Cranking Up the Daily Journal Again

This may only interest a few of my readers, such as those of you wanting to see what an academic day in the life of our homeschool looks like. I've decided to give my Shadybrook's Daily Journal blog another try. It's a new year and time to be diligent with things that you know you will probably get slack on later. This time I'm only going to record the activities that involve the three younger kids: Luke (13), Abel (11), and Annalise (7). It's these three that I am directly involved most of each day. Kezzi (17) only has some work in a couple of subjects (English and Math) in order to complete her senior year. And Hope (15) is working mostly on her own this semester so I won't be recording her work either.



Sometimes it will be "just the facts, ma'am" and other times, if the mood strikes, I may include some commentary.

Christmas Eve Day

In order to cut down on the candy mess at our parent's house, my sister and I decided to have our kids open their stockings at home this year. We surprised our kids with them this morning. I had so much fun shopping for this, adding some gift cards from a jewelry shop, lotions and special chocolates for the girls and itunes gift cards, electric toothbrushes and cool hats and gloves for the boys. I found a cute Hello Kitty electric toothbrush and some $1 stuffed monkeys for Annalise.

I also started a new tradition of giving each child a matching ornament to create their own collection of Christmas ornaments for their own Christmas trees when they have their own homes. I thought of the fun it would be for their children to see the same ornaments as they visit their aunts and uncles. These were inexpensive but I loved them ~ but then I love anything that makes me think of the snow of my childhood.

After stockings Ford and Pris went off to work, Kezzi and Hope went to help Grandpa roll meatballs, and the boys & Annalise are lugging bedding and presents over to Grandma and Grandpa's. I put the turkeys in the ovens - 32 lbs. between the two of them. I am cooking them like my grandmother used to with little sausages attached all over them with toothpicks. All I have left is the rolls and the vegetables and then we will be ready!

**Ok, Granny, here's the picture! This is the one cooking in the roaster oven so it's not pretty and brown yet. My sausages aren't working as well as my grandmother's because I used turkey sausage instead of pork. Next time I'll go with the pork because it's greasier and the juices drip down over the turkey while it's cooking.

More Evidence of Christmas

Here is Priscilla, the Queen of Christmas this year. She has led the charge in Christmas decorating, even coming home with a wreath that she bought for the front door along with assorted ornaments and ribbons for the Christmas tree. Here she is armed with Christmas lights in her make-shift pouch before she goes outside to decorate the deck railings.

And here's our pretty tree with a few presents under it. We even have our mantle decorated.
Priscilla also made these ornaments to commemorate the mission trip to Kenya. She made one of these for each of the ladies who went with her, along with giving them a framed copy of her drawing of the Kenyan children.

She's inspired other clay-working around here by other children, but I'll have to see if I can get permission to post photos when those projects are finished. And there's another special project by another resident artist awaiting its unveiling on Christmas morning...so stay tuned for more.

Weird Things Boys Do When They Don't Have TV or Video Games

I spotted this strange creature passing by my windows. This is cousin Paul.

Then I was summoned to the door to see Luke looking like a walking bush. This is taking camouflage to a new height.

Happy 1st Birthday, Cousin Joe!

Our Favorite Lentil Soup Recipe

When I was a young mom I went to the library and checked out different ethnic cookbooks. This recipe was from a Greek cookbook from which I gathered several good recipes. This was the first way we learned to eat and like lentils. Many friends and family, who after declaring they did not like lentils, tried and liked this soup.

2c. lentils

8c. water

1/2 c. each of chopped onion, celery and carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. olive oil

1 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

3 T. tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1/2 t. oregano

3 T. red wine vinegar

Rinse the lentils and soak overnight in 2 c. of water. Saute onion, garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil. Add to the lentils along with 6 c. water, salt, pepper, oregano, tomato paste and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until lentils are soft. (I cook mine all day in the crock pot.) Remove bay leaves and add red wine vinegar before serving. We usually double this now and serve it with homemade bread.

*note to Candace ~ This is something easy to make and inexpensive too! :)

Playing with Dolls

On a rare day, when none of Annalise's cousins could play and all of her siblings were gone, I talked her into getting her neglected dolls out and giving them a good airing. She has quite a few between her own and ones that her sisters have loaned to her. It was quite a feat to get them all dressed and groomed. Since she doesn't frequently play with them and they were so cute lined up on the couch, we decided to get a picture. As I well knew, they were soon stacked back in her room and she continues to spend the majority of her free time outside with her cousins John and Elijah, who don't appreciate playing with dolls.

Art, Art and more Art

I love it when my kitchen table looks like this~with art projects under way!
We are having a great art year. I don't know what has clicked around here that has made me more diligent about having art time but it has. I think it started with the Draw Squad book. We started using that for daily drawing time and it's amazing when something becomes a regular part of our routine that I no longer hear complaints. It's like they just accept it and don't think about balking any more. I think another big help is that I am participating too, not just as the teacher, but as a student.

After successfully incorporating daily drawing, we are adding a weekly art project. This book has loads of fun ideas and I like the easy step-by-step instructions. My goal is to use this time to introduce different media and methods.

People always ask where our kids get their talent from since neither Ford nor I are active artists. This afternoon while we were working on the project pictured on the table Abel proudly stated, "That's where we get our art talent - it's Mom!" Ha Ha. I know it's in me but it's never been developed and I still fear the blank page. My artsy side comes out whenever I'm near art supplies. I love buying them. That's what I've done all of these years. I've bought the supplies and the kids have used them. That's why they do well. Practice and fearlessness. I'm trying to overcome my fears and at my older age learn to draw and paint. I'll probably be one of those old ladies that take art classes at the local art center or go to those week long classes at some folk art center.

Bah, Humbug Reformed

Can you believe I'm forty years old and not only have I never read A Christmas Carol to my children, I've never even read it myself? Pathetic, I know. Well, we're reading it now as our first-thing-in-the-morning read aloud. It's one of the many Christmasy things we are doing this year. Funny how appropriate it is for us right now.

After years of struggling off and on with the to celebrate or not to celebrate Christmas, we're finally giving in. I don't know if it's just getting older and getting tired of making a big deal out of things or what. I know my parents are thrilled. How many years did we bring our Scrooge spirit into the holiday talking about the "origins of Christmas"? Bless their souls. May I be as gracious to my kids when they act like idiots.

I don't know what's gotten in to me but I've even ordered A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and other oldie Christmas movies from Netflix. I also printed off the Christmas poems off of the Ambleside site. I'm playing Christmas music and baking cookies. And having a great time.

Nature Study - Opposum

Last week the kids had the opportunity to see an opposum up close. Hope was coming home from her cousins' house and heard a rustling noise. After getting a flashlight, she found the creature in the rafters of the carport. Of course, it was an opportunity for some impromtu nature study. Here's the pages from Annalise, Abel and Hope's nature journals (Luke refused permission to publish his.).

Christmas Gift Giving

After following the trail from Dewey's Treehouse to this post, I have been really appreciating our way of doing Christmas gifts. Actually, I have been appreciating it every time I hear of someone else's craziness over their Christmas shopping list.

Every year we draw names with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lori, Uncle Kenny and all the cousins. We each draw one name and that is all we have to buy for. This year we even set a price limit at $50. I love it. We have one person to think about, that's it. And now it's really great for our family because almost all of our kids are old enough to earn money themselves. This year I only have to think about my person and Annalise's.

We all spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's and have Christmas day together. The day is more about being together than the gifts, though the gifts are fun. Usually we do a white elephant gift on Christmas Eve. My sister, mom and I cook a nice, big Christmas Eve dinner and then we eat leftovers and lots of Christmas goodies on Christmas Day while we are playing games and hanging out in our pajamas. This year we are adding a performance time on Christmas Eve where each person is supposed to recite something, sing something, dance or whatever.

It's the greatest day~and a stress free season!

Homeschool Blog Awards

The nominations are up at the Homeschool Blog Awards. Shadybrook Acres has been nominated for the Best Super-Homeschooler award. I don't know about being "super" (I can always call to mind many weaknesses) but I certainly do love homeschooling. That must be what it really means. :)

There are lots of great blogs to visit so stop on over there to visit some of the nominations and then vote.

Priscilla is Accepted to the College of Her Choice!

The latest reason to celebrate around here is that Priscilla has just received the news that she has been accepted into the college of her choice! The next hurdle is scholarships, grants, financial aid sorts of things...and then maybe we will have our first child in college this coming fall. Today she is submitting her bid for the Emerging Artist scholarship, which would greatly help towards the costs.

She went to visit the college a couple of weeks ago and stayed overnight in the dorms. The next day she wanted me to come up and go to the meetings and selected classes with her. I was glad she wanted me to come, but I always hate being away from home during the day. I guess it's that idea of trying to balance mothering the older and younger kids at the same time. This time I put priority on Priscilla's needs and, boy, was I in for a treat.

I arrived in time for a meeting with the Financial Aid representative, toured with someone from admissions and had lunch with the lady who was in charge of admissions (and the food was actually good!). After lunch we went to some of the classes. I was so impressed and excited. It made me want to go!

First we went to a drawing class. They had a live model come in for a portrait drawing and Pris joined right in. Luckily, I had brought my nature journal with me so she used a page out of that. I thought I would need something to do so I brought a few things with me in my book bag. (It ended up that I was fascinated to just watch everything going on around me and didn't need anything to do. ) I enjoyed watching the art professor interact with the students as she went around the room giving tips and encouragement.

Next we went to a class called something like 'Outreach to Contemporary Culture'. The professor immediately introduced himself to us and apologized for not having a regular class that day. Instead, there would be a guest professor lecturing on a series of children's books. Had I heard of Phillip Pullman and his trilogy of books, the first being The Golden Compass? Had I! I just happened to have that in my book bag too because I was planning on reading that while Priscilla was in these "boring" (ha ha) classes. I was so excited and settled in to hear what they had to say about this author. It was a great class. The professor gave a brief biography on the author and then put up quotes from various interviews on the overhead projector. She then lead discussion on analyzing his worldview and had them compare and contrast it with Christianity. It was so interesting. I had to practically put a clamp on my mouth in order to not participate, since after all, I was just a visitor and a mother! The professor recommended all of the students read the book and see the film in order to engage in discussion with others. This is exactly what I had planned to do. I wanted to read the controversial books for myself and not do what I did with the Harry Potter series, which was depend on the opinions of others.

After this second class, we spent a considerable amount of time talking with three professors. Two of the professors, who were married, had homeschooled their daughter all the way through and now she attended that college where they both taught. It was great fun to talk with them about books and education! One of them quickly acknowledged that Priscilla was the kind of student they wanted on campus and another said encouragingly, "If the Lord wants you here, you'll be here!"

I was so impressed with the school and the instructors. Before this visit, I was not real excited for any of the kids to attend college but I came away with a new appreciation and an encouragement to help prepare my other children who might want to go.

Pris is pretty excited even though this school doesn't fit every single thing she wanted. She had quite an extensive wish list - truly Christian, close to home so she could live here, close to the dance studio, close enough to still be able to come to our church, and with a major in art. It is truly Christian, not too far from home (she would have to live on campus but she could come home on weekends and therefore come to church), and they do offer an art major. She would have to give up dance though. Not too bad considering her list.

Some Recent Art from the Girls

Kezzi completed this piece after starting it in her oil painting class where they had to choose a photograph to paint. We were all "wowed" by it. We stood before it expecting her to look up and open her eyes any second. Priscilla drew this portrait of a little girl in Kenya after her visit there. She was especially touched by this girl because she was only seven years old but she carried her little brother everywhere and cared for him constantly.

This is Priscilla's picture that she started in the oil painting class and finished here at home.

Hope has neglected her art but has been very busy with music. After receiving a new keyboard for her birthday, she has been regularly working at composing songs. She is enjoying her music and voice lessons very much. And I hear tale of a new Christmas carol in the works.

I can't express how much fun it is to live with all of this wonderful creativity!

Our Seventh is 7 on 7th in '07

Last week Annalise turned seven years old. We had a big breakfast that morning and this is what her place looked like when she came to the table. She was thrilled with all of the new little horses.

Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lori and the cousins all came over for dessert that night. Grandma and Grandpa bought her a stable and some more horses. Kezzi got her a present to, the pig mama and babies you can see here on the couch in the background. The babies are so cute and attach to the mama with magnets.
Priscilla also bought her a horse - a really big one! She was all smiles and loved all of the horse things she received. When you have big sisters who are earning money you really get spoiled!

My the years fly by!

They Call Her Granny...

even though she's only eighteen years old. So, for fun she thought she'd dress the part. I came home from Wal-mart with this gray wig after raiding the clearance Halloween section for additions to the dress up collection. After going out again that evening, I came home to this:

The Tripods

Remember when I said I was letting the boys choose our morning read aloud in order to encourage their interest in books? Well, it's working. Yesterday I smiled as I saw Abel dashing in the house with Paul on his heels to gleefully show him the books from the Tripod series. We are currently on book 3 and they even eagerly came to living room last night for an extra chapter before bed. And somewhere in book 2, even I began to enjoy the readings.

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I really like the "boy" issues in these books. There is plenty of adventure and the boys encounter the need for resourcefulness and survival techniques. They are forced to face and deal with their own character flaws. There are quite a few adults in the story and they are not buffoons waiting for the kids to save them, but instead they provide direction and admonition. The boys in the story have huge responsibility and that is what makes a boy into a man, according to my husband. These boys shoulder that like men and I happy to inspire my boys with that good example. I could say much more, but I really hate writing reviews ,so I'll conclude with saying if you get these and read them to your boys, you won't be sorry.

Crockpot Cooking

While talking to Candace on the phone last night, she brought to my attention the fact that she had never made anything in the crock pot. She was talking about how difficult it was to come home from working all day and make a good, wholesome meal. I suggested she throw something in the crock pot before she left in the morning and that's when the above piece of news was revealed. How we had missed this vital life skill, I don't know. My crock pot is one of my favorite and most indispensable kitchen tools. But the good news is that she says Michael declares that she is the best cook in the world. Ok, then. She is off to a good start.

Here is one of our favorite crock pot meals for my darling daughter and anyone else who might enjoy it.

Rosemary Chicken (only 5 ingredients):
Cut up carrots and celery and place them in the bottom of the crock pot. About 1 c. each.
Place raw chicken pieces over the vegetables - we like boneless, skinless thighs.
Pour over all about 1/2 of a bottle of Italian dressing and sprinkle about 1 tsp. or more of dried rosemary. Cook for about 8 hours on low. Before serving prepare some rice or pasta. Serve the crock pot ingredients over the rice or pasta.

Something new I tried last week was Teriyaki Beef. I had a bag of frozen shitake mushrooms and I took these and a bag of frozen asparagus and dumped them in the crock pot. I added a chuck roast on top and poured some teriyaki sauce over all. I cooked it all day and it was delicious but I had to remove the asparagus before the roast was done because it was getting so mushy. Next time I'll add that much later in the cooking process.

The crock pot is so fun to experiment with. You just have to add some meat, vegetables and a maybe a sauce of some kind and you have the basic components of your meal. I love my rice cooker too because once employed with the crock pot, we have a complete meal ready to eat.

Random Seasonal Notes

I love this time of year, waking up to frosty mornings before dawn and snuggling up with a hot cup of coffee and a warm blanket. There is just something more satisfying about that morning coffee when it's cold outside.

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Kezzi, Hope and I have been enjoying a cozy time of Bible study before everyone else gets up. We are working our way through one of Kay Arthur's Bible studies, this one on the the book of Daniel. I've really been loving this quiet time with my middle girls. It's amazing how much you can get from the Scriptures when you go through them slowly.

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One reason I am thankful that I had so many children is that I will get to enjoy so many different stages all at once. It should be quite a while before I have to deal with "empty nest syndrome" and by then I will most likely have a slew of grandchildren to love and spend time with. With the older kids I get to enjoy deep discussions and watch them search for their path in life while still bringing delight to the younger ones with special toys and dress up clothes. But then sometimes even the older ones still enjoy dressing up...ahem...more on that soon, right Pris?

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I always look forward to this time of year when it gets dark early and we all find ourselves inside in the evenings pursuing our interests. Reading, drawing, singing, building....just the enjoyable hum of life. I know I'll be glad when spring arrives again but for now, this chilly, dark weather is wonderful!

A Trip to the Corn Maze

We took a trip to the local corn maze yesterday evening, grabbing a couple of cousins on the way. We thought it would be crowded since it was Halloween but we ended up almost being the only ones there. After a run through the maze, we had a short hay ride and then everyone threw a football around in a field until it was almost dark. Nothing monumental, but a nice way to spend an evening outdoors. Of course, we had to take pictures by the giant corncob made of milk cartons!