Hungry for a healthy lunch!

 

Busy morning with chores and schooling.  Busy but peaceful.  Mornings that we don’t have to go anywhere are such a blessing.  Just living and learning with my kiddos.  Really, what more can a Mom ask for.  This is my dream world =) I built up an appetite early and was ready for a lunch to sustain me through what was going to be a busy afternoon/evening of piano lessons, Boy Scout Regatta and swim team conditioning/stroke clinic.

Simple, fresh and delicious!  When I first saw/heard of putting a fried egg on my salad, I was curious.  So today I was hungry for something healthy but more filling than just a salad.  So I did it….threw all the fresh salad, spinach and veggies in a bowl and topped it with an egg (farm fresh =) ) It was so very good and definitely filling.  In our house we call this a “Do it again!”  Once again, thanks to Kath!

Thank You to A Joyful Noise Farm!

Goose and Crew fell in love with the barn cats!

Well, this would have been our yearly apple picking day but with the frost in May all of the local orchards are without apples this year.  We found a local farm to visit.  You can read more about them as a family and their farming practices here….  A Joyful Noise Farm 

Come to find that Kellie and I grew up in the same city, graduated from the same high school and college with the same degree and both began our teaching careers.  Here we meet in a different state…..what a small world!  They were so wonderful.  Craig and Kellie greeted us on the driveway and opened up their farm to us.  We learned a lot and definitely enjoyed our time there.

We can’t wait to move to a property with land!  Yes, I want to be a farmer !

Heritage Turkeys!  All of these turkeys are already reserved for Thanksgiving.

Wilbur

A really cool portable watering system.  Keeps the water clean & healthy!!

This is a a part of the portable hen house.  They move the hen house & yard every 5 to 7 days to another part of the property where the hens get fresh grass, bugs, etc.  By the time the rotation comes back to this exact spot, there will be regrowth =)

Crew says to Goose “Don’t you wish we lived here?”

One day soon Crew, one day!!

Mmmmmm…..Overnight Oatmeal!

Thanks Kath!  (One of my favorite food blogs to follow!)  I was not so sure about this recipe for a long time; though it looked good.  Cold oatmeal?!  I finally decided to try it out and I will NEVER go back    Here’s to my favorite breakfast….

No Cooking!!!  That’s right. 
I don’t always make this in a peanut butter jar, but it was almost empty so the remaining peanut butter was the perfect amount.  So Overnight Oats are just that, soaked overnight and toppings added in the morning.
Ingredients
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup of milk (we use whole now that we have started our 100 Days of Real Food )
1/4 cup of yogurt 
Put in fridge overnight!
In the AM….toppings!  My favorites….
Blueberries (fresh or thawed), strawberries, chia seeds and a dollop of  peanut/almond butter.  Yummmmm!!!

Nature Study–Birds!

 

We are wrapping up our study on birds this week.  Here are some of the activities we have really enjoyed….

Making a bird bath

Filling the bird feeders!

And lots of observing!

Sparrows, Black Winged Red Birds and Hawks!  Yes, Hawks!  I will try to get a pic tomorrow morning.

Bird Art….a directed draw, black glue and watercolors!

Making black glue with glue, a little bit of black paint and a lot of shaking!

We will continue our bird watching and identifying.  I will also try to get a picture of the amazing (but noisy) hawks that have been hanging around.  Maybe mating?! 

We have used two great resources during our study.  One, a local bird identifying book for our area and the other, Backyard Pets by Carol A. Amato.  I love this book and the activity ideas from bird feeding to housing!

Happy bird watching!

A Day in the Life

Here is a glimpse into our schooling days outside!

Breakfast on the front porch! 

After some Math, Language Arts & History we headed out for a nature walk to see what we could find.  I love that we get to walk right outside our door to this……

Findings:  Grasshoppers & a bee hive in a tree

Lunch outside in the backyard

Some quiet free reading time in the fort

And some play time with neighbors in the late afternoon/evening

Our days look very similar to this when we don’t have lessons or classes to attend.  We are going to enjoy every minute we can outside before winter comes along.  We have started feeling that crisp Fall air this past week and it is a welcome change.

A Classical Charlotte Mason Mix (with Some Other Stuff Thrown In!)

Maybe we should just call it eclectic.  Our school year has begun and we are loving it!  We are not using a packaged curriculum and it is probably because of the teacher in me.  I enjoyed researching the sooooo many options out there this summer wanting to find something that we will love for the long run; because after all Crew is now in 1st grade.   We love what we are doing but yes, I have already made small tweaks here and there.  Love being able to do that! 

I have recently come to the realization that Gods homeschooling plan for us is so much more than a “better” education.  Through prayer, listening and obedience he has helped me select our curriculum to fit OUR families needs at this very time in our lives.

1st Grade with Crew

Daily….

Calendar This has changed this year for Crew.  This is a quick independent activity for him while Goose and I do hers together.  I will post pics of each of their calendars later.

Bible We are reading What Would Jesus Do? by Helen Haidle and Read with Me Bible.  I am looking into the Grapevine curriculum “Stick figuring your way through the Bible”

Saxon 2 for Math  We did Saxon 1 in kindergarten so have moved on to Saxon 2 this year.

Phonics/Grammar  First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise, The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington and Explode the Code 3 & 4  Each of these takes 5 minutes or less to complete

Picture Study/Narration/Copy work  Language Lessons for the Very Young by Sandi Queen

Ambleside Online for Literature, History, Geography, Natural History/Science, Poetry and their wonderful reading booklists of quality literature  I love Ambleside Online for their rich literature and an awesome weekly reading schedule for the entire year.  Yes, they planned for me =). 

Free Reading  Booklists found on Ambleside Online

Piano

Weekly…..

Nature Study  Backyard Pets by Carol A Amato & Teaching Kids to Love the Earth

Art/Music  We are following Ambleside’s schedule for artist and composer study.

Handicrafts  Things we will work on:  Habits/Life Skills, Cooking, Finger knitting, & Sewing

* Crew takes a Science & Spanish class through a local program 2 days a week.  He continues to swim with Coach Russ, takes piano lessons with Ms. Rebekah and has also started Cub Scouts. 

About one hour of our day is sitting at our schooling table doing Math and Language Arts.  The rest of our day is on the couch, in the kitchen, outside or wherever our studies take us.  The biggest tweak for us is that I have really moved away from a timely schedule this year and am focusing on a rhythm/flow to our daily lives that includes learning (sometimes through books and sometimes through life).

Pre K with Goose

Calendar From the dollar section at Target.  I will post pics later.

Bible w/brother

Phonics/Reading/Writing  The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (because she wants to read like Crew),  Language Lessons for Little Ones by Sandi Queen,  Getting Ready for The Code A,B & C

Math The Great Big Book of Math Preschool

Other Workbox activity ideas from Sift & Shout by Randy Granovetter, Alphabet Art by Judy Press, and many blogs I follow!

Goose enjoys her one-on-one time with me, sitting with Crew and I, independent workbox activities and sometimes just playing on her own in the backyard or her room.  Though I have books/curriculum selected for her ,we follow this pretty loosely.  Some days she likes to sit and school with us (to be like Crew) and other days she rather just play. 

They are both amazing little people and I am so very blessed to be home with them!

It’s Been A While…..

So, here is my excuse for being out of touch…..life has been going so fast and my computer so SLOW!!  Though, I haven’t bought a new computer I miss blogging.  I continued to read my favorite blogs and have found many new ones over the summer.  I am excited to share what I have discovered; recipes we have tried, steps towards living more naturally, training, races, our new curriculum and so much more. 

I am also beginning to make some changes here and there to the blog, so let’s consider it under construction .