The Tea Times is a home eco­nom­ics newslet­ter for moth­ers and daugh­ters. This precious magazine, which will become a keepsake for your family is pro­duced to enhance the rela­tion­ships with your daugh­ters. It is meant to be read/done together.

Fea­tures include:

• Encour­age­ment in keep­ing your home
• Learn­ing a specific home­mak­ing skill with your daugh­ter
• Grow­ing a Godly young lady
• Tea time recipes for fel­low­ship and more.

This is a full-color, print magazine, with color photo instruction.

This Volume Includes:

Feb­ru­ary Issue:

• Teach­ing Girls to Trust God’s Word
• Embroi­dery Part I
• The Kitchen Cor­ner: Tech­nique – Jelly Roll
• Tools & Sta­ples – Mea­sur­ing, Flour & Rais­ing Agents
• The Tea Table – Recipes.

April Issue:

• Teach­ing Girls Courage
• Embroi­dery Template Part II
• The Kitchen Cor­ner: Tech­nique – Muf­fin Mak­ing, Veg­etable Muffins
• Sewing Buttonholes
• Tools & Sta­ples – Using Fats & Sugar
• The Tea Table – Recipes

June Issue:

• Teaching Girls Provision
• Kitchen Corner: Growing Herbs – A Kitchen Garden, Making Spice Blends; Cooking Dry! Beans and Other Legumes
• Easy Bed Coverings on a Budget
• Our Sewing Table – Sewing Hems
• The Tea Table – Recipes.

You get all three of these for $12.00!! – Delivery late May, Order at Joyous Home

For some more information on online courses, you can check out: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/

Online education has been growing and expanding in the academic world for many years now. With an ever climbing demand for affordable and accessible education, it’s no wonder online classes and programs have become so popular in the last decade or so. Today, many people outside of the “typical” online student profile are seeking academic guidance from online institutions. Homeschooling is one area of education that online learning and online courses can really benefit. While the online classroom can be of significant benefit to students in the home classroom, it can also be extremely useful for home educators. The following aspects of online education can offer significant guidance and help to homeschool teachers.

Supplement Your Teaching Material

When parents or homeschool teachers take online courses on the subjects that they are teaching, they can gain significant knowledge and skill into the academic subject at hand. Obviously, the best teachers are the ones who are passionate and knowledgeable about their subject. As a home school teacher, it can be extremely difficult to dedicate yourself to every subject. However, online courses can help parents and teachers supplement their own knowledge on the subjects they are teaching without dedicating significant time, money, etc. to the process. Online classes can help home teachers understand the topics they are discussing in more depth and with a wider perspective.

Develop Stronger Teaching Skills

Parents and educators can take online classes in education and teaching to perfect and grow their teaching skills. Every class on K-12 education will offer new insights into teaching and teaching strategies that can be useful within any type of classroom. Finding new ways to approach subjects and topics within the classroom is always useful for an educator. Online courses in education can be great refreshers for home teachers and wonderful ways to stay in tune with new teaching methods and trends.

Understand Childhood Development

Parent educators may also benefit from online courses concerning human development, child psychology, and childhood development. Understanding the scientific and natural processes that your child’s brain and body are going through can help you become a better and more aware teacher. Use classes on childhood development to gain a deeper understanding of how a child learns and thinks. Understanding the stages of development can help you to better respond to those stages and your child’s needs during those periods.

Encourage an Environment of Lifelong Learning

Online education is a wonderful tool for instilling the priority of lifelong learning in young students. If students see that their parent, teacher, and mentor are dedicated to education and academia, they too will appreciate the concept of education and learning as a lifetime pursuit. Home parents can take classes on subjects that pertain to their teaching material or teaching in general or they can explore new topics of interest. Bringing constant education and intellectual pursuits directly into the home is a wonderful way to produce an atmosphere of learning and life to your family.

Students Can Prepare for College

Of course, online courses can act as a wonderful resource for homeschool high school students as well homeschool teachers. Many community colleges and universities offer dual credit programs that can help high school students gain college credit (and college experience) before they actually earn a high school diploma. Dual credit courses provide students with an opportunity to simultaneously earn college credit and high school credit when completing the material for a single course. This is a wonderful way for high school students and college hopefuls to gain insight into college curriculum and make a smoother transition into the collegiate world. Furthermore, because dual credit students are earning college credits in high school they have a greater likelihood of completely college successfully. While these classes can, no doubt, be more challenging and rigorous than a traditional high school course, students stand to gain quite a bit from them.

This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

For more information on online courses, kindly see: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com

Imagine my delight when the What To Expect When You’re Expecting folks contacted me about reviewing their newly revised edition!  I was glad to see that all of my favorite features from the older version were still intact.

Each month the book covers:

• Your baby this month – these are broken down by weeks now
• It also includes links to their website where you can see even more relevant information about baby.
• What you may be feeling- physically and emotionally
• A look inside- a nice pic of what is happening in the uterus
• What you can expect at this month’s check-up
• My very favorite section- What you may be wondering about

The What to Expect The First Year book  is a month-by-month guide to clearly explain everthing from first moments with the baby to first steps.  There are many special sections to cover topics like:

• Comforting crying
• Helping baby sleep through the night
• A detailed baby care primer with sections on first aid, safety and keeping the baby healthy.

 

 

The What to Expect the Second Year book has one section that covers the timetable for expected milestones, but the majority of the book is set up in a topical manner with topics such as:

• Your Toddler head to toe
• Feeding
• Sleeping
• Behavior problems
• Traveling
• Talking
• Safety
• Health
• Making friends

Since many of these issues will vary in scope for each child they are included in sections together, rather than divided out by months.  I thought this was great since my won experience with toddlers is that there is a wide variety of normal and grouping these by topic rather than age made so much sense.

Since May is for Mother’s Day, I thought this would be a perfect giveaway for our blog!  The What to Expect people are kindly giving us TWO copies of EACH book to give away to some very lucky readers.

A well-stocked pantry can save many hours of driving to the store to get a few ingredients needed to complete a meal.  With gas prices being crazy high, saving a few trips a month can save a lot! It can also help add extra foods to a meal to make it larger in the case of unexpected guests. Finally, a well-stocked pantry can keep away the temptation to buy food from a restaurant when dinner is rushed.  A good homemaker will keep the pantry stocked with a few meals that can be assembled quickly.

Beginner:

Look through your kitchen cabinets or pantry and see what kinds of things your family keeps on hand.  It is very likely you will find things like: flour, sugar, coffee, tea.  You may also see things like beans, rice, canned tomatoes, cans of soup.

Intermediate:

Look through your pantry and plan three meals that can feed your family using only the ingredients you have in the kitchen today. If you do not have the ingredients to make three meals, make a list of the basics you need to purchase to be able to do so.

Here are out three meals:

1.  Spaghetti.  I keep a few jars of pre-made sauce (homemade or store bought are fine), dried pasta noodles, and some canned fruits and veggies.  I also keep meatballs in my freezer which can easily be added to the sauce to add protein.

2.  Cream of chicken or mushroom soup, canned chicken (not my favorite, but it works in a real pinch), and egg noodles.  I boil the noodles and heat the creamed soup and chicken together. Then I drain the noodles and add the sauce/meat.  If I have time, I prefer to use ground beef.  You can make it ahead and freeze it to add quickly to a recipe later. You can also use leftover chicken or beef from a previous meal.

3.  Burrito wraps, canned re-fried or black beans, rice and salsa. If you have room, adding some tortilla chips are nice.  Cheese is great to keep in the fridge as well.

Advanced:

Make a master list for your family’s pantry that you can use to hang inside and mark when things are low.  Once you have made a draft of the list, keep adding things to it that come to mind.  There are many websites with checklists you can use to glean ideas.  Make a brief list of meals you can make from your pantry. Make this list neat enough to post inside your recipe binder or inside the pantry door.

Second, we had a FULL freezer.  We had several folks give us venison and that, combined with our beef order and bread in the freezer, we simply did not have space for freezer meals.

This week, after being finished with the bulk of our convention travelling, I decided it was time to get some meals in the freezer, so I called my sweet daughter, Christina and asked her if she would like to do a freezer cooking day with me.

So, we shopped Friday and cooked Saturday.  I chose that day so that Duncan would be home to help with the boys and I could be busy in the kitchen without worrying about missing school time with the children.

Here is what we made:

Beef Chimichangas-  81 servings

Meatloaves – 6 meals

Mexi-chicken – 4 Meals

Turkey Pot Pies- 9 pies.  6 were deep dish for us, 3 were regular for Christina and her husband.

Maui Chicken- we made 24 servings but we ate  6 that night for dinner because we just could not help it!

3 Meals of Taco Meat (Ground Venison, refried beans and taco seasoning)

Cheesy Chicken Bundles – 24 servings

Two days prior to cooking day I baked a turkey.  I had one turkey dinner then stored the rest for cooking day. On Saturday morning, I got up early to tape my recipes to the fronts of the cabinets and make my list for my “order of operations” to make sure I did not forget anything.

I started the day by chopping all the onions needed using my alligator chopper- my new favorite kitchen gadget! Then, I went ahead and assembled all the meatloaves, then packaged and labeled them.

Next, I started the Mexi-chicken (we substituted chopped turkey). Christina arrived at took over the preparations for this meal, so I went on to working on the pot pies.  I realized I had purchased the wrong size pie shells- I use deep dish ones for our family and had accidently purchased the shallow ones.  I went ahead and measured out the filling for the pie shells into ziplock bags and when my dear husband went out on an errand, he picked up the correct pie shells for me.  When he got back with them, I just dumped the ingredients in the shell and wrapped and labeled it.

Once the mexi-chicken was finished and the pies were as far as I could go, I started browning all the meat for the chimichangas.  Christina used my huge turkey pan and dumped all the other ingredients in there for me to mix the beef.  Once that was finished, I realized I had three pounds of beef thawed that I did not use in that meals, so we browned it and added the refriend beans and taco seasonings and bagged those as well.

Next, I started the Cheesy chicken bundles and Christina and Anne Mary prepared the  Maui Chicken.

Christina was fighting (and losing) the battle with her pregnancy nausea, so some of the time she was waiting it out in the bathroom.  She was forced to wash a lot of dishes since she often arrived back around the end of a meal prep. That worked out well because working in a tidy kitchen is easier than just treading through your mess, so cleaning up after each meal is complete is a huge help.

David came in right at the end of clean-up top make a dozen peanut butter cookies for our dessert last night. He added a “secret ingredient” by putting a Reese’s piece candy on the center of each one.  I was exhausted so Anne Mary helped him with those.

Sarah was sweet enough to do the “final kitchen clean-up” since my own pregnancy fatigue was starting to get the best of me.

We were finished with all the cooking and cleaning by 1:30 in the afternoon.  That was not terribly quick, but considering that we are both pregnant and poor Christina was so sick for much of it, I was very pleased with our results and the amount of food we were able to put away for future meals. I did take a rest on the couch for an hour or so while the boys watched a movie.

Duncan rocks on the grill, so he grilled the delicious dinner for us all to enjoy that evening.

Looking for resources on Freezer Cooking? Here are my favorites:

Don’t Panic- Dinner’s in the Freezer

Don’t Panic- More Dinner’s in the Freezer 

Well, several years later and we eagerly anticipate baby number 6.  My husband and I are excited at the idea of our newest addition. Part of the reason for this excitement is that in our minds, large families have become common.  Many homeschool families are big- some more than double our current size.  The days of 12 and 15 passenger vans frequenting our homes made it not -so- shocking when we bought our own this month. But in the normal public world, I realize our family seems big.  And the fact that we are ALSO expecting our first GRANDBABY this year makes it seem even more strange.

But what God has shown us through this journey is that “large family” is a state of mind.  I though 4 kids was a lot.  I thought 5 was a lot. But the idea of adding number 6?  Well, it just seems natural.  Each child of ours has come with a unique set of things to watch, learn, love and enjoy.  All are unique, but one thing remains constant- Children are a blessing from the Lord.  Each one comes with his or her own set of blessings, and we are thoroughly enjoying them.

There are days that are difficult. There are days we have spent our bedtime talk-time crying or praying or discussing problems, issues, and concerns.  Being a parent is not for wimps!  But- it does not take a supermom to raise a crew- it just takes lots of willingness to bend, to learn, to serve, and to love.  Daily walking with the Lord has become a constant necessity because I sin a lot.  That leads to lots of repenting. I am also growing a lot.  Things that seemed near impossible to me just a few years ago now come quite naturally. And, as I get a little older,  I am finding it takes a little more effort to get to the end of the day -being pregnant certainly takes the wind out of your sails.

I have also given up high heels and quiet dinners (except for our weekly date nights). I quit buying suits ten years ago, and I avoid things that require ironing.  I know this is not true of ALL moms of large families- but it has certainly been some of the things I have done to cope. I make more things from scratch and I have learned to answer all the questions about my choices about our family size (even the blatantly rude questions) with grace. Not everyone has to approve or understand how we view children.

Now I am constantly being asked:  Will this be your last one?  How old are you anyway?  Won’t it be odd to have a grandchild and child the same age? How can you afford such a large family?  Well, here are my answers: We don’t know. 41. Yes, but fun. We afford them the same way we always have: one day at a time. We try to pay cash for everything as we go, and when unexpected expenses occur we get creative, we get to work, and we dig in a little deeper.  The Lord has provided us more than we could expect or imagine in ways we never could have guessed more than 21 years ago when we starting our parenting journey.

And who says we have a large family?  I still feel a little sheepish when I go to the Moms of Many meeting and have one of the smallest families represented there.  A family with 13 children or 19 children or even 8 or 10 children make us feel small.

– 2^nd Corinthians 9:8

She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants.

- Proverbs 31:14-15

“The kitchen is the key to effective home and time management.”

-Deniece Schofield’s: Kitchen Organization Tips and Secrets

“Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.”

– Julia Child

We received a Fun box filled with balloons, popcorn, streamers, the movie, Puss in Boots, and the wii game: Just Dance 3.

Grandma Moore and Christina joined us for the fun!  Christina, Sarah, Anne and David really enjoyed playing Just Dance 3.

Daniel’s favorite part was the balloons.

Everyone enjoyed Puss in Boots!

In addition to our fun we had the pleasure of giving away 5 free Redbox rentals on facebook!

Congratulations to: Valerie, Lauren, Tina, Carla, and Laura! Thanks for being our Facebook Fans!

What a burglar is doing once they are inside your home

Guest Post by Kevin of Simplisafe.

There’s a lot of things that a person can do in 8 minutes. For example, wash the dishes, make a sandwich, check your email, or make a cup of coffee. Eight minutes is all a burglar needs to rob your home. That’s pretty fast considering this is a new environment for him, because all homes are different. Burglars don’t like to hang around inside your house for long. The longer they are inside, the higher the chances they’ll end up on the inside of a jail cell. These tips will slow them down and hopefully get them out of your home with less of your valuables.

Synchronize your watch to “the break-in clock.” By the time you finish reading this article, the burglar has already moved onto the next target.

The Break-in Clock: 1-2 Minutes: Once a burglar has gained access into your home he or she will primarily use the same search pattern, this is if the burglar alarm hasn’t gone off yet. The first stop is directly to the master bedroom. They will look for cash, jewelry, or anything that might be valuable.

People often make the mistake of leaving money or jewelry in the most common areas such as a dresser, under the bed, the closets, or bedside table.

Keeping a safe in your home is probably your best bet to keep all of your cash and jewelry secure. Burglars won’t have enough time to break into the safe, but if it’s not bolted down, chances are the burglar will be taking it with him.

3-4 Minutes: The next room of your home is the bathroom. Burglars will always check your medicine cabinets to see if there is any narcotic prescriptions. Try putting these in a first aid kit tucked under the sink or behind the toilet.

5-6 Minutes: The next stop may be the living room, kitchen or family room, so don’t leave easy-to-sell, high-value, compact items such as laptop computers, iPods or cameras lying around or you can be sure to lose them as well. Interior locks on the doors leading to your study or gaming rooms would frustrate a rushing burglar’s ability to cash in on your electronics.

Valuable personal information is often stored in your personal computers. It’s always safer to have your computer password protected, and ideally only store important files offsite in an online data cloud storage website such as Dropbox. To protect your online passwords, credit card information and more, try 1Password, a password generation and encryption software.

7-8 Minutes: After the burglar has gathered everything he may need, he will usually call a partner to meet him and load up all of your goods into the car or van. Once all of the goods have been loaded, the burglars drive away to their next target. It’s a never ending cycle.

“It usually takes me about 8-12 minutes to get in and out of your home. It’s as easy as that!” boasts burglary professional Pat O.

In closing, there are a lot of things that you can do to avoid a home burglary. A security system is a no- brainer. If that’s not an option, leaving a TV or stereo on during the day usually helps burglars avoid your home. This usually indicates someone is home. Also, most burglars won’t even attempt entry if they know there’s a large dog in the home.

Today, Sarah received a wonderful surprise in the mail!  The wonderful folks at Fresh Produce Clothes sent us a beautiful dress to review.  Sarah was able to choose from among their many beautiful clothing options, and since it is springtime, she chose the following dress from the collection:

Breezy Flower Spotlight Dress –  in the color Cool Breeze.

From 2012-03-14

From 2012-03-14

The dress is very pretty- but just as important to a teenage girl, the dress was super-soft and comfortable.  It is so comfortable and light,  she tried to wear it around the house the rest of the day- but I nixed that.  I told her she had to keep it up for special – at least until after her spring piano recital where this dress will make it’s public debut for Sarah.

I always worry about ordering clothes from websites because sizes are so difficult to predict, but the size guidelines were just right- Sarah received a perfect fit her first try.

Shipping was quick.  It was here before I actually started looking for it- so that was a plus, too!

I would give this company an A+ – the beautiful, comfortable dress arrived quickly and was a perfect fit.  With today’s gorgeous spring weather, this was a real treat for Sarah today!

Are you looking for some new Spring clothing?  Here are some links to some of their best sellers:

Cruise clothing: http://freshproduceclothes.com/fp/cruise-clothing - Hey, if you go on a cruise, will you take me?

Travel fashion: http://freshproduceclothes.com/fp/travel-fashion - lots of choices here, especially if you are going some place warm.

Beach dress: http://freshproduceclothes.com/fp/beach-dress - Effortless beauty for your poolside or beach time this year. Since I will not be going to the beach, perhaps I can just dress like it!

In addition to clothes for ladies, they have beautiful scarves and clothing for little girls and plus sizes.  The same beautiful, soft, easy styles are carried throughout the collection.