No More Margarine

A couple of months ago I read an article about how margarine is really made and what is actually in it. It really made my stomach turn. I can't remember which blog it was on but I am sure you can google it and find it. This week I used my last tub of country crock margarine and have replaced it with sticks of butter. Stick of real butter are great for baking but not so much for mixing or spreading. Just a little too hard. Today I was in the store and noticed this spreadable butter. Of course it is twice as much as spreadable margarine, but I don't think I could ever go back.

Senior High: A Homeschool Design Formula

With the end of the school year drawing near I decided to put some books on hold at the library for me. Each summer I try to read and sometimes reread some of the best homeschooling books. This year I decided to focus on books dealing with planning a high school homeschool education. As I have mentioned before, I really don't want to do your traditional highschool cookie cutter schedule of classes. I would like to do subjects/classes that Grace will really find an interest in and if I can make them fit into a transcript that a college may like more the better. Not sure which direction will be taken at this point (delight directed learning, life skills, Christian unschooling, etc.) but I feel strongly that God is leading us down some new path. Even though Senior High: A Homeschool Design Formula was written in the early 90's and the credits needed to enter college have increased, it is still a good read. Here is something from the book that really stuck with me. The 7 pillars of education mentioned in the book could cover most items you want your child to learn/know before going out in the world. Does your average person really need to know all the higher learning maths and sciences. Once I finish alot of these books I will report back with my findings. I am sure that some of the homeschool families I am close with might think I have lost my mind. But unless something big changes in the next couple of years I think this is where we are headed in our studies.
Wisdom's 7 Pillars of Education

1. Revelation of the knowledge of God and His will



2. Closer relationship with God



3. Preparation for roles in life



4. Preparation for specific life calling/purpose



5. Character development



6. Basic foundation of knowledge to function in society



7. Equip with tools to learn for life

More of Grace's Creations

As you can see Grace is still fascinated with making her own sonic characters.

Each day during our literature read a loud I assign her something to draw. She really needs to stretch herself and draw some other subjects. One day I challenged her to go out in the yard and pick a wildflower to bring in and draw. This was her choice.

The next day I had her look through a book of horses and sketch something she saw in the book.

The following day I pulled one of her warrior cat books off the shelf and asked her to pick a cat to sketch. For writing we are currently working on a children's book together. We are writing in tandem, which basically means I write a paragraph and then she writes a paragraph. With two people writing the story and not discussing the outcome you really don't know where the story will go. Once the story is finished Grace is going to do the illustrations. I could really see that as something she might want to do in the future. Write children's books or maybe just illustrate them.

Odds and Ends

Hubby went down to the garden yesterday. Don't the potatoes look great. The red potatoes seem to be growing the best but the whites are hanging in there. Monday we will have to go down to the garden and do some heavy work.

Today was our last day working with butterflies and caterpillars. The last project on the agenda was researching what butterflies are found in the state of Georgia. Once we started investigating we knew we would have to narrow our search. The decision was made to research True Brush footed butterflies in the state of Georgia. Grace created two pages in her nature journal with pictures and names. Not sure what we will be learning about in Science next week. Because of the conference school will only be happening Monday - Wednesday. Maybe something will jump out at me at the convention to use for the month of May. Definitely something about nature.

Crazy Chickens

Tonight we left home for the first church softball game of the year. We won by the way 25 - 10. Anywho when we left at 7:15 their were two hens in nesting boxes. We had already received three eggs for the day so wasn't really expecting much more. Low and behold when we arrived back home at 9:15 three hens were in nesting boxes. Nice and cozy for the night. Or should I say nice and BROODY for the night. Luckily Betty the last hen that was broody was not one of the bunch. So now I have to go through the process of getting three chickens out of the boxes off and on throughout the day. With Betty it took her about two weeks to get her act back together. I hope the other three don't do the same thing. If they all stop laying for two week I will be buying eggs. This is why we bought the 6 new hen chicks. Need more eggs, especially when you have broody hens.

It's a Chicken Zoo

This morning the coop was finally finished and the baby chicks were able to go out in it first thing this morning. Of course Grace felt like she needed to get in there with them. All sides are wood except one. Saturday the chicks will be 5 weeks old and are just about fully feathered. On Monday they will start spending the night out in the coop with their heat lamp. On Thursday we are headed to the homeschool convention and a neighbor will be coming over to keep watch over the chicks. I want to make sure they are comfortable in their new home before we live.

As always hubby did a wonderful job on using what we already had on hand to build the coop. Some improvements to this coop as opposed to the game hen coop is the fencing is higher for us to be able to walk in and not have to be practically on hands and knees to fetch from inside the run. The only items purchased was the fencing and conduit. We did discover that the conduit was cheaper by half instead of using purchased wood posts or steel fence posts.

Because of our location in a very wooded area we have to cover the runs in chicken wire to protect the birds.

The babies are already out and enjoying their run. This week we have allowed the babies to stay out all day and bring them in the house about 8 each evening. I am not even turning on the lamp at night for warmth anymore. It is 75 degrees in the house which is plenty warm for them. Plus I want them to settle down and go to sleep for the night.

You can't see it from this angle but directly across from this coop and run is the game hen/rooster coop and run. So when I say welcome to the chicken zoo, I am not too far off base.

Atlanta Zoo

Atlanta Zoo and our library system has a program set up to get every family of 4 free tickets to visit the zoo. Each library in the system has a dvd available to the public to check out and keep for one week. The dvd is about the history of the Atlanta Zoo. Upon returning the dvd your family is presented with free passes to the zoo. A family can receive the free passes every year. It is somewhat hard to get the dvd. It cannot be put on hold, it is basically first come first serve. Also once you turn the dvd in you have only one week to use the passes. On a whim I called our local library to see if the dvd was in and low and behold it was. This works out great for us because we are going to the homeschool convention in Atlanta next week. Now hubby and Grace can attend the zoo for free one day while I am in a bunch of workshops and classes.