Answered Prayer

Noah has never enjoyed writing.  Creative writing, essays, letters, you name it.  He hated it all.  From kindergarten on, it has been a daily struggle and a source of much frustration and many tears from both of us.  He is such a good student in every other aspect, but writing assignments have never failed to produce wailing and gnashing of teeth.  I knew he could do it, but have really struggled with how to help him become the excellent writer I was sure he could become.  

One of the (many) reasons we chose to home-educate our children was the freedom that it would give us to individualise each child's education, using their natural learning style as a guide, challenging them where they excelled, and providing extra support if they struggled. 

English and writing are definitely where Noah struggled.  In every other subject, Noah did great regardless of curriculum-choice or teaching style.  But over the past 5 years, I have gone through 7 different curriculums/writing programs, hours of brain-storming, and lots of prayer as I tried to find a solution to the nightmare that writing had become.

At the beginning of 2012, we made a complete change of curriculum for Noah and ordered Bob Jones Univeristy's Distance Learning program.  It was a huge change of pace for both of us and felt a bit risky as 50% of their Language Arts curriculum is dedicated to the writing process.

As part of his spelling curriculum, Noah writes a journal to me each Thursday.  The topic is assigned, a few questions to get him thinking are provided, and the rest is left up to him.  When we made the switch, he really disliked journal days and his entries were perfunctory at best.  This year, he has begun to enjoy writing in his journal and really looks forward to receiving my replies.  I enjoy the chance to read about what he thinks and feels about all sorts of topics.  And this week's journal made my heart so happy!  It read:

Dear Mommy Dearest,

My favorite subject is English.  I enjoy it, because we have writing chapters.  I like to learn new things.  I have learned how to plan a persuasive essay.  I think my least favorite subject is art.  I am not good at art.
                     

                                                                                                                                          Cordially,

 

Your big boy Noah

 

What?  English is his favorite subject?  And he enjoys it because of the "writing chapters"?   This is progress I never expected.  I was just praying that God would help him to learn to write without hating it!  Thank you God for answering above and beyond what I asked.  And, thank you BJU press for providing the perfect curriculum for my boy.

 

P.S.  Yes, he calls me "Mommy Dearest" most of the time.  No, I don't bribe him to do so :)

 

The Cort Gester

Part of Nathaniel's handwriting assignment for today was to write a letter to Gareth and I.  He was looking especially pleased with himself when he finished and couldn't wait for me to grade his work.  It didn't take me long to see why:

 

It's good to be queen!  It's even better to have my own personal "cort gester"!    

Resurrecting the Blog

Wow, it's been a long time!  After I closed the blog last Spring, I didn't intend to blog again.   Time has become a rare and precious commodity, and I had grown tired of dealing with the unsolicited opinions that can sometimes come from choosing to share your life and personal choices openly.

But, I have missed blogging.  I have missed having one central location to record all of the happy little moments and precious memories that we are making.

So much has happened in the last 18 months.  It hasn't always been a smooth journey, but it has been an incredible time of seeing God turn us into a family of 6, work to grow our faith and trust, and to provide for our needs. 

In Luke 19:40 Jesus said, “If we keep quiet (and don’t praise God), the stones will cry out.”

Samuel used stones as a memorial when he wanted God’s people to remember His goodness and faithfulness. First Samuel 7:12 says that when God enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, the Prophet Samuel “took a stone and … named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.’”

Joshua also used stones to help God’s people remember His goodness. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites experienced the power of God to roll back the waters of the Jordan River, enabling them to cross over and take possession of the Promised Land. Joshua then commanded them to build a memorial of stones as a public testimony of what God had done for them.

In a way, this blog is my stone of remembrance: a place to record all of the sweet, small everyday family moments that I cherish and to record all that has happened and all that God has done, a memorial to record for my familyour story of God's goodness and provision.  

 

If you happen to read this, then welcome (or welcome back).  I can't promise to blog every day, and it is going to take a while to catch up on all that has happened, but it's good to be back and I can't wait to get started. 

Randomness that Leads into Making Yogurt

I've fallen in love with a foreigner. Now given my history of marrying an Englishman , adopting an Ethiopian, and then working on returning to adopt another Ethiopian, you might figure that falling in love with foreigners seems to kind of be par for the course. But this time, my love affair is with a Greek (yogurt to be more specific).

February was a LOUSY month. I have intermittent asthma. It's not really that big a deal. I only deal with it a couple of times a year. BUT, this year the asthma began acting up, and then my tonsils did too, and then to top it all off, I got bronchitis. 5 weeks worth of bronchitis. I did 1 round of antibiotics and an inhaler. That didn't work, so we began a 2 round of high-powered antibiotics and a steroid injection. That wasn't kicking it, so the Dr. added a round or oral steroids and a steroid inhaler. YUCK! I don't do antibiotics or steroids unless it is absolutely unavoidable. I'm grateful I had them, but not so grateful for the side effects. Antibiotics are hard on your stomach, so are steroids. They're murder on your energy and mental clarity, and steroids mean that I don't sleep, literally not at all for days in a row. Plus, they give me the most awful case of chipmunk cheeks (and no, I'm not going to post the picture that Noah took).

Having done so many rounds of them, my stomach was in agony. I wasn't hungry, wasn't really eating, but my stomach was still killing me. Enter the Greek. He was the only plain organic yogurt I could get at Target that day. I brought him home, drizzled him with raw honey, and Oh My Goodness. I fell in love. It's all I ate for several days. My stomach was so much better.

Then, I ran out. I went back to Target, and they didn't have any. So I bought Activia. It was SOOO nasty tasting after having had the real stuff, and it didn't deal with all of the stomach trouble. So, I went back to Target the next day and bought the real deal (and being a little bit more clear-headed than I had been on my first trip, I was horrified to find that it cost me almost $5 for a 2-day supply. I bought one small container and went back home and googled making yogurt. Hurrah for Google!

I found a great web-site that talked about making yogurt in a crock-pot. Then I found another one that talked about how to make Greek yogurt out of regular yogurt. I've tweaked both of them, and after a couple of rounds of practice, I am in love with making Greek yogurt. It is time-consuming, but it's not hard at all. And, there is something extremely self-satisfying about making your own yogurt. It is now the munchkins' favorite thing. So much their favorite thing, that I now make it a gallon at a time! For breakfast, we put a cup of it in a bowl, slice in fresh fruit, drizzle it with honey or real maple syrup, and then sprinkle it with granola. So good, and I love feeding my kids a really healthy breakfast that they think is a huge treat!

So, for anyone who has stuck it out for this long, here's how you, too, can make Greek yogurt in your crock-pot.

Making yogurt is a bit time-consuming. It is best to start in the morning on a day when you will be home for at least the first 6-8 hours. For the first day:

1. You will need 8 cups of whole milk (preferrably organic and not ultra-pasteurized), 1/2 cup of plain, all-natural Greek yogurt (I use Fage), a crock-pot, and a thick bath towel.

2. Plug in your crock-pot, turn it on low, and add your 1/2 gallon of milk. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.

3. Unplug your crockpot, leave the lid on, and allow to cool for 3 hours.

4. After 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warm-ish milk and whick together with the 1/2 cup of yogurt. After you have removed all lumps, return the milk and yogurt mixture to the crock-pot and stir in well.

5. Replace the lid of the crock-pot, cover the entire crockpot with a thick towel (to help insulate), and leave to sit until the next morning. I've left it to sit for only about 8 hours, which made a thin yogurt. I like it best left to sit for about 14-16 hours, which does require you to make it in the morning so that it has the afternoon, evening, and all night to culture.

At this point, you will have plain yogurt. If you like it thinner, you can stop here.

But, if you have a passion for really thick, Greek-style yogurt, then the next morning:

1. Take a large strainer and place it over a large glass bowl. Layer cheesecloth, a coffee filter, (or like me, an old clean white dish towel) into your strainer. You do need to be careful that what-ever you use as your filtering medium doesn't have any fabric softener or other odors to it, as these will be transferred to your yogurt.

2. Give the yogurt a stir, and then carefully pour it into the strainer. Cover it with the remaining towel orcling film, and place the entire thing in the refrigerator. Every 2 hours, drain off the liquid that you have strained out (this is the whey). I feed it to our dog, as it is an excellent source of protein and good bacteria. Continue to strain until the yogurt has reached your desired consistency. My latest batch (I doubled it and made a gallon) I strained for about 10 hours and got a REALLY thick Greek yogurt. For a gallon of milk, I strained until I had about 2 quarts of whey drained off.

Cost for 2 cups of Fage greek yogurt, about $5. Cost ingredients for 2 quarts of homemade Greek yogurt (or 4 quarts of regular yogurt) about $6. And, that is using organic milk. If you used the plain stuff, it could be even cheaper. Now, don't forget to reserve a little bit of your homemade yogurt to use as the culture for your next week's yogurt making!

Here is a picture of the finished product. I had to snap this picture really quickly. The munchkins couldn't wait to get their spoons into it!

Now, it's off to make some lemon curd to have with tomorrow's yogurt!