In case you thought time was moving too fast...

...as I often feel on my birthday. (yep, today!) Here's a view from right out my window recently that reminds me that the "old days" aren't that far removed:

Lamentations 3:22-23  

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

Long Days and Short Nights

I know I've been posting a lot of school related posts and curriculum reviews lately. Much of the science and curriculum posts were written a while back, and lately, other than a few review products we're enjoying... school has been the farthest thing from our minds. We do take a pretty good break from May Day to Labor Day. This week all of the local schools are starting up, and I am SO thankful we aren't. This summer has gone fast enough!

The theme of the summer seems to be long days and short nights, and not just because the sun stays up later than in the winter. I don't know how year-round schoolers do it, frankly! From garden bounty to can, to summer sports and fairs, we haven't had a break!

In June we had baseball and softball. With all four kids playing, we were at the ball-fields 6 days a week. Most of the games ran from 6-8, but some from 8-10... or back to back and we did 6-10! We had practices called off for snow, and games in 100 degree heat. It was a crazy time. The final games finished up the day before the 4th of July. We celebrated the 4th by climbing the local landmark, Scott's Bluff. It was a 3 mile round trip in the dark, but watching the city fireworks from the top was totally worth it. I just shouldn't have worn my sandals.

The next weekend was our 13th anniversary, and the local parade. The following weekend we had my in-laws as houseguests and Tyler's 12th birthday. The weekend after that we enjoyed a visit from my cousin Andi and her boys, and we hiked the Bluff again. Only two days after they left, my brother and his sweet wife and son came to stay for a week. It was a wonderful time, and of course... we took them hiking up the Bluff. ;) That put us well into August.

The day after they flew home we began the county fair, and spent an entire week driving across the county to care for our animals at the fairground.  The week went quickly and we tried not to miss a thing. Tyler and Emma both participated in Poultry Showmanship, Breed Showing, and Market Showing. Mayda participated in Cat Showmanship and Poultry Showmanship. Wyatt behaved himself very well considering he was bored and tired most of the week. :)

Finishing out the weekend was another great visit from Hubby's folks, and they got to watch the kids in the 4H auction! Wrapping up the fair by attending a concert with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band really topped it all off. And all the while all I could think of was: "Would it be crazy to cat nap during a super-loud concert?" I was SO tired!

In June we had to completely replace the motor in Ben's truck, and are only just now getting caught back up on those bills. Due to the crazy ball schedule, my garden nearly died of neglect, but it's finally coming around. I put up my first batch of jelly, and can see salsa season coming right around the corner.

The kids really pulled out all the stops and helped put up 200 ears of corn on Monday. Emma did all the blanching herself, and Tyler did all the cob cutting. That left me with shucking and bagging. They are getting to be such a great help! And did I mention my hubby butchered all the fryers the day the fair ended? That Grand Champion Cornish Rock is now in the freezer in an unmarked gallon freezer bag.

All this isn't to complain, but really just so I can write it all out, and remember later why we didn't go camping this summer (although our camper turns out to be a really handy guest cottage!).

And to be thankful... for all this!
The health to enjoy it.
The energy to accomplish (9 miles of up and down the Bluff in less than 30 days!).
The garden to enjoy.
The chickens to entertain us.
The cool nights.
The hot days.
The generous friends.
The cousins and family visitors.
The neighbor dogs we pet-sat. (all 6 of them, from 4 households!)
The beans replanted.
The weeds pulled.
The clothes we get to wear and enjoy. and wash. and dry. and fold. (maybe)
The sunsets we photograph.
The sunsets we savor.
The hugs and snuggles.
The late night conversations.
The early rising sun.
My early rising son.
My Father whose grace is enough.
A woman mentor who helps me see how to fill up, so I can pour out...
    and pour and pour and pour...
The farmer's markets.
The special granola orders.
The wonderful rains.
Beautiful flowers.
The flood in the basement from a freshly burst pipe.
The basement floor now nice and clean.
The guests coming tomorrow, and Saturday, and Monday...
The great review products we've enjoyed.
Our love for each-other.
The sweet spot of parenting (kids old enough to help and care, young enough to like to be with us!)
The anguish on my knees.
The friendships mourned. missing.
The friendships beginning anew.
The loneliness that draws me to my Father.
Enough stuff to get us through.
Of late nights.
And early mornings.... where His mercy is new.

All is grace.
<3



©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

After Hours

Monday night we had a blizzard (and all day Tuesday). Hubby was at work and had to drive home in it. What normally takes him 45 minutes, took him 6 hours. He couldn't see the road and had to just stop for a bit to calm his nerves. There were cars and trucks littering the ditches. He picked up a stranded co-worker and took him home too. Not far from where he works another stranded motorist left her car. She was only a mile from home they say. She never got there. *sigh*

Needless to say I couldn't sleep until he was home. It was a very late night.

Lots of praying. Lots of drop-to-your-knees-where-you-stand kind of praying.
Lots of nervous housework.
Made some awesome cinnamon rolls.
Talked to a friend until the wee hours.

I'm so thankful God brought him home! We have been snowed in for two days. It's hard to believe we were planting the spring garden last week. I will post snow and garden pictures soon, I promise. (Yes, those things go together here in Nebraska).

So what do you do after dark? I really should go to bed. But I don't.

Blessings, Laura

©2012-2013 Loving and Learning on the High Plains. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.homeschoolhighplains.blogspot.com

When the disciples are the teachers

Two weeks ago. There was so much to do. It was a busy week, and it was my turn to cook for the Awana crowd. Tuesday's school lessons were a blur, but Mayda was motivated by something or other to get caught up. She was behind in Bible. Yes, the Bible curriculum that I had said I wasn't going to use; she really likes it. After failing to click with her two older siblings, this one clicks with her. The lesson that day was about sin. Not sin you commit, but the sin of omission. Knowing to do something and not doing it. I wanted to hurry through it, but she had figured out how to listen to the Bible readings on the smart phone... so she looked them up, and we read:

Matthew 25:31-46
31-33 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
41-43 “Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
44 “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?’
45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’
46 “Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

We talked about what it means to serve Christ through serving others, and how a heart obedient to Him will follow His leading. Mayda pondered that for a bit and she said, "I want to bake some bread."

There is a woman who comes to the farmer's market and buys bread. After buying some of the bread we sold there, she called and asked if she could order bread regularly. So every so often I deliver the bread to her home and we chat. The last time I delivered bread before Christmas, we brought cookies. Her husband had fallen and broken his hip and was not doing well. I felt a nudging from the Spirit to do more, but I felt the bag of cookies was enough. I had invited her to church. But she was on my mind. Mayda didn't know that. Other than joining me in praying for the woman and her husband, she didn't know the struggle in my heart. What did He want me to do?


But here a few weeks after Christmas: Mayda read God's Word, her heart was pricked, and she knew just what she wanted to do.

Me: "Bake bread?"

Mayda: "Do you remember that lady who buys your bread? I want to bake bread for her. I know she's sad that her husband is sick. And I want to help!"

I told her we could bake later that night, and I was swept up in the day with everything on my plate I'd almost forgotten. But Mayda didn't. After supper she helped me clean up, and she reminded me that we needed to bake bread.  We even tried a new bread recipe, but also made the loaves the woman liked so well. And as we packed up to go to town, she got more excited.

When we knocked on her door, the woman's grandson answered. I apologized for not calling ahead, and he welcomed us in. Mayda was suddenly shy. It turned out the woman had just brought her husband home from the nursing home with the care of hospice. There he was... sleeping soundly in the living room, struggling with the pain of the un-healing hip.

Mayda and I went on through to the kitchen where the woman was sitting, and she was completely taken by surprise. I told her how Mayda had wanted to bake her bread. She turned to her grandson and then back to me, and gesturing to the crust of bread on the counter, said:

"I just told him this morning that I was going to need to order more bread!"

We exclaimed together that God had heard, and placed an order with Mayda, who was beaming now (but hiding behind me out of shyness). She wanted to pay her, but Mayda told her it was a gift. I couldn't have been more proud of my girl.

And in my heart I was humbled. How many times have I had the thought to minister to someone: to drop someone a note, or to give a quick call? Did I do it?

In a recent conversation with a friend, we were talking about how we live in such blessing while the world outside our door is struggling so. How can we snuggle in our warm homes, when there are tin huts with dirt floors? And as I hung up with her I struggled in my heart, "Am I doing all I am called to do?" And I came to this conclusion... before I discovered this post by Ann V. about Radical Christianity; where she says the words that are the very thoughts I've been chewing on in my mind for two weeks:

"Because only a life contemplating the love of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ.
Because all radical Christianity is first rooted in relationship Christianity — with Christ and His children. Right where we are.
And love always moves. Always rippling outward, onward, forever homeward.

There’s love in a loaf of bread." -Ann Voskamp

I am teaching my daughter to bake bread. I am making disciples right where God has called me. What can my two hands do that wouldn't be better with the help of the eight small hands I am teaching?

I have been given a mission field, and it is here. And I have so far to go, in teaching them... and I will begin with the lesson of listening. Listening to that still small voice that prompts us to love, and to be the love of Christ. In our home. In our community. In our world.

Even if that lesson came from a child, a good humbling, and a a few loaves of bread.

Highlights of the High Plains

A morning sunrise, with the bluffs and hills in the distance.

~~~

Stopped on the way to town so a cattle drive could cross the road.

~~~

Swirling winds made a cornhusk bed for Buck overnight.

Chicken Drama

Friday morning hubby went out to do some work in the shop and went around back to check on something. Behind the shop we keep bales of fencing for the farm, and they are stacked up sideways. He realized some of our free range chickens had been messing around there (and sometimes they hide eggs in the weeds back there) but this time one had gotten stuck in the roll of fence! And then another had seemingly followed her in there... and then another... and  here he discovered 3 chickens STUCK!  It was a Rhode Island Red on each end, with a Black Star in the middle. Crazy things.

We had to unroll the entire thing to get them out, and my heart just broke for them! We have about 34 chickens, so we don't always count heads when we shut the barn for the night. By the number of eggs stuck in the roll, I think they had been stuck there for about 2 days. The third chicken seemed to be in pretty good shape, and I'm assuming she was a latecomer to the party. The middle one had the "runs" when she started eating and drinking, but 24 hours later seems fine. I'm pretty worried about the first one in though. Her back end was much attacked by the chicken stuck in the middle (right behind her). Poor baby!

So she is inside for the weekend. Yes, in my house, in a pet carrier, on some pine-shavings to recover. I spoil my chickies. :)

Needless to say, we plan on storing all the fence rolls upright now...

30 Days of Thankfulness in November - Pt. 4

sculpture of two elk fighting, at Cabelas Store in Sidney

Still Counting with Ann: Gifts #394-432
Be sure to head over to her site to get your free Christmas Gift: The Jesse Tree Journey!

November 22 (continued):

• Mother-in-Love cooked for us all.
• Bringing lots of desserts to share
• Seeing Great Grandma at the hospital for a nice LONG visit.
• Seeing an aunt, uncle, and cousins we hadn't seen in a while!
• Naps after lunch

November 23:

• No black Friday Shopping, BLISS!
• Getting to read the kids one of my favorite books: Ransom of Red Chief
• Enjoying the leftover's of my Mother-in-Love's great cooking
• Seeing lots more family: Aunt Judy and some cousins!
• Spending the whole day with my hubby and kids
• Getting to spend the afternoon with Great Grandma at the hospital
• Getting to do my morning run around the lake

November 24:

• Seeing Uncle Marlin, for whom we'd been praying (you can pray too!) about health concerns.
• Lunch with Great Grandma at the hospital, as well as with Aunt Mary
• Received word that my great aunt, Elsie Lee, had graduated to Glory. Bittersweet moments.
• Some family pictures, with a few goofy poses
• A safe drive home and a spectacular sunset!

November 25:

• An 80th birthday celebration with the church, LOTS of good food!
• At the nursing home, a 100th birthday party for my grandma's neighbor.
• Spending the afternoon at the Heritage Chapel with Grandma Bettie

November 26:

• The kids had dentist appointments: I'm so thankful for dental insurance!
• In anticipation of seeing the dentist, and because of the x-rays showing no roots, they lost a record 3 Leggott teeth that day, all pulled themselves! (Tyler lost 2, Emma lost 1)
• Going for my morning run, even though I didn't feel like it. Never felt like quitting so badly. But I didn't!

November 27:

• Being able to go to an appointment with my grandma, while Ben kept the kids.
• Caramel Cappuccino
• Grace, even with a sick boy
• Being able to make something beautiful with my sewing machine
• Arranging flowers for Aunt Elsie Lee's funeral, even though the sick ones means I can't go.

November 28:

• A friend had her baby!
• Stay home snuggles with the sick boy
• Pedialyte
• Grace from church friends, as they hold together the details at AWANA

November 29th:

• Boy seemingly feeling better
• Morning run, weighed in *down* 6 lbs!
• Getting to puppy-sit.
• Made some candy wreaths for the Farmer's Market

November 30th

• Hubby gets to go goose hunting, and got one!
• Farm fresh eggs for breakfast each morning.
• Kids who are getting better and more independent with their chores

...and of course, Wyatt is thankful it is DECEMBER tomorrow! He is SOOOO looking forward to Christmas. All of the other kids have really adopted the worldview of Christmas being the time for giving, for blessing, for worship. Wyatt is enamored with Santa, getting, me, me, me... This will be the year to bring him along in learning. As it is with ABC's and counting to 100, so it will be with selfless thinking, wonder and worship... Praising God for the opportunity to disciple my children! Praying for Grace...

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Linked with:

Meal Planning 101

Meal Planning 101... or at least my take on it.

I was recently visiting one of my favorite blog posts over at Crockpot365: a year of slow cooking: Slow Cooking During a Recession. In this post she lists the "top 10 ways that you can save money right this minute by slow cooking." The first 4 are things I TOTALLY swear by:

"1) Plan your meals. Seriously. 
2) Use dried beans. They are filling, nutritious, freeze well, and are CHEAP.  
3) Make your own yogurt. Yup, in the slow cooker. It totally works. 
4) Make your own granola. Granola is wickedly expensive, and can be laden with preservatives and artificial sweeteners. "

Now, go over there and read the rest of the post... go on. Now. I'll wait.


Are you back? Good.

I had been planning blog posts on all 4 of these things, so be watching upcoming posts for recipes for home-made yogurt, granola, and a dry bean tutorial.... [edit, those are up, see the links on the list items above.] But today I was planning to post about how we do meal planning at our house, and her old top ten just fit in so well with that. :)

Chicken & Dumplings

I have been meal planning for over a year now, and I will tell you, it has saved me almost 40% on my grocery bill, if not more. I currently spend $100 a week on groceries for our family of 6, which works out to about 80 cents per plate, assuming 3 meals a day. If any of you have a 10 year old son like mine, you know three meals a day is underestimated. :) Here's one of my favorite frugal blogs to read about how to stream-line your grocery budget. Please follow her blog, you'll be glad you did.

We get paid twice a month, so I do my meal planning in two-week chunks, and then I do all the shopping for those meals (since most things have at least a two week shelf life) in one day, and then I do not go back to the store for two weeks. This not only saves me on gas, and keeps me from extra impulse purchases on subsequent shopping trips, but it REALLY saves me on sanity. Planning the meals and planning the shopping goes hand-in-hand.

Preparing to shop, I first take stock of what I have, and make a list. I check the freezer for meat that needs used, or can be used to base a few meals. For example: there's a ham in there, which can be my plan for Sunday dinner, and then the leftovers will be the base for Tuesday's cubed ham and cheesy potatoes... I make sure my pantry staples have enough to go for two more weeks. If there's a lot of baking to do, I may even plan to add more to the supply. (This includes checking the shampoo, toilet paper, dishwasher soap, etc to make sure there's at least enough to make it to the next shopping trip). I also check on my dry food storage, such as dry beans, rice, coffee, pancake mix, etc.

After I know what I have, I begin my list of meals I can make, first: listing the meals I can make with what's on hand:

Ham and broccoli, with dinner rolls
cubed ham and potato casserole
etc...

Then I see what is on sale in the local grocery ads. As a rule, I try and plan my grocery spending around my locally owned grocer's specials. I live in a small rural Nebraska community, so all of the grocery stores, including Walmart, are in a 2 mile vicinity. So it is no sweat to hit both local stores and one big-box store in one shopping trip. And even if that was hard to do, it's only once every two weeks, right? What I've found is that by keeping track of prices I've noticed that the big box store is not always the cheapest, and the quality of my local butcher's meat is well worth any difference. Also, if you hit the local places first, then you can get anything that was on sale and sold out at the small stores while you're at Walmart for your last stop, since they do price match, so take the ads with you. :)

I plan the remaining meals I need to make my list by utilizing the best sales: Since it's nearly March, cabbage and corned beef brisket will likely be on sale, so this would be a good time to include cabbage burgers in the meal plan, and maybe a beef brisket, if I knew a good way to prepare one....

My goal is to list 14 main dish meals, with one third being "Meat and Potato" style and the remaining two-thirds being casseroles and soups. It usually adds up to 5 meat and starch meals, 6 casseroles, and 3 soups. I have found my kids will eat a good hearty soup if they help me cook it (so there's no mystery), and if they don't have soup every day. Soup is SUPER economical. :) Husbands tend to revolt if fed too many casseroles as well. Give the guy a steak or hamburger night. I have yet to meet a guy who didn't LOVE meatloaf.

Here's a list of my meal plan from January:

Pizza (home-made)
Beef Chili
Chicken & Dumplings (or Chicken noodle soup)
Shepherd's Pie
Taco Salad
Ham and baked potatoes
Cheesy Ham & potatoes with broccoli
Roast Chicken and veggies
White Chicken Chili
Cabbage Burgers
Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes
Spaghetti
Enchilada Casserole
Chicken Alfredo w/Broccoli

 Even if your list looks nearly the same every two weeks, it's ok! Most families don't get tired of a meal they only see twice in a month. It is also perfectly acceptable to have one day marked "leftovers" if your family will eat them. If not, re-invent them. (see #8 on the fore-mentioned top-ten list; you did go read the whole thing, didn't you?)

After making a list of favorite family meals I insert them onto a blank printed calender. This can be made with a ruler and scrap paper, or you can print one you find online, just use google images and search for the month/year you want. I make sure to pencil in any major family activities that will affect meal-times or my preparation time. Like Farmer's Market Saturdays are days I plan on pulling something simple from the freezer, or having something in the crock-pot, so I'm not having to cook after a long busy farmer's market.

Once the calendar is complete, I use it to make the rest of my grocery list, adding in items for lunches and breakfasts as well. Be sure to pick up lots of fresh/seasonal fruit and veggies to fill it all in. Then I post the calender on the fridge and use it to keep track of what to pull out to thaw a day early. Since everything has to last 2 weeks, I put most things in the freezer until the day before they are dinner, including shredded cheese, loaves of bread, and all the meats. I also don't stick to my plan rigidly, sometimes the meal I'd planned is not a good fit for the day. In that case I make something from a different day. Just be sure to be crossing things off as you make them, so you know the ingredients are gone.

Happy Cooking!

(PS: please post a comment telling me how you plan meals at your house! I'd love tips and tricks from my friends!)
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And this month I will be joining Lindsay's Challenge to plan healthier meals! Will you join us? Click through to comment and leave your link!