Teaching History in the Homeschool 10% off

We are in the process of enjoying the book For You They Signed by Marilyn Boyer from TheLearningParent.com.
Today we learned about Josiah Bartlett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence that had a poem written about him called "One Of The Signers" by John Greenleaf Whittier. Click on the poem name to read it. You might also want to check out http://www.foryoutheysigned.com/ for more details on the book and save 10% when you order, use discount code DHTEN.

Our son says today "I love homeschooling, it's so fun to do school anywhere and any place." and as for the lesson we did today he says "It was cool!"

Enjoy the time you have with your students, let them learn to love learning.

Moe

Character lessons learned through a baby chick

We are doing school at the kitchen table while a dying baby chick is nestled in a warm t-shirt next to us. Praying & petting him until he passes.

Character lessons being learned today in compassion, availability, gentleness, flexibility, alertness, reverence, thoroughness, love, contentment, responsibility, and sensitivity.

Sometimes life is our best teacher and life is hard at time. But knowing that it builds character helps.

Moe

Growing, Growing, Growing!!

One week ago today we planted our garden seeds in our little planters and they are really growing! WOW!!  Even our store bought broccoli and lettuce plants have been revived after the chickens feasted on them last week.

We have carrots, zucchini, pole beans, bush beans, cantaloupe, snow peas, lettuce, spinach, beets,  and maybe something else? I can't remember. We usually do pretty well but then around mid season we get behind on the weeds  :O(    So our goal this year is to go out and weed a little bit each day. With my mother coming to visit that should be easy, she will sit outside and visit with us while our son and I weed.

Weeds in the garden are like sin in our lives, we let a little bit go, like daily devotions, prayer meeting, Sunday night service or heeding the call of the Holy Spirit to do something, and then it snowballs. A little sin here, a little sin there and before you know it you are entangled in some nasty foliage. Daily seek the Father for forgiveness of sins big and small.

I got some heirloom seeds this year, so can't wait to see how those turn out. It's so exciting to see the plant growth from day to day. I am going to have our son keep a notebook on the changes that he sees in them. Penmanship & spelling work.

What are you plating in your garden this year?

Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Moe

Gluten free & Corn free listing

Came across this great listing today and thought I would share. Gluten free & Corn free listing.
Of course double check to make sure that these are still correct as manufacturers are always changing ingredients and suppliers.

Moe

Changing things up a bit.

Had some time to mess around on here tonight. Changed some pictures while my dear sister-in-law took our son for the evening after we went out for all you can eat fish fry.......lol. I ate my allergy free chicken pot pie and crustless pumpkin pie, but had fun socializing with the all you can eat fish fry eaters. Ran in to our neighbor who has cancer and shared with us that he will be going to The Cancer Treatment Centers of America this month for a 2nd opinion, prayers for him and his journey would be appreciated.

I've taken Kiara's idea and started thinking more about what I CAN eat instead of what I CAN'T eat. Grocery shopping is still hard since corn (one of my main allergies) does not have to be listed on the label. I actually called Kroger foods today to find out if their cream cheese and brown sugar were corn free, the lady acted as though I was an alien....lol. She told me that cream cheese in itself does not have corn in it, but Kroger cannot control what the cows that provide the milk for the cheese eat in the field, they might eat corn.........LOL.  I shall be calling again on Monday to speak with yet another helpful agent.

I did get an interesting allergy sheet in the mail from my doctors office regarding corn allergies. Yet another laugh out loud fest. The first item that is listed is milk and it's only to be bought in glass containers, ah, yes, where am I to find that? Then there is the listing of "not to be consumed from waxed cardboard containers." Yes corn is really in everything. I'm thinking that is what a large part of the health issues in America are all about gluten and corn.

Today I went for blood work and I don't know how many vials of blood that they took, but it was a lot! They are doing more allergy testing through blood this time. I go back at the end of the month, so we shall see what the doctor says then. I'm not really noticing any difference besides not having a flushed face during or after I eat. I also think potatoes factor in somewhere as my joints ache the day after I have eaten them.

Big grin here, I can hear little baby peep cheeps coming from the basement chick nursery, so sweet.

I've found some great allergy-free cookbooks that I will share next time. I'm reading through them to see which ones are worth heading on over to my favorite hang out Amazon.

Have a great weekend!
Moe

How to save money when eating Gluten Free (or on any special diet)

I got this listing from a gluten free group that I frequent. Some great ideas here! Sometimes I know we feel like a prisoner to our required diets, so I thought this cartoon was cute!
Moe

Here are some tips from Teri Gruss on cutting costs while eating
gluten-free.

How To Cook Gluten-Free on a Budget - Cut Gluten-Free Food Costs Now!
By Teri Gruss, MS

Here are 6 practical tips and resources to help you save money on the
extraordinarily high costs of gluten-free foods. Plan ahead and you
really can save on your monthly gluten-free food costs- and at the
same time eat delicious, healthy gluten-free foods.

1. Focus on cooking with foods that are naturally gluten-free

Fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy products, nuts and seeds, meats,
poultry and fish are all healthy, delicious, gluten-free foods. Focus
on planning a gluten-free menu based on these naturally gluten-free
foods. Pound for pound these foods offer a lot of nutritional value
for the buck, compared to refined, processed gluten-free products.

2. Make your own gluten-free foods rather than buying expensive,
processed products

Savings can be substantial when you make your own gluten-free foods,
especially breads and snack foods. Another advantage in making
homemade gluten-free foods is better flavor and healthier ingredients.

3. It is convenient to keep a few packages of commercial gluten-free
mixes on hand. But you can save a lot of money by making your own
mixes. Measure, mix, package and refrigerator or freeze and you have
created your own fresh convenience mixes. Along with saving money,
when you make your own gluten-free flour mixes, you can customize them
to your own tastes and nutritional needs.


4. Join forces with other gluten-free families and friends to lower
costs. Websites like amazon.com and Shop Gluten Free Grocers sell
gluten-free foods in multi-pack cartons, including pastas and flours.
Amazon's Shop Gluten-Free Groceries website offers free shipping on
orders over $25. Bob's Red Mill sells 25 pound bags of several of
their gluten-free products, including tapioca flour and all purpose
gluten-free baking mix. They also sell 4 bag cartons at discounted
prices.

5. Join a local support organization. You'll meet other people, who
like you, are battling the high costs of gluten-free foods- join
forces, buy in bulk and save money.

6. Use coupons

Nancy Lapid, About.com Guide to Celiac Disease recently blogged about
a website that offers printable coupons for gluten-free products.


Tips:

Once a month prepare your favorite gluten free convenience mixes. I
like to make 3 pound bags of all purpose baking mixes. This amount
generally lasts for several weeks. Use it to make homemade breads,
pancakes, waffles, cookies and pizza crust. Making mixes ahead of time
is SO much more convenient than making mixes every time you need a
gluten-free flour blend for a recipe.

Once a week bake your favorite gluten-free breads, wrap them up and
freeze. Remember, making homemade gluten-free bread is like mixing a
cake batter. Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat. Pour in a
bread pan, let rise and bake. Homemade gluten-free bread is faster and
easier than making traditional wheat-based yeast breads. So don't
shudder at the thought of making gluten-free bread every week. It
requires less time than you think! The savings, not to mention
superior taste and texture make it worth the minimal effort!

Make gluten-free cookie batter and refrigerate or freeze to use as
needed. There is really no need to buy expensive, ready-made mixes.
Mixing and storing cookie dough, like making bread is faster and
easier than you may think.

Make and freeze gluten-free pizza and pie crusts, which become
economical convenience foods, ready when you need them. Use a food
processor and this task is very fast and again, much easier than you
imagined.

Develop a dependable gluten-free recipe file. This will save you not
only money, but time and disappointment. I have a constantly growing
"favorites" recipe file- my "go to" recipes that I know work and taste
great. This not only saves money, it's healthier.

What You Need

Dependable, favorite gluten-free recipes
Gluten-free raw ingredients- purchased in bulk if possible
Homemade gluten-free flour blend mixes
Motivation
Shop with a grocery list and don't shop when you're hungry!
Consult with an accountant to see if you can deduct a portion of your food costs

I said I would NEVER do it again, but I did it again.......

We got 10 new baby chicks today! They are sooooo cute! I know I said I would NEVER get more chickens, but we were at the farm supply store the other day and I ordered some. They told me it would be Friday before they would ship. Well guess what? I had to take hubby to the dentist this morning and they called, so I drove over to the feed store and picked them up. Tried to hide them in the backseat, but hubby noticed the little cheeping....lol. He was numb on both sides of his mouth, so he was not into talking much and she just said HHHMMMM, with some sarcasm in his murmur.....lol. Meaning "This is your project and I am not helping you with them this time."

These will be ready for the freezer in 6 weeks. So we are not naming these little cuties

so hear me now........

I AM NOT GOING TO GET ATTACHED TO
THESE LITTLE SWEETHEARTS!!  Look closely at the picture above, especially at the beak, you can see the 'egg tooth'. That is pretty cool, because they normally fall of pretty quickly. It's on the top of the beak and it's a very special tooth that God gave chicks. It's the tooth that they use to peck out of the shell to be born. It looks like a little piece of dark yellow with a bump on it. It will fall off very soon. I'm off to check on my new brood.

Have a great day!

Moe

Home School Conventions here we come!

Home School Conventions here we come! Now is the time of year to attend a homeschool convention. Get yourself ready for next school year! If you are thinking of home educating your children now is the time to get some good info. Check out this link about how to be organized while attending a convention. the convention notebook

Here are my tips for attending a convention.

Bring about $100 of spending $ and that is all! You can always order things when you get back home. Don't get caught spending tons of money on impulse. Take home catalogs and think things through before buying. Most vendors will give you free shipping the week after the convention if you ask them. Bring a notebook, pens, snacks/drinks and a heavy duty bag to carry all the catalogs in. Wear good shoes for lots of walking. Go early and stay late for the vendor hall, if there is a time slot for classes you are not interested in, hit the vendor hall and walk around. Hit EVERY booth before you buy, since some booths sell the same items at DIFFERENT costs :O) Write down what you find to buy and the booth number so you can go back and find it. Also hit up the used book booths, great stuff is found hidden there. But a set of the convention CD's or MP3's of all the sessions, they are great to listen to through the school year when you feel like giving up. And you can also listen to the classes that you missed out on. Enjoy yourself, conferences are so refreshing!

Post if you get to attend one. This is not looking like a good year for us to attend, I've got something planned every date of a local convention.

Moe

rice casserole with bacon and spinach

This recipe looks so yummy!  rice casserole with bacon and spinach I plan on making it this week. I think I can make it corn free if I make my own broth.

Hope you have a wonderful week! We have a busy week coming, we are having a homeschool gathering to watch the Michelle Duggar DVD "Tea with Michelle Duggar" and then doctor and dentist appointments galor, husbands birthday and final school work to be done. With lots of nice spring weather on hand I'm thinking we will have some outdoor time too.

Still working on cleaning out the pantry, baked a turkey from the freezer (did you know that Butterball Turkeys all contain a solution made with corn that is injected into the turkey?  GGRR), used up some canned artichoke (ds made those last night sauteed with garlic and olive oil) I of course did not eat them since the can of artichoke hearts contains 'corn'.

We just can't get away from corn in this country, wonder if that is another reason why we have so many health issues in this country.

Thanks Kiara for the post about allergies.

Moe

EGG-cellent

So everyone laid an egg and at bedtime there was an extra egg in the nesting boxes.

Things that make you go HMM........lol.

Someone obviously laid a second egg, a tiny second egg.

We have yet to crack it open to check it out. I'm curious.

More to come on this one.

Have a great weekend!

Moe

FREEBIE just for you!!

I came across this great resource this week and am filling mine out today!!  The weekly menu planner from the simple natural nourishing blog. This is going to be a great help in using up what I have in my freezer. I have cleaned out the bottom shelf of my freezer. YEAH!

Have a wonderful week!
Moe

Permission to whine?

I finally went for allergy testing, nothing for wheat (they still think that I may be gluten intolerant) showed up but corn did and corn is also IN EVERYTHING and causes stomach issues when you are allergic to it. Corn allergies can actually mimic Celiac Disease (without the villi being effected). 

So I pretty much have solved my problem with going wheat free since by not eating processed foods I pretty much cut out corn too by accident. And the 2 times that I thought I had gotten gluten last summer, I think it was actually corn. The one time I got sick I was eating Puffed Corn snacks and the other time I had Fritos.

Both Gluten and corn allergies are very similar in the way that the effect you.

So no corn, corn syrup solids, cornstarch, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose and all those other fancy junk sugars, ect. Corn does not have to be labeled in the USA since it's not considered one of the top 8 allergen :O(

They can sneak it in under names that we would never think of as CORN.

I am also allergic to

watermelon

red apples
grapes
pears
peaches
bananas
apricot
strawberry
raspberry
tomato
sweet potato
corn
almonds
Scallops (I don't like seafood anyway!) YIPPEE!  lol.
Thankfully I'm not allergic to chicken or eggs! We'd have to sell the farm.  lol

So any one want to refer me to a blog about corn allergies and cooking?

Here are some interesting places that corn hides, baking powder, powdered sugar, table salt,
hot dogs, candy, frosting, cold cereal and many more things.

I'm really thinking that the Lord is working with me (feels like hammering me!) on not making food a little god in my life. I love food and I love to cook. All the years that I was sick with stomach issues (we now know I was sick with food allergies) I spent my days thinking "What am I going to eat?" Where do I have to go today & what time should I eat so that I am not sick away from home?" So pretty much my thoughts revolved around food and what and when to eat so that I could function in my daily life. There are foods that I can eat, I just need to THINK before I eat (who wants to do that?). I have the "wilderness attitude" that the children of Israel had. "I'm tired of Manna and I'm tired of quail! I deserve better than this!"  Read the book of Numbers chapters 11 & 12 in the Bible and you will understand what I am talking about.

 I would covet your prayers in learning to deal with this. I go back to the doctor in one month to try some sort of rotation diet (not sure what that is).

Moe

Does Homeschooling work?

Are you considering home education for your children or child? Now is the time to be doing some research and getting some good information. Family and friends will try to hinder your efforts and be nay sayers.

Check out this article on homeschool achievement from HSLDA.org.

The HSLDA.org website is a great place to find out the homeschooling laws in your state and also find out what you need to do to legally to remove your child from the school system. Laws vary widely across the nation.

This is also a great time to attend a homeschool convention and get some great ideas and get pumped up for the coming school year! We shall miss out this year since we have had a lot of medical bills and just don't feel that it will be in the budget this year. But we plan to save up for next year.

Moe