Giveaway has now ended.

I know that this is going to be a very popular giveaway, and there's no question why! Cloth diapering is obviously important among my readers (as it is to me), and you love having the opportunity to win cloth diaper products and find new places to shop.

What makes cloth diapering so popular and so important?

1. Cost. There's no doubt that using cloth saves money.
2. Environmental stewardship. I'm a firm believer in cutting down our waste as much as possible, and using cloth diapers is a simple way to do just that.
3. Baby's health. Conventional diapers are filled with various chemical substances, some more toxic than others. Having these on our precious little one's bottoms all day long, especially once they're wet, just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
4. Ease. Today's cloth diapers are NOT your grandmother's cloth diapers. They're easy to use, easy to wash, and oh so cute!

Sweet Little Blessings has been a sponsor here at Keeper of the Home multiple times and their online store is just such a good fit for all of you naturally-minded mamas:

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This is the perfect season to get entered to win this $75 gift certificate to Sweet Little Blessings!

Here's what you need to do to be entered: 

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Want to Win a Copy of Real Food on a Real Budget?
• Raising Healthy Eaters: Helping Our Kids to Make Great Food Choices
• At Raising Homemakers: Have You Had a Date With Your Daughter Lately?
• Time for a little modesty

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Written by Courtney, Contributing Writer

Seeing our children suffer from a cough is no fun at all. However, coughs have their place in healing and should usually not be suppressed. If we prevent a cough from doing its part in recovery, we can set our child up for a much more serious illness. What starts out as a simple cold could quickly turn into bronchitis or pnemonia if mucous is allowed to settle in the chest.

At times, a cough can interfere with recovery when it causes severe irritation and prevents our child from getting adequate rest. We can ease our child's discomfort while still allowing a cough to do its job.

Soothing herbs and honey protect the throat from dryness and irritation, but don't "turn off" the brain's response to cough like some cough remedies do. Propping a child slightly helps to prevent the infection from settling in the lungs. Steam, poultices, and chest rub salves help to break up the chest congestion and make our child feel better fast.

Natural Remedies to Relieve a Cough

Eucalyptus and other essential oils can be very effective in relieving a cough. The oils help to increase oxygen flow and break up chest congestion. Some have antibacterial and/or antiviral properties as well! We can include these essential oils in stream treatments (diffused in vaporizors or humidifiers or in towel steam treatments) or in chest rubs, applied topically with a carrier oil or salve.

For years, I simply added essential oils to olive oil, similar to this recipe, and rubbed it on the chest for relief, but I've come to prefer a salve over the oil. It's not as greasy or messy and it's much less likely to spill.

Making a chest rub salve is simple. It's also safer (and cheaper) than the store-bought brands, like Vic's, which are made from a petroleum base and contain questionable preservatives and other ingredients.

How to Make a Chest Rub Salve

To make a chest rub salve, you will need a pan to melt the ingredients and a container to store the finished product in. I prefer metal tins, either 2 ounces or 4 ounces for this type of salve. Used moisturizer containers work well, too.

The size of your container will determine how much salve you make, so I will list the ingredient amounts in parts instead of a pre-determined amount. Over the years, I have found this to be much easier than trying to adjust a recipe to fit the container I store it in.

Ingredients: 

• 2 parts coconut oil
• 1 part beeswax
• eucalyptus essential oil (about 10 drops per ounce)
• white camphor essential oil (about 5 drops per ounce)

Simply melt the oil and beeswax in a pan and then add the essential oils. Pour into your metal tin(s) or other container. And that's it!

The salve will harden within 10-15 minutes. If you find it is too soft, like the consistency of an ointment, you can scoop it back into the pan, remelt it and add more beeswax. If it is too hard, remelt and add more oil. I've also remelted to add more essential oil when I wasn't satisfied with the strength of the oils.

This is a basic chest rub salve recipe that can be altered or added to to suit your individual needs or preferences. Essential oils of hyssop, rosemary, peppermint, thyme are a few examples of other oils that help relieve chest congestion. (Some essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy, so check the safety of any oils you plan to add if pregnant.)

We also use this salve to help relieve nasal congestion. When applied right under the nose, it helps to clear the airway instantly!

What are your favorite home remedies for relieving the discomfort of a cough?

Disclaimer: The writers at KOTH are not certified medical professionals of any kind and are not qualified to give you medical advice. Our goal is to help to educate and inspire you to take responsibility for your own family's health and make informed choices of your own, not to consult you on medical treatment. 

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

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• Frugal and Homemade Mother’s Day Gifts
• Favorite Winter Herbal Remedies: Colds and Coughs, Stomach Viruses, and Headaches
• The how-to of the Savvy Spending Challenge!

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer

About a year ago, I was exhausted by the amount of work I had to do to keep everything running smoothly with my ever growing family. (We’re at six kids now!)  And I was feeling burdened that my kids needed to learn to help out more around the house—more than just brushing their teeth and making their beds.  I set out to find ways to teach my children to be diligent workers and to have effective strategies to manage chores in my home.

So, this year has been a journey into teaching our children to help out in bigger or more meaningful ways around the house.  Of course, I’m nowhere near done teaching them everything they need to know about housework and habits, but we have come a long way in just one year.  And because my kids are taking care of more of the housework, I can focus more attention on other important duties such as homeschooling.

And I would like to share some of what I have learned as I seek to teach my kids to be diligent in their work.  As a disclaimer, I’d like to add that I am definitely preaching to myself as I list all these ways to help children become diligent workers!

1. Pray!

This is always the wisest starting point in whatever we do.  Starting any new journey or routine is best done by acknowledging that we don’t know what to do.  God grants wisdom to those who ask.

Lately, I’ve been seeing God’s faithfulness to answer my prayers for wisdom.  We’ve had some trouble with certain aspects of habit training with some of my kids, and God has been very faithful to provide us with creative solutions each step of the way.

2. Model What You Teach

This is something that Lord has been showing me lately.  Kids really need to see diligent, cheerful work modeled to them. If mom is grumpy while working, or waiting to get all her chores done after the kids' bedtime (guilty!), then the kids never get to see godly work in action.  All they see is mom grumbling and complaining or procrastinating.

Try to do as many chores as possible in front of your children, and be very aware of your attitude as you do them. If you are being merry as you work, your children will see that and most likely do the same!

3. Read Proverbs

Our family has found that reading passages about work has been an invaluable tool.  Each day, our family reads through a chapter of Proverbs and discusses it.  There are so many great passages about what God expects as we work.

By reading Proverbs to the kids, they have started to understand the difference between being a diligent worker and a sluggard, and why it is far better to be a hard worker.  These passages have given the kids a Biblical vocabulary concerning work.

4. Have a System

As a family, figure out what chores need to be done and who is going to do them. There are many different ways of helping children figure out what chores need to be done.  There are chore charts, sticker charts and things of that nature.  I’ve even seen ping pong balls with chores written on them and each child grabs a ball and does that chore.  There are definitely some creative ideas out there!

Our family has found great benefit from using the chore pack system found in the Managers of their Chores book by Steve and Teri Maxwell.  (I believe this is what Stephanie uses with her children as well.)  We don’t follow the program exactly, but we do follow the basic concept and it has helped our children to understand what chores are expected of them.  It also provides a great deal of accountability for the children to actually complete what they need to get done.

Whatever you choose, stick with your system for a while before tweaking it. Children thrive by routine, so don’t change things unless it just really isn’t working for your family.

5. Use Rewards and Consequences

As you teach your child how to work, it’s important to have predictable rewards and consequences.  Our heart for our children is to teach them not just to do a job, but to do it for the glory of the Lord. To that end, my husband and I try to give rewards when we see our kids working thoroughly, diligently and with a cheerful attitude.

When I praise my children for working hard, I try not to merely praise them for a job completed.  I try to praise them for their godly attitude or endurance.  My kids also know that with more work comes more privileges. My 9 year old daughter has become quite responsible around the house and therefore enjoys a bedtime a full hour later than the rest of the children.

Grumbling and complaining, fit throwing (we see a great deal of fits at my house), incomplete jobs, and flat out disobedience are given consequences.  If the kids do not do a complete job, then they are given an extra job to complete off of a list of chores that are reserved especially for consequences.

Image credit: jbrownell

6. Give Them the Tools They Need

It’s really hard to expect a little child with little hands to navigate the floors with a large broom.  And it would be quite unsafe to give a bottle of bathroom cleaner to a young child and tell them to spray away.

Even very young children are capable of quite a lot if they are given the right cleaning tools. I’ve even noticed that when my kids have the proper tools, the work is much more enjoyable.

A good example of what I mean is sweeping the floor.  We have a lot of tile in our house, so all my kids, at some point in the day, have to sweep a floor somewhere in my house.  My oldest two are able to use a full size broom well, but the rest are too small.  So we have a stockpile of small hand brooms and dust pans for the littles to use.  This enables them to help just like the big kids.  They even enjoy sweeping up piles that the older ones make.

7. Make It Fun!

Work is not always fun, but it doesn’t always have to be miserable either. We don’t want to teach our children that work has to be fun all the time, but sometimes it brings great joy to make chore time into a game or a play time.

Have some fun, make it a race against the clock, listen to some silly music while working or something along those lines.  It will keep the joy in working.

8. Inspect What You Expect

I don’t even remember where I first heard the phrase “Inspect what you expect.”  Those are wise words.  Children quickly learn what you do and do not inspect.

And due to their sin natures, they will exploit where you do not inspect.  Therefore, it is so important to regularly inspect their work in order to keep a high standard.

9. Practice, Practice, Practice

This is something I struggle with greatly!  In my mind, it seems perfectly reasonable that I should be able to show my children how to do something a couple of times and then they can do it without error.  Afterall, most adults can do it this way.

This is not so with children.  Children need lots of practice to learn a skill. My son Joshua has been practicing wiping down the kitchen table properly for months now, and he is just now starting to do a really good job.

If you see that your child is struggling with a certain skill, try to find ways throughout the day to develop the skill. For instance, if your child struggles with wiping down the counters, you might have them practice at each meal and also practice wiping down the bathroom counters.

10. Use Resources

There are many high quality resources for families out there!  If you find yourself getting stuck and are looking for creative ideas for your children, here are some great resources that our family uses.  I hope they bless you as much as they have blessed us!

Managers of their Chores—This is the book that highlights how to use chore packs to help your children with chores.  The Maxwell family at Titus2 Ministries has many other useful resources as well.

Doorposts Charts—Our family uses several of the charts from this ministry.  The “Go to the Ant” chart teaches children about working diligently.  We also use the “Blessings Chart” and the “If/Then Chart”  to give our kids predictable rewards and consequences.  We really like these because they focus on attitudes of the heart rather than just pure behavior modification.  These are the rewards and consequence charts that I talked about earlier in this post.

Large Family Logistics—I feel like I’m constantly promoting this book to my friends.  It has some great ideas for family management—no matter the size of your family.  It’s like sitting down with an experienced mother and homemaker and picking her brain for fresh ideas.

11. Focus on the Heart

I’ve talked about this several times now, but I want to end with this because it is so important.  In our kids’ chore and habit training, it is so important to focus on the heart above all else.

So many chore systems are simple behavior modification, but as Christians we should be teaching our children to do everything as an act of worship to the Lord.

Sometimes by focusing on the heart rather just on whether or not a chore was done exactly right slows things down.  But it is worth the time because in the end, our children will not just have learned responsibility, but they will also have learned godliness.

What has helped you to teach your children to work diligently?

Top photo credit: gorickjones

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Written by Diana Bauman, Contributing Writer

September has been an exciting month for my five year old son and I.  He started kindergarten and I became a first time parent with a child in school.

My husband and I met all of his teachers including his principal, art teacher, gym teacher and music teacher.  We toured the classes, met other parents and investigated every nook and cranny of his elementary school.

I signed up for the PTA and as a homeroom helper (one of the benefits of being a work at home; I can get away when I need to).

My husband and I were very happy with his new school and teachers so the only thing this real food blogging mama had left to do was pack him a nourishing lunch.

I filled MarioKart with his favorites.  A homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapes, aged cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes from the garden, homemade yogurt and a thermos (that keeps cold for 13 hours) filled with fresh milk.

On his first day of school, we prayed for a good day together and I stuck around to hear the students stand and pledge their allegiance under God.  With tear swollen eyes, I blew him a kiss and gently whispered, "have a good day papa; I love you."

I can remember constantly checking the clock that day as hour by hour ticked away.  When the time finally came, I packed up my toddler and we both eagerly awaited for brother.

When school was dismissed he came running into my arms.  As he was talking about his day, I carefully unzipped MarioKart expecting to see a few grapes strewn about.

What I didn't expect was to see that he had eaten nothing.  Zip.  Nada.

Okay, I called it the first day jitters.  Maybe he was too nervous to eat.

The next day, nothing.

The day after, a few bites of a chorizo montadito.  He loves Spanish chorizo, what's up with that?

This pattern continued for the first week until I spoke to both my son and his teacher.  He's a bit shy; so, at first it was a bit intimidating to break out his food and eat with others.

Since then I have been incredibly blessed that his teachers have taken the time to sit with him at lunch making sure he sits with the group and eats.

However, his teacher did mention to me that maybe I should re-evaluate the quantity of food that I've been packing him.  The quantity of food itself may seem overwhelming to him when his thoughts may be on recess that awaits.

Ouch. Looking at the list above, I was packing him quite a feast.  He never ate that much at home with me.  Why on Earth did I think he'd need that much at school?

Lesson learned.

We've been at this for about a month now and I have learned some important tips that I would love to share with you on making school lunch time both enjoyable and successful.

Tip 1: Start with a Nourishing Breakfast

I'm sure you have heard it time and time again, but this is the number one tip for school time lunch success.

A well balanced, nourishing breakfast, is going to kick start their day by getting their metabolism moving, their brains working with an ability to be more focused and alert.  Their appetites will be satiated well until lunch time.

For my boys, I like to make sure to feed them dairy, protein and a carb in some form every morning.

Some breakfast ideas are

• whole wheat pancakes
• french toast using pastured eggs
• homemade oatmeal
• smoothies with fresh fruit, homemade yogurt/kefir and raw egg yolks
• homemade yogurt with toasted bread and peanut butter

With each of the meals above, I like to include a glass of fresh milk or fresh squeezed orange juice and a fruit.

As you can see, my son heads to school having been nourished and able to start his day.

Tip 2: Ease Up!

I know.  It's a crazy thought, huh?  But yes, let's ease up in this area and not expect so much from our little ones at school.  If only half of their lunch is eaten on a day, that's okay.   You know they headed off to school fully nourished, so a few bites during the day will keep them well balanced until they get home.

However, make sure to talk about it with your child and set some goals for the next day.

Tip 3: Don't pack a ginormous lunch

Yes, I learned this lesson the hard way.  I never fully understood the bento movement; however, I do now.  I've been learning on making lunch fun by making snack sized versions of foods that my son loves.  In smaller bites, they are more appealing to my son and seem much more feasible to eat.

Tip 4: Have a nourishing snack ready for your child when he/she gets home

I've learned that when my son heads off to school having been nourished and if he's eaten "some" of his lunch, he's just fine as long as I have a nourishing snack waiting for him right when he gets home.  Snacks like homemade muffins, nuts, fruits or raw vegetables will keep up his energy until supper time.

When you look at the grand scheme of things, lunch time is important; but, as long as your child is eating a big nourishing breakfast and comes home to a nourishing snack, we can ease up on lunch and feel confident that they're getting all the nutrients they need.

What are some of your favorite foods to pack for your children at school?  I'd also love to hear about any tips you may have on lunch time success.

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Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer

There was one morning early in my third pregnancy when I was still exhausted and I was attempting to sleep just a little more after my kids got up.  I would leave my bedroom door open so I could hear them, and they would go get a snack.  Most of the time this worked out fine -- they'd sit in their playroom, or come back and sit next to me in bed and have a snack, and I'd hear them if they needed me.  Within 30 minutes I'd get up and we'd start our day.

But on this memorable morning, they didn't come back upstairs right away. I kept hearing what I thought was the vacuum downstairs.  I wondered how they could have even turned it on (we don't keep it plugged in, of course), and I kept telling my 3-year-old to go turn it off.  She said it was off.  I finally got up and went downstairs.  This morning they'd chosen to play in the kitchen.  They'd dragged their "learning tower" (a safe wooden structure for kids to stand in so they can help in the kitchen) over to the sink area, apparently to get bananas.  The sink was plugged and on and overflowing all over the kitchen.  The blender was on (the base alone, not the canister), which was the sound I'd thought was the vacuum.  And the grains I'd had sitting out to sprout had been thrown all over the floor.

My eyes went wide, and I remember screaming, "CLEAN THIS UP, RIGHT NOW!"  Oh, the things children do....

Kids are Creative

They cried.  I screamed a lot.  And we cleaned it up.  Well, I cleaned it up.  They were overwhelmed by the mess and didn't know where to start or what to do. It wasn't a good start to our morning, for any of us. They had just been trying to get a snack and I had just been trying to catch a little extra sleep.  I was still feeling exhausted and frustrated.

I can laugh about it now.  And about many of the other ridiculous things they've done.  Here's the message I've taken from all of it: kids are creative.  If you don't entertain them, they will find a way to entertain themselves!

That morning they thought using plastic cups and entire bottle of soap to make bubbles in the sink was good entertainment.  They thought adding some grains to the mix was even better.  And the blender?  They may have hit that by accident because the bananas were behind it.  I wasn't awake to supervise and help them find appropriate entertainment, so they found a way to stay busy and happy!

Realistically this was my fault.

Changing Our View

It's so easy to look at kids' behavior and just feel frustrated and angry. Why do they do these things?  Why do they have to make a mess or be destructive?  One of my children will rip any book or item that she doesn't like.  Another likes to push and hit people and scream "No!"  (he's very, very "two" right now.  Although I'm told he actually is nice to the other children in church, he is apparently just mean to his sister!  It's a sibling thing.)

But if we are going to survive having young children and the creativity that they have, we need to change our mindset.  When my children spill water in their playroom because they are pouring it from cup to cup, I do ask them to help clean up -- but I see how they've created an awesome game.  If they get magazine bits all over the floor because they've been cutting out their favorite pictures, I see that they're doing an art project.  No matter what they've done, I feel happy that they are never bored and that they are able to entertain themselves with anything.  They've used their shoes as "people" arguing and playing, and their current favorite "toy" is a set of felt squares!

I'm proud of their creativity.  Sometimes that comes with mess, and I accept that.  I would rather see the situation positively and enjoy and appreciate the games they come up with, rather than get frustrated with the mess they've made.

Children Need Us

There have been times when my husband and I have wished our kids would take naps, or play quietly, or otherwise "leave us alone" just for a few minutes so we could finish making dinner or folding the laundry.  This just results in a lot of frustration and repeated pleas on our part, "Please go play already!" while they cry and beg us to talk to them or play with them.

It's not always possible, of course; sometimes we have to get dinner on the table!  But as much as possible we try to include them in what we are doing, or talk to them while we are doing things. And we try to remember how much they love us and need us, instead of being frustrated that they always need us, or need us right now when we are busy taking care of other things. To push them away constantly is truly to show them and their needs disrespect.

Attitude is Important

All this boils down to, attitude is so important. I've been convicted in the last several months that my attitude isn't so great sometimes, and that I need to change that. If I look at situations negatively, then I get angry and yell at my children and treat them unfairly.  I spread my misery around.

If, instead, I take a minute to take a deep breath and remember how creative and awesome they are, then I can handle the situation calmly and be happy.  I can praise them for their creativity and then direct any necessary clean up calmly.  I can invite them to help me instead of asking them to leave me alone.  I can talk and listen to them.  I can spread joy, at least most of the time!

That's my new goal: to watch my own attitude and try to spread joy instead of being frustrating.  My children sure aren't perfect, but neither am I (boy do I need grace!).  And they are truly amazing little people who do make me very happy most of the time. I feel joy more often now and I think they do too.

Join Me in a Challenge

In October I'm issuing a challenge to everyone: work hard on your attitude, to be happy and spread joy no matter what is going on around you. I'll be posting a linky every Friday so that bloggers can join me if they like.  Each week I will share all the reasons I've found to be happy each day, and all the ways I've specifically set out to spread joy -- no matter what else has happened.  There is always a reason to be happy, even if some days it is only because you have God's promise of salvation!  And that tomorrow will be another day and another chance.  Will you join me in striving for a positive attitude?

How do you strive to be a purposeful, joyful mother even when it's tough?

Top image by Franklin Park Library

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Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer

This year is going to be our first year homeschooling. I'm excited! My first is finally 3.5 years old, meaning she's old enough for "preschool" now. She also has a strong interest in learning, and I can't wait to get started with her in a couple weeks.

We've chosen to do what I call "project-based" homeschooling this year. We haven't chosen any particular curriculum or books to work out of. In fact, the few times I've sat down with her and tried to do a "lesson" in any traditional way (using free internet resources), she's balked and it's been quickly abandoned. My early attempts at this new method, though, have been met with excitement and interest -- and she's learned! Isn't that the goal?

What Is "Project-Based?"

Instead of focusing on specific skills or small activities from workbooks, we do projects that incorporate a large number of different skills. These projects are based on real-world situations and activities that teach needed skills in a natural environment. Since "unschooling" really appeals to us, working with our children's skills and interests is really important to us, much more so than any structure curriculum. Even more so because our kids are so young (my 2-year-old is sometimes also involved).

A project might involve friends, a field trip, and several different activities. One project we've started is to create "grocery flashcards." Each card has a picture of a (mom-approved) snack, the name of the snack, and a price. I'll give my daughter a certain amount of money she can "spend" when we go grocery shopping. She'll use her cards to choose what she can afford. She's learning math, budgeting, reading, and the basic "how to grocery shop" all at once. She's excited about it because she gets to do something real and she feels like a grown up when she helps me shop! And she's working on her math and reading and life skills at the same time.

That's what I mean about "projects." We create different projects ourselves that help learning.

Why Project-Based?

My goal in teaching my children is to prepare them for life, for being functional adults in society. My goal isn't to make sure they can do bookwork and take tests, which is what it seems like most schools these days are focused on.

Real life isn't about workbooks and tests. Instead, we usually combine our skills. Driving a car, for example, combines physical dexterity, reading, math, and other skills. Grocery shopping, which I mentioned above, also combines reading, math, budgeting, and even interpersonal skills. It's not necessary to isolate skills and say, "We're going to study math. And then reading. And then science." Especially with young children! These are real-life situations that they can "study" and learn from.

Doing projects also allows us to go with our children's interests. For example, both my older kids (I also have a newborn) enjoy sun, moon, stars, and other "solar" things. They have enjoyed looking up pictures and facts about them, attending exhibits about them, and even watching the documentary "From the Earth to the Moon" (my 3.5 year-old says "It's the only Daddy's show I like"). It happens that my dad works at NASA, so someday we'll take them there to see everything, too. That's science, but it directly appeals to their interests.

Image by Dave Dehetre

Projects We're Doing

This year we're working on a lot of porjects. I take into account my kids' interests and the skills they need to learn (and want to learn -- they're both into numbers and letters right now). Here are some examples of projects we're planning:

• Zoo Animals: We'll use our membership to visit the zoo, take pictures of many different animals.  Then we'll make a scrapbook of the animals and look up what they eat, where they live (we'll look at maps), how big they get, etc.  This will encompass science (animals), reading (learning letters/animal names), art (creating scrapbook), math (size of animals), and more.
• Gardening: We've spent a lot of time out in the garden through the summer, learning to identify plants and weeds, how to know when to harvest plants, and how to prepare or preserve them once they're inside.  In the fall, we'll be growing some plants inside in clear containers so they can see how roots grow, then tinting the water so they can see how plants drink.  This is primarily science, but also cooking/food preparation.
• Nature Walk: Once fall hits, we'll be taking a walk through local woods.  We'll identify herbs and other plants we find.  We'll collect leaves and other bits and create a collage of them.  This is science and art.
• Pizza Party: We'll do this with friends!  I'll prepare the toppings, but I'll let the kids help make the dough, then make their own pizzas.  They'll learn science (how food cooks), math (measuring ingredients), art (creating food is still art!), food preparation, and interpersonal skills.
• Alphabet Book: My daughter and I are already doing this.  I created a booklet for her and we're writing in all the letters, and choosing words that are meaningful to her for each of them.  Then she'll decorate it.  She's already walking around telling people, "A is for apple!" (she knows we're going apple picking soon and loves this) and other things.  Because it's something she's done she remembers better.  She's learning letters and art, and possibly other subjects (if we learn more about the words she chooses).

There's more we're doing, but those are the major projects we have so far.  As time goes on and my kids' interests and knowledge evolve, we'll choose new projects. We will also involve them in the projects we're doing.  Last year, my husband created an air-powered rocket that fired homemade paper rockets.  The kids got to decorate their own rockets, then help fire the rocket (not dangerous since it was just air, pumped up with a bicycle pump).  They got to chase them and retrieve them too -- gym class!

One of our many adventures this summer: throwing rocks in a creek!

Enjoying Learning

Doing these projects really helps to contribute to enjoying learning.  And it doesn't insult my kids' creativity or knowledge because we're working right at their level, whatever that may be.

There are lots of great resources online that you can find so you don't have to create your own materials, but some projects really don't require "materials" per se (like the pizza party).  Don't think fancy, just think interesting, age-appropriate, and real life!

Youtube is a great resource for videos, if you pre-screen them.  There are Bible-based coloring pages we've used (although truthfully my kids prefer the open-endedness of blank papers instead).  And of course, you should have the usual paper, pencils, crayons, and other basic school supplies, so that if inspiration strikes -- you can go with it!

Honestly, the biggest challenge for us this fall will be finding the time to do all this fun stuff amid playdates, naps, and caring for a newborn!  But we'll make it work and we'll enjoy it, too.  I personally can't wait!

Quick Note

This isn't really related to the subject of this post, except that it's a project I've been working on (I've had some "help" from my kids, too, though mostly in the form of taste testers, a job they love!).  Yesterday I released my newest cookbook, Treat Yourself: Real Food Desserts.  I'm offering some pretty awesome launch specials: DESSERTLAUNCH35 for 35% off through tonight (usually sells for $7.95), and DESSERTLAUNCH20, for 20% off through Friday, 9/2.

What style of homeschooling do you use? And what are your homeschooling plans for this new school year?

Top image by Steven Depolo

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The kids talking to the judge at their adoption

Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer

Adoption is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.  And for some time now, I’ve been itching to share my story and my unique family with you.  Today I get the chance!

I have been blessed to be part of an amazing and unique body of Believers that is passionate about adoption.  There are many, many adoptive and foster families at our church that have been a great encouragement through our journey of adoption. But I understand that this is very unique and that adoption may be something completely new or even mysterious to you.

While I don’t intend to run through the process of adoption today, I would definitely like to answer your questions if you want to know more about that aspect of adoption.  If there is something you would like to know more about, feel free to leave a comment.

Our Family’s Adoption Story

Our First Adoption

In 2006, after trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, we decided to pursue infant adoption.  I think adoption to many is kind of a last resort, but thanks to the example of our amazing church friends, adoption seemed quite normal to us.  So we got our homestudy done and applied to an adoption agency.  Our little Isabella was born in May 2007 and we got to bring her home from the hospital.  The joy that came from that adoption was so intense, and I am so proud of Bella’s courageous birthmom who chose life for her baby.

In February of 2008, when Bella was just 9 months old, we dedicated her at our church.  Our pastor preached and challenged our church to not just say that we are pro-life, but to actually do something about it.  We left that day from church burdened, and less than a week later, we felt strongly that the Lord was calling us to adopt again—but this time, to adopt older children.

The first time I met my daughter

A Journey Into Older Child Adoption

We got our homestudy again, and after waiting for a reply from DHS for several months, we decided to try a private adoption agency in our state.  Although they primarily facilitate infant adoptions, we knew that they had done some older child adoptions before.  So, we sent our paperwork and family scrapbook to them in October of 2008.

On November 4, I was teaching Bible study at church, and someone anonymously left $100 for our adoption on the podium where I was teaching.  I was overwhelmed, especially since we hadn’t let anyone know that because we were choosing a private adoption rather than DHS, we would need a lot more money.  That afternoon, an anonymous check came in the mail.  It was for $4,000 and it said, “for your adoption” in the memo line.  All I can remember is just laying on the floor and weeping, thanking God for His overwhelming goodness to us.

The very next day, I got a call from the adoption agency, asking us if we would be willing to adopt 3 older children, who were 4, 5, and 6 years old at the time.  Concerned about how much adopting 3 children would cost, I asked.  They told me that they would waive the fees, and all we would have to pay is the attorney fees.  Which would total about $4,000.  God had provided us the exact amount we needed, and had also confirmed in our hearts that these children were to be part of our family.

Two days later, we welcomed Micah, Malachi and Liliana  into our family.  To say that this adoption changed things for us is an understatement.  It totally rocked our world.  We were quite unaware of the myriad issues that come along with older child adoptions—behavioral, emotional, physical, etc.  But the Lord has always been faithful to walk us through everything. Now, nearly 3 years later, things still aren’t completely “normal,” but what is “normal” anyway?!

Becoming a Foster Family

Then in late 2009, we heard a story on the news about how there aren’t enough foster families in our area, so babies will leave the hospital and go straight to a state run shelter.  This broke our hearts.  We were reminded of Proverbs 3:27 which says,

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

So, we felt the Lord was calling us to become foster parents to babies. We did all the training and in April 2010, we got our first foster baby.  That placement lasted only one week.  After that, we stopped getting calls asking us to take babies.  Instead, we kept getting calls asking us to take older children.  Wanting to meet the need, we took two little boys, who were ages 2 and 4 at the time.

I wish I could tell you so much more about their story, but I’m sad to say that I can’t because technically they are still in foster care and I have to maintain their confidentiality.  But I am so happy to report that within the next week or two, we will be going to court to finalize their adoption! We are so happy that they get to be part of our family legally, since they have been part of our family in our hearts for so many months.

With the judge after finalizing our second adoption

Why Adopt?

I love to talk about why adoption is so wonderful!  It excites me every time!  There are many great and important reasons to adopt—besides the fact that you will have a new child!

A Glimpse of God’s Heart

Adoption has done more to help me to understand God’s heart more than anything else.  I have grown so much spiritually as a result of adoption.  You see, the very act of adoption mirrors what God has done for us through salvation.

Romans 8:15 says, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “ Abba! Father!”

I remember looking on tiny baby Isabella and feeling such love for her, even though she hadn’t grown in my womb. Isn’t that how God is towards us?!

Older child adoption has given us a further glimpse into God’s immeasurable love for us.  It’s easy enough to love a tiny (and adorable, I might add!) baby, but it is a completely different thing to love and care for a child who returns your love with hatred and disobedience and is bent on destroying everything in sight because of his anger.  But God has given us a heart to love our children despite those things.

And when I get really frustrated with the latest unimaginable thing one of my kids has done, God gently reminds me that He loves us even when we are in disobedience. Jesus died for us and called us while we were still sinners.  We didn't have to be perfect before God loved us.  When we disobey, He still calls us back into a loving relationship with him.  It’s been very convicting and humbling to see God’s heart through adoption.

Pro-Life Action

My husband and I are very involved with trying to end abortion in our country.  Just as our pastor challenged us a few years ago, I’d like to extend that challenge to you as well.  If you are pro-life, is it in word only, or is it in deed as well?  There are certainly many ways to be pro-life, but one very basic way is to adopt.  By providing a safe, loving and warm home for a child, you are providing a very courageous birthmom with the assurance that she made a good choice for her baby.

A Biblical Mandate

No, adoption is not mandated in the Bible, and you won’t hear me proclaiming that you need to go out and adopt in order to be obedient to the Bible.  However, throughout the Bible are many commands to Believers to defend the cause of the fatherless and the orphan.  Our family’s verse is James 1:27:

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

One great way to visit orphans in their distress is to adopt.  There are so many hurting kids out there that so desperately want a loving home.

How to Get Involved With Adoption

For some of you reading this, you may know immediately that God has called you to adopt.

But, perhaps your children are grown and out of the house, and you don't want to adopt more. Or perhaps you have 10 kids already. Let's face it, not everyone is called by God to adopt. And that's fine. But we are all called, as Christians, to take care of orphans--however that looks.

For me, it undoubtedly is through adoption. But maybe for you, it is through giving money so others can adopt. Our adoption was made possible because someone obeyed God's calling of helping orphans by giving us money. Maybe you are supposed to start an orphanage. Or maybe you're supposed to start a ministry at your church. Who knows....it's different for everybody. But we're all supposed to be involved.

I'm curious...Have you adopted or known someone who has? I’d love to hear your stories!

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By many people's standards, I suppose my children don't have that many clothes. I certainly don't spend a lot of money buying clothes, and we sometimes have lean seasons where we run a bit low on boy's shorts or wish we had just a couple more girl's short sleeved shirts.

The closet you see above is the hanging portion that contains our 3 children's shirts, sweaters, dresses and skirts (plus a few fancy dresses that hang above). What you see is basically what we have, minus the clothes that are currently dirty or in use. There is also one small dresser (3 drawers) that houses their pants and shorts, plus another dresser that holds all of their summer and winter pajamas, underwear, socks/tights and cloth diapers, and some jackets in the hall closet.

In other words, we aren't overflowing with massive amounts of clothing, and yet we aren't lacking by any means, either.

What brought about the issue is that despite their average/moderate wardrobes, I still find that keeping up with all of their clothes and the never-ending laundry piles is just overwhelming me (despite the improvement of having a family closet, and trying to make sure that clothes get re-worn when they aren't really dirty).

The laundry still piles up, and piles up. Imagine once we add another baby with more cloth diapers? (Oh please, let my 2 year old potty train before February!)

Which Raises the Question... How Much is Too Much?

Is there a point at which owning too many clothes actually becomes a liability in terms of managing the laundry and maintaining it all? If we owned less clothes per child, would my closet and I be on better terms?

I've been searching around trying to figure out just what is a reasonable amount of clothing for a child, and what a more minimialistic closet might look like.

Here is what I am planning to pare down to (per child):

• 7 casual outfits
• 3 dressy outfits (probably 2 casual dressy, 1 fancier)
• 3 pajamas (maybe 4-5 for the toddler)
• Plus, their current assortment of underwear and socks, and seasonal jackets and shoes.

It isn't shockingly less than we have right now, but certainly it IS much less overall.

A One or Two Month Experiment

I'm not prepared to get rid of things for good quite yet. My husband easily goes along with my so-called "brilliant" (and sometimes short-lived) ideas. He only asked that I store the extra clothing away someplace that we can add it back in if we discover that my solution wasn't really so brilliant after all (hmm, I think he knows me).

My goal is one to two months, to give this a real shot and examine the benefits (if any).

And it makes me excited. In this weird, de-cluttering, when-did-I-begin-to-have-minimalist-tendencies kind of way.

I think that I'm still definitely still processing the dire level of need and want that we saw recently in the Philippines. Continuing to work out what it means to practice good stewardship and frugal generosity as a Christian, and at what point we cross the line over to materialism, waste and greed. And always learning more of the benefits of simpler living, freeing up more time and resources for the things that are most important.

So, the questions remain... will my laundry routine be reborn? Will the effort required to maintain the closet cease to make me sigh? Will I be happier with less children's clothing, finding that we save money and that even choosing what to wear becomes simplified?

And just for fun, some links of interest that I came upon the other night while ruminating over this whole idea:

My Minimalist Wardrobe (Vlog) @ Money Saving Mom

How Many Clothes Do I Need? @ Living On a Dime

How Many Clothes Do My Kids Actually Need? @ Actual Mom

When It Comes to Clothes, How Much is TOO Much? @ Lots of Kids (one mom's positive experience with limiting the amount of clothes her children had)

And lastly, a Yahoo! Answers discussion about how many clothes a child needs that will make you feel better about how much you own, no matter how large their wardrobe is. Read it and gasp.

How much clothing do you kids own? Just how much do you think is really "too much"? (and, will less really be more?)

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Knowing how to prepare real, whole foods is an absolutely necessary life skill that every child should learn. Children who are not taught the basics of food preparation will end up defaulting to processed, packaged foods, simply because they haven't learned to make anything better.

If we don't take the time to teach them, how will they ever learn?

I know that having little (dirty, mischievous) hands in the kitchen isn't always the easiest or most convenient thing. Kids make messes. The put in the wrong ingredients. Things get spilled. Eggs get dropped. You can sweep up more flour when you're finished than what was actually put into the recipe. It takes longer than if you just did it yourself.

It can also be incredibly rewarding. I've been letting both of my oldest children help mama in the kitchen since they were about 1 1/2 years old. Naturally, the "helping" looks different depending on their age and skill, but they love it nonetheless and I know that no matter how small, they are still learning valuable life skills alongside me.

I recently noticed that my 5 year old daughter has grown significantly in her ability to knead bread. She didn't really get the concept very well up until now and sort of played around with the dough, but today her motions were much smoother and more consistent. I praised her for this, and informed her that pretty soon I was going to be able to just ask her to make the bread for our family, instead of mama having to do it every time. She beamed proudly, and went back to kneading her own little portion of bread dough.

We all have frazzled moments where it's easier to do it ourselves than to invite our children into the process. I can often be guilty of this, whether it's because I'm frantically trying to get dinner on the table at 5:57 with a crying baby, or when I'm scrambling to make the house presentable before guests arrive.

My own stress and impatience cause me to undervalue what could be an opportunity to take my child under my wing and let them learn to help me. The results might not be perfect, but I have never regretted the moments when I have slowed down enough to invite them into the things that I am doing.

In what ways are you successfully training your children in cooking and homemaking skills? What are your weak areas?

** This post was originally published February, 2010. As I look back on it, it is both wonderful to see how my children (especially my oldest daughter who is now 6 1/2) have really become more proficient and helpful in the kitchen, and at the same time I am reminded and challenged to purposefully include them even more than I do. **

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Inspired by Simple Homeschool's article on Creating a Visual Schedule for Kids, I realized that this was exactly what our home needed to bring some much-desired peace and order to our days.

Too many times each day, I was being asked "when are we eating lunch?" or "why can't I watch a movie right now?" or "why do I have to do my math before I play outside?". I was weary of the questions, and I could tell that my kids needed some more structure to our casual summer days.

Making the Schedule

I loved the idea of using a pocket wall chart where I could easily rearrange the activities in our day. Problem was, I didn't have one nor did I want to go out and spend the money on one.

I was able to solve this fairly easily by using a preschool pocket wall calendar that I had purchased at a garage sale several years earlier. I had used it for a year, but decided doing calendar time wasn't that important to me, and so it had sat there. I sat down with a steak knife, and slit open each of the 7 day slots to make one large, horizontal slot going across the calendar.

You can see the perforated holes leftover from its use as a calendar, but you can't tell from farther away

Now I had space for 7 daily activities, but I knew that I wanted more. I opted to use a package of long strips of heavy paper, intended for writing out sentences. Instead, I cut them in half with a paper cutter, so that I could make two rows of 7, giving me 14 activity slots.

When we have a rigid daily routine, it just doesn't work (at least, not for us). Particularly in seasons with very young children, every day can look quite different and there are many elements that make up our days and weeks. I knew that I needed flexibility in how each daily routine looked, even though there are certainly threads of similarity from day to day.

I wrote out a long list of all of the various things that we do as a part of our days: meals and snacks, various learning/school activities, library trips, piano lessons and practice, playdates, grocery shopping, laundry, morning and/or afternoon chores, family time, etc.

Once I had a complete list, I assigned each activity a category, such as basic daily routine (getting dressed, getting ready for bed), household work (morning/afternoon chores, laundry, house blitzes), learning activities (schoolwork, piano, read alouds, couch time, art), meals and snacks (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack), play (backyard, free play, friends over, movie), outings (shopping, library, fun surprises, church, playdates, park), and family activities (family time, devotions).

I used a different color to distinguish each category. I wrote the name of the activity and also drew a simple image to go along with it (nope, I'm not artist, but I tried!). I thought that the images would be helpful for my young non-readers to identify what was on the schedule.

Using the Schedule

Each morning, either I or my 6 year old assemble the schedule. She loves doing it and is so excited to know what is happening each day. I help her to find the correct cards and put things in a reasonable order of events.

The chart is hanging on a wall right beside our kitchen and near the play room, so it's easily visible to all of us throughout the day.

Although we have only recently implemented it, I have already seen two major benefits:

1. It helps the children to stay focused on the activity at hand and there seems to be less fussing about waiting for an anticipated activity (such as a snack or going outside) when they can see that it is coming soon.
2. It keeps me more accountable for how our day is progressing and whether I am sticking to what I had planned. My daughter also helps to hold me accountable by reminding me of what is on the schedule next!

One beautiful aspect of a flexible routine system like this is that if we are struggling to get everything done before lunch, we can simply switch the order of our cards, or even remove a card entirely if it just doesn't look as though we will have time to get to it. There's a real freedom in that.

Do you use a visual schedule of some sort? How does yours work and what benefits have you seen?

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