Angels Among Us

This morning, I received the most unexpected act of kindness. In today's mail was a generous helping hand. It was sent anonymously and really appreciated. It was a relief to be able to meet some of my families needs today without worry. Thank you to to the person(s) who thought of my growing family.
Truly overwhelming. May you be blessed a thousand times over.

The latter part of the day could have benefited from a weather and garden angel. The weather here was 90 degrees F with 25 mile an hour wind gusts and a 50% chance of rain. Because of the high winds, we lost all but two of the vegetable crops that we planted in the peat pots less than a week ago. All the "lasagna" greenhouses were blown off our balcony and the peat pots were ripped and soil, gravel and pans were scattered all over the street and sidewalk. The only crops we still have are the radishes and strawberries. Such a defeating feeling but I know that the it will pass and we will try again.

There are times that we all just want to stay in bed and hide under the covers because life seems a tad too tough to bear. However, it is important to remember to stay positive, surround yourself with a healthy support system and regroup from time to time because.............
the Universe will always provide.

Walk Total

This past Saturday, the children and I participated in a community event to end violence. The 5K walk consisted of 26 teams (including us, the Home Spun Scholars) and 398 walkers total (not including the animals). The grand total raised was $30,001!!!

Turning Points Network is a community resource agency that strives to end all forms of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking. TPN provides free, confidential assistance and information to survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, stalking and harassment. Those services include a 24-hour crisis support hot line, counseling, help with obtaining medical and legal services, an emergency shelter and "safe homes." The group also runs a Child Advocacy Program that assists and educates children who have been affected by domestic violence.

The children and I have been participating in this event since it began in 2006. This year we raised $115.00. Thanks to everyone who sponsored us. We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. Looking forward to next years walk and hope that we can raise more money.

Incentives

My husband and I receive a weekly paycheck for a job well done. Completing high school or college will earn you a diploma. Some children even get paid a weekly allowance to do chores.
While in our home it is not acceptable practice to pay children to be contributing members of the household, I do employ a reward system for completing school work.

Each child has their own color coded roll of raffle tickets. If they are able to complete all their assignments, they earn a ticket for that day. At the end of the week, the tickets can be used to "purchase" items from the "canteen". Each item in the canteen (18 gallon plastic tote) is labeled with a ticket value.
The children are in charge of managing their tickets.
The decide if they want to save or spend and how.
Tickets also hold value for TV and computer time.

Computer use as a reward happens only on the weekends. The established time limit is one hour on Saturdays and Sundays and NO internet. Each ticket is worth 15 minutes.

Ticket value for TV viewing is the same and is limited to 90 minutes on the weekends.

This system works well for us. It teaches about consequences, management and boundaries.

Earth Day 2009

Today in celebration of Earth Day 2009, my children and I planted vegetables.

Mom planted Tomatoes (Red Lightning Hybrid)
13 yr old son planted Scallions (White Lisbon Bunching)
10 yr old daughter planted Radishes (Cherry Belle)
5 yr old son planted Carrots (Nantes Half Long)
2 yr old son planted Peppers (Kaleidoscope Mix)

All of us will be keeping an observation journal and taking photos of the progress.

Space is a limitation of ours so we created "greenhouses" using lasagna pans! We re-use disposable lasagna pans with the clear lids. Each different vegetable is sowed in peat pots and housed in its own pan. Each pan measures 13.38" L x 9.63" W x 2.88" D. Once the vegetables begin to sprout, they are moved to bigger terra cotta pots. This year, the tomatoes will be put into Topsy Turvy hanging planters.

Now since March, I have been growing 3 strawberry plants for the 1st time. Two of them are still looking promising. I am eagerly waiting for the weather to turn warmer so I can put them outside so the bees can do their pollinating.

While the fruits and vegetables are growing, I will be reading up on canning and preserving. We are going to be a family of 7 soon and food prices aren't going down.

We also made better sense of our recycling. Recycling cans, glass and plastic gives us a little extra pocket money. This year, our recycling money will hopefully be used to buy a Rosetta Stone language program.

Clothing and shoes are also recycled. With baby #5 on the way, I have been swapping clothing in and out of boxes. Someone is always growing out of something. If their is something that the children need and I don't have saved, we take a trip to the thrift store. We usually start in the basement were every item is 5 cents each. Then we work our way up to the main floor and make a bee line to the 25 cent rack. I can't tell you how many winter coats in excellent condition I have purchased that only needed buttons or zippers!!

The one thing that I wish we can do is composting. We just don't live in a place where that is possible.

One day, all our prayers will be answered. I look forward to the day that we have a space big enough to live comfortably off the land.

Why Mom Does the Teaching

A couple of days ago, my 5 year old humorously reminded me why I do the majority of the teaching and not daddy.

Out of no where, he began to sing "Oh Suzanna!". As I listened, it sounded like the song I use to sing as a child, but something was off. So I asked him to sing it again.

Yep, just as I thought. According to my son, the U.S. has fifty one states. Number 51 is Ala-banjo.

"Oh Suzanna! Oh don't you cry for me. I come from Ala-banjo with a banjo on my knee."

Now I really don't blame my husband for this but I think we should stick with this particular section geography a little bit longer.