The Journey to Homeschooling

A few years ago God pressed upon my heart the importance of raising our children in the faith.  It was so immense that I couldn't say "no".  Some of the verses God kept popping into my head included:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

- Romans 12:2

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." - 1 John 2:15

You're probably wondering how this relates to homeschooling, right? Well, I was following the flow of life, doing what everybody else was doing when I began to notice parents competing with each other. Importance was placed on who had the better job, who had the smarter kids, who's kids were in the most sports or activities, who takes the most vacations, who had the nicer house, and so on.  Being humble didn't exist where I lived.  I realized that the material things of this world were consuming those around me.  

There it was.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that this world isn't the end all, be all.  This world is temporary and we should be living every second, the best we can, with our intent focused on our eternity...our Heavenly home.  

When this "realization" came, I retreated.  I didn't know what else to do.  Then my neighbor told me about a private school nearby.  I toured it, loved it and knew what needed to happen next.  I enrolled the kids and found a part time job to help pay for tuition.  Since I'm a convert, the goal was to learn more about the faith WITH my children, however, even a part time job can put a damper on things. The kids were learning and blossoming but I still felt a disconnect, I didn't like just shipping them off and picking them up 7 hours later.  

When I enrolled the kids in the private school, the secretary told me most families went to a particular parish in Ann Arbor.  We decided to see what it was like and ended up loving the parish and are now members.  Within a month, I met a homeschooling mother of 10 who told me about the homeschool program at the church.  Over the next two years, I had gotten to know more and more homeschooling families there, the community was supportive and vast.   I remember telling that particular mother of 10 at coffee and donuts how I actually envied her, and that I could NEVER homeschool!

God has a sense of humor.

Needless to say, this is the journey He led us on.  Two years at the private school was a stop along the path in order to get to our next station in life, homeschooling.  Without the private school, I wouldn't have met the homeschool community.  Where He leads me, I will follow.

I've spent the last few months researching the co-op at our parish and various Catholic curricula.  I'm still undecided.  Since the kids are 9 & 11, I feel pressured to get it right the first time around, there's not much room for error. 

More to come on our curriculum selection soon! 

Great Loss

On Tuesday, May 10 we lost our dear shepherd mix, Mable.  She was a month shy of 16.

My college internship was with the Michigan Humane Society, in the marketing department.  While there, I heard about the foster program and decided to volunteer and take in a foster dog.  My first assignment was Barnaby, he was a sweet beagle and was only with me for about 2 weeks.  My next assignment was Mable, a black shepherd mix, who was about 2 years old (no one knew for sure).

It was January 2002.  I'm still not sure how Mable ended up at the shelter, I think she was surrendered by her owner for one reason or another.  Mable was sick though.  She had kennel cough, worms, and frostbite.  When I opened the door to the quarantine area of the shelter she reared up on her hind legs and was waving at me with her two front paws.  She was excited and seemed pretty happy.  I'll admit though, driving home with her loose in my car made me nervous, afterall, I didn't know much about her.

She had her issues, like nipping at heels and fingers, and bolting out the door and down the street but we made do.  After about a month she had gotten better and it was time for us to return her to the shelter and she was ready to go up for adoption.  I designed a cute little flyer describing her in detail, her likes and dislikes.  We dropped her off at the shelter and they put her in a stall, as we walked away she reared up on her hind legs and waved to us with a big smile on her face...she didn't know what was happening and my heart broke into pieces.  In training, they warned us about getting attached.  There's a term, "foster flunky".  Within 24 hours, I had gone back to the shelter and adopted her.  I still feel guilty for letting her stay that one night in the shelter.

My wedding was 5 months later, so Mable has been with my husband and I from the start.  We worked hard with her, lots of training and over time she truly turned into one of the best dogs out there.

She stayed pretty healthy over the years.  At around 13, she lost her hearing but her eyesight made up for it.  We began seeing signs of degenerative myelopathy, which is a disease of the spinal cord and affects their hind legs.  She still got around, but if she stood in one place for any length of time her rear end would sink.  At 14 she ended up fighting off vestibular disease, which is the most cruel disease I've ever seen a dog go through.  The poor girl had severe vertigo for weeks, couldn't stand or walk, couldn't eat, and was just pitiful.  The vet said if we waited it out, she'd come back around and sure enough...she did.  She didn't come out of it 100% though and my husband and I swore that if it ever came on again we'd end her suffering.  

And that leads me to Tuesday, May 10.  That morning she was a little more unstable on her feet than other days, and she wouldn't eat.  I left for work and was nervous to what I might be coming home to, I knew the vestibular disease was flaring up again.  Sure enough, when I got home, poor Mable couldn't stand and her eyes were darting back and forth trying to focus and find balance.  I carried her outside to go to the bathroom and she fell multiple times.  She got sick and I called my husband to come home and we made the decision to take her in that evening. 

I thank God that the decision was so easy for us.  I'm thankful I had no choice in this.  We all surrounded her and loved on her until she left us.  She was at rest and we will forever cherish our memories of her.  

Tappin' Trees

Maple syrup season is upon us and everything is in full swing!  We were a bit late getting this show on the road but we managed to get the trees tapped just in time.

This is our first year tapping trees and we've learned A LOT!  First and foremost, we need to do a better job of identifying our sugar maple trees this summer.  We moved in only 9 months ago and we weren't very observant as to what trees are where so this time around we'll make sure to keep a better record or journal of where they all are.

Bear ordered a spile and tubing kit from Amazon.

Lesson #1, use longer tubing if that's the route you're going.  These tubes are too short so it limits how high we can go on the tree if the bucket is on the ground.


Bear also ordered 1 gallon buckets and cut a small hole in the lid to accommodate the tubing.

Lesson #2, use larger buckets.  When that sap gets flowing, this lil' bucket will fill up within hours.  

And finally, Lesson #3.....have plenty of storage and a plan.  We filled up all of our buckets and reserve storage faster than anticipated.  We were scrambling to boil it all down and make room for the buckets that were filling up in the meantime.  

In order to spare my kitchen from the steam, Bear rigged his grill to accommodate a large pot. He set bricks on the top of the grill and put the pot on top of the bricks so he could feed sticks in to the fire between the bricks and keep the syrup boiling.  It was tedious, and next year we plan to build a rocket stove to spare his grill.  In the meantime, I'd boil down a smaller pot each night in the kitchen just to keep up with production. 

Overall, we've loved the experience and plan to make this a tradition.  

My Wooden Clothesline

Now that we officially don't have neighbors, I was biting at the bits to have my very own clothesline.  We talked about metal posts versus wood, mounted retractable versus umbrella style, you name it!  In the end, we really liked the look of the wood and it was sturdy as all get out, at least this video by Jon Peters made it look pretty impressive.  I stumbled on the video (found at the very bottom of this post), which provides a fantastic tutorial on how to build your own clothesline.  We followed the directions and here's the outcome....

I couldn't wait to try it out, this photo was taken before I even put the stain on!  Here's a photo with the stain, proudly displaying the clothespin apron I threw together.  I wish I could say I had a pattern for you on this apron, but I don't.  I totally winged it.  (winged, wung?  whatever, you get it)

The clothesline has become a place where the kids know they can find me and have quiet one on one talks. It's become our bonding place where the chickens come watch the action and the dog lays in the shade keeping me company.  It's everything I imagined it to be.  Oh, and it dries our laundry for free, delivering a crisp, fresh smelling product every time without fail!

Oxidizing Wood

With the building of the headboard complete, it was time to give it some character.  There's been a lot of talk lately about "reclaimed wood" and its popularity in various building projects.  Obviously I didn't have wood to "reclaim" so I had to make do with what I had.  After some Googling and Pinterest stalking, I stumbled on the oxidization process.  The look was stunning and it seemed relatively simple, so I gave it a shot.

Supplies Needed:

1. Glass jar with lid 
2. Steel wool
3. White vinegar (I didn't have enough white vinegar so I mixed white with apple cider vinegar and the process worked just fine)
4. Tea bags (preferably a black tea but any will do)
5. Paint brush
6. Sealant/Protectant (in this case, wood oil)

Preparation

Plan on allowing 6-7 days for your vinegar mixture to set up prior to beginning the oxidizing process. 

To create your vinegar mixture:

• Fill your jar with enough vinegar to paint on to your project (more if you plan on storing it for additional projects in the future)
• Break apart the clump of steel wool and add to your jar
• Loosely place lid on and swoosh the contents so all the steel wool is covered
• Each day, give the jar a swoosh
• This mixture is ready for use 6-7 days after it's creation 

To Start

• Brew 2-3 bags of tea in about 2 cups of water, the darker the brew the better.  
• Paint the brewed tea on to your wood project.  You won't see much of a difference but you need the tea to soak into the wood to enhance the chemical reaction.  The end result is deeper and richer in color.
• Allow 30 minutes drying time
• Rinse your brush with water (you'll reuse it for the next step)

The Reaction

This next step happens fast...right before your eyes.  Here is where you simply paint on the vinegar mixture that's been steeping for the last week and Voile! the magic happens.  

Sealant/Protectant

After the project has dried, protect the wood with the sealant of your choice.  In this case, I used a wood oil.  I chose an oil because, unlike a dining table or coffee table, the wood would not experience a high amount of traffic or use.  Options for actual protection and durability include water based or oil based polyurethane.

TIP: Be careful of drips, painting over areas that have already started to oxidize due to drippage will cause the wood to be darker in those spots.  

Our Rustic Headboard

Bear and I needed a new headboard.  I can't stomach spending hundreds of dollars on a silly headboard and would rather go without but I had some scrap wood left over from a few projects that I decided to put to good use.  I had found brown plaid bedding from Woolrich that we liked and I tailored our room to the bedding.  Since the plaid was screaming "rustic!" I decided to go with a wood headboard that would scream back.  In order to achieve the proper balance of screaming, I decided to oxidize the wood (more on the oxidizing tomorrow).

I measured the height that I wanted the headboard (which needed to fit just below my window ledge). Then used two long "posts" (1x4's) on either end and using the measurement from the width of my bed, laid them out on the ground.  Then I cut a piece of plywood to size, laid it over the top of my posts and nailed it in.  I flipped the headboard over and then cut random sized pieces and nailed them in to created the rows between the posts.

Stayed tuned for the oxidizing process!

The Chicken Coop the Grand Finale

Color, color, color.  Oh, what color was a girl to choose?  Go whimsical and quirky or neutral?  We decided on neutral to fit with the coops surroundings.  I decided on a blue pine color (exact name to come, as soon as I mozie out to the garage and dig through the countless paint cans to find it).  I liked the look of wood stain with greens or blues so I found a gallon of stain left behind in the garage from the previous owner and decided to put it to good use.  The run would be stained, the coop trim would be stained and the rest would be painted.  Here's the coop before we attached the run....

And here she is with the run attached.....

I allowed the hardware cloth to hang 2 feet below the bottom of the run and used it as an apron topped with river rocks.  That's a half log border you see trimming the run.  I added planters not only for decoration but for planting my herbs in.  Lavender, cilantro, oregano, and mint.

So after all that hard work, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say, it paid off.  In case you're wondering, the design of the coop is the Daisy Coop.  We purchased the plans online and it was our first official build, not bad for newbies.

See Part I
See Part II

Linking up to Chickadee Homestead.