Thursday, January 27, 2011

Plans Interrupted......and a "Stylish Blog Award" ; )

Linking up once again with The Homeschool Village for their January Thursday theme of linking up and posting our weekly homeschooling accomplishments......although this week, I feel we didn't accomplish very much!

Last Thursday, we had our bi-monthly meeting at 4H and Jacob gave his very first devotion as Chaplain.  He learned how quickly you forget what you want to say when all eyes are upon you and I suspect that next week, he'll have notes in hand ~ just in case! ; )  I still think he did a fabulous job & pray he always desire to be a leader for Christ.

Friday is Co-op Day, and then the weekend hit.....bringing with it coughs, sneezing and high fevers that interrupted the plans we had for this week.  I have to admit, although I truly hate it when my kids are sick, it's been kind of nice to be stranded at home for several days.  Some schooling got put on hold, but Mom has accomplished a lot!  Several stacks and piles of things that accumulated here and there and never got put away due to the hustle and bustle of life got sorted and organized ~ meaning no more piles and stacks stressing me out by their presence!

My home is more organized than it has been in months and cleaner as well.  While deep cleaning my kitchen to the point that an Amish woman would be impressed, I found a cleaning chart taped to the inside of one of my cabinet doors.  I made it years ago when my children were too young to be really helpful in the whole cleaning process, taped it to the cabinet door and eventually as life got busier and busier with each passing year.....I stopped following my schedule.  It was replaced by a rather random clean-it-when-I-have-time-or-it-looks-like-it-needs-it routine that doesn't actually work very well and stresses me out!  Now, with 3 more-than-able-bodied helpers, the cleaning schedule is back full force.  Now someone can stop by my house unannounced without that dreaded feeling of, "Oh no....the house is a mess!" (although that doesn't mean it will always be nice and orderly due to these people that live with me and leave their belongings scattered all over the place!).

Like I said, it's been there for years and I need to print a new one.....thought we'd follow this schedule for a couple of weeks to see if I need to adjust it before I replace it.

We did get a lot of academics in, much of which looked a lot like last week, but due to being sick it was mostly do-only-what-we-have-to-do and nothing more.

Also, since I believe that tons of learning takes place outside of "school books"......

The day I made banana bread, I ground some flax seed to use as a healthy egg substitute which (as always) brought The One With The Inquiring Mind (aka: Robert) to the kitchen.

Flax seed, pre-ground....
 ....and post-ground:
You're not supposed to grind flax in a wheat grinder (too oily), I grind mine in a coffee grinder.  I usually grind more than I need and store it in the freezer for quick additions (makes a great thickener for fruit smoothies) and substitutions.

Whole grain banana bread with flax substitute for some of the eggs.  I do this quite often and it works wonderfully!

Flax Egg Substitute:
For each egg you want to substitute, use...

1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
3 Tbsp. water

Combine and let sit for 5-10 min, until water is absorbed.  Then, add to recipe as a substitute for eggs.

Although they've seen me do this countless times, on this day it peaked their interest and ended up being a lesson in itself, prompting opening the same book as last week to see why I go to the trouble.  Jacob, with a fever topping out at close to 104 on this day, suddenly found this book quite intriguing.....


....and because I don't think watching lots of movies {a couple were fairly educational ; ) } and laying around lethargically while our world was drowning in tissues, thermometers, essential oils, herbal teas, soup and jello qualifies as accomplishments, I think my "homeschooling" list is done.

I also received a lovely little award this week from Brenda at Therapeutic Crafting!


I love the way it color coordinates with my blog ; )  ......and, since I always follow the rules.....
To accept this Award you must:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.  (below)

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!


1.  I almost drowned when I was two-ish. I can remember very distinctly watching the bottom of the pool get closer and closer and watching the drain get bigger and bigger the closer I got. I don't remember being scared.  My sister saved me, although sometimes I'm sure she regrets it ; )

2.  I like the beach but am afraid to swim in the ocean. There are creatures in there that I can't see.

3.  I hate to cry in front of people!  I am not a person who "wears her heart on her sleeve" and prefer to shed my tears in private.

4.  I have never in my life told my "testimony" or life story, but I love to hear others' stories. I find it fascinating to hear what the Lord had done in people's lives, how events and circumstances have shaped them into who they are, etc. To me, that's what a testimony is....not just someone telling when they got saved. If I know that telling your life story is expected before I go to an event, I usually won't go because I will get emotional and cry (see number 3).

5.  I can write about things that I can't talk about.  ???

6.  I flat-out refused to blog when everyone jumped on the blogging band-wagon.  I have friends who have been urging me to blog for years and I wouldn't consider it.  And yet, finally, here I am. 

7.  I have a very real need to laugh every single day.  I am always trying to teach my children that life is so much more fun when you can laugh at yourself and the stupid things you sometimes do. God is good and faithful - He is constantly providing them with first-hand examples of how someone should do that through the ridiculous blunders their mother continually makes. : )

I actually hate talking about myself and I'm glad it was only seven things!

12 comments:

Aloha Acres said...

That's wonderful that your son is learning to speak in public at such a young age. I have a little shy guy that I try to encourage him to break out of that shell, but I don't see it happening. :)

Linking-Up from The HomeSchool Village
http://bugs2butterflies.blogspot.com

Rebecca said...

So sorry your little one(s) are/is sick! aagghhh! Runny noses and fevers....the January of our motherhood at times, isn't it! LOVE your recipe! Great to look into your kitchen and see another mom grinding the wheats for her family!!! Such a blessing!! Missed you yesterday and pray all is well! Have you received your book?

Linda said...

LOL...it seems like illness has thwarted accomplishments in MANY homes this past week!! Ours too...fevers, coughs...ick. You seemed to do pretty well even with the illness!! Great post!

I linked up about our sick week HERE.

Warren Baldwin said...

Jill,
Congratulations on winning a copy of Roaring Lions on Rebecca's blog! Hopefully you will get it today. Hope you like it!

That is so wonderful about your son giving a devotional talk!! I know just how proud you feel. How old is he? My son did his first one when he was about 8 years old. When they start out that young they don't know they are supposed to be afraid so they just do it. Or, if they are afraid, they get so much commendations from good people that they want to do it again anyway. Now, my son is 25, and this weekend I was in the audience when he spoke to almost 400 people at a youth conference/rally. I'll have some pics up tomorrow. Good job encouraging him to speak.

I Live in an Antbed said...

Hoping your sick ones are quickly well. I love how you incorporate your cooking into their education. It is such a blessing in homeschooling to be able to learn all the time, isn't it? That is so adorable about your little 4H Chaplain! I love it!

Jennifer said...

It sounds like you turned the lemons into lemonade this week! I hope everyone is feeling better and that next week goes a little more according to "schedule"!

The recipe looks great!

~Jennifer

TJ @ MeasuringFlower.com said...

Hey I am a new follower from Keepin' Company Thursdays from MeasuringFlower.com. God bless!

Brenbren said...

I hope the kiddos feel better. NO fun taking care of sick kids.
I am just like #3 #5 and #6. I didn't blog for a very long time either. Everyone told me to do it, but it ended being my husband who started the blog so our family could know what we were up to and see the kids. I did a post here or there and eventually got addicted;)

Stef said...

ridiculously funny - "deep cleaning my kitchen to the point that an Amish woman would be impressed"

thanks for linking up today!

melanie said...

Ugh on the illness!! I hope y'all are all well again soon. My husband is a chaplain in the army and for the federal prison. It's a blessing to read about your chaplain in training! How awesome!

(hopping over from The Homeschool Village)

Jennifer said...

I clicked on the cleaning schedule picture to see it up close. We have started a new chore system this week.

Jill {Sweet Diva} said...

Jennifer, this schedule works pretty well...although I will def. need to change it up a bit as my kids are older and messier now, and due to pets!
The concept is that you do one of two things a day & do it well. Then chores don't seem so overwhelming and nothing ever gets really bad. I think I originally got the concept from either FlyLady or Organized Home.