lisa T. Bergren is an author who offers a wide array of reading opportunities ranging from children’s books (God Gave Us Love and God Found Us You) and women’s nonfiction (Life on Planet Mom), to suspense-filled intrigue (The Gifted Trilogy) and historical drama. With more than thirty titles among her published works and a deep faith that has weathered dramatic career and personal challenges, Bergren is excited to add the Homeward Trilogy to her resume as she follows God’s direction in her writing career. Bergren lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her husband Tim (a graphic design artist and musician) and their three children.

Sing: A Novel of Colorado by Lisa T. Bergren (Book Two in the Homeward Trilogy)
David C Cook/April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4347-6707-3/373 pages/softcover/$14.99
CLICK HERE to buy the book and see all the other books in this series. Lisa also has a pretty neat blog HERE which has details on some other exciting books she has written and is working on.

Grandaddy Longlegs!

While we were hiking, we kept seeing these massive grandaddy longleg spider clusters on rocks! Really creepy looking! I love to pose questions like: If your legs were as long as a grandaddy longleg's in relation to your body, you would be about 40 feet tall. What would that be like? What could you do?


Things to point out while hiking:

• Placement of the sun, telling time by the sun.


• We talk alot about emergency shelters, point out trees which would be useful for shelter, we talk about how we would use trees and other materials to shelter against rain. We get alot of good material from Bear Grylls on Man vs. Wild (one of our favorite shows).


• Recently, we have talked about flash flooding and what we would do, how to protect ourselves by choosing campsites. This has also sparked an interest in clouds - we want to know more about reading the clouds for signs of bad weather.


• We love to cut open a cactus lobe and talk about using it as survival food and water source.


• We point out bugs, rocks, and plants that are interesting. We were hiking this weekend near an old Indian campsite and we attempted to keep an eye out for arrowheads!


• We always try to look for things that don't belong, we always look for clues to what has been going on in the woods, signs of animals, that kind of thing, to our kids it's like solving a mystery.

We really want our kids to develop minds that are active and aware of their surroundings, comfortable in the outdoors and aware of how to use the outdoors to survive or equip themselves in an emergency. B often complains when I get all "nature walky" and get talking about plants & he says can this JUST be like physical education and not science? But, you don't have to try very hard to make a hike very educational - just talking together & answering their questions allows plenty of learning!

Day Hike

Hiking in Texas in the summer is D-U-M-B dumb! Hot and miserable, but we did it anyway. We had a great hike in spite of the weather.

A Texas hike with Texas cactus. Makes us miss North Carolina! Don't get me wrong, Texas is beautiful and there are some great places to hike, just not in May-August!

We always find ways to beat the heat! The #1 best investment ever for hiking (especially with kids) is our great SwissGear hydration packs! We love them, bought them at Walmart for around $20 each. They are in a light backpack, small enough just for essential gear, but they hold 2 liters of water, the straw thingy attaches to the shoulder strap and the kids enjoy sipping out of them, so it helps keep them hydrated, AND carrying the water on your back also seems to keep you cooler.

Of course you should hike with the essentials and emergency supplies like an emergency kit, whistles for each kid, matches, compass, knives, granola bars. But we have found bandanas to be really vital for us for so many reasons! We wet them and wear them on our heads, use them as plates, carrying stuff, wipe sweat, you name it. We also like to have ponytail holders and clips for many uses as well (mainly to attach things to the outside of our packs when we get tired of carrying them). I also try to have some kind of great candy or sugar something for a rest stop when the kids are just beat, to perk them up and get them going again.

We look for 2 things in a good hike: a place so off the beaten path you can't get to it otherwise (there needs to be some type of reward: a good view, a waterfall, a destination of some sort). Second, we look for trails with some water to cross, it just makes hiking fun, and it cools us off if we need to stop and soak our feet or wet a bandana to put on our heads.

Albert Pike Campground, Arkansas

Here we are LAST YEAR in the Albert Pike campground in Arkansas. This is the campground where the flash flooding occurred days ago, we've seen this actual location on the news footage! It is one of our favorite places to hike! My heart as hurt at all the terrible stories from this tragedy. This is such a neat, remote area- most everyone had no cell phone coverage, so I would imagine there was very little warning. I think this event will make us much more aware of camping location and weather. B is always very cautious about our safety, but I sometimes get aggravated with his emergency plans and methodical attention to the details. The campground does lie in a low area. We had some rains which drastically caused the river to rise when we were there as well. Be praying for the people affected by the flash flooding!

Art Activities

Here is a neat link for a free download of a TREE BOOK! It is a 24 page book, very imaginative and creative tree activities!

We are seeking "summer normal" this week if there is such a thing and I am loving it. I am surprised that my kids are okay with the amount of structure that still exists in our day. I thought after the way I have been pushing academically with the end of the regular school year, they would want to play and wear jammies all day. But, we are doing all those fun creative things that we didn't have time for during the busy school months.
The kids love to enter art works in the county fair in September, so we have been thinking ahead to those projects, sewing, and crafting, reading, and painting. I am right there with them, painting and crafting as well. Of course, their report cards sit atop a massive pile of papers I still need to grade. But, I don't think anyone will fuss to much if reportcards don't go out till July. :)

Picante

19 beautiful pints of pure homegrown goodness! I spent my birthday today doing just what I wanted to do! I went shopping, and then finished up canning a bunch of picante. B is going to take me out on a date later, but I guess that makes me truly boring to chose to do something so domestic on my birthday. But, you don't understand...this was kid free cooking. That's different! I dropped the girls off at church camp this morning. The boy is at Grandma's. Just me and B hanging out this weekend!This is just a little of the produce that had to be chopped, diced and/or pureed!

Way greatness! I think I've already eaten a pint! I have really enjoyed canning with all the great things Ball (the canning jar company) sent me for my House Party! I have canned before, but now that I have all the right tools, it is way easier! I have realized the utensils for canning are really important, the jar tongs, and the canner with the wire insert for lifting the jars in and out, I have no idea how I did any canning before I had all this cool stuff! Other lessons learned from all this canning - always wear shoes while canning! You are lifting so many lids, jars, dripping wet things out of boiling water, it is really easy to burn your toes! There is just nothing like fresh from the garden salsa in December! Love it!

School's Out!

Everyone was so excited to finish up their schoolwork. One-by-one they finished up and had their own celebration.

Ally did about 5 math pages, wrote a 5 paragraph essay, and did a spelling test this morning, so she really was glad to see it all get done today!

The girls are headed to church camp this weekend, and Daniel will go to "Camp Grand" at Grandma's house. I am going to enjoy a quiet birthday with my husband!

We are off now on another adventure! Our hen died last night! I'm not sure how. She was such a sweet hen. We were very sad (especially Gracie!) and we decided that we wanted to see our rooster go to a good home. We had planned to eat him, but after the tragic death of the last chicken, I didn't think kid #2 could take the trauma. So, we are off to deliver him to his new home. A friend told me of a lady with about 15 hens and no rooster, so he should live quite happily with his many new wives. ...AND not a moment too soon as we woke this morning to some FULL fledged crowing! So, can you imagine the sight of us driving down the road with a rooster crowing in the dog kennel in the back of the SUV? We have the best adventures!

Canning

I made some apricot butter last week and it was WAY good. I found some apricots on sale, and it really was pretty simple. Butters are much easier to can than jelly or jam. You don't have to use pectin and worry as much about them "jellin" just right. Lots of things can go wrong with jellies, but it is pretty hard to mess up butters. So, today I made Pear Butter.

Step 1: Wash, peel, core, and cut up pears (I bought these 6lbs for about $5)
Step 2: Cook pears in 1/2 cup of water until soft.Step 3: Put in food processor. Be careful not to liquefy.

Step 4: Mix in 4 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/3 cup orange juice. After a bit go ahead and get water boiling in boiling-water canner or really large stock pot. I use my pressure cooker. You have to cook the pear mixture until it rounds up on the spoon. Mine didn't. I put in too much orange juice, and maybe I just don't have the patience to wait for it to mound. I cooked it a long time, and it looked okay to me. It would be great to do this step over time in the crockpot.

Step 5: When the pear mixture is getting thick and almost ready, start processing the jars and lids in the boiling water. This is in part so that they will be ready for the hot pear mixture and boiling water, and the jars won't break. This step is SO much easier with the canning tools like the lid lifter, and the tongs made for canning! Leave them in there a bit to keep the jars hot and then take them out and dry them off.
Step 6: Fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top, put lids on and screw on rings. Return jars to the boiling water canner. Make sure they have at least 2 inches of water over the top. Leave them in the canner for 10 minutes. Then, take them out and let them sit on a towel for 24 hours.

We liked the pear butter, but it was kind of bland. One of my kids said it was kind of like applesauce almost. My kids like bland, but we all agreed the apricot was much better. They both came out just jelled enough in my opinion. I like my jelly to kind of run into the English Muffin crevices, you know. I used these really cute Ball Elite Collection 8 oz. new jars, they were so pretty! This recipe made 4 -8oz jars +12 -4 oz. jars.
I also made pickles from some of our garden cucumbers. They were pretty easy. Of course we aren't supposed to open them for 4-6 weeks, but I opened some 24 hours later and I thought they were pretty good, kind of crunchy like a Klausen pickle. It sure did stink up the kitchen. I just loved canned stuff tied up with a ribbon and some fabric over the lid - not just food, but ART too!

party poppers

Homeschooling gives us lots of flexibility and we love to take off to explore our passions throughout the year, but the mean teacher INSISTS that curriculum gets completed before summer can begin! Now, summer fever has hit and the kids are wanting to play, summer swimming and activities are in full swing. Some subjects such as science and history were completed in May. All 3 kids have some math to complete, and a few other subjects.

I am never one to hold anyone back if they choose to exceed normally expected workloads. So, I told the kids when they individually complete their work, they can have summer break. This has caused them to do 2-3 times the normal daily work. One additional incentive is the popper awaiting each child on the bookshelf. As soon as they complete all their required grade work, they can take the popper and have a little celebration of their own and make it officially summer.

Daniel did 5 math pages in today. I expect everyone to be done by tomorrow. THIS teacher is READY for summer! I have scrapbooking, canning, and crafting calling for my attention. Oh yeah, and laundry, too, but I'll just keep ignoring those calls.