Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

It’s Treasure Hunt time! Join us for some fun!

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I am here to let you know about the second annual “5-Day Email Treasure Hunt” that I am hosting where you can learn more about the Flexi clip. Allow me to tell you why it is so awesome!

Most of you know that for years I’ve raved about Lilla Rose products, particularly the Flexi-Clip, which is my very favorite! I have several now, along with their Hairbands and Bobby Pins. They are all incredible quality and they are extremely pretty!

And now, a word from our sponsor, Paula Ramm. :)

Ready for a 5-Day Email Treasure Hunt?

Ahoy, Mateys!

Join us as we hunt for clues in our 5-Day Email Treasure Hunt!

Ye will receive one email a day for 5 days.

Each email will contain a clue.

Each clue ye find will earn ye an entry to win the Grand Prize of $71.00 worth of Lilla Rose hair accessories!

Blimey!

And, better yet, ALL Treasure Hunters on this voyage who find ALL 5 clues will win a prize of $17 “Lilla Bucks” to spend on anything on Cap’n Paula’s website!

Shiver me timbers!… Ye would be a lily-livered scallywag not to get in on this plunder!

Included in this incredible bounty:

  • Shelly XS Flexi clip $14
  • Compass small Flexi clip $15
  • Verity small Braided 8 Flexi with walnut stick $18
  • Mixed Metals Hair band $24

Grand Prize Total value: $71.00 for one lucky swashbuckler.

Unlimited $17 prizes to all hearties who find all 5 days’ clues!

The Treasure Hunt will run Monday, July 27 – Friday, July 31.

If ye’d like to embark on this voyage, just click this link and enter ye name and email address before we set sail on Monday!

Yo ho ho! Welcome aboard!

(Any questions, just email Paula, ye friendly Lilla Rose Cap’n!)

Shhh… Rumor is circulating on the high seas that there just might be a Christmas in July sale going on Thursday, July 23 at 10 am ET through midnight Sunday, July 26, with 30-50% off everything on the Cap’n’s site. It just might be a great time to stock up on ye hair supplies for ye upcoming treasure-hunting voyage, as it can get mighty windy on the ship!

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

How I’m Organizing our Homeschool Days

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I’ll share today about how I’m organizing our homeschool days. But if I’ve learned anything during the past 18 years of homeschooling, it’s that flexibility is key!

In many ways, as I sat down to write this post I wondered if someone else could write it for me. :) How exactly am I supposed to organize our homeschool days? Our high school sophomore can do most of his work on his own (if I help him stay organized with these planners). But our first grader needs almost constant direction. Meanwhile, our babies have turned toddler and well, they are busy.

I considered doing all of Brayden’s school work with him during the babies’ afternoon nap. But I need part of their naptime to:

  1. Do my blog work.
  2. Breathe and have a little downtime after a very full morning.

I prayed about this quite a bit, because who’s better to offer direction on what seems to have no solution but the One who gave us all these kids in the first place? So here’s what we’re looking at for our 2020-21 school year:

How I’m Organizing our Homeschool Days

1. Kid Folder Solutions

I created a very simple but brilliant folder solution for both Brayden and Malachi. Before a new week begins, I’ll fill the boys’ folders with work for the week ahead. This means that if it’s a printable, I’ll print it and put it into the folder. If it’s from a workbook, I’ll tear it out and put it into a folder. Instead of asking Brayden to “go get your math book” then “go get your handwriting book” then… I’ll simply have him get out the days’ folder and everything we need will be in one easy place.

(Club Members will find this printable pack of resources in both the “Printables Collection” section and the “eCurriculum” section of the membership site. Come and get it! Get yourself organized. Work yourself out of a job.)

Also – I’m using the Homeschool Planners here for both Malachi (10th grade) and for myself. He needs a list to work off of to help him stay focused. And I need plans out of my brain and onto paper. These planners reallllly help us both!

I actually experimented with this idea during the summer before officially beginning our new school year, just to see how it would work for all of us. BRILLIANT!!! I’m loving this so far!

Which leads me to…

2. Printables and workbook pages are working for us.

They haven’t always, because my boys all tend to prefer hands-on learning. But I’ve found that it’s working well right now to have simple math, handwriting, and enrichment pages ready to pull out of each day’s folder (fresh pages go in the right pocket, completed pages in the left).

Brayden and I work on these at the kitchen counter in the mornings after the babies have had their breakfast and are content to play (and make a monster mess) in the living room while we work. I can watch babies and help Brayden at the same time, mostly. This is actually helping Brayden learn to already become an independent learner, which is very good for him.

(You can read more info about all of the printables and worksheets we have here.)

Once the babies are bored with playing in the living room and Brayden has worked his way through as much as possible…

3. Brayden takes a worksheet break and we move on to free play.

Since the weather is so nice, we use this time to take long walks. The babies love strolling with us and are content for at least an hour! So they stroll while Brayden and I walk and learn. We’ve discovered new kinds of flowers, caterpillars in cacoons, varieties of train cars, food people have growing in their gardens, construction workers and machines — everything can be educational! And while we’re walking, we are talking (non-stop, ehem) and learning.

Once winter hits, these times of walking-and-learning will end. But we’ll find new ways to explore and learn, no doubt!

Smoothies for the road are highly recommended. :)

We play more, we have lunch, we check on how Malachi is doing with school work and video editing work (he is working remotely for Asa!)

4. After the babies go down for a nap in the afternoon…

Brayden and I sit and read. History books, read-alouds, and Bible. This takes about 45 minutes, then Brayden has some screen time while I get some blog work done (and drink coffee, obviously).

Our little experiment has worked well so far, and hopefully this will be our basic structure for the upcoming school year. But again – flexibility is key. We have no idea what this school year will bring. So we’ll make adaptations as needed.

What is your upcoming school year looking like at this point? Know that I am praying for all of us as we head into many unknowns this school year. :)

P.S. If you haven’t yet, please consider joining us here. You will love the useful resources!!

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

Back to School Looks Different. Might this help?

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To say that “back to school looks different” this year is kind of an understatement. Even for those of us who have homeschooled for a very long time, it looks different. Will there even be field trips, co-op days, our regular P.E. group days, etc? :(

But for some of you, the changes surrounding the upcoming school year are even more difficult. For those of you who never intended to homeschool and have chosen it for this season. Or those who are planning to do distance learning at home through your local school. Or those who are cautiously sending your kids to the school building knowing that things will look much different than normal. I’m proud of all of you for choosing what is best for your family during this season.

And teachers?

Oh, teachers. Those who love their classroom because of the dear students who fill it and learn inside its walls. I am really sad for you as you’ve endured so many changes in both your career and in your life. And I admire you. You’ve had to make so many adaptations and have worked harder than most of us realize. YOU HAVE ROCKED THIS. I’m amazed at you.

I have a hunch that classroom teachers long for normalcy more than the rest of us – and that’s saying something. Well anyway, this post is intended to be one of encouragement and hopefully lots of help too! Let me head in that direction now, but I couldn’t do that without first acknowledging the pain and challenges that put us all here in the first place.

“Back to School” Looks Different

While none of us are walking the exact same path (and aren’t we glad that God has different and perfect plans for each of us!!) – what I’ve seen for almost everyone is that our plates are all just a bit more full than they used to be.

It’s funny, isn’t it? There are fewer places to go and perhaps not as many outside commitments with so many activities and events canceled. But at home? Well, the cancelation of outside events means that we are all home more, which can make our work at home much bigger than it used to be in some ways.

For instance, if everyone is now working from home and schooling from home, the house gets messier and more meals and snacks need to be made. Take it from a long-time work-from-home-and-school-the-kids-from-home mom. The messes are real and frequent and the hunger is real and constant!

If you’re used to grabbing lunch at a restaurant during a lunch hour and counting on your kids to eat at the school cafeteria – suddenly you need to figure out lunches at home. If snacks used to be eaten in the car on the way to sports practice after school – suddenly snacks are requested every afternoon just about the time you thought you’d catch a five-minute breather.

Thanks for the encouragement, Laura.

Hmmm. I told you this post was intended to encourage, but here I am pointing out more changes and harder work!

But wait. I do have encouragement and help and resources! I have so much encouragement you won’t even believe it. (Really, I do.)

First of all, there’s this:  While almost everything around us has changed, GOD HASN’T GONE ANYWHERE. He knew this was coming, He has been at work all along, and because He is a God of good plans for all of His people, He is constantly at work to teach us more about who He is and how He loves us. God is bringing so much good to all of us during this time! Do you see it? Do you recognize it? Just think about all the good God has done during these past months of change and trial. HE IS SO GOOD.

(And yes, even if we’ve experienced extreme hardship during this time, He is still good, still at work, and still working out His good plans. Hardship is how we learn more about who He is. I know this. I’ve experienced this.)

Here’s where I’m hoping to help.

All I’ve been able to think about recently is how I can help and what I can offer. I have 12+ years of resources here at Heavenly Homemakers, and I put the best of them all in our Heavenly Homemaker’s Membership Club site. But I kept thinking that I needed to add more. More to help us all as we figure out more meals at home, more snacks at home, perhaps more about schooling at home, and all the planning and organizing that comes with this new journey we’re all on (different as it may be for each of us).

First, let’s talk about Menu Planning.

What I felt was the biggest need for most of us is figuring out food (or maybe that’s simply where my brain always goes because I love everything about food). How can we all feed our families well without having to:

  • reinvent the wheel
  • spend more time than necessary
  • or work harder at something that we don’t all love to do?

Our membership site already offers an entire year’s worth of Simple Meals packets ($52 value). But I knew we needed more. So the packets are still there, but instead of leaving the section as it was, only offering pre-made menu plans and grocery lists, I exchanged this section:

With THIS:

It’s an entire page filled with Menu Planning Resources now!!!!!

It includes:

  • 52 weeks worth of Simple Meals planning packets (like it always did) and also…
  • Our exclusive Recipe Search Bar – so you can type in any ingredients you want to use and find recipes that work with those very ingredients – incredible!
  • A brand new packet of printable and practical Menu Planners for you to fill in and use in any way that works for YOU.
  • Cheat Sheets!! (These are my favorite new resources!!) These cheat sheets are filled with lists and links that include 100’s of ideas for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks! So instead of thinking on your own and spending a lot of time scrolling and reading and brainstorming, you can simply pull up these Cheat Sheets and skim them to get all kinds of wonderful, simple, tasty, real food ideas!

And here’s a little peek at a few of our new printable menu planners. Some of them allow you to only plan meals and snacks, like a regular menu planner. Others give you the option to plan your entire day – with appointments and to-do lists and oh yeah, your menu plan too! That’s my favorite planning page – so I can plan my entire day from school to appointments to meals all on one page!

And what else did we add to the Heavenly Homemakers Membership Site?

More Homeschool Resources

While we already offered an entire section of Homeschool Encouragement articles:

And we already included a huge selection of homeschool curriculum and printables and materials:

But we just added more. And we had in mind everyone from veteran homeschoolers to new homeschoolers to online distance learners and classroom teachers!

Here’s what’s new:

We created over 50 printable enrichment pages.

While I love our Sonlight curriculum, I always also have files on my computer full of activities and worksheets and printable books I can use to encourage further learning and fun for my kids. The goal for these sheets, also, is to give my kids activities that they can work on in their own time, without much help from me – hopefully!

These printables cover subjects from math to science, to English, to reading, to social studies, to brain stimulation.

Homeschool Planners

We also created and added a packet of Homeschool Planners to our Club Membership site. This includes planners for both students AND parents!

Here’s a little sample of what some of the planners look like:

And the simplest but perhaps my favorite…

Kid Folder Solutions

This is how I’ll be organizing our boys’ school work for this year. The idea is simple and that’s what I love about it. This will help them (from 1st grade to 10th grade this year!) be more independent plus it will keep all of their work in one place. I love this! Club Members, check out Kid Folder Solutions in both the “Family Learning Printables” section and the “eCurriculum Collection.”

$50 added to our $1,000+ worth of resources!

So in summary, while our Club Membership site already includes well over $1,000 worth of helpful resources, we just added over $50 more! Club members enjoy:

  • all of our eBooks and eCurriculum
  • our beautifully organized recipe section,
  • a page full of Kitchen Tips
  • a page full of Family Tips
  • a page full of Homemaking Tips
  • loads of Homeschool Encouragement
  • and now a fantastic new Menu Planning Resources page!
  • Plus we’re slowly adding articles to our Foster Care and Adoption Journal if you’d like to follow along. :)

Join our Heavenly Homemakers Club!

We’d love for you to enjoy all of these resources and more. :)

Already a member? Go check out all the new resources we added!! Read to join?

 

Get even more details about what our Heavenly Homemakers Membership Site offers here.

 

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

Simple Spicy Chicken Burgers

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Gather five basic ingredients, and you can make these delicious and unique Simple Spicy Chicken Burgers!

You might recognize part of this recipe if you’ve ever made our Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick. This proves, once again, how easy it is to take one recipe and tweak it to make it into something new! This saves brainpower, while still giving us lots of fun recipes to enjoy with our family!

Oh hey, speaking of spicy burgers, remember that one time I ordered a bottle of Cholula online? It went a little something like this:

My family was running low on hot sauce, and I like to keep it on hand because all of our older boys love it. In true Laura style, I ordered it from Amazon because if I can possibly have something sent directly to my porch to save myself from overflowing my grocery cart at the store, I will absolutely have the item sent to my porch.

Also in true Laura style, I wasn’t thorough when reading the description of the bottle of Cholula that I put into my Amazon cart. It looked like a biggish bottle, and that sounded good to me because we have a biggish family full of biggish eaters. I thought nothing more about my Cholula until I pulled it out of the box a few days later.

And wow. Well, we didn’t know they made Cholula bottles that large!

Laura had ordered a 64-ounce bottle of Cholula, which is the same as a half-gallon, thankyouverymuch. Picture a 2-liter of soda and you’ve got our Cholula bottle. We shall not run out of Cholula any time soon, or so it seems. But then again, we REALLY like these Spicy Chicken Burgers so we may go through the bottle faster than we think.

I appreciate that this is a recipe that allows me to mix up the ingredients quickly in the morning, shape the burgers for later, refrigerate, then pull them out at dinnertime to quickly grill and eat. Read this post for more ideas about getting ahead and making dinner early in the day!

It’s also fun to note that ground chicken costs less than ground beef. So this recipe will save you money!

Beyond that, our family finds it fun to have yet another variety of burgers to grill in the summertime. These have a great, unique flavor that isn’t too spicy, but is super tasty!

Simple Spicy Chicken BurgersYum

Simple Spicy Chicken Burgers
 
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Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground chicken
  • 1½ teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2-4 Tablespoons hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
  2. Shape into 8 patties.
  3. Cook patties on a grill or in a skillet on the stovetop until the meat is golden brown and cooked through and through.
  4. Serve on buns with sliced cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, or any of your favorite burger toppings! Ranch dressing is a tasty topping with these burgers!

If you’re grilling these, you’ll find that you need to leave them alone for quite some time before you flip them. They don’t hold together as well as beef burgers. Allow them to cook slowly on the grill until they have solidified somewhat, then they’ll turn easily!

Have you ever tried grilling a chicken burger? Give these a try – hope you love them as much as we do!

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

Laura’s Favorite Books for Homeschool (and how I feel about starting over)

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If you’ve been reading here long, you already know my favorite books for homeschool. But who doesn’t love talking about books? So I thought I’d share again and talk a little bit about what our school year might look like.

Do you like how I said, “…what our school year MIGHT look like”?? I’ve been homeschooling for many years (18!) and if I’ve learned anything about homeschooling or about life in general it’s that one should not make firm plans. Instead, one should try to be fairly organized, but be willing and open to changes that are sure to be necessary!

What? Life is uncertain?

Yes, just a little bit. I’m looking at you, COVID. But on a personal level, I will share this example:

Malachi is a sophomore in high school this year. (Asa has graduated from college, Justus will be a college senior, and Elias a college freshman/sophomore.) We had planned to homeschool for just three more years and then tra-la-la right out of this homeschool life that we’ve loved so much.

Then two years ago God (long story short) said, “You know how you got rid of all your elementary school books? Well, here are some more kids for you to raise and teach. Indeed, you are starting right over again. Go ahead and order all the books again.” If this hasn’t been the biggest lesson in not making plans, I don’t know what is.

It’s also been the most beautiful lesson.

So here I am, with my adult and college sons out of the house. And my sophomore “baby” who has now become the oldest of four boys at home, hahahaha.

What might school look like this year?

Malachi will be finishing most of his high-school-only classes this year and begin taking college classes for dual credit for the rest of his high school years. You can read here about how we do this for our family.

Brayden is a 1st grader this year, and I need to tell you this:

We have truly loved homeschooling our older kids. But I was tired and truly ok with and even excited about being finished three years from now. When God gave us more babes, I actually had to grieve a little (more than a little). I thought I was done raising kids and teaching and training and chasing. I was ready to move on, and I might have already danced a jig on the biology book I thought I would never have to teach from again.

While I was so grateful and amazed and excited that God was adding to our family, I simultaneously grieved the loss of what I thought my life would be at this point. It’s hard to explain, but my feelings were big and intense.

What if homeschooling wasn’t the answer?

We considered public or private school for our new guys. It’s not that we’ve been opposed to the school system anyway, especially in our area. Homeschool is simply what we believe God led us to with our older four sons. So sending our new ones to school when the time came…might that be what this new season would bring for us?

But God said no to that option, at least for now. We prayed for months over this, and we only had peace about homeschooling. Brayden especially needed the stability and daily consistency that homeschooling would provide. So I said, “God, if you want us to homeschool these babes, please, please make me want it.”

And He did.

Only after experiencing such hard emotions over what this new life brought could I experience the big joy over what God said yes to. He truly made me want to do this again. It is all Him.

God does not give us these challenging gifts with a pat on the head and a “go get ’em!” No, He gives us these gifts and He says, “I will provide you with everything you need to serve me in the ways I’ve asked you to.”

God absolutely made me want to – and even excited about – homeschooling all over again. I might even be more excited than I was when I homeschooled “Round One” because I know more now than I did when I first started out 18 years ago. Our God is good, big, faithful, and the best provider there is. I love how He works, and I love experiencing His goodness in these brand new ways.

There are no words for the beauty of this life with Bigs and Littles.

So we ordered this years’ books, and I cried.

Why? Because seeing the books and remembering the beauty of my time with our Bigs back when they were my Littles has been precious. And thinking about how much I love our new Littles and how I can’t imagine life without them now, and realizing that I get to live this life with them and enjoy these books and times of learning with them – well. I cried.

I GET TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I snapped this picture when our box of Sonlight books came in and sent it to our Bigs saying, “Remember unboxing day?!” They had a variety of fun responses. Yep, they remember!

Brayden is excited to be considered a first-grader this year. He’s a bit behind in a few academic areas, so we’ll be working through the Sonlight’s Kindergarten history, readers, and literature books. We’ll give him a mixture of K-1 math lessons from a variety of sources. He’ll do grade 1 handwriting (Getty-Dubay). We’ll get books from the library to learn about whatever he is interested in. We’ll do lots of enrichment activities (more about this soon!).

I started with Sonlight 18 years ago and while there are many more options now, I still always go back to Sonlight. Part of this is because it’s familiar and comfortable. But it’s also awesome, so why change what’s working for us, right?

My Favorite Books for Homeschool

My favorite thing about Sonlight curriculum is how there are no textbooks involved. We read awesome literature together, learning history and science in a more natural (and more fun!) way. Not only that, the history and the reading options almost always sync up. So when we are learning American History, the readers are from that time period too. Or if we’re studying World History, the readers go along with that era. And they are age/grade appropriate. I just love this!

So that’s a bit about our upcoming school year. Though I have more to share about how I’m trying to organize our days to actually make school happen since we are also chasing around two busy toddlers while keeping up with a high schooler and a college community. So stay tuned for that post!

Tell me what your upcoming school year is looking like! So many are choosing to homeschool this year because of the changes COVID has brought to us all. Have any questions? I don’t know everything, but I do have many years of experience and can answer what I can!

 

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

Potato and Bacon Foil Packs on the Grill

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Make yourself some Potato and Bacon Foil Packs for the grill! You will not be disappointed!

I may have to make this every week of the summer! The flavor is unbelievably good. And of course, these are really easy to make!

I like to prep them in the afternoon while the babies are napping. Then at dinnertime, we throw them on the grill. While they cook, we steam some veggies. And the meal is perfection!

First things first, make yourself a batch of this Ranch Dressing Mix. I like keeping a full jar of this mix in my pantry to use in recipes like this!

Second, consider making a batch of Bacon Bits like this. I love having these ready to grab and use in recipes!


If you’ve got those prepped ahead, you can make these Potato and Bacon Foil Packs super quickly!

Ready to put yours together?

Potato and Bacon Foil Packs on the GrillYum

Potato and Bacon Foil Packs on the Grill
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • Heavy-duty foil
  • 5 pounds baby red potatoes
  • ½ pound cut and cooked bacon
  • 4 Tablespoons ranch dressing mix (or 1 pouch)
  • 1 stick of butter, cut into 12 slabs
  • Shredded cheese and sour cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
  1. Wash potatoes and slice them into very thin slices.
  2. Place them in a large bowl.
  3. Stir in cooked bacon and ranch dressing mix.
  4. Prepare foild packets using a double layer of foil filled with potato mixture. (I try to make my foil packets thin so they will cook faster on the grill. So I make this recipe into 3 large, flat foil pouches.)
  5. Top potato mixture with slabs of butter.
  6. Close pouches securely for the grill.
  7. Cook pouches on the grill for 15-30 minutes, turning occasionally for even cooking.
  8. When you can easily poke a fork into the pouches, you'll know the potatoes are thoroughly cooked.
  9. Pull potato pouches off the grill and serve with cheese and sour cream!

 

Need more recipes for the grill? Here’s a great list!

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

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

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!)

kids watching printer

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?

looking at books

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.)

kids playing together

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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Family Summertime Activities

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Looking for some creative ways to spend time with your family this summer? Here are some ideas for Family Summertime Activities that we shared last year. We’ll be pulling these out again this year to do all over again!

It’s easy to have big ideas at the beginning of the summer to think that you’ll do ALL THE THINGS with your family before school starts up again. It’s ok to come up with lots of ideas but don’t feel bad if you don’t get to all of them!

We hope that the ideas we’re sharing here are unique and doable for you. Just choose what seems to be the best for you and your family.

Obviously, anything food related is always a hit! So you’ll see that many of these ideas have to do with food. What can we say?

Also – I can’t say this loudly enough: SERVE OTHERS TOGETHER!!!

Do not make summertime or anytime all about you. Ask God to help you find ways to serve others. The opportunities are endless and God will most definitely show you who needs your help when your heart is open for service.

Our family has made so many wonderful memories together serving others. Not because every act of service has been easy or fun. But because serving together has taught us more about who God is. And looking back on that as a family is always glorious.

So whatever your plans this summer, put “Serve Together Often!” at the top of your list. Pray as a family about this and watch God work!

Family Summertime Activities

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Last Day for Real Moms Cooking Community Freebies!

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If you haven’t already, please come join our Real Moms Cooking Community!

Real Moms Cooking Community Goals:

  • Add new quick and simple recipes to your regular rotation that your family will love
  • Find ways to save time in the kitchen
  • Discover great tips for saving money on groceries
  • Learn simple ways to eat out less
  • Add more fruits and veggies into your meals
  • Gain tips for making menu planning easier
  • Support one another!

There is absolutely no cost to join this community. In fact, we’re practically paying you to be a part of this! If you sign up to join the Real Moms Cooking Community by today (July 8), we’ll give you:

  • A special 2 week series of emails highlighting topics like grocery budgets, family-friendly recipes, saving time in the kitchen, simple menu planning, and how to make vegetables actually taste good. :)
  • Exclusive access to our brand new Real Moms Cooking Community Facebook Group – so we can all share ideas, tips, and recipes!
  • 1-month FREE subscription to Simple Meals
  • This incredible packet of resources, for FREE —->

Ready to join us?

We’ll hang out via email and Facebook. Sign up here and we’ll start sending you freebies and connect you with the Real Moms Cooking Community.

Click here to sign up!

BONUS! If you share this post on your favorite social media sites so that your friends can join too – you can enter you our giveaway for a copy of our beautiful Simple Real Food Recipes Cookbook! Everyone needs this cookbook!!!!

Be sure to let them know that if they sign up by July 8, they’ll also receive the $49 worth of freebies we’re handing out!

Join the Real Moms Cooking Community here

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

Start Making Vanilla Extract for Christmas Gifts!

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Now’s the time to start making Vanilla Extract for Christmas gifts!

Christmas in July is fun. :) Start a batch of homemade vanilla extract now and it will be ready just in time to bottle up and give as gifts this December!

Bottles of homemade vanilla are extremely awesome gifts! However, you need to start making it now because it takes 4-6 months for a big batch of vanilla to be strong and delicious.

How do you make vanilla extract?

It’s actually super easy, though the result will make you feel like you’ve made something gourmet! People love receiving this as a gift.

Find a thorough tutorial here to learn the specifics about making homemade vanilla. Or, if you’re feeling comfortable, simply follow this easy recipe:

How to Make Vanilla Extract

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Start Making Vanilla Extract for Christmas Gifts!
 
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Ingredients
  • 1.75 liters of inexpensive vodka
  • 25 Vanilla Beans enter code HOME for a 20% discount on Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!!
Instructions
  1. Slice through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.
  2. Place all of your cut Vanilla Beans into a half-gallon jar.
  3. Fill the jar with vodka.
  4. Secure the lid and put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet).
  5. Allow it to sit and "extract" for 4-6 months.
  6. Every few weeks during extracting time, shake the jar to mix it up a bit.

Once your vanilla as finished extracting 4-6 months from now:

Here’s how to finish and bottle up your homemade vanilla!

Where to buy vanilla beans:

I always buy my vanilla beans from Olive Nation. I’ve tried other sources to “save money” but instead ended up wasting money because the quality of the beans from cheap sources was terrible!

Olive Nation beans are so, so good. I’ve used their beans for years. They love working with us here at Heavenly Homemakers so they offer us 20% off when we use the coupon code: home. Plus we get free shipping on orders over $50!

To make 1/2 gallon of Homemade Vanilla Extract you need:

  • 25 vanilla beans = $50 after coupon code HOME
  • Shipping = FREE on orders over $50
  • 1.75 liter bottle of vodka = Approximately $11

Your total cost for 1/2 gallon of homemade vanilla extract will be about $61. This breaks down to $1.09/ounces which makes 4-ounces of vanilla cost $4.36

BONUS

You can save your beans after you make a batch of vanilla and reuse them to make a second batch!!

I put my used beans into a lesser amount of vodka to get more bang for my buck. So for instance, for the first round, I use 25 beans in 1.75 liters of vodka. Then for the second round, I use the same 25 beans soaked in half that amount of vodka (.88 liters). The result is still amazing and I just spent a few dollars for a quart of great vanilla extract!

Extra resources:

Go get your beans!

And yeah, go get your vodka. :) :) :)

Make yourself a delicious batch of vanilla extract and get ready for Christmas!

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