Grandma's Zwieback, The Ultimate German Mennonite Comfort Food

My Grandpa and Grandma were two very special influences in my life.  They had what today would be considered a large family with six children.  There are many times I long to ask my Grandma how she did it all.  She passed away shortly after our second child was born but I know that she would have been overjoyed to know that the house she once lived in was again filled with the laughter and sounds of many children, her great grandchildren.   Before Grandpa passed away, we all made plans to meet up in heaven at a family picnic where he promised to have the grill ready and waiting for us to all be together again.    Just like always my Grandpa will love to hear what we have been up to and all the special details of our lives.  I can't wait to tell him...won't that  be a glorious day!
Zwieback were definitely a memory of Christmas' and special times at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The grandchildren would sit around an old spool in the laundry room and eat. I remember one Christmas in particular where my cousin Jeff kept "sneaking" into the kitchen for more and more and more zwieback. I am pretty sure that Grandma knew exactly what he was up to, she rarely missed a beat, but she pretended not to and that made it extra fun.
A while before my Grandmother went home to be with her Savior she spent a day teaching my sister and I how to bake zwieback.  Along with the zwieback, we made lots of special memories that day.  We ate lunch together and then got to work.  She shared with us that each lady at church had their own markings on the zwieback so they would know whose were whose. Hers was a three finger mark, which she strongly advised us to use.  Each time I make the zwieback I use her marks and think of her with a smile.

Grandma Wiens' Zwieback
Melt Together:
     2 C Milk Warm
     2/3C Butter
Dissolve Together:
     1 1/2 Pkg Yeast
     1/4 C Warm Water
     1 t Sugar
Combine all above ingredients and add:
     2 t Salt
     2 T Sugar
     6 C Flour
Mix and then let rise to double.  Pinch off small portions and place one ball of dough on top of the other (this is where you use three fingers) poke your fingers into the top ball of dough to get it to stick together.  Let the zwieback rise again 20-30 min and then bake at 375 degrees 18-20 minutes.

I have found that covering the zwieback with one of Grandma's hand embroidered tea towels while they rise, doubles the love and they just taste that much better.

Being a Teacher does NOT help me be a Better Homeschool Mom!

Bentley once saw a show on t.v. where a girl was homeschooled and she introduced her mom by saying "this is my mom...and my math teacher, my history teacher, my art teacher, my english teacher" etc. etc.  Bentley finds it funny because it is so true.  When you home school you are all those things.  Many friends tell me "well you can homeschool because you are a teacher."  Yes I do have formal training to teach through the eighth grade, but in actuality all of my experience lies in the field of Early Childhood a far cry from our oldest who is in fifth grade.  My training as a teacher is rarely helpful when it comes to homeschooling, except for the fact that people don't question my qualifications to teach my children at home.  Homeschooling goes against much of the formal training and mindset that I have.

As a teacher, you respect each other's fields and training.  I don't have an art degree so I don't teach art.  I can sing but am a far cry from a music teacher.  When it comes to math past the elementary years lets face it I stink.  I would NEVER teach middle school math (after I wrote this sentence I realized I do...every day).  As a homeschool mom I often feel grossly unqualified for my position.  I am confident that there are numerous homeschool moms that do a way better job than me and don't have a degree in anything remotely close to education.  The one thing that we all have in common is a deep desire to be there to watch and guide our children as they learn and we more often than not are learning right alongside of them.

Bentley Age 11

Yesterday I decided that it was time to step out of the box and teach...yes teach...art.  Not just do something crafty but actually put pencil to paper and draw something.  We have talked about, especially in the areas of art and music, signing out kids up for local classes and clubs but we later decided that this year we are not adding anything to our plates.  It challenges me to do something out of my comfort zone.  This was our first attempt at art and we all loved it. 



Payton Age 9

I found a wonderful blog from an Art Teacher on Pinterest who shares fun tips and tutorials and she showed how to draw pumpkins. The kids loved taking time to add in their own personal touches to complete their scenes.  They said at school this project would have taken weeks at only fifteen minutes of art per week.  We spent well over an hour in one sitting.  I also found a great show on Friday afternoons on our local PBS station where he teaches kids to draw.  I will set the DVR and give that a try next week.

Mommy Age to old to remember (seriously)
 

Mommy even joined in the fun.  It was quite relaxing, visiting while we worked and talking about ideas for our pictures.  The kids even figured out that by curving their lines a bit more at the top it made the stems look like they were more sunk down into the pumpkins.

 

One little person unfortunately had to miss out after being sent to the "principles office." I know it sometimes appears like all peace and tranquility around here but truly it is not. None of us are perfect, especially mom, and we all need the occasional time-out.

 

Another Area that has been truly hindered by my teaching background is my ability to let go and learn in unconventional ways.  Payton, nine needs to move lots and more often than not I get my teacher voice on and tell him to sit down and be quiet.  Today during math he was spinning around while figuring multiplication problems in his head and then would run back to his paper and quickly write down his answer before he forgot.  Instinct is that he is bothering others but if you look around he is the only one in the room besides me, who yes is distracted but should be able to handle a bit of action with five children in the home.  My years of education say that a classroom and learning look a certain way.  If I wanted it to look like that then my children should still be in the public school.

 

We are learning at home so that I can be there for those "aha moments" (sometimes they see mommy having those right along with them and they love it).  We are learning at home so that everyone can learn in their own way at their own pace.  We are learning at home so that we have more time to get to know Jesus and his teachings.  We are learning at home so that we can do things a different way.  This teacher mama has to step back and see that learning is happening everyday even though it doesn't always look like learning.  God may have not given me all of the talents that I think that I need to help my children be well rounded learners but He does give me the tools to help my children learn.  I will continue to pray for God to guide me and show me ways to teach and open my eyes to new ways of learning. 

 

September Wrap Up

I can't believe that October is here already.  The cool breeze blowing through open windows is a refreshing break from the heat of summer.  It's time for Chili and Cornbread and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake.  Fall Decor adorns the doors and walls and reminds us of holidays to come.  Its time to get out those adorable footie pajamas for the little people and extra blankets for those chili nights.  The babies are mesmerized by the fallen leaves crunching under their feet and the squirrels busying themselves for winter.  Fall is a time to breath in God's beauty and return to the familiar routines and rhythms of life.  It just feels good.
September brought lots of homeschool fun.  We learned about the parts of a bird and how to use a Kansas bird field guide.  We learned about identifying birds by their different markings and listening to their different calls.  We spent some time outside alone just quietly watching and listening.  Everyone especially enjoys watching and listening to a blue jay who has taken up residence in one of the trees in our front yard.  One of our neighbors has a chicken that is evidently "free range" and visits often in the morning.  Payton was able to correctly identify him as a White Leghorn Chicken.  His class was in charge of the Chickens last year at school and he was able to teach us a thing or two.  The same neighbor also has homing pigeons which we enjoy watching him release and then seeing them return home.  So much of our learning just involves being more observant and learning from what is happening around us.

 

 We attended the state fair where we had lots of hands on learning.You can read about in this post.






 
This Video is of our Fifty States and their Capitals Song that we sing daily as part of our geography study.  This is only the first three of eight verses.  Baby Steps right?  Watch both Gracen and Nevaeh.  She is dancing and he seems to be lip syncing along to the music (**If the video doesn't appear finish reading the post and scroll back up...it sometimes takes a bit to load).  This month we covered Maryland and Maine.
Bentley and Payton have been reading a book about Abraham Lincoln.  Bentley gave us an impromptu oral book report at dinner one night.  The boys were very interested in the stories and so Payton decided to read to book as well. I love how everyone is interested and involved in what the others are doing.  We all learn so much from each other.  I think that ability will take them far in life.

The Babies Continue loving learning alongside of the older children.  Vaeh loves books and spends lots of time "reading" just like the big kids.  She loves to Color at the table and is very content much of the morning.

Gracen often requires a bit more creativity such as some cheerios and a large spoon. Anything he thinks he is not supposed to have entertains him for long periods of time. Often there is a bit of banging involved but everyone is used to it and if extra concentration is needed they retreat to other rooms in the house. We have to be flexible around here.



Oh and I found this cool old desk at a garage sale for $20.  They were asking $30 but it was raining so when they saw me looking at it came down on their price right away.  It works perfectly to house our computer and printer and it matches our eclectic decor (just like everything else:). 
That's about it in a nutshell.  Yes we did math, grammar, writing, spelling etc. etc. but I think that's enough highlights for today.  We still love homeschooling and are reminded daily why it was a good choice for our family.  Adding in fall activities (racing, riding, and soccer) has definitely worn this mama out but I will tell you all about that in another post.  Enjoy the fall dear friends...before you know it Christmas will be upon us!

 



Adoption...Can We Love Them As Much?

As we explored foster care and adoption one question came up for us over and over again.  Could we possibly love them as much as our biological children?  When our biological children were born, there was this immediate overflowing sense of love.  A love that words cannot even begin to describe.  A love so deep that your heart aches to its very core.  Now when we first learned that we were expecting  it was exciting but over nine months time our love grew and grew along with them until we nearly burst with the anticipation of their arrival.  Even though it felt like this unconditional love happened all in that instant in reality it grew for ten months as they each grew in my womb.  Upon their arrival each baby reciprocated our love and trusted us to meet their every need.

Adoption is very very different.   When you foster children in your home the initial plan is always to return them to their biological parents.  Appropriate extended family placements are always a second choice and if no one is able to take children then they are available for adoption by foster families.  There are no guarantees that any child will become a part of your family no matter how much you love them.  As foster families we naturally guard our hearts.  The process takes time, years in fact.  We wait as parents attempt to change behaviors and jump through legal hoops to bring their children back home to them.  During that time we love but we love as if the child isn't ours, because they aren't, and we guard our hearts and brace ourselves for the heartbreak that easily could come.  Children long to return home to the familiar no matter how dysfunctional and loving others only brings deep emotional conflict and feelings of disloyalty to their "real family.  In our experience even babies mourn the loss of the familiar and of that connection with their birth families.

So this is where we begin...skepticism instead of trust, fear to love again from both parent and child, deep sorrow and emotional scars and pain.  Parent and child have endured years of the ups and downs that the system offers.  Somewhere along the way, we came to the realization that we had to stop guarding our hearts.  We had to open ourselves up and give them all the love that we had so that we could all start to heal.  It would never work if we didn't.  And even when we did there are no guarantees that there will be happy ending.  We can give them all the love we have but only God can heal their hurting hearts.  In the meantime we will be there as they work through each hurt and as they ache for the family that they lost.

These two adore each other and do not know or understand the words biological or adopted. 
They just know the deep love of being family.

Can we love them as much?  With adoption the love grows differently.  It is the kind of love that sneaks up on you slowly and quietly.  It is the kind of love that takes time and one day you realize that you would miss them deeply if they weren't there.  Its the kind of love that makes you realize your family will never be the same and you will take the good times with the bad times and wouldn't want it any other way.    Our family may look different than even we expected but we love them all just as much.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Having Enough Hands for Everyone and Baby Wearing

I have never been a "baby wearer."  Maybe in part because adding a baby and a tight fitting wrap to my already large frame isn't exactly flattering.  At one point in our life when we had our two older children and three foster children all under two and a half I thought I would give it a try.  I never had enough hands for everyone so this was my solution.  Strap the littlest one to me and have two hands free to wrangle the other two.  Sounded like a great idea.  I went out and spent $75 on a wrap at a local baby boutique.  I brought it home and tried it out.  It was extremely complicated to figure out and once I did,  my back was killing me after only 30 minutes.  Luckily I had enough sense to return it instead of throwing it in a pile with all of the other "necessary" unused baby equipment.
Fast forward to present day.  Mornings are full of homeschooling.  Some days Gracen just needs some love and so I carry him with me as I work with the older kids.  Vaeh is often happy to play or color close by.  Once again I am finding myself needing more hands.  I saw on a blogging sight how to make your own wrap and also found some you tube videos with instruction on wrapping it.  I decided to give it one more try.  I am glad that I did and  wish that I had worn Gracen since he was tiny.  Within minutes of wrapping him in it he fell fast asleep even with all the commotion of school going on around him.  He felt calm and cozy.  Now typically at his age he doesn't love it for long but I snuggle him in for a time while I help the older children with school and then he is ready to run and play again on his own.   This will also be nice for those nature walks where strollers aren't easy to maneuver.
This time I am happy to say that I spent around twelve dollars (instead of seventy five).  All it takes is seven yards of fabric (a cotton blend is recommended but I could only find locally was 100% cotton).  I did find a ribbed cotton and it seems to provide enough stretch to make it work.  A stretchy knit can be used for littler lighter babies.  You actually cut the fabric in half long ways so it makes two wraps.  Knit does not need the edges sewn but the cotton will need a hem.  I am still using mine with raw edges and it of course functions fine.  I just looked up wrapping babies online and lots of sights and videos popped up showing how to wrap a baby.  I experimented a bit and came up with a way to wrap that was very comfortable for both Gracen and I.
So there it is...my inexpensive baby wrap.  A wonderful home school tool.

Fall is Coming (and my least favorite holiday Halloween)

 

Halloween for me is a very controversial holiday.  As a child I loved Halloween.  It meant dressing up and trick or treating with friends in our neighborhood where there were no strangers.  A highlight was carving pumpkins with my dad.  I will never forget in my tween years how horrified I was when he made our pumpkin have snot (pumpkin slime) coming out of it's nose.  We wore the same costumes year after year (I was either bugs bunny or a witch) and we smoked candy cigarettes (I know bad to the bone right).  It was a holiday that celebrated being tricky and maybe a little bit naughty and you got candy, lots and lots of candy.

The holiday and my heart have changed drastically since those days of innocence.  Every year I grumble as Halloween comes near.  I procrastinate costume buying because in the back of my mind I am thinking about boycotting the holiday altogether.  You cannot wear the same costume year after year anymore it just isn't cool. Our neighborhood (any neighborhood for that matter) is no longer so safe.  Learning that our neighbor was a sex offender ten years back made us look at people very differently and guard our children very carefully.    We have seen the evil in this world and through foster care have met the families that it destroys and children that it leaves behind.  The holiday just seems well evil and frankly I no longer want to celebrate evil.

In the past I have allowed our children to participate.  The school does its annual Halloween parade and parties.  I was never brave enough to stand up for my own distaste about the holiday.  I even could have pulled my children out of school and have a fun day with them but I didn't want to deprive them of the fun.  I didn't stand firm in my convictions and show them how to stand up for what you know in your heart is right.  I missed a valuable opportunity to teach about the peer pressure of this world.   That being said,  I respect those families who can get through Halloween unscathed by the images and attitude that Halloween encourages.  If you are careful,  it may be possible.  We tried with non-scary costumes and making trick or treating an opportunity to visit the grandparents.

This year it is kind of a cop out.  Because we are homeschooling, it is much easier to take a stand...so I am.  There will be no Halloween here.  Instead,  we will celebrate the bounty of the harvest.  God has truly blessed us and we will focus on thankfulness, on not just on one day, thanksgiving, but throughout the season.  We will look at God's creation and observe the beauty that He brings us during the fall in our nature study.  Science will be observing and identifying birds in their natural fall habitats.  Writing will include thankfulness journals and character study will include gratefulness.  Now I am not saying that we won't indulge on any of the candy or enjoy any of the other festivities that the season has to offer.  What I am saying is that we will be more intentional about our focus. 

 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

 

 

*Did your family celebrate Halloween growing up? What are some of your favorite fun and non scary memories of Halloween?

 

(Almost) Free Fun at the Fair

Having family fun doesn't have to mean spending lots of money.  We are learning to find cheap fun learning activities outside of our home.  Yesterday we went to the state fair.  It was dollar day so we paid a grand total of four dollars to get our family of seven in the gate.   There was lots of learning and fun to be had.  We did not ride the rides and we did not eat the fair food but we enjoyed being together and learning as a family.

The big kids enjoyed looking at the chickens, rabbits, sheep, horses, and cows in the animal barns.  We also spent some time in the birthing center.  We learned that a cow produces sixty gallons of milk in a week, way more than even our family could drink.  We saw lots of very cute baby animals and got to pet baby pigs.

Our babies enjoyed their new stroller that mommy found on craigslist.  They were both able to see well with their new side by side and it was much easier to maneuver for mom and dad.  It was even narrow enough to easily get through doorways and through narrow isles.  A sidenote on the babies for those of you following my cloth diaper journey...they both wore cloth diapers for the first time on an outing and it was successful (although there were no dirty diapers :). 

The kids always love the butter sculpture. If there is nothing else they see at the fair, they have to see this.

 We fell in love with Do Art.  The theme was space and the kids were offered tons of craft supplies and encouraged to be creative and make something from space.  The kids had lots of fun using their imaginations to make their Space Creations.  The best part was it was completely free.   Payton even went to one of the volunteers when we were done and thanked her and let her know that he would be back next year for more fun.  This was probably an absolute highlight for them.                     

Vaeh takes her art VERY seriously.  No smiles here but lots of concentration.  Creativity is hard work.  Her creation included lots of bling.

Gracen took the tractors and dirt at the Farm Bureau booth very seriously.  We participated in an agriculture quiz as a family and earned free ice cream cones for everyone at the dairy building.

We finished off our evening with a pb&j picnic supper in the parking lot.  Another dad of many (six to be exact) offered to trade us for tuna sandwiches that they also were enjoying in the parking lot and his wife complimented us on our lovely family.  It is encouraging to see others enjoying their many little blessings.

No one really cared about the missed rides or food (although it did smell good).  For four dollars plus gas we enjoyed a fun outing together learning and living intentionally.