Homeschool Table Time

 We kick off each homeschool day with our table time lessons. Our homeschool table time is my absolute favorite part of homeschooling. Table time in the homeschool world has many different names: morning time, morning basket, tea time, morning menus, etc. whatever you choose to call your 'group' homeschool time is personal to each family ~ but we choose to call it 'table time' since that's where we have it. 

 I prefer to do our table time lessons first thing in the morning because that is when our family is at it's 'best'. We are all in best form, present in mind, not distracted, basically 'fresh' for a new day. Since table time is the core of our homeschooling, it only makes sense to do it when we are all at our best. Also, since I practice intermittent fasting, and don't break my fast until 10am, it is perfect for me to begin our read aloud while everyone else is eating their breakfast.

The above picture is a glimpse at part of my homeschool planner. I have scheduled each week of our table time (the top section of the page). These pages tell me what hymn, bible verse, interactive notebook, storybooks, projects, and quiet time boxes to do for each week. Our bible, nature, and nonfiction books are just read as we see fit for each day. This is the first year I have used these personalized weekly planning sheets, and they have been AMAZING!! As this year has progressed it has been easy for me to add, subtract, and make adjustments. We have accomplished more than we ever have and I owe it all to this detailed homeschool planner I created just for our family.

Our table time routine looks like this: I first read aloud from a bible story book (I own several that we have read through over the years). We read from a nature book; sometimes it's a fiction book while other times it's nonfiction. Then we read from a nonfiction book. I really enjoy picking a series so we can follow characters throughout multiple books and storylines. We practice reciting our weekly bible memory verse, then we sing our weekly hymn or praise song. I read our scheduled story books for the day. (I plan these books out before the school year begins). We also do our interactive history and science notebooks and the coordinating read alouds. Table time is also when we do our projects, whether it be crafts or experiments. To wrap up our table time we pray.

To keep the littles occupied and as quiet as possible during table time, I have designated educational activities for them to do. I have been intentional to budget for these educational toys throughout the years, and we have acquired quite a few. 

I've tried to box up the toys into coordinating totes, which are only brought out during supervised play time ~ mostly just table time. Some of these toys were not cheap, and losing pieces typically renders the toys useless, hence the fact that they are put up and only brought out during table time.

 Most of the toys were purchased through Amazon or Learning Resources. My favorite time to purchase educational toys is on Black Friday/Cyper Monday and Prime Day. I can usually find great deals allowing my budget to stretch even further.

The educational toys I purchase have to be quiet toys which means they don't make noises (obviously if they required batteries and made noises that would defeat the purpose of quiet time toys, lol). And yes, even my little bitty ones are required to sit at the table for table time. It's a good lesson for church or other times when they will be expected to sit still and be quiet. The homeschool lessons are not always book lessons, but lessons in behavior and character; from mama all the way down to the baby. 

Does our table time always go off without a hitch? Hardly!! No day is ever void of an opportunity for mama to child train. I've learned that planning and scheduling helps keep those hiccups down to a minimum. My children tend to do best when they know what is expected of them and there's a consistent routine. Every family has to find their own homeschooling groove. It's highly unlikely any homeschool family will look like the next, but we do have a common thread and that is to give our children the best platform for learning; and for us this is what is at the core of our homeschool day and works best for our family.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Homeschool Routine

If there is one thing I've learned in the nearly 16 years I've been homeschooling, it's having a set homeschool routine is critical. Without a 'set in place' routine for my children and myself, we wouldn't get done half of what we get done. Our homeschool routine changes every year, and even more so when we add and graduate children. 

I keep our homeschool routine posted on the fridge for all the children to see which helps to keep the squabbling to a minimum. No one can argue whose turn it is to do what. If my older children are not scheduled to be doing something then they have free time (within reason) but they must remain in the house in the event I need them for something. 

The above routine is my personal homeschool routine. We first start the day with table time (which I will be going into more detail about in my next post). Table time includes all members of the family who are under the age of 18 and still officially in 'school'. Next I do tot school group lessons. These lessons are currently done with my five children under the age of seven. Then I have one-on-one time with each of my children to go over their individual lessons.

I do one-on-one time with each child in a separate room, with the intentions that we will be undisturbed, but with a house full of children this does not always happen. Some of my children require more of my undivided attention than others when it comes to lessons. I evaluate this yearly and make adjustments to the schedule accordingly. 

I have gone to great lengths to teach my children to 'own' their education. For the most part, my older children do their lessons independently, and their one-on-one time is mostly for accountability and for me to review their work. While I consider us to be relaxed homeschoolers, and maybe even unschoolers compared to some; I do require my children to partake in some form of academic lessons daily.

This second chart is mostly for how I strive to keep my younger children occupied during my one-on-one time. I would love to say my younger group of children were well behaved during our lessons; but honestly, if they're not scheduled to be doing something constructive WITH a supervisor they will most likely get into trouble. {{sigh}} Which is why I have devised the above routine. 

My big kids do not need this chart/routine. They are very well behaved and have learned how to use their time wisely, my younger crew not so much. This chart helps all of us stay focused and make sure everyone is doing their part to make the day run as smoothly as possible. After table time and tot school, my oldest son sits in the living room while the littles as they watch a scheduled educational movie. Next, they go to the girl's room to play puzzles, educational games, and play in the weekly sensory box with my oldest daughter. Then they rotate to play in another room where our blocks and play kitchen are located. Last they play outside on our back porch where we have riding toys and for the warmer months we have a water play station set up.

I have times posted for this routine, but they are really just for a guide. We begin the day when we are able  and then proceed in order of what the schedule indicates. Each of the big children are required to watch/play with the younger kids for 45 minutes ~ and YES I set a timer, because if I don't, there will be arguing about who did what for how long. {{insert eye roll}} Real life here y'all ~ I refuse to sugar coat the way things are, that doesn't do any good for anyone.

Our homeschool routine is a suggested guide. We do not live our days in bondage to it. We make adjustments as we need to each day. But, it's great to have a plan, a goal to pursue each day. I've been doing some variation of this routine for many years. When I had just littles we would do 'blanket time' where the children not doing lessons had to sit on the blanket and play quietly with a designated toy. But as my children have gotten older I'm able to adapt the routine to fit our ever changing needs. 

I'd also like to add that I've always 'scheduled' play times for my children. It's real easy in large families for certain children to group together, alienating other siblings. Some children like to play with just the babies, while others don't like having anything to do with the babies; or children born close together had rather play with just themselves. I think it's important to be intentional to cultivate sibling relationships across the board. By scheduling my children to have playtime with all their siblings, it insures they're building relationships with each of their siblings and not just one or two. 

This is our current 2019/2020 homeschool routine. In August I will reevaluate and make adjustments as needed. For the most part it will probably stay the same in for the next school year since we will not have any children graduating and I don't officially add children to lessons until they are two. While it can take some time figuring out a viable homeschool routine, it has been well worth it for our family for many reasons. But, I especially love our homeschool schedule because it allows me to spend adequate time with all my children, making sure they are getting the academic help they need. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Back to School Hike at Lake Howard

If you hang around this blog for any length of time you'll quickly catch on that I LOVE traditions. I absolutely love planning for them and looking forward to them coming around each year. One of our back to homeschool traditions is to go on a celebratory hike concluding our first week. For many years we went to Mount Cheaha State Park. But after they upped the entrance fee from $10 a car load to $8 PER PERSON we quit going there. 

On a trip back from the beach three years ago I discovered Lake Howard. Which happens to be an amazing off-the-beaten path boating and hiking destination. It's actually a dirt bike trail, but plenty of folks hike there and in three years of hiking at Lake Howard, I've only seen one person riding a bike on the trail. It takes about an hour to get there from where we currently live, but since it's free, it's totally worth it to me!

I think it's so fun to take the same pictures year after year and watch our family grow. This particular hike was just me and the eight younger children as my husband and oldest had to work.

I must be honest half my children do not enjoy hiking. But, they typically admit to having fun after we venture into the woods. I always have at least one kiddo who is thrilled to be on the hike. You know that one who wants to walk right beside me, volunteer for a dozen pictures and even slips their hand into mine as we hike along the trail. It really makes all the extra work, dragging eight children out the house and into the woods totally worth it!

I'm a huge proponent of baby wearing. There's so many styles to choose from these days, that it's super easy to find a brand and style the suits your needs. My favorite is the Beco Baby Carrier. I've worn my current carrier with four different babies to great extents.  It was worth every penny and then some. I couldn't do half the stuff I do with a baby in tow without a baby carrier, especially hiking. My bigger boys and my husband have even worn this baby carrier. And I've yet to have a baby that didn't love riding on my back (or front).

The Lake Howard trails are wonderfully maintained and accurately marked ~ which is not always the case with many of  the trails we've been on over the years. Of course, my children love to venture off the path for a little exploring, but even then the brush is adequately cleared. 

I must give a disclaimer though in regards to the Lake Howard trails, on a scale of 1-10 (one being the easiest and 10 being the hardest), I'd rank them at around a 7. This would especially be in regards to the main trail. There are some intense inclines that might be difficult for some folks to navigate. 

That being said, my three year old does walk the trails on his own. But my crew, as you can tell, pretty much grow up hiking and quickly get acclimated to the rigors of intense trails. I try not to make a big deal about it and just encourage them when they start struggling. But there have been times when a big brother or sister has helped piggy-back ride a little one at difficult parts of our hiking adventures. 

When we are  hiking I usually will set my cell phone timer for a minimum of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I reevaluate how everyone is coping on the trails and if we're doing okay we keep on walking, if not we turn back around. I do try to be mindful that the little ones will have to make it back out, lol. At Lake Howard it takes us about 40 minutes to reach where the main trail forks. So, that is always our goal for this particular hiking adventure. 

If it were up to me, I could go hiking at least once a week, but that is highly impractical under our current family dynamics (and  I wouldn't change those for anything). Which is why I'm extra grateful for the times when we do make it into the woods to enjoy God's creation. Being in nature helps me to regroup and refocus my energy. For some reason when we're hiking I seem to forget all the worries of life and I can just breathe, feeling truly at peace. So while it does take an act of congress to get us to these little hiking adventures of ours, they are so very worth the hassle to me. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Adventures at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve

This week we had to take our three year old for his bimonthly craniopathic chiropractic adjustment. Since it's on the other side of the big city (typically over an hour away) I always try to plan an outing with the kiddos. We've explored much of the greater Birmingham, Alabama area in the realm of free nature explorations and even some that were not so free; so I've had to broaden our circle of travel destinations. It doesn't help that a huge chunk of downtown Birmingham is under major road reconstruction including massive detours, which means some major navigating finessing for this non-geographically inclined ol' girl, lol.

While searching for a new place to explore, I came across Turkey Creek Nature Preserve which is about 30 minutes outside of Birmingham via the interstate. Unfortunately, that part of the interstate is closed so to get there you have to travel highways and backroads, doubling how long it takes to reach the preserve. I had planned to go the last time we went to my sons appointment, but then realized (at his appointment) it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, argh. So I went ahead and scheduled his next appointment for a Wednesday so we could finally head out to explore Turkey Creek Nature Preserve despite it being further away than I would prefer.

Well, folks we finally made it to Turkey Creek Nature Preserve and it did not disappoint! It was a super neat, donation only, outdoor place to explore. There was some amazing watering holes to swim in and there were even folks tubing. We ended up hiking along the creek which to me was more of a river, but hey if they want to call it a creek so be it. The trail was not really maintained well, but I did see plenty of trails that appeared to be better maintained when we were driving through the preserve.

I was quite impressed with my children's ability to scramble over the rocky terrain. There was only a couple incidents where my kiddos slipped and fell. Which I found to be a miracle because the rocks along the creek were covered in slippery algae. Thankfully, they were all good sports and even disappointed when we had to turn around on the trail due to a fallen tree.

I prefer exploring nature spots that aren't so heavily populated; that was not the case with Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. There were people everywhere! We passed a good many folks on the trail as well as dozens swimming/tubing in the creek. It's not that I'm anti-people, but it takes a lot for my children to decompress and actually immerse themselves in God's creation. I love to see them truly become one with nature and be intentional with their time 'outside the box'.  I'm not saying they didn't enjoy themselves, but all the people around were definitely a distraction.

Several of my children were severely crushed that we didn't bring our swimsuits and floats. I must admit it would have been nice to cool off from the intense heat and humidity, but with the long drive I just didn't think it would be wise to add 'exploring the watering hole' to our itinerary. Perhaps I should have planned differently, but now we just have all the more reason to go back.

Part of the adventure for me is getting to take dozens of pictures ~ my kids typically know this is just part of the trip, but I didn't get too many pictures during this outing. Sadly, even one of my pictures was accidentally deleted, which happened to be the only one I captured of my 16 year old {{sigh}} Sometimes that's just the way things happen, unfortunately. I know life isn't about the pictures, but it helps me to remember those special little memories that mean so much to me. Much of life is hard and not so pretty so when we're in the beauty of God's creation I want to savor it for everything it's worth and my pictures help me do that in a long term fashion.

Yes men can (and do) wear babies 😍

Yes, we're the crazy parents who take eight children into the woods for an adventure, because you know 'every-day life' isn't adventure enough, lol!!

Hiking with children is not an easy feat especially when you've got a large family with lots of little ones, but I never regret the effort when we go exploring nature. I spent many years making excuses why not to go hiking, boy am I glad I quit making excuses. Hiking is one of my most loved past times as a child and while many of my children are not big fans of hiking, they usually admit to having a good time once I drag them out there.

Sometimes doing the not-so-easy thing doesn't reap massive rewards but the subtle ones do exist ~ even if you have to look a tad bit harder to see them. Besides, we all know a little change of scenery is good for regrouping and refocusing. Our midweek adventure certainly helped to break up our rough start back to homeschooling. I'm beyond grateful we had the much needed distraction and that the Lord brought us to visit Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. It was definitely worth the extra drive and energy to experience it with my family.

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Raw Confessions of A Homeschool Mom

We are kicking off our 15th year of homeschooling.  I can't believe we've been doing this for that long. In some ways it seems like we just started and in other ways it seems like it's been an eternity.

I must admit that my original reasons for homeschooling were not for religious convictions ~ as they are now (Lord knows if it weren't, I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago!). The reason I began homeschooling was for two main concerns #1 I really didn't think five years old or six years old for that matter were old enough to be away from the nurturing love and 'safety net' of a mother AND #2 the negative influences from the non-parented students to the anti-christian environment that makes up our current public school systems. Those reasons alone are enough to make my stomach church and spur me to do whatever it takes to keep my children away from such entities.

Despite my current laundry list of reasons as to why I homeschool now, there are days (okay if I was being truthful ~ weeks, maybe even months) where I do not want to homeschool anymore. I have zero desire to do it. My heart simply isn't into it, and I would do anything to put my kids in any school system so long as their education wasn't solely resting on my shoulders. Sometimes the truth can be harsh and not-so-pretty, but that's just where I'm at these days.

When folks are touting all the awesomeness of homeschooling they have a tendency to leave out the nitty gritty details that homeschooling isn't always so glamorous. Sometimes, it downright stinks. There are some days when the non-stop character training (i.e. disciplining), refereeing, and pleading with children to just sit still and finish the one assignment put in front of them (that should have only taken 10 minutes to complete ~ but has droned on into hours) is enough to drive Mother Teresa to have a nervous breakdown. And when those awful no-good days become the norm ~ homeschooling just doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

If you have been homeschooling for any length of time and haven't had a rut of bad homeschool days ~ congratulations (I rejoice with you!!), but I have a feeling most of you have been there and many of you may find yourselves dreading the up and coming homeschool year. Trust me friend you are NOT alone! I have been there and this year has been one of those years. Even though I went through the motions of planning and prepping for our 2019-2020 homeschool year; I also spent and exorbitant amount of time researching a local private christian school. {{sigh}}

YEP, I am that mom. I won't lie or sugar coat it. I'm feeling the homeschool burn-out, and my desire to homeschool just isn't where it needs to be. But, I know there's really no other option for us and in my heart of hearts I do want my children to be at home and I really do love homeschooling. What really has me teetering on the edge of insanity is all the other stress that distracts from our homeschooling. Like the non-stop disciplining, appointments, external family drama, cooking, cleaning, you know.....life. And to add to my homeschool struggles; this year I'm officially teaching SIX grades plus two in preschool. To say I'm stretched thin, is putting it mildly!

I'm really not complaining. I know I have a great life. I know without a shadow of a doubt I am 100% called to this perfectly imperfect messy homeschool life. But, I want to be real. I want to share my trials as well as my triumphs. I want all you struggling homeschool mamas to know YOU are validated and it's okay to not have it all together, to not really be sold out to homeschooling (all the time), and that the only reason you keep on keeping on boils down to the simple fact that you KNOW you're called by God to homeschool.

I'm here to let you know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are in this together and we can do this. Even if the journey isn't as pretty as we thought it was going to be WE can finish the race God has set before us.

The never-ending, ever-draining, unappreciated task of educating children from home is certainly not for the faint of heart. The huge task cannot be undertaken without the strength and wisdom of the Lord. There's nothing like an emotionally draining day of child training coupled with trying to impart some sort of knowledge onto ungrateful children to bring you to your knees, broken before the Lord. When we feel like we cannot go another inch, correct another child, clean another mess, or teach another lesson; He can. 

I'm not telling you that if you follow a serries of suggestions it's going to magically fix your homeschooling woes and restore your love affair with wth the art of homeschooling. Sheesh, sometimes wading through the muck and mire of the homeschool trenches can drag on and on with no easy fix, and that's okay. Don't think you're failing because homeschooling isn't easy. There will be times (even extended seasons) where it's really hard; but I know for a fact that if you're truly called to homeschool, God will sort the details out and carry you through.

One day all our hard work will be rewarded, even if it isn't on this side of heaven. I've learned over the years that answering the call and being obedient to The Lords commands doesn't always reap instant rewards. When it comes to homeschooling, I'm afraid for the most part, us mama's are storing up treasures in heaven. It will only be when we meet the Heavenly Father and hear those beautiful words: "Well done my good and faithful servant," that we will truly grasp the extent of what we did through the strength, love, grace, and mercy of The Lord. It will be in that moment where we will finally understand why we were one of the few called by God to educate our children at home.

Here's to putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best we can to make this an awesome homeschool year ~ we got this my dear sweet friends. 💗

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Taming the Laundry Beast

Now that summer is officially here, it's the perfect time to tackle some tasks that may have been pushed to the side during the hustle and bustle of the school year. Yes, summer can be just as busy as the rest of the year, but to me, it seems to have a more mellow feel to it. While spring cleaning is awesome, I like to take summer as an opportunity to get caught up on additional household projects that I have been neglecting. I know that laundry can be a major pain to stay on top of for any size household, but I've got some tips and tricks to help y'all get it under control!

A household of eleven can generate a ton of laundry! If I don't stay on top of things, the laundry monster can rear it's ugly head and make life mighty difficult. No one likes to have massive amounts of laundry to wash, fold, and put away; which is why I made a commitment a long time ago to keep our family's "laundry beast" tamed! Dirty clothes are just a part of life. There's no sense in complaining about it. It's just something that has to be done. I have found creating a laundry plan and sticking to it, makes keeping everyone in clean clothes a breeze.

Now I know many families, especially large families, assign laundry duty to children; and even require older children to do their own laundry. That just won't work in our household for many reasons. The main ones include: we don't have the space for mountains of laundry waiting for a teen to wash, I only wash FULL loads of laundry and none of my children (or adults) have that many clothes to fill a full load, and when littles 'help' fold clothes by themselves they are hardly folded and typically misplaced; which creates more work for me when I have to hunt for peoples clothing. With all that said I do believe children should learn to do laundry which is why I have daily laundry helpers, who can be closely supervised by me.

My personal laundry plan is super easy and effective. I think all mommies across the board, whether you stay at home or work, will find that this system can easily fit into your busy lifestyle.

1. Designate a location for 3-4 laundry bins. Divide the bins into 'colors', 'lights', 'work', and 'linens'. I typically combine our colors and lights and just sort as I do the wash, therefore only needing 3 bins.
2. Teach all family members to bring dirty clothes to the bin and sort accordingly. This is probably the hardest part of my laundry system. But, I literally teach this system from the time my kids can walk, they bring their dirty clothes to the bins. Just an aside here: There is dire consequences in our family if dirty laundry is not brought to the appropriate bins. My crew has about 4 complete outfits a piece, if they forget after too many days they will be hurting for some clean clothes, and this mama has very little sympathy, especially since I graciously do all the laundry.
3. Do a walk through of the house on your way to start the first load of laundry each morning, especially the bathrooms, to collect any stray dirty laundry.
4. Begin your laundry washing at the start of each day. If there is a bin full, throw it in the wash. Move it to the dryer, and start the next load if there is one. Repeat until all the laundry bins are empty. I don't typically do a load of laundry unless it is a full load; which isn't usually hard to come by with our large crew, lol.
5. I save the folding for all at once, usually towards the end of the day. After the laundry is folded it is past out to those who can put it away while the remaining I put away. THE LAUNDRY IS NOT DONE UNLESS IT IS PUT AWAY!

With this system I usually end up with two days of no laundry, YEAH! And, on the days I do laundry it's rarely more than three loads, typically just two loads.  I know some folks prefer to do all their laundry on one day; this just doesn't work for me because 1. I don't want to spend HOURS folding and putting away laundry on just one day, I'd rather do a little each day. AND 2. We simply don't have that many clothes to wait until one day a week to wash our dirty clothes.

Taming the laundry beast is super easy when you have a plan and stick to it. 'Dirty clothes' doesn't have to be a 'dirty word', lol. Just look at it like you would brushing your teeth or eating; you wouldn't skip doing either of those each day. What you purpose to do daily becomes a habit and second nature. After a while it simply becomes an automatic system which makes your life easier and creates peace within your household. Start today with a laundry plan and no longer stress about keeping your family in clean clothes.

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

How to Exercise When You're A Busy Mom

I am extremely passionate about being healthy and helping other women achieve optimum health. Here's another post from Modern Mommy Mentor regarding how busy mamas can make exercise a daily part of their lives....

Lets face it, it's hard enough to exercise before kids, but once babies are in the picture exercising quickly gets put on the back burner! A mom's job is endless: 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It doesn't matter if you work outside the home or not, the responsibilities of raising children is nonstop and demanding. The best way to keep up with this magnitude of responsibility is to maintain your health. Proper nutrition and daily exercise are essential to keeping YOU in the best health you can be to effectively manage your beautiful tribe.

The question remains: How does a busy mom maintain an exercise routine when she can barely manage all of her daily tasks as it is? Mothers can make every excuse in the 'book' not to exercise. Removing those excuses is the key to creating a healthy exercise routine which can carry you through motherhood and beyond. The following steps are simple yet effective ways to insure you are taking the best care of yourself through physical activity; so that you can adequately serve your family.

• Ask the Lord to help you establish a life-long exercise routine that is within your physical capabilities.
• Don't compare yourself to other women, especially fitness models who have most likely been 'airbrushed'.
• Commit to waking each morning before your children to exercise a minimum of 5 days a week.
• Choose short, yet effective workouts such as HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) combined with weighted exercise (use some dumb bells, they help to build strong bones and keep osteoporosis at bay).
• Invite an accountability partner to join along in your fitness journey. Share your victories and struggles with each other, but most importantly hold each other accountable to your daily workouts!

HIIT workouts have been my saving grace to remaining committed to a daily exercise regime. I exercise 6 days a week for 15 minutes with moderate exercise sequences which target my whole body. Through this type of exercise I have been able to lose 50 pounds and maintain the weight-loss for 6 years, and nearly 4 pregnancies. This types of short yet intense workouts are super easy to incorporate into a busy moms schedule. For more details on how I use HIIT in my busy mom life, check out this post.

One of a mom's most important assets is her health. Without a healthy body she is unable to sufficiently manage her home and serve her family.  Our families deserves the best that we can give them. When we purpose to maintain a healthy diet and remain committed to daily exercise our bodies respond with improved sleep, ample energy, positive mindset, as well as reduced sickness and injuries. I encourage you to make today the last day of excuses in regards to NOT exercising. The steps listed above are the exact ones I have used to remain faithful to my daily exercise routine for the past 6 years.  I invite you to use the same steps to make your health a priority with a personal workout program that can easily fit into your busy mom life.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

Taking Back Your Evenings: Why We Do NOT Do Extracurricular Activities

Once folks find out that we purposefully do not do sports or other extracurricular activities I'm typically inundated with questions of curiosity. And then usually comes their defense as to why they choose to do them. I'm not here to convince you one way or the other, but I am here to share why we choose to do things counterculture. AND to let you know there is an alternative, you don't have to follow the 'crowd' - you CAN raise children unto the Lord without participating in extracurricular activities. So here's another post I wrote at Modern Mommy Mentor....

The family unit is a true gift from God. Our current culture makes it mighty difficult to cultivate healthy family relationships. Families barely see each other long enough each day to have a conversation much less build lasting relationships with those who should matter most. Parents both work outside the home, children are sent away all day to school, and then evenings are filled with a myriad of activities for all members of the family. With these types of schedules its no wonder the family unit is struggling.

There's a misconception these days, that extracurricular actives are necessary for raising well-rounded children. While children may be more adept to team work and nurturing a competitive nature; they're missing out on key skills to thrive in marriage and parenting. We all know children learn best by what they see and experience first hand. When a child witnesses the daily interaction between their parents, they are gleaning valuable resources for when they establish their own families. The more the family is separate from each other the harder it is to create those valuable teaching moments.

We knew when we began having children that we wanted something different for our family, especially for our children. We wanted to pursue a home life that enabled us to develop close relationships with our children. It was our hearts desire to give them adequate training in maintaining healthy family relations. Relationships that would go so much deeper than just 'folks who share a house'. We searched the scriptures and the wisdom of the few families we had encountered who were purposing to live counter-cultural to today's norms. As we prayed and studied God's word we realized there was so much more to choosing NOT to do extracurricular activities.

5 Reasons We Do NOT Do Extracurricular Activities

1. We financially could not afford the high costs of extracurricular activities for a large family. The costs of equipment and materials required to do most extracurricular activities is very costly and not conducive to a modest single income.
2. We wanted to eat our family dinners together every night. Eating meals together and sharing the events of our days is just something special we cherish and we don't want them interrupted by practices, games, lessons, etc.
3. We wanted to have family worship in the evenings. Teaching our children the word of God is the most important aspect in raising our children. To consistently join in family worship we knew we had to plan our evenings to where we were at home and not spread all over town in different directions.
4. We didn't want our children confused as to whom their authority belonged to. We are all ultimately accountable to Christ, but God places parents over their children. When we start adding in other adult authoritarian figures, confusion can easily become an issue. If a coach or instructor tells a child to do something that is against the parents teachings, the child is put in a difficult situation that could have been avoided.
5. We didn't want to undo the purposeful sheltering we were doing through homeschooling. We homeschool for many reasons, but one reason is to shelter our children from ungodly influences until they are more grounded in the faith to handle situations which are contrary to the teachings of Christ.

There are many defenses as to why children should participate in extracurricular activities, but for our family we believe there are far more negatives to separating our family in the evenings. We value the time we GET to spend together. We've found that simply replacing traditional extracurricular activities with intentional family adventures is sufficient in filling in the gaps of not doing sports and other lessons. We are a not against athletics, the arts, or other special interests that could fill our evenings. On the contrary we are a very active family and enjoy learning plenty of new and interesting recreational activities; we just prefer to keep our evenings as a special time for encouraging healthy family relationships.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

P.S. Picture is of my sweet Titus taken by me, we may be anti playing sports ~ but little baby boys in ball caps with a ball and glove is just too cute. :)

Faithfulness & Contentment

Most people don't do anything without a reason. We all have a reason why we wake up each day, go to our jobs, clean house, stay at home with the children, go to bed at night, etc., etc., etc.. Whatever it is that we are doing each and every moment of our lives: there is a reason why. Now I'll admit sometimes when we're in the throws of something we may not have a clue why we're doing it, but I believe if we stop and look hard enough we'll discover exactly why we're doing it.

I kind of have a reputation for being wishy-washy or even worse a flake. I have wavered in so many areas of my life that I wouldn't even want to start trying to tell y'all about them. For one I'd be embarrassed and for another I may actually lose any ounce of credibility I posses through telling you all my shortcomings. Sad thing is this is not the sort of reputation I want to have nor do I desire to pass these awful traits on to my children.

My husband is the polar opposite. He is grounded. He hardly ever sways in his convictions. He's a man you can count on regardless of the situation. He makes me want to be a better person. He keeps me grounded and often bursts my bubble at times just to keep me from floating off into Never Never Land. He truly is a good and godly man ~ a man I know I don't deserve, but thank God for every day.

So here's a major confession: I'm struggling with this website. Yes, I know I'm only a few days in ~ now y'all can see exactly where I can be a flake (insert groan). You ask why am I struggling? I'm sure y'all will find it quite humorous, really. Y'all see my last two websites were 'paid-for' websites. They were quite fancy with all the fun bells and whistles. And, well, Blogger for free is just very limiting. I don't want to share too much and seem ungrateful; because after all, it is a FREE blogging platform! I truly am thankful to be able to write and hopefully encourage other women on their walk with the Lord. But, I do want to be real and genuine as possible, sharing my struggles.

Funny thing is I can't even remotely validate a 'paid-for' website because I have zero intentions of trying to make a profit from my blogging. I'm over that garbage. It almost makes me angry just typing it ~ thinking about how nearly every blogger out there is simply waiting to market their next product and sucker you into buying it. Convincing you that your life will never be the same if you don't purchase whatever they're marketing. Chances are you'd be just fine, and most likely you could find the exact same information on another website for FREE. 

So as I struggle through this angst, I'm trying to remember what is my purpose of this blog. Why am I here? AND to give myself some goals and accountability in regards to this blog.

1. To encourage christian women on their journey of being a wife and mother. especially those who homeschool and homestead.
2. Keeping myself accountable in my journey of following Christ.
3. Sharing our family and lifestyle with those who are interested in the 'simple life' (specifically an alternative to social media - where I can no longer 'hang my hat')

Wow! And there you have it: my reasons why. My reasons why I'm choosing to blog at Country Mama to Many. None of these reasons are dependent on any special Theme or blogging layout, and for that I'm grateful. But these reasons ARE a perfect springboard to keep moving me forward, to not give up. To prove I can remain faithful and content where the Lord has me. And who knows maybe one day I might just find my self back at a 'paid-for' website with more flexibility. 

For now I will graciously be writing on my free Blogger blog and I will keep my reasons why in front of me as I purpose to be content. I will share my heart and do my best to honor God with what I write. Removing this negative flaky stigma that seems to over shadow my character is important to me and this I believe is a great place to prove I can change. After all change can be a good thing! Not to mention what a perfect life lesson to use to teach my children about faithfulness, contentment, and how to allow the Lord to use you wherever He plants you!

"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

P.S. Picture is courtesy of Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. I'm still under the old adage that every blog post needs an image, lol, and I just happen to think this one was pretty. :)

Organized Chaos: Homeschooling with Babies & Toddlers

Yes, I'm going to go ahead and share three posts in one day! I'm anxious to get all my posts moved over and start adding fresh stuff, so here's another one I wrote over at Modern Mommy Mentor. And hey y'all this one also includes my first freebie for over here at Country Mama to Many!

Homeschooling can pose many of it's own challenges in the best of circumstances; add a baby, a toddler, or both and it can quickly become a complete nightmare. Don't fret, mamas, you're not alone and there are ways to minimize the distractions. Yes, it does take a bit of juggling, and adapting; but by this point in the game I'm sure you're quite experienced in those departments! Take heart and keep reading to help get some ideas to make your days less stressful and more productive. Especially make a point to scroll to the end of the post and get your FREE Mama's Homeschooling checklist!!

We're in our 13th year of homeschooling and we have run the gamut of distractions, disorder, and pure upheaval during our homeschool days. Enough to make me romanticize about the glorious yellow cheese wagon that passes my house twice a day, and how easily it could whisk my crazy kids off to a day of someone else teaching and training them. And with that fantasy includes my toddlers going to daycare for someone else to potty train, clean up after, and corral all day long. My house would be clean and organize and my stress level would be drastically reduced. But, nope that's not what God has called me to, that's simply not the path for our family.

God called me to homeschool a long time ago. I fought it for some time, but literally had no peace and became vehemently ill after putting our oldest into public school for kindergarten. After three weeks we un-enrolled him and never looked back. Oh, I can assure you, I've threatened to send them all back, but they were always just empty threats. The days are long but the years are short. It sounds so cliché, but I can't believe we're about to graduate our first-born child! Has it been an easy road, absolutely NOT, but it has been 100% worthwhile and exactly what we were suppose to do.

Over the years we have developed a system which works to help keep the chaos to a minimum during our homeschool days. The more children we have had, the more we've had to adapt and adjust our homeschooling to accommodate the range in ages and the myriad of needs each child 'brings to the table'. While there are many facets to our system, today I'm particularly addressing how we handle the babies and toddlers of our crazy crew. Trying to educate older children while entertaining and containing the youngest members of the family can be mighty difficult, but with these few tips I can assure you homeschooling can be done with babies and toddlers.

Homeschooling With Babies & Toddlers

1. Give your day over to the Lord. Pray for your homeschool day and trust the Lord to orchestrate it the way that He sees fit. Get done what you can get done and don't worry about the rest.
2. Recognize and accept that you will have distractions. Plan accordingly for phone calls, visitors, minor accidents, and discipline needs. There are a multitude of interruptions that can occur in a day, simply acknowledge this and plan to adjust your day.
3. Minimize scheduling events such as doctors appointments and extra curricular activities during your typical school time. Creating a consistent school schedule that children can depend on is beneficial for all ages.
4. Don't compare yourself to the public/private school system or other homeschooling families. What works for one family will most likely not work for another family. Evaluate your family and determine the best schedule, system, and plans which allow YOUR family to thrive.
5. Group as much academic lessons as possible. Our family combines bible, history, science, writing, projects, art and all field trips. We start our day doing 'table time' which alternates these subjects throughout the week. I add more advanced material for the older ones and make adjustments for the younger ones as needed.
6. Utilize all 'restraining' devices (lol). Such as high chairs, booster seats, play pins, bouncy chairs, swings, etc. We take advantage of these  baby items often, especially during table time. The younger ones can typically be entertained for quite some time in a highchair with some toys or baby snacks.
7. Take advantage of nap times. Schedule lessons, especially one-on-one time during baby's nap time.
8. Assign sibling play time. We schedule each of the older children to take turns playing or reading with the younger kiddos, while I'm doing one-on-one with other children. This allows the older ones a small break from school and it encourages a special connection between siblings.
9. Set the toddlers to play close by you with quiet toys such as blocks, sensory boxes, and other educational toys which do not make noises. I require my toddlers and preschoolers to play quietly near my feet while I am doing one-on-one with other children. This allows me to keep a close watch on them and helps them to learn to play by themselves.
10. Consider homeschooling year round. A year round homeschool schedule has been a major blessing to our family. With this type of system we are able to reduce our workload through high stress seasons and pick it back up after life settles back down. We can easily keep our daily school time to 3-4 hours, which gives us plenty of flexibility and reduces the stress of trying to get so much done in a day. I love that I can plan for a few hours of school, a few hours of home management, and then still have plenty of time leftover to devote to the little ones.

Homeschooling is truly a gift from the Lord, even when your family dynamics create challenges. Learning to ebb and flow with those challenges is perhaps the greatest lessons of the day. Teaching your children to be involve with and help with the babies and toddlers is a life lesson that will stay with them for a lifetime. Building a strong family unit through a homeschooling system which includes all the family members, even the babies and toddlers, will only improve your children's overall academic experience. So, mamas it's time to relax, create a simple schedule, delegate junior mama's helpers, and enjoy your homeschool day.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

P.S. To help you keep the chaos to a minimum and stay productive throughout your homeschool days. I've create a Mama's Homeschooling checklist which you can print to help keep track of your one-on-one time with each of your children. I simply print off a sheet for each of my kiddos at the first of the week.  I write in what I plan to do with each child for the week. Then after we do their lessons I can check off each subject to make sure we're staying on target for our academic goals. Sometimes it's the simple things which help us simplify the most, but we've found these little checklists to be a super awesome asset to our homeschool days. I hope they will bless you as well.

Mama's Homeschool Checklist

Homeschooling With Learning Disabilities

Homeschooling is an extension of who I am and where my heart is. It is one of my deepest desires to encourage all mothers that they can and should home educate their children. Here's another one from Modern Mommy Mentor talking about how even children with learning disabilities deserve a home education.....

I have been told by parents, on more than one occasion, that the reason they can not homeschool their child is because their child has a learning disability. I find this all the more reason to pursue a home education, and I speak from experience. Today I’d like to share something that has been heavy on my heart lately. I want everyone to know that home education and learning disabilities can beautifully coincide, even if it doestake a lot of prayer and hard work.

To be perfectly honest, all of my children have experienced some form of learning obstacle(as I prefer to call them). We have addressed each one with prayer and trusted in God to sort out the details. My husband and I have worked tirelessly to help our children overcome many of these learning obstacles. That’s what parents should do! Nobody has my child’s best interest at heart more than me and my husband and I will never trust someone else to adequately address their personal needs and that includes the gift of learning.

We have encountered color blindness, speech impediments (2 children), severe speech delays, and a child with high functioning autism. We have never used the ‘free’ resources provided by the government, but we havedone our ‘homework’ and learned how to address each learning obstacle with God’s grace, mercy, love, and prayer. I have been overwhelmingly inspired and encouraged by God’s hand in each and every situation.

We recently experienced a glimpse of the miracle God is working in our six-year old’s life as he struggles with autism. Everyday, I consistently do his lessons with him; which includes working with numbers, writing, and reading. I have to sit with him and help him through every question, number, letter, and word. Sometimes I have to help him hold his pencil to write, but we do it, everyday. All my previous children have done the same work and could do it independently, but not him (and that’s okay). My prayer is that one day he willbe able to do the lessons independently. Well, this week he surprised me by bringing me two assignments that he had completed by himself! Can we say Hallelujah!!!

I send all the praise to the Lord above, for it is only by Him that we can be the parents our children need us to be. Unfortunately, more days than not I fail at this one simple task, even with God’s grace, but that is not God’s fault, but mine. Most days it would be far easier to put my child into a public school system, take advantage of all the “free” programs, and let someone else deal with the challenges that come with educating and tending to a child with special needs. But, that wouldn’t be God’s plan for our family. God didn’t give these children to anybody else, but solely to me and my husband. God’s word says He will not give us more than we can handle and that He will provide a way for us to address every need we will ever have.

Through our efforts of home educating children with learning disabilities I have learned a few things to make the journey a little more peaceable:

1. Pray over your child before lessons
2. Maintain a routine and stay consistent with academic requirements
3. Seek to have quiet during lesson time, remove distractions
4. Set realistic goals
5. Be cautious with ‘advise’ from others
6. Take things slow and let your child set the pace
7. Don’t let your child sense any frustration on your part (trust me you’ll experience it at one time or another)
8. Don’t compare your child to other children, especially academically
9. Do lessons orally, sometimes holding a pencil can just cause problems when in actuality your child really does know the subject matter
10. Give lots of love and praise

Having a child with learning disabilities is not without many challenges, but with those challenges comes the opportunity to practice faith and watch God work. God has created all of us special and unique and I think that is awesome! I wouldn’t change any of my children if I had the chance; each one is a blessing and has enriched my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I praise the Lord for giving me each one of my children and allowing me to home educate all of them. I will go to the ends of the earth to insure each of my children are given every opportunity to learn the lessons God has for them.

Don’t let learning disabilities be a reason not to home educate your child. I can’t imagine what would have happened to my six-year-old had we put him into public school. Fortunately, we will never know, for he will always have the sanctuary of his home as his platform for learning. There is no one better suited to educated a child than his or her mother, that is the way God designed it. Don’t be afraid of the unknown, live out your faith and trust in God to help you through the challenges associated with home education and learning disabilities.


With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

Unschooling With Purpose

Since it is the season of 'back-to-school' I reckon I'll post all my past homeschooling posts from my Modern Mommy Mentor website. Here's one sharing how we intentionally make learning a life-long passion instead of a brief season of life....

Our family views home education a little different from most folks. We didn’t come to these beliefs over night, but after much studying of the scripture, prayer, and research. Just like so many facets of our nation, the education system in our country is inadequate and broken. from the beginning of our home educating journey we knew we didn’t want to conform to the world’s ways just because that’s the way its always been done. That is why we choose to take education beyond the typical classroom and utilize something I like to call Unschooling with Purpose.

Recently, I saw on social media where parent after parent was plastering their children’s report cards for everyone to see. I’m sorry, but I just cringe at the thought of “grading” children. If a child doesn’t make straight A’s and B’ does that make them any less of a human being, are they not special or worthy of a parent’s praise? I would challenge parents that if their children are NOT making the “grade” than they need to evaluate their personal involvement in their child’s education, how well the teacher teaches the materials, and whether or not your child is being given every opportunity to learn said material through different venues and outlets. Not ALL children learn the same way! I truly believe children want to learn, do well, and succeed but they MUST be given every opportunity to do so. (which isn’t usually found in the realms of sitting at a desk for 8(+) hours a day with 15-30 other students the same age.)

I don’t grade or test my children. I am INTIMATELY involved with each one of my children’s education. I know whether or not my children grasp the concepts taught without grading them. We do not move on to new subject matter until I am convinced they fully grasp the content. The few textbooks we use are simply used as a springboard. We ONLY use them as a GUIDE to keep me aware of topics I feel are beneficial for my children to learn. And we don’t do every problem or even every lesson. Learning should not be tarnished by requiring children to learn topics so they can pass a test.

I really don’t understand why homeschooling families feel the need to recreate the public school system. I am not talking about having a school room, I actually think it’s beneficial to have a designated place to store all the home educating supplies that can be accumulated over the years. What I’m referring to is putting your children in a designated grade, making them do text books (workbooks) all day, completing 'so many lessons' in a year, etc. Our family does NOT place our children in a specific ‘grade’. My children begin learning at birth and Lord willing they won’t stop learning until they are called home to heaven. We do lessons year round and every day; every moment we are awake is an opportunity to learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge.

We focus on teaching godly character, inspiring the LOVE of learning, and teaching practical skills that will enable them to be competent capable godly men and women who can adequately manage their own households. I listen to my children’s interests, engaging them in conversations about their hopes, dreams, and desires. I purchase books and materials that will encourage them in their God-given passions. We involve our children in our daily lives, not giving them restrictions on what they can learn and do because of age. Given the opportunity children can learn to do most anything. We allow our children the freedom to be creative and use their minds. We limit their ‘technology’ time, trading it for a more constructive activity.

Learning shouldn’t be separate from our every day lives, but an extension of every moment we get to experience. The gift of learning should never be governed or restricted by anyone. Yes, there are certain topics that are important to learn, but they should never be force-fed for the sake of that’s what someone thinks should be learned at a specific age. Our time on this great earth is numbered and it is our sincere desire for our children to experience all that God has for them to the fullest. We’ve come to the conclusion that this can only be accomplished by breaking the bonds that come from the typical classroom environment.

I have truly been in awe as I’ve watched my children grow in wisdom and knowledge. We’ve given them the freedom to learn at their own pace. We’ve brought them along side of us as we’ve worked and learned new skills. But, most importantly they’ve been given the privilege to learn in a safe, non-hostile environment where the only expectations they have is to do their very best unto the Lord.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Colossians 3:23 (KJV)

As a parent I believe it is our duty to give our children every opportunity to grow in wisdom and knowledge. For our family, we knew that would be impossible if our children attended school outside of our home. We will not support a broken educational systems that ‘graduates’ record numbers of children each year who can barely read or do basic math; by placing our children in those programs. Praise the Lord we still live in a country where we have the freedom to home educate.

It is an honor to be used by the Lord to lead my children through their academic journey. Just today, my oldest son said he loved to learn and hoped to learn as many things as possible. Once a child develops a heart for learning and realizes they can learn anything, there is no stopping them! Education does not have to be bound to a classroom, Unschooling with Purpose enables our family to experience the true joy home education.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

Perks of the Year Round Homeschool Schedule

We are homeschoolers and have been for over 14 years! We've recently graduated our oldest son from our homeschool ~ it went so fast 😢 But, since it's apart of who we are I've always written about it. Here is a post I wrote last year about why we homeschool year round....

When you begin homeschooling there are an array of different aspects to review and evaluate.  Not to mention all the normal every day mommy responsibilities that must be continually addressed. All these crazy dynamics can quickly overshadow the joy of homeschooling. The days can seem long and overwhelming with the weight of wanting to 'do it all'. But, in reality the load is too great and impossible to achieve while working in the parameters of the traditional academic school year. Which is why I highly encourage the year round homeschool schedule.

It's so easy to get overwhelmed with the many demands of motherhood and homemaking without homeschooling. Add in homeschooling and it's a certain recipe for a mommy overload. Many mothers are quick to recreate the only academic system which they know once they start homeschooling: the public school system. And so begins the massive overload of schoolwork, extracurriculars, and general life demands. This system is broken, and will NOT work within the home setting. Give yourself a break mamas and ditch the system. Trade it for a nontraditional academic program rich in family and the treasures this world offers. There's so much to see and experience outside the classroom, which gives children a solid background to launch them into any career field their hearts desire.

With this nontraditional way of thinking homeschooling no longer looks like something we do each day for so many hours, but an extension of our lives. Instead of only recognizing 'school' as what happens when working through workbooks and textbooks sitting at a table; acknowledge it as something we do from the moment we are born until the moment we enter the gates of heaven. Learning happens 7 days a week and 365 days a year.  It is a privilege and gift from the Lord. People, especially children, are in a constant state of learning. Give them the opportunity to explore, listen to their interests and help them soar through the world of academics.

I agree that there is a time and place for traditional school texts and even workbooks, but they should never be the sole source of learning for children. It has been proven time and again that children learn best through hands-on lessons, preferable self-driven by their own initiative. As a homeschooling mother we would be wise to sit back and be simple observers; even helping to create and spark our children interests with as many 'learning outside the box' opportunities as possible. All the seasons throughout the year can be used as a learning platform for children. When we limit the academic year to just a few months and only to that which can be taught in a classroom; we are gravely limiting their options for true academics.

Once your academic platform is rooted in viewing homeschool as an extension of each and every day; it's easy to see why a year round homeschool is the best option for fulfilling the many demands of life AND educating our children.

Top 5 Reasons Why We Homeschool Year Round

1. Access to all the seasons to fully incorporate 'outside the box' learning experiences through field trips and hands-on learning.
2. Reduced hours spent schooling each day so that normal, every day activities can still be accomplished (like house cleaning and doctor appointments).
3. Relaxed holidays. Focus on academics can be traded for family festivities and truly enjoying the special season instead of  the drowning in the weight of school work.
4. Easier to plan for sicknesses and unexpected distractions. Sicknesses are going to happen and unfortunately so will other life-altering events. With a year round homeschool schedule it's easier to take off 'school' for those seasons of life.
5. Children have the time to be children. Their days should never be consumed with boring structured academics. They should be free to explore and enjoy their childhood. Adulthood and rigid schedules will be apart of their every day norm before they know it. Why not let them enjoy the freedom of adolescents to it's fullest?

I could continue on and on in regards to the many reasons we love the year round homeschool schedule. It just works for our family as does the nontraditional approach to homeschooling. I realize the year round nontraditional homeschool platform may or may not work for each family; but, the most important goal for each homeschool mom should be finding the balance which will allow her to find the true joy in homeschooling. The days are long, but the years are so very short. Don't waste them overwhelmed and bogged down with too much book work. Enjoy the time you have with your children, it truly is a special gift from the Lord.

With Love and Hope,
Jennifer

August Harvest

Despite my better judgment and personal convictions in regards to social media; I have spent the past 2 years immersed in Instagram. Looking back I feel cheated and swindled by the Deceiver. But as with so many mistakes in my life God did use my time there to cultivate a few 'real' relationships. And for that I am grateful! 

The funny thing with the internet and social media, even blogging - you can recreate yourself over and over again. You can be anything you want to be. Unfortunately that can backfire and ultimately God always knows the true you. You can't run from God. Fact ~ Like it or not.

Our family has been 'homesteading' before homesteading was the thing to do. We did it because we were called to do it and because we had to do it. We had a very long season of 'leanness' and growing our own food was just what had to be done to make ends meet. (government assistance is just not an option for us - everyone has to do what they feel led to do, this is just our own personal convictions and story)

We had gotten to the point where we purchased very little in the form of food from the grocery store because we'd learned to grow AND cook with what we the good Lord provided through our very large garden and animals. 

Long story short (or maybe simply for another day) we backed off of our homesteading efforts and kind of just did it for a hobby and a nice supplement to our dietary needs. So, when I created my Instagram account I shared very little about our past homesteading efforts. 

Because of our personal background I enjoyed following others on similar homesteading paths. And since I'm typically a chatty person and like to help others, I often tried to share some wisdom, tips or suggestions in regards to gardening, animal husbandry, and food preservation. But much to my dismay they were not well received and typically brushed off as a woman who didn't have a clue! Insert gasp! 

See ~ because I had run from God and my true calling I was unable to be used by God to help these young up and coming homesteaders. The point of this post is not to debate social media but the fallacy in misrepresenting yourself in any form wether virtually or in realty. And I'd like to say I'm not trying to be prideful or boastful, I just happen to have years of experience and unfortunately mistakes under my belt that it would be nice to spare other folks those same setbacks!

Despite me running away from our simple life and homesteading lifestyle we have maintained a garden to some degree every year and this year was no different. The main summer garden season is currently wrapping up and soon we will be prepping the soil for our fall gardens. Which is one of the many wonderful perks of living in the south: The opportunity of 3 growing seasons! 

Despite us currently living 10 minutes from our old homestead where our gardens are located, we've had quite a successful garden and have preserved way more produce than I had expected we would. God is good like that always giving us more than we deserve. His mercies truly are never ending.

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, 

slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." Psalm 103:8

Our Muscadines, Scupindines, figs, and blackberries are all producing giving us a little here and there. When it isn't much (like this half

gallon mixture) I just add them altogether in a freezer bag and freeze them for smoothies when the kale and spinach starts producing in the Fall.

 We've had our best ever harvest of butternut squash! We've picked at least 30 of them ~ I really should have kept count!

August is the season of okra in the South! We like it battered and fried of course but I will 'oven fry' it on occasion.

Any extra that we can't eat fresh, is cut and put into freezer bags and added to meals (from frozen). But you can fry from frozen too, it just tales a little more work and isn't nearly as good as frying from freshly picked.

The peppers are slowing down ~ about a gallon every picking. This year we've dehydrated most of the hot peppers to pulverize into crushed pepper to sprinkle onto meals. We all love spicy hot food around here!!

Finally the tomatoes are slowing down. Whew! Tomatoes can wear a person out! All we did with the tomatoes this year was make tomato sauce. As the season is dwindling down we're quartering the tomatoes, placing them in freezer bags, and freezing until we accumulate enough to make it worth our while to have a canning session.

Our oldest so graciously bought 20 chicks (we've lost 2) to help keep our family supplied with farm fresh eggs. The middle kids are handling their necessary care, but my oldest is still providing for their needs. Which is a huge blessing to our family and we are grateful for his contribution to our homesteading efforts!

My goal is to only cook/bake with farm fresh food either grown from us or through small family farms. We are blessed to have a local honey farmer who produces amazing organic raw honey. We typically purchase a 'seconds' batch in a 5 gallon bucket but this year he didn't have any of those so we're running low on our honey. We were so graciously gifted with 2 quarts of honey this week which will be rationed through the very last drop!

So, how's everyone's gardens wrapping up this season? What are you doing to get ready for the fall gardening season? I'd love to hear your garden goals? I'll be sharing ours very soon!

With Love and Hope,

Jennifer