Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Finish Line
We are so close to finishing the first (and last) year of homeschooling. It has certainly been an adventure, and one that I will honestly cherish. I remember someone telling me that you have to really love your kids to homeschool. I can say- that is TRUTH! There were hard days, crying days, great days, good days and days that I just can't even categorize. I am going to keep going with some subjects over the summer just because we were a bit behind with Mom's death. I will be enrolling the kids in school in less than 4 weeks. I am still searching for a job, but even if I don't find one, I am looking forward to seeing what the kids learn and love about their new school!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
an awesome granola recipe
We happen to LOVE granola around here. Granola bars, granola cereal- love it all. I had been searching for a long time and I finally found one that I can make easy and quick, is raw and good for you! Here is the recipe in it's original form with my modifications in ( ).
Granola Cereal or Bars
3 1/2 cups of Rolled Oats (cereal) or Steel Cut Oats (bars)
1 cup raw sliced almonds
1 cup raw cashew pieces (I skip these for the cereal, but add raisins in it's place))
1 cup Unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
Add and Mix the first 8 ingredients. Melt butter and honey in a microwave safe bowl. Add honey and salt. Pour over oat mixture and coat evenly. Pour into a baking pan/sheet that is covered with Parchment Paper. Bake at 250 for 75 min. Once taken out of oven, let stand for at least 10 min. Transfer granola and parchment to cooling rack. Break into bars (I indent lines before baking) or break into cereal.
Matt love Peanut-butter granola bars, so I will add a package of Reece's pb chips to the bars and they are YUMMO!!! I also tend to add a bit more coconut than the recipe calls for...just cause!
Granola Cereal or Bars
3 1/2 cups of Rolled Oats (cereal) or Steel Cut Oats (bars)
1 cup raw sliced almonds
1 cup raw cashew pieces (I skip these for the cereal, but add raisins in it's place))
1 cup Unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
Add and Mix the first 8 ingredients. Melt butter and honey in a microwave safe bowl. Add honey and salt. Pour over oat mixture and coat evenly. Pour into a baking pan/sheet that is covered with Parchment Paper. Bake at 250 for 75 min. Once taken out of oven, let stand for at least 10 min. Transfer granola and parchment to cooling rack. Break into bars (I indent lines before baking) or break into cereal.
Matt love Peanut-butter granola bars, so I will add a package of Reece's pb chips to the bars and they are YUMMO!!! I also tend to add a bit more coconut than the recipe calls for...just cause!
Hello, again!
Hello again, Friends! It has been a long time since I have been on here. Partly due to just being plain 'old busy with life and partly because the last post I made was about Mom. But, life moves on and so much has happened since then. I wish I could go back and document it all, but to be honest- that takes a huge amount of time that I just don't have right now. So we do a re-cap and start from now!
We are nearing the end of our school year. I have truly loved homeschooling the kids this year! I have learned a lot about my kids and about myself. It is has certainly been hard at times and the school day has not always gone as smoothly as I had hoped. But the kids have done well and even though I doubt myself many times, I know they have learned. We will still be doing a few things over the summer, but not a full day. The kids have asked to go back to school next year. We are changing schools, so I am ok with their decision. We caught them up as much as we could- we will just have to see if it was enough. I am hoping to go to back to work next year as well. I think this experience will make me a better teacher. I am hoping that I can get on at the kids new school, but if not I would love to get back at the middle school (crazy I know, but I love those Middle Schoolers!).
About a year ago, Matt and I made the family decision to leave our church home for the past 4 years and start attending a new place. We are now at the Mt Juliet Campus of The Fellowship. We are loving it and feeling like we are making a difference. Matt has been selected to lead Outreach at our church. We are super excited to get somethings going and get involved in our community. We really feel that our time at Friendship was God's way of preparing us for this time at The Fellowship. Our kids are thriving and loving the kids program, which is a huge blessing to us.
God has been working on me over the last 6 months. Our marriage is stronger, my faith and strength has been bolstered and I feel that I am gaining ground. I have made some changes in my personal life- both Spiritually and physically. I feel the changes are good and I am just trying to get in a routine now. I have decided to start running. I have never been a runner, so this is a challenge for me. We have been changing our eating habits. We are slowly cutting out gluten from our diet and going more organic. I have had to make these changes more slowly than I would have liked, but we are making them. I have always been one to cook from scratch, but now 99% of everything is home made. It has been great fun getting cookbooks from the library and trying out new recipes. My family is quick to tell me whether to make it again or toss it! I recently went to a family cancer geneticist, since my Dr requested that I go. It was very interesting to say the least. Although we have a family history of certain cancers, they are not all on one side which is good for me. Sara (the geneticist) set me up with Mom's cancer dr in order to determine if I am at risk. Mom's cancer is such a rare one, that my risk is elevated, but also for several other types (Breast and ovarian). We also hope to do the actual genetic testing this summer, but we are waiting for our insurance to cover it.
I can't wait to get back to updating this blog. It is so much fun to go back and see what I have written about and remember so much. I hope to always keep it that way. I am going to be adding some pictures next time so that I can catch up a bit on it. My kids are awesome to take pictures of, and I love to share them.
We are nearing the end of our school year. I have truly loved homeschooling the kids this year! I have learned a lot about my kids and about myself. It is has certainly been hard at times and the school day has not always gone as smoothly as I had hoped. But the kids have done well and even though I doubt myself many times, I know they have learned. We will still be doing a few things over the summer, but not a full day. The kids have asked to go back to school next year. We are changing schools, so I am ok with their decision. We caught them up as much as we could- we will just have to see if it was enough. I am hoping to go to back to work next year as well. I think this experience will make me a better teacher. I am hoping that I can get on at the kids new school, but if not I would love to get back at the middle school (crazy I know, but I love those Middle Schoolers!).
About a year ago, Matt and I made the family decision to leave our church home for the past 4 years and start attending a new place. We are now at the Mt Juliet Campus of The Fellowship. We are loving it and feeling like we are making a difference. Matt has been selected to lead Outreach at our church. We are super excited to get somethings going and get involved in our community. We really feel that our time at Friendship was God's way of preparing us for this time at The Fellowship. Our kids are thriving and loving the kids program, which is a huge blessing to us.
God has been working on me over the last 6 months. Our marriage is stronger, my faith and strength has been bolstered and I feel that I am gaining ground. I have made some changes in my personal life- both Spiritually and physically. I feel the changes are good and I am just trying to get in a routine now. I have decided to start running. I have never been a runner, so this is a challenge for me. We have been changing our eating habits. We are slowly cutting out gluten from our diet and going more organic. I have had to make these changes more slowly than I would have liked, but we are making them. I have always been one to cook from scratch, but now 99% of everything is home made. It has been great fun getting cookbooks from the library and trying out new recipes. My family is quick to tell me whether to make it again or toss it! I recently went to a family cancer geneticist, since my Dr requested that I go. It was very interesting to say the least. Although we have a family history of certain cancers, they are not all on one side which is good for me. Sara (the geneticist) set me up with Mom's cancer dr in order to determine if I am at risk. Mom's cancer is such a rare one, that my risk is elevated, but also for several other types (Breast and ovarian). We also hope to do the actual genetic testing this summer, but we are waiting for our insurance to cover it.
I can't wait to get back to updating this blog. It is so much fun to go back and see what I have written about and remember so much. I hope to always keep it that way. I am going to be adding some pictures next time so that I can catch up a bit on it. My kids are awesome to take pictures of, and I love to share them.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
In all the craziness I am Thankful
Life has been hectic, crazy and plain ole sad. I still have so much I want to document on here, but I find that I am lacking in the time and gumption part ;)
I am very blessed that God led us to homeschooling this year. I could not have gotten through the last two months if I hadn't. Mom was diagnosed with cancer in June, went though 5 rounds of Chemo and underwent surgery in October. She had an 8 1/2 hour surgery on October 25. She had issues with swelling internally, and became septic. After several more surgeries/procedures, we as a family had to decide on what course to take. It was the easiest and hardest conversation we had to do. Mom had made her wishes clear on what she deemed acceptable as quality of life. This was not it and it would not have been what she wanted in the long run. On Monday, October 29th, we turned off all machines and let mom "go". Since that day, not a day goes by that I don't think about mom and wonder if she "knew" certain things. I ache that I didn't call more and spend more time with her. I have been sad, frustrated and just wanted to be lazy- all of which I cannot do while homeschooling. I have been quick to anger and in voicing that frustration. My kids have struggled and I feel that I have';t been much help to them. I have found myself on a slippery slope....and I have to get off.
Over Thanksgiving we went to Dad's house. Usually the men hunt and Mom and I hold down the fort. This year I spent it going through things and trying to be Thankful. The men still hunted, and I am thankful for that. Dad needed to be in the woods and with Matt. But it was hard. I made a choice to be thankful for the blessings that i have. I have so many- My husband, my kids, my dad, the time I had with mom and so much more.
I wanted to write this down- to remind myself to be grateful and thankful in all things. When the days get hard, that I have so much to be happy about. I can be sad and miss mom, but I can't live there.
I am very blessed that God led us to homeschooling this year. I could not have gotten through the last two months if I hadn't. Mom was diagnosed with cancer in June, went though 5 rounds of Chemo and underwent surgery in October. She had an 8 1/2 hour surgery on October 25. She had issues with swelling internally, and became septic. After several more surgeries/procedures, we as a family had to decide on what course to take. It was the easiest and hardest conversation we had to do. Mom had made her wishes clear on what she deemed acceptable as quality of life. This was not it and it would not have been what she wanted in the long run. On Monday, October 29th, we turned off all machines and let mom "go". Since that day, not a day goes by that I don't think about mom and wonder if she "knew" certain things. I ache that I didn't call more and spend more time with her. I have been sad, frustrated and just wanted to be lazy- all of which I cannot do while homeschooling. I have been quick to anger and in voicing that frustration. My kids have struggled and I feel that I have';t been much help to them. I have found myself on a slippery slope....and I have to get off.
Over Thanksgiving we went to Dad's house. Usually the men hunt and Mom and I hold down the fort. This year I spent it going through things and trying to be Thankful. The men still hunted, and I am thankful for that. Dad needed to be in the woods and with Matt. But it was hard. I made a choice to be thankful for the blessings that i have. I have so many- My husband, my kids, my dad, the time I had with mom and so much more.
I wanted to write this down- to remind myself to be grateful and thankful in all things. When the days get hard, that I have so much to be happy about. I can be sad and miss mom, but I can't live there.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Our Homeschooling Life
It still feels a bit funny to write that. We are now 3 months into Homeschooling and we are loving it. Not to say that we don't struggle occasionally, but all in all there are way more positives. I kind of stressed myself out a few weeks ago thinking of all the things that they might not learn that the state says they should. I was quickly corrected recently when I watched my kids working together and realized there are some more important things that they are learning together.
We haven't done much in Science/History realm because I wanted to get all the other things going and figured out first. We will be starting that this month and I am excited! I have some fun activities planned and I think the kids will enjoy them! WE have bible study on Wednesdays so I am going to try and make that day a related arts day as well. Learn about one composer/music work and do some art with Daddy.
Today we created fall trees to write about. They had fun and even enjoyed the writing process. I am excited to get more into that as we go.
We haven't done much in Science/History realm because I wanted to get all the other things going and figured out first. We will be starting that this month and I am excited! I have some fun activities planned and I think the kids will enjoy them! WE have bible study on Wednesdays so I am going to try and make that day a related arts day as well. Learn about one composer/music work and do some art with Daddy.
Today we created fall trees to write about. They had fun and even enjoyed the writing process. I am excited to get more into that as we go.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Answers
There is so much to post about, but at the moment I am searching for answers. My heart and my head are at war, and I cannot figure the outcome. It is the same war I have battled since starting to home school. Am I doing the right thing? Are they learning what they need to know? Riley wants to go back to school...do we let her or stick it out? Do I put them back in or stay the course?
These are the questions I am struggling with. I had a clear answer to homeschool at the end of last year, but now, I am confused and struggling. Praying for answers...
These are the questions I am struggling with. I had a clear answer to homeschool at the end of last year, but now, I am confused and struggling. Praying for answers...
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Neglected
Yep...this blog is neglected. I really thought that I might have the time to catch up and keep rolling with posts, but it seems I was mistaken. Homeschooling keeps me busy among all the other things in life. BUT, over the next few days I am going to give this place for memories and thoughts an overhaul. We have had so many adventures, that I want to post them to remember them..kind of like a digital scrapbook, so that when I get the time to actually do my scrapbook, I can remember it all! :)
So for the family and friends who may read this or check to see if there is an update, we are alive, breathing and in the midst of life...it happens...welcome to ours!
So for the family and friends who may read this or check to see if there is an update, we are alive, breathing and in the midst of life...it happens...welcome to ours!
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
That time of year...
Every year around this time, I find my shoulders tensing, and my patience waning. " Why?", you might ask. Well this time of year is insane for teachers in general, but especially for us Special Ed teachers. For some reason there are more IEP's and Re-evaluations due in December and April/May, than any other time of year. There is state mandated testing, bonus work to get the grades up, projects and such that take up TONS of time.
Next year- there will be no tensing, no multiple cups of coffee to get through the day. I pray it will be peaceful. I know there will be stressors, but I can also see how wonderful it will be.
Matt and I spent some time figuring out "rooms" this past weekend. Trying to figure out where to do our main schooling, and then areas for other times. Luckily it was fairly easy, but now I get to be creative getting storage int here!
Iwill be attending the Middle Tn Homeschool Education Associations conference next Friay, and I am SO excited. I will be able to get my hands on some of the curriculum that I have only been able to browse online, and will hopefully get to attend a few lectures. :)
There will be more updates soon. I have pictures to post of the kids, memories that I want to capture and things I want to say...but for now, they will have to wait!
Next year- there will be no tensing, no multiple cups of coffee to get through the day. I pray it will be peaceful. I know there will be stressors, but I can also see how wonderful it will be.
Matt and I spent some time figuring out "rooms" this past weekend. Trying to figure out where to do our main schooling, and then areas for other times. Luckily it was fairly easy, but now I get to be creative getting storage int here!
Iwill be attending the Middle Tn Homeschool Education Associations conference next Friay, and I am SO excited. I will be able to get my hands on some of the curriculum that I have only been able to browse online, and will hopefully get to attend a few lectures. :)
There will be more updates soon. I have pictures to post of the kids, memories that I want to capture and things I want to say...but for now, they will have to wait!
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