Catching Up

Advent

We've been lighting our candle (now 2) at dinner to help us prepare for Jesus' birth. We've been learning about different saints. Including Saint Nicholas of course whose feast was yesterday. The kids each got a small gift, that was left in their shoes.

This week my goal is to set up our nativity. The nativity I have was my mother's. I remember one year us kids all bought it for her for Christmas. I was somewhat younger that year, I don't think I contributed to the cost, but I still remember it.

Faith enjoying her Saint Nicholas gift. Polly Pockets!

Our Christmas card photo was taken, and cards have been ordered. What a fiasco that was this year. It took 3 attempts and several clicks of the shutter before we came up with one that all 3 kids looked good in. Not sure why it was so difficult this year? To make the hunter husband happy some cards will be sent, to a select few, of the girls with Jacob and his first buck.

School Work

The kids have been working really hard. Especially Jacob. High school is giving him a run for his money. Seton offers a college prep. level education which is a really good thing, but it can be tough if you would rather do enough just to get the diploma. I'm proud of his determination!

Now that we are working during the week it has been nice having Mike available to work with Faith. Freeing up my time to dedicate to Jacob on the days he's struggling.

Mike working with Faith on Math. Not her best subject.

In the Knitting Bag

Finished the socks for my sister Laura's priest.

I took the afghan out of hibernation that I started back in February, and I've been working on it when I'm at home.

I casted on a sweater, in a lovely shade of green that is worked from the top down, by Diane Soucy.

Really don't like having more than one project on the needles at once, but the afghan can't be taken out side of the house very easily.

In the Kitchen

I've tried a couple of new venison recipes that the family seems to really like. (If anyone is interested in them let me know.) Since we now have 4 deer in the freezer, figured I better get a little more creative.

On December 5th after mass our church had their monthly pot luck. It worked out really well because the town had their Christmas parade on the same night. Everyone ate and then went outside to enjoy the parade. My motive was to use up some of the many eggs my chickens have been laying, so I made 36 deviled eggs. I wasn't too confident this was the best item to bring, but to my surprise they were gone before half the people had gone through the buffet. Someone came over to me later, she was at the end of the line and didn't get one, and told me to bring 2x as many next time.

My girls made chocolate covered decorated pretzels for the pot luck also. It isn't easy for me to let go of the control in my kitchen, but they did an awesome job! (And I let them do it without much help. Big step for mom!) It made them feel good to bring something to the bounty too.

Haley dipping the pretzels in chocolate.

Faith putting on the sprinkles.

Just One More Reason!

Home schooling is such an awesome opportunity all the way around. Just had to take this occasion to share one more reason I love it.

When we decided to home school one thing we knew we wanted to include was our Catholic faith in the teaching process. We found the best curriculum, for us to do that, was to use Seton Home Study School . The kids are completely enrolled, Seton maintains all the records and therefore transcripts and at the end of high school will receive a full diploma. Seton sends us our 36 week lesson plans and all the books each year. It is wonderful!

This morning Jacob was reviewing his lesson plans for Composition and was excited to share with me the suggested topics he had to choose from for this week's assignment. Here are some of them that really struck me:

1. Why our country should insist on legal immigration;
2. Why we should erect a fence along the Mexican border;
3. Why illegal immigrants should not receive free tuition at state colleges.

It really impressed me that they would include some really good hot political topics for our times. And do so without any predisposition of what my child's opinion should be. Even if he isn't going to choose one of them it gives us at home the opening for discussion and possible debate on such heated topics.

I believe today in public school it provides government, with a highly liberal agenda, access to our youth to steer them into their beliefs. More commonly known as indoctrination. If these subjects were to come up in that setting, away from my husband or I, we would most likely never know it, nor have the chance to share our views on the subject with our child.

Once again God has shown me today that although it isn't easy, and becoming increasing difficult, to raise a family on one income that we are making the right choice and the sacrifices are well worth the long term outcome.

As a footnote:

This week Faith, in Kindergarten, is learning the history and mysteries of the rosary. Here she is coloring, in her school book, a picture about St. Bernadette and Lourdes. Gotta love it!