The Beginning ~ Dec 12, 2005

(**Blog Notes**As I make the transition from Homeschoolblogger to eBlogger, I will periodically take a trip down Memory Lane as I re-post blog entries from the past. This is the very first entry I made on Homeschoolblogger a month before the birth of my 4th child--the little guy in the previous post! It is a quick look at how my vision of homeschooling has changed since I started in 2002.)

For many years I had visions of the big yellow school bus sweeping my children off their feet and taking them to the quaint old red brick schoolhouse whilst I stayed behind baking cookies to delight them upon their arrival home. Now, 3 years later, I realize how faulty my vision was, and here I sit, forever grateful, that God saw fit to give our family a clearer "vision!"

Oh, don't get me wrong, there are days when MY vision is still a little hazy. Thankfully, God's isn't! He takes my foggy, less than resourceful, downright unproductive days and turns them into lessons in patience, thankfulness, and faith.

So, for me the beginning was truly a beginning. It was a time when I let go of many of MY visions and let God have His way. I also had to release my fears and doubts as well. Was I really qualified enough to teach a rambunctious and highly intelligent 4 year old? Would my high-needs 1 year old sleep long enough to allow us to do school? What curriculum was the best? How would I ever afford all the curriculum I thought I needed? What if there are gaps? What subjects should I be teaching at what age? Would I put him into public school at a certain age? and on and on and on...

Not all of these questions have been answered definitively and more seem to crop up weekly, but I am no longer a basket-case each time I think of a new "what-if" scenario.

So, join me on my homeschooling journey. I'm not going to guarantee you profound epiphanies on a daily basis and I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, but I will guarantee you a candid look at my life as a Christian wife and mother.

(**So, there you have it, the beginning of the beginning of this whole blog thing...and I STILL guarantee you a candid look at my life as a Christian wife and mother! ;o)**)

Newly 2 With So Much To Do!

Our youngest son turned 2 today! Perhaps you would like to hear a proud mama ramble on about her son for a moment...

His birth was the most fun I have ever had in labor! Yes, you read that right...I actually had fun birthing this little 10 pounder! He was my first, and so far only, fully unmedicated birth. It was a beautiful experience that I truly hope to have again.

He's not much for words...at least not real words. His varying intonations of "uh" serve him well, though. Occasionally, he says a real live word. We give him a shocked look, ask him to repeat it, to which he replies, "UH!" So, we take his surprise vocabulary as it randomly makes its appearance.

He is very fond of cleaning things...thus, the vacumn cleaner as a gift from Grandma. He spent the entire day vacumning! That is actually a change from his usual daily mopping. He likes things to be neat and orderly. It is a very good thing he is his older brother's roommate...the two of them are peas in a pod when it comes to this aspect!

This is the last grandchild my father got to hold. He knew I was pregnant w/ our newest little one, but he died when I was 5 months pregnant w/ her. We knew Dad would probably not live to see another grandchild, so we named our little guy an Irish name in honor of my father's Irish heritage. An added bonus was a chin dimple to match his Grandpa's. My husband calls him our "Little Laddy."

He is full of energy and sunshine and noise! Talking may not be his forte, but screaming is! We are working on deterring that particular less-than-desirable trait. Teaching him a fair amount of sign language has helped that situation immensely!

This little guy has brought so much joy to our lives. And even at this tender age, and being a man of few words, you see his heart for the Lord. He is the one who holds us accountable to pray before our meal. He is the one who runs for the Bibles and song books when it is family devotion time. And he is the one humming "uh, uh, uh" all the way through "Jesus Loves Me!"

Extended Spreadable Butter ~ A Tutorial

I realized this afternoon I needed to make Extended Butter, so I thought I'd do another tutorial.

This recipe came from a book I found in a thrift store in Colorado...yes, I *am* a thrift store junkie. The name of the book is Make Your Own Convenience Foods by Don & Joan German. My copy is from 1978, but everything is still relevant...possibly more relevant now than ever before, as we face supermarket shelves lined with preservatives, artificial dyes, & chemicals. This book offers quick and cheap ways to make chemical-free foods.


The reason I make Extended Butter is not so much because I need to extend my butter, but b/c I have been on a quest for how to make butter more spreadable straight from the refrigerator. I wanted the convenience of a tub of spread w/o having to use margarine. For those of you who regularly use butter as a spread, this recipe will prove to be a money saver, I am sure!

OK, here's what you need:

<---vegetable oil

<---liquid lecithin (found at health food/bulk food stores)

<---1lb of butter

Set your butter out and get it to room temperature.



In your blender, mix:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp liquid lecithin

5 oz water

It will look like this--->

(you can see the cover of the book in the background)



When your butter is room temp, add it to the blender, and blend until smooth.

As you can see, the spatula stands straight up in it. It has a whiter appearance than pure butter, but that hasn't seemed to bother anyone in our family. The book does suggest that if the lack of color bothers you, you can add a bit of carrot juice. Doesn't seem worth it to me.



Now, all you have to do is transfer it to a container. We keep ours in an old margarine tub...just seems like the logical place for it! ;) Then, it just goes in our refrigerator, ready to be pulled out w/ the meal.

*1/10 Note: I get a lot of hits on my website for this butter tutorial and thought I probably ought to give an update as I no longer make extended spreadable butter.
The reason being twofold:
1. I'm just not convinced the use of soy lecithin is a good idea. Until I feel better informed about the subject, I'd rather not be purposely adding it to my foods.
and 2. I decided that it was just as easy to simply keep a butter dish set out on the counter or try to plan ahead and set butter out ahead of time when it is needed. I make so many other things from scratch, this is one thing that isn't necessary.

If you read through the comments, you will see there are people who have tried making butter spreadable with olive oil and have gotten great results.  Someday I intend to try doing that instead of using the lecithin.



I'm thrilled so many people have visited the website via this tutorial, but didn't want to be misleading since extended spreadable butter has ceased to be a part of my family's diet.