Homeschooling...again?

Ok, so it's been a long time since I've written on here....a really long time, 8 months kind of a long time. I'm so ashamed. Moving on...

I've been thinking about returning to homeschooling for a while now. I'm constantly asking my kids if they'd like me to do it again, to my surprise most of them say "yes." My problem is self doubt. I have 5 kids currently in school, that's 5 different grade levels, 5 different sets of curriculum, 5 different levels of my attention required...you get what I'm saying here, right?

I often find myself alone when talking to the other Moms at school about holiday break times. How I don't look forward to my kids returning to school, like all the other Moms do.  I miss my children, and worry not only about how they're treated by other students and even staff but what so called "life lessons" happen to be circulating around the playground. I worry about the slow progression and the boredom or lack of attention my kids get at school. I've noticed bad attitudes coming from my kids that were never there before. I've heard the potty mouth language coming out of the 8 year old "mouths of babes" when they've come to my home for birthday parties. I've seen the drama and disappointments on my daughter's face when I ask her how her day was. I also feel some of what they learn is a bit redundant, my kids have either already learned it or the class just spends too much time on it to make sure the other kids are all on the same page before moving on. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with their school, matter of fact I think they go to a pretty good school, expensive but good. But all conventional schools have the same problems and the staff and parents don't always want to see what really goes on.

However (and you can call me bias, I really won't care) my kids are not conventional, they're unique, inquisitive, self motivated and down right amazing little minions of mine and my husband's making. I don't believe I'm sheltering my kids from the "real world" or that I'll be that super over protective parent but honestly isn't that my job? If my husband and I don't look out for our kids's best interest, no one else will.

I don't work outside the home (I sell Scentsy, or I will once it opens up here in Australia next month, but that's another post all together) and I'm currently finishing up a degree in Organic Horticulture so I'm quite able and willing to homeschool them again.

As one who's been here before, I keep revisiting things in my mind where I can do it differently and be even more successful at it. Right now I'm currently settling down to the idea of it again, learning laws, rules and regulations, searching curriculum sites, homeschool groups, forums and how to go about this again. Should I home school my oldest son who's currently in 11th grade? I'm thinking I probably won't, not unless he wanted me to but as for the younger four I think it would be wonderful.

I've had friends and family ask me over the years "how are homeschooled kids socialised?", "how do they get to enjoy extra curricular activities?" yadda yadda yadda! Socialising for us is easy, we're a family of 8, we're plenty social when its needed. Keeping kids involved is the key, whether it be sports clubs, church groups, and or homeschool groups the kids make friends and enjoy common ground.

I'd much rather not have my kids stuck doing 6-7 hours of school work just to come home to do 1-3 hours of homework. What kind of life is that for them or even us as a family? There isn't much quality family time in the evening when the kids are glued to math books and science notes.

Life goes by too fast, childhood isn't always the best time of it either but it's certainly the foundation for the type of adult we grow to be. I want my kids to feel loved and supported, to know that they are always accepted and acknowledged. That they can learn more during "school" then just what the year's curriculum has assigned.

I hope to look back on my life and be able to say that I did all I possibly could to help my children reach their full potential and to be the best people they can possibly be. Here's to the beginning of our new journey ahead.

Our beautiful family

Has it really been a year?

Time has really flown by...must have been having too much fun! I can't believe we've actually lived in Australia for an entire year now...well since November 16th. I keep meaning to get on here to write but life takes over all too often and it moves further down my to-do list.

We've had such an amazing year here. Hubby has found a good job (definitely not his dream job but it pays the bills), I've gone back to school, the kids have all finished their first year of school here and the older kids have good paying jobs...I sure never made that kind of money at 16 or 19 :(  and everyone has really settled into all the little differences between cultures.

Still a huge adjustment for us experiencing Christmas during the hot summer months as it is for most Northern Hemisphere migrants to Australia. We do love a white Christmas but heck even a cool Christmas would be welcomed. Even still we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together, the younger 5 all participated in the Christmas exhibit at Church. The boys got to be Shepards and our daughter an Angel, even our oldest son Wesley got up in front of the congregation to do a reading...we are very proud of all of them.

Our garden has been a struggle. In early Autumn we began the layout and ground work on the veggie patch. Of course I'd never really gardened before in my life, unless you count 5 gallon buckets with Tomato plants in a plastic greenhouse in Alaska lol, though shockingly I seem to have had better results there. Even still I've discovered I really do love working in the garden just wish my garden felt the same way about me. It appears I'm often found mumbling a dirty four letter C-L-A-Y!. I have horrible soil, either too hard and dry when we don't get any rain (which is often) or its so boggy and saturated and won't drain worth a darn that my plants either drowned or bolted and all grew moss.

Needless to say my wonderful hubby and I decided to build up raised beds and bring in some good garden loam and mulch. But now I'm so worried my seedlings won't get far enough along to transplant into the raised beds in time to still get a viable harvest off of them. This has all been a major learning curve especially in realizing what we want out of a future property and climate. Summers are hot and incredibly dry here in SA, the driest of all of Australia's states/territories in fact. I'm worried that our goal of living rather self sufficiently are going to be 10 times more difficult here in SA especially during the summer months.

Our original plan when we visited Australia 5 years ago was to scout Tasmania for a possible future home. We even spent 6 weeks out of our 3 month holiday there. While we were only there during Springtime it was beautiful, green, full of life and cool. The only reason we came to SA was because at the time they had Carpenters listed on their State Sponsorship list. Don't get me wrong SA is a beautiful state 9 months out of the year, its green, it rains and it has relatively great weather! So we shall see what happens in the next year or so. The kids all seem to be up for a move to Tassie (well except for our almost 20 year old bound to stay and go to University of Adelaide here) and of course we can't leave until we fulfilled our two year agreement here in SA. So who knows what will happen. I think the first step is to plan a family trip down there and see if it's everything we remember.

Everyone talks about how cold it is there, which honestly makes me laugh! After living in Alaska for three and a half years, I find no place is actually really COLD in comparison. But I'll admit I do love cozying up to a fire in the wood stove sipping my coffee under a blanket with a good book! So the cold Tassie winters won't bother us at all, Lord knows our big Giant Malamutes will LOVE it and we do know what it takes to raise livestock during the colder months. Of course the benefit of warm but not hot summers will be wonderful for the garden too. As even here I have to worry not only about my plants getting enough water but also not being scorched to a crisp during our frequent heat waves.

Hmmm, Tassie is sounding awfully enticing...

Cast Iron Pizza

Dough:

6 cups of AP Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups Warm water
1 1/2 tsp dry Yeast

Toppings:

4 Cheese Blend
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
anything else you want to eat :)


Mix flour, salt and oil in a food processor with a dough blade. Place yeast in 2 cups of warm water (no hotter than 110*F), soak for about 5 minutes then stir and add to flour mixture in food processor. If dough is really wet and sticky, add 1/4 cup more of flour and mix in processor.

In a large bowl drizzle more olive oil around to lightly coat, pour dough mixture into bowl and toss over a few times to coat in the oil. This helps prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises.

Cover dough with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm area to allow the dough to rise. Usually an hour.

Remove wrap or towel and place on a floured surface, knead gently a few times (not too much).

Divide dough into 4 sections, depending on your size pans.

Heat pan in oven on highest setting (usually around 260*C or 500*F) for about 20 minutes, I usually do this once I'm preparing and kneading the dough. Then roll out your dough and place it in a hot pan. Gently shape to fit the pan...remember it's HOT, be careful!

Place pan back in Oven on high for 10-15 minutes. You don't want to brown your dough just cook it slightly. Just ignore my little brown spot! lol

Next it's time for toppings. Every now and again I go for making my own sauce, it's easy enough but I didn't have everything for it, so I cheated. Oh well :) I like a Garlic and Wine sauce but use whatever you like. Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Salami, Pepperoni, Sausage etc all make great toppings. 

Bake on high in oven for 20 minutes or until gold and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Homesick...but not how you may think

I love it here in Australia, I really really do. Ask my hubby, every time we go out I'm constantly commenting on how pretty it is here!!

But every now and then I find myself having a moment...a moment where I feel almost homesick. It's been 8 years since we left Virginia so I've easily dealt with missing my family and friends from there. However after leaving Virginia and moving around a bit as we have, we were still within the United States. A lot of the food was still the same at least as far as what I could buy at the store. Some veggies we like were much harder to find up north such as Ford hook Lima beans but we managed.

No my homesickness is deriving from a lack of familiarity. A lot of things here are very different, more then the obvious like dialect and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. But as some know from reading here, I'm a Foodie! I love to cook and bake and try new recipes and of course feed it to my love ones. My family really loves the fact that I'm a Foodie as they often get to enjoy the fruits of my labour.

Over the years I've spent in the kitchen I have fallen in love with certain ingredients such as Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla and Spice Islands Saigon Cinnamon and let us forget Ghirardelli cocoa chips. None of which I have been able to find easily here. I often feel lost when I go to the super markets to shop. While we do enjoy the bountifulness of the freshest produce (something not often enjoyed in Alaska) I'm still "homesick" for some frequently used ingredients.

There is absolutely some fantastic foods food here in Australia, visit any corner bakery and you;ll experience it first hand. So obviously culinary cuisines can be easily created with the local ingredients available....but I guess this is one of those adjustments I must make, even though it feels more like a sacrifice, to be able to be here without my normal cooking goodies.

Hopefully over the coming years I'll be able to find many culinary delights for cooking and baking with. In the mean time...I'll simply reminisce.

The many AMAZING uses of Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous Earth or D.E. is what I often refer to as "God's little miracle powder", even though technically it's not a powder at all.

D.E. is actually fossilized diatoms or the remains of marine phytoplankton. It's 100% Organic and has numerous uses that are not only safe around animals but humans as well. It works through a physical action and not a chemical one. Organic gardeners often use D.E. in their gardens/farms for pest control.

It's effective uses compile a rather long list from chemical free pest control for the home and garden to natural dewormer in animals and humans.

The way D.E. works internally is so amazing yet quite simple. It is formed of rock hard (comes in at a 7 on the hardness scale, Diamonds are a 9) cylinder tubes full of holes. They are negatively charged and as they move through the body they attract and absorb viruses, toxins, drug residues, pesticides, heavy metals and e-coli then pass through the body. It's microscopically sharp edges work as little scrubbers inside the intestinal walls removing years of gunk build up and mucus, helping us absorb more nutrients from our food.

Some D.E. is absorbed into the blood stream as silica which helps in destroying bad fats and lowers cholesterol, along with numerous human uses such as lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure, detoxing your body, treating Osteoporosis, and naturally killing ridding your body of unwanted parasites. Please see the many Human Uses to find out even more.

Externally D.E. works against pest like ants, spiders, bed bugs, fleas. ticks, lice, and mites by slicing through their exoskeletons and dehydrating them causing them to die. It also slices slugs and snails keeping them out of the garden. Dust your vegetable plants such as tomatoes and peppers to keep aphids from destroying your precious plants.

Safely and effectively deworm your dog, your livestock and even yourself by adding D.E. to their feed or in your morning coffee. It works the same way by microscopically slicing up any internal parasites and causing them to die and flush through your system. Dust your poultry in D.E. to treat or simply prevent mites and lice. Dust your dog and cat to treat and prevent fleas, ticks, lice and mites (the number one cause of Demodectic, Sarcoptic and Cheyletiella mange).

When using D.E. around your home and garden always use Food Grade D.E. as there are several other D.E. products available but they have often been mucked with. D.E. labeled as a chemical insecticide has Pyrethrin added to it, and never use the one for Pool filtration systems as it has been super heated and changed from a pure absorbent silica to crystalline silica which is very toxic.

The only known harmful effect from using Food Grade D.E. is if it gets in your eyes as it is drying and can be scratchy. Or if it is inhaled, especially for those who have asthma as it can irritate the lungs.

One of the great things about D.E. is that it naturally provides Silica. Silica is naturally found in our foods and our soil however decades of over-farming and not properly taking care of the soil has caused a huge depletion of silica. Did you know that cancer can not form in cells where the silica amounts are properly balanced because silica promotes an alkaline environment and supports normal cell division? D.E. is currently being tested in Alzheimer testing as it is proven to remove heavy metal, and as Alzheimer's is believed to be connected to metal absorption in the brain...then it only makes sense. 

The amount of D.E. that my family and I take is 1tbsp per day. I must also mention that the FDA has not approved D.E. for human consumption though it has been rated as "Generally Regarded as Safe." Well considering the fact that the FDA will approve everything Monsanto manufactures regarding US agriculture and the poisons in it, then D.E.'s lack of FDA approval is a good thing to me!! :)  Sorry for the political vent!

There really are so many benefits to not only taking D.E. yourself but using it on your animals and around your home and garden. I urge you to give it a try!

Visit How Diatomaceous Earth works to learn more.

Going Green using Diatomaceous Earth How-To tips by Tui Rose helps to explain even more of the wonderful uses for D.E.

In Australia visit The Plant Doctor and in the United States visit Earth Works Health to Order Diatomaceous Earth.

An Interest in Pinterest

I have awoken to a love of design that I didn't even know I had...

Pinterest! Is an amazing site that allows people to post their own photographs of their own designs or share others found through the Internet. I've been having many "Why didn't I think of that" moments recently but I'm also feeling truly inspired.

A friend of mine had mentioned this site to me over 6 months ago but I didn't get the big deal at the time. But just last week my curiosity got the better of me and now I'm hooked. If you're looking for ideas whether its decorating a room, a crochet pattern, or something inspirational like a stone path in Ireland...Pinterest has it.

From gardening to photography, from cars to baby rooms, if you're looking to be inspired, go check out Pinterest...

My current love of Kitchen designs
might have a little something to do with my "career" plans coming up in a few months.

I seem to have a thing for rustic yet very useful design.

So this is what Organization looks like? :)






















Happy Pinteresting!

The Adelaide Hills

It is such a beautiful place to live. We feel so blessed now being able to call this our home. As we drive down country streets surrounded by flowing green Vineyards and gaze upon classic country homemade signs advertising local family owned Orchards full of Raspberries, Strawberries, Cherries and Apples...I wonder how it is, that we of all people came to be so blessed. 

Yes I know that we worked really hard to get here and I know we prayed a lot, went without and tried our hardest to give our children what we felt was and is a better place to grow up, but it just doesn't feel real yet. This lovely country community we now reside in is even better than we could have imagined. I always wanted to live in a town with "a main street" where you could find all your local shops...no Walmart or Costco here, but there is a butcher a few bakers and while there is no candle stick maker there is a candle shop. I walk down the street and I start to know the people I say "Hello" to as I walk our children to school and back everyday. Where there are 4 distinct seasons, cows and sheep roaming green pastures and a real community feeling among everyone. Gorgeous little heritage towns like Hahndorf and Lobethal to the bigger town of Mount Barker, we really have it all right here.

The Ocean is only 40 minutes away (much to my hubby's delight) and Adelaide with all the fancy shops, that I won't admit to liking - wink wink- is only 35 minutes away. We really love where we are and for the first time in my entire adult life I can actually taste a real chance of settling down on our own Hobby Farm full of sheep, cattle and chickens some day. With weeping willow trees dancing over geese filled ponds and our children running around with smiles on their faces...ok so they already to that, but you get my point.