Slowing down...

My life is getting busy right now and I don't have the time I would like to blog as much as I would like. I will still be blogging but at a MUCH slower pace. 

I thank you all for continuing to come here and commenting. 

I speak a lot about living a simple life, I have to remember that means with my time too. :)

Why I Lose My Mind...or live with teenage girls.

Do y'all know who this is?

 No?

Then you either don't have a pre-teen or teen daughter.

Or yours are normal.

Mine?

Not so much. 

The fact I now know that Harry Styles dated a 32 yo woman, Liam was on X Factor before and that Louis loves suspenders really concerns me.

You understand the gibbering goes on for hours in the day. Hours. 

I apparently no longer have daughters, I have Directioners. Seriously.

While I joke that it drives me insane, inside I am smiling.

Why?

Check out this blurry old picture.

1985 + Me + Duran Duran = Enough said.

It Takes More Than A Textbook.

 I home school the 3 youngest ones in our family. 

The oldest is nearly 21 and completed his education in a public school setting.

I often get questions on how we home school them. 

If you are a homeschooler then chances are you are in a homeschooling group. 

You will recognize the typical conversation that goes on when the group gets together. 

It goes something like this...

"Have you tried Time for Learning? Charlotte Mason? 

We are doing Saxon for Math, Abeka for science, lapbooks for history and Classical Conversations for language arts....blah blah blah blah"

Curriculum. Or more to the point, curriculum choices. Homeschool parents who seem to agonize over every single choice as if their entire life depends on which book they pop open for science. I'm not sure who decided to make this a complicated mess. But it is.

Often I will get the same questions from fellow homeschoolers or from 

people new to the concept of homeschooling.  

'What do you use to teach the child with?'

My answer, "Not a whole lot."

Which is mostly true. I am a hands on learner, I do the same for my children. We learn by experiencing life and applying real life as educational application. 
 
When the children do do traditional work, I use Switched On Schoolhouse.

Simply because it is all encompassing. I don't have 50 books to keep up with, I don't have to check 3 different children's worksheets or reports. I simply log in my computer and see how they are progressing. But the number one reason I use SOS is because it is child led. Which is why we homeschooled to begin with. Let them learn at their own pace is my motto. With SOS when the child seems to be breezing through the work with not much effort, we move them up. That's right. I stop them in their progress and plop them into a new one. I can hear the cries of teachers and traditional homeschoolers now, "Whhhhhatt? They might missing out on some important fundamental tool!"

Maybe.

But I believe in immersion. I have seen it work with my children and I believe in it.

I have seen a child tell me they do not know the first thing about dividing and 3 hours later dividing 3 digit whole numbers. Immersion people, don't discount it. 

Furthermore my goal is to keep learning a challenge. If the work is easy and not challenging, my children will lose their interest. I have also been know to toss SOS aside for awhile when they have expressed interest as a group in a subject, experiment or idea. We will immerse ourselves in that for a few days or even weeks. 

When my children saw an documentary about farming one year, 

we abandoned our typical school work and immersed ourselves in that topic. 

From viewing movies, to hands on experience to reading about it. 

We let the child's interest lead them in what they learn for the most part. 

So, that will probably rule out the next question of testing. I don't believe testing is the way to gauge a child's intelligence. It just happens to be what they remember on that given day, under pressure and if the questions are worded in a way that will get them to respond. That is not a true measure of their knowledge and intelligence. I believe when I see them using the education freely without thought in a real life setting, they have learned it. There is no paper test that can accurately judge a child's intellect. 

If your searching for a Christian curriculum that can be used as a child led I would strongly suggest that you check in Switched On Schoolhouse. And no, this isn't a sponsored post. Switched On Schoolhouse isn't sending me free stuff for endorsing them. 

This is just me, a homeschool Mom talking about how I educate my children. 

Drop a comment if you home school, if you public school or private school and tell me how you make sure your child is not just educated but challenged to learn. :)

Hurricane Issac

Posting will resume to normal once Hurricane Issac has passed us in Southwest Florida. 

Hopefully if we lose power , it won't be 10 days before we regain it like last time! 

Yikes.

Keep us in mind, send warm thoughts and prayers if your inclined. 

Thank you!

Beware of The Green Agenda.

Have you heard this saying?

Apparently, there is a "green agenda" and we should be aware of it.

So I am told. 

There is a school of thought that too much caring for each other and the earth is not a good thing.

Who knew?!

Seriously, an ultra conservative person said to me in my reference of trying to be a better steward 

(remember that word, steward)

that I need to be careful not to be buy into the "green agenda".  They were rather serious.

I was confused. What exactly is a "green agenda"? I had never heard this before.

They explained to me that there is a notion that environmentalism is not all it is cracked up to be.

And that I needed to make sure it is in "moderation". 

I need to be moderately concerned about the earth?

Why, I ask.

'Because anything that comes between you and God is not good.'

But aren't you assuming that environmentalist are putting the environment before God?

'No.' Dead pan.

How so, I ponder.

Because, they explained, 'They put the environment over people. Look at how they value the animals over people. And if we get too caught up in saving the environment, we forget Him.' 

But...didn't God create the Earth?

'Yes.'

Didn't He create animals for us, asking us to a STEWARD over everything he created for us?

'Yes.'

So, being a steward means to care for, right?

'Yes.'

But you think that caring for the things God created is becoming between me and God?

'I didn't say that. I said when we put those things before God, it's a problem.'

 But can't that be applied to anything? Like McDonald's, money, cupcakes - I ask?

'Yes.'

Well, why is there not a cupcake agenda?

~blank stare~

Why aren't we warning fellow Christians about McDonald's?

~crickets~

How about the fact most people fight over and get divorced over money...where is the agenda on that?

I wait.

'McDonald's is not that bad.'

Game ova. 

Signed,

Conservative, Christian, Environmentalist. 

Be concerned people, be concerned. 

Spreading Sunshine

I have been behind in my posting not only regular posts, but also a very special post. 

Right before I got sick I was given this awesome award from a truly special blogger friend, Sarah from Nature's Nurture.

The Sunshine Award is an award bloggers give to other bloggers "who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere."

Wow.

I am and have been just blown away that Sarah included me in this!

She is someone I find to be so inspiring. I love reading her blog, I am always finding myself learning new thing. So, for her to include me in this is so humbling. Thank you Sarah!

On to the award ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sunshine Award is given from bloggers to bloggers.  It’s for someone “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”

Okay, so here’s how the award works.

1. You should thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
2. Answer the following questions about yourself.
3. Choose 10 of your favorite bloggers and link their blogs to your post.  Be sure to let them know that you are nominating them for the award.
4. Be sure to copy and paste the award to your blog! ( I can’t guarantee, nor do I expect, that everyone on my list will also post this on their blogs, but they are truly some of my favorite, most inspiring pages to read every morning!)

The 10 Questions:

1. Favorite color: Turquoise blue. I adore it !
2. Favorite animal: Cats. I love love love cats. Any kind as well!
3. Favorite number: I don't really have one. Never have. Does that make me strange? 
4. Favorite Drink: Sweet Southern Ice Tea, helllllur.....born & raised in the South!
5. Facebook or Twitter: Facebook for sure. I can't seem to Twitter properly.
6. Good book or good movie: 
7. Giving or getting gifts: Giving! I love giving gifts. I love to see their faces when they open it. That I say to my children, is my gift. :)
8. My passion: To live simple and lightly.
9. Favorite day: Monday ~ I get to start a whole other week.
   
10. Favorite flower: Hydrangea, any color. 

My 10 Nominations:

(In no particular order)

1. Sawdust and Paper Scraps. Truly, have y'all checked her out? She has mad skills! Because of her (stalking her on her Facebook) I decided to no longer buy crappy furniture but build it. I use to do this when I was a young Mom and it fell by the wayside. Now I am inspired to do it because of her blog & willingness to share so much information!

2. The Year of Less. Amazing, that is the word I say over and over when I read this blog. I am so challenged when I read this. Yes, I failed miserably at the no dryer month challenge. But I will do it again, when I am not sick.

3. The Minimalist Mom. Enough said.

4. Naturally Mindful. Stephanie has so much information she shares. I love reading her posts. Her latest post about curbing fleas is one of my favorites! 
5. A Baker's Dozen Barnhouse News. Please take the time to stop by this blog. Out of tragedy and loss comes a story of a large family who are thriving by the grace of God. It will be impossible for you not to be inspired by this family or their beautiful homestead. 
6. A Life Unprocessed. Where does one start? From making your own lacto fermented foods, to caring for your hair chemical free... you will find oodles of information here! 
7. The Nerdy Farm Wife. I adore this blog. I do. I am always enlightened, inspired and challenged when I read the posts. I know you will too! :)
8. Passionate Homemaking. I have read this blog for awhile. I consider it actually to be one of my 'resources'. I refer to past posts often for info and look forward to new ones! :)
9. Small Footprint Family. From social issues to recipes, you will find a great deal of inspiring information here! 
10. Off The Grid at -30. Glo and her blog are one of my very favorites. And if you haven't check it out by now, you need to get your backside over there pronto!

Growing old. Ungracefully.

I'm still here. I promise.

I have been sick. After a long night/early morning to the ER

it seems I need some surgery. Sigh.

Nothing serious. Just my gall bladder is defective. 

Expired. Old. Out of warranty. How ever you want to look at it.

Now I am in a death lock battle to with the insurance company over it. 

So in the mean time until I either lay a golden egg or they come to their 

senses, I am going to be on bed rest and tired.

But I have several posts cooking, so I hope during my bed rest I can deliver them up.

Lots of good information too...

Another series about purging & living simple.

A post about how hard it is to live on less when you make more.

Also encouragement to be paper free in your home is in the works.

And I am working on a special giveaway for you, my awesome readers. 

For no other reason than I love you all. The feedback is amazing I get from you all.

I love it. I love when I write and you all get me. It makes a girl feel special. :)

Until then....how about some pictures?

Christian @ 2 yrs old - Now 20 yrs old.

Josiah @ 2 yrs old - Now 5 yrs old.

Madison @ 5 yrs old - Now 14 yrs old.

Faith @ 4 yrs old - Now 11 yrs. old.

How is your week going?

This sums mine up.

I just put it out today.

Next to the doorbell.

Can't take no more.

Happy Friday the 13th y'all! ;)

Just Send...

 There are a few dozen draft post that are either title only, half written, written and 

needing editing or just sitting there because even after all the finishing touches, it just isn't right.

I stare at them every few days and try to figure out what is the deal. 

Then I stop staring at them and just click "new post".

Just like I did now. 

And I will write and never stop until it is done, maybe to edit some spelling errors.

We all know I don't do a good job in that area. 

Then I don't send it to "draft", I just hit "publish".

No reservations. No fear. Just send.

Which makes me wonder why the others are still sitting there. Why didn't I just send those?

After lots of free time and deep thoughts I figured it out.

Those are the posts I am trying too hard on.

Trying to add content that I think you will all like. Not realizing, if I don't 

write what I like then chances are you won't be interested in reading it.

Those posts are the days when I my insecure self says, "It's been 5 days since you posted. Your going to lose readership if you don't post more often." , "You need to be more like, insert cool blog here, and show more tutorials, photos, recipes or whatever is the cool thing to show." or the one I dislike the most, 

"How are you going to grow your blog if you don't have great content?"

How about this.....I don't care. 

I am glad I don't give into those ridiculous thoughts.

This point of this, for me, is not to see my blog get lots of readership, have perfect content, 

or to make sure I am trending. The point of this is to share. 

Share what I know, what I feel, what I see and what I think to be good.

If you all want to come along for the ride, well that is just even better.

You like me, you really really like me!

Imagine my surprise when I log on to the blog and see I won an award! 

I know, me? An award? I am honored!

Thank you so much to Carla & DeAnn over at Our Journey To Self Reliance for honoring me this award!
If you haven't stopped by their place, I urge you to. So much information there, it's not to be missed. 

Now for the rules of this award... I have to list 7 things you may not know about me.

And then pass this award on to 7 other worthy bloggers. 

Seven Things You Wish You Never Knew About Me

1. I will run like you are an axe murderer if you try to make me touch the cotton

out of a pill bottle. It hurts my teeth to touch it and I make my children take it out.

2. I may or may not own a pair of Jason Aldean's jeans. Autographed.

3. I think milking a cow is better than any cruise you could ever take.

4. I am deathly afraid of water and can not swim (hence why #3 is so appealing).

5. I am a night owl and morning person but despise afternoons.

6.  I have gall stones and refuse to let the Dr. take my gall bladder out. So far.

7. I made my daughters take piano lessons for 6 months. They abandoned

their lesson book after 6 months and instead taught themselves to play Guns n' Roses and

Motley Crue ballads on the piano instead. I am so proud.

Seven Bloggers Who Deserve This Award Way More Than Me 

Andrea - Frugally Sustainable 

I have learned so much from her blog. I have always wanted

to know how to use herbs and such, and thanks to her willingness

to share I am learning!

Nature's Nurture

Sarah constantly inspires me to think outside of the box.

And I am always amazed at her love to teach others too. 

Her ideas and recipes are out of this world!

Kelly - The Morris Tribe

C'mon, if you don't know who Kelly is....then your living in a

van.....down by the river. Seriously, how awesome is she?

Her posts make me think and almost always inspire me to 

keep taking baby steps in this journey! 

Stephanie - Naturally Mindful

This girl knows her stuff! She took me to  school with her post

about plastics!  She is a Mama after my own heart. :)

Clean Mama

If there is one thing I love to do is organize.

And if there is one thing I hate to do, it is clean. But

Thanks to her, she helps me organize and get my dreaded 

cleaning over with so I can enjoy my day!


Random Recycling
Emily has so much good info she passes on! 
A variety of posts on just about any subject, as long it is green. It is
my go to place when I am needing to know something!


Jill's Home Remedies
This is exactly what it sounds like, Jill posts some of the best
home remedies. I love her blog and it never fails to teach me something!


Here are the rules for those nominated by us:
1. Copy the Kreativ Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
2. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
3. List 7 things about you that people might find interesting.
4. Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Kreativ Blogger Award.
5. Leave a comment on the blogs you nominate to let them know about the award.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mama's out there!

:)

While I am relaxing....

I have been on vacation so I am a bit slower to respond to comments and emails.
Posts have been scheduled so as not to interrupt your reading material. ;)

Former Coupon Queen Comes Clean Part. 2

If you missed the first part of this series, you can read it here.

When we left off we found out our oldest daughter had an allergy to food dyes and wheat. And

I was finally reading food labels, not price stickers.

I went into the kitchen and scoured the fridge. We were left with meat and a veggie.

For weeks I struggled.

I tried to by the food dye free gluten free foods.

Wow, they were expensive.

No one told me what was naturally dye free or naturally gluten free.

I struggled as my own wheat test indicated I too should not be consuming wheat.

I stopped.

For months I replaced our normal processed food diet with processed gluten free

versions.

It still was a struggle and more than anything for this former Coupon Addict...it was really expensive.

3 months in, I made a wonderful friend. She was a Celiac.

While we had issues with wheat we were not deemed Celiac, just intolerant.

She taught me what in nature was naturally gluten free.

I put down the boxed meals and starting combing the internet.

Surely others were experiencing what I was.

I was shocked by the sheer number who was.

I found community, information and most of all.....

I found hope.

Fast forward to today.

Our family on a whole is gluten free and uses no artificial food dyes.

I am mostly grain free. We purchase 50% of our food on a regular basis organically.

My husband lost over 100 lbs. I lost 40. My children's faces are rosy and healthy now.

They have energy that they never knew before.

We do this on a budget of $100 - $125 a week. For a family of 5. No coupons.

If organic was not important to us, I could go much lower.

But since we believe that part of the growing population to food allergy is

environmental related, we choose to opt out whenever possible.

But there are tight weeks where I can buy all the food we consume non-organically

for less than $75 for the week. 

No more coupons.

No more processed foods.

No more Stockpile Room.

The reason for telling this story is that I hope that another family who may be experiencing

what we did or just have questions, can be comforted that there is hope.

Having food allergies does not mean your grocery budget has to be so high.

Your not doomed to eat from a small shelf in your grocery store. There are so many options.

Later on I will show examples of our daily diet in hopes to shed light on how this can be affordable.

Until then, I want to encourage people struggling with food allergies or health issues related to food

that you need not be envious of the couponers. You too can save money and eat well. :)

Former Coupon Queen Comes Clean Part. 1

I use to be a Coupon Queen.

You know the kind, with my binder, paying $2 for $200 worth of groceries.

So much so I had my own "store" in my garage. Lovingly called, The Stockpile Room.

My friends and family knew if there was anything in the world they needed or wanted

that more than likely, it was in the The Stockpile Room.

For a year and half we paid maybe $500 for over $20,000 with of food, heath care,

cleaning supplies and toiletries. For the love of Glade coupons, I taught Coupon Classes.

So what changed?

After 18 months of this frugal addiction....errr... I mean hobby, God showed

us that gathering food was now going to be a tad bit difficult.

No more mindless filling the shopping cart with all of my great bargains.

It was near Halloween. Our family does not celebrate this holiday. But some

neighborhood friends brought over some candy for the kids. Candy Corn.

Who does not love candy corn? My oldest daughter for a day or so happily

munched on the candy corn when I said they could indulge. Then one night

as she was in the kitchen doing dishes she popped a piece in her mouth.

Her body said, enough.

She had an allergic reaction that made her throat close and for her breathing

to come to a small struggling wheeze. Thankfully after a trip to the ER, she

survived. Many children who have severe food allergies do not. I was so

thankful. I was also full of questions. The ER doctor just said in passing,

"No more candy corn for her." No one said why or what was in it.

It took many trips to her regular doctor and then a allergy specialist to

finally get to the bottom of why one day she was fine and the next she

almost died from this seemingly innocent treat.

The explanation?

Her body had had enough of artificial food dye.

What?!

But why I ask. I had to know. No one else in our family had issue with them.

Because they said, over time consuming "chemicals" and tricking our body

to think it's food is going to effect some of us. And given that her father has

a horrible allergy to honey bee's and I to shellfish....it was just a wait and see

game of what thing her body would reject.

And to make life interesting, her test for wheat showed a probable allergy there as

well. More test would need to be done to be exact but we should probably refrain.

I came home that day and sat in The Stockpile Room. I did something I had not

done yet. I turned over the packages of all this free fabulous food.

Red 40

Yellow 5

Why was there wheat products in my canned beans?

Modified Food Starch

My lunch meat was NOT gluten free. Huh??  

There is wheat in lunch meat?

Names of things I could not even pronounce much less know what it was.

By the end of the night I sat with a house of $1000's of dollars worth of

food that my daughter could not eat.

To be continued....

SOS....

We are in the middle of a stomach virus.
Everyone but hubby has it.
Ugh.
Sending soup and prayers please!
Be back soon!

Where is the pictures???

Some have noted the lack of photos here.
There is a reason for that.
I'm poor.
No, really. I have a very slow internet connection and it takes
FOREVER for them to load up.
But we are working on that!
Until then I am kinda of liking the clean sparse look. :)

Where in the World did Chele go....?

Miss me?
Sniff sniff.
I have dislocated my right shoulder.
I'm trying to let it heal.
Just wanted to add, that the Wii is not intended for old people.
No matter how much Sugar Hill Gang on Just Dance 3 fools you.
Ouch.
I will be back, soon.

Life is a changing....

My hubby has got a new job lined up!
This is a huge deal for us.
He has been at the company he is leaving for nearly 12 years.
Painful to leave but he has exhausted his time there.
New job is more pay, but best of all it's abundance of opportunity.
Yea!
Our life is going to be very different but in a good way.
It will challenge us, stretch us but I feel our family will be better off for it.
All that said, what I really want to say is....
God is good. So good. All the time.
His provision is so faithful even we are not.
Thank you Lord! 

Oh Downton Abbey....

I just had to.
Ryan Gosling shouldn't have all the fun.

Here is the deal...

New blogger here.
Just wanted to give any reader a glimpse into what this blog is about and who we are.
We are a family of 5 living in the South on one income less than $35k a year.
Mom is the writer of the family.
Dad works and in his time off, hides from my Mom's to do list.
Kids are various age, 4 total, who is homeschooled.
One is off to college now. 
We have some debt that we are buried under.
Probably more lurking out there because frankly, we just didn't care previously.
We are very frugal but always willing to be stretched.
We are conservative Christian.
We will talk about God here.
We will deal with real numbers, not estimates.
And we will talk about the failures and the successes.
I feel like an episode of MTV's Real World right now.
"Where life gets REAL...."
Nice to meet you.
:)