Home Cookin' with Ree

Do ya'll know about the Pioneer Woman? If not, you must run and jump on the bandwagon. This lady is something else. I have been reading her blog for a few years now but just recently started cooking from her recipes. And they are TO DIE FOR! So much so that I broke down and bought her picture filled mouthwatering cookbook. Her own photography cover the pages and will make your heart fall in love with life on the ranch. I know it made mine.




Another thing I love about this cookbook is how each recipe has step by step photos along with the directions. Being an overly visual person I love this! It get to picture compare and make sure that each step into my cooking looks just as it should.

I also love what this mama of four has to say about homeschooling her punks, as she lovingly calls her children. You can read that here if you'd like.

She has some great recipes in the cooking section of her blog. We love, love, love her creamy mashed potatoes. I'm going to go head into the kitchen as soon I lay the babe down for nap time and cook up some of her recipes for supper tonight and for tomorrow night's small group dinner. Yum!

The Great Curriculum Debate

I have been spending the past few months reading, reviewing and researching for a curriculum to use for school next year. I knew I wanted to stick with a Charlotte Mason approach to teaching but just wasn't sure how to go about it. The thought of compiling my own lesson plans was beginning to feel daunting and I was getting a little concerned whether I would figure out what to do in time. The summer is going by faster than I'd like. I now have a 2nd and 4th grader to teach so it's not all fun and games anymore (although we try are hardest to make it that way).

I finally got to the point where I stopped searching on my own and left it up to God. If it is He who calls us to this adventure of homeschooling than surely He will show us the right curriculum for us. Today, He answered that prayer. I used a curriculum called My Father's World for Kindergarten and 1st grade and loved it. The kids loved it. School was fun. Projects galore and I loved how all the subjects were tied together so nicely. And there was hardly any planning on my part to be done which was really nice and easy. I would sit down about a week in advance and review the upcoming week, putting library books on hold that coordinated with the subjects we'd be learning and pick up any needed supplies at the store for our projects. I stopped using My Father's World when we joined Classical Conversations and that became our curriculum for Kindergarten (Gracie) and 2nd grade (Colt). And then last year we didn't rejoin Classical Conversations and basically did what we could do to squeeze school into our busy days. We focused on making sure we covered the three R's and just tried to keep up with all that life was demanding from us. Pregnancy, selling our home, rebuilding a new one, moving, birthing a baby, raising a newborn, starting a farm, you get the picture. Last year was mostly about building life skills and character while throwing in a little reading, writing and arithmetic while we were at it. It really is incredible though to look back into our year and see all that we as a family learned and experienced together. Those things will stick with us I know.

So this year I wanted to get reorganized and start with a fresh approach. The more I researched Charlotte Mason, the more I loved her style. I knew I wanted to base my schooling around her philosophy of teaching. At first I thought I could make my own lesson plans for the main subjects using various books and try and piece it all together with bible, art/handicrafts, science, nature studies, history, etc. The closer the school year approached the more overwhelmed I became with this idea. It got me searching for a solution which eventually led me to completely turn the whole situation over to God and give my mind a break. Something I should have done from the very beginning.

In the meantime I knew I wanted to use my old My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum for Fletch this year. He will be nearly four by the time the school year starts and will be well ready for it. I used the Kindergarten program with Gracie too for preschool as it is pretty basic in teaching ABC's, learning to form letters, learning basic numbers and so on. But the curriculum is so much more than that and has an awesome creation study that I just loved and am so excited to do with my little Fletch. So as I went on the MFF website to order him a set of the student materials something else caught my eye. Their program for grades 2-8. That program is reviewed below and I'm posting it here for those who may be interested in reading more about it. I for one think it sounds great and love how I will be able to teach my children together. Not only is it more fun for them to be studying the same thing at the same time but it allows us all to learn together as a family and I think that's what it's all about. Fletcher too can listen in during story time and can participate in the projects as well. It's amazing how much knowledge he has gained this past year just from being present in the same room while we were doing school. He is learning to recognize and say the names of the presidents, locate states on a map and we catch him skip counting while he's playing... "8, 16, 24, 32, click click (of the tongue) 40, 48 and 56 (click, click)" and so on. These are not things that I am teaching him, at the age of 3, just things that he hears the other children learning and picks up on it. I think that's pretty cool!

Okay, on with the review.


Product Review by: Heidi Shaw, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine


Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father's World

By Marie Hazell


Let me start by saying that this is no ordinary curriculum, and the Hazell's are no ordinary authors - these folks have spent eight years in Siberia, following the Lord's leading, and translating the Bible for a previously unreached people group. David and Marie and their family have been whereof they teach, they have seen the world, felt the need, and now they are back in the U.S. writing for children with the prayer of equipping a generation of children to see God's hand in all of history, and share God's heart for the nations. They also support the ongoing work of translating the Bible into languages for minority groups that don't have their own written language.


Just knowing this about the Hazell family intrigued me. I couldn't wait to see what they would come up with in terms of a geography curriculum, and I was totally blown away. Following the teachings of Charlotte Mason, with their own uniquely developed ideas for unit studies, Marie and David have produced a geography unit study package that is one of the best I have seen in every way. Ease of use, enjoyment, variety, and academic achievement as well. I am a veteran high school mom now, and I long ago stopped looking for the perfect curriculum, but let me tell you, this one comes as close as is possible - and it has appeal and interest for everybody. Come take a look with me.


Exploring Countries and Cultures in My Father's World will open your student's eyes as to how vast and varied this world is and how big and magnificent is the God who created it all. Focusing on geography for the first of a projected five-year plan is, in my opinion, a great idea. Helping the kids get a handle on the size of this globe, on the types of environments people live in, and on the cultures that other children grow in can only give them a firmer grip on the unfolding of history as they learn it in later years. They will know when learning about Ancient Egypt and the Nile river valley, because they will know where Egypt is! They will understand about the Mongols and the invading hordes, because they will have studied the vastness of Russia and China. They will connect with the stories of the Aztecs and Incas, because they have already learned where South America is and learned how the people of the jungle developed their own unique cultures. So, set sail with your children and enjoy alongside them the amazing creativity and genius of God in the building of this planet where we live.


No matter what your style or stage of homeschooling, MFW has something for you. Moms new to homeschooling will love the well laid out weekly lesson plans. Complete on one sheet for each week with any extra instructions on the very next page, you won't have to fret about flipping around big teachers manuals to find your space. The lessons are easy to implement and the books can all be copied for extra children in the home. You can relax and enjoy your journey with the children knowing that the bases have all been covered and you can easily keep track of where you are at any given time!


For moms of many, you will be thrilled at how adaptable the program is to differing ages and stages. All the books are able to be copied and each child will be making their own notebooks as they "visit" different countries. The difference will be in how much detail and content each child brings to their book. All grades from two through six can join in together and read about the same missionaries, discover the same countries, and share the same discussions. The older ones go on to build a more detailed book with pages from World Geography, among others. There are easy instructions for each activity and art projects are also included right in the book, or the accompanying Global Art book. There should be plenty to keep your children active, so even if you need one-on-one time with a certain child, the others can carry on or delve into the book basket for some reading at their own levels. Responsibility for their own work is rightly handed to the older children, while still having mom close by for accountability and encouragement. And no one feels left out because all are studying the same theme each week.


For the veteran mom like me, you may well consider this program a gift from God. If you have always planned and sourced out your own curriculum and made your own lesson plans, Exploring Countries and Cultures will be an enjoyable respite for you and, I discovered, a delight to be able to be in anticipation with my kids as to what was coming next (I only read one or two weeks ahead, so then it is fun for me too, and I can still order books from the awesome resource lists to put in the book baskets when we get there)! The library is indispensable to me as a mom of five and Marie has prepared great reading lists for each unit, placed with each unit, so I can find it easily and get the books coming in on time. There is enough flexibility and free time with this program that you can easily schedule in extra activities, field trips, or service projects for your kids while still following the lesson plans. Another thing I like is that the lesson plans are not dated so you can stop and start if need be and always be in the right spot! Or you can tweak it and jump around a bit in the units, to follow your children's specific areas of interest. No harm will come from visiting Australia before South America or vice versa - it just flows beautifully however you arrange it. I encourage you to take the opportunity to try an all-in-one unit study, and maybe, like me, you will be pleasantly reminded as to why you began homeschooling in the first place - you can all be learning together and enjoying each other!
Those of you who love CM philosophy and techniques, you will find oodles of great things in these pages. Marie loves the CM philosophy of gentle, natural learning, and it shows! The nature walks some of us only dream of starting are built right into the plan, along with tons of great ideas, living books, and "twaddle-free" activities. Lots of dictation, narration, and read aloud will let you follow the principles Miss Mason espouses, and allow you the freedom and time to enjoy them!


For those of us who like to have traditional, text-based programs, you will enjoy this program as well. Marie has written a schedule for each week incorporating specific books, most of which could stand alone and be worked on independently, just as with text books. The kids can set their own pace to get through the books and they have the benefit of having great art projects to choose from to give some variety, and tons of great reading selections, any of which you can use for book report material, if you so desired. The programs that Mrs. Hazell recommends for spelling and writing were designed to be used on their own rather than as part of a unit of study, so you can always structure your time the way you like it.


As you can see, this program has broad appeal for all walks of homeschooling. I have learned we are a very eclectic group and I am amazed at the versatility built into this plan.
The whole Exploring Countries and Cultures program can be built on your own, requiring purchase of the guide only. However, I strongly recommend you consider purchasing the whole package. Everything comes together, even the stickers for the passports the kids will be using. I have SO enjoyed this year not having to go looking for everything I will need. I am one who likes to get the best deal on everything, and I love the hunt, so I was a bit surprised at my own reaction. I just loved receiving the box full of books and it is very economical. Everything is reproducible for your own family and so you always have the core books. I know that we will use a lot of them over again in years to come. Many are non consumable like the wonderful Windows on the World and Hero Tales; they will remain a part of my library forever.
Bible is an integral part of this curriculum, and rightly so. Every week, handwriting practice and dictation will be used to help students memorize verses from the Bible. The Hero Tales book will be used for dictation of character qualities, and you will be reading about missionaries and the work they have done in almost every country you visit. The books chosen have been selected with great care. As Bible translators themselves, David and Marie know the importance of God's Word and how vital it is to our daily lives. I like that I find this sentiment throughout the program. I really feel that we are accomplishing something with a more eternal purpose than just our math and reading skills.


The first two weeks of the program are building block weeks. You will learn and read about the world as a whole, learn the basics of map reading, learn how to identify where a location is in the world and generally get a taste for different cultures everywhere. From there, you will be touring the globe, visiting different continents and countries within those continents. Science is incorporated every week, and the topics here integrate into the area you are visiting. During science, you will be discovering the different climates, eco-systems, and topography found in the area of study. You will travel from desert to mountain to tropical rain forest and meet the animals and vegetation in each location. The science books were chosen carefully, for their excellent academic content and high interest level. You will find some evolutionary comment, as these are not purely creationist books, because the Hazells were looking for the best to discuss the topic needed. What you do with that information is up to you. I tend to agree with the authors that this is a perfect opportunity to discuss with the kids the whole creation vs. evolution topic. Read up and have answers ready for them. There is not much in these books to disagree with and it's important that the kids know what the rest of the world believes. That we have the privilege of teaching them the correct point of view with no distortion, is a joy to me, and I find the kids really like the discussions that go on in our house!


So, what will you need to add to MFW, Countries and Cultures'? Within the package, you will find books covering Bible, geography, science, and some language arts. music, art and math drill are also included. You can choose to add the specific recommendations for English (Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons), spelling (Spelling Power), and writing, (Writing Strands), or you can do as I do and integrate the programs you are using already. The lesson plans block out the time frame for you, how you use those times is up to you. This flexibility of MFW is another thing I love about it. I can take the fantastic plan they offer, add my own flavor to it, and have a wonderful year to which we will look forward. I can't wait! You will need to use a math program - anything that fits your family will work well here. There are some math activities included, such as learning about each countries' currency and how to exchange it, and what it is worth compared to our own. There is also a time blocked for math drill and there are great little drill cards included in the basic package.


Great reading lists are also included, as I mentioned above. Marie has this wonderful part of the plan called "Reading Basket." This is time set aside for the kids to choose books to read from baskets that you have stocked with choices from the lists. The result is that even when you have to be one-on-one with a child, tending to a baby, or busy elsewhere, productive time is still happening. The kids choose and read from pre-stocked baskets that correlate to the country they are studying. My kids LOVE having their own choice, and yet I still control the content.

You will also find sample schedules - including what works for the Hazells' busy family. You will also find many great hints and ideas to help your days flow. I love the music, Wee Sing Around the World, included in the basic package, gives our days some fun and variety. All the extra sheets you need for copying each week are in the appendix at the back of the book. There is so much variety in each week's suggestions that it never becomes predictable. Some activities carry on from week to week and others appear interspersed throughout the weeks.

There is also a great fellowship board available to access from the main web site. The web site is http://www.mfwbooks.com/ and the board is mailto:boards@mfwbooks.com. Marie often stops in to answer questions and to encourage. The ladies on this board are all as excited about this program as I am, come on over and find out why!

By the end of your year in My Fathers' World, you will have completed activities, built your own notebooks, met wonderful missionaries, discovered cultures, and traveled around the world. It doesn't get much better than this! Bon Voyage and don't forget to write!
TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

Doesn't this all sound like so much fun? I am finally getting super excited about starting up the school year again! To me searching for curriculum is sort of like the feeling you get when you go back to school shopping and that confident excitement you feel deep within when you find that perfect outfit. Homeschooling allows the parents to customize their children's education to fit their optimal learning style and I love that freedom. It just makes so much sense to me.

I feel so blessed that God has called our family to homeschool and love how we have choices as to how we educate our children. Being that there are endless amounts of ways to homeschool and choices in choosing curriculum to do so, it may not be exactly easy to make the decisions on the tools we will use to teach these children God has entrusted us with. But the great news is that we don't have to be left alone to make these choices. If we go to the source He will lay it out clearly for us and we can rest assure in His plan. I love that I have the ultimate teacher ahead of me guiding my each and every step of this journey. God is so good!

Big Bundle of Love

Every month I tell myself that this sweet girl of mine couldn't get much cuter, but she sure continues to prove me wrong. Now at 8 months old not only is she the cutest thing ever but her little personality is unfolding and she is becoming loads of fun too. She is really starting to babble quite a bit and after conquering mama she moved on and started saying dada on Father's Day. I'm sure it was sheer coincidence but I like to think that it was a planned gift for her daddy for all he's done for her. After all, he made her entrance into the world just as calm and serene and he possibly could have and didn't even drop her slippery little body as he guided her out.

She likes to dance a LOT which is so stinkin' cute, she shakes her head as in saying "no" quite a bit too but doesn't truly know what it means yet. She just knows she's being cute and gets lots of laughs and attention when doing so. She also recently learned how to make music with her mouth by running her closed fist back and forth across her lips while humming. Oh the look of pride she shows off when she realizes others are amazed by her talents.

She has learned to pull herself up on her crib bar and is working on getting the crawling thing down. Every day she seems to crawl further and further. She has definitely mastered getting up into a sitting position though which is helpful for those times she topples over and she can get herself right back up again.

She still loves her binky and has been our only baby to be as attached to it as she is. One day I may regret her being so hooked to it but for now I really love the fact that I am not a human pacifier as I have once been before. In fact I'm finding that now that she's eating solids and loves it and has also become quite the busy lady these days, I'm having a harder time getting her to sit still long enough to nurse much. I'm sure she's getting more than she needs though because her thighs tell me so. ;0

She is beginning to prefer finger foods that she can pick up and feed herself instead of mashed up foods. It makes it somewhat more challenging for me to try and figure out what she can handle and what she can't but it is also helpful to put her in her seat and let her feed herself. But her favorite food so far is... you'll never guess. mac and cheese. If you know my other three than this will be no surprise to you. The kids had a sleepover at our friends the Mackie's on Saturday night and they took them to Sonney's for dinner. I asked Gracie what she had for supper and she told me mac and cheese, corn bread and french fries. Oh my, we've got a lot of work to do! :)

After being so patient with Maggie and bedtime for 8 months now, she is finally learning how to sleep. For most of her life so far she has only really slept in her swing but I've been trying off and on to ween her from it. But the problem is on the nights she'd sleep in bed she'd hardly sleep at all so out of my desperation for sleep I'd put her back in her sleep machine. Our routine for now is I nurse her to sleep (yes I know, BIG mistake but we're taking baby steps here) and I lay her down in her crib. Typically she'll go right to sleep but on a few occasions we've had to put her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep. Thankfully it usually doesn't get to that point though because that's hard on this mama's heart. She has been waking up once at night to eat and if I'm good I'll put her back in her crib (which is still in our room) where she'll usually sleep until morning but if I fall back to sleep then she'll stay in our bed maybe waking up again to nurse at some point in the night. Saturday night since we only had Maggie we went out with Katie and Austin and our friends Terry and Rachel so Maggie wound up staying up late being a party animal. It was so much fun and reminded us of years ago past when we just had Colton and would bring him out in his infant carrier to meet up with friends. She was so tired by the time we got home that she slept straight through and I even had to wake her up Sunday morning to get ready for church.

We have come a LONG way baby so this new sleep pattern is awesome to us! Through times of not getting much sleep I have never let it get me down because I know all too well how soon this stage will pass and honest to goodness I will miss the demands of my wee little one. But oh how I welcome sleep back into my life. It's a glorious thing for sure.

On that note look at this glorious little girl who makes our hearts sing each and every day. Can you believe she's 8 months old already? We are filled with crazy amounts of love for this little honey bun of ours.





Don't you worry 'bout a thing, as soon as photo #4 was clicked I ditched the camera to dig the flower from her mouth. But it was so darn cute seeing her execute her plan of action and watching her close her eyes as she tasted success!


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I LOVE when she has these little bows in her hair. I don't know why I don't do it more often than I do. In case you are curious how I get them to stick, I found a little secret online and I tried it and it works like a gem. A little dab of Karo syrup does the job perfectly and with a little water it melts right off.



Sleepy girl has had enough photos I guess. It's nap time baby.

She figured out how to do the cutest thing by putting her thumb into her binky hole to keep it handy for easy access.

Smart girl I say!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my farmhouse sink! I have always dreamed of having one of these and if it meant going through all the restoration process that we have gone through and are still going through than so be it. I am glad for it because there is no better way to bathe my babe.

Fabulous 4th

We had a fun and relaxing 4th of July weekend hardly doing a single house project at all which is huge for us. Josh and Colton went to a Nascar race in Daytona on the 3rd and didn't get home until nearly 4:30 the next morning due to a major rain delay in the race so those two sleepy heads slept for half of the day. When they finally were rested enough to party we went over to Pam and Al's for their yearly 4th get together. It was just as fun as always and keeping with tradition it rained for some of it too. Fantastic food, fun volleyball games, and fabulous friends to spend this special holiday with.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'm going to seriously try to get better about posting more regularly, at least once a week. It will get easier I hope when I don't have to use Josh's computer anymore. I just need to get better about recording these moments in our life all together as they only seem to be going by faster and faster as time goes on.

Maggie was the least bit impressed by the fireworks we did at home and cried through most of them but she really seemed to enjoy the big fireworks put on by Stuart and couldn't take her eyes off of them.

The three big kids all helped make a tissue paper flag which we displayed on our fridge.

all about the red white and blue or I guess I should say the blue white and red

It is so fascinating how fire shows up in photography at night.

You can totally tell that the kids were not into photo taking. Before climbing into the car to go to the party I made them sit by the pond for pictures. To add to their antsy pants it was also drizzling out.

But Maggie Mae sure did look patriotic in her star dress that Grandma got for her. She's becoming such a ham for the camera and I love it!


Some of Gayle Harrell's grand kids who were here visiting from San Fransisco.


Gracie and I made a layered red, white and blue cake for the second year in a row to bring to the party. It barely stayed standing during the drive over and did shift a bit but somehow hung in there. I have plans to improve upon it for next years party though.