Depression Cooking with Clara....How Sweet!

I am a bit of a You Tube fan. Whatever you want to know how to do, you can find someone on youtube demonstrating it. I found a bunch of videos of people demonstrating how to use the netti pot. Sam and I spent some time on failblog a while back laughing until we cried. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQu7tmpGp0I, we must have watched in three or four times. I'm not sure how I happened upon Clara, but she is so cute and no nonsense. I wanted to share because I think you will all enjoy her and it would really add to a homeschool study of the depression.

"91 year old cook and great grandmother, Clara, recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era. Learn how to make simple yet delicious dishes while listening to stories from the Depression."

I introduced her to the kids by getting the ingredents for "Poor Man's Meal". We watched the video, which got raving reviews of how good they thought the meal would be. Then I whip out the ingredents so we could make it together. I am such a cool mom! It was extra awesome, because it had hotdogs, which we never have. No they weren't tufu dogs, they were turkey dogs. We had so much fun.

Samuel chopping potatoes and Adelina peeling.

Haden didn't feel well and needed some extra cuddles. This is one of the last times he will go in the wrap. :(

Adventures in Character Building: Day Two

Responsibility Experiment: Day Two: Tuesday

Sam and I stay in bed a little longer than normal. Around 7:00 am, my children, whom have all gotten a good nights sleep (Tehehe!) are up and around.

Carie: Is that dishes being done?

Sam: Is someone sweeping?

Carie: It sounds like the dog is being fed. Note: This is Adelina's chore. Everyday as the children are going out to play, all the mouths fed, dishes done and house in order, I asked Lena if the dog has been fed. It's hard to say yes, when the empty bowls are telling on you. To which she grins and confesses she has forgotten. Miracle of all miracles! It's the first thing she thinks of when she wakes today!

At around 7:15 am Sam and I meandor downstairs (all three of them) and wonder at all the productivity going on. By midmorning everything is done and the children are searching for more chores. My bathroom gets cleaned that day!

On Wednesday my car gets washed!

On Thursday we are still headed in the right direction, but I am not ready to declare it a total success. Adelina and Samuel earn enough time to stay up until 8:00 pm. I think they are tired, because they are happy to go to bed and Hannah and Josiah enjoy and extra 45 minutes together. They sit outside enjoying a warm foot soak and the sunset.

Friday everyone makes it to 9:00pm.

It seems our experiment is having positive results.....or is it?

Adventures in Character Building

responsibility
RESPONSIBIL'ITY, n. [from responsible.]
1. The state of being accountable or answerable, as for a trust or office, or for a debt.

The Build Up:
On the way home from Summersville, MO Sunday night Sam and I (mostly me) discuss the children. It seems they are very compliant when it comes to doing chores they are asked to do, but have no motivation to do anything until ask. This has been frustrating for me. When I am trying to get the day started they have to be reminded to make their beds, get dressed, do their chores. Two or three times a day I look around and see a sink full of dishes, a dirty house and someone goes over to the trash to throw something away and proceeds to stuffing it into an already overflowing bin. At which time I begin issuing orders. "You! (which ever unlucky kid is closest), do the dishes, You! (choose another child at random), dry and put away, You!, floor, You! pick up and when your done report to me, I have more!" After some discussion and a few periods of silence, we come upon the idea that this is a responsibility issue (big light bulb moment). After a bit I began to develop the responsibility experiment.

The Experiment:
We decide that bed time will be promptly at 7:00 pm each night. No books, no books on tape, lights out, you go to bed. If you would like to stay up until 9:00 pm, you must show you are responsible without being ask. Time is given for chores and other various acts of responsibility, such as; playing with your little brother.

Day #1, Responsibility Experiment: Monday:
Thought I would play not so nice and inform them of the rules as I put them to bed promptly at 7:00pm and make a big impression. Wisdom (in the form of Sam gentle suggestion) somehow won and I pulled the children aside and explained the new "system". They seemed agreeable, and with the potential to stay up until 9:00 pm we all started our day. Since I was not giving any verbal reminders, I washed all the dishes that day, cleaned the house, fed the dog and took care of lil' britches. I think they all earned 15 minutes and went to bed at 7:15 pm with the exception of Hannah. Hannah is my responsible one and she had earned all her time and was able to stay up until 9:00 pm. Samuel actually cried, he asked for a spanking in order to fore go the early bed time. I declined and sent him and his sibling promptly to bed, feeling very sorry for themselves. So far I have sulcky kids and one exausted mom. As Sam and I went to bed, I ask him, "Do you think we will have responsible kids tomorrow?". To which he replied, "NO!".

Will we have responsible kids on Tuesday? Tune in next time to find out!

The Fluid Life

There are some things I miss terribly. I miss afternoon coffee and cake with my friend Manuela. I miss feeling at home together-like family.

I miss walks together in our German village with my friend Suzette. Sharing our passion about birth and motherhood and God.

I miss morning walks with my friend Aimee. As I liesurely brought my one little girl and and she graciously wrangled her three boys. Obviously making great effort to spend the time with me.

I miss Sunday afternoon lunches at my sisters house, when she let a newly married couple come and share thier home and children and wisdom.

When moving is part of your life, you jump into a community with both feet. You get involved. You accept others and you form strong friendships, far away from family.

This is the short list. So many people along the journey have made our lives so much richer and we are wiser and better for it.

Some friendships are for a season and you loose touch naturally. Some are for a lifetime and you miss them as you miss your own family.

To all the friends that have taken time out of their lives to make our lives more meaningful....Thank You so much.

Tinkering, Adjusting an Triumph

Part 3: Getting the thing to work

Just sitting in the direction of the sun, the oven would heat up somewhere near, but never above 150F. I was sure we had contructed it properly and was unsure what to do to fix it. We had not made a reflector yet, but I was not confident the reflector alone was going to get us to the 225F needed to bake bread. Baking bread, I had decided, was the gold standard. Then we had a week of cloudy, overcast weather. We turned our attention other directions, but I did a little research.

The next week brought clear skies. From my research I decided the oven needed to be sealed better, so we got a sealant strip to put around the door, then we constructed the reflector. The oven also had to be propped up during the morning to angle towards the sun better. Then BINGO we did it. It has gotten as high as 270F and easily reaches 175F, which is the low setting of a crock pot.

The reflector still needs some work as it is lite and we have problems with it blowing off on a breezy day. It is constructed from a sheet of foam insulation. We were able to insulate the box and make the reflectors from one sheet.