Kitchen Help

I knew she could do it...and she knew it even more.  Kaelan (12) has been telling me that she is ready for more responsibility in the kitchen, but....well, um,  we have one of those narrow galley-style kitchens and if there are more than two people in there at the same time?  I start getting a little stressed and feel a little squished!!  And she is my fifth child and I seem to be getting lazy in the training of responsibilities with the younger children.  Bad momma!!  But, yesterday, even though my kitchen was crammed full of produce bags and boxes, cartons of canning jars and so much more, Kaelan got in there and made bread for this week.  I have fallen behind in the bread making department as of late and Jeff has noticed....and he let me know that he noticed.

Kaelan ground the wheat and made a double batch of bread dough which means there was enough dough for four loaves.  Which would be great except I only have 2 loaf pans now after Caedmon accidentally broke the third one.  So, she made 2 loaves, a large pan of rolls and a braided bread as well.  And no, I don't have pictures.  Why?  Because we devoured the first loaf as soon as it came out of the oven.  It was well-matched with a jar of freshly prepared strawberry jam.  The rolls soon disappeared at dinner.  I won't tell you how many Lauren, my oldest married daughter, ate.  She has missed out on much of my great milk experiments and decided to make up for it last night....with a tub of butter!  As small as she is it won't matter and as she and her husband own two gyms, whatever she gains from her indulgence will quickly be worked off.

Kaelan also made a batch of Caedmon's special wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free cookies and a big bowl of fruit salad with strawberries and blueberries from our own backyard and peaches and watermelon from the local produce market.  Her nephews greatly enjoyed their snack bowls yesterday afternoon and the rest is for breakfast this morning.

Today she is planning on making our cinnamon rolls for Sunday which will be frozen.  She is also planning on sending some home with Lauren and sending some with my sister who will stop by here tonight and travel up to my other sister's home tomorrow  (which is where my sorely-missed Devin is staying this week).

Last night mashed potatoes were on the menu...for 10 people!  Aaron was in charge of peeling potatoes, but these younger men (I called them young men and Chase quickly let me know he was not a man, but a boy!) asked to help out.  I was hesitant to give them a knife, so they took turns using the potato peeler.  Half of Chase's potatoes wound up in the garbage can carefully scraped away, but I think allowing young children to help out makes them more eager to do real work when they are older.  Now if I could just get them excited about cleaning up the mess!

Soon-to-be four Grandson Chase and soon-to-be seven son Jackson

And this is my newest kitchen gadget...an old Corelle stove-top coffee percolator!  I have really disliked having to clean out the reservoir of the automatic drip coffee maker...especially when I find all kinds of yuckies coming out in the cleaning vinegar solution.  My mom found several of these Corelle pieces and picked up a few.  Now the coffee maker has been tossed out and we are enjoying percolator coffee.  The coffee takes a little longer to perc than drip, but it is stronger (which means we can use less coffee) and stays much hotter than the drip coffee.  And I now have a little more counter space which is a good thing!

    

hiphomeschoolmoms.com

Learning Adventures with Dad

Don't forget The Homestead Blessings DVD giveaway here!!

Jeff recently took Aaron, Kaelan and Jackson on an overnight camping trip at the state part just a mile from our house.   The boys and Jeff have been camping several times with former Contenders for the Faith group, but Kaelan has missed out on those adventures and has only gone a couple of times. 

Kaelan made a list of all the items that they would need to take plus a shopping list of foods for her dad to purchase.  The day of the camping trip found them hustling to gather up sleeping bags, pillows, tackle and rods for fishing, filling jugs with water, loading the tents and many other needed items.  With the exception of hooking the boat to the truck and shopping for the groceries, they did most of the planning and the work.   Planning, packing, organizing, building fires, cooking, boating and fishing....all great learning activities.

I thought I would let Jackson tell you about their camping adventures today.  Jackson used the pictures to tell me what happened.

In this picture, I (Jackson) was chopping wood for the fire.  

I was still chopping wood when I saw Dad come up to take a picture.

So I stopped and smiled for him!

Aaron and Kaelan were boating.

I was fishing with a stick because my pole wasn't ready yet.  It was tangled and Dad had to untangle it.

Kaelan and Aaron love boating.

I am drinking coffee.  (not a every day thing, I assure you!)

I was still drinking coffee.

Aaron and Kaelan are cooking breakfast.  

Dad took a picture of Aaron cooking breakfast.

Aaron is flipping the pancake on Kaelan's plate.

I am drinking coffee because I like coffee.

Homeschooling Update

Yes, we are still homeschooling!!  Even though I (we) have been busy with early gardening and milk production the book learning is continuing.   I thought I would give you a run-down of what is going on in the homeschooling arena at Busy Hands Busy Minds.

Together we are studying the War Between the States.  In our group time we begin the day reading a chapter of Proverbs and a chapter from the Psalms.  We review our Latin or Greek root for the week from English from the Roots Up.  I have then been reading through Facts the Historians Leave Out A Confederate Primer by John S. Tilley.  We finish that up today and will begin Walt Whitman's Civil War Poetry and Prose.  We had started Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, but just couldn't stand it.  I decided it was fine if the children just had a small taste of it and knew the history of this fictional story written by Stowe using second and third party sources.  It is said that upon meeting Stowe in 1863, President Lincoln said, " So, this is the woman that wrote the book that caused this war."  We are also reading Two Little Confederates by Thomas Nelson Page and Call of Duty:  The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins.  We are using All American History Volume 2 by Celeste W. Rakes as our spine for our history studies and hope to finish up our two year stretch of American history this fall.   The older two boys and I are also studying the rather hefty volume The War Between the States:  America's Uncivil War by John J. Dwyer.  This is a fascinating book and has lots of great quotes that you most likely have not read in any other modern day textbook.  Devin (22) is taking the children through A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers by Melissa E. Craig and Maggie S. Hogan.  She meets with them once a week for this and we are supposed to listen to the music selections throughout the week.

Jordan (18) is studying Biblical Economics by R. C. Sproul, Jr. which he is greatly enjoying.  He has edited several programs for The Homeschool Channel on economics and many of R.C. Sproul's talks as well and finds them very interesting and beneficial.  He is also studying American literature through Learning Language Arts through Literature, doing an algebra review using VideoText and is doing lots of research on homesteading topics.  He is pretty much in charge of our gardening endeavors this year and has started hundreds of plants indoors and out and has built all of our raised beds and some planters by himself.  He is quite the handyman.  In addition to his film editing responsibilities at The Homeschool Channel, he spends a few hours a week taking and editing photos of his own.  He also has a huge stack of homesteading, theology and historical works that he is reading through.

Aaron(14)  is plugging through Apologia's Physical Science.  This has been a stretch for me to prepare and keep up with as most of our science studies have previously been through unit studies as a family.  Aaron feels led to study medicine, so we felt he needed to have a more formal science curriculum.  I am interested in looking at other science curriculum to see if I can find a better fit.  He has recently started VideoText algebra with Jeff and is finishing up Learning Language Arts through Literature (green).  He also using Daily Grams for daily grammar review. He is also using Building Thinking Skills Book 3 and doing some spelling review through Natural Speller.   Typing and Quarter Mile math drills are done on the computer.  He does Spanish independently using PowerGlide.  I hope to move him to Rosetta Stone this next year.  He also greatly enjoys reading through the Ballantyne books of world wide adventure stories and is reading some theological works, historical fiction and biographies.  Practicing piano, drawing, painting, chores,  and editing audio programs for his dad's home business round out his days.

Kaelan (11) is studying plants through Answers in Genesis God's Design for Life series.  Jackson is tagging on this study at times. She started a pressed flower collection and will be doing some identification of plants as well.   She is working through Teaching Textbook 6, typing and Quarter Mile math drills on the computer.  She also likes to email extended family members frequently.  ; )  She keeps up with family members all over the world!  She is studying Learning Language Arts through Literature (purple) with Daily Grams for daily grammar review.  Spelling lists come from Natural Speller and she is also using Building Thinking Skills Book 2.  Kaelan also has a tall stack of books that she is reading from based on our history studies, but usually pulls some old favorites from the bookshelves to read as well.  I think she is now reading Little Women...again!

Jackson(6) is finishing up the primer level of Math U See and will be starting MUS Foundations (the old version) as soon as it comes in.  I decided to put him in the older version because we already have the teacher's edition and I have already gone through it myself, ummm, like three other times and it won't be something that I have to relearn. ; )  We are s l o w l y making our way through Alphaphonics.  Little by little, bit by bit, I am seeing progress.  One of the great advantages of  homeschooling is that we can go as slow or as fast as we need to.  Right now, for this child and his phonics studies it is slow going.  And that is OK!!  He is using the Italic Handwriting Series as have all of my children.  I think I like it much more than any of them do.  Jackson participates in most of our group time and usually enjoys coloring a page from a historical Dover coloring book while he listens in.  I am trying to have some time each week where he is listening to audio books like Charlotte's Web or programs such as Your Story Hour or Jonathan Park.  He is read to daily by either me, Jeff or one or more of his siblings and he "reads" books by himself several times a day.  His favorite right now is  David Macaulay's The Way Things Work.


Two year old Caedmon is now enrolled in Potty Training 101.  He is now 2 1/2 (as of tomorrow) and as the weather is warming and he can now go half dressed without getting too chilled, big sister Devin has declared it TIME!.   We have been putting him on the potty for several months before bath time and he has had some success.  We are now going into full mode with training pants (no pull-ups here).  Diapers are still going on at nap and bedtimes.  Caedmon enjoys books, puzzles and most of the activities in his daily boxes.  Some of my favorite resources for this age come from Lauri and Melissa and Doug.   Some of the activity bags and folders have become too easy for him and I need to reorganize his materials.  He is a genius, I tell you, a genius!

So, that is what is going on in the homeschooling department of Busy Hands Busy Minds.  If things weren't so busy around here I would have linked all these wonderful resources so that you could look at them and purchase from my affiliate links, but my children need more time from me than this blog does.  If you have a question about any resource, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.    Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Creating

There is still time to add your recipes for milk products here!

While we've been busy staying on top of all the milk coming in we haven't let school or extra activities slide too badly.  The bedrooms could use a good hour or two of work and reorganization and some floors need to be mopped, but sure and steady wins the race.  In spite of the extra work I am enjoying filling the freezer with fresh homemade butter, making yogurt and yogurt cheese and making all kinds of breads and treats with buttermilk and milk.

I found a recipe for making cream cheese in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, but I am not sure it turned out right.  I need some help to determine whether this is indeed cream cheese and just needs to be whipped up some or needs to be dumped.  This is what I got after draining in a bag overnight.  The lighting is kind of dark, but the cheese is white.

The children have been busy creating as well.  Jordan has been faithfully tending the seeds that have sprouted in our dining room.  I will be glad when they can go in the ground and my dining room can be cleared of the extra table and plants. ; )  He is as always busily editing photos and writing.

And outside we have seven raised beds full of little sprouts.

Aaron and Kaelan have been spending lots of time practicing for piano and violin recitals.  Kaelan has been helping me in the kitchen a good bit and has also created a large hanging collage of the solar system that is suspended from above her bed.   She wouldn't let me post a picture, though.  She has been working on this project with Jackson.....and used up all our styrofoam plates. ; )  She also created a beautiful table arrangement of blooming dogwood.

Aaron has been experimenting with oil painting.   He is combining his love of music with his love of art. Above is an incomplete painting of Tchaikovsky.

Faure

Mozart

And this is a drawing of Gulliver from  Gulliver's Travels.

Jackson has been doing lots of drawings and composing his magnum opus.  It's not important that his staff has more than five lines....he is having fun and always has one of us sing his latest composition.  The drawing in the lower right is Bill the Sheriff  with a "cactapus" in the background.  ; )

Creating does tend to mean that messes are being made, but it is very important to let the children discover the gifts and talents that the Lord has given them.  It is my prayer that my children will use their many gifts and talents in building up the Kingdom of God.  

Of Chores, Routines and Clutter

Every few years I get inspired to create new master lists of detailed chores and routines.   This year my inspiration came from Kim Brenneman's  Large Family Logistics.  If you have children, this is a book that you should purchase!   Even though the title says "Large Family" there is so much to glean from it, even if you have two children.

I sat down with the children and we came up with Before Breakfast, After Breakfast and Before Bed routines.  I typed them up and they hang in the kids' rooms.  I made detailed lists broken down into daily increments for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.  I combined the den, school room, porch and deck into one set of chores.  The dining room, hallway and laundry duty are included on another set.  The kitchen chores are all by themselves.

I divided the living area chores among three children:  Aaron-14, Kaelan-11 and Jackson-6.  The chores lists are labeled A, B and C.  Each week we rotate so no one has to be on kitchen duty more than a week at a time.  As Jackson is only 6, he is in training and I will be working with him on his responsibilities.   All the children are responsible for bathroom and bedroom routines.

Devin and Jordan were not included in the ABC chore division as they are away from home a good bit.  However, when they are at home they are to pitch in wherever needed....which is mainly in the kitchen!

If we can keep up with our routines and scheduled chores then our home should be relatively in order each day.  One huge detriment to this whole endeavor, though, is the fact that there are several areas in my home that have too. much. clutter!!  Our house only has three closets:  one closet per bedroom.  The laundry room is really a closet and I have a lot of things stored in there on two shelves above the washer and dryer and all my soap making supplies are stored on the dryer itself. (I have a door laid over the top of the washer and dryer that gives me more storage space.)

My biggest clutter is found in the master bedroom.  The attic access is there and anything that needs to go into the attic gets put in a stack.  The stack now has taken over the room!  We have just moved Caedmon out of our room and into the boys' room, but we still have some baby things that need to be sorted through, stored, sold or given away.  Jeff's studio for his home business is also in there and so are many stacks of boxes with equipment, books he rarely or NEVER uses and just stuff.  The school room is another area that can quickly get cluttered.  It is really a part of the den just slightly divided by partial walls and quite open to the living areas.  I put a table in there a few years ago so that we could do our table work in there instead of cluttering up the dining room each day.  The table, however, is generally covered with items that need to be put away and is seldom used for school work.

This week I spent one afternoon decluttering in the school room.  I had three bags of trash which included magazines, papers and toys.  I also had three large boxes of toys and books to put up in the attic until I decide what to do with them and I finally decided to get rid of the small easel/desk combo that we have had for years.  We continually had to move it to get to other items that were needed and I decided it wasn't used enough to warrant all the handling it received. I still have a huge cabinet to go through, a set of shelves above my desk, my desk drawers and the file cabinet to go through.  One day I hope to have another school room that is much bigger and has a door that can be closed!

We hope to tackle the laundry room this weekend.  We will pull everything out including the shelves on the wall, scrub it completely, paint and install cabinets and one shelf on the wall above the appliances.  I plan to work in small increments in the school room and my room over the month of February and hope to have those two rooms in good order by the time warmer weather and gardening prep gets here.  Having less clutter will really help us get the routines and chores done in a more orderly way.  I can't wait to get to that point.

Here are our daily lists for each area of the home with the exception of our morning and evening routines and our bedroom chores.  Apparently I did not save those on my word processor.

Kitchen Chores

Monday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe stovetop

-Wipe down cabinet fronts

-Wipe down front of dishwasher, stove, fridge and freezers

-Wipe off table

-Take out garbage

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Vacuum and mop

Tuesday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe stovetop

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Wipe off table

-Take out garbage

-Clean microwave

-Vacuum 

Wednesday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe stove top

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Wipe off table

-Take out garbage

-Vacuum and clean window

-Vacuum and mop

Thursday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe down front of dishwasher, stove, fridge and freezers

-Wipe stove top

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Wipe off table

-Take out garbage

-Clean under and behind microwave

-Vacuum

Friday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe stovetop

-Organize cabinets--deep clean one

-Clean out one drawer

-Wipe off table

-Take out garbage

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Vacuum and mop

Saturday

-Cook meals

-Put away clean dishes

-Load dishwasher

-Wash dishes

-Scrub countertops and freezer tops

-Wipe stovetop

-Wipe off table and clean off buckets

-Take out garbage 

-Clean out refrigerator

-Scrub kitchen sink

-Vacuum

Dining Room and Hallway

Monday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-clean off all surface areas

 (bench, shelves, bar, cabinet)

-vacuum

-mop

Tuesday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-clean off all surface areas

-vacuum window sill

-vacuum floor

Wednesday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-clean off all surface areas

-dust bottom of table and chairs

-dust other furniture

-vacuum

Thursday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-dust chandelier

-clean windows and doors

Friday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-clean off all surface areas

-dust all furniture

-vacuum--especially baseboards and molding

-mop

Saturday

-clean up clutter

-set table

-clear table

-wipe off table and chairs

-clean high chair

-clean off all surface areas

  Den, School Room and Porch

Monday

-clean out from under furniture

-clean up clutter

-dust

-straighten books

-vacuum window sills

-vacuum couch and chairs

-vacuum floor

-spot mop with rag and spray bottle

Tuesday

-pick up clutter

-vacuum

Wednesday

-dust TV shelf

-clean up clutter

-clean glass and windows with vinegar 

-vacuum

-clean off and sweep porch and deck

Thursday

-clean and dust toy shelves and bookshelves in schoolroom

-clean out from under furniture

-clean up clutter

-dust ceiling fans

-vacuum

-pick up trash in yard

Friday

-clean up clutter

-dust bookshelves, piano and cabinets

-clean off desk and school table

-clean out individual school space

-vacuum 

-mop

-clean up yard toys

Bathroom Routines

Monday

-put your things away

-clean out your drawer

-scrub sink, faucet and knobs

-wipe off countertop

-clean mirrors and light fixtures

-scrub toilet

-scrub shower and door or scrub tub

-put towels in the laundry

-put out a fresh hand towel

-vacuum

-mop

Tuesday

-put your things away

-wipe down sink and countertop

Wednesday

-put your things away

-wipe down sink and countertop

-put out a fresh hand towel

-wipe down base boards

-vacuum

Thursday

-put your things away

-wipe down sink and countertop

-put towels in laundry

Friday

-put your things away

-clean out your drawer

-scrub sink, faucet and knobs

-wipe off countertop

-clean mirrors and light fixtures

-scrub toilet

-scrub shower and door or scrub tub

--put out a fresh hand towel

-vacuum

-mop

Saturday

-put your things away

-straighten cabinets

-clear out empty bottles

-wipe off countertop and sink

Laundry Detail

4 x 4= Do 4 loads of laundry by 4 in the afternoon!

Sorting and Washing Directions

-bath towels--wash in hot water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar--WASH ON MONDAY AND THURSDAY

-sheets- wash in hot water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar--WASH ON FRIDAY

-reds/oranges/purples-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-whites-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-wash clothes/white socks/light undies/dish towels--wash in hot water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-jeans and dark blue towels-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-darks-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-greens-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

-lights-wash in warm water with 1 heaping spoonful of detergent, one scoop of Oxyclean and a compartment full of vinegar

Monday and Thursday

-wipe off front of machines

-clean off top of machines,

-blow out dryer vent

-vacuum 

-spot mop with rag and spray bottle