Get in my belly! I mean, my freezer.

Two years ago I FINALLY realized that I needed to start canning and freezing some of the food that is grown in our garden.  I'm not sure why it took me so long but I love it! My first year we canned tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa, peaches and applesauce.  This year I just have canned salsa, but plenty of frozen tomatoes, corn, peaches and tomato juice.  In additions to the madness of canning, I decided to make 16 freezer meals in one day.  I was worried it would consume my entire day but it only took two hours of active time.  Here's how my day went:

First, we had a 9 a.m. soccer game so I threw a pork roast in the crock pot and seasoned it with salt, pepper and green chiles.  By the time we got home it was lunch time and the two oldest children had a birthday party to go to at 1.  The baby went down for his nap and I got busy.

Two roasting chickens were purchased for $9 and they were coated with olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.  Both went in the oven at 425 degrees for 30  minutes to brown the skin.  Next, I lowered the heat to 385 and baked for 2 hours.

While those were roasting I started browning two and a half pounds of ground beef.  The other two and  a half pounds were used for meatballs.  I purchased this five pound package for $11.  All of the browned beef had about 1 1/2 cups of salsa, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of cumin and a tablespoon of chili powder added.  This was cut into four portions to be used in chili, tacos, or nachos.  The meatballs were made with about a cup of panko crumbs, half cup of Parmesean cheese, a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and three eggs.  I ended up with around 30 meatballs.

All the meatballs were cooked while the chickens were roasting.  I could only fit in one tray at a time for about 35 minutes each.  While all of this was cooking I shredded the pork roast and split into two different bags.  One had BBQ sauce added for sandwiches and the other had salsa verde added to make pork carnitas.  I then put my feet up for a while and once the chickens were finished I shredded them.  I divided it amongst five freezer bags.  Three were solely the shredded chicken for soup, tacos, chicken salad. The other two were mixed with a concoction of a cup of salsa and half a block of cream cheese.  I heated those two ingredients in a pan and poured it over the shredded chicken.  Those two bags will be used to stuff tortillas for the most AMAZING chicken enchiladas.  (All you do is stuff slightly warmed corn tortillas, roll 'em up and place in a baking pan, top with mild enchilada sauce, sprinkle with Mexican cheese and bake for 25 minutes at 350)

The following day I put a pot roast in the crock pot with 4 cloves of garlic a little water and seasoned with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.  It was later shredded and divided into two freezer bags, one for soup and the other for beef sandwiches.  That's it! These will all make great starter meals for the busy nights during the week this fall for my family of five.  Next, I will work on my vegetarian freezer meals...corn chowder, black bean burgers, veggie fritters!

Why we choose to homeschool

Last spring my husband and I made the decision that we would give homeschooling a try for our daughter who was suppose to be entering kindergarten and our two younger sons.  It was not an easy decision but it made sense for our family.  This is not meant to offend anyone else and their decisions that they make for their family.  I don't claim to be a better parent for homeschooling and I don't think you are any less of a parent for not.  However, I am finding that I'm getting questioned by quite a few people on whether or not she will attend school this coming fall.  The answer is "no." I usually give very vague reasons, not because I don't have specific ones but I'm hesitant to open up about it to people who choose mainstream.  I NEVER want anyone to feel like I'm a superior parent or that I'm judging them for sending their kids to school because I don't (even though I am under a microscope).  Also, whenever I'm asked how homeschooling is going, I tend to keep it short and sweet.  Although once my short and sweet answer has been completed, I'm usually told a very long explanation of how their child(ren) love school and how awesome it is to shoo them off for the day and how much they are learning and how they just love their teacher and have so many friends and so on.  This is all great and I wish nothing but the best for every child, but they don't want to really hear any details of our schooling.  Which is fine, but it also doesn't necessarily mean I want to hear theirs.  Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone, and by no means is this meant to say everyone should do it.  Maybe it will make someone begin to wonder if they can do it, but my sole intention is to shed light on why we decided what we did.  Additionally, all of this questioning just really lit a fire in me to write all the reasons we do what we do.  My reasons were different a year ago than they are now and I expect them to keep evolving.  Let it be known that we may not homeschool FOREVER, but this is why we do NOW:

1. I worked for the first four years of my first child's little life in a job that I didn't like.  I missed A LOT and now I have the opportunity to stay home and they are only mine for a short period of time.  Selfish? Maybe, but I like being around them.
2. My child wants to stay home. She really does not like the idea of going to school at this point. My children are friends and have a desire to be around each other.  Yes, they fight but it's very minimal.
3. No limitations or rules.
4. We believe in our children's creativity more than anyone else ever will. I want to be able to provide the outlets needed for them to build on it.
5. I love my children more than anyone else. They will receive the best love and encouragement right here in our home.
6. If they want to learn about dinosaurs, we learn about dinosaurs. Their interests determine our lessons.
7. Letting them follow their own sleep schedule.  Sleeping in so I can get things done and staying up late to look at the stars or hang out with dad longer.
8. Learning through lots of play.
9. We can take a day(s) off whenever we want.
10. I get to witness the first time they read, write and so much more!
11. No unhealthy competition between other kids or parents.
12. Finding a learning lesson in nearly everything.  Every opportunity there is to add or count or problem solve, we usually take advantage.
13. They get more of a say in their education. I never really enjoyed books I was forced to read.
14. Open-ended crafts are SO much more fun.
15. We go places when everyone else is at school and work.
16. Kids can make their own lunch.
17. We don't have to scurry out the door for anything.
18. Going outside whenever we feel like it.
19. We don't have to fight about homework or what they can or can't wear.
20. No stressful tests to worry about.
21. They get to hang on to their innocence a little bit longer...I hope. :)
22. They are able to to socialize with all types and ages of people.
23. The educator to student ratio is ideal.
24. I don't have to beg to hear about how their day was.
25. No worries on who is affecting their self-image.
26. Peace of mind that they are safe from a lot of things.
27. I have no teachers to blame for how their education turns out.
28. Freedom to go where we want, when we want. 
29. We don't have to be confined to a routine.
30. They won't be exposed to many things that I think can wait.  Commercialism, bad attitudes, bullying.

Often times people assume that you must have to be wealthy to homeschool. That is not the case.  I was laid off a little over two years ago from a job that I was earning over $50,000 a year. Although I received unemployment benefits for the first year we are now living off of my husband's teacher salary (yes, he's a teacher). I also work about 16 hours a week to add a little more to our finances. We may not buy the fancy boxed curriculum but we go to the library and the internet provides so many free resources. Believe me, homeschooling can be done on a budget and a good attitude.

My children are waging war against me!

Oh man! These last couple weeks have been rough.  My husband was on his spring break and within a day our children started puking, our dryer broke and my children decided it was a great opportunity to take advantage of us.  It felt like it was harder to stay at home with them while my husband was here. All in the blink of an eye I could feel like I was on the edge of having a panic attack, suffering from multiple personality disorder and a migraine. This is NOT normal for me! My neck hurt most of the week, my body sort of ached and I was not motivated to do a damn thing around our home.  "What a waste of a spring break" was the thought that kept reeling through my mind and that made it all worse.

As we inched towards my husband going back to work I thought everything would ease back to normalcy.  We would continue with homeschooling, get our house pieced back together and the children would be happy and mostly corridgeable. (Did I mention my newly 6 year old daughter had TWO birthday parties over the weekend?! Oy!)  On top of all their craziness, we just recently listed our home for sale and are in the process of making some big dreams come true.  (I'll post about that later)  The craziness did not end and my house is still a disaster.  My children want to fight each other, call each other ridiculous names, and not share anything. How again does modeling behavior work? Because my husband and I don't have these issues. :)

This may truly be a case of Spring Fever, but I'm becoming a very irritable mother. I broke the rules and yelled at my daughter this morning. After she ran upstairs, I felt like curling up and crying but I quickly ran after her and profusely apologized.  She did not deserve it and then we sat down and read about 10 books and decompressed. Oh wait, then the baby started crying...

Your perspective is your reality

Often we worry about what others think of us. How often though would their opinions really affect the way we live our lives? Hopefully not too much! Yes, people coming in and out of our lives act as teachers. Their lessons can come to us in a positive or negative fashion, but either way they leave some sort of impact whether you are reminded of it every day or never think twice about them.

I have struggled with how others perceive me for most of my life. I hate feeling judged. It's imaginable that most people do. Whether or not people like what I have to say, I'm very honest. The problem is that I'm also sometimes a little too blunt. Working on that, thanks to my husband. It's actually been a work in progress for the last seven years of our marriage. Luckily he is patient.

Is honesty the best policy if you don't use the best words or tone? I would like to think yes. I'm completely turned off by someone who lies or deceives me. Yesterday morning in the shower (this is where I put on my thinking cap) I decided that honesty, no matter it's context, always has the upper hand in a situation. I will continue to be upfront, honest and may sparingly sugar coat so that I don't come off as an ice-cold bitch.  I told my husband after my shower aha! moment that even though people may not like what I have to say, they will know that I'm speaking, feeling and projecting my honesty. THAT will resonate. They will feel it and remember it. At first, it may be unappealing but so are lies. That bad taste from a lie sticks around for a long time. The bitterness that may come with an honest approach fades quickly and people are more likely to appreciate it later.

Fearing what others think of us is a huge waste of time. I saw this picture today...what a great reminder of my thoughts from yesterday.

And of course Dr. Suess always worded things quite well. This was actually my mantra last month.

Lighting My Fire

Despite my last post, there are a LOT of things I want to accomplish in my next year. And, I figure if I write them down then I will hold myself more accountable for them. So here goes...

In 2013 I want to WILL:

• Plant a better garden. Each year our garden grows in size, but the yield, err not so much. I take that back. Two years ago there were a lot of veggies, but I became pregnant with our third child and the morning sickness drew such a veil between me and the garden. I could see it and I wanted them so badly but the thought of picking them and preparing them and eating them made me ill. This year I will continue my studies on how to treat each seed or plant respectively and not get pregnant.
• Cook More. We started the year with very little money in our bank account. In fact, we are having to get creative on how to save enough money to pay our bills over the next two months. We have had a eating out problem pretty much since we started dating. I REALLY do love to cook. I like to experiment by coming up with my own recipes, and I find it rewarding to eat and see my family eat a great meal that I made. I would also like to invite my friends to cook with us. Seeing that our finances are low and I like to eat food that other people make as well, a Cooking with Friends club sounds like a fine idea. Each couple cooks a side or entire, one brings wine to compliment and have a party! Wee!
• Grow My Business(es). I started a home-based business at the end of last summer. Things rapidly took off for me. Many of my friends, family and acquaintances hosted presentations for me. More than not, the parties were a huge success. I think my passion for it was apparent and WHY I chose the company I did resonated with people. The last two months have been slow, as I could have guessed but I'm ready to hit the ground running for the rest of 2013. I also have a couple other home-based ideas that I'm toying with, but since they aren't an established company I will need someone to invest in me and my ideas.
• Write. I have always been a writer. Since high school, I always dreamed of being an English teacher. I no longer have those dreams. I'm home schooling our children, and so, neither myself or they will be in the public school system. My dreams have changed quite a bit. Yes, I want my home-based business to succeed, but I also want that to create the means to do the other things in life that I desire. Writing will help those dreams figure themselves out. Or help me figure them out. Whichever way that all works.
• Mother More. I would like to say that I'm a pretty good mother. Do I think I could be better? Uh, yeah. A lot better. I have read quite a few different blogs, articles, book about parenting and they all help me decide what I do or do not want to be a part of my parenting style. I plainly would just like to DO more with them. I sometimes think I may be a bit lazy. I want to actually do all the science experiments that I "pin" and teach my daughter to sew (even though I have quite a bit to learn myself).

There. That's just some of it.

Take things slowly...

Needless to say that when we embark on a new year we feel an urge to do everything. Exercise, Eat Better, Get Organized, Clean up our finances, Be a better wife or husband or mother or friend or PERSON. The reason that most New Year's Resolutions fail is because there are resolutionS. Yes, I capitalized the "s" on purpose. Too many new goals become overwhelming and we can't, as humans, perfect all these things all at once. So why not just forget about all those wonderful things and just be the same person we were last year? That's often what happens. What we need to do is set monthly goals.

Many of us have heard that in order to make a habit stick we must practice it for 21 days. I say 30 is even better. I'm reading "Happier at Home" now and she has a different area of her life each month that she focuses on. After the first couple chapters I realized that the reason she gives complete focus to her Marriage one month, and her children the next is because it really takes an entire month to figure out how to make things the best they can be. Starting out a new diet is hard. Starting a work out regimen is even harder (in my opinion). Then couple it with the finances our attitude and whatever other goals we strive for can just be a heavy load to carry all at once. Granted, I've been on a mission to organize my house. I feel that before I prepare my taxes my desk has to be clean and Christmas just calls for rearranging and organizing. This took me a couple days, thanks to my husband for entertaining the children. Now I can move onto the next task...financial organization.

For me it's important to prioritize. Exercise is important, but it can wait one more month. :) Is it easier for me to get back to healthier eating habits? Yes, and that has already begun. Is a change of attitude a priority? Probably my highest. I feel this is something that needs to be practiced ALL THE TIME. No exceptions or excuses. I actually started a new habit last month to make me work toward this even harder.

I actually decided at the beginning of December that I was going to give myself a monthly mantra. I declared it in front of a group during a monthly team building meeting that I attend. Therefore I am also being held accountable. It feels scary and reassuring when you announce it to people, but it also produces results. After I did that I found myself constantly repeating that mantra. I firmly believe that by declaring it, I practiced it more. Yesterday we had another one of our meetings and I told them my plan of changing my mantra the day before our meeting. This month it is: "Be the most positive and enthusiastic person you know." I saw this quote just a few days previous and fell in love with it. There are people that I meet; and although I don't know some of them very well, I admire their love of life and positive energy that they make the room feel. I don't want to be them, I just want to make others feel that way and in turn I will feel pretty good too.

Change is hard sometimes but is so rewarding. I get a thrill at the beginning of a new year because it feels like a clean slate. You can change anything you want to. If people judge you or ask you why you're different, you just say that was last year.