Our Life: The Mother's Day Edition

Because every mother deserves a flower on Mother's Day... Here ya go.

Isn't it heart-warming?

Actually, I told my husband several years ago to PLEASE stop getting me flowers. Of any kind. Ever. I can't stand to watch the poor things die, and I'd much rather have something else - like a book. Or plastic storage boxes. Mmmm... plastic storage boxes.

My dream world would be to wake up surrounded by these wonderful creations. 

But this year I did end up with a flower! However, after four hours out of water plus the tender ministrations of a curious toddler, it looked pretty sorry (see above). When we got home, we put it in water - and then laughed till we cried.

Happy Mother's Day!

(Or Mothers Day. Or Mothers' Day. That question has driven me to near-insanity more than once. Whatever it was, enjoy it!)

Introducing Our Wee Slimy Friend (WSF)

Recently a sweet friend blessed me with a kombucha starter, also known as a SCOBY (a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), and thus I have joined the community of kombucha-brewers! Hurray for lactofermentation!!

Kombucha, like yogurt, kefir, pickles, kimchi, etc., is a lacto-fermented product that produces a wonderfully-powerful dose of all-natural probiotics (beneficial bacteria), and can be an awesome addition to one's diet, especially in a day and age when most products that were formerly probiotic have now been nuked (i.e. heat-treated for shelf-life), thus eliminating the beneficial bacteria that we all need.

Can kombucha help nausea and vomiting of pregnancy? Maybe. Read about some possibilities here. However, the truth is that any steps to improve one's health can't hurt, and it's always good to do anything to bump up one's health before facing the monster of hyperemesis.

Because I am doing a low-carb diet, I am letting my kombucha do a longer brew, to allow the colony to consume more of the sugars. This makes the resulting product much less sweet and much less pleasant to drink (my weird-stuff-loving husband won't touch it), but I'm actually getting used to it! Now I'm thinking of brewing even longer to kick the carb count down lower, so we'll see how that goes. (If you brew it for a shorter time, this stuff is awesome - and I don't even care for tea, as a rule!)

Every time you brew a batch of kombucha, your mother SCOBY will produce a baby SCOBY, so there are always plenty of SCOBYs to go around. Grab one from a sympathetic friend and brew away!

(If you end up with baby SCOBYs that you can't give away, add them to your garden or compost pile for extra bacterial goodness!)

My first brew with the WSF - I have made two more batches since then. 

Directions for Making Kombucha Tea

Use a 2-4 quart glass container. All utensils should be clean, but don’t use antibacterial soap (can mess up the SCOBY). If you want to disinfect, rinse with apple cider vinegar.

Pour boiling water halfway up your container. Add 1 teabag per quart and let steep 20 minutes. Stir in sugar (1 cup per gallon, or ¼ cup per quart).

Add cold water to fill (leave room for SCOBY and starter tea) and wait till water has reached room temperature.

Add reserved SCOBY and tea (reserve about 6 oz tea per gallon).

Cover with paper towel and rubber band and place in dark location for 6-10 days. Less time = sweeter taste. More time = less sweet taste, more vinegar. Label with desired bottling date so that you don't lose track!

Bottle in clean glass containers. Strain if desired. Will carbonate, so cap loosely if you don’t want carbonation to build up. Will last in fridge for quite a long time!

Enjoy!

Facebook Group for Hyperemesis Moms of Arizona!

Just a quick note for Arizona hyperemesis mums... There is now a Facebook group specifically for us! Please join us and help make this a vibrant and growing community of HG moms who can meet to share support and local resources:

HG Moms of Arizona

See you there!

Plans and Projects for this Coming Summer!

Before I get started, we want to send our prayers and best wishes to our friends the {name censored for privacy} family, who are today embarking on another great adventure! We hope to hear great things, you guys!

And now, back to the subject at hand!

Now that we are officially on summer break, I have about half a million things that I wish to accomplish before the next school year starts up!

Unfortunately, the phrase "summer break" is a bit of a misnomer. Although the academics do take a break, the children and the house do not. So I'm not sure how all of this "free time" is supposed to magically appear for me to work on summer projects!

Regardless, I do have a bunch of things that I'd like to accomplish. And so... here they are!

Over the coming couple of weeks, I would like to...

(1) Make Pen & Paper Record Sheets - For (1) crafts, science experiments, and activities, and (2) field trips. This past year, I found that keeping records on the computer does not work for me, simply because it lures me over to the computer waayyy too often, after which I wake up 30 minutes later and find I've been mindlessly surfing Facebook. Not good. I really enjoyed moving my daily checklists from computer to paper, and so I'm going to do that for the rest of my records as well.

(2) Buy Curriculum - This will be math and possibly Language Arts.

(3) Plan Chores - After discovering what a huge job it is to assign and check up on chores, I now understand why some parents cop out and just do the work themselves! But that would be a grave disservice to our children and our family, and I'm not going to do that - so I need to get on chore planning for next year. Hopefully this will get easier as I get used to it!

(4) Toddler Teaching Time - I want to work on: (1) Blanket training - I've never tried it, but it sounds like a smart idea. (2) Sleep Issues - Okay, I have to admit it. I have a 15-month-old who still nurses to sleep. I have sinned, I have sinned!! And now, of course, the question is how to get him to get to sleep by himself, and in his own bed. Suggestions, anyone? Please? (3) Training to come when called - Right now, if I called our little dude while he was headed out in front of a moving car, he would keep right on going. So teaching him to come when his name is called is something I really need to get on, because this guy is mobile.

(5) Work on Our Daily Schedule - This is mostly done - now to implement it better! Especially needed is work getting to bed at an earlier time and getting everyone up at an earlier time. An hour both ways would be good.

(6) Write Life-Skills Curriculum - This is done; it just needs revision. I'll post when it's finished!

(7) Clean Out Homeschool Notebook & Set Up For Next Year - In process.

(8) Chore Charts - See above - after I get the chores assigned, I want to make cute displays to post. Or at least moderately cute... without a laminator, there's a limit to the amount of cuteness that I can wield around here (*sob*).

(9) Make New Weekly Checklists for First Grade - Taking off handwriting, adding a couple of things...

(10) Get a New Poetry Book - Now that we've worn "The Llama Who Had No Pajama" into the ground, it's time to find something equally awesome! Any suggestions?

(11) Sketch Out Year's Schedule - Breaks, start and finish dates, etc.

(12) Print Various Forms We'll Need - Checklists, schedules, catechism, records

(13) Spend Time Working on Master Book List - My book list is currently about eighty pages long, and growing every day! I'm having so much fun with this.

(14) Finish Last Year's Record-Keeping - Pretty much done!

(15) Set Up Book Cases in Second Bedroom - Lord, have mercy. We'd better start praying now.

(16) Declutter - Yum. Love this. I could do this all day, every day.

(17) Work on Various Decluttering Projects With DH - Going well! DH is making great strides in shedding his pack-rat tendencies. I still can't get him to let me ditch my wedding dress, but we're making progress.

(18) Various Yard & House Projects - A compost pile (done!), clearing out the garage, working on the garden - you get the picture.

And the biggest one....

(19) Pray About Curriculum Choices - Primarily for Language Arts, but also for history, science, and everything in between.

I think that the curriculum struggle is a big one for most parents who home educate. There are so many choices out there, and most of them look good. Then there's also the issue of when to start each subject, what general approach to take, and a million different details that are all knotty and complicated to understand. Hopefully this will get easier as we continue on in the journey, but it is one that has consumed my mind for at least the past three years.

I'd love to hear what your plans are for summer break!

Church with two babies, one of whom is completely OUT! 

An HG Blog to Follow!

Several weeks ago, I met a new HG blogger, Wendy, and I planned to introduce you to her after my blogging break. At the time, she was suffering from severe HG and was on bed rest with multiple complications (Mallory-Weiss tears and a twin who didn't make it, among others) and family medical issues going on at the same time.

Since then, tragically, she has experienced the loss of her baby at 20 weeks, and is currently recovering from going through a stillbirth. We are grieving with her family.

I'd love to encourage you to check out the blog of this amazing family. They have seven children, run a farm in Virginia, and educate their children at home. Having read this blog for about a month, I have already run across lots and lots of shared interests and beliefs, and I am enjoying getting to know her. I think you will too!

Contentment Acres

Also, feel free to drop in just to leave some encouraging words to a mama who is grieving the loss of two babies after suffering severe HG for months on end. She is truly a warrior mama.

Especially take note of her latest post, which is absolutely amazing. She ends:

"All through this, I have felt the Lord asking me: "Do you still love Me? Will you still follow Me?"

"And my answer is a weary "Yes, Lord. You are my Father. No one loves me like You do. You have fearfully and wonderfully knit me together. I am so precious to You that You know the number of hairs on my head. You know every detail about me and nothing in my life escapes Your notice. You gave Your own Son for me. Knowing the depth of Your love, I know that all of this heartbreak and pain has served a purpose that will bring glory to Your Name. I am broken, bruised, battle weary, and begging You for a break, but I am still a willing vessel for Your work in my life'."

Spiritual maturity like this blows me away. May I some day attain fully to that level of awareness, gratitude, and trust.

Introducing a New Series: Plain and Simple!

Although I didn't know it, I started my new series a few weeks ago when I wrote about how much of a blessing it was to go from two cars down to only one vehicle in our family.

The conclusion from the above, of course, is that simplicity brings peace. We believe that getting rid of modern amenities (or our mounds of personal belongings) will make our lives miserable, but often they bring unexpected peace and joy.

And that got me thinking. Why is modern life described as hectic, frantic, rushed, over-busy, insane, crazy? Why do families no longer eat meals together, spend time together, or even know each other? Why do we live in a whirlwind of activity and constantly feel stressed and exhausted?

By all logic, it ought to be the opposite. After all, we have automatic and mechanical devices of every sort that are supposed to ease our burdens and take care of various jobs for us. Life is supposed to be easier in every way.

But it's not. 

Instead, we are more stressed-out, sleep-deprived, and exhausted than at any other time in the history of mankind, and it's only getting worse. We all know that.

On a personal level, I have made efforts to avoid over-commitments in our family. And although we do educate at home, I have only three children (and only one student at the moment). Our life is not that busy, by comparison.

But I still feel stressed. And hurried. And rushed. And constantly tired and over-committed. 

I want to stop that. Though I will always have more work than I can ever accomplish, I need more peaceful head-space. I need to rid myself of the mental, spiritual, and physical clutter that can wear me down, make me irritable and snappy, and deny me the peace I need.

And that's the purpose of this new series! This will not be an exhaustive or organized series - just a note-by-note writing down of the little things I learn along the way. Some of the things I have learned so far will seem a bit wacky, but I'm going to write them down anyway. I'm looking forward to sharing with you!

Part of what I share will stem from my ongoing study of the Amish culture. I am passionately fond of the Amish people, and I go through periodic spurts of studying their society, religion, and lifestyle. One of the things I note often about the Amish is their simpler and calmer way of life. Do they miss out on Facebook, the internet, and indoor electricity? Yup, but they kept the much more important things that our culture has jettisoned - deep and abiding faith, strong families, and tight-knit communities that support each other for life.

I'll be quoting from a couple of books on the Amish, among them:

I'll also quote from one of my favorite books, "The Handbook of Simple Living" by Lanet Lohrs. Though I disagree with many (most) of the spiritual tenets of this book, she has written one of the most complete and thorough guides to simple living, covering everything from dish-washing to housing choices.

I'd like to add an important note before I begin writing: This series is not intended to make anyone feel judged!

"She got rid of her automatic banana peeler, and I didn't! I know she's judging me!"

Yes, that is exactly not what I am trying to do! I am working on simplifying my life, and I'm going to share what I'm trying, and what is working for our family. But I am not expecting readers to go out and follow what I do! This is a discussion, a journey, and a process. It is not meant to make anyone feel badly, nor am I expecting everyone to try the same things I'm trying. Comprenden ustedes? 

Good!

I'm looking forward to sharing the journey!

Hello Again! (And Various Spring Adventures!)

Hello, everyone! I'm back! I've had a nice blogging break and am excited to be back in the blogosphere.

I'm still trying to work out the internet-time enigma in my life. There are so many tensions to resolve - such as...

(1) The internet can be a source of inspiration, godly counsel (depending on where you hang out...), great ideas, fellowship, and fun. But... it can also be addictive, a huge time-waster, and a destroyer of in-person relationships and genuine community.

(2) Blogging is a source of fun and relaxation for me - I love it! But it can also be a source of guilt, another time-waster, and can actually lead me to neglect the family about whom I am blogging!

Thus, I am trying to work out those various truths in my life and figure out how to make the internet and blogging a constructive part of my life, and not a destructive or addictive part. (Tips, anyone?)

I am excited soon to be bringing you my new series, Plain and Simple, in which I will be sharing snippets of my ongoing journey to simplify my mind and my life. This is not a lifestyle that I have perfected and am now ready to spread amongst the less-enlightened (!), but rather a simple sharing of what I am learning along the way. It's an exciting journey, and I hope you'll join me (and share your own journey with me as well!).

***

In the meantime, we have had a busy spring! Today was our last day of kindergarten for the 6yo, meaning that we have now completed our first official year of home education! This is such an exciting milestone for me! I know that more experienced moms in the audience are snickering at the simplicity of this (only one student, only a few subjects, etc.), but it's a huge accomplishment in my book - especially with a child who is emphatically not academically-minded!

I want to start first grade as soon as is humanly possible, simply because I want to make March-April our "summer break" next year, and we have some heavy-duty catching up to do time-wise to make that happen. However, I also realize that we all really need a break. That being the case, we'll take at least this month off, and then see how soon we can get started.

In the meantime, I'll be doing a lot of lesson planning, as well as attending several curriculum sales and the homeschool convention in June.

Reminder for local parents: The May 13th registration deadline is coming up for this year's awesome convention! Don't forget the first-timers' discount and the free pre-convention mini-conference!

I'll be sharing some of my plans for the coming year, and I'm really excited to talk with you all about those plans, get your input, and hear about your plans!

***

This past month or two has been full of field trips!

When we first started to homeschool, one of the (many-many-many) intimidating things about the idea was the thought of having to plan field trips. Frankly, I'm really not keen on that. However, I need not have worried! The various organizations of which we are a part (MOMS Club International, Cub Scouts, and two home education support groups) all plan multiple field trips a month - and so rather than having to scramble for field trips, we are often overwhelmed with more than we can handle!

When you add in the family outings and family field trips that we create for ourselves (the local Jazz Festival, etc.), we easily have one or more field trips per week.

The wonderful thing about home education is that field trips become not "that thing my kid is doing," but an adventure for the whole family that immediately becomes a set of wonderful memories that is incorporated into our family culture. It's an absolutely wonderful part of home education!

Here are just a few of our field trips from the past month:

Backyard Camping Trip, complete with breakfast al fresco after the fact!

It's just remotely possible that the kids' hour of play on our air mattress was responsible for DH and I waking up on the floor. 

Waiting for breakfast!

Yes, the man is on a cell phone. It's called "roughing it."

Our city's Jazz Festival:

If I look slap-happy, that's because I was beyond exhaustion at this point

Usury National Park - we had absolutely beautiful weather!

Going on a snake hunt! Though DH and I have found snakes here in the past (before we had children), DH and DS have been so far unsuccessful.                

Chilling in the stroller! 

Snagged by the camera 

A local airport:

Our local cardiology museum (put on by the American Heart Association):

This was an excellent museum - great hosts, and a beautifully constructed facility. They were very helpful and took a vast amount of time to work our huge (100+) group through the museum.

However, not only did I have two extremely fussy babies on my hands (plus at least one exploding diaper), but I was extremely frustrated by the nutritional information that the museum was pushing as "heart healthy."

I've got to give them credit - they had excellent displays on subjects like smoking, calling 911, and heart disease, and it was a great museum overall. I'd recommend it. Sort of. But if our family ever goes back, I'll stay home and send DH there with the kids!

***

The Boyce Thompson Arboretum, one of our favorite places!

We were taken on a "Plants of the Bible" tour, which was excellent - unfortunately, we could hear almost none of the narration as the group was so large and we were usually at the back! I'd love to go back with a smaller group to hear it again. Next year we hope to go back for all of their homeschool days rather than just the last one!

***

Open House at another local airport:

We're getting known by these umbrellas. Just listening to peoples' conversations as they pass us is hilarious! (But the umbrellas work, which is more than I can say for the stroller's sun shades!)

A completely random moment of hilarity. 

At the controls! 

In the flight simulator. 

He loved getting to climb in plane after plane all morning! 

***

On our zero-budget of the moment, we have to skip field trips that cost money. And there are a lot of field trips out there that are very pricey - $7-$10 per person, which really adds up quickly. I've had to say no to quite a few field trips over these past months based on the cost.

However, all of the above field trips were free or "nearly free" (i.e. less than $10 for the whole field trip)! So it is entirely possible to maintain a busy field trip schedule even on a less-than-ample budget.

***

Although we probably won't be able to fund any sort of summer vacation this year, we do hope to host lots of visiting family members as well as attending summer events and enjoying the pleasures of the season. Additionally, my husband will be taking an awesome course, "Fathers Leading Families," and we are very excited about that opportunity.

What are you all doing over the summer?