PJ Jonas – Page 153 – Teaching Families to Work Hard Together

Piggy Banks Everywhere

Our local bank ran an advertisement in the newspaper. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for them) we saw it. It said something like this: Bring in your child or grandchild and get a free piggy bank. The first time you fill it up and bring it in we will match the funds up to $25…

November 28, 2007

Oatmeal, anyone?

At our house, we go through a LOT of food. I mean, a LOT of food. I’ve got a new system that is working out really well. Right now, all I have to cook is dinner. Emery (7) makes breakfast. Brett (10) makes lunch. And I make dinner. So far, Emery has mastered pancakes, sweet…

November 27, 2007

UH OH

I think those are two of the most dreaded words (or are they just sounds) that any mother hears. I was greeted to those sounds the other evening. Now, when a mother is aware that there has been an “uh oh”, she has three choices: 1. Go investigate2. Send the children to handle it3. Pretend…

November 26, 2007

Apple Picking

One of our annual traditions is apple picking. We usually pick 200-300 pounds of Fuji apples. We can apple sauce, apple juice, apple syrup, and sliced apples. We store the rest in our root cellar for eating throughout the winter. They stay fresh and usually last until early March. But this year has been a…

November 26, 2007

For Want of a Clothespin

I stopped using my clothes dryer completely over a year ago. In fact, it isn’t even plugged in right now. In general, I enjoy hanging the clothes up to dry. But it isn’t my job to hang the clothes (although I do help). It is the children’s job. Unfortunately, it is not something the children…

November 26, 2007

Cabbage

Guess what Jim brought home from his route today – four crates (maybe 100 pounds?) of cabbage! One of Jim’s customers runs a food ministry and often sets out food for us. He also knows we have animals, so will set out any produce that he doesn’t have an immediate need for. This photo was…

November 26, 2007

Isn’t She Just So Cute?

Ok, I’m completely biased. But I just think Indigo is way too cute. She’s at that age where she has realized she can make us laugh. So she just goes around entertaining everyone. Someone recently gave Indigo a toddler bed. She was very excited to play in it. She even took her nap in it.…

November 26, 2007

Teaching Logic

I have a logic curriculum for the children. I believe it is called Building Thinking Skills*, or something like that. Problem is, it is a workbook. And a fairly expensive one. Workbooks don’t work very well for my family – because there are eight children needing workbooks. Normally what I do is cut out the…

November 26, 2007

I Told You To Put Your Shoes on the Shelf…

Last night, Jade woke up in the middle of the night, so I got up and sat on the couch to feed her (it was the quickest way to get back to sleep 😉 All the lights were off, so I couldn’t see anything. However, I could hear. And what I heard made me tuck…

November 21, 2007

The Case of the Muddy Footprint

I think I mentioned before that we do a lot with dirt. Me? I like to garden in it. But my kids, they just like to play in it. We still have two large dirt piles sitting in front of the barn. The children have placed boards across the tops (from peak to peak). It…

November 19, 2007

My Backyard

This is a partial view of my backyard. In the foreground is one of my gardens. We call it our trellis garden. This photo was taken on October 19th, so the garden is winding down. Remaining in this garden are turnips, peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, basil and parsley. It was our first…

November 18, 2007

Got Milk?

We just dried up our last goat for the season – that means no more fresh milk for the winter. Now for those of you who doubt, goat milk is great – no, not the nasty goat milk you can buy at the store. Real milk. Fresh from the goat. We have 9 goats, 8…

November 18, 2007

Two Mickels?

What is a mickel? Well, it is Hewitt’s word for nipples. Hewitt is convinced that he only has one mickel. Doesn’t matter how many times we point out his two mickels. Doesn’t matter how many times he counts, “One mickel, two mickels.” Nope, if you ask him, he only possesses one mickel. Everybody else has…

November 18, 2007

Playing in the Hay Field

Farmer Frazier has about 100 acres that he uses for hay. It is beautiful land. You walk through some woods and then you enter the hay fields. You can’t see a single house out there. Brett and I always have the same impulse whenever we walk out there. You fling your arms wide, spin around…

November 18, 2007

Fall is Officially Here

You know, it just doesn’t seem like Autumn until you’ve raked some leaves. When we bought our 3 acres, there were no trees on it – except for a few pines in the back corner. We’ve planted many fruit trees and several nut trees, but they are still very small and don’t produce enough leaves…

November 18, 2007