Toy Farm

This post may seem a bit elementary. Well, maybe it is. 

These pictures were taken some time ago. I just love to see the creativity of the boys. This was Melvin or Christopher's doings. They have a play barn that opens up to make a wonderful "farm". The front wall folds out and has stalls on one side. The front half of the roof folds up. Fences stored within can be brought out and used to make a "pasture".

They've taped a bottle on one end for some kind of feed dispenser.

A green plastic hay bale resides in the loft

Tractor and wagon out in the back field

A pile of logs ready to be cut into firewood (twigs)

The trophy of the hunt. See the bedding in the stall? (Sawdust)

The animals seem to have disappeared at this point in time. They have cows, calves, sheep, horses and other smaller creatures that take up residence here. Maybe the dead deer scared them all off.

The boys' grandmother gave the farm to them some years ago and it gets a lot of use. 

What do your boys enjoy?

What do YOU do with spare time?

Maybe you're like me and have no "spare" time.

Culture Fair

This post has been in the making for a long time. Ancient "news".

The three youngest boys joined our church school and other homeschoolers for a culture fair on January 27, 2017. We got the details for the fair about 4 weeks before it was to be. Talk about panic! Two of those weeks were already carved out to work at my parents' house.

How was I going to help Melvin (who is dyslexic) and Christopher to get their reports done? Part of the requirement was a 600 -700 word report from both of them. That meant a lot of my time helping with a writing project bigger than anything they had yet accomplished and not enough of my time to do it.

The deadline for the report was a week before the fair. Most of my time had been spent helping Melvin by reading to him and writing down his thoughts and paraphrases. By Thursday morning Christopher had about 200 words done. As I set out to see how I could help him, I realized he had been copying some of it from the encyclopedia. I said, "Oh, you can't do that!" He burst into inconsolable sobs and declared he didn't want anything to do with the fair.

After talking about how he might still accomplish the task using speech to text accommodations we got him happily on his way again, telling the computer all about Germany. He really waxed eloquent on the history.

Christoper chose Germany because his aunt comes from there.

After contacting the teacher and realizing he didn't even need to see the reports (they would take points off toward the prize if it wasn't finished) I relaxed. Mostly. 

Pakistan, Melvin's country of choice was so foreign to me that I didn't know where to begin to find clothing or how to make the food.

Matthew chose Switzerland and truffles were his "food" choice. How hard is that? Christopher chose sour kraut and sausage. Another easy one. 

Matthew chose Switzerland because he has roots there.
Take notice of the upright display. He built that and it swivels, showing info on both sides.

Pakistan? Oh, what do they eat? Google just about had my mind made up on a chicken dish.Then my memory was jolted- we knew someone who had married a Pakistani. She had died but surely the family could tell me something. And indeed! I called Reuben Yoder and spoke with him awhile. He was full of such helpful advice. Rice and Dahl was a common food in Pakistan he said.

Google to my rescue again, I found an Easy Peasy recipe for rice and dahl.

Reuben told me how I might make clothing so Google helped me there again, once I knew what their clothes were called. I found tutorials for making the Salwar, Kameez and turban.

Melvin chose Pakistan because his finger landed there when he spun the map!

Everything turned out great and we had a fun evening. I will include pictures from all the students. I've blurred the faces of all children but mine for privacy reasons. I missed one girl who had Chile.

Buddhism

Japanese 

A bit of the Japan display & part of the flag of Malaysia

Stephen (in the background) was photographer for the evening

English

Italian

Egyptian

Netherlands (Dutch)

French

Chinese

Iraqi (because his brother is a missionary there)

Mexican

Polish

Chechens

Malaysian

Mr Vernon (right) and Miss Rose (back left) are the brother/sister teacher team at school

Don't you think the children (and their moms & teachers) did just a totally amazing job?

Which is your favorite? (We were supposed to vote.)

Do you realize how much you learn when you have a project like this to do?

Laundry Hacks

Are you trying to cut back on your budget? Do you cringe when you use heavily scented chemical soaps to clean your family's dirty laundry?

You could go to the river and pound your clothes on the rocks, right? But maybe a river isn't nearby. Or maybe it's frozen. Mostly, you probably don't really want to do that. It isn't practical in USA culture.

Okay, here's a better plan. Make your own laundry soap for about $2 using this recipe.

1 bar of Fels Naptha soap

1 cup washing soda

1 cup Borax

5 gallon bucket
(I can find all these soaps at Wal-Mart.)

Shred the bar of soap. Pour 4 cups of hot tap water into a kettle. Add the shredded soap. Heat over medium heat, stirring all the while until the soap is dissolved. Then stir a bit longer to make sure it's dissolved entirely. Remove from the heat.

Fill a five gallon bucket with cold tap water. Add the soap mixture, washing soda and Borax. Stir until powders are dissolved. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot tap water. (I use all cold water because my hot tap water stinks like rotten eggs. But the recipe I followed said to use hot water, so whatever works for you should be okay.)

(The first recipe I linked is just that- the recipe. The second link takes you to a detailed step-by-step-with-pictures process. I also don't use the exact same recipe, as you may notice.)

Let this set overnight. It will turn into a gel. In the morning you can stir it to turn it back to liquid or get in with your hands and squeeze it. At this point it is ready to use. Or you can dilute it further. Fill an empty laundry soap jug halfway with water and fill it the rest of the way with the soap mixture. I use it full strength and it does a good job. It is still way more economical than other laundry soaps (5 gallons for $2!). Just use the regular amount you would use of any liquid laundry soap.

Add peroxide to your load if it needs "bleaching" (not whitening). It will do the job, without killing all good microorganisms. Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load.

For laundry that needs deodorizing, add white vinegar to the wash cycle. Use about a cup per load. Vinegar also helps to remove grass stains on jeans. Just start a load like normal but let the laundry soak about a half hour in the washer between the wash and spin cycles.

These things have worked for me and make me feel a lot better about the things my family wears. Not so many chemicals. For better health.

Another trick that has helped me, is to wash with cold water. You can wash anything together in the same load when using cold water. Okay. Don't put the dirty jeans in with good dress clothes. But darks and lights, polos and jeans, dresses and towels... it works! And it eliminates the sorting, the piles all over the house. Just basically empty the hamper into the washer. It makes it simple for children to do their own laundry this way.

Cold water, for me, means less stains on the laundry too. There is something about the metals/minerals in our water that will put spots on the clothes if using hot water. Iron Out will take the spots out but who wants to mess with yet another step?

And ironing. Who wants to iron clothes? Not me. Put those dress shirts, dresses, dress pants, etc in the dryer for a few (5-10) minutes. Or use your dryer's "tumble press" setting. Then immediately put them on clothes hangers, shaking out the wrinkles. Hang them on the shower curtain rod, the laundry line, the door frame, a tree branch, the garage door slide- wherever it works. Let them dry there and see if you like the results. I hang pants over the backs of the dining room chairs (be careful you don't get stain on your clothing and/or take the varnish off your chairs) or pinned by the waistband to the laundry line. (I don't like the marks clothespins make on the legs.)

Keep a bottle of cheap dish detergent close by and add a squirt to the random grease spot on your clothes. My dresses get splattered with grease sometimes when I'm cooking (because I rarely wear an apron!).

Lastly, fold the laundry immediately when you take it from the dryer and put it away. It takes no more than five minutes and it's off your mind. Donna Goff has taught me this and also taught me to enlist the help of the children in doing so. I'm still learning to be prompt about it. Sometimes I set it aside thinking I'll do it with the next load. Well, guess what? The more it piles up, the less I feel like doing it.

Put a load in the washer as soon as you dress in the morning for a good start on your day.

Happy laundering!

Name the Gifts

Be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp has confirmed my earlier notions that we must live a joyful life. The author was challenged by a friend to record one thousand things she loved. She took up this challenge to name one thousand blessings. Literally. Write it down.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

She had been on a journey to find the mystery to the full life. Her journey led her to believe that thankfulness is how the child of God finds fulfillment in life. Especially in naming His gifts. If a thing is unnamed, it remains in the shadows. Do you feel thankful for something you haven’t named?

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1Thessalonians 5:18

 As she describes her discoveries, it resonates with me. Yes, how many times are we instructed in the Word to be thankful? How many times do we see successful people who are thankful? Not successful as the world would term success, but happy, fulfilled people.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10

What did Daniel give God thanks for? Three times a day. Do we please our Father by naming His gifts to us in thankfulness? Does He feel our love for all the good things He’s blessed us with? We will feel His love begin to fill our lives as we name His gifts.

For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  1 Timothy 4:4

The prayer before the meal. Is it one of thanksgiving? Or is it a ritual?

And he took the cup, and gave thanks…. Luke 22:17

And he took bread, and gave thanks… Luke 22:19

And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks… Matthew 15:36

In giving thanks, things are multiplied. We are filled. We see more. And more.

You must search, to be able to name. One thousand gifts? Where will you find them?

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in they presence. Psalm 10:13

Name the gifts and it will change you. Do not stop when you reach one thousand. That was only to get you in the habit of looking amongst all of life, good and bad, to find what your Lover wants you to receive today.

Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. Ephesians 5:25

From the book, "If we are dying of thirst, passively reading books about water quenches little; the only way to quench the parched mouth is to close the book and dip the hand into water and bring it to the lips. If we thirst, we'll have to drink." 

And if we are going to find fulfillment in life, we must begin to name.The gifts.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalm 30:12

If you want to read One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are you can find it on Amazon or CBD.

Will you join me in a race to name a thousand gifts?

What gift do you behold at this moment?

Disclaimer: I receive no compensation for this book review or from any links in this post.

Life in May

 My parents, sister Verina, uncle Lloyd & I went to Alabama for my uncle Elvin Yoder's funeral. It was good to see family again. Because of the lack of ladies in our house, I almost never leave. It is rather disastrous when I do go. Lots of things piled up for when I come back.

 There was lots of road to travel.

We were impressed with the handmade furniture where we stayed overnight with the Lowell Brennemen family. They have talented sons.

 Must have been a space museum here. ???

  Melvin and I cleaned the pantry. He had an elevated position.

Much time was spent preparing for the spring school concert. I shot a few pictures during the final awesome song, God is an Awesome God. The lights were dim and they had a slideshow going behind them of colorful and artistic nebulae.

L-R Matthew, Austin, Stephen, Christopher, Melvin (circled)

 So many flowers blooming now. I was intrigued with this one RED peony.

 This sight thrills my heart. Our dyslexic son buried in a book! 

A normal sight for the one below.

How has your May been?

What is planned for the rest of the month?