Tasha Hackett, Author at Heavenly Homemakers

How Do I Start a Homeschool?

July 26, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

So you think you can start a homeschool? Enjoy this article from Tasha!

How to Start a Homeschool

By Tasha Hackett

Going back to school looks different this year. In light of everything going on in the world, many are choosing to homeschool. You may be sick of hearing about it! What are schools going to do with the COVID situation? Do we homeschool because we want more protection in the school or because we want everything to go back to normal? Even parents who never wanted to homeschool their kids, ever, are looking into homeschool. If you’re a seasoned homeschooling family, go ahead and forward this article to someone needing encouragement.

Where Do I Begin for Homeschool?

So let’s say, hypothetically, that you wanted to homeschool your kids this year. You may be asking, “How do I even start? Where should I begin? What do I do first?”

There are amazing resources everywhere and I know it can be overwhelming. I’ll break down the essentials of homeschooling for you in a few simple steps.

Legal Steps to Take Before You Start a Homeschool

First, make sure you’re going about it legally. You are not allowed to simply buy a few books and tell your friends you’re homeschooling. Your kid will be just fine, but the government frowns upon that and you could get into trouble. (Most likely your local school will call you and find out what’s going on, and then they will tell you to do what you should have done and say, “Tisk Tisk.” But let’s avoid that.)

Go to hslda.org/legal (Home School Legal Defense Association) and find out what specific laws are required in your state. Some states require yearly testing, others just want a signature. For Nebraska, we signed a form, named our school, and filled out another form with our local school–including putting birth certificates on file. You can have fun with this and name it something creative and inspiring like, “Sunshine Unicorn Lollipop and Rainbows Happy Homeschool” or “Hackett Academy” or you can move right along and be amazingly simple: “Coppinger Homeschool.” This is not a game-changer and the government doesn’t care.

Promise me you will not freak out when the form asks you complicated questions and use fancy words like “the scope and sequence” of your curriculum (don’t make this answer complicated) and ask you to “provide instruction in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and health.” I’m telling you not to be threatened by this type of chatter.

What they want to know is simple: Are you going to teach your kids and take them outside and go for walks and let them know what’s going on in the world? Yes? Good. Next. Play around on the HSLDA website, there are lots of goodies there that are helpful for beginners. Just don’t get lost in the weeds.

So we’ve covered the legal aspect of homeschooling, now what?

Now the real Homeschool fun begins: Curriculum!

This is where every family has their own opinion and some will fight to the death for Saxon Math and A Beka Language Arts. We love the curriculum book packs from Beautiful Feet Books and Sonlight. But we also use a hodgepodge of other resources. For Preschool/Kindergarten, Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve is a golden standard.

For peace of mind, you can purchase an all-inclusive curriculum pack from a huge variety of Homeschool publishers. This is a great option if you are nervous and want to make sure you have everything covered. But seasoned homeschoolers may tell you this is unnecessary.

Essentially: Pick something and run with it and then be flexible. You’re allowed to change your mind if you hate it. But you might love it.

Homeschooling a Kindergartener

Just have fun! This is the year they should learn to love learning and love school. This isn’t the time to bog them down with busy-work (unless they really love worksheets, and some children do.) I would not recommend an expensive math curriculum for Kindergarten or 1st grade. Kindergarten math means counting and shapes and patterns, learning the days of the week and months of the year. Kids do not have to learn how to read in Kindergarten unless they are inclined to.

Laura Ingalls paper dolls.

Multiple studies have proven that accelerated learning in the early years (before seven) DOES NOT increase reading ability, grades, or advanced placement in the later years, and can in fact have the opposite result. (Read any of the homeschooling books by Dr. Raymond Moore for more information on this.)

Legal boxes checked and homeschool books picked out, now what?

You will have to decide what works best for your own homeschool. No one is an expert in your kids the way you are. My habit is to set aside time each morning for school, Laura does much of hers in the afternoon.

Protect your mornings (or whatever time you have set aside for school). Set aside certain hours for school work and protect that time. Don’t answer the phone, don’t play on social media. Turn off the TV. Don’t schedule dentist appointments or random park dates or lessons during your school hours, within reason. (Remember how we’re still being firm… but flexible?)

Make a plan and be consistent, but relax if things need to change. If mama is stressed, everybody is stressed. Protecting your mornings doesn’t mean you must be a rigid taskmaster.

A Sample Homeschool Schedule to Start With

Our homeschool day will look something like this but yours may be entirely different:

6:00 AM Mom awake and prepare for the day.

7:00 AM Kids wake up. (We have a rule they may not come out of their rooms until 7 AM)

7-8:00 AM Dad off to work. Breakfast for all. Daily chores and general clean up.

8-9:00 AM Morning Time (We start our homeschool day all together, with the baby on my lap and the others sitting on the couch with me. Memory work, poetry, singing, check calendar to what’s happening the rest of the week.)

9-11:00 AM Other book subjects. Language, Math, Reading, (Baby will have a morning quiet time in crib from 9-10, toddler will play. Small snack at 10.)

11 – 1:00 PM Free play for kids. Lunch. More play and chores if needed.

1-3:00 PM Quiet Time. (May play quietly alone. Read, write, draw, etc. This is life for a family with littles home together all day.)

3 – 5:00 PM Snack and then outside play.

5 – 7:00 PM Dinner and Chores.

7-8:00 PM Bedtime routine with Dad

8 – 10:00 PM Mom and Dad hang out.

You Can Start a Homeschool! You Got This!

When I first started, even though I was homeschooled as a kid, I felt lost trying to figure it all out as a parent. But really, you’ll be okay! Fill out the legal forms, choose a few basic books/curriculum, and arrange a generic daily schedule. Boom. Done.

You’re Not Alone

We have many resources available right here on this site. You’d be surprised how much support there is for homeschooling once you start looking! If you’re feeling lost and afraid, remember that there are thousands of others faced with making the same decision you are. Chin up!

Be sure to share this article for all your friends who are struggling with this same decision; a basic step-by-step plan is a great way to calm your nerves.

Subscribe for more homeschool, homemaking, and simple meals encouragement.

Blessings on your new homeschooling adventure!

Tasha Hackett, friend of Laura, is a second generation homeschool mom x4 living in the heart of Nebraska. She spends her free time, (haha, she has no free time), reading and writing Christian Romance novels, and DIYing anything that needs done. She’s a huge promoter of being debt free. Laura is still here! Tasha is only a contributing author a few times a month. You can find Tasha @hackettacademy and on Laura’s IG account @heavenlyhomemaker.

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Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

July 12, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’ll take my turn to share my favorite books for homeschool too! For today, check out Tasha’s excitement, experience, and enjoy her encouragement!

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

by Tasha Hackett

I’ve just stumbled upon an amazing homeschool resource! Beautiful Feet Books is my new favorite. Is it weird that I’m already looking forward to the next nine years with my firstborn so I can read more of these books for homeschool?

Do you ever look at a homeschool mom and wonder, “Wow. How does she do it?” Or maybe it’s cringe-worthy and you think, “Jeez, why would someone choose to hang out with their kids all day?”

I get it. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But boy, when all the pieces line up and you get to see the one-year-old crawl into the eight-year-old’s lap for a book and a snuggle and the three and five-year-old are busy cutting paper for a project they’re developing on their own… that’s where the magic happens. I homeschool for a variety of reasons, but one is the gift of learning with them through the reading of great books.

Round two looking for homeschool books

Second generation homeschooling mom here. I always knew that I would homeschool my kids before I even had them. Today, I can tell you, I’m in it for the long haul! This year I have a 3rd grader, a Kindergartener, and an almost four-year-old that doesn’t want to be left out. (Oh! And the one year old will be getting into everything in the meantime.) But things haven’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped.

My firstborn went to Kindergarten and fall semester of First Grade at the public school before I committed (again, for real this time) to homeschooling. It’s been a journey, to say the least. But I am beyond excited for school to start this year. Only five weeks left! I’m just waiting on one more order of books to arrive from Beautiful Feet Books and then I’ll have everything in place. Am I organized this year or what!?

You’ve Got This

If you are jumping into homeschooling, whether by choice or necessity, just breathe. And smile. You will be amazing! Your kids will think they have the very best mom who loves them so much. Just think, you get to be the one to witness the “ah-ha!” moment when it just clicks.

When “Just carry the one!” finally makes sense, you get to be there to celebrate with him. You get to have slow mornings and hot chocolate whenever you want. Imagine taking the time to snuggle for a picture book at 10:30 am. You also get to sit side by side with your older ones and dig into Algebra again, but You Can Do This!

You’ll be great. Especially with all the great resources available to us now. (Keep reading for a promo code to my new favorite bookstore!)

This is how homeschool kids have fun. Haha, just kidding!

Thanks, Mom!

My mom, bless her heart, did the best she could with what she had, ya know? When she started homeschooling me, she had not been dreaming of it for years like I’ve been doing; there was no internet or Facebook homeschool groups. She had a daughter who was struggling, picked on by teachers, physically sick, and shy to the point of anxiety. (Hey! That was me. I’ve overcome mountains of insecurities. Thanks Mom for doing what was best for me.)

Point is… she had a paper curriculum catalog, and a once-a-year book fair. She figured it out on the fly mid-year with three girls under eight. (I turned out great by the way.)

Now I’m planning my kid’s school-year and I have the entire world’s resources available to me and sometimes it’s just too much. I know about Charlotte Mason, and Classical Conversations, and Montessori, and Waldorf, and Unschooling, and Wild and Free, and Traditional, … and wait a minute! You mean you can’t just get History, Math, Language Arts, and Science textbooks and just go with it anymore?

Textbooks are out, living books for homeschool are in.

Dear fellow mothers, I am bursting with excitement. I want to tell you ALL THE THINGS about homeschooling, but I really need to focus here. Just the facts, ma’am. I was homeschooled with textbooks. I sat at the table (or the couch, or my bed, or the car) and I read my textbook, I took the quiz, I took the tests.

What if I told you there’s a better way?

I’ve found some of the true joys of homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason idea of using “Living Books” for much of my curriculum. A well-written biography of George Washington that reads like a novel is going to leave a longer-lasting impression than a chapter on George Washington in a History textbook.

I have researched and researched and researched such books and finally stumbled upon Beautiful Feet Books. They sell “curriculum” packs that are not textbooks, but a collection of books in a theme at varied grade levels. For this fall, I ordered the EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY PRIMARY JUMBO PACK: over 20 books for only $210. Believe me when I tell you this is the cheapest price you will find for these books. I price checked the individual books at three other sites. (And you know I did. I spent two hours price checking. So… you’re welcome.)

Spend less time researching books and more time playing in the sprinkler this summer.

You can customize your pack.

Beautiful Feet Books allows you to adjust your book packs. If you already own a few of the books in the pack, or (like me) you don’t want to bother with the lesson book that accompanies because you already have a separate curriculum you’re using, it’s no problem, just click the option “Customize your pack.”

Or, you have the option of purchasing the books individually. You get the idea. We are focusing on American History this year, so I was glad to find a ready-made pack of American History stories for K-3rd. It will fit into our year perfectly.

What if I told you the books are already homeschool mom approved?

I let my order sit in the cart for three days deliberating if I should place the order or not! In the end, I went for it after reading at least thirty reviews from other homeschool moms. Being able to pick a book out of a stack and know that it’s preapproved, at grade-level, interesting, historically accurate, and appropriate is a huge weight off my shoulders.

Later this month I’ll tell you more about what I’m planning for Hackett Academy this year. For now I’m working on getting the papers and binders and pencils all in their places. Five weeks is plenty of time… but I’m doing my best to start out on the right foot.

Homeschool = Flexibility

One of the joys of homeschooling is how easily it adapts to your life. I had a baby last year. We spent more time loving on a newborn than we did learning about George Washington, and I have no regrets about that. With so many little ones who aren’t strong readers, trying to juggle multiple subjects in multiple grades would be impossible, I’m looking forward to learning with my kids all about our country’s history, and doing it all together. I’m beyond grateful someone else took the time to find these amazing books and put them in a collection for me. Now all I have to do is open it up!

Want to check out Beautiful Feet Books?

Beautiful Feet Books is a digital storefront that sells living books in all grade levels, from the illustrated Leif the Lucky to Beowulf. Purchases can be made individually or in a curriculum pack with a teacher’s guide (or customize your pack by removing the books you don’t need). Have a look and tell me what you think! Use the code BFB2020 for free shipping during the month of July.

Are you a homeschool family? What are you excited about this year?

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Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier

June 24, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Need some homemaking tips to make life easier? Yes. Me too…

Funny story (ok, it’s not actually that funny). I had a different post ready for today, then Tasha, who writes for me sometimes, texted me something like, “Hey I have something I really want to write today. Does that work for you?”

She pitched her idea, I quickly rescheduled my original post for a later date, and Tasha kicked out this post for us.

Hmm. So that story really wasn’t funny. It was pretty much just a story, and also, Tasha and I worked out a plan to take our little kids swimming tomorrow. Good talk.

One more thing (another funny story perhaps?) and then I’ll turn it over to Tasha: It is worth noting that I’m an older mom and she’s a younger mom, and now that I’m back to raising littles again, I found it weird at first to be an older mom hanging out with younger moms. Like, hello, I have a 23-year-old and other adulty children. But then God showed me how cool it is to hang out with younger moms like Tasha. We parent together, learn together, and who really cares how old we all are because we all just need each other for lots of different reasons.

God’s awesome, huh?

So hey, Tasha? Thanks for letting God use you to teach me stuff. And thanks for making it not-even-hard to hang out with friends who are different seasons than I am, except that oh yeah, here I am also in this “raising little kids” season again.

Truly, God is amazing.

Ok, now I’ll let Tasha have at it. I loved how she put all of this together. (And yes, I did read it. You’ll know why I said this when you keep reading her post…) :)

Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier
By Tasha Hackett

I told my family I was working…

Homemaking is hard sometimes, but homemaking doesn’t have to be hard all the time. Just now I shut the bedroom door, settled into the corner of my bed (with no sheets because the 3 year old had an accident on my bed last night. Rude.) and I’m letting everyone else complete the morning chores. “I have to get another article written right away!” I said. Haha, and then I opened my homemaking bundle and went shopping. I’m sneaky like that.

Raise your hand if you would like to buy special and unique gifts but you never get to go anywhere because you have little people who do things like pee on your bed and you are so over it, but you still can’t go out because the baby takes two naps and then there’s this virus going around and who even knows if the stores are open?

So I bought some stuff online

Tasha here! (I’m Laura’s younger mom friend who likes to write stuff about money.) Currently my 8-year-old is walking around the house whistling while Dad is handing out laundry to put away. Can’t complain about the chores being done, trying not to complain about the whistling: “Which is not annoying at all,” said no-one-ever. Because I am good at life and can do hard things, I soldier on and despite the whistling I’m putting sentences together for you AND just bought my sister her Christmas present from Hope Ink and my brother his birthday present from Strawesome.

Here’s my secret to neat gifts: Ultimate Bundle Bonuses

Every year your favorite bloggers bombard you with all the great reasons you should buy the Ultimate Something-Or-Other Bundle. “Your life won’t be complete unless you buy it! Buy stuff! More stuff!” (No, really, if you haven’t bought all the things you can’t possibly be happy or organized or motherly or love homemaking enough, therefore… buy it!!!)

What’s up with that? Are they really trying just to make a buck? How can we even believe these products are worth any of that money? Don’t they know I’m trying to get out of debt and save up all my money to build a house? I’m not a blogger, I’m just a friend of a blogger. Laura lets me write stuff for her, and I don’t even know if she reads it. I could be posting about hippopotamuses and how they like to swim in pink jello in the arctic…

But, I’ll get to the point: Because I’m awesome, I buy other people stuff when I see great sales for great stuff. It’s great to start planning Christmas stuff way before Christmas… And I use the word “stuff” entirely too often because sometimes words are hard because of sleep and not having enough and because of kids and having enough.

Tasha, the budget girl, bought the Homemaking Bundle

I wasn’t going to. Money is weird like that; not having much money for too many years created a habit of feeling bad anytime I do spend it. When I make a poor purchase, an impulse buy, an overpriced something-or-other that I end up not using, I do not allow myself to feel guilty anymore. Marie Kondo helped me over that hump–instead I accept it, and move forward. I say to that item, “Thank you for teaching me a lesson.”

So when the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle became available again, I said, “Nope! You’re not fooling me. I didn’t even use you last year!” But then Laura’s promotions won me over and here’s why I bought it: Neat gifts available through the bonus coupons, Motivated Moms Planner, and Green Means Go. I looked through and found a couple things that I was absolutely going to use, so I know for sure that I’ll get my money’s worth.

Bonuses!

I spent $30 on the bundle and then I immediately went to my Hope Ink Bonus and got my freebies. This “freebie” cost me another $20. But without the discount, my total would have been well over $100. The artwork is beautiful, creative, and inspiring and who doesn’t enjoy supporting another woman’s creative business? I’m keeping two prints, gifting two and I’ve received a free file to print my own cards.

Then I went to my Strawesome Bonus and bought three discounted re-usable glass straws and the straw cleaner. My total was $6.38 (Don’t tell my brother what he’s getting for his birthday. Happy 24th!) I’m saving the world, one plastic straw at a time. I will be a repeat customer with Strawesome, even without my bonus coupon, their prices are immensely affordable.

I’ve registered for my Free Around the World Stories, a completely free resource worth $38. It includes 10 different 3o minute audio stories from 10 different countries. Each story includes bonus material for added learning: Recipes, activities, some language and facts about the country. This will be great to use for our homeschool next year, and just for listening to a good story when I need the kids to go away and be quiet for half an hour if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Feeling motivated yet?

Next, I printed out two pages from my Motivated Moms Planner. MY FAVORITE! I’ve used many different house cleaning checklists in the past, so far, this is my favorite (And I’ve used it before and know that I will use it). She has every chore I could ever need spread out over the year. If I am able to complete just a few a day, it keeps my house company-ready without the mad dash, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

For example, today I need to wipe down the deep freeze among other things. I am assigning that job to the whistling 8 year old. Otherwise I will wipe down the deep freeze NEVER and years from now it will be absolutely disgusting and I’ll wonder how I became such a slob. Homemaking doesn’t have to be as hard when we let someone else do the planning.

The Green Means Go ebook is a lovely activity I am going to “play” with my 3 and 5 year old this week. This helps young people to deal with big emotions. First we identify “How Do I Feel?” and an exhaustive list of emotions are provided with pictures. Then we assess, “What Can I Do?” and there is another list of positive responses to those emotions and then we talk about “My Calm Self.” For example: When I feel embarrassed, I can hug my teddy bear, and then I reassess and I feel peaceful. My plan is to go through the cards and options with my little guys when they are in a good mood, so that we have strategies to handle life when we’re not in a good mood.

So there you have it

I found a few things that I absolutely know I’m going to use and love. And if I happen to not open anything else, but I’m sure I will, it is a worthwhile purchase. I’m interested in reading: Celebrate Nature: Memory and Copywork (poetry copywork for my homeschool), Cleaning with Essential Oils and How to Design a Room from Start to Finish, (because I am not naturally good at interior design stuff).

Lastly, I’m going to email Laura a screenshot of my receipt ([email protected]) because she promised to give everyone who purchased the bundle through her link a prayer journal and a handwritten note. Now excuse me while I go ask my whistler to please take his whistling self outside.

Get your bundle here! And be sure to let me know what item makes your homemaking life easier.

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Note from Laura: I have loved receiving your emails telling me which of these Prayer Journals you want me to send you and why. While freebies are nice, you guys aren’t in this for the freebie. You’re in it so that your relationship with God to grow while you work hard for your home and family. I praise God for this!!!

Then send me your receipt and tell me which of these journals you want!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Keep a Good Attitude While Being Debt-Free

June 10, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Sometimes being debt-free isn’t much fun.

When I look around at the world driving nice cars and eating at nice places and going on nice vacations I can get discouraged. But then I remind myself that I am choosing this! (And then I also remind myself that 80% of Americans are in credit card debt.)

“I’m choosing this!” is more than just semantics. That little phrase can change your life. Hear me out: If you’re on some kind of diet that doesn’t allow cake, it’s only because they didn’t know about Laura’s cakes. (Like this Low sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake or this Low Sugar Banana Cake.) But let’s pretend you’re not eating cake because a diet book told you not to. So now you’re sad about not eating cake, and you sigh and feel bad for yourself because you really want cake and it’s all somebody else’s fault for deciding that high sugar and processed fats and carbs are unhealthy and you struggle with attitude problems every time you are put in a cake situation.

Let’s not blame the cake.

What if you turned the whole thing around and told yourself, “I’m choosing this!” Nobody is forcing me to give up anything. “I am choosing to make better food choices. Eating healthier options is my choice! I don’t even want all that cake because I know what’s in it, and it’s nothing good!” And then you can use your freshly ground flour to make your own densely nutrient cake and you can choose to have your cake and eat it too.

What if you wanted a new car instead of cake?

Something my husband and I have embraced the last few years of paying off debt is “We’re choosing this!” We are choosing to not spend money so that we can use it for other things. We could choose to not pay our bills, but then the electric company could choose to turn off our lights. If we choose to ignore our mortgage payment, the bank will choose to take our house. See how this works?

There are exceptions to everything.

I do understand there are times when life spirals out of control and things you had carefully planned fall apart. My sister was in a car accident years ago and was left with over $40,000 in uncovered medical bills. Sometimes the job situation doesn’t work out, I get it. But for the vast majority of Americans we have put ourselves in our own financial messes. We made the choice to move out of our tiny apartment to buy a house we really couldn’t afford. And we had such fun in that house! But if you give a man a house he’s going to want a dog to go with it… and a lawn mower and snow shovels and two cars and another phone and the internet and a video streaming plan and a grill and… and… before you know it, the $9/hour secretary job just isn’t enough.

We absolutely love being debt free.

I haven’t always had a great relationship with money. I would get so mad at people who said, “I can’t afford…” and yet they lived a lifestyle that said differently. But then I found myself saying, “I can’t afford…” and I realized it’s all in perspective. We made a combined total of $8000 our first year of marriage. As we worked more and made more we bought more and being debt-free wasn’t as much of a priority because we didn’t even know where the money was going. When I sit down and look closely at the choices we’ve made the past 12 years of marriage I can see huge financial mistakes we made that put us back. With each raise we started living just a little more comfortably. And that’s okay! That was OUR CHOICE. But to then go and say, “Well, I can’t afford…” doesn’t really make sense.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to nail shingles on your own garage.

I’m choosing this.

When I say, “I’m choosing this.” It brings ownership back on my shoulders. Playing the victim isn’t possible with that phrase. I am choosing to save money! I am choosing to pay extra on the mortgage! I’m choosing to do family birthdays differently. I am choosing to live beneath my means because I have something better in mind for later. Here are some choices we’ve made and continue to make because we absolutely love being debt-free: Paying the internet bill instead of keeping chips on hand. Putting gas in the car instead of going out to the movies. Finding extremely loved used vehicles instead of buying new clothes for everyone in the family. Living in a 600 sq foot home until we got a better paying job in another state.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to watch the sunset on a beautiful date on the prairie.

You get to choose!

I am giving you a phrase that has the power to completely change your outlook on life and money whether you are debt-free or not. “I’m choosing this!” You get to choose and you don’t have to be ashamed about it either. I am (97% of the time) not ashamed about the vehicles I drive because we bought them on purpose. We used to buy them on purpose because it was that or nothing. Now we buy used vehicles on purpose because we have really exciting plans for our money.

What are you choosing? Are you pleased with your choices?

My intention is most definitely not to make you feel bad about yourself or your money, but the opposite! If you find yourself feeling sad and thinking, “I can’t afford…” try pepping yourself up with a little “I’m choosing this!” attitude change. It could rock your world. And then go make cake. Because cake is yummy and actually quite affordable.

Laura’s friend Tasha is passionate about encouraging women. She’s a homeschooling mamaX4 who loves to make silly faces in the mirror with her toddler. She and her husband Ben have worked hard to be debt-free (except for their mortgage) and try to choose people over things everytime. She can be found playing on Instagram @hackettacademy and @heavenlyhomemaker and has too many hobbies to name. Most recently she’s been making chocolate cake for breakfast and sending her kids out to pick asparagus for lunch.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Simple Way to Actually Save Your Cash

May 24, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Wish you could actually save your cash instead of spending it? I love this helpful tip from Tasha!

Simple Way to Actually Save Your Cash

by Tasha Hackett

Saving cash sometimes doesn’t seem like much fun. Paying off debt was fun. So much fun? Yes. So much fun. We celebrated little victories all the time. “Yes! Another $1000 down!” or most often, “Another $50 sent off!” Woo-hoo! Paying off debt was so much fun, that we really don’t ever want to do it again. Therefore, saving cash for our next projects is almost as much fun. But, Tasha… How!?!?! How do you find room in your budget for all that extra cash?

There goes that “B” word again. That budget is a fantastic thing. If only I were disciplined enough to keep to a budget! Even after all these years, I’m still not super great at keeping one. If I want to buy a book for myself, and I do so love buying books for myself, I will usually buy it if there is money in the bank. My secret Pay-Off-Debt or Save-Up-Cash plan is simple:

Put the cookie jar on a higher shelf.

If you like to eat cookies and you’re sitting next to a jar of them, you are much more likely to eat them. If you take that cookie jar, place it up on a high shelf with a door that locks, it’s going to be a lot more work to get a cookie. Oh, you can still have one. But you’re not going to be able to sneak one as you walk through the kitchen on the way to the laundry room. You with me?

How badly do you want a cookie?

Just imagine! You have to go all the way to your underwear drawer to find the keyring with all the little keys, and then get a ladder and set it up, climb the ladder, carefully open the door, remove the jar, etc. I do like cookies. But I’m also a little bit lazy. So I don’t eat so many that way. And I surely don’t have kids asking for one all the time because not only is the cookie jar a lot harder to get to, but the kids don’t see it sitting there on the counter full of cookies! Not only does it have cookies in it, but it gets more put in every payday! (Because, in case you’ve forgotten I am talking about saving cash and not cookies. How silly to put cookies in a locked cupboard. Cookies are meant to be eaten… especially on the way through the kitchen to the laundry room. Especially these Super Soft Chocolate Cookies and Giant Breakfast Cookies and Sweet and Simple Cranberry Cookies.)

Saving cash is better than saving cookies.

Please don’t save the cookies. Eat them! You get a cookie! You get a cookie! Everyone gets a cookie! But the cash, we should be saving up some of it so we can buy the things we need. Like a new-to-us 1997 Buick, or a huge trampoline for the kids to work out some of their energy before they come back in for more cookies OR even possibly the down payment for the construction loan for the house we’re going to build next spring. (Yay!!!!!!)

No, I don’t lock my money in a cupboard.

I don’t have hoards of cash in my house. And if I did, I wouldn’t have just told you where it was. Sheesh. Simmer down, folks. But here’s the secret plan. You ready for it? Bank Transfer.

I actively take the money out of one bank and I electronically transfer it into another bank. Are you scratching your head wondering how this is helpful? Bank #1 is easy to access. I have a checkbook to Bank #1, I have a debit card for Bank #1, I have automatic payments and subscriptions, Paypal, and electronic payroll deposits go into Bank #1. The other account is difficult to get to: No check-books or debit cards. If I want money from Bank #2 I have to walk into the bank and request cash or transfer the money to Bank #1. (Warning: This is a terrible long-term savings plan. This is for funds you wish to access within a year.)

Here’s how we stash cash fast.

(Say that 10 times. I bet you can’t. I tried, I made it to four.)

Work (If we are paying debt or saving, we work some extra and hustle.)

Get paid

Deposit money into Bank #1

Budget for what is needed: Bills, Food, Gas, Clothes, School, etc.

Anything extra, no matter how meager, immediately transfer from Bank #1 to Bank #2

Congratulations! You just put the cookies out of reach

Repeat forever and ever amen. (Or until the cookie jar is full.)

Buy the thing with the cookies, I mean cash

In conclusion, stash the cash before rather than later. If I have an extra $5 hanging around, it will turn into a cookie and I will eat it.

How do you save money? Am I the only one who has to lock up the cookies on a higher shelf?

Tasha sitting at sewing machine Laura’s friend Tasha Hackett is a book writing, dress sewing, fitness coaching, instagramming, homeschooling mama of four. Whew! Sometimes she tries to do it all and then remembers she’d rather rest on a blanket in the grass and read picture books to her kids. When she’s not guest blogging here she can be found sneaking cookies instead of folding laundry, sewing instead of cleaning, writing instead of cooking, and reading aloud instead of teaching math.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Into the Unknown Future

May 10, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Staring straight into the unknown future? Afraid? Insecure? Doubtful? Listen to these inspired words of truth from Tasha:

Dear fellow moms (and wives and husbands),

The future is heavy on my mind lately. Who am I kidding, I am always thinking about the future; it’s hard for me to settle down and enjoy the moment. It’s a problem, part of my personality, and a topic for another day. TODAY, I’ve been thinking even more about the future because it is uncertain. More so than it was a few months ago.

In hindsight, nothing about this life is ever certain. God doesn’t promise us sunshiny days and roses. But we get comfortable in our routines and seasons. We know what to expect from day to day. For most of us, dealing with our own emotions and taming our own tongues was enough to keep us busy. And now we have kids who can’t go see their friends at soccer practice, husbands teaching from the basement, family members having babies and we can’t go visit, Grandparents in nursing homes and we can’t see them. And I’m left confused about the future.

What will the rest of 2020 look like? What will 2021 look like?

I woke up to the baby crying out suddenly during the night. My heart pounded and I was short of breath from a nightmare I’d been pulled from. I was being led in a long line of other women by men with guns. A dystopian future. Thankfully, this was a younger, pre-motherhood version of myself and I didn’t have any of my children with me to protect. I can’t even imagine that type of fear. None of us knew where we were being led. We didn’t know anything about the situation except we were in danger and unable to fight against it. In my dream, I fervently prayed over and over, “God send a rescuer, God please send a rescuer, send a rescuer…”

When the baby startled me, in the moments between dreamlife and the darkness of my bedroom with the glowing monitor, I distinctly, clearly, had the thought: He already did.

God already sent the rescuer.

He already won the war. He laid out the path for us to follow. Jesus is the light that came into the world. He shines in the darkness and that light will not be overcome. (John 1:5) My future is secure. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, (neither a virus, nor quarantine and a struggling economy), nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38)

My dreams last night were discouraging, to say the least. Resurging today are memories from nine years ago when I was directly threatened at gunpoint, I have legitimate fears of being out of control and alone, I do not like to feel powerless, or trapped. And yet, even my subconscious, when drowning in those feelings calls out to God to be saved. It swells my heart to know that even when I think I’m not trusting God enough, I actually am.

I’m reminded of the father in Mark 9 who said to Jesus, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” Do you relate?

Can you believe and not believe at the same time?

Apparently we can. It’s possible to have fears of the future and yet trust God to save us. I’m not saying we should stay and wallow in that fear. Yikes, no way.

The future may seem uncertain, but maybe we’re just not looking far enough ahead. Today I want to encourage you to fill your mind and heart up with the truth of God’s love. Read encouraging books, talk to encouraging people, write encouraging words. If you don’t know where to start, read all of Romans 8. And then read it again.

Will you share something encouraging with a friend or neighbor today? Write a letter, make a call, send an email, or reach out on social media. They might need to be reminded of something wonderful more than you know.

Love,

Tasha

Tasha, friend of Laura, loves to read good books and talk to good people and write good things. She daily falls short of the glory of God and is graciously covered by the son of the creator of the universe. Neat, right? When she’s not guest blogging for Laura about how you can survive anything, and how she paid off a bunch of debt, she can be found buying googly eyes for her kid’s crafts, folding laundry that will then sit on the couch for three days, and sneaking homemade cookie dough from the freezer.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

A Schedule for a Quarantined Day

April 19, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Let me check my schedule: Create a workout parody video. CHECK

Who’s having fun?! We are!? (Hint: I schedule fun into my week.)

I schedule Saturdays for playing and Whew! Just finished creating a silly work-out video with my family. We dressed up and I donned some bright pink lipstick. Blue tights, overlaid with my swimsuit. Nothing like a little family fun to get the day going.

“Wow,” you say, “Tasha’s family is so cool. I wish I could be as cool as her.” Well, don’t let me fool you. We completely trashed the house and had cheerios for breakfast all week, pre-packaged chicken nuggets three days in a row because my mind has been so overwhelmed with I-don’t-even-know that I couldn’t think past the next five minutes and then it was time for another meal… and another meal. What is it with these people!? Didn’t I just feed them? I don’t know what day it is anymore. My mom’s birthday was on the 17th and I almost missed it because I was a week behind (thought it was only April 11th) **Face Palm**

I have bad days and good days, BUT I have a daily routine that keeps me mostly sane during this quarantine.

The only way I have survived is maintaining my schedule. Do you have one? Years ago I scoured the internet looking for a Stay-At-Home-Mom routine and didn’t find one I liked. So I made up my own. It morphs through the years, each new kid and season changes it.

Morning Routine and Homeschool Life

The ideal perfect morning would look like this, but more often than not I crawl out of bed at 7 because the baby’s still not sleeping through the night:

5:30 AM Wake // Pray // Meditate on scripture // Stretch

6:00 AM Make bed // Shower // Dress

6:15 AM Drink water // Put (frozen or premade) breakfast in oven // Read // Study

6:45 AM Empty dishwasher // Start laundry // Set out breakfast

Lots of help around here!

7:00 AM Wake kids // Help the littles with Morning List

Too often I let my day start here.

Kids’ Morning List: Make Bed, Get Dressed, PJs Away, Diaper in Trash, Drink Water, Go Potty, Fix Hair, Read Daily Verse, Take Care of Pets. (This list is an anchor and must be done before breakfast.)

Meet Tippy! Our friendly pet rat.

7:15 AM Breakfast and Tidy Kitchen (Kids Help: Clear the Table, Wipe the Table, Sweep the Floor.)

8:00 AM House Blessings (Each kid has a separate daily chore. Gather laundry from all over the house, empty trash, sweep bathroom), Extra Daily Chore, (This will be anything that needs done to maintain the home such as wiping the mirror in the playroom, dusting the piano, vacuuming around the furniture, watering plants, sweeping the entry, lining up shoes, etc. We skip this when breakfast runs late.)

8:30 AM Walk Outside, Online Workout, or movement of some kind. (If nothing else we pretend to be a variety of animals. I have a 7, 5, and 3 year old, so they like that, and we have to keep moving throughout the day because, you know, kids and energy.)

Quack! Quack! Off we go.

9:00 AM Morning Time // School

Morning Time with the Kids, My Favorite!

I learned this term from A Humble Place, but it is a Charlotte Mason homeschooling idea. This is the heart of what is most valuable in our home education. Not worksheets and tests and homework, but singing, and poetry, and beautiful ideas.

Our Morning Time can take anywhere from 10 minutes to a full hour depending on the moods of the kids and what we have going on for the day and if we started on time. I won’t go into much detail, but this is bullet points of what we cover; if short on time, we don’t do everything listed:

Pray for God to speak to us and bless our day

Bible story or scripture to think about

Song from our Hymnal: We sing all the verses to the same hymn for an entire month

Review one or three other hymns from previous months

More Singing: American Folk songs, silly songs, National Anthem

(I excuse myself to put the baby down for a nap right around here, I don’t know what they do while I’m gone for 10 minutes, but they’re all still alive in the living room or on the couch when I get back.)

Pledge of Allegiance

Poetry: We love poetry! This is a lovely book: Favorite Poems Old and New, Selected for boys and girls by Helen Farris. We read 1-5 a day depending on how we feel. I ask, “Shall I stop or read another?” The answer is usually, “More!” I pick one that I like and read it every day for the month along with the dailies. By the end of the month the kids are reciting it with me. We have found many poets we love, Carl Sandburg and Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a couple.

Art Appreciation. We look at prints of famous paintings. We don’t worry about educating ourselves on the style or anything. I just show them the picture and talk about what we see and what we like. “If you were in this picture, what would you be doing?” “What are they doing here?” “What do you suppose he is thinking about?” “Do you think she is sad?” (You can buy many of the prints here. So far Peter Bruegel the Elder is our favorite. Who knew!?)

Nursery Rhymes. Great for little guys and surprisingly still applicable through elementary. I love watching my three-year-old learning along with the 2nd grader. I often find them reciting these while they play through-out the days.

We close with the Lord’s Prayer, sing the Doxology, and a simple Benediction, “May the Lord be with you.” And we answer each other, “And also with you!” (My boy used to say, “May the Yord be wif me.” It was lovely.)

School Time!

Working mostly quietly

After our official Morning Time is over, the youngest wanders off the to play with cars and little animals while I read a chapter book. I find narrative stories that are engaging, yet not dumbed down in the least. A.A. Milne’s “Winne the Pooh” we have read multiple times. Currently we’re reading Richard of Jamestown by James Otis. We’ve read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and Chronicles of Narnia. If we are short on time I’ll skip this because Dad will read to them in the evenings, too.

We have many nooks for individual play and quiet time.

I do 10-ish minutes of a reading lesson with the Kindergartener out of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann. This will take us much longer than 100 days because we do the same lesson two or even three days in a row because she was getting frustrated. Slowing it down has been amazing for her confidence. She is now excited to see progress instead of discouraged when it was difficult. With the 2nd grader we’re using McGuffy’s Eclectic Reader Series a lesson a day, then I assign copy work to both of them. Copy work is often short. We desire a few perfectly written words rather than a whole page of sloppy handwriting. My kids have surprisingly neat handwriting.

The Kindergartener is done with school for the day. The 2nd grader has math practice, or learning new math skills; he’s going through the Math-It packet (Elmer Brooks), and The Complete Book of Math Grades 1-2 (School Specialty Publishing), he looks up a word in the dictionary and we read the definition together, finds a country on the globe and then finds the same country on our large wall map. We then talk about how we could get there from Nebraska. Those things are listed on his schedule; he can complete many of them on his own.

If you’re looking for some simple curriculum that invites family participation, memorizing scripture AND serving your community, I highly recommend Laura’s ebook Learn Your Letters Learn to Serve. This is INCLUDED with your club membership! (Everyone cheers!!)

This map makes us legit homeschoolers, right?

We are often done by 10:30 AM. The kids have free time until lunch. They find all sorts of things to do on their own. (See, and here you thought my kids stuck to a boring schedule all day long.) They have access to craft supplies where they make paper puppets on popsicle sticks and put on shows, draw comic book-style scenes, draw pictures, my girl will often copy her reading lesson to show it off to Dad, they have train sets and blocks and tents, they build towers and dress up and generally make messes everywhere. If it’s nice they run around outside.

Can you find all four!?

I do a variety of things. I may play on my phone, (I know, I know…Instagram is sucking my brain out.), meal prep, do a special project with one of the kids, sew something, read books, call my sisters, clean the bathrooms or other chores, go outside and check on my plum trees (THEY HAVE BUDS THIS YEAR!!), and put lunch in the oven.

11:30 AM Wake up the baby from his nap. Read to him, snuggle, and play.

12:00 Dad comes up from his basement cave where he’s working from home and we eat lunch.

Afternoon

All help tidy the kitchen, switch laundry (2nd grader’s chore), get ready to go outside.

Family walk or outside time (if the weather allows)

Free time

One of many daily creations.

2:00 PM Nap time for baby, quiet time in separate rooms for everyone else. They are not allowed to talk to me or each other until 3:00. The 3 year old usually falls asleep in my bed. I don’t know what the 5 year old does, but she stays in her room with dolls and books and things. The 7 year old plays Legos and looks at picture books and draws in his room.

Finally, I check-out from mom-life in whichever room is the cleanest and causes the least amount of stress, and get incredibly snippy if anyone tries to talk to me during this time. With my laptop I sit and write and write and write. I blog (like now), but mostly I am attempting to write a novel. It’s been three years in the making but I am determined to finish it this year… #goals. I’ll keep you up to date if I ever finish. Because it’s on the schedule, I’m much more likely to do it.

My office!

If I absolutely don’t feel like writing, I read something I want to read and eat a yummy snack that I don’t share with anybody.

3:00 PM The bigger kids are allowed to come out of their rooms and play quietly in the house or go outside. The younger two generally sleep longer.

He naps in my bed because he shares a room.

4:00 PM I close the laptop and come out of hiding. Wake the baby if he’s still sleeping. Dad joins us and we play outside, fold laundry, work on a home project together, grocery shop, meal prep, etc.

5:00 PM Dinner and kitchen clean up.

Evening

6:00 PM Family time. House clean-up, outside time, reading books, listen to music and play, dream and draw plans of the house we’re going to build someday, discuss important things like the most deadly animal in the world: Tiger or Mosquito, I might sew something, paint pictures, kids take baths, go on walks, etc. If I don’t schedule this time in, we miss it! This is my favorite part of the quarantine: Daddy is home every evening.

Group project: Removing wallpaper!

6:30 Baby is ready for bedtime routine and he’s asleep by 7:00

7:00 Dad puts the older three to bed. I finish cleaning the kitchen, fold laundry, bring the laptop back out to work some more, sew something, paint something, waste more time on my phone.

Tasha sitting at sewing machine because playing is on the schedule

One of my many hobbies.

8:00 Lights out for the bigger kids

9-10: Lights out for me. And up again at midnight and 3 AM with the baby.

OKAY!!! That’s the basic outline of our day. Not every day goes by this schedule exactly. But the framework has SAVED my kids and me. They know what to expect, and Dad knows what to expect. They don’t have to ask me “Can I go outside?” “When is lunch?” “Am I done with school?” The answer is on the schedule.

What keeps you grounded?

Beep Beep! The bus is leaving.

Do you have a schedule or routine? Does your family know what to expect each day? Do they know what’s expected of them? This schedule has been a life-saver, but it’s been through many transformations. It will look differently this summer and next fall when Dad goes back to work.

Tell me, how is your day planned out?

Tasha, friend of Laura is a stay-at-homeschool-mom to four kids. When she’s not writing about money and birthdays and how to survive anything, she can be found Instagramming for Laura @heavenlyhomemaker, producing something from a variety of creative hobbies, sneaking treats she doesn’t want to share with her family, and repurposing old shirts into toddler dresses. She and her family recently bought two-acres of prairie and are dreaming of a little house to build on it.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Top 5 Birthday Budget Tips

April 8, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Ready to read Tasha’s Top 5 Birthday Budget Tips?

Can you have a great birthday on a budget?

Duh! Of course. Okay, but really, when your family is used to something and things and times are changing (like being stuck at home during a pandemic), how do you have a great birthday? Perhaps you’re starting a new budget that doesn’t include extravagant gifts, what do you do?

Peter is one

My youngest just turned one. (Yay!) We celebrated him ALL DAY. Peek-A-Boo was played as often as he wanted. We snuggled and snuggled and snuggled. We served pasta (his favorite) with Easy Chocolate Fudge Pie (his favorite). Lighting a birthday candle was a highlight. (He loved it, we blew it out and lit it multiple times). We gave high fives (his favorite) and Pound It! (his favorite), we sang Happy Birthday at least 20 times throughout the day. We danced with him (his favorite); the kids and I got down and crawled on the floor. We cheered and laughed and clapped when he took five steps! He is loved and he knows it.

This is how much he loves homemade chocolate pie!

Oh, and did I mention, we didn’t buy him a thing. Not a single thing. It was a great example to my other kids how we can have birthdays without presents.

“He was one, so it doesn’t count,” you say.

What about the big/little kids?

Another turns eight this month, his day will look entirely different. He can play a mean game of Peek-A-Boo, but it’s not his favorite. He might notice if he doesn’t get any presents. For him, I’m thinking Lego challenges as a family (he will win because he’s amazing), a one-on-one donut (take out) date with Dad (his favorite), a walk around town just the two of us (his favorite), charades, crazy-silly LOUD dance party (his favorite), hide-and-seek (his favorite), tag, all the popcorn he could possibly eat (his favorite), a show, and a family slumber party in the living room (his absolute favorite).

Notice a favorite trend here?

We’ll talk in advance about some of our plans so he’ll know what to look forward to. His siblings and I will pick out one gift together, (new drawing pens and notebook) but we don’t want that to be the focus of the day.

Here are the top five things I’ve learned about money and stuff and birthdays.

1. Budget, Budget, Budget.

Fancy word for: Set aside. Take some money each payday specifically for buying gifts and throwing a party and set it aside. Budgeting doesn’t mean not spending money, it just means you know where your money is going. Budget whatever makes sense for your family. If you love to buy expensive gifts, that’s your choice! (And can I be your friend? I’m super into kitchen appliences and tennis shoes with super cute summer dresses. In case anyone was wondering.) Just make sure the money is there for it.

2. Kids are stronger than you think.

They don’t need stuff to be happy. (And neither do we, except for blentecs and robotic vacuum cleaners. *Ahem*)

My oldest was crushed after a hard conversation about what he wasn’t getting for Christmas. I felt terrible. The thing he wanted just wasn’t in the budget, it wasn’t something we wanted in the house, and it didn’t fit with what we were trying to make Christmas about. He was sad for half a day and he got over it. Whoop-De-Do.

Therefore, I give you permission to not feel guilty about not buying more stuff. Permission granted to feel wonderful about making great memories. You know your child better than anyone, let the day be about him, not about what you bought. Decide ahead of time something to do instead.

3. Plan ahead.

Talk about expectations of the day as a family well before the event. “We are going to celebrate you by…doing all these fun and awesome things that are your favorite… so there won’t be many wrapped up presents this year.”

Focus on what you will be doing, not what you’re not doing. What does she like to do with you? Can you spend the whole day just enjoying her? Brainstorm with the whole family ways to celebrate and make memories. This can be extravagant budgeted excursions or completely free. (Mamas, unless your man is really into planning things, I give you permission to plan your day and let your family know what you expect of them. Be Specific. If you want breakfast in bed, it might be a good idea to make it ahead of time and show your people where to find it. I recommend something good eaten cold, like this Straweberry Bread.)

4. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. (Luke 12:15)

Can I get an Amen!? I need a large poster with this verse. After living a few (many) years on a spending lockdown, when we finally had a bit of cash, I fell into the habit of buying all the things I thought I needed. Remember my Amazon addiction? I did the same for the kids. Suddenly because I could buy stuff, I did. And you know what? They weren’t any happier with the stuff than they were without it. More stuff doesn’t change our hearts and our relationships with others and our relationship with God. We know this, and yet we all fall into a consumerism trap from time to time.

5. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. (Luke 12:23)

Not to take this passage out of context, Jesus wasn’t talking about birthdays OR WAS HE? It totally relates! A child is more than a party, and the birthday more than presents. A present does not a birthday make. (Does everyone hate me yet?) Planning fun activities is more work than buying stuff. (It can be so. much. work.) Trust me, I know what it’s like to have zero energy to organize and throw a party. Sleeping through the night is a luxury these days. Homeschooling little ones who can’t even read?! You’re 5 already, get with the program! (Kidding. I’m kidding.) Whew. I do have to keep this house from falling apart, too. Laundry and dishes and sweeping. Sometimes we even mop! (You know, when somebody brakes a glass full of milk.) How am I supposed to plan a party for a bunch of 3-year-olds?!?

And then I am reminded that life is more than food and the body more than clothes. Being happy is better than being perfect. Last December, my 7 year old was SO FOCUSED on what HE was going to GET, that he could hardly enjoy anything else about Christmas. We are making some changes in our house this year and not because we can’t financially afford to buy presents.

I still want birthdays to be something special.

Truthfully, I used to worry about birthdays because I wanted them to be special and wonderful, but I couldn’t afford to buy nice things. Now that we’ve paid off a bunch of debt, we can afford stuff and I realize we don’t need ‘em. Most of the time I don’t even want it! (Correction. I want new shoes. Shoes are great. I bought three pairs this month and I’m ecstatic. First new shoes I’ve had in 18 months. Somebody send help!) More stuff is often more mess and therefore more work. Then we have to spend even more time clearing out our junk and decluttering.

If you are a Heavenly Homemakers Club member, Laura has put together so many great ideas for celebrating your people. Look under FAMILY TIPS and browse her ideas that make sense for your family. Trip ideas, experience ideas, party ideas. You don’t have to come up with a plan for your family all on your own. Much of the work has been done for you!

I challenge you to find ways to really celebrate and love your people individually. You get to decide what that means. You can spend lots of money, or none of it, but in my experience, I have found the price tag doesn’t correlate with the success of the day.

Answer in the comments: What do you like about the way you celebrate? What would you like to do differently? Do you have a favorite childhood birthday memory?

tasha Tasha, friend of Laura, and fellow homeschooling mama, lives in the middle of America and does her best to keep the floors clean. Hahaha. Her kids are currently one, three, five, and seven. When she’s not writing for Laura she can be found on Instagram @heavenlyhomemaker, sneaking Jalapeno Cheetos, painting with her kids, pretending she likes to garden, and watching Star Wars with her husband.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Recipe for Survival in the Midst of Challenge

March 18, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Struggling with all the changes happening right now? Tasha shares a recipe for survivial in the midst of challenge!

Recipe for Survival in the Midst of Challenge

by Tasha Hackett

Life as we know it has changed and is changing. Seasons come and go. School is out, kids are restless, store shelves are bare. What should we be doing? To give us some tips for survival I’ve interviewed a retired Air Force Officer who went through extensive survival training. He gave me a clear recipe for survival. But first, a story.

In Honor of Popeye

“Just eat it,” he said. “It’s not going to kill you.” Dad scraped canned spinach onto his fork. “Mmmmm.” He washed it down with water from his green Tupperware cup, then flexed his bicep, Popeye style. “Anybody need more?” Sarcasm at his core, he offered up the can of mackerel to his three daughters. “More for me.” He put his fork into the can for another bite; apparently a father’s way of showing off to teenage girls.

The girls did not honor him with an answer. Robin, at 11, teeth biting down on curled-in lips, sat in silent defiance. Her entire body challenged, “Just try to make me eat this.” Michelle, 14, kept her head down as the tears slowly dripped down her face. Tasha, 13, simply stared at him. Her attention kept straying to the pantry full of other, more desirable, things to eat.

Mom was out for the day and it was Dad’s chance to teach his children how to do hard things. Hard things like eating lunch. A can of each: Mackerel, Diced Tomatoes, and Spinach, scooped onto the plates in three sloppy, wet, juicy piles.

Tasha knew how to work this system. Stay under the radar. Take a tiny nibble. Fiddle with her water. Keep her face even, her mouth shut. Just waiting for him to leave the room so she could dump the rest in the trash and go on with her day. A missed lunch wouldn’t ruin her.

Mom would be home before dinner.

Hallelujah.

Except he didn’t leave. He sat. And waited. “Eat it.” His blue eyes focused on her. All sarcasm removed.

A sob escaped Michelle. Robin did take a bite and audibly gagged. “Ew, Ew, Ew!” frantically chugging water. Gagging, with a heavy dose of complaining, she ate more of the cold, mushy, slimy spinach.

Tasha rolled her eyes. “Good grief,” she thought. Her sisters were so dramatic. Mixing together a bit of the spinach, tomato, and mackerel, she ate it. Slowly, systematically, the whole plate. Yes, it was gross. Disgusting even. It was cold and wet.

Chew, chew, swallow. The mackerel wasn’t so bad, though nothing about it was appealing. Something about scales and backbone still clinging to your lunch is unnerving, but it was at least fish. Tasha didn’t care for tomatoes on a good day, much less a soggy pile of them from a can. That spinach though… Lord have mercy. It is nearly impossible to swallow without gagging. When her dad wasn’t looking she released a shiver from head to toe. She wouldn’t award him with a reaction, but she sent a nasty face at his retreating back. Her younger sister looked at her, shocked at her audacity! Dad now stood at the sink, rinsing his plate.

Lunch was a wrap, he went back to his home office to finish grading papers for his University courses.

The three girls looked at each other. Michelle still cried at the injustice. Robin was scared he might come back and see Tasha making fun of him. Tasha spit her last bite into the trash. Carefully, quietly. She covered the evidence.

“Come on, Robin. Let’s go.” The two younger girls took care of their now empty dishes, dumped the cans in the trash and fled the house to run free. It is rumored Michelle sat at the table for the rest of the afternoon. At least until Mom returned.

Robin would be hungry. Tasha would survive.

At Least, That’s How I Remember It

The year was 2000 and we were slowly using up our over abundant supply of canned food. I could ask Dad and find out what was going on in his head at the time, but I’d rather keep my childhood spirit alive. Probably had something to do with the fact he had better things to do than fuss over lunch, “Here’s some food, eat it.” Perhaps he thought his daughters would learn a thing or two about First World Problems and be grateful for what was offered. Maybe it’s because we had a case of canned spinach expiring. Nobody wants to eat canned spinach, ever, unless it’s the end of times; even then I’ll take my chances.

Regardless, it has turned into a great family story I enjoy bringing up, “Hey Dad, remember that one time you made us eat canned spinach?” And then we all groan and laugh and shiver and poke fun at each other while he shakes his head and mumbles something about ungrateful children.

My Dad was a Prepper.

You may remember the drama of Y2K? We had a basement full of supplies. By October of 1999 our pantry was ready for whatever may come after New Year’s Eve. We’d been stocking up on canned foods from Aldi for months. There was no need for a last minute dash to the stores for us! We were prepared.

As a 13 year old Daddy’s girl, I was on-board with this preparation business. (Not the canned spinach and tomato business.) Excitment coursed through me and I felt this grand sense of adventure just waiting to happen. I had read all the I Survived books, as well as Hatchet, Brian’s Winter, The Long Winter, and My Side of the Mountain. I was READY to experience a true disaster.

Thankfully, nothing happened, at least not in my little world. We didn’t even get to experience the rush to buy toilet paper! Because we were already prepared.

Some think Dad was overreacting, overcautious, paranoid even.

Spoiler: He Wasn’t Worried

He wasn’t paranoid; he was preparing; he was wise; he was forward thinking. Y2K was another opportunity to teach his family how to be ready. We always had a pair of shoes under the bed, we knew where to meet in case of an emergency, and there was a blanket, gallon of water and jar of peanut butter in the back of the car in winter.

Incidentally, why store 5 lbs of wheat when you can store 50? Or 150? The national problem right now is because most people AREN’T prepared. They rushed out at the last minute to buy ALL THE TOILET PAPER. Hey World… if the end is near, toilet paper is going to be the least of your worries.

So what now?

Let’s say you weren’t prepared. Let’s say you weren’t prepared and you weren’t the one to buy all the toilet paper.

I called my dad. You’re welcome. As a retired Air Force Officer, he also went through Marine’s and extensive survival training covering survival in the ocean, forests, and enemy territory, etc. I didn’t ask him about the canned spinach incident, I asked what should people be doing RIGHT NOW. The people who are anxious, and worried, and scared. The ones who feel like the world has stopped and life as we know it is going to change forever.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO RIGHT NOW?

Should I go and see if there’s any toilet paper left!?!?!? When I asked him that, he literally became exasperated and began to lecture me until I told him I was kidding. KIDDING. I’m going with, “No,” in answer to that one. Here’s the gist of his advice for you.

Recipe for Survival

Remain calm.
Find someone who knows more than you about the situation and ask what to do. [Stop watching fear promoting news.]
Understand that your standard of living will change and likely decrease. [See #1]
Things will seem much easier when you accept #3. [See #1]
Assess what you need for life:
1. Air [See #1. When you panic, your oxygen intake decreases which dramatically impairs thinking and rate of survival.]
2. Protection from the elements [Sub-zero or extreme heat]
  1. Can you make it through the next 8 hours? [YES]
3. Sleep [See #1. Sleep is higher on the list than either food, water, and especially toilet paper.]
  1. Can you survive the next 24 hours? [YES]
4. Water
5. Food
  1. Can you make it through the next 2 days? [YES]
Start drafting a plan for short-term and long-term survival. If you need practical step-by-step guidelines, this would be a good time to go through your home and take note of what you have. See #1 and #3
1. Now you get to MacGyver your way out of any situation. [He says this is the fun part.]
Review steps 1-6 and realize that the current situation is not cause for much drama.

Too Much?

Do these steps seem extreme to you? I hope they do. I doubt any of us are in a situation where oxygen, the elements, sleep, and clean water are even on our radar. For me, taking stock of the basics helps me realize the interruption of our daily routine isn’t cause for alarm.

Be wise, be calm, go to bed on time, and drink water.

Thanks, Dad.

father sleeping with baby on chest Tasha, friend of Laura, was born on a military base in Maine, lived in nine different places before college, four homes and three towns to date since marriage in 2007. She currently lives in the middle of the USA where God has blessed the earth with extreme versions of all four seasons. When she is not feeding her family of six, including her middle-school-science-teaching husband, three sons and daughter, she can be found sewing, painting, sneaking Jalapeno Cheetos, dreaming of forests, staying out of debt, Instagramming for Laura at @heavenlyhomemaker and looking snazzy in a vintage tweed blazer while attempting to write an encouraging article with a baby on her lap.

5.0 from 3 reviews

How To Survive Anything

Save Print

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Author: Tasha's Dad

Ingredients

1. Remain calm.
2. Find someone who knows more than you and ask what to do. [Not news stations that cause more fear.]
3. Understand your standard of living will change and likely decrease. [See #1]
4. Things will seem much easier when you accept #3. [See #1]
5. Assess what you need for life:
a. Air [See #1. When you panic, your oxygen intake decreases which dramatically impairs thinking and rate of survival.]
b. Protection from the elements [sub-zero or extreme heat]
Can you make it through the next 8 hours? [YES]
c. Sleep [See #1. Sleep is higher on the list than either food, water, and especially toilet paper.]
Can you survive the next 24 hours? [YES]
d. Water
e. Food
Can you make it through the next 2 days? [YES]
6. Start drafting a plan for short-term and long-term survival. If you need practical step-by-step guidelines, this would be a good time to go through your home and take note of what you have. See #1 and #3
7. This is when you get to MacGyver your way out of any situation. [He says this is the fun part.]

Instructions

Print recipe and review steps 1-6 as often as necessary and realize that the current situation is not cause for much drama.

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Books I Would Love for You to Love with Me

March 8, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

One of my favorite things is a fresh crispy salad with bacon, feta cheese, and thin homemade ranch with extra garlic. Mmmm. And also: books! My house is full of many kinds of books. Every year I purge stacks of them and yet my collection continues to grow. I’m going to share a few of my current favorites, listed in no particular order.

I’ve included the link to each. (Budget tip: Don’t buy them new! If you can wait a week or so, snag a used copy if available.) Keep scrolling to read my comments on each!

The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Finding Your Purpose as a Mom: How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground by Donna Otto

Bonus Novels: Two Ways Home by Sonda Kraak (Sequel to the equally delightful One Plus One Equals Trouble in the Love That Counts Series) and our favorite cookbook of course.

The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

Among all the books I own, I’ve never read one on interior design! Gifted to me by my sweet sister-in-law for Christmas, I have devoured it. While reading it, I became aware of how poorly I was speaking of my home:

“I hate having the laundry in the kitchen,”

“My bedroom on the main floor is annoying because the kids are so far away,”

“The toilet in the basement is so old, I can’t stand to use it,”

“This house is so big I can’t keep it clean!”

Myquillyn Smith says, “Don’t apologize for what you have. It makes guests feel uncomfortable, it encourages discontentment, and if you’re married and your husband hears you apologizing for what he’s provided, it could be hurtful.” That hit home for me and my list of things that were “wrong” with my house. She showed me how to begin loving my home, and how to use my “lovely limitations” (like the laundry in the kitchen) as springboards for creative action.

She gives step-by-step guides to making your house a home. No, she doesn’t tell you what colors to use or designers or type of furniture or decor. She goes a step deeper and gets you asking, what is the purpose of this home? This room? This couch? She is always reminding us that a home is there to serve people, not the other way around and it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

I’ll be the first to admit, interior design is not my strongest skill, but this book is SO MUCH MORE than a decorating book. It’s a confidence-building, take action, bloom where you’re planted, seize the day, kind of book that I will be returning to for years to come. She has another I haven’t read that I will get my hands on soon: Cozy Minimalist: More Style, Less Stuff

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

I was not excited to read this when my Dad gifted it to me. “Yay… a book about prayer…” But, let me just say, “WOW.” The growth in my faith that I have today was watered by reading The Circle Maker. I have underlined passages in every chapter and filled margins with notes. Batterson uses his own personal experiences and biblical miracles to show God’s ever-present ever-listening qualities. He says, “Nothing honors God more than a big dream that is way beyond our ability to accomplish.” After reading this chapter, I fell on my knees and spilled out my dreams of paying down $20,000 of our debt in one year. This was June we weren’t even close to the $10,000 mark. I began circling that dream. By December we had paid back $29,000. Whaa?? God gets full glory for that one.

What it boils down to is believing that God is able and yet the answer will always be “No,” if we don’t ask. He encourages us that we “don’t worship the Great I-Used-To-Could.” We worship the Great I Am. If you want a book to energize, inspire, and fuse hope back into your relationship with God, this is a great choice.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Um, no, this book will not inspire you to be a better homemaker or teach you better ways to pray. But yes, really, really, it’s one of my favorites! When my baby girl was two days old I began reading aloud to her as something to do. I had a long and slow postpartum recovery, spending upwards of seven hours a day sitting and resting for months. This book was one of the few we owned that I had never read. Why would I want to read a book about dinosaurs?! Gag! But the husband insisted I give it a try.

Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. There is a lot of blood and some language, the dinosaurs and the gagging, remember? But the story is incredibly fascinating, the science is intriguing, and the characters are interesting. All around an exciting and thrilling read. I also love his sequel The Lost World. And we won’t talk about the movies. They’re fine. But the books are fantastic. If my daughter needs therapy someday because her mother read aloud Jurassic Park her first week of life… send me the bill.

Finding Your Purpose as a Mom: How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground by Donna Otto

I own almost every one of Donna’s books. I stumbled upon her podcasts, Modern Homemakers, after searching, “Organization.” Apparently she was teaching about organizing before it was trendy! Though this book isn’t about your physical home as much as your role as a spiritual leader in your home. (The one she wrote about managing your physical house is called “How to Get More Done in Less Time.”)

Is your home peaceful? Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Is home a place where everyone feels safe? She gently teaches you what to do when you’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to do.

While this is not a quick read, it is worth the energy. I find I do best reading a couple pages at a time and letting it sink in. It is packed full of wisdom. Finding Your Purpose would make a fantastic book for a bible study or book club. I have read through it twice in the past four years, each time feeling more empowered in my roles as a woman, wife, mother, and homemaker.

BONUS books:

Two Ways Home by Sonda Kraak and the rest of the Love That Counts Series.

Reading novels was my main hobby. At least a couple hours every day. Growing up, I read so much that I didn’t understand there were people who didn’t read. What sort of life would that be… I was such a reader all my life I didn’t know it was to be classified as a “hobby,” it’s just what I did.

Not surprisingly, I went to college and got a degree in English because… books.

In Middle School, I blasted through all the Janette Oke novels and fell in love with anything Historical Fiction with clean romantic tension, but also fantasy and dragons and epic adventures (and dinosaurs apparently). I tried to give up reading a few years ago when I had too many kids and not enough time or sleep. But recently, I started again. Bless my baby who doesn’t sleep through the night and the hours I spend awake when I should be sleeping. I bought Sonda Kraak’s novel on my phone’s Kindle app for free with my Amazon points and I read it in 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute, and 7 minute intervals while letting my baby work through his emotions, if you know what I mean. Also, I find I can read in night-mode without disturbing the baby while he nurses in the evenings.

So, bla bla bla… I love books. Let me tell you about Two Ways Home and how much I loved reading it. Girl meets Boy and … well, if you’ve read an inspirational romance book ever then you know the drill. EXCEPT, Kraak’s writing is topnotch. The characters are funny and witty and do silly things that make them realistic. The hero is swoon-worthy, yet has his own demons to slay. The heroin is strong, yet she learns the beauty of having someone love her and pray for her.

Your turn!

Outside tales of how Laura had to chase down her taco, what do you read? I’d love to hear about any great books you’ve stumbled upon. Are there stories that have just stuck with you? Non-Fiction you keep thumbing through and pick up again and again? We all know that your newest favorite cookbook is Simple Real Food Recipes (#sorrynotsorry) but is there anything else you’ve been reading lately? Let me know!

-Tasha

Tasha Hackett, friend of Laura, lives in the middle of Nebraska where God has blessed the earth with extreme versions of all four seasons. When she is not feeding her family of six, including her Middle School science teaching husband, three sons and a daughter, she can be found sewing, painting, sneaking Jalapeno Cheetos, dreaming of forests, staying out of debt, Instagramming for Laura at @heavenlyhomemaker and looking snazzy in a vintage tweed blazer while attempting to write a novel in 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute intervals.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

« Previous Page

How to Start a Homeschool

Where Do I Begin for Homeschool?

Legal Steps to Take Before You Start a Homeschool

Now the real Homeschool fun begins: Curriculum!

Homeschooling a Kindergartener

Legal boxes checked and homeschool books picked out, now what?

A Sample Homeschool Schedule to Start With

You Can Start a Homeschool! You Got This!

You’re Not Alone

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

Round two looking for homeschool books

You’ve Got This

Thanks, Mom!

Textbooks are out, living books for homeschool are in.

What if I told you there’s a better way?

You can customize your pack.

What if I told you the books are already homeschool mom approved?

Homeschool = Flexibility

Want to check out Beautiful Feet Books?

Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier By Tasha Hackett

So I bought some stuff online

Here’s my secret to neat gifts: Ultimate Bundle Bonuses

Tasha, the budget girl, bought the Homemaking Bundle

Bonuses!

Feeling motivated yet?

So there you have it

Sometimes being debt-free isn’t much fun.

Let’s not blame the cake.

What if you wanted a new car instead of cake?

There are exceptions to everything.

We absolutely love being debt free.

I’m choosing this.

You get to choose!

What are you choosing? Are you pleased with your choices?

Simple Way to Actually Save Your Cash

Put the cookie jar on a higher shelf.

How badly do you want a cookie?

Saving cash is better than saving cookies.

No, I don’t lock my money in a cupboard.

Here’s how we stash cash fast.

What will the rest of 2020 look like? What will 2021 look like?

God already sent the rescuer.

Can you believe and not believe at the same time?

Who’s having fun?! We are!? (Hint: I schedule fun into my week.)

Morning Routine and Homeschool Life

Too often I let my day start here.

Morning Time with the Kids, My Favorite!

School Time!

Afternoon

Evening

What keeps you grounded?

Can you have a great birthday on a budget?

What about the big/little kids?

1. Budget, Budget, Budget.

2. Kids are stronger than you think.

3. Plan ahead.

4. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. (Luke 12:15)

5. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. (Luke 12:23)

I still want birthdays to be something special.

Recipe for Survival in the Midst of Challenge

In Honor of Popeye

At Least, That’s How I Remember It

My Dad was a Prepper.

Spoiler: He Wasn’t Worried

So what now?

WHAT SHOULD WE DO RIGHT NOW?

Recipe for Survival

Too Much?

The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Finding Your Purpose as a Mom: How to Build Your Home on Holy Ground by Donna Otto

BONUS books:

Your turn!

Homemaking Tips to Make Life Easier
By Tasha Hackett