Frugal Mama = Happy Girl

I love to sew.  I love it even better when I can save money while doing it!

Every fall I consider buying Katie a special little Sabbath coat, but I always talk myself out of it...too expensive...don't love it...too big...can't find...

I was at JoAnn Fabrics a couple weeks ago, looking for material for another project, when I found some chocolate brown fleece on the clearance aisle.  At 50% off clearance, plus my teacher discount, how could I pass it up?  I knew I could use it.

So yesterday I broke out the material, cut out the pattern, and had a sewing party with my little girl.  She got to help with quite a bit of it, actually.  She handed me and then collected the stick pins and put them on the pin cushion, sat on my lap while we sewed together, and cut the strings for me. I wish I had taken photos of the process, but at least you can enjoy the finished product.

Final cost: about $4.00.  Time with my little girl: priceless.

Indiana Family Camp

Our yearly tradition is to head to Timber Ridge for Restoration International's Indiana Family Camp every October.  We're always so blessed, but it's always more fun when you have friends who are as close to you as family along!

Every song service is led out by the children.  Great practice being up front!

Participating in the children's choir

Katie spent 2 hours making this special salad.  Can't remember her name for it now.

Sabbath song service.  

My Kitchen is Pressuring Me!

I mentioned that one reason for dropping the books was for canning season.  I didn't get to do nearly as much as I wanted, due to needing to finish the medical record scanning (#1 reason for dropping the books.  The short-term pause of all normal family life was well worth my long-term sanity of having that project finished), but we did get a good amount in none-the-less.  This past month our stove has been going pretty steady.

We now boast:
90 quarts of applesauce
60 quarts of green beans (30 for me and 30 for a friend)
19 pints of beets
27 jelly jars of apple butter
20 jelly jars of pumpkin butter
14 quarts of pinto beans (last batch is on the stove right now!)

Here are a few pictures of our applesauce making.

Homemade Gummy Worms

This last summer there was a gross fun project floating around Facebook.  When my brother saw it he instantly thought of the kids and decided he wanted to do it with them while he was out here visiting.  I'm not sure if this was the exact tutorial (probably wasn't), but it gives you the idea of what we did if you would ever choose to do it yourself:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bowl-of-Worms-Anyone/

I'm so thankful Andrew was sensitive to my desire to stay away from gelatin as much possible, so he asked me to pick up the ingredients for it.  I used Natural Dessert's jel dessert packets.  They worked just as good as actual gelatin, and Mommy was a happy camper!

The only down side to the whole thing?  My kids STILL don't like Jello - whether it's the real deal, the veganized version, or made into gross cool worms.

The moment of truth...it worked!

Andrew blew out somewhere about 100 of these things.

Oh, so gross!!!!!!

Perfect recipe for a fun evening activity, even if nobody mustered up the courage to eat them.

Wright Patterson Air Force Museum

A month ago my parents and brother came for a brief visit.  When they came last year everyone really enjoyed going to the Air Force museum over in Dayton.  It was such a hit that we decided to do it again this year. 

What a difference a year makes for a little kid!  Last year Ethan loved just looking at all the different airplanes.  Katie did, too, but she was a bit more oblivious to the whole thing and just enjoyed being with family.  

This year Ethan still enjoyed the airplanes just as much, but he kept noticing all the other things, as well.  Different scenes he saw bothered him (such as wax figures of an American soldier handing a candy bar to a starved German child), and he kept asking, "Why, Mommy?"  Finally, after several such queries, we sat down, just the two of us, in the midst of the WWII hangar and I told him about the horrors of Hitler, discrimination, and war as gently, and yet openly, as I could.  He seemed to grasp quite a bit of it.  He still really enjoyed the trip, but it was much more somber than last year's venture.

Here are a few pictures of our day:

Sorry, can't tell you the names of the airplanes.  David could.  They're really cool, though!

Some sort of stealth plane

F117-A Nighthawk (Ok, I cheated and blew up the picture so I could read the sign!)

So many buttons and knobs!

My Little Shoe Tier

A few weeks ago Ethan decided it was time to learn to tie his shoes.  I certainly wasn't complaining!  He had already figured out the loops and such on his own, but came and asked for help in figuring out which string to pull through to make the second loop and tighten the knot.  It didn't take him long to figure it out!  Now I have one less set of feet to get ready before heading out the door.  My life just got easier!

"Fall Break"

Well, I just noticed how long it's been since I've posted anything.  Many people have asked me WHY I would choose to start school in the end of June, rather than wait until normal schools start.  This fall is my excellent case-in-point.  I knew it would be a crazy time of year for us and that the summer would be more sane.

So, true to my plan, when things started to get a little out of hand, we stopped doing formal school for a bit.  That doesn't mean we didn't do anything, but actual Math, Phonics, and Handwriting textbooks went by the wayside.  Now that my side job, family visits, family camp, canning, and everything else are out of the way, we're slowly starting back up again.

Another added plus to having a break is that I've been able to get a little bit of the "teaching bug" out of my system and can more realistically look at what we should be doing, rather than pushing for as far as Ethan can go.  I'm ready to be more laid-back.  (I hope!)

Even though it's minor, I'm noticing the "summer break" slide in ability.  I'm having to remind Ethan to form his letters properly.  It's coming back as soon as I remind him, but little things like two-digit adding Ethan greets with an "I don't remember."

I'll post a few of our fall happenings, so you can get a glimpse of the more practical side of homeschooling.  Just because we take a break from books doesn't mean learning doesn't happen! :)