Young Maidens in Training

One of the blessings of having daughters, and educating them at home, is that we daily work side by side in keeping our home.  This allows for lots of casual conversation about whatever is on their heart.

We spend a lot of our time in the kitchen.  Our two oldest (15 and 10)  have both known their way around the kitchen for a long time.  The girls are always asking if they can make a meal.  On this night, they made vegetable noodle soup, cornbread, and dessert – all homemade from scratch.

I have heard of tips and books that show you how to hide veggies in your family's food.  That’s a funny concept to me!  There is no hiding anything from these kiddos!  

They are with me when I shop at the farmer’s market (sampling, choosing, or carrying items) or when I pick up food from our co-op (helping to unload the delivery truck, checking our order, helping others to carry their items to their cars.)

They are helping to wash and prep veggies.  And they are helping to cook and bake – if they are not already doing it themselves.  You can’t slip anything by these curious kids!

 

It is a blessing that they are learning to be frugal and shop wisely.  They are learning the benefits of eating non-processed nutrient dense food – real food, the way God intended us to eat it.  They are learning to appreciate where our food comes from and how it is made or grown.

Our next endeavor is growing some food in our own garden...

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, 
do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31

Ice cream cookie sandwiches (ice cream not homemade today)

Sunset on the beach

Last September our small group from church spent an afternoon/evening at the beach.  

It was beautiful.  

The beach really isn’t far away.  We need to make a point of getting out there more often.

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

This is what happens when you have too many yummy BBQ hot dogs

Shoveling turned out to be a favorite activity.

 

Chicken Coop Prep

I have wanted chickens for a long time.  We eat a lot of eggs.  I think the quality of care for chickens that produce most eggs at the grocery store is awful.  

My ideal would be fully pastured eggs – and we have found a source for those.  Ordering can be a little hit and miss.   And there is, of course, the expense.  Pastured eggs go for anywhere between $5 to $7 a dozen.  

Keith had to dig 9 holes with the auger for our posts.
That was some good hard work!

We planned to get chicks ‘next spring’ (that would be now.)  Except that last fall we got word that my cousin was moving and needed to give up his 2 hens and a rooster by the end of November.  Did we want them?  As I recall, at the very same time, I said,’Yes!’ and Keith said, ‘No.’   Hmmm.  

Shed previously held Christmas decor and old file boxes.

Boys 'helping' dad

We had picked out the spot we wanted to build our coop.  Then, one day, I thought why reinvent the wheel? We decided to clear out my mom’s ‘Christmas shed’ and use the shed as the coop. (All Christmas do-dads were safely relocated to another shed.)

I quickly cleaned it out, and Keith got to work on building the pen around the shed.  It was actually, finally happening!  Very exciting!!

Flexibility - Life is education

One of the many things we love about educating our children at home is the flexibility.  On any given day we can pick up and head out.  Even on days when we don’t have a big window of time, we’ll make the effort to get outside – even if its just to a local park.  It’s worth the effort to me to change our setting, get the ants out of their pants, and get some fresh air.  We’ll do some scripture memory work – do some artwork – have a snack – and then let them run around.  It is a blessing to have the freedom of these times together as a family.