Even more good things!

The first of the month is always my really big grocery shopping trip.  Mainly because it's the pay period where I have the most money, but also because - I confess - I HATE grocery shopping.  It's been a lot easier on me lately, though, because all of the children have decided they don't really like this chore either, so they have been opting to stay home, and I get to go alone.  When you are a stay at home, homeschooling mommy of ten children, even going to the store alone can seem like a mini vacation.  And more important, without little (and sometimes) big voices begging me "buy this!!  buy that!!", it is a much calmer experience to go alone.  I can actually think about what I'm doing.

I have been making an effort lately to use coupons again, to search out the deals, to buy as much on sale as possible, and to buy in bulk.  With that in mind, I first checked out The grocery game
If you look at the bottom of this blog, you will see a widget for it.  And if you decide to try this site out, please give me as a reference.  If I get three people, I get a month free!!  This site lets you pick a store in your area, and it tells you what the best deal is each week.  It's a way of stocking up on sale items.  Try it out, there is a trail period for $1.  It's easy to understand!

So off I went with my coupons, to Aldi's, HEB, and CVS.  I shopped for three hours, I think.  Then I lugged it all back home.  One advantage to having a large family is that they can carry bags in from the car for you, and help put up the groceries!!

That done, I set to work.  I have been scouring websites for "freezer crock pot meals".  I love this idea:  you put the meal, seasonings, chopped vegetables, and whatever else all together in a zip lock baggie.   Then all you have to do is dump it all in the crock pot when you are ready to cook it.  Someone suggested to me that it really isn't that hard to just put it together when the time comes in the first place, and that's very true.   My problem is that most of the veggies get shoved to the back of the fridge in favor of the things the kids like to eat, and by the time I'm ready to make my crock pot meal, maybe two or three weeks into the month, they are too rotten for anything but the chickens.  So this way, I chop them the day I buy them, put them in a freezer bag with the meat, and it's still good when I am ready for that particular meal!

Here's a peek in a bag of chicken breasts:

Then I went to work on breakfast.  I made banana pops (found the recipe on Pinterest): just cut a banana in half, stick in a Popsicle stick, then roll it in yogurt (I used organic vanilla), granola, and chocolate chips:

These are GOOD!!  I'm eating more of them than the kids!  I let them have these at snack time, too.

Next, I made breakfast ice cream - another Pinterest recipe.  I put pineapple, several strawberries and about four banana's in the blender.  Once it was blended well, I put it in individual containers in the fridge.  Luke "gikes" it!  (Ok, he's too big to say "gike" anymore, but it's still one of my favorite of his mispronunciations when he was a little guy!):

Next, I put together salad.  If you haven't seen  THIS blog, go check it out!!  It's great!  It taught me to chop up my salad, and then vacuum seal it.  This lady uses a jar, but I opted for vacuum bags instead.  Beau wants salad every day in his lunch box, so now it's all cut up and ready for him.  Mary Susannah loves this too.  Since broccoli/cauliflower salad is a favorite of mine, I tried chopping and sealing it this time, too:

Once all the food was done, since I was in the mood, I decided to make some bath salts.  My children play outside all day and get eaten up with insect bites, so I made some "itchy" salts.  I used epsom salts, layered it with dry milk and baking soda, and sprinkled tea tree oil, lavender and a blend of herb that is good for bites, among other things, on each of the layers.  I mixed it all up and put a tight top on it. 
I also made a calming blend, with the same epsom salts, dry milk, and baking soda, and I added lavender alone to this one.  It's my favorite.  Mary Susannah says I would make the whole world smell like lavender if I had my wish.  Hey - anything calming is my friend!

For two weeks, we have Luke's biological half sisters (the ones we wanted to adopt, but were turned down for being too religious for) staying with us.  Some grand kids are here right now, too.  It's been great having a freezer full of food just ready to pull out and fix for them.   Two days ago, two big sons and a big grandson also showed up at mealtime, and I just threw some cooked and frozen meatballs in a pan, poured barbecue sauce over them and stuck them in the oven, along with some already cooked and frozen barbecue chicken, and tater tots casserole left over from the might before.  We also had some left over macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes to heat up.  It was a stress free, quick way to feed 13 people - a big part of them teenagers - on the spur of the moment!

Try it, it's great!!

Decorating Your Son's Room

Most of the time a boy doesn’t really care a lot about what his room looks like. As long as you don’t paint it pink, he will get along just fine in his bedroom. But his mother will usually enjoy fixing it up according to his personality. As a mother of six sons, I have had a lot of fun decorating my boy’s room while they are still young enough to let me.

Usually a boy will have something he will enjoy spending a lot of time playing with, or pretending to be. Most little boys like cowboys. A mother who is not afraid to try something different can do something really special with this theme.
First, go to the home improvement store, and buy enough sky blue paint to paint the top half of all four walls. Then use white paint and a sea sponge, and sponge paint clouds on the blue paint.
Scrounge around for enough free weathered wooden fence to cover the bottom half of his walls. If none of your friends have any, join your local freecycle on the internet, and put a wanted ad up. You are likely to find someone who has some old fencing that they are willing to let you have, especially if you are willing to take it down.
Bring this fence home, and nail it to the walls around your son’s room. That’s pretty the extent of the hard work. You can hang cowboy hats, horse tack, coiled rope and all kinds of things from the boards of this fence. Buy a wall gun holder, and hang up your sons BB guns. Get some old barb wire, and make a wreath, putting rusty old spurs and cow bells on it. Many craft malls sell large or small silhouette cowboy figures that would be nice hung on the fence. I used left over fencing, cut if off a couple of feet high, and built a toy box against one wall.
You can make a quilt or comfort for the bed from squares cut from your son’s blue jeans, or purchase worn blue jeans from garage sales and cut squares from them. Back the quilt with bandanna material, and tie it with red yarn. Let your imagination soar.

For the boy who likes lizards or other reptiles, go to your local discount store, and buy paint in camouflage colors, and large sheets of bamboo. Paint three walls of the room with one of the camouflage colors, then sponge paint the other colors on in a camouflage pattern. Paint the window and door frames in the darkest color.
Put the bamboo sheets on the fourth wall, and put your son’s bed against this one.
If your son has a large reptile, purchase a loft bed, and use the space under the bed for a really large cage. You can either buy one, or build one with wire from the home improvement store. Buy books shelves and lighting, and fill them with cages for his various reptiles.
Buy either camouflage material and make curtains, or buy curtains in one of the colors you painted the room in. Or you could skip the curtains and get bamboo shades for the window.
Your son will have a room the other boys will envy!

A John Deere tractor room is very simple, because the things you would use to decorate the room are easy to find. Buy some green paint, the same color as the tractor, and paint the walls, then paint the baseboards in the blue color. Purchase the John Deere curtains, bedspreads and other things you want from your local discount store. This won’t be as unique, but your son will like his room.

Use your imagination, and your son’s interests, and enjoy making his room a place he will be proud of.

Home School book review: Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home

As a homeschooling mother of ten, four of whom are daughters, I was very eager to teach homemaking skills to my girls. I had struggled in my early married years with knowing how to do many things. It wasn’t that my mother hadn’t taught me some things, but she had also spoiled me by doing most of the work herself. I wanted to avoid doing that, and yet at the same time, there were many things that I still wasn’t overly good at, such as sewing, gardening, and baking.

At a homeschool book fair, I came across a large book called Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home by Ann Ward. This huge book is 601 pages long, and covers skills such as sewing, baking, gardening, knitting, home management, child care, elderly care, soap making, and many other things. I was so excited about it; I went ahead and bought it, even though the oldest daughter still living in my home was far from being old enough for it yet. I thought that I myself could learn from it!

The fly page of the book says: “The purpose of this curriculum is to glorify God by enabling girls, over a period of seven years work, to develop and practice Godly character and practical homemaking skills, so they will be able to serve God as keepers at home, whether single or married.”

The curriculum is designed to be used five days a week for about an hour and a half, over a 36 week school year. It should be started when the girl is around ten years old. An older girl might want to complete the courses in less time. A year by year schedule is included. For example, the sewing course would have a young girl learn basic sewing the first year, sewing for herself the second year, quilting the third year, sewing for home and family the fourth year, sewing for babies and children the fifth year, sewing for men the sixth, and rug braiding the seventh.
There are also lessons in making greeting cards, cleaning the house, flower arranging, and basketry, caring for the sick and family celebrations, along with many more things.

You will need to purchase several books to complete this curriculum, but they are good books to add to your homeschooling library anyway. The books don’t need to be purchased all at once, but over the seven years the courses cover. Many of these can be found at the library and used books sales, too. This curriculum isn’t consumable, so you can use it with all your daughters, and keep it as a reference for yourself once your homeschooling years are finished. You are also encouraged to have your daughter keep a notebook of the things she has learned, to use as a reference guide once she is responsible for her own home.

This is a well laid out curriculum and easy to use. It’s an invaluable book, as it contains so much good information about so many things. I would highly encourage adding it to your homeschooling curriculum! Check the link at the left for viewing and buying information!