Princess is the first to enjoy the blue flames..

WE have hummingbirds...

and a feeder

but no nectar.. 

so

Princess thought the very first time we use the stove

should be to serve others

rather than ourselves 

gathering her supplies 

measuring out her sugar..

it occurs to her she is uncertain about her ratio's

running to the Amish neighbor to verify

produced nothing

as they weren't home... 

I reminded her that we have a cool book! 

and she began her hunt for the recipe! 

ta Dah! 

see the pretty blue flame of a REAL stove? 

wow... 

she's mixing her ingredients 

and she's all ready to load 

once the nectar has cooled..

we will have happy hummingbirds in NO time!

do you want the recipe too? 

one part sugar

to 

four parts water

heat till dissolved

and let cool..

keep your feeder clean 

your nectar can store in the fridge about a week..

keep it filled

for happy humming friends

Littlest Room - Assembly Day!

It's assembly day for the Littlest Room...

and I am beaming with excitement..

As a part of home education..

we see learning as sort of three fold

first 

one watches and learns

second

one comes along Teacher learning new skills step by step incrementally

going from doing a new skill here as the Teacher completes project

building on skills until you get to the third phase..

WAIT !!!

how long does a level  take?  as long as it takes...

Third

one does the project on their own

completely 

Teacher is quite near if student has a question, 

or "gets stuck"

that's it...

WAIT!!!

HOW do Test them?? 

The "Test" comes when it comes.. 

VERY Naturally 

When said "Student" completes the project...

and never once needed assistance...

never questioned "self" and panicked...

and the project is done..

completely

and done well, very very well...

phase 2 is sort of apprenticing on a a job..

THAT is where Buddy is at..

for the most part on projects like this,

he is NO longer a watch and learn guy..

He's super excited! 

Princess is at the tale end of apprenticing on jobs like this..

She is Level Three..

is this going to pass out??

Will this be her "TEST"

She sure is behaving like it..

She has diligently learned to study directions,

 reading the process and drawings carefully

She has learned her tool set and knows how to handle her tools

Little Man has pulled up a chair..

him DECIDING he wants to be a phase 1 guy...

this may change in 3 minutes..it may not..

each kid KNOWS when it becomes interesting

and you know..

because they stay..

they watch..

they want to get you hammers and screwdrivers

and they LISTEN to what you're telling them..

you don't have to force it

if you follow this process

So far Princess has had no inquiries..

She is quiet and careful and taking her time..

regardless of Buddy's taunts that they will "win"

She is now mature enough to know we don't RACE at this sort of thing

The ONLY time she asks her dad for something is...

for her tool back..

Machine Man keeps disappearing with HER screwdriver ! 

see THERE it is again! 

Buddy is really taking instructions very well

learning to have self control

and LISTEN are both important LIFE SKILLS

we want all our children to have before they leave our nest

and while some Life Skills come easy to some children

and other Life skills come easy to other children

we believe they ARE actually SKILLS

needing to be taught, encouraged, and nourished 

Today a skill Buddy is working on..

holding the screw and it's driver very very straight

Buddy is very good at assembly

This comes VERY easy to him..

he's a "natural" as they'd say... 

Princess is at the stage of putting together her drawer here!

Wooden dowels can be tricky,

wobbly

and we don't have replacements..

tension! 

Looking like she's nearly GOT IT! 

Ta Dah!

Job completed

project done well

very very well

and without assistance

looks like Princess passed a Skills Test!

woo hoo!!!

on to the next assembly project!

Here Buddy is a beginner Phase 2

While Princess is clearly end Phase 3

She still has skills to learn here

but will be far more involved in this project 

than when we've done similar projects in the past

parts needing "assembly" 

Buddy is Assembling ! 

mounting side rails! 

helping HOLD STEADY! 

Center beam installed! 

way to go! 

Time for slats!

first side in.. 

all complete 

After C.S. Helped bring in the box thing for beneath the bed

time to unroll our mattress..

it is memory foam

and nice and comfortable! 

unrolled it looks silly

but it needs to FILL with air!

Thankfully we will be gone for a few days

and it can fill while we are away! 

Ta Dah! 

One bed and two nightstands assembled!

What a BLESSING Princess & Buddy were!

Thanks to C.S. for hanging out with Little Man so lessons 

(lessons he has passed out of)

could be learned by his two siblings 

woo hoo!

Littlest Room is nearing completion! 

yeah Team!

just a little ORDER in the home

yes

I do like order

in the midst of

EVERYTHING

I do like 

ORDER

so we lugged up some things to help me have a little bit of it

whilst we live there this time...

home education is a blast

but it includes MORE than just books...

things like..

tiling,

plumbing,

sustainable farming, 

ecology,

painting, (house & artistic)

forestry,

scouting,

sewing,

cooking,

baking,

construction,

animal husbandry,

service,

work,

and, and ... and...ooodles of things that do not NEED "books".

Home Education also 

DOES include BOOKS

(at least in OUR home)

and they need their proper space to dwell

(at least in OUR home)

and here they are 

(for now)

happy day!

good use of the now defunct

wood burning stove ... yes?

ahhh

now 

off to gardening class!

home ec.

One of our passions is Home Educating our Blessings
We see it as one of our callings
we ENJOY being with them
(most the time... ha!)
they are fun
but we have some health challenges
and learning to cook foods that will help us all to
HEAL
has been like opening my mothers cookbook

Best ever Nutrition Book

This was NOT her cookbook
but so MANY of the recipes are true TRADITIONAL foods
healthy
healing
WHOLE
nutrient rich
sustainable
and
delicious!
C.S. is walking through this book
as part of his home-ec class
and he's learning SO much
he ACTS like it's sorta lame
but
yesterday..
(drum roll)
he asked if I could order some piima starter
buy some non-homogenized milk and good cream
clearly Little Man and Buddy won't consume this
but I CAN'T wait!
what's Piima?a yogurt
check it OUT!
HERE
talk about PRObiotics!
guess I am ordering some tonight!

Passion to LEARN

There has been a LOT of talk in the news

and at my supper table 

of the cost of fuel

the cost of oil

the cost of...

and with ALL that chatter

one lad realized something..

he didn't KNOW anything about 

ALL of that

but he REALLY wanted to

he wants to grasp the things the men speak of

and not JUST be quiet

because of ignorance

and being I have been homeschooling 

for a VERY long time now...

and have, well a few books about..

and hunting around for something HE remembered seeing once

Buddy found THIS

packed it in his Zuca

and brought it up here for me to read to him...

pretty snazzy 6 year old

(almost 7)

wow!

I appreciate anyone's desire to learn

especially when it is derived out of a passion TO LEARN

to NOT be ignorant of the discussion and fake it anways

to NOT wait till a teacher "gets around" to teaching it

but to pursue it

with vigor

and passion

and take matters into one's own hands

it's lovely to see

in anyone

but especially satisfying to see in one's own children

so 

here's to learning about 

OIL

Sneaky Schooling

After a bit of PLAYING in the Snow

it feels like...

time to WARM up

it SEEMS like

we need to do some schooling

BUT how's a mom to lure her kids heart BACK to lessons?

piece meal

bit by bit

in a REALLY sneaky way..

Time to invite Buddy to Mama's room

for snuggly time

some hot cocoa and

some stories

who knows a 6 year old not interest in THAT?

I had laid these beautiful books out on the bed

keeping it limited, to JUST these 3 books

Paddle to the Sea

is on that every home ought to have

it is so great to read it to my third child.. i actually cried.. 

I remember going to nearly all the places mentioned in the book 

when the BIG kids were that age and we were reading it..

we did a tour around some of the GREAT Lakes

we drove to New York and stopped in Buffalo

we drove to Whitefish Point and even hit the museum there

(edmund fitzgerald)

we drove to Mackinaw

to Sault St. Marie

and through Detroit over the River

we hit Niagra

(tearing up a little)

we did it all 

JUST because 

it's HOW to teach, HOW to learn, HOW to get them excited

at least for OUR family...

oh.. the memories

anyways.. 

(Paddle covers Geography & some History & Science)

King of the Golden River(Classic Literature & History)

 is another fun story, though totally NEW to me

and the BIG kids can't WAIT to get their hands on it

a short wonderful read to them

they are for once a bit jealous of what BUDDY gets to read!

they don't get to say.. OH I remember THAT book

another reason to add it to my hot cocoa reading time

and 

then there is McGuffy

it's the READER that my lad reads to me out loud with

we work on things like pronunciation

logic

spelling

and grammar recognition

(Basic English class!)

and the wee stories are darling as well

Buddy (being my Artist)

 simply LOVES the fine detailed drawings in the book

sooo.. 

we snuck up to the room 

with our hot cocoa's in hand

(snuck? what IS snuck? it's a bit like sneaked, but.. sounds better, and is in all likelihood incorrect..

WHY snuck? Little Man is napping in the room NEXT to mine

and... 

the house is old and creaky

and...

Hot Cocoa and Little Man are all words BEST kept far apart

and..

then it's not SPECIAL time with Mama!

he sure looks excited.. 

HE is all ready for READING time!

Oh happy days

My soon to be Seven Year Old Buddy

is a wonder!

That special time with Hot Cocoa, 

and Mama ALL to himself

snuggled on her BIG bed

covered History, Literature, Geography, some nature science & basic English lessons

next

a nature hike!

so that is ME being sneaky!

Craft Fair for those Wacky Blessings!

Yep..

when NOT at Blessings Farm

they still do things they will readily tell you

they'd RATHER be doing AT the farm

and getting ready for the Craft fair was definitely one of them!

One Craft WAS done at the Farm

ONE has a funny story

and ONE is plum delicious and adorable!

Wanna step inside the blog for a minute and catch a bit of Christmas spirit?

These we named Mello Men

aren't they ADORABLE

inspired by 

a desperate HUNT on Pinterest for delicious ideas

I just KNEW this would be AFFORDABLE

FUN

and 

DELICIOUS!

and I was right!

The kids had a BLAST making them

we melted the bittersweet chocolate with a wee bit coconut oil in my fondue pot

and dipped the mello's in

they are on these NEAT-O lolli-pop sticks we found at JoAnne's!

fun right?

We got the groovy sprinkles on Sale at Aldi :)

We also got the mello's there and the darker chocolate there too!

aren't they pretty!

see how shiny they are

after we decorated them

we put them in the fridge

to chill them out

and then packaged them

aren't they cute 

standing there like little soldiers stuck in boxes?

This is the VERY wonderful project Buddy made..

because the project he was GOING to make

he LEFT at Blessings Farm

and I had to TRY to come up with something 

that was

NEARLY as Terrific and Wonderful

as THAT in JUST a couple days you see..

and THAT is a LOT of pressure for a mom to live up to...

especially as I am NOT one of THOSE mothers

who will DO the project FOR The child

and pretend the child did it

I had to find something 

Buddy COULD do

that 

Buddy WOULD do

because BUDDY is and ARTIST

and that means

he can be temperamental about certain things

adding to the STRESS of the "sitUation"

IF you catch my meaning! (wink wink)

THIS is what I came up with

(and YES, I tied the ribbon! doesn't it look FABULOUS?)

It really is VERY sparkly..

The photo isn't showing JUST how sparkly it is

These are the "hard wood" puppy sticks

to keep your pup from gnawing on your furniture

give 'em a bone

or one of these

hand whittled by the Princess

Puppy tested 

(Thanks to Cinder)

and Puppy approved

here is THEIR presentation AT the 

Annual Home School Craft Fair 

See our Artist Buddy preparing his display : )

Princess

the very SERIOUS Business Woman

more of the Fair and display

oh.. these are IN the sleigh..

see how NICELY Princess wrapped them up!

The whole evening was a HUGE success!

All the students did and excellent job!

Thankful to be part of such a wonderful community