Plugging Along

Well it seems that my mind can not stop going in 64 different directions at the same time.  Everything I think about seems to be a priority, or needs doing (before baby arrives), or needs more planning, or more resources, or, or, or.  So I write up a lot of lists.  Not that I have looked at half of them after they are written!!!  Ha, ha.  But, it seems to help calm my brain a bit to get it all out on paper.

Lately I've been doing a lot of work on our homeschooling plans.  We are just starting to get back to our schedule, so we've slacked off a bit in the schooling department.  But more importantly there were little bits and pieces, odds and ends, that were not taken care of for this school year.  I really wish I had known about Charlotte Mason before I started Isabella's education!  Trying to figure out how this all works with 6 children is daunting. It would have been so much easier if I only had one going into it, I learned what to do/expect for that year, so that each child that came along would have just "plugged" in.  Sigh.  Due to that the older two didn't get all that their younger siblings will get.

There are so many little things that matter with a CM education.  Or so it seems.  It's not that any of it is difficult, just lots of little things.  And it is all good.  My brain just needs to wrap around it all!  So far I got around to printing out some needed maps, printed out the lyrics for our hymns and folk songs.  I downloaded the music for this semester's composer we will be studying.  I also put their hymns and folk songs into a playlist for easy access.  I determined the best way to handle their narrations, though there are many new ideas for me to try out that I need to remember.  I still have to get some colored index cards for a timeline.  Now if I can remember to keep our Book of Firsts out, and to get out and DO nature study!

Along with all of that, my next obsession has been food storage/preps.  Like I talked about before, we have been seriously slack in that department...all. year. long.  I've been trying to do some more research/learning for inspiration to keep looking for ways to make it happen.  I think one of the biggest things we need to focus on for our family is gardening.  And, for Jeremiah, to bag a few deer this year :-)  If we could round things out with a small flock of meat birds this spring I think we could really save a lot on our grocery budget.  Meat and fresh veggies just seem to break the bank these days!  As it is we already buy our wheat, oats, rice, beans (multiple varieties), coconut oil, and some baking supplies in bulk (I'm talking 50 pound bags).  

On top of that, I really wanted to have some herbal tinctures on the ready for this winter.  With a baby due in January I want to be prepared!  No germs please :-)  I suppose I should stop rambling on, since there are a few more biggies running through my head.  I leave you with some pathetic photos.  No really, they are.  I pulled out my camera, hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, it was having an off day the last time I used it.  But, no, my second lens is broken.  I took some pictures around the kitchen, since I spent a lot of time in there yesterday brewing up things.

 My kefir in the back left, and a second fermentation of kefir up front on the left.  Next to them are nine quarts of fermenting veggies.  I have reg. sauerkraut, kimchi, cortido, and salsa.

 Beans soaking for our dinner tonight.

 I made up a big batch of pasta sauce to go with some rice noodles.

 A huge pot of beef stew brewing.  In the red mug is my coconut/almond milk hot chocolate.

 In the crock I had a chicken butternut squash soup brewing.  Yum!  (someone needs to clean the outside of the crock!)

 And the never ending dishes.  These are all clean, except the very few in the lower left corner.  Doesn't everyone have a 100 number chart hanging out in their sink?  Ours got some peanut butter on it, not the best thing to have "spilled" with all the grooves that this chart has.  Sigh.