Tag: kids

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Family Identity

Do you have a family identity? It used to be a popular thing to talk about. It is a pretty basic concept. What does your family stand for? What does it mean to be a _____________ (put your last name in the blank)? When our kids were small it was pretty simple:

Stewart’s take care of each other.

and

Stewart’s tell the truth.

(I had to work pretty hard on that one.)

Stewart’s wash their hands and use their manners.

(another one we had to work hard on.)

Then it became more difficult as time went on and the kids got older.

It became things like:

Stewart’s do hard things, they don’t give up!

Stewart’s do not leave projects to the last minute before they are due!

Those are also incredibly hard to teach and I am still working on learning them myself. Though, I think the last one was more of a self preservation teaching than a family identity or motto.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192862925/vintage-1970sbe-prepared-embroidered

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/181484340/do-what-you-can-11×14-print-of-theodore

I have been thinking about this family identity thing because our home school group has suggested that we come up with a home school mission statement for this year. Public schools, private schools, colleges and universities do this all the time with slogans and mottos. I have been thinking about it. We are close to the end of our homeschooling years and I don’t think that choosing “I can’t wait to be finished” is a good choice for our home school mission statement. I really don’t want our sweet youngest child to think back that Mom couldn’t wait to be done with teaching her. That is NOT a good end to a season of life. I know that there is something more challenging and uplifting that I could use if I think long enough.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/151666214/educating-the-mind-without-educating-the

I think family identities, mission statements and mottos are good things. They serve as guidelines. They can help you keep on track and remind you of why you do what you do and who you are. I’m still thinking about ours for the year, if I figure it out I will get back to you.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Graduation

Once again we are here. It seems only yesterday that he was this big.

2014-02-16 15.30.56 2014-02-16 15.31.24

Such a funny little guy. In the top photo he is three and the bottom photo he is about 5 months old. He is now almost 19. I will never forget seeing him face down in the sand pit with his brand new glasses on his face. I will always remember “Sometimes my Mom lets me have three pieces of cake!” at about four years old as he conned my cousin into two large pieces of cake. I will never forget his cello breaking at a summer music camp! I loved watching you come into your own as a high school student. IMG_1850 er YBThere is not much left to say, but Congratulations! You have a strength and fortitude that astounds me. Thank you for being the funny guy, the punster, the artist and quiet guy. I can’t wait to see what happens next in your life and where life takes you!

See you later,

Mom

 

 

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Heading to College Preview Week…revisted!

 

I originally wrote this two years ago and now we are facing the third child to graduate and leave our house, yet my emotions are much the same as they were then.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103074242/comfort-coffin-fine-art-print-bird

Our oldest daughter is a senior this year. She will be graduating and  heading off into the great adventure called life which is exciting. I am sure that this is how she sees it. I know it is how I saw it. I am afraid that now I see it as an abyss full of dark and menacing shadows. Yes, I know I am being over protecting, but Moms do that sometimes. I did not feel this way when our oldest started out to college.

Well, back to the context, we are headed to a College preview week, not day or even weekend. It is a week of activities to help them get used to being at a college. It is a Monday to Thursday experience of living in the dorms, eating dorm food, even taking some mini classes, trying on a major to see if it fits. The college has bent over backwards for us. Which is exceedingly nice. There was one point on Tuesday that they had talked to me more on the phone than my mother had for the week.  I quickly remedied this on Wednesday and called my Mom for a long involved chat about sending your daughter to college. I came away with the knowlegde that it doesn’t get easier when you are a Grandparent. The abyss becomes the mouth of a hungry dragon that breathes fire.

I know that this weekend is set up to help us as home schooling parents cut the apron strings, and to assure us that they do know how to take care of our kids. So I will be there for the week as well, feeling I am sure somewhat like the third wheel. So there I will be living in the dorm, eating dorm food and even taking some mini classes about financial aid, helping your student prepare for college.  I  hope that I leave the week feeling that the abyss at least has some lights and a few life preservers stashed here and there, along with some friendly faces. I need to go and pack some super long twin sheets and my clothes, I keep putting this off as I am not quite ready to do the letting go required of me. Thankfully, I have a WHOLE YEAR of final events to get used to the letting go. Do I sound sarcastic, well I intended too. I rather wish that the letting go was like labor , BOOM there you go, and 24 hours later you have a graduate. They have fledged and left the nest successfully, but they don’t and it doesn’t happen this way.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/96487883/birds-nest-feeding-baby-birds-spring

Yes, well. She survived and did wonderfully well, loves college, made friends and has great grades. Her friends ARE the one she met at the college preview week.   So now on to the third child. Say some prayers for me as we head into the last stretch of the Sr. year of high school!

Thanks,

Karen

 

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Things I don’t do….

One of the joys of reaching this point in my life is the ability to say “I don’t do that well and I don’t have to prove that I can, or I can survive quite well not doing ___________.” In fact I reached this point one Thanksgiving when a very close and dear friend gave me a recipe to create a 3-d turkey cake. In fact it is this very cake here.

http://www.parentsconnect.com/parents/food/recipe-center/cake-recipes/turkey-cake.html

Susy made it and it was beautiful. “You can do this, won’t it be fun! It is so Easy” she said.When I was finished, my turkey was laying on his back with his little turkey feet up in the air. He looked like someone had blasted him with a shot gun. In fact, I made little turkey feet out of pipe cleaners and stuck them in so that you could see that he was in fact a true Thanksgiving turkey! I still smile about that turkey cake. Will I every make an elaborate cake like this again. Nope, never, ever, ever… I can make a bundt cake from scratch and I can cook good meals. I don’t have to make 3 -d cakes ever again! I don’t have to keep up with the other women in my life…they have their gifts and I have mine!

There are other things that have I have decided that I just don’t have to stress about anymore. I don’t have to have superstar perfect children. Bear with me a minute on this. Then there is the time we were signing some papers and I sent all four of  the kids 10 and under out the back yard to play. The lady we were meeting with said “what well behaved children you have.” I said, oh they are probably playing in the mud in the back yard. What were they doing…yes, exactly playing in the mud, rolling in the mud, throwing the mud. There wasn’t an inch on any of them that didn’t have mud on it or in it.

Our children are perfect children, and are perfect at being imperfect human beings growing, learning and making mistakes. Don’t even get me started telling you how I know what five rolls of toilet paper dissolved in a bathtub looks like…or how much water it takes on the floor to make it like a slip and slide,or exactly what kittens do when they are dunked in a kiddie pool, or what happens if you put a twist tie in an electrical outlet, or ….well the list is endless.

I don’t have to have a perfect house. Wow, I admitted that on paper. Really, all my real friends really already know, I don’t have a perfect house. It is usually in a state of perfect disarray. It has six visual people that leave things out so they can find them again. A perfectly logical thing to do. We also tend not to see the work that needs to be done, but I will admit that I am working on that. It is getting better and getting cleaner as time goes by but a neat freak I am not. Come on by and hang out.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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Things to do with Kids: teach them how to Really Cook!

I started teaching my oldest (7) how to make toast in a toaster when a good friend told me that she was teaching her 7 year old to fry eggs on the stove. I was amazed here, yet again was a creative outlet for my then oldest (he was also 7) that would teach him needed skills. The pride he had when he finished frying his little egg was overwhelming. He quickly moved on to making cookies, spaghetti and other things. I, of course, supervised him closely when he was little. The harvest is great because now he is 23 and he can cook a whole meal for us (when he feels like it and has time)!  His younger sister can bake cookies, bread, follow a recipe and make cinnamon rolls.

All of the kids have made mistakes, cookies running off onto the bottom of the oven, no salt in the cookies, etc..! In the meantime they have all learned to pay attention to what they are doing. :0) The middle son learned to make pizza crust from scratch. He is rather a particular eater and his interest is being awakened to try new foods. All four of the kids know how to cook basic food from scratch and to follow a recipe.

I would also add that we use regular cookbooks. I am on hand to explain anything so the kids cookbooks don’t work for us. I guess there is not enough volume of food! Having four teenagers or near teenagers it worked best for us to use a regular cook book.

I would suggest that you allow them to cook and then clean up after themselves. Allow them to pick the recipe, if they are interested in the food then they will pay closer attention to what they are doing. Edit their choices a little, if they pick a pastry shop style cake redirect them to a pound cake with whipped cream.

We love the Betty Crocker cook book for its wealth of easy recipes.  We also like  learning  to use crock pot recipes and freezer cooking recipes. We will turn to www.allrecipes.com when we can’t find what we want in our home cookbooks.

Here are some Favorite recipes for young cooks:

Dip for veggies or fruit. (There are many recipes out there and no cooking is involved)

Chocolate Chip cookies, There are so many recipes out there for chocolate chip cookies. Just find one and follow the directions.

Spaghetti with sauce from a jar. Follow the directions on the package for the spaghetti.

Pound cake from scratch. There are many recipes on the internet for pound cake. It is really hard to ruin a pound cake.

Baked potatoes (I have the kids wash, prick and put the potatoes in a cold oven, that way they don’t get burnt. I also take them out if they are under 12.)

After they master some basics I would pretty much let them browse the recipe book, guiding them a little bit and keeping them from exotic ingredients that we didn’t have on hand.

What have you taught your kids to cook?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Things to do with kids: Build a city!

Kids often need toy extenders as I call them. Things that extend their play in an imaginative way, props would be another word for it. There are a wide variety of ways that you can make a city for your kids.

1. Use cardboard

http://keriene.wordpress.com/category/homemade-toys/page/2/

As my kids are now all in high school or graduated. I am showing you Emelia’s beautiful cardboard city. There are more photos on her blog. http://keriene.wordpress.com/category/homemade-toys/page/2/

2. Wood houses. I really like these as you can write on them with chalk. I think these would make excellent Christmas gifts.

http://mommo-design.blogspot.it/2013/03/diy-for-kids.html?m=1

3. I love these little felt houses by Sarah Nichols.

http://www.sarah-nicol.com/shop.html

The kids and I usually made our toy extenders out of cardboard covered with paper that they cut out and glued on. It took more time that way and they were practicing their fine motor skills. We would use the houses until they looked like trash and then recycle or put them in the trash. What things do you make to help your children’s imagination to grow?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Christmas GIfts #2 Toys

I love giving and receiving homemade Christmas gifts. It just seems to add a little more heart to the season. It also means that I don’t have to spend time driving around trying to find the perfect gift.

Here are some wonderful handmade toys!

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/newborn-guinea-pig

https://www.etsy.com/listing/167137792/crochet-pattern-bowling-crochet-toy

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100400839/crochet-toy-pattern-ice-cream-amigurumi

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128879584/amigurumi-pattern-for-crochet-toy-of

These are so cute that no words are needed!

I hope that it inspires you to create something wonderful for the children in your life!

Karen