12 Days of Homeschooling

A little early for holiday songs, but this is too funny not to share. And I can tell you that I have heard everyone of these comments.

Foster Care Children Need Suitcases

Do you know that most foster children carry their children in just a garbage bag? I cannot even imagine being removed from my family, let alone having to carry my things in a garbage bag. What does such an action say about who you are? If you have an extra suitcase or duffle bag, why not find a foster care agency in your area or your state's department of child services and see if they will accept a donation. Most will be happy for your donation.

Sometimes making a difference in the world isn't changing the course of a river, but making it possible for someone else to navigate it.

Family Traditions Revived

One of the questions on our foster care in-take questionnaire is about traditions. What traditions did you grow up with? What traditions have you added? What ones have you gotten rid of? and of course, the always present "why?" Well today, an old tradition was revived. Eight years after my mother's death, her caroleers are set up for Christmas again. My father finally admitted that he wasn't going to set them up again and if I wanted them I could have them. I didn't even hesitate. I went up to the attic and had them packed in my car before he could even finish his sentence. My mother loved these Caroleers. She took exquisite care in setting them up and made elaborate landscapes for them. I had to take a slightly different approach and encourage my daughter to think a little outside the box. We did not have to do it exactly like Grandma. In fact, we couldn't do it exactly like her, but now they are out all around the house. I realize it is a little early for Christmas, but it was either lug the boxes to the attic in order to lug them all back out in three weeks or just set them up and carry empty boxes. I opted for the later and the extra three weeks will make up for some of the time they have spent in boxes over the past 8 years.

This is but a sampling of the little scenes now created all over my house. I will not need to add to this collection at all.

Two other fun Christmas traditions in our house are cutting a fresh tree and making a gingerbread house, both I'm sure will be featured in up-coming blogs. What holiday traditions do you have?

No Guns Allowed!

I was the mother, who swore my kids would never play with guns. I told relatives not to buy even play guns. I admonished the kids when they turned Legos or sticks into guns. I drilled into their heads that guns were bad. Then DS was involved in Cub Scouts. Cub Scouts allows / encourages shooting with bb guns. I was horrified and scared when my husband told me that there would be shooting at summer camp. I made my husband promise that he would take extra care of DS and watch extra carefully when they were at the range. DS came home from that camping trip ecstatic. The range master was impressed with his accuracy. DS had posted 5 shots within the size of a dime. He had qualified as a sharp shooter. This should have been a sign of what was to come. DS was very proud of this and wanted to do more, so we found a range that practiced competitive shooting. This was not a fluke. DS moved up a 22 long rifle and DD wanted to try too. I sat through their safety class with them to see how they were instructed. I cannot voice how nervous I was about this. I had been taught to fear guns. Perhaps what I should have been taught was to fear people who use guns unsafely or with the intent to do harm. Perhaps it would have made more sense to have gun safety classes vs. telling us to never touch them.

Anyway, flash forward DS has now made the alternate spot on the State rifle team two years running and both children have gotten their hunting licenses. DD has even passed the bow course. The rifle sports and hunting opportunities have allowed for great family bonding, incredible self-control, a growth in self-esteem, and patience. If I had known what this sport would bring to our family, I would have brought the kids to the range instead of being so scared.

Having this knowledge also may have saved my children's life when they, along with a friend, found a gun in the woods. All the kids had experience with guns and knew the power they held, they were not curious, and were aware of mis-fires etc. They did not touch the gun, but immediately came to get adults to handle the situation. I'm not sure that their reaction would have been the same had they not experienced the power of a gun and knew they could use a real one the next time they were at the range. In fact, there have been studies showing that children that have been told not to touch guns, will; so if you think your warnings will save your children, you may want to think again.

Simple Dutch Oven Cooking Recipe (oven friendly too)

My son is a master Dutch Oven cooker. In fact my entire family loves Dutch Oven and outdoor cooking in general. This week DD and I had a Girl Scout activity in which we went letterboxing and then returned to the house to cook on the fire. Because of time constraits, I had to find a quick Dutch Oven recipe (not as easy as it may seem - many take several hours not including fire starting). DH mentioned Chicken Parmesean. So we had for dinner: chicken parmesean, salad, and bread. For dessert, we had cherry cobbler and a pineapple upside-down cake.

If you are interested in the chicken parmesean, here is the reciped and the beauty of it. You start with pre-cooked and breaded chicken cutlets. You can buy them in the freezer section. I think we bought Tyson, but I'm sure there are other manufacturers. This alone saves a ton of prep time. Line the bottom of the Dutch Oven with tin foil (you will appreciate this during clean up). Add a layer of sauce, just to prevent sticking. Put in the cutlets. Put a little more sauce on each one. Sprinkle mozzerella on top. Cook with 10-12 charcoal briquetts on the bottom and 6 or so on the top for about 20 minutes. When chicken is warm and cheese is melted, dinner is ready enjoy.

Creating an Echo Map : balancing your life on paper

As I have mentioned, we are in the process of becoming foster parents (thus the decrease in blog posts). In our most recent class we did an activity which would be helpful for anyone. It was called an Echo map. An echo map is a graphic representation of how you spend your time and the rewards or costs of that time. It basically looks like this:



In the center write your own name. Then on each of the outside bubbles write people, places, or things that take up your time / you are responsible for. After that connect each smaller bubble to the mane bubble using a line.

• A solid line represents that this activity / person replenishes you and is a positive part of your life.
• A dotted line represents that this activity / person is neutral and neither taxes nor benefits you but has to be dealt with.
• A fuzzy line represents that this activity / person is stressful and depletes your energy.
  

Yes, you may have activities or people that are connected with more than one type of line. When you are done, look at your map. You may be surprised by what you see. Seeing your life graphically represented may cause you to make some changes. Are there more solid lines or more fuzzy lines? Are there any solid lines? If you compared these connections with the time spent on them is your time dedicated to the most productive, rewarding things?

If you try this activity, let us know about your epiphanies. Did you decide to make any changes?

P.S. It is tough when you do this activity next to your spouse and he puts a solid line to your name but you put all three lines to his circle - - -ooops! It may be better to do this in private.

We are official volunteers

It was a big day in our household. DD and I posed for our official Old Sturbridge Village volunteer badges.

This is a bigger deal than you might think. As a homeschooler, DD has never had a photo ID and has been frustrated a few times when this came up. Most of her friends have school ID's, but we have no need for them. Once, she even made up our homeschool ID's, but this volunteer badge will be a real photo ID. I think possibly for one moment all the dressing up was worth it for her. I think that she will cherish this ID for a long time. It won't be long until she has a driver's licence to replace it, but for now today was a big day in the life of a teenager.