Homeschooling- Yes!

People often ask me, "So how is the whole homeschool thing going?"  I have to stop for a minute and take inventory to before answering.  Do I briefly grieve each morning for time to go to the gym by myself and drink a cup of coffee in silence?  Yes.  Do I wonder what I was thinking when I made the decision to homeschool when it is 12am and I am lesson planning for the next day?  Yes.  Are there more books, pencils, chewed erasers, and math worksheets floating around here than I ever imagined? Yes.  Has the housework suffered somewhat? Yes.  (Okay maybe more than I let on here.  Carl bailed me out big time over the weekend!)

But then there are a whole lot of other "yes" answers too.  Lots more.

 

Do I like allowing my children to wake up on their own, without having to drag them from their beds at some ungodly hour and stuff them into their half-washed uniforms? Yes.  Do we enjoy relaxed, leisurely breakfasts that taste better than a pop tart eaten cold- straight out of the foil package? Yes.

Do I appreciate having a front-row seat watching my children make exciting discoveries like:

 

an insect's shed exoskeleton,

 

artifacts from ancient Egypt during a make-believe archaeological dig in the front yard,

 

the hunt and acquisition of a first "walking stick"?  Yes!

 

Is my downstairs room filled with more energy, creativity, and vibrancy than ever before? Yes!

 

Are my children's drawings, questions, and understandings about the world around them inspiring?  Uplifting? Yes!

 

(This is Emma's journal...I do not correct spelling here.  It is a place for "free writing")

Does it mean more to me than almost anything else to be present, available, interested, and intimate in the lives of my children? Is there anything more fulfilling than watching them aquire a love of learning?  Am I so entirely grateful for this opportunity that I am willing to take the good and the not-so good things about all of it? MOST DEFINITELY YES! 

And if you looked on their paper...I think you'd find the same answer.

**okay so it is only our3rd week ever of homeschooling, I understand that at some point the honeymoon may be over...but for now I'd say, "It is pretty great."

Zucchini Bread

 

Its a good thing we love zucchini bread because we have plenty of the prime ingredient tucked away for the winter.  Currently, I have 17 bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer. Thats enough for 34 loaves of bread.  Yikes!  I am sure glad that one of my zucchini plants died early in the spring...one plant is plenty. 

I promised to share my Grandma's recipe.  As yummy as it is, sometimes I like to experiment with reducing the fat content, substituting honey for the sugar, and blending in some whole wheat flour (mostly- we eat it just like Grandma makes it). Once you've had it "her" way it is hard to get used to the texture of the "healthy" way. I'll post it in its original version and let you play with it. This recipe makes two loaves which is great because then you have one to give away!

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 C veggie oil

2 t vanilla

1 t grated lemon peel

3 C flour

1 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

2 C shredded zucchini

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two loaf pans.  Combine eggs and sugar.  Beat in oil, vanilla and lemon peel.  Combine the dry ingredients separately and add to sugar mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in zucchini and nuts.  Divide evenly between two loaf pans.  COVER WITH FOIL.  Bake 30 min and then remove foil- bake additional 15-20 min or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and slice.  Enjoy!

**I always invert my pan and cool the loaf by itself (out of the pan) on a rack- mostly because we are ready to eat it the second it won't burn our mouths anymore :)

Hotel Grandpa

  I could hardly talk about the lovely time that Carl and I had together without giving props to my dad for watching the girls for us.  This summer my dad finished building a new house and this trip was the first that we would get to stay there.  We spent one night with my dad and the girls before leaving them the next day.  Yes, I cried.  Yes, it was only for one night.  Yes, my dad had to shove me out the door.  Yes, my husband was pulling me at the same time.  Do you wanna make something of it?  I can count the number of times that I have been away from my children overnight on ONE hand (that is in 7 years!)  It is always a bit rough at first...but then it gets much easier.  Too easy.

I am so grateful for my dad's care for the kids and his encouragement to "go and have fun".  The girls are absolutely in love with him, and we counted down the days until our time with him for a month! I just wanted to share a few pictures from his house and have a little fun at his expense. Shall we? (keep in mind that my dad lives alone.)

  

First off, here is his bedroom.  What you are looking at is the biggest "princess and the pea" mattress you have ever seen. He said so himself.  It is as least 24 inches thick!  Pretty sure that I counted at least 6 pillows too!  What you cannot see is the large flat screen TV mounted to the wall just opposite of the the TV. This girls slept on the floor in there and were happy to crawl in bed with him in the morning to catch some cartoons.

Moving onto the closet.  This is where it gets good.  I cannot fully represent the vastness of this space, but just try and wrap your mind around approximately 500-600 square feet of wall-to-wall, color-coded shirts (I cropped out the sleeveless, frayed, denim Harley Davidson shirt just to preserve his dignity)...

 

shoes, (just the dress shoes, tennis shoes and boots were in another space)

 

pants, (also take note of the 15 gray hooded sweatshirts)

 

and more shirts,

I was pretty impressed by his decorating ability.  Everything was shiny stainless steel, dark chocolate leather, or rich maple wood.  The walls were painted with earthy tones of butter, sienna, and sage green- not "builder's white."  Nowhere were there piles of dirty clothes, muddy shoes, or even dirty dishes to be found.

In all seriousness, it was almost unnecessary for Carl and I to leave for a luxury getaway...we were perfectly comfortable just lounging at Hotel Grandpa.  He made so many efforts in the planning of this house to accommodate us.  Most everything is kid-proof.  There is not much to worry about- just relaxing,

 

that- and some movie watching on a surround sound stereo system.  Oh, and trail mix with M&Ms!  Thanks Dad!  Your new house rocks!