Piecing Together The Puzzle

Homeschool high school.  Those are three pretty scary words when put all together.  And yet in the midst of its clutches is where I find myself ... planning a course of action, questioning myself, thinking I had it figured out only to discover I didn't have a clue.

The situation in which I find myself is not unlike others who have traveled this path and are still on the journey.  I use the umbrella school option offered by my state because it's what has always made the most sense for my family.  Every umbrella school is different.  The one we use has undergone some revamping the last couple of years.  One change is that I must provide them with a list of every course my soon-to-be high schooler will study throughout all four years of high school and during which year.  Planning out all four years is a daunting task!  I'll be honest ... at first I was taken aback and even quite irritated that I must do such a thing.  Now I view it as a good thing.  It's no less stressful, but I've concluded the required structure of the situation is what I/we need.  (I know more relaxed homeschoolers will disagree, and that's fine.  That's one of the wonderful things in life - we're all unique and have our own thoughts, opinions, and beliefs.) 

I find it somewhat amusing that just before Christmas last year I cleared out over 200 books from our home library.  Many were children's books my kids have outgrown, but every member of the family chipped in and did his/her own weeding out.  I truly had a plan to bring no more "clutter" into my home.  But I'm a homeschooler.  I should have known that plan was doomed from the start.

Recently while my oldest was attending his weekly youth group meeting, I found myself wandering through Barnes & Noble.  I felt a nudge in my heart that's where I should go to spend my wee bit of quiet time that evening.  The above photo shows what happened.  I didn't mean to do it, but am glad I did!  I believe that nudge on my heart was God directing me to some wonderful bargains we will use during our high school journey.

I had been looking at The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens for my oldest because he is very much in that wonky young teenager phase where I feel as though the sweet, driven boy I used to know is no longer inhabiting his body.  I've been told it's a phase he'll (hopefully) outgrow soon.  I thought this would be helpful for him and even put it on my Goodreads list recently.  I was thrilled to find it way cheaper than other places I had been looking, plus I received an additional 25% off using my B&N educator card.  I don't know if my teen will dive into The Bare Bones Bible Handbook For Teens or save it for our "Introduction To The Bible 1" class I tentatively have on his list of high school courses, but it looks fantastic.  The Daily Dose of Knowledge Bible is absolutely magnificent.  I'm currently reading my way through (at a pace of more than a dose a day because I'm enjoying it so much), and it would make an additional great "textbook" for the aforementioned high school class.  Both of those books were also a great price and qualified for my 25% educator discount.  The remainder of the books are classics we did not already own.  They were on sale 50% off, so that was motivation enough for me.  They were cheaper than the paperback versions, much more pleasing to hold in the hands, and the font size is better for someone of my mature years (LOL).  The Darwin book is honestly something I never thought I would allow through my front door, however, in my recent online searching of how to turn Apologia Biology an honors course I discovered and determined it really is a necessary evil.  My oldest's current career plans will mean he will have to major in biology or something very similar in college.  Going ahead and including Darwin in his high school studies will help prepare him for what he will find himself faced with during college courses.

Cleaning House ... A New Adventure

I've tried for years to get my kids to do chores and keep their rooms clean.  No amount of money promised, begging, pleading, or threat-making has resulted in any success.

Back in November I read Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma.  While I didn't agree with the entire book, nor could I financially afford to do as the author did in her experiment, I did gain quite a bit of insight into all the skills I really need to be equipping my children with (and thought of plenty more not mentioned in the book).  I tried desperately to get my own version of the experiment underway at the beginning of December, but my troops remained unmotivated and I had too much on my plate at the time put up much of a fight.  I did make it clear, however, that January 1st marked the start of our adventure with the methodology described in Cleaning House.

For this month - January - I am focusing on my kids keeping their rooms clean and orderly, keeping their belongings picked up from around the house daily, and making their beds each morning.  Just as in the experiment in the book, my kids have the ability to earn, or lose, a set amount of money/allowance each day based upon their performance.  As an added twist, since it's my house and I am certainly entitled to make my own rules, my kids must also be polite to one another or they risk losing their allowance for the day.  They found out on day one I meant business with this rule.  When our homeschool year begins again in a few days after the close of our winter break, they must also have all their work completed for the week before the next week begins or they lose a set amount of their allowance that has been earned.  That may seem unfair or harsh, but it's a necessary evil with my teen at this point.

In the fury of getting their rooms cleaned up and prepared for the beginning of this month - and believe me, that was quite the undertaking with the state of how things were - my youngest constructed this "desk" in his room.......

He declared he wanted a place where he can go draw without having to do so on the dining room table or spread out on the floor somewhere, so he made his own using one of his toy castles, a 3-drawer storage unit, and a shelf that was removed long ago from a piece of our furniture.  He equipped himself with pencils (held in an empty peanut butter jar), paper, and a storage box full of colored pencils.  I'm proud of his ingenuity!

So far, so good with this experiment.  We'll see where it leads.

Saying It Out Loud

I was named adult taekwon-do student of the year for 2012 at the school where I take lessons.  It's an honor I didn't expect.  My children congratulated me, and my teen even gave me a high five on my way back to my seat from accepting my award.  But my cheering section ended there.  My spouse didn't say a word to me - still hasn't.  I have acquaintances, not friends, and no family, so picking up the telephone and sharing with someone isn't an option.  That's why I'm saying it out loud here.

I have kept quiet about it for over a week because I feel badly for all the kids in the school who did not win awards, my own included.  There are several kids I wish I could bestow this honor upon - kids who stepped up to the plate at the virtually the last minute when others backed out, kids who put their heart and soul into taekwon-do this year taking more than the normal two classes per week, kids who traveled and competed in tournaments throughout the year and represented our school well, kids who were slighted/judged unfairly at said tournaments and never complained, kids who volunteered and gave freely of their time to help out with summer camp and younger-aged classes, kids who very obviously worked hard outside of class to learn difficult patterns and kicks.  They all deserve it far more than me.

Yet at the same time I realize I should be proud of myself.  I toyed around with the idea of taking lessons for several months before I was brave enough to take the plunge.  I am in my forties for crying out loud.  This is something I really should have started as a child.  I also am very timid about being up in front of other people.  I don't like to look foolish.  I don't like to be laughed at or made fun of.  I get my feelings hurt very easily.  I not only took lessons, but competed in tournaments as well.  I did it afraid, with my heart pounding and palms sweating.  But I did it ... and for that I congratulate myself.

Gluten-Free Brownies ... Halleujah!

The moment December 1st rolls around, my brain immediately switches to "sweets mode".  I usually fret over what I'll bake throughout the month - a mixture of family favorites and new-to-me recipes - but this year has definitely presented a challenge now that we're gluten-free.  I came across a recipe for "Gluten-Free Saucepan Brownies" in Unbelievably Gluten-Free by Anne Byrne, realized I had all the necessary ingredients on hand, and threw caution to the wind.  Why caution to the wind?  Because I generally don't have success baking brownies from scratch ... as in there have been incidents where they stuck so badly to the baking dish the dish had to be thrown away ... so we don't eat brownies.  That has changed!

This recipe was as simple as it gets.  The most difficult part was waiting for the brownies to cool for one hour before slicing and devouring.  They got a thumbs-up from every member of my family - I'll definitely be making these again, and again, and again, and again.

Pizza Night

Homemade pizza has always been a favorite meal at my house.  Being new to gluten-free, I have not yet come across a recipe for gf pizza crust that meets my hopes.  I found Namaste pizza crust mix at one of my local natural foods markets and decided to give it a try because my kids were begging for pizza.  The ingredients are not certified organic, but they are non-GMO.

This mix is super easy to make - just add oil (I used organic evoo) and water and mix using a stand mixer for three minutes.  The directions indicated this would be the consistency of thick cake batter, and indeed it was.  I used a spoon to spread the batter on my baking stones, going all the way to the edges.  I am glad I did take it all the way to the edges because it shrank up a bit when baked.

Each package of mix makes two pizzas.  I used the whole package as it takes two pizzas to feed my family (pizza is something my teen boy really chows down on!).  On the first pizza I used Organic Valley mozzarella cheese, and it turned out beautifully.  The crust was crisp, like a thin crust pizza, and it tasted great.  I sliced this one up into squares, and my child who must be on a gluten-free diet ate four pieces!  First, he never at that much when I made homemade pizza using freshly ground wheat.  Second, he has not been eating well since going gf, so it almost brought me to tears to see him eat AND enjoy what he was eating.  My teen gave it his approval as well.

The second pizza I made using Daiya mozzarella shreds.  I have been reluctant to add a lot of dairy back into my diet, but I have to admit the first pizza was a lot better.  This second one was not bad, it just didn't cook up as well.  I have used Daiya products before, and know they don't cook up exactly like real cheese, but this was still a bit disappointing (especially after tasting the first pizza!).

Anyway, the pizza crust mix is a winner, and I'll continue to use it for pizza night.

Peanut Butter Cookies ... Revisited

This past weekend I decided to revisit a recipe I haven't made in years.  You know the one.  The really easy one.  It's simply 1 cup peanut butter (I used Winn Dixie's organic pb), 1 egg (I used organic), 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup + 2 T. organic evaporated cane crystals), and 1 tsp. vanilla (I used organic). Roll into 1-inch balls, make the crisscross pattern by pressing with the tines of a fork, and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (some ovens may require less/more time).

When I cut eggs from my diet, I stopped making these cookies.  I am not a fan of organic eggs from a store because the hens are "vegetarian fed".  That means soy and the old adage "you are what you eat" always comes to mind.  I am really not a fan of soy, with the exception of fermented soy.  If you can find farm fresh eggs where the hens have not been fed soy, great!  No such luck for me where I live.  I also just really do not like cooking or baking with eggs.  I am always worried about salmonella, and generally just hate the feel of raw egg on my hands period.  It took a pep talk with myself to even revisit making these cookies.  But, I'm glad I did because my whole family had a special gluten-free treat.

Almond Flour Pancakes

I received the Honeyville almond flour I ordered and knew the first thing I wanted to try was the almond flour pancakes I saw on The Urban Poser.  While in the process of getting a batch of these mixed up, I had to tell a little white lie.  Yes, I admit I lied to my child to get him to give them a try.  My teen doesn't think before he speaks.  He loves nuts, my youngest child does not.  My teen wanted to know if almond flour was really made of almonds, and I told him yes.  He asked if he could taste the flour and I told him sure.  He loudly exclaimed the flour tasted just like almonds and my youngest heard this proclamation.  At that point the youngest informed me he would NOT be trying the pancakes, so I told him his big brother was kidding and it was really flour I was using.  He's young enough for me to get away with it, and I don't feel the least bit sorry I fibbed.  Why?  Because he ate every bite and told me they taste like angels!

My kids were gobbling these down so fast I had to resort to taking a photo while I had a couple cooking.  In making mine I used the recipe linked above and did the following ... used 1/4 tsp. sea salt, subbed 1 T. organic ground flaxseed meal and 3 T. water for one of the eggs (because I only had 2 eggs on hand), subbed 4 T. organic rice milk for the coconut milk, used vanilla instead of lemon juice, and did use the optional cinnamon.  Jenni, aka The Urban Poser, is not kidding when she says to keep these pancakes small because they are difficult to flip.  I managed not to make too big of a mess and didn't burn anything.  Other than the flipping difficulty, these are extremely simple to make and downright yummy.  They were sweet, but not overly so.  I cooked mine in organic extra virgin coconut oil and served them with a wee bit of pure maple syrup.  I will definitely be making these again and again.