Zonderkidz Faith Builders Bible Review

 

The day our Bible arrived from Zonderkidz

 

Working on the Ten Commandments

 

  

Every once in awhile you come across something and you're like, "YES", I need this! When we were given the chance to review the Faith Builders Bible from Zonderkidz, I knew I could not pass up this opportunity. Just seeing the building blocks on the front made me excited for my son.

I don't know about you and your kids, but my son is a huge Lego fanatic. He has so many Legos that I step on them regularly and spend way too much time picking them up off the floor throughout the week. I may "accidently" suck some in the vacuum cleaner occasionally....just don't tell him. I was excited to see they came up with the idea to publish a Bible using building blocks! It's genius, if you ask me.

The version they used for this Bible is the NIrV- New International Readers Version which is a simplified NIV. I am very happy with this version, and we have been using it for our homeschooling scripture readings. I feel like it flows well and is easy to understand for a child. I like how basic this version of the Bible is for younger kids. The text is all black and size of wording is easy to read. The Bible is hard covered which is nice for a boy as they tend to be bit rough on their belongings.



There are twenty-four full colored illustrated pages in it that demonstrate a few building block projects. My son had fun trying to copy a few of the easier projects in the Bible, but to be honest, the majority of the projects were really too hard to build just from sight for him. He is a kid that needs more direction and cannot just copy the pictures as shown. That being said, I still think it's an excellent Bible for a child to own and to relate to with the building blocks theme.

One of my favorite things about the Bible is the Bible dictionary that they have in the back. It's a nice feature for a child to have if they run across a word that they want to know the meaning of. It also has a list in the back of  "Great Bible Stories" and the page number of where to find them at.

I love how building blocks can go with so many things in scripture like how we BUILD our foundation on the Rock and Noah BUILDS an ark. The Bible has a "Builders Block Verse" on the illustrated pages that your child can work on memorizing too.

Overall, the Bible is worth the cost of $24.99 if you're looking for a Bible for a child, especially a boy who love Legos. I do wish that it had more instructions on how to build the projects in it and that there were more illustrated pictures to look at. I really like the version and plan to continue to use this Bible for our daily homeschooling scripture readings. I do think the building block theme is a great way to get a child engaged in reading the Bible. If you would like more information about this Bible you can visit Zondervan and check out the Faith Builders Bible.

  

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Let's Talk About Homeschooling and 8 Reasons Why We Do It

 

 

Homeschooling....it's such a controversial subject. Somehow, within the distorted lens of society, saying you are a homeschooler means you are against all people who send their kids to public school. Can I tell you something? I have lots of friends who don't homeschool their children. In fact, some of my best friends send their kids to public school....and we are still friends, really good friends, actually, who don't judge each other on our schooling choices.

We were first introduced to homeschooling through a friend when we lived in Michigan. She had one daughter she was homeschooling for kindergarten and planned on homeschooling her second daughter when she was of age to attend school. She was the first person I had ever met that was a homeschooling mom. The funny thing is she seemed so ‘normal.’ Even though I'd never personally met a homeschooling mom, I still kind of knew what they were supposed to be like. You know…denim skirts, no makeup, kids with pants that are too short, etc. Well, she is not like this at all, and today we often joke about that label given to homeschooling moms. Not to say that we aren’t all a little different, because we are. After all, homeschooling families are known for their uniqueness, aren’t they? I might add that there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing denim skirts, AND my son has been known to go out in public numerous times with pants that are too short on him. Oh, and makeup...well, let's just say I haven't put any on in about four days now. :)

After observing my friend and her family for awhile, and being intrigued by their lifestyle, I approached my husband about the idea of homeschooling Evan. He flat out said “No way.” I finally, after much persuasion, convinced him to at least attend a homeschool conference with me so we could learn more about it before we made a final decision. After attending the conference, my husband was sold on the idea. He couldn’t get over how well behaved the kids were at this conference. They were sitting there with their parents not misbehaving or acting bored. In fact, some of the older ones were taking notes while the main speaker was giving his talk. I laugh about this now because I get it. It’s something my son would do today. 

That being said, I receive inquiries weekly about homeschooling. I recently had a friend I met online through this blog who pulled her daughter from school and started homeschooling after Christmas break. I like to think I helped give her the courage to know she can do it. There are still a lot of questions out there about homeschooling, so I decided I would give you some of the reasons why WE made the choice to homeschool our son. First, let me say just because WE have chosen to do this for OUR family does not mean we think EVERYONE should do it. Would I love for more of my friends to homeschool? Uh...yes! Can you say play dates to parks and trips to restaurants during the week without the crowds...that equals awesomeness. Unfortunately, I do feel pretty lonely on this path at times. I do, however, have a great network of homeschooling friends in a town not so far from me and I adore them. 

Here are eight reasons why we homeschool:

1.     We decided we were not happy with today's public school system. We both come from it and we know how it is. Neither one of us had a very good experience with school. Some people do and that's great. Like I said earlier, homeschooling is not for everyone!

2.     We want to have lots of time with our son. We don't want the rushed mornings and the rushed afternoons. When you add sports and extra activities outside the home, how can you have time at home as a family?

3.      We want to be able to teach him our biblical values and have it be part of his schooling. Reading the Bible and studying the Bible are part of our daily schooling. God and His word are not part of the public school system. That doesn't mean there are not lots of Christians in the public school system, because there are, but we want it to be a part of his life everyday and not have it be something that is controversial that you have tip toe around.

4.      We want him to be able to explore his own interest and learn at his own pace. We don't want him to be in trouble at school because he is a boy and boys can’t sit still, and we don't want him to be bored because he catches on too fast, or frustrated because he can't catch on as quick as others.

5.      Character development is HUGE for us. We want to teach him how to treat people and how his reputation and actions do not just affect him but his family too. If you raise a child that has good character, good morals, and is liked by many, he will be given many opportunities in life. If you raise a child that is arrogant, self-centered, and doesn't have basic manners, I don't care how smart they are....ain't nobody want to deal with that. The more I am with him, the more I can see where his character flaws are and work specifically with him on them so he can improve them and grow to be, not only a functioning adult, but one that contributes to society in a good way.

6.      In MY opinion, schools are not a safe place anymore. I don't want that phone call that says our school is in lockdown because someone brought a gun to school. I don't ever, ever want to be in a position where I cannot get to my child and be with him. Ever.

7.      Homeschooling gives us flexibility to go and do what we want without following the school schedule. If we want to go to Michigan and visit our family, we can. This decision doesn’t have to be approved by anyone but us. We get to go to all the parks and attractions during school hours and miss the crowds. If something really is interesting to Evan we can take a week or two and dive into that subject until we want to move on to the next thing that interest him.

8.      We want our son to like being around us. We want him to value our opinion over his teenage friend’s opinion. Let’s face it, I cared a whole lot more about my friend's opinions than my mother's as a teen, you too? I want our family to continue to be close and for our son to respect us and value what we say. We are very close as a family right now, and I can't see that changing because he becomes a young man and starts to form his own opinions.

There you have it - a few of the reasons why we homeschool. We made this choice for our family because we really felt like it was the best thing for us.  We do not feel that everyone should do this, or everyone should feel the same way we do, and we don’t look down on those who choose not to. Maybe you can relate to some of these, or maybe you have a completely different set of opinions... that's okay, my friends. Thankfully, He didn't make us all alike because how boring would that be? In reality, not everyone can homeschool even if they wanted to. There are lots of double income families and single parents out there who do not have the option, and the last thing they need, on top of everything else, is to feel guilty about their choice of schooling for their child.

For those of you who have thought about homeschooling and feel like you could never do it, I'll tell you something....I'm not anything special. I'm going on my sixth year of homeschooling and some days are not fun. My son and I fight occasionally, and  we get sick of each other because we are both human and selfish at times. Sometimes, he doesn’t want to do school. Sometimes, I don’t want to do school. Some days, I call my husband up and say things like, “I’m done and I am enrolling him in school tomorrow!” I struggle with staying disciplined with lesson plans and keeping us on a routine. My son struggles with math. We have done five different math programs before finding one that works. Sometimes, I have to call my husband and have him explain things like fractions to me because I am not sure I understand them myself. I'm learning right beside Evan, and I love that part of it. I'm learning history, English (which I really need because my grammar and punctuation are pretty bad as you probably can tell), and all sorts of things I have forgotten over time. Last year we were able to read several missionary biographies and my son’s eyes were opened to how Christians are sometimes treated in this world. It was a life-changing school year for us. I cried while reading him the stories of Nate Saint, George Muller, Amy Carmichael, and Gladys Aylward. My heart was stirred for missions, and I was once again reminded how spoiled we are in America. My son learned that his faith is not something to take for granted and that any day things can change for us Christians in America.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I'm a sinful, selfish person who gets reminded of these things everyday through the homeschooling process.  I struggle with anger issues and yelling at my son. I struggle with wanting to have more ‘me’ time. I feel like homeschooling brings out the very worst, and the very best, of me.  

My son is learning to forgive me when I make mistakes... after I ask him for forgiveness, of course. He is so smart, loving and thoughtful. Adults like to be around him and he has many friends. He is secure in himself, and yes, he is somewhat sheltered. I don’t necessarily believe that's a bad thing. I know there are lots of folks out there who will disagree with me.  I'm okay with him not knowing certain things until he is at an age that he can understand them. We don't shelter him to the point he will not be able to function in society. We make sure to discuss with him lots of things that are taking place in the world right now. I refuse to be a mom who hides the topic of sex, drugs, drinking or any other controversial issue from him. If he's going to hear about that stuff, it will be from me and his dad, not the kid on the school bus.

If you've thought about homeschooling but you’re scared, just remember all homeschooling moms feel this way when they make the decision. We all wonder at times if we are making a mistake. We wonder about the things they may miss out on and we feel alone sometimes. Some people say they admire a homeschooling mom. Some people say we're crazy and ruining our children, and some people say even meaner things than that to us and about us. I'll say it again.... homeschooling is not for everyone, but if you think it may be for you, I encourage you to check it out and research it.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me. I would love to talk to you about it some more. If I have offended anyone by this post, please know that wasn't my intention. If homeschooling is not for you - it’s not for you. I'm just trying to explain to you the reasons why we choose to do it and to encourage anyone out there thinking about giving it a try.

~Jenn

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2015

I thought it would be fun to look back on the 2015 year and see some of the highlights of our year.

This is a picture heavy post. I'm glad I take lots of pictures all year and have a blog to record all the fun, and not so fun, things that happen in our lives.

 

 Remember that time I lost my mind and decided to put together this huge puzzle? That was how our year started off. We glued that puzzle, framed it and stuck it on my boys bedroom wall.

 

I had my first article and more published in a magazine. I am still writing for the Molly Green Magazine, and I suggest that all homesteading/homeschooling people subscribe to it!

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A Review on Eyewitness History: Hunger and the Great Depression

 

I am honored to have been chosen by the Schoolhouse Review Crew to do a review on a short EBook called Eyewitness History: Hunger and the Great Depression by Deborah Wuehler and Dr. Ruth Beechick. This book can be purchased for a very reasonable price here at the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

From the moment I started reading this to my ten-year-old son, he was hooked on it. Even though this is a fairly short book, compared to a chapter book, he, and I, both enjoyed it. The book covered the story and history of the Great Depression. It also covered our own spiritual depression and how to learn from both of these experiences. The book talked about how frugal people needed to be during that time period and how nothing was wasted or thrown out. The resilience of our country during this time period is amazing.

Dr. Ruth Beechick shares her personal experience of what her family went through during the Great Depression in the book. She has a way of writing it that allows you to feel like you are there experiencing it with her.  I found it fascinating that a lot of what was written about in the book is now becoming popular again with people in our country. People are wanting to return to their roots and learn how to become self-sufficient again. I have always been a great listener of my grandparent's stories, even though they were born at the end of that era, they were raised by parents who survived it, and my great grandparents passed those skills on to my grandparents. My grandpa and grandma have taught me how to can produce and helped me start hunting deer. They are the true pioneers of self-sufficient living.

The book explains how the 1920's were a time of excess, prosperity, and enjoyment. Following these years is when the Great Depression happened. I can't help but think about our modern day excess in all areas of life and wonder if perhaps the same fate, although in a different way, will come upon us again.

The book then goes on to cover spiritual depression.

"Though the Great Depression created a never-give-up spirit, a "spiritual depression" creates just the opposite: apathy."

-Eyewitness History: Hunger and the Great Depression

 

Ironically, or not, if you know how God operates, the section on the spiritual depression spoke straight to my heart, as I was reading it aloud to my son. Life seems to have a way of making you so busy that God's Word is put on the backburner while other matters take front place. I was reminded once again, through this book, that I need to make time for God's Word, even if I do not feel like it.

 

After I was done reading the book to my son, he asked me to read more. I told him there was not anymore to read, but, perhaps we could check out some books at the library on the Great Depression.

 

I feel this EBook  is worth reading, and it is very reasonably priced. It will spark interest to further research that time in our country's history and teach your children about frugality, living intentionally, and how to use your resources wisely.

 

Please comment below if you have read, or are thinking about purchasing, this EBook for your homeschool.

 

~Jenn

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Deer Camp 2015 and Trim Healthy Mama

I wanted to take a minute and update everyone on what's been going on around the homestead. I haven't blogged in awhile because we have had family in town. They left early this morning, which always makes us sad even after 4.5 years of living away from Michigan.

Hunting is great fun but it's even more fun when you get to spend it with friends and family. I'm pretty sure we may never have a year as good as this one again. We all managed to take pretty good bucks this year, and we all made really good shots with little tracking involved. Our freezer is now full to the brim with venison burger, steaks, roast, summer sausage and meat sticks.

My husband has already started making plans for spring food plots, calculating out our cost for them, and where to hang our stands next season. He never stops thinking about deer hunting. I am trying to talk him into either writing a post, or helping me write a post, on how he does food plots. My son and I help with the planting, but he is the mastermind behind it all.

This season we had a smoker and ventured into making our own summer sausage and meat sticks with some of our venison burger. They turned out fantastic, and we are very pleased with the results. We had to buy pork and grind it to add to the venison burger and we used our KitchenAid mixer with the meat grinder attachment. With the price of jerky, meat sticks, and summer sausage, this was an excellent investment and a great way to use up some venison.

In other news, I am giving Trim Healthy Mama another try. I really didn't put in great effort the last time I tried it, and the book was so overwhelming to me that I just gave up. I am that girl who hates shopping when there are too many choices or too much clutter. I feel the same when I read something. I just want the plan and the information on how to do it. I lost 23 pounds in the summer of 2014, and it felt so good to be in the overweight range and not considered obese anymore. I have slowly gained all that back, and I am so disappointed in myself. I am determined to get there again but in a more healthy way than the last time when I basically starved myself and over exercised. I plan to start the program fully on Monday and update you all on my progress. I have been enjoying the Good Girl Moonshine the past couple of days and it seems to keep me from reaching for a pop and gets my water in. Trim Healthy Mama has a store where you can purchase products from them, and they also have a membership program that you can pay for to help you in the weight loss process. It's more reasonably priced than Weight Watchers, but I am not going there yet until I see results from following it on my own.

I hate to even bring up my weight again. I have tried, and failed, so many times in the past, that I just figure everyone is sick of hearing about it. I have to do something though, and this plan, once you learn it, seems pretty reasonable. Plus, people are having such fantastic results on it from losing weight and balancing their hormones to great looking skin and lowered cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. I have nothing to lose but weight.

Homeschooling is about to resume here on the homestead, and I am taking a drastically different approach. I am incorporating more reading and Charlotte Mason style learning into our homeschool day. We are going to be doing more dictating, narrating, and note booking pages with less work sheets and formal lessons.

I also need to get back into my morning routine and get my blogging back on a normal schedule again. I recently added an email sign up link to my blog, so I can send out weekly newsletters to those who are interested. You can find that here.

Hope your deer season and fall are going well! Tell me how it's going in the comments and share this post for those who want to join in on this Trim Healthy Mama journey with me.

~Jenn

Disclosure: In order for me to help support my family with my blog, I may receive monetary compensation, or other forms of compensation from product reviews, links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations. I appreciate your love and support as I try to earn some extra income, so I can stay home and homeschool my son. Much love to you and yours, ~Jenn

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What We Are Using For Homeschool This Year

I know it's a little late in the school year to tell you what we are using, but that's life, right?

This year we decided to switch up our curriculum a bit. We had been using My Father's World since my son was in first grade, but this year we made the switch to Heart of Dakota. I like Heart of Dakota, but I am not sure it's any better than MFW, just different.

So here is what we are using this year.

History and Bible curriculum: Heart of Dakota Creation to Christ including Drawn Into the Heart of Reading.


English: Rod and Staff English 5
This is not my sons favorite, but it's a solid English program, and until I find one that I like as well to replace it, we will be using this.

Science: Apologia Zoology 3 - Land Animals of the 6th Day

Math: Teaching Textbooks 5

I also recently bought a membership here at www.notebookingpages.com, and I am really loving it! We can get on here and print out notebooking pages to go along with almost all his schoolwork. We are heading more toward notebooking instead of worksheets for schooling.

Here are some books I am trying to read this school year:

Charlotte Mason Companion

Well Trained Mind

A Thomas Jefferson Education

Educating the WholeHearted Child

I am not sure I will get all of these read this year, but it's definitely something I am going to work toward.

So, that's what we are using this year. I am pretty happy with all of his curriculum, so far. Heart of Dakota does take us longer to do than I anticipated, and I am not sure yet if we will go with it again next year. My son likes it because it has a daily schedule, he can do a lot of it independently, and put check marks beside the box when he's done. He says it makes him feel like he is accomplishing something.

Tell me down below in the comments what you use and if you have a better English curriculum choice for an 11 year old boy. Thanks!

~Jenn

Disclosure: In order for me to help support my family with my blog, I may receive monetary compensation, or other forms of compensation from product reviews, links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations. I appreciate your love and support as I try to earn some extra income, so I can stay home and homeschool my son. Much love to you and yours, ~Jenn

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My Top 10 Favorite Blogs

I decided I wanted to share my favorite blogs with you all today. You will be able to tell shortly after glancing at my list that I have issues. My dear friends, we have known this for awhile now, haven't we? Let's just say that I like a variety of things.

So here are the top 10 blogs or websites that I visit almost daily.

1. The Small Things Blog

Kate is so funny and down to earth. She always makes me laugh in her YouTube videos and also gives me great information on how to use makeup and style my hair. As a former cosmetologist, I love this blog!

2. Stacy Makes Cents

I have followed Stacy at Stacy Makes Cents for as long as I have been following blogs. Her, and her husband, are debt free and try to give advice to others to help them escape the slavery of debt. I watch her almost daily on Periscope and boy does she cracks me up. I have learned how to make better bread and where to get a great looking wallet that's pretty and can keep my cash categories separate.

3. The Elliott Homestead


Shaye Elliott at The Elliott Homestead pretty much lives my dream life. If I had a genie who would grant me a wish, I would chose to live exactly as Shaye does. My husband likes to tease me and say that I don't have the first idea of what it's like to really have a farm and farm animals, but I'd sure like to give it a try! Shaye is down to earth and funny, yet serious and shares her faith regularly. She is also my up-line for my essential oil business!

4. The Unplugged Family

This is by far my favorite homeschooling blog and it has been for years. In fact, she is probably the only homeschooling blog that I visit almost daily. I love her method of teaching and she has really shown me how implement the Charlotte Mason method into our school day. She makes a choice to live against what society says you should do by not having television and choosing to celebrate biblical feasts instead of the commercialism of Christmas and other holidays.

5. The Crush With Lee and Tiffany

Lee and Tiffany are my favorite hunting couple. Glen and I love to watch their show and we buy the seasons as they come out since we don't have a satellite or cable hookup to watch them. They are very passionate about deer hunting. I am pretty sure my husband and Lee could be BFF with how obsessive they both are with deer hunting and food plots. I like Tiffany because she is passionate about hunting but is still very feminine, while being surrounded by a bunch of men.

6. Money Saving Mom

Crystal Paine at Money Saving Mom is so motivating she exhaust me sometimes! She is very encouraging to those who want to start a business online and has a ton of good advice for how to keep your priorities straight and accomplish things during the day. I am going through her Make Over Your Mornings Challenge right now and I just pre-ordered her Money Making Mom book on Amazon.

7. The Prairie Homestead

Jill's blog was the very first homesteading blog I ever followed. I learned a ton from her and she sparked my desire to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. She has so many homemade recipes on her blog and is such a valuable resource for those who wish to learn about homesteading.

8. Molly Green

Molly Green is a great resource for those who desire the homesteading/homeschooling lifestyle. They also cover home keeping and home industry. Their magazine is pretty darn cool and you can even find articles from me in there! :) Their whole magazine and website pretty much sums up my whole lifestyle. I am a stay at home mom who wants to keep house well, homestead, homeschool, and earn some money while doing all this!

9. Whistle Pig Hollow

Something about Ashley's writing and her laid-back approach to life is appealing. I have reached out to her on several occasions for advice and she is always willing to help. She is so good about telling you when something she has tried is failing or has failed. But then she puts her big girl panties on and tries it again a different way until she succeeds. She is very motivating to me.

10. Homestead Blogger's Network

The Homestead Blogger's Network has been the most valuable thing for my blog. They are the most helpful, friendly, non-catty group out there. There are no quarrels or trying to one-up each other. There entire site is based on trying to help homestead bloggers get their blog posts and information out there to the public. They have been the ones that have helped me get my website up and showed me how to pin my posts on Pinterest, taught me about how to put social media icons on my website and much, much more. They have so many blogs they help promote that I can't even begin tell you all my favorite peeps on here so I will just direct you to their site and tell you that a lot of those blogs they promote are my online friends and you should follow them!

Well, there you go. I told you I was a mixed-up woman. I think I can sum it up by saying I am a woman who likes to be self-sufficient, frugal, homeschool, and hunt..... all while looking good! ;)

Hope your day is filled with what matters most to you and you keep striving to improve yourself on this journey.

~Jenn


Disclosure: In order for me to help support my family with my blogging, I may receive monetary compensation or other forms of compensation from product reviews, links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations. I appreciate your love and support as I try and earn some extra income so I can stay home and homeschool my son. Much love to you, ~Jenn

 

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Spring On The Farm

Can I just say that I think I need a vacation this year already?

I wanted to write and update everyone on our crazy busy schedule right now. As I sit here typing this, it's pouring rain. It's supposed to rain all week. I can't help but think that God gives us rain on a homestead so that we can sit back and relax once in awhile. We cannot ever control Mother Nature and we should embrace what she gives us, even if it means you can't get all your plants in the ground when you want to.

The first exciting news I want to share with you is that we are starting up a business! It's going to be called 'Little House on the 100 Farm.' I have been busy getting all the legal stuff done and ordering business cards, seeds, and planting tomato seeds (affiliate link), and more seeds, and more seeds....

We are going to build a roadside stand to sell our garden produce and I will be participating in our local farmers market. I have also signed up to take a microprocessing class which will allow me, once I pass the test and I'm certified, to sell some of my canned produce and baked goods. We will be planting a good amount of sweet corn and pumpkins (affiliate link) with the hope of providing our local community and surrounding areas with using organic seed and having non-sprayed, high-quality produce.

I'm telling you my head is spinning with the possibilities of this adventure!

Easter weekend happened on April 5th and I decided to color my hair. I love my hair light blonde. I know I should embrace my natural dark blonde with gray highlights, but what can I say...I am still a bit vain I guess. Notice the photo bomb in the background?

This is my boy at our church's yearly Easter Egg Hunt. He is always such a happy boy.

Here are my other babies. Tomato and pepper seeds started inside on March 9th. In this picture, I am in the process of hardening them to be planted outside.

 

A trip to the library last week brought all this home with us. I am so excited about the Laura Ingalls Wilder annotated autobiography! I am about a third of the way through. It's an interesting read and it's fun to compare what she fictionalized in her children's series and what is factual.

We may or may not have a slight addiction to books in this house.

 

I finally broke down and bought my favorite Christian band's latest album. Casting Crown's music ministers to me in a way no other music does. I have been listening to it nonstop. Yes, I know they make downloadable music. I can't believe that a CD is old school since I grew up on cassette tapes.

 

I also bought this with some extra money I made last week. I can't explain how excited I am about this purchase! I have been using the fire out of it! I bought a reusable pod because I am frugal like that ;)

 

 Everyone should have a front porch to read Laura Ingalls Wilder's annotated biography on. Spring, how I love thee.



Here is a glimpse of the area we will be planting some of our produce in. My husband sure does love to work the dirt around here. He is in all his glory when he is on his tractor. 

My boy won first place at a literature fair he participated in last Friday with our local homeschool group. He was so happy to win! I am so proud of him and of his love for reading. He did his book on Dolphin Tale 2: The Junior Novel. He is obsessed with Winter the dolphin. If we earn enough money from our produce stand business this summer, I am taking him to see her in Florida this winter.

We put our tomato seedlings out Saturday afternoon. This is our first year using weed mat (affiliate link). I sure hope it's worth it because it takes a lot longer to plant when you use it. 

 

Here are the seedlings all nestled in their new home. We planted 63 of them. I have had some die already from transplanting. I may not have hardened them long enough in direct sunlight before transplanting them. I have about 150 more tomato plants I want to add out there. Yes, I'm serious.

This is the stray cat that has been hanging around our place. I was working on an article for the Molly Green Magazine yesterday morning and I looked up and saw this. She has finally quit running off the deck immediately when we go out there, but she still won't let us get close to her at all. We call her Fluffy. I think she is a girl because our other three spayed female cats don't seem to mind her around. I am a sucker for stray animals. 

 

 

My boy also started swim lessons this week and I have a 30 hour famine with our youth kids at church this weekend. I think I can say, after almost three years in Logan County, we have finally totally immersed ourselves into life here! We love it here, and with an uncertain future, which would require a totally different post to explain that, we pray this will be our forever home.

 

That's about all we have been up to lately here on the Hundred Acre Wood! How about you? Planting anything yet?

 

Jenn

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Spring Is a Busy Time of the Year

I am trying really hard to stay consistent with my blogging but life seems crazy right now! Is it just me, or is everyone else on the busy train right now too?

We are wrapping up Evan's third year of Upwards basketball next Saturday and that will free up Monday nights and Saturday mornings again. Evan has been wanting me to take him to Tractor Supply a lot lately just so he can look at these ducks. He wants some ducks and chickens really bad (so does his mama, but with age I have learned to be a little less impulsive and wait for the right timing.) We don't have a shelter to keep them in and we don't want to use our money to build one right now.

 

 

 

We finally got the grow light ordered and installed for our aquaponics system. I have some very happy tomato seedlings now. I can't wait to see how this turns out and if we can actually grow fruits and vegetables in it. I plan to do a post on it soon.

 

This has been top on the list of my priorities lately. I took the time the other day to plan out my garden and I went and bought all my seeds. Evan and I also went and put our name on the local Farmer's Market list to operate a booth this summer. We are pretty excited about that!

This is what I bought to start our seeds. We used these last year and they worked really well. It's pretty obvious that spring is in the air with all the garden stuff out at the stores.

 

We have started tomatoes and peppers inside. Last year we started all our seeds inside. With our growing season being pretty long in KY, I am confident that we can sow the rest outside in May and have a good outcome. We will be planting around ninety tomato plants and seventy pepper plants. 

 

My boys went for a walk in our woods the other day and found these old bottles. We looked them up online and they date back to the 1930's. The Lydia E. Pinkham's Medicine bottle is pretty neat. Here is a link to a little information about her - Lydia E. Pinkham. I will be adding them to the other old bottles we have collected here on the Hundred Acre Wood.



 

Evan had to give a speech Thursday evening for the 4-H district competition. Unfortunately he did not advance, but he learned a lot and can't wait to do it again next year. This is a picture of him before he had to give his speech. The ten and eleven year olds were in the library for their speeches so of course he found a book to read while waiting. 

This is my next project I am tackling. I have been talking about having a compost bin for years. I am going to start simple and work my way up from there. Now I just need to find the money in our budget to get it done.

 

 



That's what we have been up to lately. What about you?

Jenn

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The Week of Crazy Kentucky Weather

We are having quite the week here at the Little House on the Hundred Acre Wood. Apparently, Kentucky and Tennessee must have done something to tick Mother Nature off.

Monday started with the biggest snow storm that anybody under fifty has seen in this area. We then proceeded to get another couple inches of snow after that with 25-35mph winds. This caused white-out conditions and drifting. After that, we were blessed (sarcasm inserted here) with freezing cold temperatures. Our thermometer was reading -21 Thursday morning. Last night we started with snow that switched to freezing rain and finally to rain. We are presently under a flood warning right now. Thankfully, we did not lose power during any of this.

Cray-cray.

And this is coming from a northern girl!

I am convinced in a week's time we will be under tornado warnings. We might as well get it all out of our system at once.

We are all doing fine here, except that I have a severe case of cabin fever. The boys seem to be doing fine with it all. My husband has been home all week due to the weather and it has been nice to spend time together. I did get a lot of work done on my blog and I am learning to do all kinds of things. I have learned to edit pictures, add Pin It buttons, and watermark my photos.

I also learned this week that animals born in the south are not quite sure what to do with this white stuff. We have a had a week of our Yorkie going to bathroom on the deck because she refuses to go down the steps to the snow covered yard. We even shoveled a spot for her and she still wouldn't use it. Our black cat, Shadow, has been sitting outside howling because she just doesn't know where she is supposed to go to the bathroom. Who knew?

I picked a bad week to quit social media. If I had known that I would be snowed in with no human interaction, besides my boys, I would have rethought that decision. I won't lie, I have been on Facebook to check my notifications and some news pages. Social media has made it almost impossible to know what's going on if you don't have an account. Everything from Evan's piano practice to Upwards basketball has their cancellations on Facebook pages. It's just easier to reach everyone at the same time that way.

The public school kids have been out of school for the entire week. Evan has not been so lucky. He did school everyday, but he still managed to have plenty of time to play in the snow. As I type this, he is outside with his dad, and they are trying to get a river flowing through the yard so it doesn't back up and flood by our house.

 

Here he is working on long division.

 

Glen took Evan sledding behind the four-wheeler. We didn't have a sled so we used a storage tote.

The boys checking things out. I love them - that's all. 

 

Glen working on his ditch system. See that water in the background? It's flowing like a river and goes right over our driveway further down on our property.

 

Edger Creek

 

Our home.

 

 

Well, that's about it at the Dana's this week. Hope you all are staying warm and safe in this crazy weather!

 

 

Jenn

 

 

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End of Year Update

Hello friends!

It’s been awhile since I have written. I guess I haven’t been in the mood to write lately. I have a pattern of becoming somewhat gloomy around the holidays. Celebrating without extended family is rough on me. It’s hard to make a big fancy meal for just your husband and ten-year-old. Not that they don’t deserve it - because they do. But, it’s just not the same as being around my big, obnoxious family.

A couple things have happened since I last wrote. The big one being my husband was informed by the company that he works for that they will be closing the plant down. That means we have nine months to prepare for job loss and to look for another source of income. When you are a one income family, and that only income is compromised, it can be scary territory. I am truly not worried though. I am trusting that God will provide and that we will come out on the other side stronger than ever.

My uncle also went and had a heart attack right before the holidays. It scared the poop out of me. See, he is only seven years older than me. He was my grandparent’s surprise baby and my mother was a young mom.  It made me think long and hard about my health and the choices I am making with it. I am long past wanting to be a size 2, but I do want to have lots of energy to keep up with my family and my dreams for this homestead.

I also celebrated my thirty-eighth birthday on December 23rd. I am not sure about you, but time seems to fly by the older I get. I can’t believe I am two years away from forty! I actually enjoy getting older and wouldn’t go back to twenty if you made me.

Evan is doing well. He still complains about having to do school everyday even though we had a two week break over the holidays. We are still learning about ancient Egypt and reading through Exodus. I really want to do a unit study on Little House on the Prairie but I just don’t know if we have the time. He has been enjoying his fish. He is now up to having four aquariums. He is also really into his Lego blocks right now.

We have been working on a 3000 piece puzzle in the evenings that my mom sent him for Christmas. I can get a little psycho with puzzles. I may or may not have flipped out on him a couple times for bumping the table. Hey, I’m just keeping it real.

I enjoy winter months because they force you to slow down. I have wanted to get out some of my knitting stuff but until the puzzle is done that’s not going to happen.

I had a lock-in with our church youth on New Year’s Eve. I may enjoy getting older but my body does not enjoy getting zero sleep. I really am too old to be staying up until 3:00 a.m. The other adults and all the youth, except a couple, stayed up all night. Can you say “cray cray?”

Well that just about sums up the holidays at the Dana Homestead. Hope your holidays were happy and full of Jesus!

Love,
Jenn

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Christian Way Farm

We had such a great time yesterday with our homeschooling group. We went to a local pumpkin patch/petting zoo. It's an annual trip for our group and every year Evan looks forward to it. When we first arrived is was cold and rainy, but the weather cleared up, and by the afternoon it was 70 degrees and sunny.

 

His favorite thing to do there is to shell corn the old fashioned way. I told Glen we should get him a corn sheller and he could shell our field corn we have planted for the deer. I think that would keep him busy for awhile!



 

 We went for a ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin. There is a tractor pulling the wagon.

 

I am not sure how my friend's daughter managed to do this! It sure kept them busy on the ride back to the farm.

 

He really needs a haircut, but he is insisting that he likes it longer.

He will forever be a cat person.

 

This kitten is pretty cute. #dogsarebetter

 

This is my favorite part of the trip every year. The lady who owns the farm always takes a pumpkin and tells us a story with it. She talks about how we are like pumpkins and that God comes and cleans out all the yucky in us and gives us a new heart. I always get teary eyed when I think about God's grace and how undeserving I am of it.

 

They fired up a corn sheller that is powered by a tractor and all the kids got to go put an ear of corn through it and watch. They gave the kids the shelled corn to go and feed the animals with.

Yes, he asked if we could have one and the answer was "no."

Evan is so special. He just is. God made him to be loving, sensitive, and very funny. Although his sense of humor does get him in trouble with mom sometimes, even I can appreciate sarcasm at it's finest. 

 

My friend's little boy trying to hold the kitten. At one point he was carrying it upside down but every time I tried to get the camera out and take a picture he would drop the kitten.

 

A picture of a baby goat just for the cuteness factor.

 

Now this was the highlight of Evan's day. He loves to play golf on the wii but has never played for real. He played mini golf for the first time and has not stopped talking about it since.

 

 

After the farm trip, I stopped by a friend's house who called the other day and said she had some clothes for me to go through. Since I recently lost more than 20 pounds, I have been needing some new clothes. I am frugal when it comes to buying clothes and usually shop second hand. I was excited to go through them. We always love to chat with each other and her family is pretty neat too. Well let me tell you...I practically got a brand new wardrobe! My favorite is a grey sweater dress. Glen has a work dinner on Thursday night and I knew I needed to go and buy something a little nicer than what I own but I just didn't want to spend the extra money. I am thinking my black boots and black leggings with colorful accessories. We are on a mission to be debt free as soon as possible! I believe that God is honoring that decision and still choosing to bless me through a friend with free clothing!

 

Jenn

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