Azure Standard

In response to my recent post on buying organic and non-GMO products for my family, many of you have asked how I afford this new diet change for my large family of 8.

Put simply, I shop our local grocery store on their discount health food day and purchase a large portion of our monthly grocery items from Azure Standard.

Azure Standard is based out of Durfur, Oregon and ships organic and natural food and household items all across the country. Azure orders are shipped monthly via independent trucking companies and utilize local volunteers for coordinating drop locations. Drop sites are dependent on local interest and the willingness of others to help manage each drop location. I am a drop coordinator for my local location. We receive nothing in return for our efforts, not even a discount on our orders. I work to keep Azure coming to my town because I appreciate the ability to buy organic foods at a discount price compared to my local stores. Azure also carries a wider variety of organic options than what I can find in my midwest town.

Yes, buying all organic and natural foods for a large family can be difficult on the monthly food budget. However, if it is a priority for you then you will find a way to make it happen. I'd encourage you to take a hard look at other areas of your budget and "surplus" spending habits. My husband and I have curtailed much of our impulse purchases and trimmed things from our budget that we do not need to free more money to buy the foods that we feel are most important for our young family.

Being that we are a young family, I enjoy the fact that I can purchase in bulk from Azure at incredibly reasonable prices. For example, I make all of our bread, no more store bought bread for our family. Because of this I use a lot of organic whole wheat flour. If I had to buy the quantity of flour that I need locally, I would break the bank. However, through Azure I can purchase 25lb bags of flour for a fraction of the cost locally (not to mention I can't buy 25lb bags in my town). Not only do I buy our flour in bulk, I also now purchase organic oats, organic sugar, organic pastry flour, and numerous other dry good items in bulk with Azure. The depth and variety of organic and non-GMO items available at Azure is varied and reasonably priced. Best of all, they are adding new products every month so the variety of items we can get through Azure is only getting better.

I'd encourage you to check out Azure and see if there is a drop near you. If there isn't don't be discouraged. Contact Azure directly and they will put you in contact with the trucking company that serves your state. Talk to the trucking company and let them know you would like to have Azure come to your home town.

They Say Women Change Every Decade

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

It is generally said that every new decade in a woman's like brings marked change and growth. We mature, grow, and typically improve with age. Looking back upon my own life I can see now points at which I changed and grew into the person I am now. However, never before did I realize I was in the midst of a change as it was happening. That is until now.

I can see it, I can feel it. The change is dramatic. It is life changing. Life altering. My family and I will never be the same because of this change, a dramatic change in our eating. From the outside the change seems simple but the difference in my mindset is dramatic.

This change in our eating habits has been slowly growing over the past few years. However, a few months ago after educating myself about the food handling industry in this country my mindset about what I feed my family has changed 180 degrees. Sure I have always cared about what I fed my family, made sure there were vegetables at nearly every meal, tried to cook low fat recipes, and overall tried to give my family well balanced food options. But we all still enjoyed plenty of junk food. Fruit snacks, processed foods of every kind, and never gave any thought to where our meat and dairy products came from. I have bought as much organic vegetables as our budget could allow for quite sometime but didn't give enough thought to what it meant when we didn't buy organic.

Enter the documentaries Food Inc. and Food Matters, both of which can be found on Netflix. Food Matters is regularly offered for free on their Facebook page. These two films were the springboard for the complete overhaul of my cooking and grocery purchasing choices. Organic fruits and vegetables only enter this house now. If I can't afford grass fed beef or organic chicken then we do without and make what we have last longer. I bypass 90% of the grocery store aisles now, opting only for the organic and health food sections. Organic vegetables, homemade goods and unprocessed foods have invaded our home and I couldn't be happier.

Why such an overhaul and drastic change in our eating habits? Simply put, it now sickens me to think about all of the preservatives, genetically modified, and empty calorie food that was being brought into my house. And keep in mind we have always eaten "healthy" compared to most families. I can no longer in good conscience purchase preservative and genetically modified laden foods for my family. It makes me sick to think about putting that stuff on their plate or mine. Also, I am a strong believer in using the blessings that God has given us to the best of our ability. In this case that means using the financial means that He has bestowed upon us the best that I can and I do not believe that God ever intended for us to be putting all of that unnatural stuff into our bodies. Therefore, I can not with clear conscience purchase those things for my family with the money he has blessed us with.

The way I now grocery shop, prepare meals, and feed my family is a complete diversion from earlier times in my life. I am also creeping up in age and nearing the infamous "40". Growing older hopefully means also growing wiser. My new way of thinking is not a fad, a new craze, or a passing fashion. I don't have the mindset of "oh we will just do this for a while" like most of us think when we embark upon a new diet. There is no end in sight for this new "me". This is simply just "me". I know now what happens to our meat supply, I know what is in that genetically modified (GMO) fruit and vegetable. I know what all of those preservatives do longterm to our bodies. Please research these topics for yourself, watch documentaries on these subjects. The truth is not pretty and is frankly digesting.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

Burnt out on homeschooling? Tired of planning lessons week after week? Or perhaps you have lost the luster of lesson creativity and now just throw things together to "check one more lesson off of your list". 

I have been there and will likely be there again as I continue down our homeschooling career.

Thankfully this year I have found my answer. When I don't have the time or energy to plan a spelling lesson or teach a math lesson I can now turn to SchoolhouseTeachers.com for my solution. 

If you have been homeschooling for a while perhaps you have heard of or are familiar with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Teachers Toolbox. SchoolhouseTeachers.com replaced the old Teachers Toolbox and now provides an updated, streamlined, and more accessible source of teaching tools and lessons. The new site provides daily, weekly, and monthly lessons on a wide variety of subjects. Everything from the basic subjects like math and language arts to more specialized subjects like guitar and foreign language. With your monthly membership you not only get access to all of the lessons but also menu planning and each of the 5 Schoolhouse Planners when they become available (after 9 months of paid membership).

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is jam packed with such a variety of lessons and wonderful "daily" content that it is hard to pick my favorite to highlight. So instead I will discuss the resources that I have been turning to most often since beginning my membership. 

For my kindergarten daughter I am using the spelling lessons and reading lists most often. I am enjoying that the spelling lessons present four words over the course of one week. During that week the student uses those 4 words in a variety of ways such as answering questions, fill in the blank, and picture drawing. My 5 year old is a hands on learner and is enjoying the varied approach to learning her words each week compared to our previous "workbook" style of spelling lessons.

My 3rd grade 8 year old is most enjoying the history and United States geography lessons. He is crazy about both subjects and is excited each day to find out what the new lesson is and what he gets to research and explore. These lessons have been wonderful spring boards for further research and learning opportunities. I appreciate that fact that he is excited about and learning things that I hadn't thought about introducing and also frankly don't have the time to prepare because of other family obligations (namely 3 littles ones under the age of 2).

A few months back I began praying for a guitar lesson opportunity for my 11 year old 6th grader. Weekly lessons at the music store aren't not feasible for a variety of reasons right now but I know how badly he wants to learn how to play. So imagine my surprise and joy when I noticed that SchoolhouseTeachers.com includes guitar lessons. My 11 year old is thrilled (as am I). These lessons alone more than pay for the monthly fee that SchoolhouseTeachers.com charges. Now my oldest son can advance his guitar abilities at his pace from the comfort of our home. 

So as you can see SchoolhouseTeachers.com is not geared towards a certain age group of students. There is a wide variety of lessons and learning opportunities for every age, including adults (music, voice, and foreign languages to name just a few).

Specific Details:

Price: $1 for the 1st month and $5.95 each month thereafter

Included with each membership (taken straight from the website FAQs):

A membership provides you with all the daily, weekly, and monthly lessons from our expert Schoolhouse Teachers and Contributors, but there is much more. It also gives you all five Schoolhouse Daily Planners each year; the five, together, represent a $125 value. The 2012-2013 Planners will be available in June.

The 2011-2012 Planners can be downloaded at any time. Though the school year is winding down, you’ll still benefit from literally hundreds of pages of articles, supports, helps, encouragements, games, informational lists, and other benefits (as well as a few months of tracking space). The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner alone is 819 pages! There are also separate planners for elementary, middle school, and high school ages, and a planner for special needs children.

A membership also provides with you access to our past (archived) and future Expo webinars—we have had up to one thousand attendees at each webinar. We cover the latest in home education trends and sponsor many free giveaways. For instance, the March webinar featured Jay Ryan teaching about astronomy and Andy Harris teaching on Google Earth. (What a blast that was!) Note: The Expo-to-Go postings will go up on our site in May.

There’s more: The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered by TOS straight to your inbox monthly; all The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine digital back issues (easily searchable); a free E-Book every month; and, after 12 months of uninterrupted membership, you’ll receive a $25 gift certificate to the Totally TOS section of The Schoolhouse Store!

You can begin your membership here

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Electronic Bible Blessings

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.com

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you already know that I have a large family and this season of life has blessed me with 3 under the age of 2. Up until recently time in His word was difficult to accomplish. Sleeping arrangements in my house leave few quiet places where I can turn on the light in the early morning and study.

For quite a while I've been hoping for an electronic bible that I could read quietly and not rely on an electric light source. However I also wanted all of the features of traditional studying. I enjoy taking notes and highlighting meaningful verses.

I may be behind the eight ball in this discovery but I've finally found an iPad app for that. Yeah!

The Holy Bible application for Apple products by life church.tv has everything in an online bible reader that I have been looking for. My favorite version (NLT), bookmarks, highlighting, notes, and much more. Now I can study the Bible at any time of the day or night without disturbing or waking my family with lights, fumbling for pen an highlighter, or by flipping pages.

Here is the direct link to the Holy Bible from life church.tv

Many Blessings,

Holding Your Tongue on Facebook

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 12:36 "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak."

I am a regular on Facebook, I must admit. It is my social outlet on those days when I can't get out of the house. I enjoy networking with other homeschoolers, preemie Moms, and childhood friends. I am friends on Facebook with a wide variety of people and a range of religions.

One thing that strikes my heart and pains me to read on Facebook are angry and mean posts from my Christian acquaintances. This is an issue I have had for a long time and something I have thought long and hard over.

Perhaps you have experienced the same thing. A seemingly strong woman in her Christian faith plastering her Facebook wall with whiny, complaining posts about friends and family members. How can a Christian Mother who claims to be steadfast in her walk with Jesus turn around and write angry complaints about issues in her life? In Matthew 12:36, Jesus clearly tells us that we will have to give an account of every word we speak on judgment day. When I read those hurtful words from my fellow sisters in Christ I wonder what account they will give for the words they have just spoke against their friend or family member.

Are we as Christian Mothers perfect? Absolutely not. No one is. However, something as simple as holding you tongue is fairly simple to do as educated adults. What example are you setting to your children if you complain about others in such a free an open manner such as Facebook? Sure your children might not read your Facebook page but I can almost guarantee that if you freely speak ill of others on your Facebook wall then you are also letting the poison pour from your lips in front of your children.

Nothing is accomplished by complaining and speaking ill of others on our Facebook wall.

Dear sisters, please think about your Facebook posts before your post them. If you need to vent your frustrations about life then I encourage you to talk them through with your husband or write them down in a personal journal.

With Love and Blessings,

The Pressure to Continue Homeschooling

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Homeschool families are pretty open, honest, and forthcoming when asked about homeschooling. We readily talk about the whys, hows, how longs, socialization inquiries, and the long list of curriculum questions.

But there is a black cloud that hangs over many homeschool families. A deep, dark struggle that many of us refuse to put voice to. If we ignore it, the problem will just go away. One day we will wake up and that inequity will be gone. As if we ignore the issue it will just disappear.

Sadly, this will never be the case. We will always feel the pressure to continue homeschooling.

There I said it, I put voice and writing to the unspoken truth within the homeschooling community.

If you have been homeschooling for more than a few months you have most certainly had a day or more when you just want to throw in the towel. Your kids are frustrating you, you can't get lessons completed to save your life, and all you want to do is close yourself in a quiet room to get away from it all. But you can't, not for your sake and not for the sake of your children. We've all been there. Some of us more than others.  The longer you've been at this homeschooling thing the more rough days you are bound to have. These days pass however, a new day dawns, and like magic everything comes together and you have a great day of learning together as a family.

The good days are what sustain us through the rough patches. We cling to those "aha" moments like beautiful diamonds scattered in a coal mine. Those sweet, tender, and loving learning moments remind us why we chose to homeschool. Our children are our treasures, our blessings, and we enjoy being with them.

But what about those situations when you need to throw in the towel? For your sanity, for your child's stress level, and the happiness of your family you need to stop homeschooling and send you child or all of your children to a public/private/charter school.

What do you do then?

Well if your need to stop homeschooling is real then the choice to stop is obvious. But what about your heart? Ever thought about what it would feel like to actually throw in the towel and give up homeschooling your children?

There is an unspoken rule in the Christian homeschooling community.

Once you start homeschooling you have to see it through to the end. God has called us to homeschool so we HAVE to continue homeschooling no matter the cost to our sanity, happiness, and relationship with our family and friends.

If we stop homeschooling we will suddenly be out cast by our homeschool friends. Afterall, we've sent our kids to "school". We've let them loose and they are now adrift in the sea of public school. We've failed. We couldn't hang with the "big boys". We've given up on our children. Our homeschool friends will now look down upon us because of our inequities.

I don't have the answer.

But I do know that I have felt this way countless times when I feel pushed against the wall. I struggle nearly everyday with one of my children and can see one of my younger children quickly becoming just like their older sibling. So I will soon have 2 children that will test my limits and push me everyday. I want to throw in the towel, I really do. Just being honest. I want to keep my "easy" learner at home, skate through the day, and drink tea quietly while my gifted learned thrives and learns under my tutelage.

When I think about sending my challenged learners to a mainstream schooling option I feel the "cloud". I feel the pressure and despondency. What will my friends think? Am I giving up? Am I failing my children? My family? My Father in Heaven? I'm swimming in the homeschooling sea and struggling to keep my head above water.

Yes, there is a cloud. Yes, there is a pressure for Christian homeschooling Moms to continue homeschooling. No, we don't talk about it. No, we don't write about it. Well, until now that is.

I am taking it one day at a time and so can you. Step back, reevaluate, relax, breathe, and most importantly pray. We can and will conquer our challenges. The way we conquer our challenges and achieve our goals will differ depending on our family situations.

No matter your situation however, please do not let the cloud, the unspoken truth, affect your decision. Pray about it and do what is best for your family. Don't worry about what your friends or the homeschooling community at large will think. You need only answer to God.


Be Blessed,

Apologia Astronomy Venus Project

As a homeschool Mom with a degree in biology I am sad to admit that science has taken a back burner in our homeschool courses in previous years. I just couldn't find the time or energy to fit yet another subject into our already full schedule. Also, after looking through countless science curriculums I wasn't able to find one that held my interest. Science is real, it is exciting, it is full of wonder and amazement. I had yet to find a science program that conveyed that excitement the way that I wanted my children to learn my favorite subject.

That was until this year! Finally we have found a curriculum that I love and thankfully my boys are enjoying it as much as I am. What are we using?

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, Young Explorer Series by Apologia.

I will save my review on this book for another post but I did want to share my 7 year old son's creative lego project for our most recent astronomy chapter. Above Mini-Me is pictured with his lego model of a volcano on Venus. A side view of the lego structure shows the profile of the volcano with a plume of ash and lava shown by the red ball on top. A lego model of the surface of Venus is suggested as a project in the Exploring Creation with Astronomy book. However, as I expected Mini-Me put his own spin on the assignment and created this very original and creative project.

As a Mother who is desperately trying to raise independent and creative thinkers I appreciate and am thankful for curriculum that encourages and fosters the very things that I am seeking in my young children. Mini-Me asks everyday to do science, he loves this book and in turn is developing a healthy love of science. I had planned on making this book our science curriculum for the year but at the pace my 7 year old wants to learn at we will most definitely fly through this book and at least one maybe 2 more this school year. I am thankful that Apologia not only has this Young Explorer Series but also has a more advanced science curriculum so that my children can learn and explore science in depth.