Deep in the Heart....

....OF TEXAS!!!!!  This is where we shall be in the future for a time, then back home again, jiggity-jig.  My husband's paternal Grandfather is turning 90 years old...so the whole family (well, a lot of them) are gathering to celebrate.  Because of the insanity with the scanners at airports and Mamas being harassed for breastfeeding on planes (as I plan to do) and it might end up being cheaper to drive it anyway...WE ARE DRIVING TO TEXAS!  Two parents, a five year old, and an almost two year old......Family of four in my parent's van (thanks Mom and Dad!) from here to there....I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...with lots of books and snacks, and a DVD player for the car, we should be able to survive....right?

Latest Updates in a Mama's life

Dang it!  Time got away from me again and Life handed me way too much to do....well, honestly, I guess I found too much to do...crazy days....

So here is my quick list of what has happened (I know I will leave things out just because it is late and I really should be in bed...):

We have started - and continued - homeschooling our five year old and have been loving that decision :D  If I haven't mentioned it before, we are using Oak Meadow, a Waldorf based school.  It has curriculum and educational tools for K-High School and are really liking

We have not been going to the chiropractor weekly and I am feeling it :(  I hope to be able to get back to it in a few months, though ;)


I went to the Florida La Leche League Conference last weekend...well, just Friday and Saturday, and for just a day and a half instead of three days.  I was there with Sandy Jamieson and Sandy Hill, my ladies full of lactation wisdom.

And I killed three chickens (not our own!) at a friend's "Meat Harvest"...got the war-wounds to prove it!  It was something that I have been thinking about for a while and am in a place in my psyche/life that I can/could/did do it.  One more small step away from the grid....and I will be there again for more "Harvesting" next Sunday!

Confessions of a Homeschooling Mama

There are great days and there are not so great days.  I have only schooled The Older three days and already we have had both.  The first day, we - Mama, Dada, The Older, and The Younger - went to the beach...it was called Paradise Beach, with a park/playground, beautiful sand and it is the only beach in the south part of my county to be staffed year-round with lifeguards.  If it wasn't so far away, we would be there more often. 

When we got in the water, the lifeguard (Georgie) came over and commented on how wonderful that I was using a Fuzzibinz cloth diaper (she used them on her kids years ago) on my littlest and we talked about homeschooling and natural mothering things.  Would have liked to talk to her more but had to watch The Younger because she was getting pummeled by the rough waves (and liking it).

It was unfortunately way too hot to play on the playground (all the equipment was burning from sun exposure), but vowed to come back when the weather cooled off.  But they had a wonderful playground, kids swings and toddler swings, slides, and a large resin boulder with rock climbing handles on it!  So cool!

But not all is so wonderful.  The first week, we are learning to make the capital letter A correctly.  Up until now, she would make good letter As the right way, but lately, she has been getting sloppy....and refusing to accept that the way she had always been making As was correct....

Ah, joys of life!

Next Chapter

I am about to embark on a new adventure: Homeschooling....a five year old...with an 18 month old in the wings.  At least I have a fantastic support group to help!  (Hey Ladies!)

Since before my husband and I got married, we decided that if we were still living in this area when we had kids, we would homeschool.  We talked about it, defended our position, chose friends that had the same mindset, got info from our family that does homeschool, found a good starting curriculum, planned out the next few months, got school supplies.....  and I am scared sh!tless...  because it is just around the corner!  We are finally here!

But like I said: fantastic support group, et all shall get me through it!  Woo hoo!  Yeehaw!  Here we go.....

Knee-jerk reaction

I have a knee-jerk reaction to all things Mama related: pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, child-rearing...  Every time I hear another mother being oppressed or told misinformation, my first reaction is to fight someone!  Or let loose a barrage of tips to the Mother, "Have you tried...?" or "Did you know...?"  But I must refrain, and find just one or two things - helpful and doable - for that Mother to say or do to get control back in her life. 

I JUST WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD!!

...or just a reasonable portion of it...

But the truth of the matter is: there IS a revolution happening...we just aren't physically feeling it yet...It is only online, on the internet, on Facebook, on Twitter...we are socializing without shaking hands or hugging...or kneeing someone....

I don't know if that is better or not, but different from those in the past.

Dehydrator Lust

I....have dehydrator lust.  I admit it!  I just got this email from a great blogger and want it bad.  But instead of trying to convince my self that I need it now, I will just enter the contest to get one (go ahead, you can too! you KNOW you want to ;) then go and feed my chickens.

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Keeper of the Home: Naturally Inspired Living for the Christian Homemaker

1000th Post Party Giveaway: Deluxe Excalibur 3900 9-Tray Dehydrator ($220 Value)

It's been a hard secret to keep, but at last I can announce that after the smashing success of our Excalibur Dehydrator giveaway last fall, it's time to give away another one!
I've owned a 9-Tray Excalibur for about a year and a half now. I keep it on my kitchen counter the way that most people have a microwave or toaster oven. Yes, I use it almost that often!
As someone who uses my dehydrator so extensively, I can't imagine going back to the cheaper model I used to have. This is the ultimate dehydrator. It is absolutely top-notch and I cannot say enough good things about it.

In my previous review, I mentioned the main reasons that I chose to go with an Excalibur Dehydrator in particular:

1. Large, square shaped trays (as opposed to round with a hole in the center). The means no more wonky-shaped fruit leather. No more grains falling through the cracks into the dehydrator motor. Less wasted space in arranging items on the tray.
2. Adjustable trays. You can remove the tray above if you're drying something tall to give it more space. You can remove all of the trays to do something like mason jars with yogurt, or for rising bread. You can remove the bottom half of the trays to do pint sized jars of yogurt and still keep drying nuts or herbs or fruit on the upper trays. The possibilities are endless!
3. Trays that slide out through the front. With a round dehydrator, I had to lift off all of the top trays in order to access something in the middle or on the bottom. With the front access, I can just open it up and pull out the exact tray that I want to see.
4. A heating/fan unit along the back, rather than down at the bottom. This allows for more even heating of the entire dehydrator and items that finish more or less at the same time.

Read the rest of my previous review.

There are so many things that I use my dehydrator for! These days, the most common is probably for making crispy nuts (nuts that are soaked and then dried). I also use it frequently for making granola, for soaking and dehydrating oats for granola bars, for drying herbs or vegetables, for making dried apples or pears or fruit leathers, for making "cheese" crackers... just to name a few.
One additional feature about the model that is being given away is a 26 hour adjustable timer, so that you can set the dehydrator to turn off while you are out or during the night, so that you don't over-dry things or waste energy! This is new since I bought mine, but it would be such a handy feature to have!
To learn more about my thoughts on the Excalibur Dehydrator, definitely check out my review.
Another great place to learn more is in this promotional video. I wanted to embed it into this post, but wasn't able to. It's worth clicking through and visiting their website, though, so that you can get more of a feel for how the dehydrator functions and what makes it unique.

So who wants to win themselves a Deluxe Excalibur 3900 9-Tray Dehydrator ($220 value)?

To streamline giveaways a bit more, we are experimenting with a new system. Rather than leaving multiple comments to get all of your extra entries, simply click on the link below and complete one survey, checking off the entry options that you have completed! That's it!

Click Here to Enter the Giveaway!

Giveaway ends Friday, June 25th at 4pm PST.

Plan for the Future...

It would be great to have one of those!  And time to do so :)  I did recently have 24 hours to myself, away from everyone, got to do things by myself...it was weird and wonderful at the same time.  It was a gift from my husband - he watched the girls, they did fine - and I got to catch up on a bit of reading and TV watching (we don't have live TV in the house, so I watched it in the hotel room...still nothing on!  So glad we don't have cable or dish or whatever :). 

I did get to start planning for the immediate future of homeschooling my 4 1/2 year old which is starting in August.  I have the first day of school planned: we are going to the beach!  Hopefully all day or at least most of it.  After that...well... I have curriculum from Oak Meadow that I will be working from.  And this first year (kindergarten) is really practice anyway.  If I can homeschool this year, I can homeschool all the years!  Of course, now that I think about it, that will be (in total with both girls) 17 years at least!!  wow.... but let's just try the first year and not think of the rest....

And in my immediate future (this month), enjoy Mother's Day, shop for shelves, purge, reduce, and clean my house...without a working vacuum.....and get backyard chickens...I wonder how much grass two chickens can eat?  (my lawnmower is not working...)