Let's Legalize It!

 Pretty much everyone  knows how we feel about whole foods and organics and all that jazz... We cook from scratch quite often and we try to avoid processed foods.
        One thing we have tried recently and will be adding to our menu is Raw Milk. We are pretty excited about this change!

I have to admit that I was pretty shocked to see that it tastes like milk... I'm not real sure what I expected, but I was certain that it would be gross and I would have to learn to tolerate it. Not the case at all! It is good, I like it better than store milk. Quite possibly because it doesn't come in a grossy mcgrosserson plastic container... but who knows!

Anyways- pretty much everyone I know who is not a Raw Milker has given me some form of grief about this decision. So I figure that this funny little site/video might help to provide some education...

I think it is pretty cute though...
Check Out the Video!    For more info you could look to the Weston A. Price campaign for Real Milk.

Peace!
Nikki

One more try!

I am trying a new way to post documents to my blog since the previous method seems to be hit or miss...

I will toss up a few things.. some useful and some not so much. Some people prefer to have their homemaking binder full to the top... if that's you, enjoy the boring/useless pages!

First up is a Babysitter Checklist The colors are kind of lame but it seems to be pretty useful. I might pretty it up later.

Next is Solid Food Schedule This is a traditional schedule based on the information from Wholesome Baby Food. I might be creating a new one with less "traditonal" foods and based on Nourishing Traditions...

Page 2 of the feeding schedule is here... It should take you right up to a year. It's a great tool to have if baby has any feeding issues it's also great to ensure the food introductions are properly spaced.


Hopefully those bad boys will work and then I can tart tossing up more documents.

Peace!
Nikki

Friday is Math Day!

We didn't really have an exciting Math Day.  On Math Day we usually make a better effort at counting anything and everything... and that is pretty much what we did today.

We also played Busy Farm and did Tangrams. Unfortunately I do not have photos....

We made a  school bus/train in the livingroom. Bastian was the bus driver and Gman and I were passengers. After multiple trips to the "grocery store" and the "doctor" Bastian decided to get an easier bus route... This crowd was much less demanding than we were!

 Bastian actually hauled those chairs into the playroom all by himself too! I'm amazed by his strength... I would have bet that he couldn't do that! 

We also made some plantable seed paper. Which is really exciting. The purpose was mainly to figure out what we are doing so that when the time comes and we actually want to give them to someone... they look halfway presentable.  It was super fun and super easy. Bastian loved to stir and measure/add the seeds... we also added some dried calendula and mint just for looks.  In the photo they are still wet and super thick... they should dry quite a bit smaller... 

It will be pretty thick paper this time around though... but that is what a practice round is good for right?

 Bastian and I finished off our day by heading outside and ripping up the garden. We pulled out the tomato plant. We have gotten quite a bit of good tomatoes from it, but lately something seems to be getting to them before we do... and I am sick of watering it! After that we added some brown compost and turned our pile. I am excited that next year we should have TONS of good compost for our garden. 

 So- in the end we didn't do a ton of Math specifically... but quite a bit of Math "theory" type work... I am satisfied with what was done... The joy of homeschool is that you can pick up slack on another day if necessary and you can do it in your undies if you want!  

Peace!

Nikki

Thursday is Art/History/Geography/Finance Day!

Thursday is our day to spread a basic awareness of certain subjects. Normally they would be way over Bastian's head and so we spend very little time on them. Basically we rotate the theme each week, or we do two in one day if the lesson is small.

Today was Art/History

For history we have been practicing the first few presidents. Bastian only knows the first two every time the others are hit or miss. We also practice The Pledge of Allegiance.

Today was initially planned to be a 100% Art day but we went to Mom's group instead and we had to revise our project because we ran out of time!

The project we did do was less cool, but still fun!
We made a bird feeder out of a pop bottle. (Classy, I know!) Who cares... the birds don't care!

First we cut the bottle and crammed his face into it...

Next we filled it with seeds...

Then we got Bastian's mixed reviews...

And then we hung it in the tree. 

I understand that it is barely an art project... but we needed a bird feeder for our upcoming bird projects. It'll do for today!

Peace!

Nikki

Wednesday is Bible Study Day

Today was our first day of our Community Bible Study! It was amazing! Bastian was in his own class of preschoolers and he had a blast. Not only do they practice scripture memorization but they do it in a fun song! The teachers also pray with each child, which I think is super cool!

This is right when we dropped him off in his classroom. When all he could think about was the huge playground that we passed on the way in! 

They learned about trusting the Lord and his Word. He also decorated a folder to keep his work in the year. 

And he made a magnet that has all of the memory verses on it. With it on the fridge we are reminded to review it often. 

When I went to pick him up he didn't want to leave with me! 

Once we got home and had lunch, I put Gman down for his nap and then we read a few stories about Noah's Ark and then got to work on Bastian's CBS homework. 

 

It will hang on the fridge for review until next week when we put the new one up.

We are so excited about CBS. I know it will be a great year!

Peace,

Nikki

Tuesday is Science Day

Today we strayed a little from our schedules and let Bastian take a bath with Gman.

Gman loves to take a bath with Bastian... that is until Bastian splashes him in the face!

After breakfast and morning nap for Gabriel we headed for 3 Lakes Nature Park for Science Day!

Today we were learning about Leaves. 

We collected leaves. Talked about shape, size and color of them...

We also walked through the Nature Center to see Bastian's favorite animal the Alligator snapper. 

And of course made time to swing!

And after we got home we started our craft project with some of the leaves collected.

We painted the leaf in "Peacock colors" and stamped it on the shirt... then Bastian went crazy on the thing!

He's super excited to wear it to bible study tomorrow!

Peace!

Nikki

Read This, Not That!

I like to read. I usually read non-fiction books about health, nutrition, parenting or something biblical or based in christianity... although I love to read fiction, I have a hard time finding books I like.

My two most recent reads would fall into the parenting category.

We are "attachment parents" through and through... I'm not sure what would possess me to read a book that even mentions crying it out! But I did! The book started out with some great information about sleep patterns and nap timing... but once you get into the actual advice it was junk! The idea of letting Gabriel cry for an hour at nap time and then indefinitely at night makes me sick to my stomach.

The book I'm referring to is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth.
I do not recommend it at all! Not that anyone asked my opinion... but just in case you wondered!

The book I DO like is called Night Time Parenting by Dr. Sears. We love Dr. Sears anyways... so it is no surprise that we liked this book. Dr. Sears books are what introduced us to attachment parenting in the first place and from them we learned to trust our intuition as parents rather than follow schedules or allow our babies to cry.
This book is much more aligned with our thinking. I truly believe that a child cries to communicate and not manipulate and as the parent it is our job to keep our babies feeling comfortable and give them a general feeling of "rightness"

I know this is a touchy subject... but these are just my thoughts!
Peace,
Nikki