Stephanie

Jingles, Writing lines is one of many tools we use to reinforce proper behavior. It's according to the child and their age, personality etc... Once I tried to use this method with my 2 girls. They were thrilled. They happily collected their papers and pencils and wrote the assigned lines cheerfully. Sufficeth to say, it didn't teach them much ... as they enjoyed it tremendously. Surprisingly, I will often use a similar method with my oldest son, 14 years old. Sounds odd, but it works well because... I let him choose a passage from the Bible that he would like to write (gives him a bit of control) and then I say, I think you need a little handwriting practice (he does) and then I remind him that choosing a great scripture and writing neatly will bring the whole thing to an end quickly (once again, in his control) or he can drag it out for a while by presenting me with a sloppy paper. What happens is, he calms down while he writes (maybe 10 minutes) and gives us a time out from each other ( a good thing) and he has accomplished hand writing for the day (part of homeschooling). Plus, he's been exposed to a scripture of his choice. In other words, I don't really do it as a punishment, but more as a distraction for him and it really works well for the two of us. So, I guess what I'm saying is...does it accomplish what you're setting out to accomplish? Does it make them stop and think and consider their actions? If so, then that's a good thing. Does it only cause them to feel more angry and frustrated without giving any thought to what they did wrong? Probably, not serving a good purpose.

(((Judy))) Thanks for making us aware of what you are already so keenly aware. Except for you mentioning it, I've never even heard of this disease. Perhaps with your writing skills you could continue to inform others. Not only do you have a wonderful talent of being able to communicate in the written word, you have personal first hand experience. Take care of yourself, I appreciate you!

Bless you hearts!! What an ordeal, but a good attitude! Perserverence indeed!

Today we tackled something new for all of us. While everyone watched, only dh and I along with the two oldest boys participated. A while back I bought this.... http://www.bizrate.com/foodslicers/rival-1...pareprices.html But, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I've yet to try out many of my treasures that I've been gathering....do today was the day. We had this humongous Bonelss Pork Loin that I had intentions of canning. We discussed the need for uniform sizes of meat and why the density was an issue. Then we each took a turn, after much instruction about safety. We examined the grain of the meat, removed excess fat (wasn't much) and the boys had a hands on lesson in meat processing. Ofcourse we worked in what it means to be an one inch cube, a little measurement/geometry/math skills review as well. Later today, dh and they will hone their knife sharpening skills (pun intended) I am so thrilled to be able to introduce my children to things I'm just now learning in my 40's. I know that they will choose their own path in life, but these experiences and skills will always be with them no matter where they go! BTW, now the pressure canner is filled with 7 quarts of lean cubed pork loin, waiting for the pressure to build now.... and I'm a bit tired, been a busy morning. Homeschool is cool!

I knew my great grandparents (two sets of them) very well. My grandmother is still living now (89) and I just finished writing her a long letter...she doesn't care for these new fangled ways of communicating, although we do enjoy phone calls. She is one of my best friends! She helped raise me and has been a wonderful Godly influence in my life to this day. Her daddy, was a big gentle man who always wore Liberty overalls. Grandma loved him dearly, so did my mom (her daughter) and so did I. He told me lots of stories about driving mule teams and taught me how to shuffle cards. He faced lots of hardship in his life, lost three children in one disastrous moment when the school explosion occurred in 1937 in New London Texas. His wife, my great grandmother, was a frail petite woman who sufferred from epilectic seizures in a time when they were not completely understood. She made huge 'cats head biscuits' and filled them with real molasses. My grandfathers parents are also vivid parts of my childhood memories. Especially my great grandmother who actually gave me a wedding gift of a gorgeous crocheted rose afghan, that I naturally cherish to this day. I remember this HUMONGOUS moose head mounted that my great grandfather had killed...it always creeped me out as a kid.

Building a chicken coop together is a great hands on learning project. It's a great way to study fractions, measurements, angles, etc... Good job! (((Cecilia))) , glad you're enjoying our tales....believe me, I could go on and on and on and on... Pioneer studies are some of my favorites! Did you know you can make a balloon out of a butchered pig's bladder? We're going to making a project this summer out of converting a wagon for our two wethers (goats) to pull....have to find them a job to make them earn their keep. Later we're going to convert a red ryder style wagon into one that Aslan can pull! If you have a dog the size of a horse... Last weekend my dh replaced a ceiling fan, any type of repair work like that, car, electrical, fencing, etc... he has my two oldest right at his elbows teaching and letting them participate. He's such a good daddy!

Hey y'all, I would love to hear how you are training your children up to be tomorrow's preppers! What are you doing to increase their ability to be self sufficient, frugal, wise and enabled? Yesterday, I taught my two teenage boys (13 and 14) to pressure can pinto beans. I took them through every step. They were studying legumes in science (plant cycles), so it fit in really well. They were very interested and although I supervised, they did it themselves. I also taught my 9 year old son to boil eggs and peel them properly. This may seem like a small thing, but he was very proud of himself. He worked very diligently to peel a dozen eggs and then we stuffed them and had them with dinner. I taught my 9 year old daughter to make peanut butter cookies from the Powdered Peanut Butter in our storage. They were surprisingly easy and tasted good too! She was so happy to pass them out and see them gobbled up. Last weekend we had all seven kiddos in the garden, digging, planting, etc... Each child has a container or small bed for their own flowers and herbs, etc... Today we will be reviewing gun safety and hopefully be able to do some target practice. The older boys will help with the cleaning afterwards as well. Wel, that's a few things, and I hope you'll add more. I'd like this to be an on going thread where we keep sharing how we are training up our children. BTW, this does not have to only apply to homeschoolers.

I wish I was close enough to help you out with that abundance of cherries! How about dehydrating/drying some of your harvest? That wouldn't take up your freezer space. http://farmgal.tripod.com/Dehydrate.html

I had a dream...and I don't dream much lately. It was so vivid that I can't stop thinking about it. When I woke up from it (or in the midst of it) I was distressed, trying to catch my breath and had to go and wash my face with some cold water before I could think clearly. Before I tell you about this oddity, I want to give a disclaimer - I am in no way trying to say this is a prophetic dream, a hidden message or anything to but me and me alone. But, it sure got my attention and I thought you might find it mighty interesting as well. In the dream, I was standing on my back deck, which is about three feet off the ground and we had obviously experienced some kind of flood. I would occasionally see things floating under the deck or just at the edge so that I could see enough of the object to know what it was. But, each time I would run to get Henry (dh) it would have disappeared before he could see it. Once it was a turkey, then a small tiger and lastly an alligator. All three of these animals appeared to be drowned. Finally, due to my insistance about the alligator, Henry agreed to come out and check. He told me he was going to get a gun just in case the alligator wasn't dead. When he came back, he went to the wrong side of the deck and declared he couldn't see a thing. Not only that, the firearm he brought was a Black Powder Primitive that he is in the process of repairing (doesn't work as of yet). So, I am telling him, "Over here, over here, you're looking in the wrong place, that's why you can't see the alligator." I'm also asking why in the world he brought that gun. He agrees to come to the other side and tells me to go and get a different gun, just in case. I run in the house and then wonder which gun I should get. So, I go back out on the deck and see that Henry is in the water with the dead alligator. He says not to worry about it, because the alligator is indeed dead. I turn and look across the yard, which is about hip deep in water and I see another alligator. This one is not dead and is swimming toward Henry. I start screaming for Henry to get out of the water, that there is an alligator. He tries to calm me down by once again explaining that the alligator is dead and there is nothing to worry about. All the while this other alligator is swimming towards him. I turn and decide to run and get a gun. I am thinking of the Mossin Nagant and its huge bayonet. I find the rifle, but the bayonet is not attached, I don't know where it is and every other rifle is either missing a part or the ammo. It's all there but not together. I run back to the deck, helpless to help my husband and screaming at the top of my lungs! "Alligator! Alligator!" Then I wake up. What this is saying to me - the message is loud and clear - Get it together!! I've been like a little magpie collecting all manner of things (including some firearms I've never shot) as I've been preparing. But what good is it going to do me if when the moment that I need it comes and I don't know where it is, how to use it, what to do with it? This is not the time to procrastinate. Also, just because one possible threat "fizzles out" (like that dead alligator) doesn't mean that there isn't another right around the corner. This is not the time to let our guards down. I can't remember the last times I had a dream in such vivid color and so life life. I'm paying attention. Starting this weekend, I'm focused on getting it together!! Organizing, using, practicing, unboxing, trying out, what I have gathered.

Thank you for sharing these! What a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day, and create some great memories!

You have had a lot going on! Life can be a grand and glorious thing! I hope you find some treasures at the Yard Sale, they can be a lot of fun!

Hi and welcome to MrsSurvival! Many of us order from Honeyville and I've never heard any complaints. I will tell you that apparently they have a backorder situation going on when some things right now. I usually get my order really quickly and it's been several weeks. My mom got a couple of things from her order and the rest is backordered. I hope that helps a bit.

Hi everyone. I've kind of dropped the 'blog ball' here lately. Actually, haven't been posting much even on the board. I feel a bit disconnected. I think this started with my 9 day trip to Arkansas. I was there with only one of my children and he is 13, so able to take care of himself for the most part. I ran the roads with my mom and sister, shopping, taking mom to therapy, visiting my grandmother. I was a free spirit. I had no time constraints to speak of, no one pulling on my skirt tail, vying for my attention and very little house work to do. I talked with grownup people about grown up things. I had the best of both worlds, my cake and eating it too, for those nine days. Then, I came home and was smothered with hugs and kisses of the best sort. Found myself laughing at the corny jokes and silly antics of my children. Rolled up my sleeves and tackled the results of a house left with a husband and 6 children for over a week, started cooking like a wild woman, and giving my best effort to bring order back into my world. I think I may be in some kind of culture shock. Two such different worlds and enjoying them both immensely has kind of thrown me off kilter. I don't think I'm adjusting so well. You know what I found out in Arkansas, so many things that are a BIG DEAL in my Alabama life aren't a big deal in my mom's life. She doesn't give much thought to food. Oh they have plenty and it is very tasty, but a dish of whatever will last several days. Me, I think about food constantly. With seven children, you just have to! Not just keeping them fed and tummies full, but nutrition and cost are big factors too. Housework is not a BIG DEAL with my mom either, she stays on top of it, never letting it get out of control. HERE, well let me just tell you it is a constant battle, CONTSTANT! I try to stay on top of things, but well, mostly it seems to stay on top of me. The kids helps and we all work together as a family, but it's just a LOT of dishes, laundry, bodies!! While I enjoyed seeing my family very much, before the visit was over I was longing for home, for my life of chaos. I found myself feeling out of sorts and anxious to get on the road and get back to my world. Now, a week has passed since I returned and I find that I am still adjusting. So, I'm just feeling a little quiet as I work it all out in my mind and heart. I keep thinking of tht old saying, you can never go back home. I also am trying to come to grips with the fact that my family lives perfectly wonderful lives completely separate from me. And of course, the same applies to me. Well, I'm rambling, but maybe someone knows what I mean. Being alone with my family lIke I was for those nine days was kind of bitter sweet. As I drove the hundreds of miles home, it dawned on me that for the first time in my life I think I understand what it means to leave and cleave. And, that's a good thing. I feel ready to settle in here to my life, this life that God has given to me. It is not the same life as all of those that I love in Arkansas, it belongs to me and mine. I feel a bit melancholy as I turn my face from what once was but it's given me the ability to embrace fully what now is.

Wow! Cool Recipe Westie, thanks for sharing it. I really like the pictorial part.

Thank the Lord indeed!! Mama Radar Extraordinaire!!

I hope you'll be able to stay close with your friends by internet/phone etc... I'm right there with you, too much stuff! It's a constant weeding out here. And being prep minded with seven growing children! Yikes!! It never ends...so, I never quit trying to thin it out a bit.

Great Pictures and Great Job!

Hi Kim! I'm just seeing your wonderful blog entries and will be looking at more of them today. As to the categories, click on the "my blog" and then "your blog options" and then "categories". Let me know if that doesn't work.

What a blessing to read this wonderful account this morning! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. As you know, I spent the last week with my family and had many special visits with my own Grandmother who is 89. As I read you mention your 14 yr old foster son, I couldn't help but think what this experience must have meant to him. You're right, we do take for granted our good childhoods.

Pictures!!! Pretty Please!! The coop? the chicks? I'd just love to see them! Chickens are the best. I was so surprised to discover they have individual personalities! My little Minnie Pearl, who is my personal favorite and pet, runs to me as fast as she can and flutters right up into my arms if I am standing or onto my shoulder if I am sitting. (She's a bantam). BTW, if you really want to have some fun, snitch a few of you dh's worms from his worm bed. One worm for the three chicks and the fun begins. They will stretch the worm, chase each other for the worm, looks like a football game, absolutely hilarious!

In Junior High School I was in a play that my French Class did for the younger grades. I was - La Petite Poule Rouge (The Little Red Hen) I had to go to all the other characters and ask for help only to hear them say over and over Pas Moi! Not Me! Now, here I sit, three decades later wondering if I've become a real life La Petite Poule Rouge. I'm answering myself with those same two little words - Pas Moi!! Surely not! And yet, I find in my possession a newly acquired Grain Mill and supply of grain (with etc...) Was this my destiny? Was it meant to be? Was being a 'do it myself' kind of girl instilled in me at a tender age? Here is my Grain Mill - The Wonder Junior Deluxe! Isn't it lovely! https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emergenc...nior_deluxe.htm Here is where I bought my grain and other supplies. If you look to the left side bar you'll see a Getting Started button, that's what I clicked and used as a guide for my ordering. http://www.breadbeckers.com/ I do not know when I will actually use any of this, certainly not today. But, when I do, I'll be sure to share the experience! In the meantime, enjoy this online story of The Little Red Hen. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/stories/f...leredhen/story/

Hi Angela, I'm so glad you have such a supportive church. What a blessing!

No kitty cats here, but I bet that C4C will be very glad to see these recipes!