Coffee Simplified

I am not the world's greatest coffee lover.

I realize that somewhat reduces my credibility with a coffee recipe. And I suppose you could argue that this is not necessarily "more simple" than putting in the grounds and the water and pressing the button. But if you are one of the millions currently enamored with the fall favorite "Pumpkin Spice Latte," then I suggest you give this a try. 

Why should I? You ask. 

My husband brought me home a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks a couple weeks ago. It was pretty good. I could see why people were talking about them. But he said it cost him $5! Besides that, I didn't feel like the taste was quite balanced. It was heavy on the coffee taste and you could barely taste the pumpkin. So I guess if you feel the same way, that you'd like a little less coffee and a little more pumpkin, and you'd rather not sacrifice your arm or your leg for the taste, you might want to give this recipe a try.

This is my version, loosely based on several other recipes I found online:

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE FOR TWO


1 cup espresso (I just used an overflowing tablespoon of coffee for 6 oz of water.)
2 cups milk 
1/2 - 1/4 cup sugar or Stevia in the Raw
4 tbsp of canned pureed pumpkin (Libby's 100%)
1 1/2 tsps of pumpkin pie spice
extra cinnamon to taste
1 tbsp vanilla


You can cook this on the stovetop, but I prefer to use my small crockpot. Just put everything in, whisk it till it's frothy, leave it on high for 2 hours, whisk again, top with whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon and you have your very own pumpkin spice latte for a fraction of the cost. 


Enjoy!

Homeschool Simplified

efore I begin, I must start by acknowledging that there are some people who think homeschooling is irresponsible.

I am obviously not one of them, since I engage in it every day. While I am definitely in favor of homeschooling when one is called to do it and has the resources, time and patience (at least mostly) to invest in it, homeschooling is not easy.

If I had a maid, a nanny and a cook I don't think homeschooling would be so overwhelming at times. But I have learned as we get into our groove this year that homeschooling can be simplified.

I'm not talking about simple as in - just get the basics out of the way. There are days that go that way, but what I mean by simplified  is this: Homeschooling is easier to accomplish if you set yourself up for success.

This is just as true on a large scale as it is on a small one, but the one I have trouble with is the latter. I can get so busy that I get to 9 am on Monday morning and find that I have absolutely nothing planned for the school day, so the whole time I am teaching I am also organizing books, pulling out papers and tests and grading last week's. Add this to trying to entertain the Sarge, pulling Screech from the dog bowl for the 700th time, making sure the laundry keeps moving and getting the kitchen cleaned up before lunch and we have an awfully bad day of school. Everyone gets grumpy; no one wants to learn anything, including the teacher.

This happened on Monday. It was so bad I took a picture in the midst of it, telling myself that I was going to figure out a way to make the next day the opposite, and then I was going to blog about it. So here we are!

Five ways to make it a good school day:

1. Get lessons ready the night before.

I did this Monday night by getting all papers needed for the day (and the week) copied or pulled out, setting them in the instructional books, and stacking those in a neat pile in order of how I would be tackling them. So from Sarge's Bible Storybook to Spirit and Mac II's Apologia Astronomy textbook (which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way... fascinating!) we were ready for the day and whatever it would bring us. I put Spirit's long addition and multiplication problems on the dry erase board, I stacked Spirit and Mac's homework on their desk with a sharpened pencil, I got out all manipulatives and art supplies.

2. Clean up.

I don't know if this happens in regular classrooms, but by the end of just ONE school day, our homeschool room is a complete mess. Bits of paper and crayon wrapper everywhere, Soggy pieces of crayon that have found their way into Screech's mouth and back out again, dog hair, crumbs from who knows what... add that to the piles of books, toys that Screech and Sarge pull out when I'm busy and dump everywhere - I think you get the picture. The way I got it clean was to first tell the three oldest to clean the room. Then I went behind and got all the little stuff (and bigger stuff) that they missed. End result, a nice, clean room. I think everyone learns better in a clean and organized space.

3. Lock the toy cabinet.

Our cabinet locks, and I bought it that way on purpose, to keep down on the mess. All of the toys are on the bottom shelf, and for awhile, I was opening the cabinet during school and letting Screech and Sarge have at it. This made for a mess so huge by the end of school that we couldn't walk across the floor. The answer is so simple I felt kind of brainless for having to learn the hard way. Take two or three favorite toys or sets out, and LOCK IT. They were still happy, and the mess was avoided.

4. Get moving so you can relax.

I tend to get a little snippy and rush when we are getting too close to the stop time and are still swamped with things to do. Getting up on time, getting moving and not letting myself get distracted first thing in the morning helps IMMENSELY with the overwhelming feeling of being late. Monday night I also started putting everyone's clothes out so we didn't have to deal with that in the morning either. It also helps to delegate responsibilities. Spirit or Mac can take the dog out and see to his needs, Spirit can change Screech most of the time.

5. Don't forget prayer time.

Monday was so harried that I didn't take the time for us to stop and think about our prayer focus, which ironically was "self-control" this week. On Tuesday we took time to all pray that we would learn and practice self-control in our lives and in homeschool.

Putting all of these tips into practice made a different week for homeschool. We enjoyed it more, we learned more, we fought less and never once felt like stomping off and crying. I suggest that if you are a homeschooling family and are struggling with feelings of being overwhelmed, you give these a try.

The Big Picture

Detail-oriented people astound me. I am so amazed by them that I had to marry one just to study them up close. I am about as completely "big picture" as it is possible to be, and my brain insists that I apply this thinking to everything in my life. This makes it extremely hard for me to find the reality in my many, many dreams.

Hence, God thought it best that he send MacGyver my way. My husband is about as detail driven as I am big picture. As you can imagine, this has not always made for a peaceful coexistence, but now that we've been married almost 11 years, we're starting to appreciate the other's ability, and work together more than we work against each other. I think given another 11 years, we'll be well on our way to getting some things done.

 



As I mentioned on my other blog, I call him MacGyver because he is just like the 80's TV character. Give the man a lollipop and a paperclip, he'll build you a time machine. I'm truly amazed by his uncanny abilities. They seem to be rubbing off on our second oldest child, a newly 6 year old. He's a chip off the old block, (not that you're old, MacGyver...) and I'm looking forward to having two of them in the house. So, henceforth when I'm mentioning our oldest son I will be referring to him as "Son of MacGyver" or MacGyver II.

 My oldest daughter, who is almost 8, shares more qualities with me. She can't be bothered for details or anything in life that is not first and foremost FUN. Her spirit runs with the wild horses that she loves more than life itself and so I have bequeathed her the blog name of Spirit.

  






 
My youngest daughter was literally born screaming for her way. She has an iron will of determination. If she had a theme song it would go something like Don't tell me that I CAN'T! This has been very handy when it comes to things like potty-training and as you can see... vacuuming. It doesn't work out so well when what Mom wants conflicts with what 3 year old wants. So I've nicknamed her The Sarge.

Then there's our fourth child. How does one begin to explain this nearly-eighteen month old? How does one explain ANY nearly-eighteen month old? This shenanigan in the picture is reminiscent of most of our day with dear little toddler. Which probably explains my desperate need to simplify. Littlest seems to think that he is the cutest thing ever to get up and walk and insistently lets us know when we aren't paying attention to him with a scream that reaches decibels not meant for the human ear. Therefore, he shall henceforth be known as Screech.

Now that you've met my crazy family, this blog is most likely starting to make perfect sense. I hope I'm not the only one with a busy, crazy, but strangely happy existence. I hope you will hang around and check back every few days, because I think I've learned some things by trial and error that I can share, and I'm hoping that you, my readers, will have many ideas to share as well.

Overcomplications

You could say my life is already pretty simple.

I cook.

I exercise.

I clean.

I keep these four people alive and intact.

 More specifically, these four people.

I've always had this weird idea that everything in life could be boiled down to a simpler form. We live in an extremely complicated society. There are more choices and responsibilities than have probably ever existed before in the history of man. But what if we are adding layers and encumbrances that don't benefit us in any way? In fact, what if all of these extras are causing the main point of life to be buried, like a hidden treasure, that we MUST find at all costs?

I suppose you could say this blog is an attempt to find that buried treasure. To find the simple equation of anything and everything that touches my life - and probably everyone else's as well.

I think that my previous blog attempt was similar in intent. But in the months that have passed since then, the fog has cleared a little and I feel more focused.

So if you are like me and you find yourself wishing that everything could be simple and real, come along for my journey. Let's find out how we can find that elusive main point that is buried at the bottom of all these inconvenient layers of  life as we know it.