<![CDATA[Missouri Sunshine Maker

<![CDATA[Missouri Sunshine Maker - Blog]]>Thu, 06 Mar 2025 09:27:35 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Seven Months of Chickens]]>Sun, 18 Oct 2020 19:50:28 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/seven-months-of-chickens

Chicken math means that, somehow, you mean to get ten chickens but accidentally end up with fifty. I’m not joking. Just eight months ago, our family had no plans to be at the place we are right now.

Last winter was a tight financial squeeze for our family. We had big plans to begin homesteading, but as 2020 began, we were wondering when we could ever afford the cost or have the time to get anything started. The corona virus quarantine hit in March just as our second child was turning six. His birthday party plans were suddenly cancelled and Michael suddenly had extra time off work. We took a deep breath and jumped into the chicken world, calling it “William’s birthday adventure.”

The ten baby chicks lived in a brooder in our garage for several weeks. We assembled it out of scraps of plywood screwed and propped together. The broken screen from our sliding door was the brooder door. While the chicks were in the brooder, Michael managed to turn our pool shed into a coop using mostly scrap wood and fencing foraged from our property. After the initial expense of the chickens’ infrastructure, they’ve been relatively easy to maintain (see our other chicken adventures doing chores and clipping their wings).

I didn’t think we’d be ready for any more chickens for a while, but Michael has been interested in raising meat birds for years - ultimately, we want to know that our meat had a healthy life. With the assistance of the government stimulus money in the spring, he was able to convince me to invest a bit more in our homesteading journey. He built a permanent brooder in the garage and a mobile chicken tractor to raise pastured broiler chickens. Even then, I didn’t expect to actually get those chickens until the following year. But, I think Michael has figured out how my brain works: I get used to new ideas slowly. So, by August, we had ordered a box of 30 baby chicks.

Michael became a real homesteader recently when he butchered two of our original flock of chickens. We had ended up with three roosters which isn’t a great ratio for seven hens. It was a good learning experience to prepare him for the meat birds which will need to be butchered in November. I experimented with cooking them - even though they were only about seven months old, their meat was tougher than standard chicken. I made chicken pot pie so that the meat was cooked in broth for a while and it turned out pretty decent!

Just a week or so before the meat birds were ready to move out onto grass in the chicken tractor, my sister mentioned that a coworker’s family had a flock of birds that they needed to rehome due to family health problems. Our coop has plenty of space for more hens, and we had already discussed adding more laying hens next spring… so we adopted 15 more birds.

We had an immediate problem because the best practice when introducing new birds to a flock is to quarantine them for a few weeks to be sure they don’t have any diseases or pests, like lice or mites. We put the new chickens in our garage brooder for a week and kept an eye on their health. While the brooder is an appropriate size for 30 chicks, it was really too small for 15 larger birds.

For a few days, we transported the birds back and forth to our fenced garden for more space. Since the garden is almost finished for the year, the chickens could nibble on the leftovers and their droppings will compost over the winter to make more fertile soil for next year.

Once the new flock was happily pecking around in the garden, we were able to get to know them better. We still aren’t sure about all the breeds; some of them are probably just a barnyard mix. There are five full size hens about three years old. The bossy Silver-Laced Wyandotte we named Ms Bea; the Rhode Island Red who is molting acquired the unfortunate name of Molty. Eight small orange bantam chickens are about four months old and haven’t started laying yet; we started calling them all “the Pumpkins” because we can’t really tell them apart. One sweet bantam hen has such soft lavender-grey feathers all the way down to her toes that the kids started calling her Fluffy. And, the last bird is Snowball - a little white bantam.

As we mingled with the chickens during their garden time, one of the Pumpkins stuck out as being a bit different - it had pointed saddle feathers, similar in shape to our rooster’s. And, sure enough, within a few days, I heard the little guy crow. We dubbed him Gingerbread Man when he led us all on a chase around the yard trying to catch him.

I’ll be honest: I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do with bantam chickens. Their eggs are so small that two together are about the size of a standard medium egg. And, if we ever decided to cull some, their meat seems hardly worth it… I expect we’ll just enjoy the cute factor of these mini-chickens.

After three days of transporting these chickens back and forth between the brooder and the garden, we abandoned the quarantine and just stuck them in with our flock. They’d had a soft introduction to each other through the garden fence; but, for the formal introduction, we put the new flock into the coop after dark, setting them on the roosts. Then, they all woke up together the next morning. We knew the chickens would need to develop a new pecking order so we expected some fighting and kept a close eye on them the first few days. I was surprised to see that our rooster, Freckles, broke up several fights between the hens - I’m glad he’s good for something!

The past few weeks have had a lot of new decisions, problems, research, and trials with being a chicken owner. We’ve discovered that at least three of the Pumpkins are probably roosters and we still have to figure out what to do about that. Our sweet Fluffy seems to have a foot problem which we are trying to figure out (what I’ve learned so far: don’t just try any random treatment you read about online… I’ll leave it at that). One of our original hens, Speckles, may have a vent prolapse, and we had to buy our first chicken medicine. We began supplementing the chickens with calcium because we found a couple eggs with soft shells. So, if all my social media posts are chicken related, it's really just because that’s the main thing on my mind these days…

I’m happy that I am learning how to be a good chicken mama with these experiences, but I’m ready to take a break with new animals.

...but, now Michael is talking about fixing our fencing to set up a goat yard...

]]><![CDATA[Celebrating Birthdays with Books, Featuring "The Chronicles of Narnia"]]>Tue, 01 Sep 2020 19:45:34 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/celebrating-birthdays-with-books-featuring-the-chronicles-of-narniaPost contains affiliate links but all opinions are my own.

Books are one of the great loves of my life (after my husband and kids, I guess…wink, wink). Seriously, one of the best anniversaries that Michael and I celebrated was when we spent a couple hours browsing a used book store and then visited the art museum. He won my heart again with that date plan.

As we homeschool our children, I delight in exposing my kids to the wide range of wonderful children’s literature. My absolute favorite is C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. The whole series of seven books is thought-provoking with it’s Christian symbolism. In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan says, “This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” Seeing Aslan in Narnia prepared me to find God in my life. It had such a deep impact on me that we named our first son Peter, and a couple of our other children have Narnian-inspired middle names: Daniel Lewis and Timothy Edmund (Edmund is my favorite character). Another trivia fact about me: the lamp-post in my backyard was actually a selling point when we bought this house because it looks absolutely Narnian.

In my experience at school, when books were assigned to be read, I never seemed to fall in love with them. It was when I discovered a book on my own that it came alive for me. So, I’m still figuring out how to introduce wonderful literature to my children without turning them off to it - I would be heartbroken if my children didn’t love them, too! And, that is why, as of this summer, I still hadn’t read or introduced the Narnia books to Peter even though he’s definitely old enough (we did watch the first movie). Finally, a few weeks ago, I decided to go for it. I didn’t want him to outgrow the books before we had begun! C.S. Lewis dedicated the first book to his god-daughter and said something similar:

“I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

Before bedtime, I always read chapter books to Peter and William (after the four younger ones are down for the night). It’s a ritual that I hope we can continue for years because I connect better with my Bigs when we cuddle and read. So, we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in July. Rereading this book is like a warm meeting with an old, very British, friend. I was pleased when both boys seemed to enjoy the book. But, I knew Peter had really liked it when he asked if it could be the party theme for his ninth birthday.

Just so you understand: I am not a party person. I’m too much of an introvert to enjoy hosting large groups of people - it's exhausting. So, usually, we only invite the grandparents and a few close friends to celebrate our children’s birthdays. However, something I really enjoy is decorating for our small birthday parties - I love to make each year exciting for the birthday child. And, as you know, I’m also passionate about introducing my kids to fabulous literature. So, I combine these two loves of mine to create memorable birthday parties for my family. When I think back about our parties over the years, I can’t remember how old the child was, or what we gave him/her, but I can remember the party theme!

I accidentally stumbled onto the idea of book-based birthday parties on Peter’s first birthday - we did a Curious George theme and bought a book to go with it (not the original story, unfortunately; it was just a cute little board book). But, I loved that idea so that’s what we’ve done for almost every birthday since. Some of my favorite parties have been Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (I made the sweetest bumblebee cupcakes and decorated with pansies in “hunny” pots); Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel (our frog cake was hilariously adorable); and Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges (the balloon dragon was super fun to slay).

I was actually a bit intimidated to do a Narnia party - it would be devastating if it turned out horribly (I’ve had my share of fails, like the time someone requested a Battle of Jericho theme and the castle cake was literally falling down...). Not that I procrastinate often (haha), but I definitely put off party planning because I was afraid. As the birthday deadline got closer, I began to search ideas on Pinterest and came up with a manageable project list: a costume, a cardboard wardrobe, and a lamp post.

Well, “manageable” got a bit stretched… because I ended up making costumes for all SIX kids. I’ve made knight costumes before (the Littles wore the old ones for this party because I didn’t think they would actually wear them - and, of course, they didn’t). From my craft room fabric stash, I picked out a knit material that wouldn’t fray so I didn’t have to hem the edges. I used a simple rectangle of fabric, cut a hole for the head, and sewed a red cross on the front. Johanna’s dress was basically the same - a large rectangle of knit fabric - but I cut flowy sleeves and sewed up the sides. Check out my Pinterest board for the directions I followed. I haven’t made a dress for her before, so I was mostly pleased with how it turned out. She loved spinning around and watching the skirt fly out!

I made crowns out of felt (another material that doesn’t fray) for each child. As a special touch, I changed up the color of the inside so that everyone’s crown was a different color. The dining table centerpiece was simple: just some mums that we had already bought for fall decorations. I hung up a Narnia-inspired banner featuring a rampant lion.

My favorite project was creating a lamp post out of a broken lamp (the shade had been cracked). Michael cut a hole into the center of a square of wood and cut four corner pieces. I glued it all together and used vellum paper as the glass. Then, I built the top out of black paper. I used an LED bulb in the lamp so I didn’t worry about having paper too close to it. The lamp post, a red umbrella, and brown paper-wrapped gifts made the Lantern Waste, winter-in-Narnia table.

I procrastinated the most on the cardboard wardrobe - I couldn’t figure out how to make it functional and big enough with the cardboard I had available! Michael and I figured it out together: we stabilized a long piece of cardboard by gluing smaller pieces behind it; then, I hung a tension rod in the front hall and taped the top of the cardboard to it. We placed our undecorated Christmas tree inside to surprise the kids as they entered “Narnia.” It was a great play area for them all.

For the guests, the main attraction of birthdays is the cake. I ordered a dollhouse-size lampost from Amazon, used a lion from our toy collection, and created trees by drizzling almond bark onto pretzel sticks. Powdered sugar dusted on top looked just like snow. The real challenge was fitting nine candles on there without melting everything!

By the end of the evening, not a single child was wearing their costume or crown, we’d devoured the entire cake, and decorations were askew. But it was fun to see the excitement with which my kids got into the spirit of Narnia. Thankfully, I have five months before I have to think about another party…

However, if you’d like to see pictures of some previous birthday decorations, please sign up to my email list! In the next week or so, I’ll be sending out an email update with more pictures and details of some of my favorite book-themed parties I’ve thrown.

]]><![CDATA[Entertaining the Littles: Part Two]]>Mon, 17 Aug 2020 19:01:38 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/entertaining-the-littles-part-two

This is the second part in this series about keeping my younger children busy while homeschooling my older ones. Read the first part for some simple, practical ideas that only require a little bit of planning at the beginning of the year.

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Preschoolers
The Middles are a little over three now. They are almost potty-trained; they can almost dress themselves; and, over the summer, their pretend play has blossomed. It’s been amazing to watch them develop from toddlers into preschoolers. They disappear into their bedroom quietly for an hour or more at a time!! But, then I check on them to find out what they are doing… Sometimes they’ve emptied their entire dresser onto the floor or pulled all the clothes off the hangers; sometimes they’ve broken all the crayons into fragments and ripped the wrappers to shreds; and usually their diapers are poopy (yes, we’re still working on that potty-training thing). All these developments show me that their “education” needs have changed from last year.

I am painfully aware that a directionless preschooler can be destructive and disruptive. I could do a three-year-old program with them, but I am convinced that, at this age, they learn more from free play, being outside, and helping out at home. Charlotte Mason, an influential educator from the 19th century, says:

"… the chief function of the child - his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life - is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavour of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects; that, in fact, the intellectual education of the young child should lie in the free exercise of perceptive power..." - Charlotte Mason

I want to give my three year-olds lots of free time and space to develop at their own pace. I didn’t have to teach them how to walk or speak; I know that they do need my direction sometimes (hello, potty-training!), but I also believe they are capable of following their own curiosity to learn what they need right now. They are born curious and designed to learn: three year-olds don’t need workbooks and academic lessons. However, I can give them activities that engage their senses and imagination.

To find activities that fit my education philosophy for the Middles, I talked to other moms, watched what other teachers (like their Sunday School teachers) did with them, and browsed Pinterest. I have to keep my plans for them simple, otherwise, I won’t follow through… So, I selected five not-too-messy activities to rotate through during each week, most of which use things I already have in my house. Ideally, the Middles will stay at a table for these activities:

Art: watercolors, crayons, markers on large pieces of construction paper, add stickers sometimes; have them wear a paint smock because dressing up is fun!
Tongs/tweezers/clothespins: picking up and sorting objects like cotton balls, small blocks, marshmallows; I’ll change up the type of container that they sort into - egg carton, mason jar lids, nesting buckets, measuring cups - anything different makes it more interesting.
Puzzle hunt: hide the pieces of a wooden puzzle in a tub of rice for them to hunt through; I might need separate puzzles for each twin, so I’ll have to test this one out.
Scoop and transfer: pouring beans, popcorn, or dried pasta with a small scoop into another container such as an ice cube tray. Keep everything on a cookie sheet to contain the mess. If they start getting extra messy with this one, I immediately put it away.
Playdough: a classic activity - I will always include playdough in this list. It builds lots of great skills, even cooking because you can make it together! I will pair it with a variety of other toys, such as dinosaurs, cars, or silk leaves and flowers, to add interest.

Toddlers
While I’m grateful to not have any little babies this year, the eighteen-month-old phase is a challenging age for me. The Little twins are climbing on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. They know how things are supposed to work and try to do it themselves (you know: spray bottles, trash cans, drawers, scissors, light switches, step stools, the toilet bowl brush…). So, my main tactic for them is containment and distraction. If the Middles have a not-very-messy activity on the table, I’m planning on having the Littles in their cribs with some new-to-them toys (from our extra stash at Grandma’s house). I don’t mind letting them play alone for thirty minutes because it’s great training for entertaining themselves.

I also plan on bringing our plastic slide into the school area so they have something safe to climb on. Then, with a long snack-time activity, I’m crossing my fingers that they’ll be content enough during the rest of school time. But, just in case, I have a pack ‘n play for when they are especially obnoxious.

A New Routine for the Year

“The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.” - Charlotte Mason

Every year, I try to keep each weekday’s routine similar. Ms. Mason speaks of “smooth and easy days.” I need the mornings to go smoothly for my sanity. I still struggle with waking up before the kids some days, but I’m working hard on making it a habit.

Another thing that helps with smoother mornings is that I’ve finally gotten my kids to stay in their rooms until 7:00 a.m. (it’s only taken eight years to teach them how to do this!). A lot of the credit for this goes to the Middles’ okay-to-wake clock. We didn’t use one with either of the Bigs, but wish I had; it has saved my mornings. But, the Littles somehow just wake up happy and play in their beds until I get them up - my other kids didn’t always do that in the morning, so I guess I got lucky this time!

I’m moving school time earlier and hoping that we can get through breakfast and morning chores (getting dressed, making beds, unloading the dishwasher) by 8:30. Our school time starts with reading a picture book with everyone. I love having a selection of library books on hand that relate to topics we are studying. I’ll pick a picture book and plop down on the couch with everyone to get school time started. I’m also hoping to do our Bible time as a whole group. Then, we’ll move into lessons for the Bigs and activities for the younger ones.

The first two or three weeks have always been the most difficult for me - as the mother, it’s my responsibility to enforce the new routine long enough for it to become habitual (for both me and the kids). There’s a balance between sticking-to-a-new-routine-to-build-new-habits and finding-what-works-best-for-my-family-this-year. I prayerfully consider what to adjust in the first few weeks and what I need to push through and make us do.

To ease us into the routine a bit more gently, I plan on taking three weeks to finish the first two weeks of work. Each grade level is a bit harder than the last. I want the Bigs to be excited and challenged about the workload, not overwhelmed. And, it's the same for me - I’m figuring out a lot of management in the first weeks, so it’s a relief to not feel such pressure from the curriculum, too.

I’m praying for everyone who is homeschooling in the coming year - whether it’s your first year not! Each year brings new challenges and changes as our children continue to grow and change, too. I want to provide some encouragement that, even if you have a houseful of little people to manage, you can successfully educate your school-age kids.

]]><![CDATA[Entertaining the Littles While Homeschooling the Bigs]]>Mon, 10 Aug 2020 02:05:42 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/entertaining-the-littles-while-homeschooling-the-bigs

Homeschooling has been a huge blessing for our family. When my Little twins were born, my older twins were only 20 months old - I had four children under two, along with a four year old and a 2nd grader. In the beginning, I was recovering from a C-section and spent about a quarter of my day nursing babies. We took several weeks off school because of this but before long, we needed the rhythm of school to give our day some order and I knew I had to re-figure out my management techniques.

So, when I say that this wisdom has been hard-won and learned in the trenches, you’ll see what I mean. These tips are practical, simple, and require only a little planning at the beginning of the year. You CAN occupy your little ones while teaching your older ones.

Begin School Time by Reading Together

This past year, I really enjoyed starting our school day by piling everyone on the couch and reading a picture book together. This concept is sometimes called “morning time” and can also involve any other whole-group activity - Bible lesson, singing, memorization etc. The point is that the younger ones get included, too. They want to be just like their older siblings!

There are several reasons why starting school with reading has worked out so well. All my kids love being read to. They don’t groan about starting school if I’m just saying, “Hey, let’s sit down and read this book!” And, honestly, reading puts me in a calmer state of mind. I’ve usually just gotten done chasing kids down for diaper changes, yelling out last minute reminders about chores, or throwing another load of laundry on. So, it’s a bit exhausting to think about starting school by giving out more directions. Instead, I sit down and don’t have to think about what to say, I relax and read the words already written down! Also, this book, whether fiction or nonfiction, is usually chosen by me and relates to something one of the Bigs are learning. The whole family gets to learn about a topic together with a picture book.

Sometimes, this reading time can become a bit contentious when all of them want to turn the page/sit on mom’s lap/cuddle under the blanket, but reading aloud to children has so many benefits. Reading great literature to my kids (there are lots of amazing picture books on every topic!) exposes them to many facets of the world and starts great conversations.

Order of Operations: The Youngest First

After we read together, we break off into separate activities, but I always start with the youngest - they aren’t capable of waiting yet. If you have itty-bitty babies, this means that diapers and feedings come first. Fit in quality time with them by playing peek-a-boo while you change them; talk about their body parts as you dress them. When you need to attend to the baby, give them your full attention so they get a good share of your time. A contented baby will mean a smoother school time for everyone else. From there, I put the Littles in their cribs with some toys and board books to have some independent time. Before they were crawling, I put them on a blanket with a basket of toys. Bonus: this is teaching them to play on their own! It also usually turned into their morning nap time. If you’re trying to drop the morning nap, put them in a pack ‘n play in the room with you.

Next, I move my slightly-older, two-year old middles into an activity. I select from a handful of different not-very-messy activities or a special toy (more on this in a minute). They love having their own toddler table for their project, but sometimes they also like to be at the main table with the Bigs. I want them to know that they are important during school time, too, but the goal is to give them enough attention and then leave them busy.

Then, I begin to do actual school work with the Bigs, still beginning with the youngest - this year, that was my kindergartner, William. Since he isn’t reading yet, there isn’t much he can do by himself, but kindergarten does not take long. In fact, the sit-down-at-the-table time was only about 30 minutes for us once we got into a groove (we had additional activities that we saved for later because Peter usually wanted to participate, too).

That leaves Peter (eight) until the end - this is also character development for him. He learns patience, how to take initiative and how to be self-motivated. After a couple weeks, he knows which subjects he can get started by himself, and I usually let him do them in the order he likes. One important change I made during the year is that we would go over his math lesson together, but he did the workbook pages the next day during his independent time.

Finding activities for your preschooler(s)

I’m greatly indebted to Pinterest for a lot of the things I’ve learned as a mom. But, there is a rabbit hole to avoid: sensory activities for your preschooler/toddler. Those types of activities (You’ve seen them: they involve finger paints, tubs of water, sand, and food coloring) have their place. You can do those when your little one has your full attention. The activities that I pick to occupy my preschoolers during homeschool time need to be as independent and fool-proof as possible. Pinterest can still be helpful here - just be discerning as to what you can handle during lessons. Check out my board for realistic ideas.

Don’t pick messy activities

I selected a rotation of only-slightly-messy projects: a tray of dried beans, playdough, watercolors, sticker sheets, and safety scissors with old magazines. You can make an item more interesting each week by pairing it with something new. For example, give them dinosaurs with the playdough (show them how to make footprints!) or let them put stickers on a paper towel roll. The activity needed to be very interesting, but not very hard to clean up. I made a big deal about keeping the beans/playdough/etc. off the floor and my two-and-a-half year olds were able to mostly do it. If they start to make messes, it meant they were getting bored (it was almost always Daniel!), so I would put it away immediately.

Give one toy at a time

It’s a fact: toys are more interesting when the children can’t have them all the time. Our family has acquired several types of blocks - duplo legos, megablocks, magna tiles, and wooden blocks. I keep each one in a separate tub and out of reach. Then, I bring them out one at a time, primarily when I need the kids to be occupied (like during school or dinner-prep); it’s like I gave them a brand new toy! Other toys that can work this way are small world play sets such as a farm with animals or a house with people/furniture. Since they don’t have access to these toys all the time, they keep their novelty. Side note: this even works for older kids with toy sets that have too many pieces. We have a marble run toy that drives me crazy because the parts and little marbles get scattered everywhere, but the Bigs love to build with it when it is only available occasionally. If I keep five tubs of toys put away, the Middles are so excited to have access to them once a week.

Hungry kids are grumpy kids

Be sure to have snack time (even the older kids will be happier) and make it an event for the younger ones. This is especially easy with babies buckled into a high chair with a large tray - it’s really the only time I would be okay with doing a messy activity (even better if you have a dog to clean up any mess that makes it to the floor). I strip the baby down to their diaper and give them a pile of food to eat, I mean, play with! Yogurt, pudding, cooked noodles, jello, hummus… be creative! Keep a damp cloth nearby to wipe them down afterwards.

Snack time for preschoolers can be a fun fine-motor activity. Try letting them string cheerios, build with toothpicks and grapes (or marshmallows), cut shapes into a slice of cheese with a butter knife, or sort gummy fruit snacks/animal crackers/fruit loops into groups.

The big kids get jealous

Sometimes the Bigs want to play with what the Middles have. Snack time can be difficult because they all eat the same thing, but I don’t want the Bigs to spend time playing until they are finished with school. So, I use this as an incentive to finish more quickly: “If you finish your math lesson early, then you can have 5 minutes to make a cheerio necklace, too.” Growing up is hard! Maybe I need a cheerio necklace break...

Don’t dismiss free-play

Planned activities help keep an important daily rhythm for your children, but be sure to give the little ones plenty of free-play time, too. If you can give them time outside, even better! For extra gross-motor play one winter, I found a small toddler slide that fit in our school room. During free-play, my kids turned it into a fort, mountain, cave, house, ship, and more! The play that it inspired was amazing and I didn't have to facilitate anything!

Also, see my Part Two post with specific plans for how I’ll be “entertaining” my Middles and Littles for the coming year. I’ll also get into a tiny bit about my early education philosophy. If you have any comments or questions about keeping your young ones occupied during school time, please feel free to comment below!

]]><![CDATA[Fermented Beverages : Water Kefir]]>Tue, 04 Aug 2020 15:36:34 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/fermented-beverages-water-kefir

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

When Michael and I were dating, he had an incredible friend at work who suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - it was the actual diagnosis, not a joke. He was a germ-a-phob and a major health-nut, but he was a deep thinker. I credit him with a lot of important, good changes in Michael. In this friend’s quest for finding the perfectly balanced diet, he showed up to work one day with a bottle of kombucha in his hand.

“This stuff is very good for your gut,” he said, “would you like to try some?”

Michael agreed, grabbed a cup, and watched as his friend poured the clear, bubbling beverage. As he took a drink, it caught him by surprise - in a way it tasted like lemonade, but had the sensation of soda. He was so intrigued that for the next couple of weeks, he’d drive to the local health food shop to pick up a bottle of GT’s Original Kombucha. Michael would never drink the last swig from the bottle, though, because it contained the “mother,” a tiny bit of the symbiotic bacteria that ferments the drink (you may also see this in apple cider vinegar). Michael doesn’t handle funky textures very well, so I would drink the rest.

So, for a while, kombucha was a fancy, expensive drink that we splurged on occasionally. After we were married, and during my second pregnancy, we discovered that the ginger flavored kombucha helped immensely with morning sickness. We were familiar with the concept of fermented beverages, but brewing it at home sounded like an expensive, time-consuming hobby.

About the same time, I was learning a lot about our health. Our first child, Peter, had several severe food allergies. Once I got a handle on how to make food that was safe for him (this is about the time I began grinding our own grain), I began looking into the reason behind allergies and what I could do about it. A lot of research shows a connection between allergies and gut health (one interesting study here).

I’m amazed at all the complicated ways our bodies function: the bacteria in our gut have several important jobs (It’s really interesting! Read about it here). So, our bodies need good bacteria to function - especially in our intestines where the nutrition from our food is absorbed. Probiotics, the beneficial bacteria, can be found in yogurt, fermented foods, and supplements. Buying high quality supplements is an easy way to ensure you are getting enough of probiotcis in your diet, but it was cost prohibitive for our family. I could afford it occasionally (and that was better than nothing!), but I wanted something more consistent.

I found that fermenting foods was actually very inexpensive - definitely the cheapest way to add probiotics to our diet! I attempted sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), but I was so nervous and uncertain: was this moldy instead of fermented? I was also having flash-backs to when I was forced to eat canned sauerkraut as a child, so I expected it to taste terrible and couldn’t imagine getting my kids to eat it! I threw out the sauerkraut without even tasting it. I still haven’t revisited sauerkraut but I’ve heard that even kids think the homemade stuff is yummy; I plan to try it again someday.

Then, I began to look at fermented drinks instead… I knew I liked kombucha, but the brewing process sounded so overwhelming. I researched other types of drinks and discovered that there are lots of traditional fermented beverages from every culture in the world! I landed on water kefir (there is also milk kefir, but my son was allergic to milk so that wouldn’t work for us) because it sounded simple and quick: it ferments in sugar water for two days.

Kefir is made from kefir grains (not related to cereal grains) - they look like large salt crystals or bits of cooked cauliflower. Each grain is basically a little colony of the good bacteria that eat sugar water. You can read about the specific strains of beneficial bacteria in kefir here and here.

My only hesitation in starting to home-brew kefir was that I needed to use non-fluoridated water. The fluoride that is added to city water can kill the good bacteria in kefir grains. That meant buying multiple gallons of water every week but I preferred to not have another cost added to our grocery budget. I had already been talking with Michael about purchasing a water filter because I wanted better water for drinking and cooking. I specifically wanted a Berkey because it removes fluoride, viruses, and other pathogens, but leaves the healthy minerals in the water. Using it for home-brewing was another reason to get one! We finally committed to it a few weeks after the Middles were born. We originally purchased two swing-top bottles from Ikea for bottling, but have since replaced them with these higher quality bottles which hold the fizziness better. Then we bought our kefir grains from Cultures for Health. They include precise directions for rehydrating your grains and caring for them.

Supplies and Ingredients
¼ cup kefir grains
Filtered water
¼ cup cane sugar
Quart size mason jar
Square of muslin or a coffee filter
Rubber band that fits around the top of the jar
Mesh strainer
Funnel
Swing-top bottles
Optional: fruit or juice to add flavor when bottling

Basics of Fermenting Kefir

Dissolve the cane sugar into about four cups of water - enough to fill a quart size mason jar with room for the grains. I heat the water slightly on the stove. Hot water can kill the grains, so if you forgot the stove was on and accidentally boiled it (this never happens to me… haha), be sure to let it cool to around 85 degrees before adding it to the grains. Place the grains in the mason jar and pour in the sugar water. Wipe the top of the jar so it isn't sticky or wet and cover it with the muslin or coffee filter and rubber band.

Let the covered jar sit on your counter/pantry for a couple days. If you have other fermenting foods around (like kombucha, sourdough, sauerkraut) they need to be in separate places. Through the fermenting magic, their microorganisms can contaminate each other and end up yucky (not the technical term!). It hasn’t happened to me yet, so I can’t speak from experience, but I don’t want to try it.

After a couple days, remove the muslin/coffee filter and pour the liquid through a mesh strainer into the swing-top bottles. Leave some space to add fruit or juice for flavoring. Although I sometimes add diced cherries from our tree, I don’t usually do anything fancy with this step. I keep bottles of lemon and lime juice concentrate in my fridge and add a few splashes of each (probably about a tablespoon of lime juice and a quarter cup of lemon juice). Close the tops and let them ferment for a couple more days. Make more sugar water solution and add it to the grains in the mason jar; cover and let ferment.

A Few Notes

To keep track of when your kefir is ready, try using a dry erase marker on the side of the jar to write the date - this helps me be a lot more consistent about feeding my grains.

But, confession: I’m still not very consistent about feeding my kefir grains. I regularly let them ferment for three days, and four or five isn’t unheard of… So, when I start feeling like they need some extra loving, I stir in about a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses for a boost of minerals. It makes the water darker and adds more flavor to the beverage. If you are consistent in feeding the grains, they’ll start to multiply! A quart of kefir doesn’t go far with my family of eight, so I faithfully fed my grains until I had enough to move them to a larger container. Now, we brew a half gallon at a time.

If you decide to make a half gallon of kefir, I have the most amazing pitcher to recommend! I don’t use a mason jar/rubberband/coffeefilter anymore because this cute little pitcher has a fine mesh sieve that keeps out bugs during fermenting but holds in the grains when I pour off the liquid.

I am grateful to have a sweet drink for my family that I feel good about giving them. Comment below if you might consider making kefir for your family!

]]><![CDATA[Our Homeschool ROutine]]>Sun, 26 Jul 2020 15:49:34 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/our-homeschool-routine

By the end of a carefree summer, I long to get back into the routine of school. I enjoy a solid, daily rhythm and I’ve learned that it keeps our household more peaceful, too. I'm not quite ready yet for the summer to be over yet, but I'm quickly getting there...

A couple years ago, when I was caring for my four older children while pregnant with the Littles, I had a tough season. Nearly every night, I struggled with insomnia, but I still had to wake up early with the kids. I could get out of bed and keep the household moving, but with low energy due to pregnancy, I could only manage to accomplish one thing each day, such as a doctor’s appointment, shopping, play date, or library visit. So, if we had anything outside of the house on our schedule, homeschool would get bumped. But, the result of so little consistent structure is that every day was a fight to get our school-time started: I had to convince myself to do it (which was really hard!) and then I had to convince Peter, too. I needed to change the expectation from, “Are we doing school today?” to “This is a school day.” I’m happy to say, this past year was so much better; even when the quarantine changed some of our plans, it really only improved our daily routine because we were able to do the same thing each day and we all knew what to expect.

I try to see life from a children’s perspective: if I woke up planning on one thing (i.e. playing), but someone else made seemingly random decisions about what I had to do (sometimes we do school, but sometimes not), I would be frustrated and obstinate, too. With a consistent routine, my Bigs wake up knowing what to expect and, as a result, we have less whining about school. Even my preschoolers and babies behave better when we have an order to our day.

Routine versus schedule
In the current stage of my children’s lives, I don’t keep a tight “schedule” where we let the clock tell us what to do; too many distractions pop up during a school day (dirty diapers, boo-boos, accidents, messes) that would throw us off a schedule. I do need a firm start time, otherwise I’ll try to keep finishing one more chore. So, this past year, I called the kids together to start at 9:00, we took a snack break at 10:00, and then stopped for lunch at 12:00. Otherwise, we flowed from one part of our routine into the next. By sticking to a routine, we move on to the next subject or project without worrying about what the clock says.

A sample of our routine this past year
Now that the babies sleep through the night, I am able to wake up in time to shower and read my Bible before the kids get up. I will never judge the mother who rolls out of bed when she hears the kids screaming for their breakfast because I’ve been there! And, those rough days have given me a gratefulness for every quiet morning when I can get up first; peaceful mornings are so glorious.

After almost nine years of having kids, we’ve finally been able to set a realistic and consistent wake-up time for our children (soooo many mornings of waking at 6:00 to excessively cheerful children). The Middles have an okay-to-wake clock that flashes rainbows at 7:00 am to let them know that they can get up. The Bigs like to sneak into the Middles’ room just before it turns on so they can see it, too. Breakfast and morning chores (getting dressed, making beds, and unloading the dishwasher) follow.

I prefer to do school in the morning because I feel most productive and have more energy then - we haven’t gotten distracted by other activities yet. By the afternoon, I’m more apt to be worn out and my head is thinking about evening plans. William Blake says, “Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.” And, that works for us!

So, at 9:00, I herd everyone to the couch to read a picture book together. Some homeschoolers call this “morning time.” I began doing it because it cuts down on whining about lessons starting and eases us into school time - all my kids love to be read to. When the book is done, I move the kids into their activities starting with the youngest. The Littles have independent play-time in their crib or pack-n-play with a few toys. I give the Middles a not-very-messy activity that will occupy them long enough for me to do kindergarten with William. Our K program only takes about 30-45 minutes of actual sit-down time, which was plenty for my busy five year old.

At 10:00, we break for snack. Hungry kids are grumpy and whiny. I can’t handle whining, so I feed them. I feel like a good mom if I have home-made muffins on hand, but usually snack is a handful of pretzels or dry cereal.

After snack, I may give a toy from the shelf to the Middles, but I usually let William decide how to spend his freetime (he loves being outside, even by himself). Then, I focus on Peter until lunch. He will have already done any independent work, such as handwriting, copy work, or reading. We do his math lesson together, but then he does the workbook the next day during his independent time; I check his work during snack break. We save fun projects or science experiments for the end as incentive to get the not-as-fun stuff done.

Lunch is at 12:00. I serve leftovers or sandwiches so I don’t spend much time getting it ready.

Nap time follows. Being an introvert means that talking exhausts me. Even while loving to homeschool and be with my children, I need a break from them to make it through the day as a happy momma. Nap time is an hour where I don’t have to talk to anyone and I do what I can to maintain peace during that time. However, I have learned that it is more important to keep the school routine consistent. Therefore, I schedule most appointments in the afternoons, rather than during our morning school. Many times, that means the Littles only get a car nap that day (early bedtime!) and my only downtime is while driving, but a consistent day is more important for everyone’s attitude.

I allow about an hour and a half of TV and afternoon snack time when everyone gets up from their nap. The kids each have their own day where they get to pick what to watch. I love that this TV time extends the quietness of nap time because this is when I get household cleaning completed.

If my kitchen is a mess, I cannot cook in it. At 4:00 I move into kitchen cleaning and then make dinner. We eat between 5:30-6:00. The rest of the evening is cleaning up the house, baths, and bedtime. The Middles and Littles go to bed between 7:15-7:30. By 7:45, I begin reading a chapter book with Peter and William. We choose to put the Bigs to bed soon after for an early bedtime, but they both have book lights and are allowed to read on their own for a little bit before going to sleep. It’s so nice to have adult time with Michael after the children are gone for the evening. I joke that mom is off duty after 8:00. But seriously… she is.

]]><![CDATA[What I Use Instead Of A CHore Chart]]>Sat, 18 Jul 2020 19:57:28 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/what-i-use-instead-of-a-chore-chart

I’ve tried various chore charts for the Bigs. Peter, in particular, adores checking off accomplishments on a chore chart for the first week; but he’s also super competitive and turns the chart into a contest with his younger brother. I find it difficult to supervise a long list of chores - I have so many little distractions! I researched a lot of cute options using clothespins, magnets, and cute little cartoons. But, I couldn’t find a method that worked for us, so I basically gave up and we’ve just been muddling through while I remind (or nag) kids about chores.

When the coronavirus quarantine began, I started to lose track of the days and never seemed to get much accomplished because there was no urgency. While attempting to declutter a stack of books, I ran across a small whiteboard that I just knew held a lot of potential for me... I started using it to write my goals (with check boxes, because everyone loves check boxes!) for the next day and it has been revolutionary for my management of household chores.

This whiteboard isn’t large - it’s a personal size of nine inches by twelve inches, so I can’t write an exhaustive list of chores and to-do items, but that’s good! I don’t want an overwhelming list, I want something manageable for the kids and me to reference. I only include the chores that change for the Bigs (something to clean usually), one or two simple goals for myself or my husband (grocery shopping, make kombucha, work in the garden, etc), and anything we have scheduled for the day (such as Peter’s Zoom piano lesson or visits with friends).

I also use the whiteboard to start habits. Right now, I always begin the list for the day with “morning chores,” which the Bigs know includes eating breakfast, getting dressed, making their bed, and unloading the dishwasher. I still have to remind them to do their bed and dishwasher, so I still write it down for them everyday. We also have evening chores of wiping the dinner table, sweeping the floor, and putting away the chickens; but they don’t need that reminder as regularly, so I don’t write it very often. Once a chore turns into a habit, I’ll consider adding something else to the list (like a family clean-up time right before dinner that will include the Middles).

I always save room at the bottom of the board for the day’s dinner plan. I can’t tell you how much this has improved my life - I’m not joking! Just knowing what I am going to make for dinner the next day has been amazing. I didn’t recognize the stress that I was putting on myself by not thinking about dinner until 4:00 in the afternoon. Even when I had previously made meal plans for the week, I hadn’t been checking the plan until right before I started cooking and it was totally hijacking dinner time. I can take meat out of the freezer, send Michael to the store for extra groceries, or start part of dinner earlier (am I the only one who plans a slow-cooker meal, but forgets to start it in the morning?!). I am so much better prepared to cook when my brain starts to think about it the night before.

The secret to making this chore board work for me is that I don’t spend a lot of time on it - about five minutes before I go to bed (while Michael is setting up coffee for the morning) - so, it isn’t a difficult commitment! I even think the board is kinda cute sitting on our counter. I prop it up on a plate stand because I like to be able to lay it down to write on it. Grouping it with a little vase of flowers (usually calendula from our garden) or a bowl of veggies looks so homey. On holidays, I draw a silly picture or illustration (my flag on the Fourth of July was pretty stellar!). If I’m exhausted and just trying to get to bed, it’s still a really quick process.

I’m not sure if this method will work for our family forever. As the kids get older and capable of helping out more, we might need more specific and individual directions. We have the flexibility to adapt to our current needs. I don’t know… maybe we’ll just need a bigger board! Even if you don’t have a whiteboard around, you can use an empty picture frame with glass - dry erase markers work just as well on glass! Put a pretty piece of paper inside and change it out monthly or seasonally. Do you have a method of assigning chores to your kids? What has worked best for you?

]]><![CDATA[DAIRY-FREE Tomato Bisque Soup]]>Mon, 06 Jul 2020 20:09:15 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/homemade-tomato-bisque-soup

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Several years ago we planted our first garden. It was a humble 4’x4’ raised bed with green onions, strawberries and, of course, tomatoes (the home gardener’s gateway plant). Our tomatoes grew and ripened faster than we could eat them, so I searched Pinterest for new recipes that my son with food allergies could eat.

I stumbled upon a recipe for tomato bisque soup, and it quickly became a family favorite! More recently it’s become a hit with friends, but when they ask me for this recipe, the original link is no longer valid - it’s gone! I can’t even find a similar recipe anywhere. So, I end up writing it down for them. The good news is I’ve made this soup so much that I stopped using the recipe and started to make it by feel. Instead of carefully measuring out the ingredients, I sprinkle them until it feels right. And because of this, I can claim it as my own recipe, right? That said, I’m excited to share my favorite soup recipe with you!

Jump to Recipe

This soup is so simple (the hardest part is chopping veggies in the beginning) and it is a great one to adjust and experiment with as you like. Before we get to the actual recipe, I do have a couple quick tips to make sure you have a fabulous meal.

Let’s Talk Tomatoes
You may use whatever form of tomatoes you have on hand (crushed, diced, fresh, paste, etc), but if using fresh, they need to be peeled. The peel won’t puree smoothly - it curls up into funky tomato-skin-spears. You can peel them with a standard vegetable peeler, but I’ve found the easiest way is to parboil them. Get several inches of water boiling in a pot on the stovetop. Slice an X on the bottom of your tomatoes - not very deep into the flesh, just enough that the boiling water can get under the skin and loosen it. Let the tomato boil for a minute or two; remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool for a minute before handling. The peel will slide off. Core and chop the tomato to get it ready for your soup.

Hi, I’m Herb
My philosophy about selecting herbs is the same as selecting your tomatoes--just use what ya’ got! My go-to herbs are parsley, basil, and/or oregano (if I have fresh herbs, I definitely prefer those), but I never measure them. So, whether you use dried or fresh herbs, give a free hand when you season your soup - you’ll have plenty of flavor!

To Dairy or Not to Dairy…?
When I first discovered this recipe, it appealed to me because it was dairy free. While our recipe uses coconut milk instead of dairy for the creaminess, you are certainly welcome to substitute cream (though, the coconut milk is really good - trust me). Also, this soup freezes really well because it’s dairy free… more on that in a minute.

Some of my kids won’t eat vegetables, either...
While you can’t tell by the looks of the final product, this recipe is packed with vegetables, which makes me feel great about feeding it to my kids. If you have picky eaters, my suggestion would be to include them in the cooking process - they might be willing to try it!

Flour Power!!
No one in our family has a gluten intolerance, but I have on occasion made this recipe gluten free by using almond flour in place of wheat flour. The only purpose of the flour is to thicken the soup, so you could also replace the flour with cornstarch or another potato. Have I mentioned that this is a really flexible recipe?

All blenders are not made equal
If you have one, use an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the stock pot. While I don’t advise it, you can use a standard blender, but you will need to blend it in small batches. The first time I made the soup, I didn’t understand: the top blew off my blender and boiling soup spattered over my whole counter and onto me and the small child who was helping me cook. No one was seriously injured, but I found out why to use small batches: when you put hot liquids in an enclosed blender, lots of steam is released when you hit the blend button - it’ll blow the top off the blender! We recently had to replace our old immersion blender and the new one has so much more power - I’m so excited to get to use it more!

Meat is Optional
To keep this soup vegetarian/vegan, feel free to use vegetable broth. However, I make homemade bone broth that has tons of flavor and extra nutrients. And to make this a full meal for us, I usually serve it with shredded chicken (again, optional). Did you know that you can quickly shred chicken with just a hand or stand mixer? I only learned this a few years ago, and it has made meal prep sooo much easier. I buy the family pack of chicken breasts from Aldi, trim the fat off, and boil all the breasts in a large pot of water. After 20 minutes of boiling, slice through the thick part of the largest breast to be sure it is cooked all the way through. Drain the water and shred the chicken right in the pot. Consider adding seasonings, like salt, while you’re mixing it all. Then, separate the meat into containers or zipper bags designated for specific meals (tacos, BBQ sandwiches, soups, quesadillas, jambalaya, etc).

Save for seconds!
This recipe makes a lot - about 12 servings. I always love having leftovers for the next day, but this soup also freezes really well because it uses coconut milk, instead of cream. You can freeze it in a large zipper bag, but I recommend freezing in individual portions. I use disposable cups and measure out a serving into each (about a cup). Put all the cups on a cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet in the freezer overnight. Then, pop the soup cubes out and store in a zipper bag. Take one out for a single meal, or deliver a few to a friend who needs a meal!

Add an hour to prep time if kids are cooking with you
This summer, I had high hopes of the learning that the kids and I would do together… One “project” is that the Bigs would learn to cook a real meal. I haven’t done a very good job getting us to focus on much learning this summer, but all the kids love to cook with me; so, it wasn’t hard to convince William to help me with this recipe. He has such a sweet spirit and is amazingly patient and persistent. He peeled and chopped the carrots and a potato; then he measured, poured, stirred, and blended everything possible. He already cooks eggs on the stove regularly (pretty much independently, too) in the mornings. With a little bit of kitchen-time every day, he’s going to be a huge help very soon!

I’d love to hear what your favorite soups are! What foods would you like for your kids to be able to make themselves? How have you introduced them to cooking?

Tomato Bisque Soup

]]><![CDATA[Making a Nature Cabinet for The Kids' Treasures]]>Mon, 29 Jun 2020 21:20:10 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/making-a-nature-cabinet-for-the-kids-treasures

Huge sycamore leaf, making nature display cabinet

“...I have a regard for children’s little treasures, and think they should be treated respectfully.” - Louisa May Alcott

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

It doesn’t matter where you live, if your children go outside, they will find interesting discoveries out there and want to bring them inside. When my Bigs were littler, we would walk through our suburban neighborhood to the library every week and come home with more than just books. Usually, it was rocks, sticks, leaves, or prickly gumballs: nature treasures found along the way. As a toddling two year old, William loved rescuing earthworms on the sidewalk - even the dried-up, shriveled ones. I cringed slightly and encouraged him to leave them in the grass because I didn’t want dead earthworms in my house. For the first few years of my kids’ lives, I treated nature finds like an unpleasant task - something I had to put up with.

But, before long, I began to see the beauty in it. On early autumn days, it was a game to see who could find the first colorful leaves to take home. Later in the year, we hunted around a neighbor’s evergreen tree for pine cones to use with Christmas decorations. A certain park nearby had an oak tree with massive acorns, and my boys collected acorn hats like coins. Eventually, the non-decorative nature collections moved to a spot in the back yard because, with twin babies around, I couldn’t keep it all off the floor and out of their mouths.

Bouquet of colorful fall leaves in autumn

I’d been aware for a while how important outdoor play is for kids. Research shows that time outside reduces stress and anxiety by 28% in children. Just being outside for 20 minutes allows a child with ADHD to concentrate better. This was an important reason why we chose to homeschool: knowing that boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, I didn’t want my boys to sit in a classroom for the best hours of their day when they could be active, playing and learning outside. Kindergarten homeschool only takes about an hour and a half of focused sitting time leaving lots of free time for playing.

Playing in mud by river, rain boots and sticks

In my education philosophy, the way in which I want my children to learn, I lean toward the teaching of Charlotte Mason. She was an influential British educator at the end of the nineteenth century. Her writings are a beautiful picture of what education could be. One of her foundational tenets is that children, especially young ones, need multiple hours outside every day. She says, “Never be within doors when you can rightly be without” and “We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things."

I highly recommend the book, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv for a new perspective on getting our kids outside to play. I was shown that just taking a child to the park wouldn’t teach them to love nature. Even at parks that are more than a playground, they can’t climb trees and aren’t supposed to leave the trail. I understand that it’s important to protect the park for other visitors, but my kids can’t explore through the woods, study tadpoles in the pond, or build a fort out of tree branches at most parks. A child needs lots free play time outside to develop a relationship with nature, and I saw how challenging that would be in our suburban yard and city parks.

We were six people living in a three bedroom, 900 square foot ranch (I could plug the vacuum into one outlet and reach every room). We needed a bigger house, but more importantly, I wanted land for our kids to experience nature without restrictions, to raise animals, and to grow our own food. Most properties we saw were either way out of our price range or had a tiny house. At this point, we didn’t know yet that I was about to be pregnant with our second set of twins, but we wanted another bedroom. When we put our little house on the market, we had a contract on it the first day. We were instantly in a scramble to find a new home - the one we wanted to raise our kids in.

The first time we came to see the house that we finally bought, Michael wandered back into the overgrown woods to see what possibilities the land had. And he came back with a three point deer antler. We took that antler as a strong sign that this land had what we were looking for. There was a lot against this place: the septic needed to be replaced (and we had never been on septic before); the basement leaked; steep hills make some of the property unusable; and it had an in-ground pool that we didn’t really want. But, the area had a wildness about it that made us want to explore; plus, it already had a fenced in pen for animals and two cherry trees.

It was during the process of moving out of our little house and staying at a friend’s for a few weeks with all our stuff in storage, that we found out we were expecting again. My first twins had just turned a year old - I was still nursing them both! I wasn’t ready for more babies, but God knew our family wasn’t complete - He worked out our house situation in His perfect time. We would need that fourth bedroom.

Moving a family of six into a new house when you’re eight weeks pregnant is definitely not my favorite memory of that summer. But, in the midst of putting beds together and finding our dishes, Michael and I both felt that the antler he had found needed to be displayed somewhere to remind us why we chose this place. This “treasure” was important to us.

For the time being, I put the antler in a vintage china cabinet that held dishes. But, soon enough, Peter found a wild turkey feather and then an abandoned paper wasp nest; William found a snake skin; I found the remains of a delicate dragonfly. The next spring, a pair of wrens made a nest on our back patio. We watched the momma lay several eggs and saw the freshly-hatched babies. The messy nest eventually made it into our collection. Slowly, my dish cabinet was being over-run, but I was so excited to see what new treasures the kids would discover while playing outside! Yes, the younger ones mostly find acorns, rocks, and leaves, but I respect their treasures, too. Within reason, I’ve tried to find a home to display all of it (I will admit, I don’t allow sticks in the house - those aren’t usually treasures, they’re weapons).

Dirty face, sweet eyes, dogwood flower for momma

With some down-time this summer, I decided to officially take out the dishes and designate the china cabinet for only our nature finds. I scavenged some extra items from around the house to add, like an impressive pair of seashells Michael has had since high school, a tree slice that I use as table decor, and some painted clay leaves we made recently. I am pleased with the display and am excited to show it off to visitors. Over the past couple years, I’ve learned a bit about keeping and displaying our nature treasures. I would encourage your family to begin your own nature cabinet, but before you do, let me share a few tips that I’ve learned along the way.

Nature cabinet display from china cabinet

Protect the Items
A glass-doored china cabinet really works out well because the glass doors protect the kids’ treasures from curious little fingers. Everyone wants to touch the sweet cardinal egg in its nest, so I absolutely would not have put it on the bottom shelf (where it’s so easy to see) without the glass door. Also, delicate feathers and leaves might blow away when someone walks past an open shelf.

Paint your Shelves
A white or light colored shelf works best. Most of the items we find are brownish so the wood tone of the cabinet wasn’t helping us see our treasures. I chose to paint only the inside of the cabinet (to be honest, I didn’t want to commit to painting the whole thing) and absolutely love how it turned out! If you have a tight budget, don’t hesitate to look for used furniture that you can modify - you won’t feel bad slapping paint on a twenty dollar cabinet.

Praying mantis egg case displayed in antique glass jar

Beware of Bug Stowaways
When you and your kids start finding “treasures,” beware of bugs living in them. Acorns seem harmless, but can have worms inside - yuck! Bake them on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for two hours. Shake the sheet a couple times during cooking to turn them and prevent them from burning. This also dries them which will keep them from molding. We had a fabric basket of buckeyes that started to mold and permanently stained the basket.

Birds’ nests can also be a home for mites or ants. Tie it up in a grocery bag and place in the freezer for a week before adding it to your indoor collection. Peter discovered a squirrels’ nest in a tree we cut down; it was exciting to open it up and see the inside, but there was also a nest of angry ants inside. We didn’t keep the squirrel nest.

We have few bug nests in our collection. We found a praying mantis egg case on a rose bush that we were pulling out of our flower bed. I left it in an out-of-the-way place on our front porch for months to be sure that any baby mantises wouldn’t hatch in our house - those egg cases can have hundreds of babies inside! Also, the Bigs brought a paper wasp nest in one day - in hindsight, I should have stuck it in the freezer for a while because it could have had hibernating bugs in it, too.

Keeping Egg Shells
Bird eggs are so petite and beautiful. We found a perfect cardinal nest in our lilac bush as we were pruning it back. The mama bird had been gone for a while so I was surprised to find an egg left in it. You can keep a whole egg, but if it breaks, it will probably stink. If you’ve found a broken shell, bake it in the oven for a bit (350 for 10 minutes).

Press the Leaves and Flowers
Every autumn, we end up with piles of gorgeous leaves in my house. If you don’t press them right away, they will dry out, curl up, and disintegrate into dust. The easiest way to press leaves (and flowers) is between two sheets of paper placed under a heavy book. Leave it there for a few days and then they are ready to use. I’ve found that the color of the leaves never stays as vibrant, so I only keep leaves for the season and we typically use them for a craft or decoration. I’m currently learning how to display pressed flowers better, so I’ll have to let you know how that turns out!

Make labels
If you know specifics about the item you’ve found, be sure to label it. I’m terrible about looking up details about something (particularly insect body parts - I find them confusing) and then forgetting the correct terms. Write it all on the label so the viewer can learn about it, too. I made simple tent labels with cardstock cut to one inch by two inches.

Make an Interesting Display
I used several bud vases to display feathers, the praying mantis egg case, and other skinny objects. It adds height and interest. Also create dimension by placing items on plates or covered boxes. Add contrast behind light-colored pieces. I placed a delicate leaf skeleton against a red background because the veins were too light to see against the white shelf. Include equipment (such as binoculars, magnifying glass), nature guides, and reference books - books make any shelf look better. If the books are solely decorative, you can lay them horizontally and place an interesting piece on top of them; however, if you’ll be referencing the book, keep it vertical and easily accessible so your kids don’t risk ruining a beautiful artifact.

Pin your bugs
RIght now, our bug collection includes a dragonfly and two cicada exoskeletons. I (very unprofessionally) pinned them onto foam core board placed in a vintage frame. I’ll confess, I had no idea what I was doing but this is another skill I plan on learning more about soon (In my opinion, that’s one of the best parts of teaching my kids - I get to learn alongside them. I’m sure I studied insects from a textbook in school, but when I see the lifecycle of a ladybug happening on one of our apple trees, I actually learn it!).

As I was putting the final touches on our nature cabinet, Peter walked up to see the progress. He commented, “It’s like having a museum in our house!” Then, he headed back outside to find more treasures. If you would like to see more detailed pictures of the cabinet, be sure to check out our Instagram page.

Do you display your children’s treasures in your home somewhere? If so, I'd love to hear about what you do! Comment below. Until next time, happy hunting!

]]><![CDATA[Making a grapevine wreath]]>Mon, 22 Jun 2020 15:00:00 GMThttp://mosunshinemaker.com/blog/making-a-grapevine-wreath

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

We have wild grapevines everywhere. Yes, everywhere. They grow up the trees and over the bushes, strangling out the sturdiest plants. I was looking at a pile of them last fall, thinking about how useless they were. But, the thought crossed my mind – is this what grapevine wreaths are made of?! Is it as simple as using these weeds? Yes, it is! And, it’s super easy.

Today, Michael was tearing out some honeysuckle that was covered in vines. He was dragging everything to the burn pile, but left the vines for me. I always have a few distractions while I work on projects like this. Today it was the Littles trying to climb the ladder to the slide, Daniel finding a new kind of frog (Peter thinks it was a green tree froglet), and Johanna wanting to be pushed on the swing. But it’s not too hard to watch all the goings-on while making these simple wreaths.

I love Daniel's sweet pudgy fingers. He was excited to catch a frog like the big boys.

If you don’t have invasive grapevines at your house, I’m sure you have a friend who has some – and they would appreciate your help in getting rid of them! Or, perhaps if you call some local parks, they would let you forage for some, too. Take a trash bag or plastic tub and bring home a big pile. The hardest part is untangling the vines and removing the leaves. You can use the stiff, woody part of the vine as well as the softer, green stems. Be sure to leave the pretty, twisty bits for the gorgeous texture and detail.

One quick warning: don't pick your vines and then wait a week to build your wreath. They'll dry out, get brittle, and crack when you try to form them. Don't ask me how I know...

You’ll need a pair of garden gloves, pruning shears (these orange ones from Fiskars are great, and when I leave them lying in the grass, I can still find them), a cup of coffee, and a baby monitor so you know when the baby wakes up from its nap. If you have a sun hat that your mother-in-law gave you for your birthday, even better.

Decide how large you want the wreath to be. If you need to be exact, use something round as a guide, such as a trash can or bowl. Last year, when I wanted a very oversized wreath to hang above my mantle, I formed it on top of a round table for reference of the shape and size. But, eye-balling it is usually how I do things.

Begin looping the vines into a few circles, coiled like a rope. Then, as you get close to the end of the vine, wrap it around the wreath to hold everything together. Tuck the end in between the vines. When it dries, it’ll stay put. Repeat until your wreath is as thick as you need. My super-large wreath (not pictured) had to be extra-thick to support its own size, but a smaller one could be thinner. Use your best judgement.

I love the messy texture I can add when I make my own wreath. If you want a neater product, watch out for lumpy parts and try to add less bulk at those spots to keep everything even.

These four wreaths took me less than an hour, although I might go back and add more to a couple of them. When you are finished, leave the wreath lying flat to dry for several days or up to a week. I leave them on the table on my front porch, but a garage or other dry place would be fine. If you want an oval wreath, you can place it between a couple bricks or pavers to hold your desired shape while it dries.

I really love the simplicity and texture of a plain grapevine wreath, but there are so many quick ways to embellish them. Check out my Pinterest boards for ideas of what to do with grapevines wreaths!

]]>