Whole Foods & Sunshine

After watching the video about GMO foods, a friend asked, "So what can I eat?".  The simple answer is "anything from Whole Foods", they don't allow any food into their store with GMOs or artificial sweeteners.  The next question of course is "How do I afford it?".  The answer to that is multi-fold.  The way I have always looked at it, we can either spend money on healthy food now or on health bills later.  We look for the 365 brand (Whole Foods in-house brand) or in the bulk bin section to save money. Also, Whole Foods does have flyers with coupons in the store. We buy what we can online for less and also cutting back on meat will save a lot of money.

I really like going to Whole Foods.  I am there almost every Sunday morning with Titus. It is our date time and often the highlight of my week.

As we walk in, we greet Jessie or Brandon at Customer Service to let them know we are there. They call back to have the cases we need each week brought up while we shop.  They know us and its nice.

As we enter produce, sometimes we run into Mr. Steve who will give Titus a piece of fruit to eat.  We talk to him a bit about his week, his latest vacation or his son.  Next we say "Hi" to Mr. Gary, who knows all about the unusual fruits they have.  Sometimes he even convinces us to try something new or we just exchange a happy smile.

Nathan smiles and says "Hello" in the supplement area, and there's Alex in the frozen section.  We have even convinced Mr. Frank to smile on occasion in Dairy.

As we pull up to check out, we look for pretty Svitlana's aisle.  We talk to her about her son, their week, etc.  She asks to see pictures of the baby and asks about our week.  Gareth is always quick to help with bagging up, remembering to keep the fragile stuff all in one bag.  As he helps us out to the car, we talk again about life; his and ours.  If we have a lot of stuff or he's busy, Bri and Neal are always quick to jump in and help with a smile. 

These are just the people we see most often; my "peeps" as Chris calls them.  There are many others we share smiles with, especially on the days we go at a different time.  This time spent sharing smiles and a few moments, brings sunshine to my days.

I wonder if everyone took the time to say a kind word or exchange a smile with the people they see, how the world might change for the better.  If we simply read the name tags they wear, and called people by name, would the world have more "sunshine"?

Lately, I feel more connected to the people in the shadows of this video, than those dancing but I'd sure like to dance more.  Here's to us all having more sunshine in our lives and spreading a little sunshine with our smiles!

Moon Walk

One of the things I love about my husband and children is their appreciation for the simple but marvelous things in life.  On his way home from baseball practice, Chris calls me to say we all need to get outside and see the moon.  The moon was huge and orange.  

I was nursing so we didn't run out, but Chris rushed us out when he got home.  We walked down the street to get a better vantage point.  Jared found two toads.  

At first the moon was behind some clouds but the boys were more than happy to wait for it to reappear.  

On the way home we were greeted by a Cuban Tree Frog on our front porch.  The pictures don't do the evening justice but they capture the moment as a family appreciating God's majesty in his creation.  The evening reminded me that even in the city you can have a nature walk from time to time.

Vocabulary & Spelling City

One of my boys' favorite online sites is www.spellingcity.com.  My boys laugh hysterically at "Hang Mouse" and "Word-O-Rama" games. The original purpose of the site was to allow parents and teachers a fun way for their children to practice and learn their spelling words.  Recently they expanded the site to include vocabulary practice as well. 

The site is completely customizable.  A parent or teacher can type in a given list of words for their student/child to practice.  The student can then choose from a number of options; "Teach Me", "Take a Test", or "Play a Game" to name a few. 

You can also search the community database for lists that were created by another user.  To do this simply click on "Find a List" from the top menu buttons and choose the appropriate search.

I have created a number of spelling lists you can use to get started. Select "Parent Name" next to the search and enter "TinaMarie Otto" to find them. There is an imposter using "Tina Marie Otto" (Hee, Hee), so be sure to leave out the space.  You can import these into your own User ID or you can keep coming back to my lists.

• Dolch Sight Words - This currently includes 6 lists of Pre-K to First Grade Dolch Site Words you can import the rest from this link on Spelling City http://www.spellingcity.com/dolch-words.html
  
• Most Used Words - This currently comprises 15 lists that encompass the 300 most used words in printed material per this site http://www.duboislc.org/EducationWatch/First100Words.html
• Mr. Q Elementary Chemistry Vocabulary - This list includes all the Vocabulary from Mr. Q Elementary Chemistry by Unit. I have added this list to Spelling City with permission from "Mr. Q".  

Most of the spelling games and features are available for free.  If however you want to use the vocabulary tools and games you'll need to join.  The fee is only $30 a year and includes tracking for up to five students/children.   I have yet to use the tracking but I plan to start soon.
 

I expanded my use of the program from spelling to vocabulary because I wanted my children to have a way to review the vocabulary from their Chemistry Course, and since they enjoy using this site it seemed a perfect fit.  I'm hoping this will really solidify the chemistry basics they are learning this year, and I thought it might be of use to those of you also using Mr. Q.  I have currently only created a list for "Unit 1" vocabulary but I will be adding all the units as we progress through the year.

Spelling City has many more potential uses, such as "Analogies", and "Homophone" learning and games.  It is definitely worth taking some time to play around and see how it may be of use.

Bottles and Breast Feeding

With each new kid I learn something new.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on T.V., so please consult with your pediatrician first.  There, now I am free to tell you my observations and opinions as a mother without fear of litigation, and you are free to do with it what you like.

My sons who breast feed completely refused bottles of any kind.  We bought all kinds of bottles, some that even looked like boobs, but no luck.  My boys wouldn't even drink out of sippy cups, they went straight to straws.  I had no expectations that Amber would be any different, and didn't plan on even trying.  If you read breastfeeding literature, this would come as no big surprise, many breast fed babies completely refuse bottles.

Then about six weeks ago I got the 24 hour stomach flu.  First time in my life I had ever gotten one, first time in my life I had ever vomited from illness.  I lost six pounds.  I continued to breast feed through it but it did permanent damage to my supply.  After he recovered, Chris tried to give me some sleep and stay up with Amber.  She got hungry shortly after I laid down and Chris made the decision to try and give her a bottle.

The hospital had given us three different types of formula.  Knowing that Amber didn't let me eat or drink any kind of milk, he chose the "Similac - Sensitive for Fussiness & Gas Due to Lactose Sensitivity" Formula.  Wonder of wonders, she drank it!

Since it worked, we decided to keep it up.  I started going to bed early so I could get a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.  She was still only going about four hours between breast feedings so it seemed like a good and harmless plan.  

Then one day out of curiosity, I read the ingredients in the formula, "Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar(sucrose), milk protein isolate...".  I stood dumb founded.  I remember people my grandmother's age talking about feeding babies Caro Syrup and being appalled.  Here I was, standing in my kitchen, realizing that's basically what we were feeding Amber.  Caro Syrup with "Less than 2%" vitamins added.  

I immediately went into research mode, looking for an organic lactose free infant formula.  To my frustration, my original search turned up nothing but recipes for making your own infant formula.  Since I was still breast feeding, powdered goat milk was a viable option.  By itself you would need to make sure you supplemented certain nutrients that were missing from goat's milk alone but as a supplement it appeared the easiest alternative.

I picked up the powdered goat milk, brought it home and gave it a try.  This is when I had my epiphany.  She totally refused the bottle.  Maybe my sons had not been refusing the bottle, maybe they had been refusing the formula in the bottle! Duh. *forehead smack*.

Next, I tried mixing a little in with the Simliac and still she refused to drink.  When I gave up and made a bottle of pure Similac she drank it right down.  So I was back to square one, looking for a better formula.

Then I came across "Baby's Only Organic Lactose Free Formula".  Problem was it was labeled as a "Toddler Formula".  What did that mean?  So I read around, and ended up at the "Nature's One" website where they warned in typical legal fashion to "consult your pediatrician" before feeding to children under 12 months old", then they added "and when you do bring this print out".  The print out is a point by point nutritional comparison between Similac, Baby's Only and breast milk.  The three are essentially the same, I was a bit amazed, and comforted.  So why was it labeled "toddler"?  They didn't say exactly, they even said they meet the FDA guidelines for infant formula, so I figure its one of two things, their commitment to breast feeding or the FDA not allowing the label.  Either way I was satisfied, I had found a better alternative. 

I quickly ordered Baby's Only from Amazon and gave it a try.  SHE LIKED IT! SHE LIKED IT!  Ironically the Similac had made her rather gassy but she had no such issues with the Baby's Only.  My guess is its the the use of Organic Brown Rice Syrup* instead of processed sugars.   They say they use the Brown Rice because it is a more nutritious carbohydrate, and easier to digest.  Based on our experience, this formula is great no spit-ups or excess gassiness and the ingredients don't make me cringe, especially after learning what they do to non-organic corn.

*There has been some concern recently about Brown Rice Syrup containing arsenic but this page should alleviate those concerns:  www.naturesone.com/brown-rice/

Health - Killer Profits

I've read a lot of about nutrition over the years but the accountant in me was blown away by this video.

Did you know that most breast cancer is environmental not genetic?  

Did you know that tests have not been done for the new proteins that have been introduced into food production since the 1990s, and food allergies have increased exponentially?  

That these created proteins are not allowed in Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Japan.

That if you move to the United States you are four times more likely to get cancer?

(Think there's a connection?)

Did you know Starbucks spends more on health care costs than they do on coffee?

Got your attention?  I knew we were getting sicker as a nation despite improved health care but I never understood why.  Taking the 15 minutes to watch this video might change the way you shop forever.

 

I'm not sure about the plug for Erin Brockovich but the money trail makes perfect sense.  

I've been meaning to post more nutrition blogs since my first blog on the concern over Soy.  This is the motivation I needed.  I will start outlining what we do nutritionally and what the logic was behind our decisions.  

The more I learn, the more I want to have a farm of my own and grow all my own food.

Recycling Curricula & Planning

I think I have purchased an equal amount of resources that are currently on my shelves, as are now on someone else's shelf.  No matter how much research I do ahead of time, sometimes I just don't know if a curricula will work until I try it.  I'm a frugal person, but I'm not going to keep using something that just isn't working because I paid for it.  Flexibility of curricula is one of the main reasons I homeschool.  I've been warned not to be a slave to my curricula, and I believe that is sound advice.

I was asked by a non-homeschooling mom at the park the other day, "How do you find time to plan?".  Tired and not ready for the question I glibly answered with a smile, "By the seat of my pants."  Afterward, I took some time to think about "How do I plan?" and thought I'd share the general process here.

First of all, its important to understand we homeschool year round (June to May).  I think this has a couple advantages:

• We don't have to vacation in the summer when everyone else is, which lowers costs and avoids crowds.
• We can take breaks when ever we NEED them, due to mental fatigue, physical illness, special events, visitors, etc.
• My kids don't loose their brain over the summer causing us to lose time at the beginning of each year finding their brains again.

I do try to have their core curricula complete by the end of April each year.  May is usually very busy with vacations, birthdays and my state's annual homeschool convention.  Therefore, I generally use May to plan the next year and do homeschool lite that month.

I never really stop planning or evaluating curricula but May is when I sit down and try to put together my plan for the new year, understanding that once we start anything could change.  First, I go to the convention usually wanting to see and touch a certain number of items that have piqued my interest.  I like to see and touch, I find it hard to make purchases on the internet if I've never actually seen the resource in person.  That's also where knowing other homeschoolers can really help.  I have saved myself a lot of money over the years by asking if anyone has a certain resource I could look at and after seeing it my opinion sometimes changes completely.

I try to spend our summer really focusing on Science and History.  I try to complete both curricula between June and August. I find not trying to do all subjects, all year long makes our days go better.  The rest of the year I put a stronger focus on Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.  However, I choose Science and History curricula that incorporate all those things, so we never really stop the basics, we just change the focus.  Also I try to find a curricula I can use for both my older children for Science and History, I just expect a little more out of my older child when we do the curricula.

After I go to the convention for looking at curricula and other resources, my next favorite event of the summer is a HUGE Used Curricula sale held the week after.  This is where I look for living books to support our Science and History theme for the year, and a few just to have fun reading.  It's always a relief to come home with so many bargains after spending a bit too much at the convention the week before.

I have chosen to do history over a three year cycle:  Ancients, Middle Ages/Renaissance, American History.  However, I like to go deep instead of wide.  For instance, this year we are in the American History Cycle, by year end we will have covered Columbus through the Revolutionary War. Next time through we will gloss over these areas and go deep maybe Revolutionary War through Industrial Age.

That's the general idea of how I plan on a Macro level.  On a weekly level, planning is just as flexible, especially since the arrival of our new baby.  Each week I try to get in at least three days of Core Curricula work.  Fridays I find they are physically and mentally drained so we focus on more hands-on activities, like Fine Arts and reading Living Books.  

In keeping with my understanding of Charlotte Mason's principals, we do NOT try to do the same subject at the same time every day.  She felt children did better with short periods, that varied in order from day to day.  I have tried to keep to the short periods but timing our subjects caused a lot of stress in our homes.  What does work is to keep in mind the idea of short subject periods when determining how much work they need to do each day, ie. for my older son I only have him do half the review questions for math and sometimes I will split a spelling lesson into two days.

To further organize our "Stack System" and chores, I have recently implemented the use of the "Reminder" program on their iPads.  I made a reminder list with all the possible things they would need to do in a day from "Getting Dressed" to the "Journal Writing" word of the day.  Then each night I go through, check as "completed" the things I don't want them to do the next day, which leaves them with a list of things they must complete.  Rinse, Lather, Repeat....  It's working better than any other system we've tried.  They are doing their "Xtra Math" and "Push-ups" app on the iPads, and frankly they like them so using them isn't a chore.  This could be done in a more low-tech manner, but my boys have an innate ability to avoid the obvious reminders when they aren't interested.

I've made the mistake of trying to re-create a school environment a couple of times by having a very detailed and strict schedule that followed a typical school day.  Our idea of homeschooling is to do things differently and hopefully better.  In my previous life in corporate America I had a saying, "I've never met a process that couldn't be improved." and this is the mentality I now apply to our homeschooling journey.  Its the reason we are always changing, at least in some way, what we do and how we do it.  The goal of perfection is unachievable, but that is what we strive for in homeschooling.  Despite more failures in this area than I can count, all we can do is to get up and take the next right step as best as we know how and try to have fun along the way.

Smile Mile 2012

The "Smile Mile" was last weekend and as you can see everyone had a great time!

PO River Gang Celebrates!

Coach Hanif is such a great role model and teacher for the kids.

I'm so thankful we found him.

Lance chose to just have a fun run.  

When he decides he's ready to compete he'll blow the field away.

The surprise of the day was Jared deciding to run.  He took off on his own, then Chris joined him to walk and (with permission) cut the route short. 

It was good for him to have a chance compete/ be included and as you can see everyone really supported his effort.

The mighty Titus joined in the "Kids Fun Run".  

When he wants to he can really motor those little legs!

Lance still wants to do the Watermelon 5K in July, so hopefully if Chris' knee gets better soon that will be their next challenge.

This is the first time in six years we were not responsible for photographing this race.  It was a little bitter sweet seeing everyone we had enjoyed working with for so many years.  However, seeing her precious face, and me carrying her with the camera, I realize once again His will is always better than my own.

Where's my Little Boy?

I'm sure it was just yesterday that we were laughing all over town exploring new places with all his little friends.  It must be time to go to music class, the gardens or some other playtime activity.  This is my little boy....

Lance at 6 months.

How did he become this young man?

Today 9 years old at his Birthday Baseball Game.

And what a wonderful young man he has grown into!  

He has a smile for everyone he meets.  

He is kind and thoughtful. Sometimes he changes Amber's diaper without me even knowing it. 

He's patient.  He takes the time to listen to his little brother, help or redirect him.

He's loving and compassionate.  He's so sensitive to other people and wants to help.
He's intelligent and curious.  I like nothing better than to cuddle with him and talk about all that's on his mind.

He's fun.  Never at a loss for energy to play.
He's my Lancelot.  Loyal and protective, especially of his little sister.

He's handsome. My little Adonis, girls watch out!

I've been telling him since he was little to find his passion.  He says its baseball and he certainly has a lot of potential and works very hard.  At the same time, he wants to be an entrepreneur and make his own line of toys.  He has drawn up plans for different toys he wants to build and has encouraged Jared to design a line of clothes to go with, which he has.

My prayer for you Lance, is that you will always stay close to God, follow His path for you life.  That you will do it with that incredible smile on your face and joy in your heart, may His will always be yours.

You will always be our precious little boy, no matter how big you become!

Baseball & Derby Weekend

We survived last weekend and the boys had a great time.  The first event of the weekend was opening day for little league.  This is Chris' third season managing Lance's team and Jared is the official bat boy.  The boys were thrilled to be one of the teams to actually play a game.  Amber wasn't fond of the speaker system so Grandpa Harv took her for a short walk away from the noise, which gave me time to take some pictures of the team.

Chris is truly enjoying coaching the team.  He is blessed with a great group of kids and parents.  I was really hesitant starting baseball because of on all the bad press Little League has received over the years. Thankfully it has been a very positive experience for everyone.  Lance's favorite position is catcher.  It was nice hearing that Jared is getting to know the kids on the team.  I also appreciate the league getting him a team jersey.  It was very hard on him when his cardiologist said Jared could not play baseball, especially since he's shown such promise (He hit a whiffle ball from the backyard over the garage the other day).  

The team won the game on Saturday and again on Wednesday.  We remind the boys winning isn't what's important, having a good time is what matters.  They are to praise Him when the win and praise Him when they loose but winning is a nice way to start the season.

Sunday was not a day of rest and recovery as it should have been. It was the Pinewood Derby races for Cub Scouts.  After weeks of preparation, I was so impressed with how the boy's cars turned out.  They chose the templates, sanded them down, painted them, and chose how to place the "accessories".  All Chris did was cut them out with the jig saw and handle the super glue.  Lance got third place for "Looks" in his den and Jared's car was second fastest in his den, which qualified him for the pack finals. Next year, Chris says they can do it ALL by using rasps. :-)

Jared's Christian Tiger

Lance's Dragster

Lance's car finishing 2nd in the fist heat.

Jared's car racing in the final pack heat.

Fine Art Friday

Over the years I have purchased a number of "Fine Art Curricula".  I eventually learned that my children did not enjoy them because they were too structured and had too many instructions.  My boys just want to use the media at hand; to experiment and explore.  I was hung up on them learning good technique. I'm finally over that issue.  When my boys are given gentle instruction they soar.

One incredible library find over the summer was a DVD series by Donna Hugh called "Art Lessons for Children".  Simply ready the supplies and the kids paint with the artist.  The instructor is extremely calm and constantly reinforcing having fun with art and that each piece should be unique. I think their work was stunning.

This was the instructor's example.

Lance's version.

Jared's version.

Titus' version.

Charlotte Mason's method on Fine Arts is to simply choose one artist and one composer, then immerse the children with their work for one month.  It was so easy, I jumped right in and gave it a try.  The cheapest way I found to "surround them with art" was to buy calendars featuring the artists work, cut them up and you have twelve prints to hang about the room.  (Hint:  wait until May to buy all your calendars and you can get them for $1-$3 at Calendars.com).  Exposing them to a composer is even simpler, play the music whenever you think about it and take a moment to tell them what they are listening too.  In addition we have had fun reading living books about the artists and composers also.

However, I still craved a little structure to our study.  That's when I found "Harmony Art Mom".  I don't know how I stumbled on it originally but I was intrigued that it presented itself as following a Charlotte Mason approach to Fine Arts.  I eventually went ahead and purchased the First Grade Curricula and most of the supporting materials (all except the coloring book, my boys don't even like the structure of coloring books).

In February we finished our study of Renoir and Vivaldi**.  The program does not follow the CC artists and composers exactly but I think the overlap from different cycles only serves to enhance their learning.  This month we will be studying Manet and Bach (BTW I did not misspell Monet, it is a different artist named Manet).  It's a great way to end the week or start the week slow if you need too, like we did after a super busy weekend. Here's there final projects for Renoir, impressionistic painting of them taking baths.  They were definitely careful not to have strong outlines :-)

I'm always impressed at my boys attention when it comes to fine arts.  They watched a full DVD of "Swan Lake" the other day.  I read them a short summary of the plot before and they were asking questions about what was happening the whole time.  Afterwards they even voluntarily wrote journal entries about the ballet.  Henry Trumball says poor taste and short attentions have a lot to do with expectations and exposure.  I agree.

**Here is one of four awesome videos of an artist drawing in sand to Vivaldi's Four Seasons:

Old Times

At the last minute, I found out about a "Pioneer Day" Festival that was going on Saturday.  So we spontaneously decided to table our previous plans and go.  I'm glad we did.  

They had an Indian Dancing demonstration....

Amber wanted to see the show too.

 An old fashion gun fight....

Civil War reenactments and artisans demonstrating skills/trades of the past i.e. medical amputation procedures and sewing.  They sort-of "tied" together (bad pun I know).

Most of the people in the reenactments were from my parents or grandparents generation.  It got me to thinking.

Last month Chris lost his grandmother at 101 and my last grandparent passed last January.  With these generations passing on, I wonder who is going to help my children remember and appreciate the way life used to be?  When all they know is "the good life", never knowing real work or hardship, will they still be able to appreciate all they have?  Will they honor and appreciate the sacrifices of those who went before us to allow us to live in freedom and plenty?  I don't know, but I am certainly going to try to impart that appreciation on them.  I think festivals like this are a good way to start.  I wish my grandparents were still around to share their stories, but I do have some of them written down and hope to collect more.  It's a start.

If you have a chance to attend one of these festivals I highly suggest making the time.  The boys had fun and they learned a little too.  Maybe some day they can apprentice to learn some of these old skills.

Our day Saturday tied in a strange way to our visitor on Sunday, in that we ended up talking about the "good old days".  My Aunt Diane came for a welcomed visit.  We had not seen her since our wedding sixteen years ago.  I like to harass her about being my children's "Great Aunt", the humor comes from the fact she's only three years older than I am.  Don't feel bad for her though, she dishes it out just fine, she still calls me "Squirt" even though I've been taller than her most of my life :-)  We had a lot of fun reminiscing over our childhood antics and catching up on the happenings since.  Hopefully, it won't be as long before her next visit.