Okay – pick yourselves up now.

For those of you who know me well – you know that I don’t like to start school until at least after Labor Day.  I want a really long – very s t r e t c h e d out summer.

Yet – here we are starting school in the middle of August – before even the public schools have started.

What’s up with that?

Well…usually I’m up to my eyebrows in veggies to can and freeze right now, but this year the garden is really behind.

And…for years we didn’t have air conditioning and it was just too hot to even think – let alone do math.

But…mostly we started early because we have something really exciting planned.

I mean really exciting!

Are you ready for this?

In September, we’re going on a massive 10 day trip out west – with all five kids – and we’ll be camping.

That’s right – all seven of us for 10 days – camping.

But not in this RV – no, that would be too easy. It has a kitchen and an indoor bathroom.

No, that’s not us. We’ll be the ones driving a 15 year old suburban pulling a 35 year old pop-up camper.

Think Brady Bunch.

We’ll see the Tetons, Yellowstone and the Black Hills while enjoying the comfort and lack of indoor plumbing of a 35 year old Starcraft pop-up. It sleeps eight, is very clean and most importantly – it’s free.

Did you notice that I called this a “trip” not a vacation? A vacation happens when you stay in hotels and eat in restaurants and don’t have children with you.

No – this is most definitely a trip – an epic adventure that will go down in the annuls of family history.

It will be a major memory making event and the excitement is building!

But for now, we have an entire week of school under our belts. Then in a few weeks – when everyone else is doing math problems and diagramming sentences – we’ll be hiking in the Tetons and watching Old Faithful.

Just one more reason to love home schooling!

RV picture courtesy of Michael Gil.

Bananagrams!

It was one of the gifts opened at our recent big double birthday bash – and I think we’ve played it almost every day since!

It comes in a cool cloth banana pouch which is filled with little alphabet tiles. The goal is to take your tiles and use them all to make your own connecting words.

One niece described it as “speed Scrabble.” I would call it addicting!

You don’t take turns, so there’s no waiting for another player.

It’s fast.

It’s intense.

And it’s educational (but please don’t tell! )

A sure win in my book!

Papa and I always experiment with one new item in our garden every year. Several years ago we tried sweet potatoes and they’ve become a “regular”!

The first year we trembled at the price of the purchased plants! Then we found out that we could grow our own plants by “rooting” a store bought sweet potato.

Every year in late February, we purchase a sweet potato or yam from the produce department at our local grocery store.

Then we stick toothpicks into the sides of the potato to hold it up above a container of water -a recycled jar works just fine.

We try to find the top or the part that was connected to the vine. The opposite end should go into the water.

We keep the water level up to the top of container and watch for roots from the part under the water. It won’t be long before we see some sprouts growing on the part above the water.

We let those green sprouts grow to about 3 or 4 inches long before we pinch them off the potato and put them in a container of water. They will make roots.

Once they have made some roots, we plant these in small pots until they can be planted in the garden.

Meanwhile , the potato in the water will keep making new sprouts. One potato should easily give us a dozen plants.

When the soil is warm enough, and all danger of frost is gone, we plant each plant on top of a mound of soil about 6 inches tall. (This gives the potato space to grow without having to dig a foot deep in the fall!) The plant will vine and the vines will root where they touch the soil. To prevent this from happening mulch mounds with newspaper or simply lift the vines often.

You can dig potatoes whenever you “feel” under the vine on top of the mound and discover a potato big enough to eat! We wait until the first frost. (Sweet potatoes will not tolerate a frost!)  We dig them carefully and lay them out to dry. If you have a cool place to store them – they will keep for several months.

In our modern houses without root cellars, sweet potatoes are not the best keepers for eating fresh all winter, but they do freeze well. We try to keep them as long as we can, then freeze the rest.

To cook a sweet potato, scrub it, prick it with fork, and bake in a 350 degree oven until soft when squeezed. Let them cool until you can handle them to peel off the skins.

Place the sweet potatoes in freezer bags or containers, label and freeze. Just thaw and use in your favorite sweet potato recipes.

Or you can cook them in the microwave. Just scrub, prick skin and place in microwave. Bake for 5 min on high and check for softness. Continue baking until they are soft, checking every 3 minutes. Peel and serve or freeze.

Our favorite way to enjoy fresh sweet potatoes is to eat them warm from the oven with Cinnamon/Honey Butter

Cinnamon/Honey Butter:

2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Mix together. This stores well in the refrigerator for several weeks. This is really good on toast and squash, too!

Until next time!

Nana Shirley

I have a new addiction.

It’s a card game that should be in every home across the nation.

SET.

It’s even made by the amazing company that invented my other addiction – Quiddler.

I will admit that the first time I played SET I didn’t get it. I was playing with my college age nieces and nephews, and they were blowing me away.

But it didn’t take long for me to figure it out and fall in love with the challenge.

The object of the game is to find sets in the cards that are dealt. Sound easy? It isn’t. Each set of three must be alike in some way, but different in others.

You look at shape, color, design and number to find the sets – forcing you to see the cards in a different way – to be creative.

If they are all diamonds, they need to be a different color, a different design, or a different number.

It’s fast-action fun!

And with Christmas coming up it would make a perfect stocking stuffer.

Trust me on this one – you’re gonna love it!

We attended a local Civil War Re-enactment – complete with period clothing, guns, and attitude!

First we checked out the Union camp (not just because that’s where our sympathies lie – but it was closer!)

After a demonstration on how to load and fire an authentic civil war rifle,  we moved up to heavy artillery.

While we were admiring the big guns, an older gent in Union blues came out and asked the kids if they would like to shoot the cannon.

Their eyes got big!

“Really – we can actually shoot it?”

And they did!

Do you have any idea how many steps were required to fire out one shot from the cannon? I lost count at 8.

It took 4 men (in our case – 4 kids) – and they had to remember all these steps while the enemy is shooting at them.

Then we moved on the northern entrenchment – which is basically a big hole in the ground with places to shoot from.

The northern one was nice – but not nearly as nice as the southern one!

We were very impressed with the quality of the work on the southern workmanship.

They had deluxe accommodations -

– sod covered tarps to protect the men.

-reinforced walls

-gradually earthen steps down into the entrenchment (they Northern one was just a slope – that I slide down of course)

-lots more room

It could have almost graced the cover of a home improvement magazine (okay – so I exaggerate a little – but my pride is still a little bruised after my fall into the Northern one!)

We next traveled on up the hill to the Confederate Camp. It was there we learned that these re-enactors actually take the role of a real regiment in the Southern army.

They study these regiments – reading books and journals – until they know the history well.

Most of them had relatives who fought for the South – and all are proud to wear the Confederate grey (if only for a weekend).

And they all really got into this!

But then – so did we! My history loving – sword fighting – very imaginative family – all loved seeing the past come to life.

And the sweetest part of all – we could count it as school!

As you study prophecy it is important to also know history in order to see how God’s Word is true and accurate. Our faith is increased as we see prophecy fulfilled.

We found a helpful tool, Bible Time Line, published by Rose Publishing, Inc. It is a laminated fold-out with the Bible time line from Genesis to Revelation featuring 300 key people and events in the Bible. Also printed along this time line is World History and Middle East History relating to the same time frame.

Papa Jim is teaching a Bible Study on Daniel. We found it interesting to note that Buddha and Confucius were both living at that same time. Were the “wise men” surrounding the kings teaching their beliefs?

As a student or teacher you can relate what you are studying in your World History class to what God is doing in the lives of His people at that time period.

We are thankful for men who take the time to relate dates and events of the past and put them in one place to simplify our study!

Until next time!

Nana Shirley

I remember the conversation very clearly.

My oldest son had been rolling his eyes as he heard the opening beats of my favorite Ricky Skaggs CD.

I stopped him and patiently explained that I wanted all of my children to have an appreciation for all types of music – from classical to bluegrass. They didn’t have to like it or even choose to listen to it on their own time, but they needed to be able to listen with a good attitude.

That began the year where I went out of my way to introduce them to many styles of music.

We enjoyed concerts on our public television station – from John Tesh to the Three Tenors. We took our children to hear live music; they heard everything from the 4 part harmony of southern gospel to the rousing marches of John Philip Sousa.

When we visited grandma’s house we pulled out the old albums and listened to Jim Reeves, The Browns, and even The Smother’s Brothers.

We had sock hops with the cousins listening to Nana’s At the Hop records. (They invented the coolest dance moves to the “The Lion Sleeps Tonight!”)

Every Friday we listened to our local Christian station play “Love Songs for Christian Couples”. (Alright – I’ll admit- that one didn’t go over so good, but at least they have a working knowledge of the love songs from the 60′s and 70′s!)

I didn’t know if it was working until I noticed that my music was disappearing.

John Denver was the first to go. He was taken by the 7 year old who loved “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”.

As I walked upstairs to bed one evening I heard some beautiful Celtic harmonies and followed them right to Dagmar’s room. She had all of my Loreena McKennitt CD’s.

I also noticed my oldest son listening to John Michael Talbot while he was doing school one morning.

But I knew I had them hooked when the Sons of the San Joachim were on Public TV and one of my sons said, “Sweet- that’s one show we really need to tape!”

I’m glad to report that my kids now have a respect, if not an appreciation, for many different kinds of music.

But it does come with a cost. I may need to carefully search their CD collections before they leave home.

By the way, has anyone seen my Don Fransisco Best Hits CD?

I pulled Homer Price off the book shelf thinking it would be a fun book to read aloud this winter.

It is! The children and I have been enjoying the antics of Homer and all the gang in Centerburg.

Actually, all was well until we got to the doughnut chapter.  You know, the infamous chapter when Uncle Ulysses’ doughnut maker goes on the fritz and starts turning out doughnuts by the hundreds.

Add in an eccentric heiress, a missing diamond bracelet and a sandwich man named Gabby, and you have all the makings of a great read-aloud!

Even my high school kids stopped doing their Algebra and joined us for the reading, commenting “That’s a classic!”

So what was the problem you ask? It was the doughnuts!

After reading Robert McCloskey’s  mouth-watering descriptions of doughnuts and seeing his amazing illustrations of doughnuts, all we could think of was- you guessed it – doughnuts!

So we yielded the the temptation and made some homemade doughnuts.

So warm and sugary and wonderful!

I don’t even want to know how many calories each little bite of greasy goodness packed!

Just in case you, too, are tempted, I’ll share the recipe.

Betty’s Cake Doughnuts

Beat together 2 eggs and 1 cup of sugar until lemon-colored.

Add 1 cup of commercial sour cream, 1 taspoon baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

Stir in 2- 3/4 cups of flour.

Chill the dough for several hours.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough into 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter (or a round cookie cutter and a salt shaker lid for the hole like we did!)

Fry the doughnuts in very hot oil. When browned on both sides, carefully remove from oil with a slotted spoon and put in a paper bag with 1 cup of sugar inside. Shake to coat and place on cooling racks over paper toweling.

They are best eaten hot! But if there are any left-overs – just keep them in a plastic container.

Enjoy!

I’ve picked up the most amazing things there over the years! I always wonder where they find these treasures? Maybe they are just digging them out of the basement a box at a time- like layers of an onion.

This year we found books! Box after box after box of vintage books. Hard cover Henty’s, Gene Stratton Porter, and Zane Grey just to name a few.

I started salivating and making piles. There were just many to choose from! They all looked interesting and I wanted them all!

So I got them. All of them. I filled the back of the van and brought my treasures home.

Yes, we did negotiate a price for the entire lot and most of the books will be researched and sold on Amazon or eBay.

But some of the choicest, the nicest, the most wonderful books will find a place of honor on our personal bookshelves.

We believe, like Henry Ward Beecher, that,

“A little library growing every year is an honorable part of a man’s history. It is a man’s duty to have books.”

and like Thomas Jefferson who said,

“I cannot live without books.”

Amen.

It’s not that my kids need extra work on math.  For the most part, they are pretty good students. But math is the one subject that they can really waste time on.

They tend to day dream and doodle all over their math work. They start giggling and passing notes to their siblings around the table. Someone will start telling a story and they all collapse on the floor laughing.

Then I picked up a great tip at our state home school conference from David Hazell of My Father’s World Curriculum.

He suggested going over the lesson with your student, then giving them 5 minutes to answer orally any question on the lesson. Then your student only has to write out the answers to the ones that are left.

We use Saxon Math and everyday, after they’ve done a speed drill, I sit down with each child and do the mental math.  Then we read over the lesson and do the practice problems.

Then I set the timer for 5 minutes, grab the answer book, a piece of paper and a pen, and let them go! They need to say the problem and the answer. If they get it correct, I write it down.

At the end of 5 minutes, whatever problems they didn’t do orally become their assignment.

It is amazing how hard they work to get those problems done in 5 minutes! Some of children can cut their written work down by half. (This doesn’t work as well as the math gets harder.)

It’s helped with their mental math abilities and keeps everybody on task, at least most of the time anyway!