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RSSBack Issue: April, 2008BrothersPosted April 29th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, family life, the ranch24 Comments »
My two country boys.
Technorati Tags: brothers, children, country, wordless Wednesday Blog RoundsPosted by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals2 Comments » 1. The Carnival of Homeschooling is up with a futuristic theme; lots of good posts including:
2. I always find some interesting perspectives on the absurdities of our culture and world at the Carnival of the Insanities, including these:
3. Make it From Scratch - a carnival full of inspiring ideas, including:
4. The Christian Carnival will be up tomorrow at Brain Cramps for God. Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging The Intelligent LizardPosted April 28th, 2008 by Jen in humor, religion, science12 Comments »
p.s., the lady of the house was really freaked out to see her little girl’s pet lizard taking over her laptop computer. My sincere apologies and lizardly regrets for causing such a commotion. Well, being so evolved and all, I enjoy the cinema as well as computers, so I’m off to the movies. Technorati Tags: lizards, Creation Science, Intelligent Design, animal humor, Expelled the Movie, Ben Stein’s Expelled Carnival of Family Life: Tea EditionPosted by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, family life9 Comments »
By the eighteenth century tea had taken hold of Britain and one remarkable consequence was the rapid development of pottery and porcelain for tea wares. The original Chinese tea cups were tiny fragile things without handles or saucers. The Europeans modified accordingly to suit their grand tastes for tea, making a bigger cup, and giving the teacup a handle to make holding a hot cup an easier matter. One ingenious tea cup variation of the late nineteenth century was the mustache cup. This cup was fitted with a bar across the inside for the drooping mustache to rest upon so the tea could be swallowed without first passing through a hairy filter. Which brings me to the first post about family pets (just thinking about hair): Matt M presents Polluted Pets EDUCATION Josh Lien presents Free Rosetta Stone - Learn a Foreign Language Elaine presents 2 - Two Little Dicky Birds Rose presents Trendy, green, frugal, and homeschooling Mark Montgomery presents Visiting College Campuses: Observations by a Professional Tour-Taker Renae presents Muss-Makers FAMILY FINANCE iMagxz presents 22 uses for Toothpaste tipsandtricks presents Getting More From The Tube Neelakantha presents 101 Tips & Resources for the Upside-Down Homeowner Matthew Paulson presents Lunchtime Lessons: Cheap Fixin’s and Good Ideas Debt Freedom Fighter presents 5 Ways To Save Money On Everyday Purchases Ken Clark presents Mother’s Day: Shop for Mom and Save for College Linda W. presents How To Talk About Money With Your Partner Mark Butler presents Living With Less Fathersez presents How I intend to help my daughters secure jobs they would like Leaving The Folks presents Creating a Budget Amy @ The Q Family presents Be a Hero. “Save the Cash, Save the World” Stephanie presents Coupons and Deals Matthew Paulson presents Cheap Vacation Idea: Don’t Leave Home Debt Freedom Fighter presents Why God Doesn’t Always Answer Prayers About Money K presents Meal Planning On Vacation
FAMILY HEALTH AND WELLNESS Theresa L. Twogood presents Big Picture Progressive Exposure Amy Vernon presents Are plastic baby bottles really dangerous? Aparna presents Correcting a gummy smile
FAMILY HUMOR Robert Bach presents Daddy Daughter Day Harrison presents Top 20 Wedding Dresses You Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead In Jenny Rapson presents My Daughter, the Cover Girl Tipper presents Lightning Strikes & Granny Terri Mauro presents Our First Special Olympics
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Evan Pangburn presents Park Chapel Christian Church Baby Dedication Erica presents Kids or Career? American Women Are Still Forced to Choose BeThisWay presents Love Uncluttered Jen presents Seasons Come and Seasons Go Amy Dyck presents Raw Passion Steven Chang presents Reconnecting With Your Spouse Leslie Williams presents The Nature of the Beast, A Problem to be Addressed, or Failure as a Mother
Christine presents The Earth Laughs in Flowers FitBuff presents Nintendo Wii Fit Release Date GP presents Mending Fences.. Not for the Sheepish Riley presents A Plumm Summer Kelsey presents Kids’ Face Painting PARENTING TIPS AND ADVICE Fred Black presents Have we Forgotten Amanda presents Keeping up, the story of three journals Abel Cheng presents What I Did When My Daughter said, “I Don’t Want to Go to School!” Lori Jewett presents Baby Talk Jessica Jones presents Winning at Parenting through Trust Neena presents Parenting Tips: Naptime Chief Family Officer presents Potty Training Tips Melitsa presents Tip: Sound communication This concludes the Carnival of Family Life: Tea Edition. Said Rev. Sydney Smith on tea and posts: “It is a place with only one post a day…In the country I always fear that creation will expire before tea-time. (from The Smith of Smiths). Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Family Life using the handy BlogCarnival Submission Form. Up next at All Rileyed Up. Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Carnival of Family Life, tea party, tea time A Strawberry Tea PartyPosted April 27th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, family life, features, health/cooking/food, holidays5 Comments »
Little girls love tea parties, but so do big girls like me, and even the little boys in my family want a part in the fun — my eight year old son would like to be the server, and my three year old son just wants to eat the goodies. We are planning a strawberry-themed tea party, at the request of the girls, and would like to share the menu and details with you. The tradition of teatime is a long and cherished one, and our tea party, which will include the children, a few friends, and a few mommas, will open with a bit of the story of tea. The first known reference to the sale of tea in Britain comes from a 1658 London Gazette, with this historic news:
It was from China that tea came, and the exact origin is lost in the haze of legend, but one story traces this charming drink to an Emperor who lived almost 5,000 years ago.
There is so much more to the fascinating history of tea, from China to Japan to Holland, to England and the rest of Europe, and to the United States. For you home educators and history buffs, you may want to incorporate more of these details into your party, and perhaps even have a “Tea Unit Study” beforehand. I have listed some resources for you at the end. But we must get on the party!
An assortment of teas will include, of course, strawberry tea. Small pitchers of cream, sugar, and honey will be set out. For my little ones, I’ll brew a not-too-strong tea. Depending on the weather, we may indulge in the glory of tea al fresco, taking advantage of our large wrap-around porch and spacious yard.
A tea party is not complete without the delicacies and pastries, and this is my simple menu: Strawberry Gems
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine flour, butter, egg yolks, vanilla and brown sugar. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan, trying to keep an even thickness. Spread the strawberry preserves on top. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, gently pressing them in. Bake (at 350 degrees) for 30 to 35 minutes. Let it cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. Creamed Scones
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray a heavy, large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Sift together flour and baking powder into a medium bowl. Mix in sugar. Add the butter and rub between your fingers until the mixture resembles fine meal. Pour the milk, whipping cream and egg yolk into a small bowl and blend with a whisk. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and press to a thickness of 1 inch. Cut out rounds using a 2-inch or 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter. Gather together the scraps and press them together to a thickness of 1 inch and continue to cut out rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing them apart evenly so none are touching. Brush the tops with the glaze (beaten egg). Bake (at 450 degrees) until golden brown, around 15 minutes. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve with butter and strawberry preserves. Cucumber Sandwiches Loaf of Country Style White Bread Cut good quality white bread into thin slices. Butter one side of each slice and remove the crusts. Thinly slice seedless (hot house or European) cucumbers and place one layer of slices on 1 piece of buttered bread. Put another slice on top, butter facing the cucumbers. Cut on 2 diagonals in the shape of the letter X to produce 4 triangle-shaped finger sandwiches. Fresh Strawberries
Strawberry Tea Strawberry tea, which contains no caffeine and is easy to locate in specialty shops, natural-food stores, and many supermarkets, is an especially appealing iced drink. You might serve it bejeweled with strawberries. Yield: 6 to 8 servings
In a large saucepan, bring the water to a full boil. Add the tea and sugar, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Strain the tea into a large pot or pan. Stir in the lemon juice, and let the tea cool to room temperature. Serve the tea over ice, garnished with the sliced strawberries. Tea Concentrate for a Group When you are preparing for a large group tea, you can brew this concentrate up to two hours ahead and still serve hot, perfect tea to your guests. This recipe makes about fifty cups of tea, but you can make more or less concentrate according to your needs. Just remember: To make tea in quantity, don’t brew longer — use more tea.
Pour boiling water over tea in large non-metallic container such as an earthenware crock. Let steep for five minutes, then strain the tea leaves or remove the teabags. Store concentrate at room temperature until needed. To serve, use about two tablespoons of concentrate per five-ounce cup — or about three parts of water to every part concentrate. Simply place the desired amount of concentrate in a cup or pot and then add hot water. Note: This concentrate also makes delicious iced tea. Put four tablespoons in an eight-ounce glass of water, then add water and ice. Hospitality is at the heart of tea time, so the best part of your Strawberry Tea Party will be the care the hostess shows for her guests, the conversation that flows, the giggles among children feeling so grownup-ish, and the memory of tea. Resources for this article: Talking of Tea by Gervas Huxley
Technorati Tags: children, tea time, tea party, children’s tea party, strawberry tea, creamed scones The Diary of 1 search for a new BBF (Best Bloggy Friend)!Posted April 25th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, humor11 Comments » Warning, gentle reader: This is a spoof. I am not as shallow as Paris Hilton. This is merely poking fun at a ridiculous publicity stunt by a disturbed celebrity. Welcome to the Diary of 1 search for a new BBF (Best Bloggy Friend)!! This is a
Wow, the word “just” three times in a mere two sentences. And the word “like” when it has nothing to do with being partial to something. Can I JUST say that one requirement for my BBF is a decent grasp of grammar. Go grab a Strunk & White if you need some help. So, what else do I look for in a new best bloggy friend? Well, I’d have to agree with Paris, that since my blog is SOOOOOoooooo popular, I have to be careful. I can’t trust whether someone wants to be my blog friend or simply wants to get in on all my links and comments, so I turn to Paris for advice once again:
And of course, Paris never gets too excited about the paparazzi. So watch your excitement level, please. The next requirement for my BBF is that you divulge all your deepest secrets to me. Never mind that I’ve never met you in real life and probably never will, but I expect you to tell me your real name, the exact location of where you live, your personal email address and phone number, your user name and password so I can access your admin section and blog stats, the opportunity to guest blog on your own site, AND I want you to reveal every tip you know about increasing blog traffic. Once again, straight from the horse’s mouth, I find the elusive best friend advice:
Oh, and knowing how Paris loves other beautiful people, I would also like my BBF to have the slickest looking blog format around. No overused templates, please. My BBF will have a high-end custom job with all the latest widgets and a stellar Technorati authority. Now, on with the show!! I’ll be on the lookout for blog comments on every single post, personal emails, high participation in all my contests, lots of blog awards, gobs of links, thousands of clicks on my google ads, subscriptions to my RSS feed — just think, YOU could be the next Diary of 1 BBF!! Just being my best bloggy friend will make you instantly famous. And of course, I would never assume that you’re a fortune hunter. I’m sure all the 6 million page views and the thousands of You can post your BBF profile on your own blog, or in my comments below, and tell me why I should choose YOU. Let the auditions begin. How can I possibly have a child old enough to ride a motorcycle?Posted April 24th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, family life, parenting, the ranch7 Comments »
Here is Big L, in all his nearly-nine-year-old glory, with his first motorcycle. I guess this is what comes after the “big boy bike.” First they shed the training wheels, then they shed the pedals. He was enjoying a ride around the trails Dad made at the property, his reward for spending a few hours helping clean up the drywall debris. He’s big enough for real work now, and when Dad called me to drop Big L off at the property to help him, it was not out of an affectionate desire for his company (although that’s a nice benefit), but because he truly needed a hand. I feel like I’m in a sort of time warp, watching my boy become a man before my very eyes. Vroom-vroom!
Technorati Tags: parenting, motorcycles, children, growing up, family life Carnival of Family Life - up next here!Posted by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, family life2 Comments »
I look forward to presenting your excellent family posts! Be sure to come back here to Diary of 1 to see the great variety of articles on Monday, April 28. Oh, and the Christian Carnival is hosted this week at Everyday Liturgy.
Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Carnival of Family Life Religious Rights of Students in Public EducationPosted April 22nd, 2008 by Jen in education, politics/world news, religion10 Comments » A commenter made a good observation on my previous post about the case of the Wisconsin high school art student receiving a Zero and subsequent detentions for including in his landscape drawing a cross and the lettering “John 3:16.” The student, named as A.P. in a lawsuit against the school district, signed a policy the teacher presented at the beginning of the semester, which “prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork.” Hmmm, placing religious beliefs alongside and seemingly on the level of violence, blood, and sexual connotations is interesting. Anyway, the comment was this:
Her question got me thinking. A minor can void a legal contract, true. The contract was not binding, but neither should it be meaningless. I don’t think it’s smart to be teaching kids that they can break contracts willy-nilly and be free of all responsibility. HOWEVER, this particular contract…oh boy. This student should have carefully read the contract at the beginning of the class and raised a stink at that point - because on the face of the policy itself is a violation of student rights, as set forth in legal precedent (Tinker v. Des Moines Community School District (1969) which upheld the right of students to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War). Tinker held that the First Amendment did apply to public school students and teachers, and that regulation of student speech in the classroom would be allowed only if there was a constitutionally valid reason, like “substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others.” A mere desire to avoid controversy is not a valid reason to suppress student expression. Tinker has since been limited by other cases, with the scope of free speech not including indecent speech (Bethel School District v. Fraser) and with school newspapers being regulated (Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier). See also Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators Association and Morse v. Frederick. Not only the Tinker case, but a document from the Department of Education, circulated in 2003 (Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools), makes it clear that students have a right to religious expression in the classroom. Here is the relevant portion from that D.O.E. document:
The fact that this “contract” the student in Wisconsin signed was ever conceived and drafted shows not only the ignorance, but the bias, of this teacher/school. There is a lesson here for all students and parents of students in public schools: Know your rights. Because it’s obvious that attempts will be made to violate and undermine your rights, often out of honest ignorance of the law and confusion among school leaders about the religious liberties of students. That Dept. of Education document is a good one to print out and go over carefully with your child. The prevailing anti-religious climate and the extreme, sometimes absurd, secularization of public life doesn’t appear to be letting up, so be on top of the issues and use favorable laws to your advantage while we have them. Vigorously protect religious expression - this is a unique American principle. The point of the First Amendment is to prevent a state-sponsored religion, not to squash religious expression in American public life. It is unjust and unconstitutional to mandate that public schools be religion-free zones. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … — Religious-liberty clauses, First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Technorati Tags: religious liberty, First Amendment, religious expression, U.S. Constitution, religious freedom, public school Some Blog BusinessPosted by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, giveaways2 Comments » The blog carnivals are great places to browse for topical subjects. Here’s the latest: Carnival of the Insanities Do you know of another fabulous blog carnival? Let me know! The winner of my ziplock-bag-books (The Child’s Spring Book) is commenter #9, Shannon at Song of my heart!! These will be on the way shortly. Email me with an address, Enjoy! Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging, giveaway Simple Spring DecoratingPosted April 20th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, features, holidays, product review16 Comments » There is nothing like the changing of seasons to make me want to freshen up my home décor. And with spring now in full swing (despite the brief flurry of snow today), I went hunting for some simple home decorating ideas to fit my frugal budget.
Something to keep in mind about this particular plant, however: Bromeliads are “monocarpic,” meaning they die after flowering, but it’s a slow process, usually taking up to 3 years. During that time, however, 1 to 3 offsets are produced which can be re-potted to continue the species. Second, some spring color can be splashed into your living room by way of throw pillows. This is an inexpensive way to give a new look. It’s time to store the winter throws and pillows and replace them with pastel colored or lively spring patterned pillows. Like I said, I’m on a budget, so here is what I found at Goodwill, for a mere $1.99 for the red flowered one and .99 for the purple beaded throw, and $2.99 for the new wooden chair cushion. I tossed these pillows in the wash, and they’re good as new to me.
Next, I turned my attention to the kitchen. Put away are the holiday and winter napkins and table decorations. These new table linens - a set of 4 cloth napkins - caught my eye. I adore hydrangeas, so I snapped this set up for only $1.99, also at the thrift store. I looked for some porcelain to be a permanent spring table decoration, and I almost passed this lovely salt & pepper set by, thinking it was made in China. But when I turned the set to check the bottom markings, I was ecstatic to see “Made in Italy.” This, my dears, is the thrill of thrifting! The salt and pepper set was just $2.99, and the small matching pitcher was $2.99.
Not to leave the children’s bedroom out either, the kiddos were all with me while I did this shopping spree. JJ picked out this wooden-framed picture of the vase of red tulips (.99) and JoJo wanted this decidedly spring-y girl picture (the matted frame was $1.99 and the picture was $1.99, and I put them together - the girl came in a very ugly gold frame that had to go). One of the kids also grabbed this .99 orange button-framed picture for big brother’s dresser top.
I almost forgot the smell of spring! The fresh flowers may do the trick, and some people like the flower scented plug-ins. For myself, I’m allergy-prone and artificial scents give me terrible headaches. So, I opt for essential oils or natural candles. I love the scent of lavender, and with a drop of the essential oil on the lightbulb, I’m suddenly skipping through lavender fields in Provence. I already have several essential oils on hand, but they can be purchased for about $5/vial. Another natural scent tip is to place several cinnamon sticks and a few drops of vanilla in a small pot of water and simmer it on the stove. So, there you have it - a simple spring home make-over on a budget for less than $40! Of course, if your finances allow, you certainly don’t have to be as frugal as I was, and I know that not everyone is willing to shop at thrift stores. But it can be done, and I would love to hear about your own spring decorating ideas, whether budget-minded or deluxe.
Technorati Tags: spring color, home decor, frugal decorating, spring decorating, spring It’s a good thing Raphael didn’t attend public school in modern day WisconsinPosted April 19th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, education, history, religion14 Comments »
The Tomah Area School District in Wisconsin has a policy that bans Christian symbols in students’ artwork, leading to a high school student receiving a Zero on his illustration depicting a landscape with a cross and the lettering “John 3:16.” Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Giotto, and the rest of the famous artists who produced the religious masterpieces of the world: I’m forever grateful that you didn’t live in 21st century America where you have to sign away your freedom of religious expression.
Technorati Tags: art history, famous artists, First Amendment, religious expression When Your 6-year-old Makes You CryPosted April 17th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting17 Comments » She tried to hide the card under my pillow last night, but Dad shooed her off to bed, not knowing her mission. This morning she was grumpy-sad because her big brother had taken the card from its safe-keeping under her own pillow and placed it in what he thought was a safer location. But all she knew was that it was gone. What the child went through to get a special card for her mom. She bought it with her own money, all the money she had, having no occasion but love, taking great pains to make it a surprise, and made me cry. I mostly cried because the card read, in pretty Hallmark lettering, “You’re Never Too Busy to Be a Wonderful Mom.” And even more precious was her own lettering inside, “Best Mom.” But I am too busy. I get short-tempered and forget to speak gently. I don’t deserve such a showering of affection. I was tenderly aware that I cannot take advantage of a child’s unconditional love for a parent. Yes, she would love me, and does love me, despite my many failings. There is such hope in the knowledge that love covers a multitude of sins, and my little girl so encouraged me to live up to her childlike love, and to possess that kind of love myself. I am the luckiest mom around to have a 6-year-old make me cry. Be Thou My VisionPosted April 16th, 2008 by Jen in music, religion12 Comments » Do you have a favorite hymn? Linnet’s Nest asked this question, and shared hers. Thank you, Linnet, that was beautiful. I think Linnet should do a podcast sometime so we can all hear the lovely British accent that I know she has. My favorite hymn is Be Thou My Vision. I love the gentleness of the song, woven throughout with a call for God’s constant presence and guiding hand in our lives. This is a traditional Irish hymn, and hands down the best recording I’ve ever heard is performed by Van Morrison. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find this on YouTube, so I’ve presented here Fernando Oretega’s version. While it is still moving, the man is clearly not Irish, as Van Morrison is, and somehow I just like to hear an Irish man sing a traditional Irish song. You can find Van Morrison’s Be Thou My Vision on his CD Hymns to the Silence. When we homechurch, we always play Van’s version and sing with him - my kids love it, we love it, and I’ll bet you would be moved. But here is Fernando Ortega with Be Thou My Vision: Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots Winner!Posted April 15th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, blog stuff, carnivals, giveaways, product review0 Comments I’m pleased to announce the winner of my Gardening with Children book: commenter #17, AreWeThereYetMom, your book will be on the way shortly! Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together With Children is sure to delight your whole family! Thank you so much, everyone who left me a comment on that post. Thanks to Laura for mentioning this book giveaway!
My current book giveaway is two homemade books from the Diary of 1 family, for those interested in native plant life. You may leave me a comment on The Child’s Spring Book by this Sunday to learn about these books and enter the drawing.This giveaway actually has a project attached to it - my kids are putting together an Oregon plant/nature book - a cute ziplock-bag-book - to pass on to a child who lives anywhere other than where we live. And I hope that child will then create a book highlighting his/her region to pass on to another child, and so on. It’s a very simple book, so don’t be intimidated to try it! -P.S., our Oregon book will have some child-intriguing extra odds and ends from our property, like these:
One more note about contests: I actually won something!! SmallWorld had a spring poetry contest, and my mom’s poem, Morning, was chosen, and I hear that I have a basket of spring goodies on the way to me, which of course I’ll share with my mom - can’t wait to show you! And those blog carnivals: The Carnival of Homeschooling, the Carnival of Homesteading, the Carnival of Family Life, the Christian Carnival, the Make it From Scratch Carnival. Technorati Tags: children, contest, garden, gardening with children, giveaway, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots Carnival of Homesteading #45Posted April 14th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, blog stuff, carnivals, family life, health/cooking/food, the ranch10 Comments »
So here is a very SIMPLE carnival, which I suppose is in keeping with the theme of homesteading! There were just 12 submissions, which I’ve listed first, followed by some of my own Top 10 Editor’s Picks that I grabbed from around the blogosphere, which fit the homesteading motif. You’ll find my own small commentary following each post. (Let me know if you find any errors, omissions, bad links, etc.) Rose Denson presents Spearmint Hot Pepper Horseradish Spray posted at Grandma Rosie’s Texas Home.
Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Making Cottage Cheese posted at Y-2K Hippie.
Belle presents My Diary of No Shampoo—-Day 4 and 5 posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.
Valereee presents Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend? posted at Cincinnati Locavore.
Dave Trenholm presents How to Make a Square Foot Garden posted at Alberta Home Gardening.
Moobeema presents MooBee Farm: The Burn Barrel Incident posted at MooBee Farm.
Sister Brenda presents Da Yooper Pasties Recipe and Tutorial posted at haflinger.
Flossie presents Aunt Lizzie’s Pound Cake posted at The Funny Farm.
Stephanie presents So Much to Say! posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.
GP presents How Green is Your Garden posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.
Miss Amanda presents Cake Baking Photo Essay posted at My Learning Experience.
Jacque Dixon presents From the Archives- Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!! posted at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths.
At Tales from Creekistan, I found The Daffodil House. Just don’t look inside the house. At Blind Pig & the Acorn, I enjoyed The Fields of Home. I love that field, and read her garden wisdom. At Hidden Haven Homestead, this author is Counting Blessings. I’m just trying to count the goats. Down On The Farm shares some “Tails” From the Farm. In search of the perfect Jersey cow - bringing Buttercup home to the Back Forty. At Kentucky Hollers, Running Into the Neighbors can be a literal experience, and Catherine discovers that sometimes movie stars retire to the Appalachian foothills. Adventures in Farming coins a new saying, Snug as pigs in straw. The cutest little things I’ve ever seen. In My Kitchen Garden has an intriguing offer: Attention Homeless Organic Vegetable Lovers: Would You Like To Move To A Farm? Seriously. Pack your bags and go live with the enormous pot-bellied pig. Old Red Barn Co. clarifies work: It’s the reason you have kids, afterall. It was planting time, and lucky for Dana, she has a few sprightly young’uns. Yarnstorm muses about tulips and tempests.Wow, those colors. CraftApple instructs us on Gathering. For the seamstress in you - simple, foolproof techniques for a perfect gather. Happy homesteading, now get on with your baking, planting, stitching, haying, milking, crafting, canning, quilting life! Stay tuned next week, when the Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by Jacque at Seeking Rest in Ancient Paths. Submit your Homesteading posts HERE. Technorati Tags: blog carnival, carnivals, farm, garden, gardening with children, homesteading The Child’s Spring BookPosted April 13th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, book reviews, education, family life, features, giveaways, science16 Comments »
I present to you today the fruit of our outdoor adventure. We made several ziplock-bag-books yesterday, full of specimens of Central Oregon, in particular, Smith Rock State Park, where we had our outing. For those of you who already have your children keep a nature journal, you’ll find this project to be a perfect companion. (I’m giving away two of our books - an Oregon one and a blank one; leave a comment below by next Sunday if you’d like to enter!) The Zip-Lock Bag Book Supplies:
How To: The Pages:
Assembling the Book:
JoJo is so proud of her book, and slept with it last night. She couldn’t wait to decorate the cover with the foamy letters she received for her birthday. The other kids chose to use markers and pens to create their cover art. Some other ideas:
The hardest part about this project was the identification. Now, is that an arnica mollis or an arnica parryi? Sometimes, we just made our best guess. The rest of the project took no external motivation at all - this was such a delight for them. But certainly, the identification was one of the most valuable pieces of this book. The kids learned to look critically at a plant and really notice things they hadn’t before. The shape of a leaf, the texture, the number of petals. By the way, we are not done with the identifying - we need to check out a few books from the library. Like I said above, I’m giving away two of our homemade books, one filled with Central Oregon specimens and the other one blank for your region. Keep in mind that when I do crafts, it’s a fairly practical endeavor - just whatever is on hand - so these books will not be perfect, beautiful things! My 8 year old son will probably be doing most of the work. This is my plan: I’d like to give these two books to someone with a child who’s interesting in learning about Oregon plant life, and who will use the blank book to create his own regional book. I’m hoping that this child will then create an extra ziplock-bag-book from his region, and another blank one, and pass them on as well. And so on. Leave a comment below by next Sunday, April 20, if you’d like to win these books. My son will draw a random name and I’ll email the winner. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about our spring ziplock-bag-book! I think this is an ideal science/nature/art project for students of all ages. If you have any ideas to add, let me know. Resources:
Technorati Tags: art activities, art for children, Central Oregon, giveaway, home education, homeschool, outdoor play, ziplock bag book, nature journal, Smith Rock, spring Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: Twist(ed)Posted April 11th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, the ranch27 Comments »
This week’s theme: Twist(ed)
About 1/4 mile down the road from me, this twisted barbed wire fence marks the boundary between one old farm and another. At times it held back cattle, at times perhaps a feud.
Technorati Tags: barbed wire fence, country, photo hunt, ranch, farm MorningPosted by Jen in poetry11 Comments » I am barely squeaking this one in…SmallWorld’s Spring Poetry Contest. Ends April 10, which as I write, West Coast Time, is over in 6 minutes. This poem is called Morning, which I liken to Spring. If you take the stages of a day, then morning would be spring in my calendar of thinking. This poem was written by my mom many years ago, I’m not sure how many, but at least 30. MORNING It cometh not with observation, The earth has turned to catch the sun, It is slow addition It laps the shores around the world, From continent to continent B.P. Daniel (1929 - ) Homesteading Blog Carnival: Call for SubmissionsPosted April 10th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, family life, the ranch0 Comments My, another blog carnival is on the way! The Homesteading Carnival will be hosted here at Diary of 1 this coming Monday, April 14. You can submit your blog post/article HERE by Sunday at 9 p.m. EST. This blog carnival description reads:
Now, if you don’t have a big ranch or farm with 12 children milking goats and collecting eggs every day, do not exclude yourself from this carnival! The Homestead Act (1863) provided the original homesteader with 160 acres if he could build a home on the property and inhabit the place for five years. But how many folks have 160 acres these days? And certainly not for free. Homesteading has a broader interpretation these days. There are urban homesteaders who may not have a lot of real estate but sure have a lot of self-sufficiency. Maybe you have a balcony vegetable garden, maybe you have some good advice for living simply, being frugal yet generous, becoming debt free, or have figured out creative ways for how to make do with less. Please share your wisdom!! Here is an unfortunate thing for a Christian like myself: Christian perspectives about homesteading are lost among the ideas of earth/nature worshippers, pantheists, pagans, socialists, New Age thinkers, and other extremes of the “green” movement. I believe that the Bible has answers for a rightly balanced life, with God at the center, and that Christian homesteading can be a piece of this balance. Once again, submit your homesteading blog post HERE, and I look forward to presenting an educational and inspiring collection of articles on Monday! OH, and don’t forget to leave a comment on my Gardening With Children post if you’d like to win a copy of Roots, Shoots, Bucket & Boots: Gardening Together With Children. Closes on Sunday evening. (The author, Sharon Lovejoy, left me a sweet comment on that post! Not a paid post, just a kind author.) First Juice StandPosted April 9th, 2008 by Jen in family life11 Comments »
Lessons learned by the girls: (from Mom) Do not yell at passers-by. (from self) Sometimes it’s your lucky day and someone gives you $1.00 instead of 25 cents. Sometimes someone gives you 35 cents instead of 25 cents. Sometimes you only have two customers. For Wordless Wednesday participants, visit 5 Minutes for Mom or the WW Hub. For weekend photography blogs, visit PhotoHunt or Wordless Weekend.
Technorati Tags: children, juice stand, sisters, wordless Wednesday Are you happy or are you holy?Posted April 7th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion12 Comments » Marriage: For Happiness or Holiness? This is the topic for the Marriage Monday group writing project over at Chrysalis. I admit I really didn’t know where to begin on this topic because I was a little confused; I had never considered this view of marriage as either/or, but as both or none. Happiness and Holiness in marriage are certainly not mutually exclusive. I had to ask e-Mom over at Chrysalis what she was getting at. Well, once I figured out that there’s a book out there by a gentleman named Gary Thomas called Sacred Marriage with the subtitle “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”, it all made sense. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t presume to know all of Mr. Thomas’ basic premises. However, I did find an old article he published in Christianity Today (1999) in which he addressed the exact subject:
This cleared things right up. Why an entire book needs to be written when these four paragraphs would do… But like I said, I haven’t read the book, and I feel this way about nearly all self-help books, not just this one. IF happiness in this discussion is a selfish, inwardly focused, pleasure-seeking state of mind, and holiness is that state in which we are growing in the character of Christ, then this is an easy discussion. It seems that a self-focused happiness (what will make ME feel good) is in opposition to true humility. Humility is that holy quality of being free from pride, being intent on serving our spouse and meeting his/her needs, considering the other above ourself. So, yes, marriage should be more about working toward holiness than happiness. IF, however, happiness in this discussion is a mutual feeling you share with your spouse, as in, “we have such a happy marriage,” or a joint sense with your spouse of contentment, joy, and pleasure in your marriage, then this seems to be a holy thing in itself. And it seems silly to try to put this happiness in juxtaposition with holiness, because the two are working together like two parts of a body, just as the scriptures command. Happiness or holiness? I’ll take both, please. Death by Blogging and Other NewsPosted by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals7 Comments » Blogger, beware: your writing may be dangerous to your health, even fatal! So says the New York Times in yesterday’s article about paid bloggers, especially tech bloggers, sucked into the round-the-clock Internet economy:
I don’t blog anywhere near the level of the individuals discussed in the article, and I’m not paid for posts, but it’s still a warning to heed about technology in general and maybe I should be paying attention to how global media may be affecting my life in smaller ways. So there’s your warning, before I list all the great blog carnivals to visit. Proceed with caution. Carnival of Family Life, and also more here. While I was at the Europe Travel Blog, I came across What I See Out My Window - “bringing the world together, one window at a time…” Anthony is simply posting pictures from folks around the world, of what they see out their window. What a neat project! If you have a photo to submit, and a little story about what you see out your window, send it over there. And I must tell you about a truly fun, different, and kickin’ Appalachian site I found!! If you remember, I wrote a post about my dad called The Appalachian Accent. There are many warmhearted comments on that post, as people shared their own bits of family history, and this is how I met Tipper, a brand new blogger from down in the hollar: I go there to reconnect with the mountain folk and just to listen to her family’s pickin’ and grinnin’ - you must go see what I mean. :-) Well, dear readers, be safe today and NO heart attacks, okay?
Technorati Tags: blog carnival, blogging, carnivals | ||||
Now, that was pretty simple, and it only took me about 4 billion years to figure out. 
Welcome to the Carnival of Family Life: Tea Edition! I’m so glad you’re here, please sit a spell and I’ll put the kettle on. I’ll be weaving a bit of the fascinating story of tea into my presentation of blog posts, and I hope you’ll be thinking of warm conversations with good friends. I found a lovely old book, 
Before the end of the eighteenth century the firm of Twining was using tea wrappers, printed in the style of tradesmens’ cards of the period. Grocers also began to wrap their customers’ tea purchases in tin and lead foil, which was included in the gross weight of the tea. But the practice led to abuse, and unscrupulous grocers gave false weights. At the same time, some Chinese merchants began to colour their cheap teas with artificial powder so as to make them look like the best. G. Huxley, Talking of Tea
Strawberries are soon in season, and if you grow them yourself, how easy and delicious this tea party will be! An elegant bowl filled with fresh strawberries will grace the table, along with the table settings of tea cups, saucers, tea pots, dessert sized plates and forks. Mugs will not do for tea, but your tea cups do not need to match. It’s funny how tea tastes best when sipped from thin bone china. A white linen or lace tablecloth is a lovely touch, I mustn’t forget the soft linen napkins.
When did his scooter sprout a motor? When did those endearing “vroom-vroom” noises of my baby begin to emit from a big, scary machine and not his pouty little lips? As every parent knows, and as every older parent loves to tell the younger parents, they grow up so fast.
Calling for submissions from all you bloggers who write about family! Graciously maintained by 
My first suggestion is to get some living color. Fresh cut flowers are always nice, but I prefer a plant that will continue to give me enjoyment beyond a few weeks. Cost-wise, a large bouquet of flowers is about the same price as a large flowering plant. Here is what I chose, an easy care Bromeliad Guzmania “Rana.” You can find these plants for about $10, depending on where you shop. Better deals will be found at your local nursery versus the grocery store plant section. 
I didn’t want to leave the bathroom out of all the fun, so I bought a new shower curtain with a wonderful spring look. It was $4.99, brand new at Goodwill, and truly needed because the upstairs bath currently has no shower curtain at all. The kids always take a bath in there, and the downstairs bathroom for the guests already has a shower curtain.
Welcome to the 45th Carnival of Homesteading! If you’ve been around here when I host a Blog Carnival, you know how much I love themes! But, alas, I had issues. Computers, kids, work, and some other meanies all conspired against me. Or maybe I was just lazy.
Spring is here! It came, then ducked under a series of freak hailstorms and a blanket of snow, only to emerge this weekend for good. The kids and I basked in a perfect April day on Friday, obeying the chipper call of the season to go for a hike.
Voila, you have a lovely child’s spring book! One neat thing about this style of book is that it allows such easy access to the items. Each piece of cardstock can be taken out and handled (as children can’t help but do), and easily returned to its proper place. And of course, the see-through ziplock bag is an essential as well, giving full visual stimulation.
Total earnings: $1.35.