Wordfull Wednesday: A Father's Role

Here is a picture of me (age 17) riding horses with my Dad .  We spent a good many Saturdays at our farm not too far from our home and while most of those Saturdays were filled with sweaty soiling work, it was worth the occasion of riding horses.  I especially liked riding with my Dad because to be honest the horses never listened to me unless he was along.

The Family Proclamation states the following:

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families

The word protection stands out to me today. I believe it is of utmost importance for fathers in our day to protect their families by teaching moral discipline.  This is something my father did for me and I am forever grateful.

Paul just recently taught a lesson on moral discipline from Elder Christofferson's last conference talk.  In preparing for the lesson Paul asked me, "so what made you want to choose the right"?  My honest answer was ..... "I didn't want my parents to get mad at me".

There is nothing wishy washy about my dad and so there were no fine lines on the moral standards we were expected to uphold as a family.

There was no question on what was right and what was wrong because it was frequently discussed in our home.

My parents were legendary in their commitment to protect their children even to the point of marching into a movie theater and dragging teenagers out of an R-rated movie, ringing our friend's doorbells looking for us past curfew, and requesting that we go back upstairs and change our outfit while our dates were left waiting in the front hall.  Needless to say it wasn't until I was a parent myself that I really appreciated those efforts.

But here I am today thanking them. I suppose I stayed "in line" for the same reason the horses stayed on the trail..... because of my dad.  And I'll also add that he was a pretty great provider and still fun to hang out with but I already wrote about that .

More Wordfull Wednesday here    

Ticket to Ride Michigan

Last Christmas Santa brought Ticket to Ride Europe and it has since become everyone's favorite game.  The boys beg to play it every night so it has also become a great motivating tool for chores and schoolwork.

While having fun they have mastered European geography and strategy crushing their mom in countless games.

The game is so much fun that James created his own version copying the state of Michigan and its major cities onto poster board.  Last night he beat me again but we still had fun.

Peter created two more boards, one of the whole world and another of a fictitious island called Dork..... that one is probably the hardest to play because it is hard to keep track of such cities as Sad, Oval Town, Hing, Hwing, Shark Place, Cold, Toot, Bad, Hmm, and Square Town.

Games have become the newest addiction in our home and for the most part it is fun..... and when the fun turns sour we have found priceless opportunities to teach character development (including the unforgettable evening when mommy tossed the Risk board upside down onto daddy's lap!)  

Digital Artwork

I never gave proper credit to William for the new header he designed .  He was also the artist behind the old thumbprints but with the arrival of George it was time for an update.

We all love arts and crafts - the messier the better.  But with the new baby I'm limited in my ability to participate and clean up big messes so..... much of our creative urges have been filled on the computer.

One thing I've learned though is even computers can be cluttered.  My kids still struggle with keeping their rooms clean now we've got to work on clearing out their picture and document folders!

Still it is fun to see what they create - I still remember playing around with the original Mac Paint program in the late 80's.

Cortido

The kids saved me a piece of maple sugar candy and it was so sweet I spit it out then cleared my palate with a few bites of this yummy cortido (Latin American sauerkraut).

I already posted about how much I love kimchi  but knowing it might permanently stink up my kitchen I never attempted to make it.  Cortido is not as strong but fills my craving for fermented foods just the same, it is also very easy to make.

I got the recipe from my new favorite cookbook Nourishing Traditions and learned that fermentation boost vitamin levels and aids in digestion (no wonder I crave it so much during pregnancy).

Here it is - and just so you know it tastes really good on top of tostadas!

1 large cabbage
1 cup carrots, grated
2 medium onions, finely sliced
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoons whey (I use it from my kefir but if you don't have it you can use an additional tablespoon of salt)

Mix in a large bowl and pound with a wooden pounder or meat hammer for 10 minutes until juices release.  Place in 2 quart size jars and pound down with the hammer until the juices come to the top.  Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

Maple tree tapping by William

Last Saturday we went to the Nature Center with Nanny and Poppy.  We tapped maple trees there.  We learned that Vermont is famous for its maple trees (you can see it on the Vermont quarter) but we still had fun tapping them here in Michigan.  March is the perfect time for tapping.

You tap maple trees by first drilling a hole in the tree then hammering in a spout to collect the sap in a bucket.  It is important to cover the bucket with a lid.  When you have 40 gallons of sap you can make 1 gallon of syrup.

Maple syrup is hard to make.  You make it by boiling the sap for a long time and if you boil it too long it would turn to candy.  It is worth the work to make it because it tastes so good on pancakes and waffles but you should only use a little bit.

There were samples of the syrup and we tried some but it made us very thirsty.  We also bought some maple candy and it tasted familiar because when I was 5 years old I use to pick the dried syrup off the jug.

It was a fun day and I also liked seeing the geese and deer there.

On the Cover

Another Lucky magazine showed up in the mail and all I could do was laugh at it.

I was still laughing as I designed this magazine cover - it felt so good to laugh out loud that a few of my sisters and I are collecting a place to share the laughter and realities of being a mom.

It is still a work in progress but go ahead and check it out at The Mom Look.

Soda Party

What do you do for a bunch of uncooperative kids?  Throw them a "Soda Party"!

"SODAS" is a problem solving concept that we learned from Nicholeen Peck at a homeschool conference a few years ago.  We were so impressed with her message that I soon after purchased her "Teaching Self Government" seminar on CD and even e-mailed her directly for specific problems. Her methods proved to work successfully in our home  - that is as long as us parents were consistent (honestly, that is the hardest part).

I suppose I could write some sort of a proof to blame our growing list of behavior problems on all the changes we've experienced in the last year but I don't have time for that.  Instead I'll share our attempt at solving them.  

Besides working on the 4 basic skills ,  we set up a little snack time party complete with bubble blowing, lime tortilla chips, Jones Sodas and a poster to explain "SODAS".  Here's an example of how it works(ed):

 

Situation - "I do not want to read and report on a boring article from the homeschool binder"

Options - "I could sit on the couch and complain about it, or I could just do it"

Disadvantages - "If I sit on the couch all day and complain about it I'll miss out on snack time and free play with my brothers, it would be a really boring day and I'd still have to complete the assignment tomorrow"

Advantages - "If I don't do it I won't be tortured by the boring article and my hand won't ache from answering all the questions but if I do do it I might learn something interesting about the world and even better I could have more time to play" 

Solution - day #1 "I don't care if I sit on the couch all day without snack or free play"

                   day #2 "I guess I should do it really quickly"

I am happy to report that the assignment was finished before breakfast without complaint.  

Thanks Nicholeen!  

Wear your Baby in the cold!

Life had presented another excuse for emergency sewing. 

In just one day the weather changed from Winter to Spring and I could contain the kids inside no more.  

Where just last week there was an igloo, now lays a huge mud puddle.  This was irresistible to our almost 2 year old Henry and I made the mistake of thinking it would be okay to watch the kids from the front window with James in charge. 

Within five minutes Henry was crying and James was screaming for help.  Both of them were covered in mud.  Henry didn't want the fun to end and James was playing a sort of tug of war with Henry - the mud won. On my way to the rescue I discovered Clara dancing on the curb and Maryanna riding her bike in the middle of the street. So ends the unsupervised afternoons in the yard.

This poncho was constructed as a multitask tool - now I can wear baby George while I watch the kids outside.  I suppose I should probably dye it brown considering the mud matches I'm sure to have with Henry. 

I ordered the 18 oz natural Sherpa fabric from near sea naturals and used this guide to help (I couldn't help but change the shape and neckline).

Still tempted to dye it though - any color suggestions? 

 

Paul's impulse purchase

I sent Paul to the U of M Property Disposition Center for another sewing table and this is what he came home with.

He did find me a great table but I was more excited about this old card catalog. We aren't sure what we are going to use it for yet (maybe sewing supplies, craft supplies, or photos) but it is a pretty cool piece of University of Michigan history. 

In the meantime I suppose I could send the kids to the garage to practice their alphabetizing.

Geography Review

There hasn't been much formal teaching or enriching activities in our homeschool for weeks.  I've been feeling kind of guilty about it until I observed this activity the boys came up with.

One would call out a State and the other two with Nerf guns would aim and  try to get closest to the capital city.  They are all pretty good shooters after going to the Cabella's shooting gallery with Opa all summer.  As for their geography skills, they could keep practicing. 

A great meal that not everyone liked

Curried Lentils and Cauliflower

Suz requested that I make this and then blog it so she could have easy access to the recipe. It is actually quite good but as you can see from the picture not everyone loved it.

Maryanna couldn't make up her mind and walked into the kitchen asking, "What's that yucky smell that smells so good"?  She had two full bowls.

James asked when I was ever going to make some "real food from a box". He pretended not to like it but ended up eating four bowls.

Henry and Clara gobbled it up without complaint but Peter only touched his rice and William decided he'd rather go to bed early than even taste it.

So here it is from one of my favorite cookbooks Feeding the Whole Family: 

1 cup dried lentils, washed and drained (I usually soak over night)

1 bay leaf

2 3/4 cups (divided)

2 tsp ghee or olive oil (ghee tastes better)

1 onion chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (I used three but it could use even more)

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cumin (it could use more)

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I think that was too much - next time we'll use less)

1 head small cauliflower, cut into flowerets

1 cup tomato sauce

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 cup roasted cashews for garnish

Place lentils in a pot with bay leaf and 2 cups water: bring to boil.  Lower heat, cover, and let simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until lentils are soft and all the water is absorbed.

Heat ghee in a 4 qt pot or pressure cooker.  Add onion, garlic and salt, saute'. Add coriander, cumin, turmeric and cinnamon. Add cauliflower tomato sauce, ginger (actually I think it is better to add the ginger with the other aromatic spices), 3/4 cup water; stir well.  Cover and let simmer until cauliflower is tender (15-20 min.) or bring to high pressure and cook 5-7 minutes.

Stir lentils into cauliflower and serve over basamati rice.

 

Emergency Sewing

After a five week break I discovered cob webs across my sewing center.  It is hard to justify sewing when I am so behind on laundry but this project was done exactly for that reason.

Baby George was out of clean diaper covers so I jumped to it and sewed this one up in less than thirty minutes where as waiting for a load of laundry takes at least 2 hours. 

Marie gave me some really cool diapers cover from Japan so I used one as a pattern.  What makes them so great is that the front flaps hold the pre-fold neatly in place which makes for quick changing and less leaks.

I lined the cotton knit print with PUL fabric and bound them together quite effortlessly with fold over elastic.  This was just a test fit and will probably be too small by next week but I'm out of fold over elastic so hopefully I'll perfect the pattern before I get my elastic order from Wazzodle.

I do have some back up disposables on hand but George seems to be reacting to them. Besides I think babies look so cute in cloth diapers!

As for emergency sewing there may be another episode this week because it was almost impossible for me to find something that fit for church last Sunday.