Updates on our homeschooling family with ten children, a handful of chickens, a couple horses, three bunnies, and six cats.
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Our family's website, PeacefulHome.net, is in the process of changing hosting companies and is currently inactive. Our plan is to move this blog over once construction is complete. Please stay tuned for updates!
My apologies for being such a blog slacker. Sunday night I had grand intentions of the posts I would write this week, but as school planning took me past the midnight hour, I opted to head to bed. As I did, I heard a "POP" in my right ear. Kind of like when you're on an airplane. Didn't really even think about it.
Monday I woke to start our new week with an earache. As the day progressed, so did the pain. I made an appointment with my GP. Just like my 3-year-old, I had an ear infection. (Actually, she had a double ear infection, but this is my sob story.)
By the time I left his office, the popping was sounding like gunfire, and I kept screaming in the car because it hurt so bad. The commuters all around me must have thought I was seriously into some kind of heavy music.
When Bryan met me in the driveway, I started crying. I'm quite the wimp even though I've birthed 8 blessings. An hour or so later, curled up in my favorite chair, I felt my ear begin to ooze.
As it had last done when I was 12, my eardrum had ruptured. So for the past couple days, I've been lying around letting the "goo" seep from my ear. I can't hear very well (a blessing and a curse) and the ringing is as loud as an airplane tarmac.
I'm starting to feel human again and hope to post soon about much more cheerful things, like my beautiful first-born turning 13.
Vision Forum is giving away some amazing sets of things on the Generation Cedar blog. Just leave a comment over there to enter to win!
*True Beauty: 8 inspiring CDs recorded at the 2008 Father and Daughter Retreat
*The 2008 Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy: an up-to-date look at the most important constitutional battles we face, an overview of the biblical and historical foundations of Western law, and a training tool for Christians who aspire to speak with precision to the great ethical and apologetic battles of our day. This album includes 24 CDs.
*Let Freedom Ring: 13 CDs from the Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour
*History Has Been Made: Moments and Messages from the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival: Featured Speakers & Performing Artists Include: Kirk Cameron, Dean Jones, Stephen Kendrick, the Von Trapp Children, Charlie Zahm, Voddie Baucham, R.C. Sproul, Jr., Doug Phillips, George Sarris, Kevin Swanson, Chuck Bentley, Jon Erwin, and Ted Pittenger
I just had a little Whoo! Hoo! moment. I was thinking through tomorrow so I could pull things from the freezer for the meals when it occurred to me. I won't be doing any cooking on Friday!
Meghan just loves to make our Friday breakfasts which consists of toast or bagels or English muffins. She really loves to do this, and I'm often awakened by her sounds of slicing, oven beeping and buttering (she's so much more of an early bird than I). If only I could inspire her to make our other breakfasts. Toast everyday, maybe?
Lunch will be out using our Pizza Hut Book-It coupons. Pretty cool that the 10 of us can enjoy their lunch buffet for under $20!
For dinner, Emelie will be making a chicken dish from her 4-H manual. Best part about 4-H is eating all the Foods projects!
While I enjoy cooking for this crew, this little mini-vacation has me very excited. It's like a glimpse into what I might be able to enjoy regularly in the years to come.
My dear sweet husband recently bought me a new book that I had had my eye on- Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I am more than thrilled with this new approach to bread making.
I've often wanted to make an authentic bread to go with my Italian meals. I could never achieve that crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside quality. This technique is it! And it really is fast and easy, no special tools required. The book contains a wealth of different recipes. Our current favorites are the Light Wheat and the Soft American White (makes Grilled Cheese to die for!).
On the Scrapbook Table: I dream of scrapbooking again...
We are chicken farmers. Very small-time chicken farmers, but chicken farmers nonetheless. As irony would have it, my children don't like to eat eggs. We're bringing in 8-12 of the tastiest eggs ever laid every single day, and mostly they turn their noses up at any dish primarily consisting of eggs. So I'm forever trying to slip in those delicious protein gems where ever I can. This morning I came up with the yummiest drink. Based on the no-ice cream milk shakes from the Hillbilly Housewife, these are Stumpf Egg Shakes.
Combine in a blender: 1.5 cups cold water 3 eggs 1.5 cups non-fat dry milk 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon stevia (use additional 1/4 cup sugar if you don't have) 2 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon liquid lecitin (use a squirt of non-stick cooking spray if you don't have) 16 ice cubes
Blend, blend, blend. This tastes better than a McDonald's Vanilla Shake! And I let the darlings drink it for breakfast which they think is super cool of me!
Tonight everyone was able to sit around the dinner table together - something that hasn't happened on a weeknight for a couple weeks. We decided to call these nights "Family Nights" instead of "Normal Nights" since a meeting-free evening is not that normal anymore. We had fun sharing our stories from the day, and everyone "licked the platter clean" with tonight's meal (except the squash - not a hit). Here's our week in food:
Monday - Marvelous Meatballs (Crockpot) over rice or egg noodles, Baked butternut squash
Tuesday - Three bean hot dish (Crockpot)
Wednesday - Hot Dogs & Chips (AWANA/4-H night)
Thursday - Creamy Hashbrowns with Bacon (Crockpot), poached eggs
Friday - Microwave Chicken that Emelie's preparing as a 4-H project
Saturday - Progressive Dinner for the homeschool group parents (whoo hoo - a night out)
At the Sewing Machine: Wanting to play with my new ruffler
On the Scrapbook Table: Transferring completed pages into a new album
This past weekend we took an overnight road trip to St. Louis to use our passes before they expire at the end of this month. It really made an impression on the children when we went last February. It is a wonderful place, and almost everything is free! The most hysterical moment was watching Emelie, Teddy, and Caleb fly a Cessna simulator through the Gateway Arch. I won't be climbing in a plane with any of the anytime soon!
What's for Dinner: Chicken Teriyaki Sandwiches, Crockpot Roasted Potatoes
At the Sewing Machine: Patches onto Cubbie Vests
On the Scrapbook Table: Finished a Thanksgiving layout last night!
Over the last week, Indiana has been blessed with quite a blanket of snow. The great part has been that last week it was actually warm enough to go outside in it, at least for a little while. The down side for me has always been the headache of getting everyone ready to go outside and then dealing with them again as they come in half-frozen dripping all over the floor.
We've put a system in place that definitely helps keep my head from exploding and keeps the snow mess contained.
We keep hats/mittens/scarves in small bins in the mud room. Snow pants/overalls in a big tote in the mud bathroom.
At snow-play-time, I put the totes on the kitchen table. Children find what fits. If it fits, it's yours.
After snow play, they come in the back door and strip off the wet outer layer while standing on a towel.
All the wet clothes are put in a laundry basket just inside the door. et boots are placed in the mud room on another towel.
Someone (preferably a child that has been enjoying the snow) loads the pile of wet clothes into the dryer.When dry, the wet things are sorted back into the tubs (preferably by a different child).
Repeat.
In the summer, we do something similar with swimsuits and towels. Ahhhhh, summer!
Tonight we enjoyed one of the all-time favorite Stumpf Family dinners: hashbrown casserole, chipped beef gravy on fresh bread, and an omelet from our chickens' fresh eggs. It's quite an artery clogger, so I don't fix it more than once every month or two. However, it is such a blessing when the children are excited to come to the table, and everyone eats without a complaint!
Wednesday: Boxed Mac 'n Cheese, Frozen Pizza (AWANA night)
Thursday: Taco Plate
Friday: Papa Murphy Pizza for Bible Study
Saturday: Junk Pizza
Seems like quite a bit of pizza, but no one here minds that. The junk pizza is similar to the Pampered Chef version with the cream cheese and veggies on top, except made with a homemade biscuit crust. Yummy!
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