To butcher, to butcher, to take the fat pigs.

Home again, home again, with bacon and sausage!

Aren’t I a beauty?

Our first experience raising pigs has proven to be a positive one. We enjoyed the time with our girls. They grew beautifully! They loved the food and the extras. We fed the pigs a hog feed from a nearby Amish co-op. The feed was not oatmeal based, as many are, which is a filler for the feed, not very nutritious for the pigs. We were thankful to learn about oats being used as filler, and thankful to find the co-op with high quality feed for a comparable cost. In addition to the pig feed, the girls enjoyed some of the best goods, brought to them straight from the house, all our scraps were given to them; all the apple peels after cider making; all the peels from pears, peaches; all the discards from cherry and berry processing; all the garden greens we did not eat, some of the trimmings from around the farm, they were treated to lots of yummy foods. Their favorite? Eggs, raw eggs! Twice a day minimum they were visited, fed a treat, had their ears scratched, and back rubbed. As the girls out grew the first pen, they were transported to a bigger one, they were happy with their new quarters. The pair was always nice, not pushy or mean. The wonderful job they did of rooting up and tearing up the area….hard ground had nothing on those noses.

Time came for them to go to the butcher, I am glad to give that job to somebody else! The girls were too cute and nice to cut up, but now that they are home in nice neat packages, they are great to cook up. Next learning task is rendering lard…..that is another first…..suggestions & hints welcome!

We are thankful to have had this experience, we are very thankful to have a freezer full of quality meat. This farming life is rewarding, although at times tiring and hard, we are thankful to have this opportunity. We also are looking ahead to spring with our next batch of piggies.

Gluten Free World

Perfect Christmas morning breakfast.

We recently learned that our youngest minion is allergic to wheat. It is a mild allergy, not celiac Disease, AND we live in a time where there are so many alternatives to wheat available all of which we are thankful. He is really taking this well, and have said he feels more tired after having wheat so knowing this helps him already is a blessing! The bummer is we learned about this allergy the week before Christmas, the season which is filled with yummy treats, like cookies, rolls, breads, muffins, some candies, and more all generally made with wheat. Being the mama I am, I dove in for a crash course on wheat free baking. I have learned a lot, but have so much to learn. There are many alternative to wheat; it is necessary to have several different flours to create the texture desired. There are a number of pre-mixed multi-flour blends on the market. I have been playing with two, Bobs Red Mill and Namaste. I really like the company and story behind Bobs Red Mill, but can find Namaste at Costco which saves money. J The all-purpose flour blends tend to be bean based (Bobs) or rice (Namaste) I have learned both are versatile, but the rice is lighter, for biscuits, the bean for cookies. I plan to use whole food products, I cannot compromise on that as I am learning this new form of baking.

My first baking need for my boy was biscuits. I found a gluten free recipe on the Bob’s Red Mill site. I followed it using my Namaste flour, just using the total amount of flour called for in separate flours. The biscuits were good, they had a bite, not mushy, and perfect accompaniment to our tomato soup.

My real challenge was to find a wheat free cinnamon roll. Really, we must have cinnamon rolls to go with our bacon on Christmas morning! In all my searches I came across a wonderful site called thebakingbeauties.com. What a wealth of information…….and TWO cinnamon roll recipes! I used the recipe found herehttp://www.thebakingbeauties.com/?s=cinnamon+rols&submit.x=-895&submit.y=-488 for our Christmas morning rolls. I used 2 ½ cups of my Namaste flour mix for the flours recommended, and used maple syrup in place of the corn syrup; for the filling I melted butter and put the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a handful of cinnamon chips. The secret to ‘rolling’ the dough is wet hands, instead of flouring a rolling pin, you wet your hands, I did this for the biscuits as well. Wet hands slide right over the dough, and you are able to just massage the dough into compliance…..lovely. To rolls the dough, do not touch it, just use the plastic wrap to sort of push the dough along. The rolls rose nicely and baked up perfectly. Nobody realized they were gluten free. SCORE for mom!!!

I look forward to learning more, to connecting with you all about this new chapter of baking, and hearing about your successes and failures with gluten/wheat free baking.

Memories

Memories……bring about smiles. The memory of a three year old boy keeping his grandma locked in a bathroom with an imaginary gecko

Memories…..bring about laughter. The memory of a two year old boy scared by a turtle, and wanting his daddy to get it out of the house, just to learn it was a stuffed dinosaur.

Memories….bring about nostalgia. The memory of holding hands walking along the beach with the one whom I would one day wed.

Memories….bring back the yesterdays. The memory of playing with Miss. Piggy dolls as a little girl with my sister.

Memories….keep friends and family near. The memory of adventures had with friends, and boys, the real adventure or the imagined one.

Memories…..help us to be thankful. The memory of the poor woman in China, begging for money, holding her baby.

Memories…..evoke fear. The memory of a little boy lost while biking in Japan, with no English speaking people around.

Memories….remind you how fast life goes. The memory of the day each boy was brought into the world.

Memories……bring tears. The memory of saying good-bye to my little boy, forever, the memory of that last hug, the memory of no more.

Memories are special pictures into life, life is full of ups and downs, and even some spins. Memories are special to the individual; all have a unique power to conjure up emotion. Memories can come unexpected, pictures, a sound, a smell, a place, a number, cause a memory to pop into your head. Memories, I will take them all, those that make me laugh, those that make me teary, I am thankful for memories, I have lived and continue to live, I will continue to create memories. I am thankful for the memories, thankful for those whom I share the memories.

Homeschooling and time

We are a homeschool family. Our children at educated at home. We are not ashamed of that, we share that with anybody who asks where our children attend school. We are active in our Church. We are active in our community. We are involved with our children’s extra curricula activities. We stay busy. Interesting we are not a unique homeschool family, we have lived in several areas, and have many, many friends who homeschool, and they are all pretty much like us, involved in growing children into young men and women ready to stand firm for Christ and able to be productive members of the community…..and beyond. So, why is it that people so often want us to volunteer for many extra projects? Why do people think we have so much extra time? Why do people think we need help entertaining our children?

I was slightly offended by comments made to me over the last couple of weeks. Comments such as: just don’t do school, take a break, let dad teach, thought you needed something to keep your kids busy, why can’t you have ladies coffee each week, can’t you just do school during the evening, don’t you want a break from the kids, how can you stand to be with your kids all day, if I were home all day I would go crazy but my house would be clean. After the last comment that was made to me, I had a change of heart, I really think people who have never homeschooled, nor spent much time with a homeschooling family understand the lifestyle of homeschoolers. That is what homeschooling is, it is a lifestyle, not just school at home.

Homeschooling in America has grown tremendously in the last decade, each homeschool family has their own ‘flavor’ as you continue to read this, please do not think about that one person you know/knew who did or did not, think about the many homeschool families, some within your extended family, and try to understand, maybe even walk in their shoes a bit.

We chose to homeschool our children after much prayer, discussion, and watching other homeschooling families. It was evident keeping our children at home was the right choice for our family. We do not think we are creating the next Einstein, Mother Teresa, or likewise, we are enjoying the very short time we have with our children. We relish the freedom we have to disciple our children to become more like Christ. We enjoy reading books together, learning and discovering history as a group, we love creating meals, and eating them as a family. We do not necessarily love writing paragraphs, checking grammar, or trying to understand algebra, but we do it because we have chosen this life style. Our mornings are filled with learning new or reviewing yesterday’s new things, we must spend time in the mornings as our afternoon or evenings are filled with other fun stuff.

Homeschool children are allowed to participate in sports, scouts, 4h, music, art, and foreign language lessons. Homeschool families enjoy serving others, when they have time. Homeschoolers are involved in Church, even on a day besides Sunday! Our children are involved in Scouts, sports, 4h, language, mission projects, service to others, and encouraging other homeschool families, not to mention Church during the week that makes for a full week. Our family enjoys dinner, together, as often as possible, and with other homeschooling families or friends. Proverbs mentions a good friend being better than a faraway brother, which is what other homeschool families are, our family.

As a mom, I am honored and thankful that I can legally and freely homeschool my children. I love to spend time with them. I love to listen to them. I love to watch them grow, although they are growing so very fast. My fun is when we are altogether as a family. My break is when we head out to the woods together. My time with them at home is limited, I do not want to find ways to hurry it along; I do not want to find ways to be away from them. I do not spend all day at home, I do not have a clean house most days (your first visit to my house will find it looking clean) I do not spend time arguing with my teen. I do not need help keeping them busy. I do allow for free time where the kids can p.l.a.y. Time for them to just be, that is good, to be. We do not have a school that looks like public school, and that is ok, in fact freeing. Why would I want to miss out of what we are learning so dad can teach and I can hang out? I will have plenty of time in a few very short years to have ladies tea each week, where I can take the day to play whenever the invite comes, I will have a clean house, then, maybe…..

I am not defending or explaining who I am, but rather want each person who knows or knows of a homeschool family to take a minute to understand what their lifestyle is all about.