Precocious or IMP?

After a hiatus from piano lessons due to scheduling conflicts, the kiddos finally had a lesson. Trish took a little longer with them this time due to the long break. Afterwards she pulled me aside to apologize for being a little tough/stern with them. Trish is a delightful, easy going tempered woman who is wonderful with children. Being stern is a bit difficult with her, but she does it when she needs.


Trish proceeded to tell me how smart and gifted the children are and she did not fully understand it until today. Before she had always remarked how the children are doing so well because they practice. She knew Isabella's delight in repeating from ear songs she has heard only asking Trish for a correction to a note she can not figure out. Anton's ear is so sensitive that he will play a piece 20 times in a row to fix a mistake because it aggravates him when it sounds off. This is why I have not totally packed away the keyboard because the three keys that need tweaking cause frustrated grimaces in his expression when he has to use them.


But this time Trish went further in her explanation. She said on a whim she gave Isabella a new piece to test her sight reading. Now she did not give her a super hard one but it did entail the use of both hands and several chords. Apparently Isabella played it almost perfect. Trish said this told her how good Isabella is but she hides it with her desires to "do it her way". I gave her an empathetic chuckle because this sums up my major battles with our darling precocious child. She is too smart for her own good and finds things boring too easily. She tries to compensate for "doing it her way" by making it more challenging. For example, Trish gave her a book of finger exercises to strengthen her fingers and train them for being able to hit multiple chords. Isabella looked right at Trish and in a matter of fact but not really rude way informed Trish she did not like them and wanted to do this instead. Then she proceeded to run her fingers across the piano in a pattern she made up. OH the battle of wills with that child!!!


Trish chuckled with me and told me to be ready for her to push the children harder since she is seeing how good they are becoming and at such a young age. Trish's goal has always been to find a replacement for her at church and told Isabella when she can play the piano, they way Trish does, she can play at church. Isabella has not forgotten.

What's in the Reading Basket? Summer 2010

At our house, we have a large basket we fill with library books and maybe a few purchased books with high priority. Since the days have gotten scarily hot recently (drought with heat indexes over 100 degrees), I though a listing of some of the reading material we are working through might be of interest.


Towards a better Education:

This is a must read for those who would like to better understand our Constitution and why the Founding Fathers worded it the way it is written. This book has huge listings of references that can be used as spin off reading to explore those ideas further on your own. I am interested in also looking at the materials listed that our Founding Fathers would have read, Cicero, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, John Locke, The Federalist Papers, etc. Before people can say our Constitution is obsolete, they really should read and understand what it says. History has proven that when we give up a freedom, it is nearly impossible to get it back.

Historical Fiction from the Revolutionary War Era. Karl finds it much more enjoyable than the rest of us, but then again more men than women have aways been more fascinated by the views of those in a war and how it is happening.

For the Soul and Spirit:

Karl has been reading this as the heavy theology has always sparked his interest. However, this is something to be taken in small doses so one can ponder their full meaning. He has also mixed in some C.S. Lewis books such as "Mere Christianity", "Miracles", and his older fiction series "The Space Trilogy" which includes "Perelandra" and "That Hideous Strength".

I am opting for something a little lighter and have this on my list along with finishing "The Domestic Church".

The children have "The Hobbit" on their wish list. Since it is a bit difficult for Isabella to read straight through, I did pick it up on CD from the library for us to listen to in the truck. One of my friends is a HUGE Tolkien fan and is shocked that I have not read the Lord of the Rings series when Anton has started reading it on his own when he saw the books on our shelf. He is half way through the first book and finished The Hobbit awhile ago. However, he wants to read/hear it again and Isabella is very eager to enter the world where Karl and Anton have their "boy time" watching the Lord Of the Rings movies together.

Towards being a better person and parent:

This might seem a bit "too much information" here, but I have a problem with saying "no" to things. There are so many wonderful things to do in our area, so many projects to be a part of, and so many places where people want me to help, I have a hard time fitting it all into our schedule. This does not even include the time it takes for the upkeep and transformation of the the house to home, land to farm. This mentality is what lead up to my collapse and reactivation of my mono last year. So in an effort to learn how to say "no" to things, this book was recommended for me to read and journal through. This is a book to take as a journey and requires thought and application, hence the reason for not diving into the heavy theology Karl is taking on for the summer. There is a spin off book to this for helping to teach children how to make sound boundaries of their time and person I am hoping to read. Along those same lines, I am looking to read following book so I do not pack too much into my children's day. Our society has convinced us that our children must be active in sports, music, art, in addition to their regular school days. Since we do home school, we do have the ability to do most of this during the time allocated for the traditional school day, but yet the temptation to also include those great courses offered by the local community college just for home schoolers is hard to ignore. This along with a large home school co-op group which offers a wide variety of courses for academia or fun makes weeding through the options and time allocations difficult because they all have their merits. Our society has forgotten how to let children be children. To have times of boredom in order to promote creativity and invention. Without those precious moments of free time, children will not be able to cultivate their delayed gratification or practice the art of deep thought. So, in a way, I think it a little sad to have to remind myself and others that blocks of time with nothing planned is a good thing! But, we are all learning by fire this job of being a good parent in an ever changing world.

For the journey to better health and sustainability:

I know most people do not read cook books, but this one is worth peeking through the pages. I borrowed it from the library, copied a few recipes in a frantic rush, because the library needed it back quickly due to large demands on the holds listing. I have since put it on my wish list for purchase. When I look through cook books and find I want more than 10 recipes, I think it is worth trying to get my own copy. With the hectic lives we have, finding time for good home cooked meals can be scarce with out the use of the slow cooker. I have been using mine at least once a week if not more. This cook book has been my favorite thus far for going beyond the standard fare of the slow cooker recipes handed down from mom. The author took a year of cooking with her slow cooker, blogging her progress, and then turned it into a book. My other favorite cook books for natural cooking are Laurel's Kitchen both the regular one and the bread one. Most of us 30-ish adults have grown up with using processed foods in our recipes and struggle a bit to find an alternative to opening a can of condensed soup as a starter. I have always looked to my bible of cooking, The Joy of Cooking, but even here this book uses many processed ingredients.

I also have a few books on small farming, the joy of chickens, and square foot gardening. These are all part of our process of turning the land into our homestead. We are now about a year late on farm animals, but hey it is a work in progress.

For the Mind to wander, also known as fiction:

While talking with one of my best friends here about my reading lists, she remarked a need for me to throw in some fluff or fun reads. In a moment of weakness, I said, "OK, I read Jane!" She retorted, "No! You have read them all! You need something new!" Then she handed this to me. The Regent Period has always fascinated my romantic side, with greats like Pride and Prejudice who wouldn't love to see the struggles of love through the barriers of social etiquette. But when you tell people you love Romance novels when you need a distraction from life, they immediately assume you mean trashy love/sexual content books. This is so far from the truth. A story can be entertaining without having steamy scenes thrown in to desensitise a person from the emotional part of love making. It is much more entertaining, and enduring, to see the application of sacrifice, love and respect of characters than to see them just follow through with their physical reactions.

I will also fill in with Amish novels which are like reading a Hallmark movie in their sweetness and challenges. The Love Comes... series is good too for those interested in the pioneer life.

Both of my children have loved this book. Anton is also giving Redwall another go around and Isabella is going to try her hand at an unabridged version of Little Women since she enjoyed the condensed version so much. Anton is also filling in with choose your own adventure books and various interest topics. Isabella is rereading the Magic Tree House books, her fluff reads of choice are the Rainbow Fairy books (this drives me crazy as she reads them in 5 minutes and asks to go back to the Library about an hour after we return home from the library!) and Disney Fairy books (Tinker Bell).


We do have more but I think this is a good summary of items. I just laugh about the look on the librarians face when she asked Isabella if she wanted to register for the library summer reading program in which she would be entered into a drawing for a bike if she completes the reading sheet (a whopping 5 1/2 hours to be completed over 3 months - Please! My kids finished their sheets in one week!). Isabella said, she did not really need a bike but she would like to read the books. I commented that her dream would be to be locked in the library to read all night. Isabella's eyes got big with excitement and asked if that was possible and changed to disappointment when I laughed saying I was just joking.

Feeding the Family Sustainable/Natural Ways

After reading, discussing, and praying over all the information I have been finding about our food system, Karl and I have made some changes in how we feed our family. Organic, natural, farm fresh, and Farmers Markets all cost more than regular grocery fare and processed food. If you are asking "Why?" then you have not minimally read Omnivores Dilemma or watched Food Inc. (If you were shopping with your Grandmother - Would she see your choices as food or food like substances?) We made the choice to feed our family with the most nutrient rich healthy food possible because it is more important than some of our other spending options.

So how do we try to keep our food budget under control?

First, Menu Planning, at least for dinners, has kept me from wasting or accidentally letting food go bad. By knowing what you have and what you need to make recipes, you cut out the waste. Fresh, unprocessed foods go bad faster, see above media for details, so careful planning in necessary with these items.

Second, when you do go to the grocery, try to make nearly all your purchases from the outer walls and produce sections. I go into the isles for specific things like flour, nut butters (almond is my favorite), bread if I am not making any at the time, baking needs, and crackers (the items we found are too difficult right now to give up from the processed foods.

Third, stretch your meats as far as possible. I know this is about to make some of you no-fat purist gag, but we save bacon grease. I use this lard for cooking just like my grandmother. It fries our eggs, makes biscuit and pie crusts silky smooth, and adds a subtle bacon tastes to corn bread my children love.

How to stretch a farm chicken!

We get our chickens now from a natural farmer. He grows them, takes them to the Amish to kill, gut and package. Then sells them to us. I pick them up looking like the whole chickens you see from the grocery store once you take it out of the packaging. I cook the whole chicken in a crock pot with about 2 cups of water and some spices (usually garlic, pepper, onion, parsley, maybe sage or bay leaf depending on what I will make later). I cook this all day causing my kids to drool over the dinner yet to come. About an hour before dinner, I turn the heat down on the crock pot and remove much of the juices to make gravy. I add a little cooking wine, corn starch or flour (because my kids can not wait long enough for a reduction sauce), and a little more spices. I whip up some mashed potatoes and a veggie side of either salad or green beans from the garden. This is meal #1.

Depending on the amount of meat left over and the plans for the week, we might have the same meal the next night or modified with chicken cooked with remaining gravy thinned with chicken stock. If it was a smaller chicken, I take the remaining carcass, meat, and juices from the crock pot and put them into a large pot with about 10 cups of water, celery or celery seed if I have it, and an onion. After boiling down for 4-6 hours, sometimes adding more water, I turn off the heat and let it cook to a temperature I can work with. Now, I strain the juices removing bones and veggies to the trash, and meat to a holding container. If I have a lot of stock left, I will freeze it in 2 cup measures for later. The meat and stock then go on to the next meal options; filling for pot pie, chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, chicken with biscuit top, shredded chicken for enchiladas or cannelloni, etc.

For the pot pie option: I thicken the stock to a gravy constancy (Adding a splash of white wine, sherry or Marsala wine gives it more depth), add mixed veggies and chicken. When the mixture has cooled, I pour it into two crust lined pie plates and cover with another pie crust. One is wrapped in foil and placed in the freezer for later use the other is baked for dinner.

For Chicken soup, dumplings or biscuit top: I put the chicken, bay leaf, and as much stock to make my larger bottomed pot about 1/2 - 2/3 full. I let the stock cook down to a slightly more concentrated amount keeping in mind the noodles or biscuits will absorb and thicken the stock also. For soup, add noodles, celery if not added before when making stock, carrots or mixed veggies, and more garlic. When noodles are done, serve. For the dumplings or biscuit top, I add mixed veggies and onion. When the chicken mixture has reached a full boil, drop dough in pot by spoon fulls for dumplings and cover for 10-20 minutes, checking to make sure it does not get too thick or scorch. For biscuit top, pour mix into 9x13 and drop spoonfuls of dough on top. Place into a preheated 350 degree oven till biscuits are golden and cooked through.

For shredded chicken options: Freeze the stock. Take the chicken meat and make enchiladas or cannelloni as your recipe entails. For enchiladas, I put the chicken in a pan with enchilada sauce, about 1/2 - 1 cup of cheddar cheese, black beans (either canned and rinsed or softened from dry) and water equal to Enchilada sauce. I let this thicken by boiling off excess water, if I goofed and added way to much liquid, I might add rice. When cooled enough to work with, I spoon mixture onto burrito shells, roll up and place in 9x13 or 8x8 pan. Add more enchilada sauce and cheddar to cover tops of burritos. Put one pan in oven with a foil cover poked with steam holes in oven for 45 minutes. Wrap remaining pans with foil and place into the freezer for later use.

I use this concept with minor alterations with other meat options. If using beef, I will use red wine and thyme. With pork, I tend to see how I feel and pick accordingly leaning more towards rosemary or oregano. Roasts tend to become beef stew if I have large amounts of meat left over.

This is the way I tend to drag our meats out to 3 or 4 meals with lots of marrow soups on those chilly days. Soups are also a great way to use leftover produce and freeze well as long as you do not put potatoes or noodles in it before freezing. I also end up having one intensive day to shred/make stock but the results give me several days of already prepped meals for those activity intensive days. I have also started to use my delay start on the oven so as to have meals ready when we return home hungry to avoid picking to stave off hunger. Coming home hungry to a wholesome home cooked meal reminds me of my childhood when I came home from school to the wholesome smells of mom's preparations for dinner. It is one of those small ways to link back to simpler times and enjoy the moment with my family.

Demon Mower of the Orchard

It seems every time I get into my grass cutting groove, mowing the lawn is a guaranteed 2 hour workout in which I unplug my brain, I mortally injure a toad lurking in the grass. Immediately I am aghast at the blood and guts spread across the path and saddened by the loss of yet another bug eating friend.

Last month I nicked one across the eye. Every time I walked past where I gently placed him in the already gut grass, he just looked up at me with blood dripping across his face with an expression of "Toad Killer!" on his face. Later, I joking told Karl, I must be the "demon mower of the orchard", a pun off of the musical "Demon Barber of Fleet Street" in which one of my friends played clarinet last year.

About a week after the toad incident, we started noticing some funny behavior in Katie. When we took her to the orchard to fetch, she would drop the ball, roll onto her back like trying to get a good scratch, like horses when they cover themselves in dirt. Katie would get up shake a little and return to the same spot again. Finally, I went over to see what was so darn good smelling to her that she wanted it on her fur. Well, apparently scar face toad did not make it. He was dried to a crisp and Katie was enjoying it. For Katie's reward in finding the dead toad, she was awarded a bath outside with the cold hose.