Friday, June 24, 2011

Our Anniversary

Here are some tidbits that some people know about Eric and me and some no one knew.

1. If it wasn't for Brian Auble, Eric and I would have probably never met.

2. Eric took me to my Senior homecoming and prom.

3. Eric traveled 8 hours each way to see me every other month when we first started dating.



4. Our first date meal was at Taco Bell.

5. We celebrate our anniversary on July 7, but legally it is on the 17th, through miscommunication and oopses on the day of our wedding.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Grady tidbits

Well, my little boy is going to be 2 years old this week. I don't have a baby anymore. I am becoming more and more emotional about it as the days go by. I did this with Tabitha too though.

Grady no longer needs me to get him to sleep. He has gone to sleep with Eric 3 times this week. My lap feels very empty right now. At least I know he will come running to me every morning for at least a little while longer for a quick nursing to fully wake up and start his day. I also am blessed that I get to sleep beside him still. I'm not in any hurry to put him in his own section of our family bedroom just yet.

I tried to find the perfect "flair" on Facebook that said that I've been nursing for 5 years, 1 month and 4 days straight, but all I could find was up to 2 years, so that is what I posted, since it pertains to Grady right now anyway.

Ok, so on with the 2 little tidbits that I could think of.

1. Grady had 3 visitors within hours of his birth. I think people couldn't believe that we really had a homebirth and expected to see something out of a gory movie when they came over.

2. Grady likes to dress up and wear "pretty" stuff. Can you blame him? He hangs around momma and Tabitha all day long. But at the end of the day, he is definitely all boy, he is running around the house and getting bruises and rough housing. He also like to hit EVERYTHING with his plastic baseball bat.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Homeschooling

  As of yesterday, our homeschooling adventure has officially begun. No, I am not forcing Tabitha to do anything. She has been begging me for a couple weeks now to start "Kindergarten". Yesterday I finally said to myself, "Why am I denying her to learn just because the calendar says it's summer?"

  Tabitha was so thrilled that I told her we would start yesterday and was anxiously waiting for me to gather her books, ereader, and my (unfinished) scheduler. As I sat down she was literally bouncing with excitement. I thought, how I wished that I had been that excited to learn when we were FORCED to.

She started out reading Psalm 100 from the Bible. I was so happy with the way she read. She only had to have help with 2 words. Next, I let her turn on her ereader, which has most of the books on it from either Dollar Homeschooling cds or free books that recommended at Ambleside Online. I did still have to purchace a few books, but I am very confident that I have found the right mix for my family, instead of having to buy those ridiculously expensive prepackaged curriculums that you see today.

Any way, we started with McGuffey's Primer on the ereader. I just let her go at her own pace, but I had to stop her at page 10, I was afraid she would have actually read the entire book if I hadn't. We then moved on to Ray's Math and did 2 pages. Then came the real books. I read 1 chapter from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh to her and a poem out of The Real Mother Goose.

I know that AO recommends a foriegn language, but I figured I can start that in a year or two. For now Tabitha and Grady are learning ASL (American Sign Language). So, I had her review signing numbers 1-20, since she just learned those last week.

It is just amazing what I am learning along with my children through this whole experience. As I learn more about gardening, raising rabbits, and other self sustaining ways of life, so are my children. I really don't understand why we were not taught these things when we were in school instead of the dumbed down repetitive junk that we really have no use for as adults.

As Tabitha progresses into a routine, I will be introducing a Fine Arts study, handicrafts (crocheting or sewing), and a musical instrument (piano or recorder).

I am sure that I will keep everyone updated when Tabitha starts something new and astounds me again.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Being a "Homesteader"

I just found out that our family as a title last week while doing some research before getting our meat rabbits. We are homesteaders. Since we drink raw milk and have made butter, yogurt, and kefir.  We eat fresh pastured eggs, I have garden, and have 3 NZ rabbits for meat raising.  I also sew, make stock, and can different foods.

I am now interested in soap making so that my family can get away for all of those harmful chemicals and preservatives in commercial soaps. It looks very easy. Eric is going to make a block mold for me and hopefully I can get started in the next few weeks. I will be making a basic bar and 2 different shampoo bars.

I will try to keep the blog updated and give the recipes if they turn out wonderful.