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Getting ready for the school year

So I've been procrastinating making my final plans for homeschool; I've been trying to figure out the best, most efficient way for us to homeschool in a way that makes it easy for the hubby to step in and check on things when I'm overwhelmed with my own school work. Using my college online classes as a guide, I wanted a central hub that we could all check, at any place we were, whether I was on my phone or hubby was at work, the kids could alternate between computers and ipads. I think what we've found is quite honestly the closest thing to finding something to match what I was looking for, without me creating it myself.

It's called EduOnTheGo, and it's free. You create your Academy, it has templates you can use or you can create your own. You create as many courses as you want. Each student/teacher has a profile, and you can add students to the courses as you wish. So my kids are both doing chemistry this year, they are both enrolled in that course. But they have different history; Jonathan is in Ancients and Kathryn is in Medieval. So only Jonathan is enrolled in Ancient History, and only Kathryn is enrolled in Medieval History.
I can create quizzes, tests, assignments. There's a place for discussions, and there's even a built in messenger system so they can ping me or each other if they have an issue with anything. I'm still on a learning curve, but all in all, I think this year is going to be pretty smooth. Knock on wood.
Here's the link to the site. https://6-s-academy.eduongo.com/v2/website/web/landing_page/

Day 4 21DSD

Day 4 -

Sleep quality - Not great. I woke up after about 4 hours with these bright lights in my face. I couldn't figure out why it was bothering me so much. Then I realized that I had put my computer on my nightstand the wrong way, so the lights were facing me instead of away from me. Really threw off my sleep for the rest of the night.

Exercise -Nope. Chiro appointment today, some running around, errands

Food -
Breakfast this morning - le sigh. I had planned on making something different for breakfast, but yesterday my bananas were already too ripe, and today I realized I was missing a key ingredient. Thus the aforementioned running around. So, breakfast was the old standby; eggs and bacon.

Lunch, while we were running around the rugrats talked us into going somewhere to eat. So I had a steak with veggies again.

Dinner was leftovers; so cottage pie again, from yesterday. No picture, because my phone was on the charger. But it's the same dinner from yesterday.

I added a sliced apple to butter in a pan, sprinkled with spices, and had some dessert.

Notes -
I'm feeling a little frustrated with limitations for some things I'd always made concessions about previously; especially when going out to eat. I really wanted a burger; I almost got jambalaya but it came with rice, and absolutely everything on the "lighter fare" portion of the menu had some kind of grain and/or "sweet glaze" so that was a no. I don't mind steak, but wanted something that I don't get all the time, since we were going out which isn't typical for us. I also haven't taken any of my supplements since the first day, and glutamine usually helps me a lot with my cravings. I should get back on that.

Day 3 21DSD

Day 3 -

Sleep quality - I actually slept 6 hours straight before waking up. For me, that's huge. I'm up every 3-4 hours, sometimes 2, going to the bathroom all night long. I slept for 6 hours, and then woke up when DH came home. Went back to sleep for a few hours. Not too bad, I don't think.

Exercise -More errands, running around, and I got a massage today! Ahhh!! It's supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend, so I'll force the kids out with me on Saturday for a walk around the block.

Food -

Breakfast; I had planned on making something totally different for breakfast, but then I realized my bananas were way too ripe! So it was my old standby, bacon, eggs, sauerkraut, and coffee. Not very pretty, I know.

 Lunch, well I was running around, and decided I was hungry. I didn't really have any leftover meats to put on my salad, so I just had some bacon fried up and some eggs boiled up, and voila.

Dinner, DH mentioned yesterday that he wanted me to make that Alice Springs chicken knock off, we loved it before and i haven't made it in at least 2 years. Well, I 21DSD'd it up, and I made Diane's Mustard Glazed Chicken, topping with mushrooms and bacon. I added mashed cauliflower for the side.

Notes -
I don't know that I have anything to add here. I'm a little sore right now from my massage. I have a chiropractor adjustment tomorrow. I'm still recouperating from the surgery, but I'm doing more each day. I've had sick kids this week, so I've been focusing on them as much as I can. DH had a shift change this week, so that's been another adjustment. I really can't stop thinking about chocolate, but there may be other issues contributing to that besides just, I can't have any. All in all it wasn't a bad day.

Day 2 21DSD

Day 2 -

Sleep quality - Oh man, terrible! I saw someone posted on Instagram this morning that they wondered if the full moon affected their sleep; that's the only explanation I have. I laid in bed for an hour trying to go to sleep, and then I tossed and turned all night, getting up about every two hours.

Exercise -More running around and errands today.

Food - Today was a little unplanned. I had a doctor's visit this morning that I needed to be nothing to eat before I went in, and then I sat in the waiting room for over an hour before finally getting called back. I didn't get to eat my first meal until around 1 oclock. Since we were still out and about in town, we stopped for something. I had a steak and some veggies. No picture. Then, due to the aformentioned terrible sleep, I cam home and took a 2 hour nap. When I got up, I snacked on some Applegate pepperoni and had a pumpkin smoothie.  For dinner, I made the cottage pie recipe in the 21DSD cookbook. I used half beef and half venison, and sweet potatoes instead of butternut. It was so good. I definitely got full, but really wanted seconds ;)

I also had one serving of Kombucha, and am currently drinking my coffee that I didn't get to have this morning.


Notes - As mentioned, sleep was terrible, and my whole day was thrown off with the early morning doctor's appointment, the late first meal, and the nap when I came home. I'm currently sporting a headache, which I'm not sure is from lack of coffee today or a detox side effect. I wanted ALL THE THINGS today, not just chocolate. Things I won't even mention. Things that you crave so desperately, so badly, and then when you get them you're like, oh, wow, this does NOT taste as good as I thought it would. It was better in my head!

Day 1: 21DSD

Day 1 -

Sleep quality - Not great, honestly. I know this was day 1, so it's a baseline measurement. Today was the first day my husband switched to a third shift schedule, so he was gone all night. I had little ones who were sick yesterday, spending all night taking turns climbing into the bed. We had an accident about 6 am, and I had to get up and change clothes and bed sheets. We all went back to sleep and slept most of the morning.

Exercise -Does running errands count? Seriously, I was fully intending on walking today. But it was 60 degrees and sunny yesterday, and 40 with freezing rains today, so I was not walking in that. **Side note: I'm still only 5 weeks postop, so heavy exertional exercise is not in the cards for me just yet.

Food -

Breakfast - Two eggs, two slices of bacon, a heaping helping of sauerkraut, and coffee, of course.

Lunch - While browsing Facebook, dear Liz Wolfe of Real Food Liz had posted a video on eating sardines, so that made my decision for lunch for me. I decided on a big ass salad with sardines.
While preparing my salad, I snacked on a few slices of Applegates pepperoni.

Dinner - Dinner was actually leftovers from yesterday, but still oh so good. We have a few grass-fed roasts in the freezer; this is one of them, along with whipped sweet potatoes, and green beans. Yum.

I had one serving of Kombucha, and I'm contemplating a few of these nifty little apple and coconut bite-sized treats from PaleOMG.

Notes - I really want some chocolate. And I was a little down today, but I know that was more personal issues going on than anything to do with food. Honestly, the food is easy for me. I have a set of rules, and I follow it. I've been through this enough times to know that once I get past days 3 and 7, a cheat would set me back, and that was hard enough going through the first time. It's not hard to get in line and eat right. It's the moving that I never seem to be motivated to do.

Preparing for my 21DSD

Wow. It's been a while for me. So much for my plan, last year, to keep up with my blog! I feel like I lost half a year of my life when everything at work changed. I went from part time head cashier to full time admin, and I feel like I spent more time at work than anything else in my life. I feel like my kids were missing out, and I know I was missing out on them. I'm super excited for the current turn of events, and I am looking forward to uncovering the new joys this year holds for me.

Tomorrow is day 1 of the February group 21-Day Sugar Detox, and I'll be joining in! This isn't my first, or even second, time going through the detox, and I'm looking forward to getting to the point that I know I will get to; less bloating, fewer cravings, less feeling bad. I'm not looking forward to the "sugar withdrawals" as it were; the super duper intense cravings I usually get in the first three days. I look forward to when the "not sweet treats" actually feel like a sweet treat, and a banana or a green apple are enough sweetness to get you through the day.

My goal for this 21DSD, along with sticking with the eating plan for the 21 days on level 3, is to blog about it every day. Maybe 21 days of blogging can get me back into the habit of paying attention to this space, and use it what it's for; my kids, my life. This one is perfect timing; at the end of this month my husband and I will be celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary; so I have my eye on the prize, looking forward a nice night out with my man when this is all over. That should be enough to get me through whatever moments of weakness I feel pressing in on my during the next three weeks!

So, however boring they may seem to me, I will post pictures of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks during the day. I'll keep track of how I feel while on the detox, any issues per day I may have. And who knows? Sneaky homeschool or gardening pictures may wind up in those updates!

My PaleoFx Weekend

I've just returned from the most amazing, 4-day weekend in Austin, Tx, after attending the PaleoFx symposium.  What a wild ride.  Plenty of talks, lots of great people, tons to learn.  I can't even begin to describe the time that I had, even though my intention with this post was to do just that.  I could probably spend the next week writing about all the fabulous people I spent time with, and the great things that we did, it was just so phenomenal.  I'll spare you the ramblings, though, and try to make it short and sweet. 

First, I was inspired to change my blog name to not only reflect the initial purpose of starting the blog, from homeschooling, but to also include my passion for real food and all things nutrition and health related.  I want it to encompass all sorts of things in my life, not try to just cut off a piece of it. 

I'm definitely going to focus more on my health.  I've been in this "real food" movement now for about 6 years; this started around the time I got pregnant with my third child.  I found WAPF, and from there, the paleo/primal lifestyle.  I haven't always been strict, and it's one of those things where I don't like to label myself because I'm not as strict as others, but because of the things I learned this weekend, I'm no longer going to be shy about speaking about it.  My life is my life, it's my journey, it's not "supposed" to look like anything.  It is what it is, and that's all there is.  It's ok to say that I'm "paleo" or "primal", even if I don't "look" the part. 

With that said, I'm going to try to summarize the main learning points from this weekend.  I found a lot of great people to start following, I am already looking forward to next year, and I feel rejuvenated and jazzed to continue with my own personal healing journey, something that I had been just feeling hopeless about for the last, oh I don't know, at least year.  Maybe a little bit longer. 

Absolutely, without a doubt, if you are struggling with anything; ANYTHING: weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, GI upset, skin issues, sleep issues, mood issues, inflammatory response, autoimmunity, .  CHANGE YOUR FOOD!!  It starts with food.  Let food be thy medicine. I'm not saying it will make everything perfect, or reverse everything, but it absolutely will not hurt, and it's a step in the right direction.    Start small if you have to.  It doesn't have to be all or nothing.  It doesn't have to be go big or go home.  It can be, change one thing this week.  Change another next week.  Don't give up! No matter how hard it seems, or hopeless, or overwhelming.  One thing at a time is better than continuing on the path you're going down now, whether you realize it or not, with processed, junky foods!!

The main points are: Food. Meditation (stress). SLEEP.  Exercise (movement).  That's it.  It's so simple!!  Note, I did not say easy.  I said simple.  While simple is, well, simple, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy.  It's a journey, not a destination!  Not everyone's journey is the same.  Not everyone's destination is the same!  And that's ok.  Be you. and be happy to be you.

A few things that stuck out to me:

Hacking Stress  - "It's not stress that kills, it's our reaction to it.  It's a choice.  Change your perception.  What can you control? What can't you control?"

"DNA is 5%; diet and lifestyle 95%." Dr. Wahls.

"Only love heals." "The goal of physical health is to have emotional and spiritual growth."  Dr. Khalish

Perfectionism - "What you're for strengthens you; what you're against weakens you."  "Know yourself.  Know your limitations."

"How does this make you feel? Is this food going to nourish you? Is it nutrient dense?" Sara Fragoso

"Does it make me happy and healthy?"  Jonathan Bailor

Yeah.  I had a great weekend. 

Renaissance Faire Trip!

Well, I guess since this is a homeschooling blog, I should post a little bit about what we do during our homeschooling, huh? I'm learning.

Today, we took a trip to the Four Winds Renaissance Faire (I actually don't know if it's still called that.  Signs up said Canterbury Faire, but the website still says Four Winds, so that's what we'll go with).  I was informed of it nearly a month ago, in an attempt to purchase tickets at a discounted price.  I wasn't comfortable committing to a big trip like that so far in advance, so we didn't purchase any advance tickets.  We showed up early to meet with our "group"; just a couple of local homeschoolers that like to get together every now and again, remind ourselves we aren't alone on this crazy homeschooling journey ;)

RenFaire day starts at 9 am, and we showed up a wee bit early.  Stood outside the gate, waiting for time to pass.  Got to chat with a few of the characters that work at the Faire.  Quite the entertaining bunch.  They obviously love what they do.  At opening, there's a loud cannon boom; "Fire in the hole!" My first thought is; imagine being a neighbor. You'd know every day when the Faire was open!

We walk in, and directed almost immediately over to the left; a puppet stage set up with picnic tables for the kids to sit at and watch a classic Punch and Judy puppet show.  I'm not really sure what was going on with Little Miss' mood, but she seemed a bit down.  Little Man certainly enjoyed it, although it took him a little while to warm up; by the end, he was laughing along with the crowd.  (After we left, I learned the puppet show was one of Little Miss' favorite shows, and she had wanted to see it again before we left for the day)

After that bit of entertainment, we sort of wandered around.  We found a tent with some souvenir stuff; we browsed a bit, but I didn't want to have a bunch of stuff to haul around, so I promised to remember it for right before we left.  Things got a bit chaotic, with Little Miss and Mr. Scarecrow disappearing from my sight, the "group" sort of dissipating, and Little Man suddenly realizing he needed the potty.  I sent Miss Artsy to find the two missing ones while I trekked up the hill to tend to Little Man's needs.  Finishing up, Miss Artsy was there to inform us that she found the two missing ones at the next show, the magic show!  So, we all made the hike back down the hill to the crowd around the magician.  Little Miss was most definitely excited about this one, as I knew she would be.  Magic is her favorite; she wishes magic was real for real.  I walk up to see her clapping wildly at whatever trick had just been finished, and as I joined her she instantly started telling me of all the tricks that I missed, with the magic rings, and something else.

And it was also at this point she made "best friends". (Don't look at me, she didn't get it from my side)

Moving on from the magic show, we had the sword fights.  This is where Miss Artsy became enthralled.  She loved the history lesson that was interspersed into the sword fighting (which is right up Little Man's alley) and she just could not be pulled away!  She kept mentioning things about the Ukraine that she just didn't know before now!  Fun fact: women in the Ukraine were treated as equals. (Gasp!) They were allowed to own property, to own land, and were considered "People", not property themselves (in regards to, she didn't "belong" to any man; her father, brother, uncle, husband, whatever man of the house was in charge of her family), she got to choose who she was married to, and she was free to divorce!! Also, if they divorced, she got all the property, except weapons and a horse, which the man got to keep!

After the fighting (with real swords, and no body armor), we were directed to a table that was full of artifacts, and we learned more about the weapons of war in the Ukraine.

After that, Little Man wanted to see what Little Miss was doing, who had wandered off with her new best friends.  I walked over there with him, and we watched the girls play for a little while, while Miss Artsy got to finish the demonstration.  Little Miss hung out with the girls for a while, and Little Man and I walked a mile for a bottle of water. While this was going on, Mr. Scarecrow had discovered the blacksmith demonstration.  (which, by the way, was a chosen topic of research of his a few years ago, apparently the interest is still there).  Right next to the forge was a neat little game set up with tiny cannons that shoot off golf balls with the help of Black Cats. I took Little Man over because he was absolutely interested.  It took us a little while to get our nerve up to ask, but finally he did ask if he could shoot the cannons.

She taught him to look down the sight of the cannon to aim it at the target he wanted, and then after it was where he wanted it to be, she had him step back, count down, 3, 2, 1, and yell "Fire in the hole!" (of course, he didn't do any of those things, but it was attempted).  Then, she would light the Black Cat, and the cannon would shoot the ball out towards the hanging bells and shiny baubles.  The point of the game is to hit one and win a prize.  I think Little Man just enjoyed the cannons.

Mr. Scarecrow decided that he was going to be the blacksmith's apprentice for the day, and he didn't see anything else while at the Faire.

At this point, it was around lunchtime and everyone was getting a bit cranky; not to mention the humidity was probably 100%, and we actually thought we were going to get rained on for a few minutes, with big fat drops falling.  There was so much more that we didn't see; I feel like I walked 10 miles today, but during my walking around, I noticed a fortune tellers tent (which I don't think was open), there was a mehendi art table, there was a "gypsy" tent, where they all gathered around and danced a cool dance.  There was a "brig" where you could be locked up, and a stockade.  There were multiple building we didn't even go into; I wasn't sure if they were retail shops.  There was a performance put on; I saw the tail end of it, had to do with juggling.  We left about the time there was jousting going on.  Walking around, all the way down and back, there were even a few rides for the kids; honestly, I didn't bring that much money to just spend at the Faire, so we left it without attempting any of those things.  I allowed a stop at the souvenir shop before we left, and we headed out the gate about 2 hours before the end of the day.

The day was absolutely amazing.  It was almost perfect; overcast, maybe a bit muggy but not sunny and hot, and it didn't really rain on us.  There was, without a doubt, something for everyone.  I can pinpoint the exact things that each of my children were completely over the moon about.  I certainly didn't feel it was a wasted day.  That being said, there were a few disappointments for me:

• I think my biggest one is, since it was a "school day", for local area schools to come out, there were a few things not opened, and some other things "watered down."  In particular, the archery shooting range wasn't open (which I know Little Man would have loved), and during the fighting, the speaker would allude to the fact that, had it been the weekend, he could expand a bit on some of the things he was saying to get his point across, but couldn't today because it was "school day".  Just had the general feeling of missing out, and most definitely needed to come during the weekend to get the real feel of it. 
• I felt a little lost.  I don't know if that's just because I've never been before, and didn't know what to expect, but I would have loved to have seen a schedule of events, so I didn't feel like, we're going to miss something, what's next, I don't know where to go.  They had the shows planned out and spaced out appropriately; I just would have liked to know where we were going next.  As we walked out the gate, the lady at the front asked us how we enjoyed ourselves, and told us we were missing the jousting.  We were just hot, tired, and hungry at that point and ready to go.
• I was unaware, once again probably because I had never been, about the rides, and the little teeny things that cost money that adds up when you have 4 kids.  I would have liked to have been forewarned about that.  
• Next time I go, I will definitely bring a bag or backpack full of water bottles.  
• They were out of turkey legs, :( We probably could have muscled through to the end of the day if we could have had something like that for lunch.

All in all, I would say it was a very successful day.  They are still talking about their favorite parts, and asking about when we are going to go back.  

Changes for next year ... already.

Well, we're still in the early stages of planning out for next year, so I guess changes already are to be expected.  One insomniatic night, I was looking up ideas for digital art classes for Ms. Artsy, and came across this Digital Arts curriculum for high school.  It is a full on, 8 course, 4 year curriculum.  Amazing.  Absolutely.  And, not only that, but the rest of the website looks promising, as well.  It is an accredited middle school and high school online.  Basically, all 3 years of middle school and all 4 years of high school.  Online. At your own pace.  From home.

We showed it to Ms. Artsy, and she said that, while it looked interesting, she would like to stick to our plan for homeschooling.  Of course, I didn't think she'd jump on it.  It's more up Mr. Scarecrow's ally.  And of course, he's gung ho for it.  So, we may be just putting him in this for school next year; although the dilemma of what grade comes up again.  We're looking into it now; if I have him off my plate for this next year, and just focus on Ms. Artsy and Miss Priss, things next year could be a tad bit easier.  (Although I suspect Miss Priss has the same learning style as Mr. Scarecrow.  Oye Vey.)

Now, for the little thing up our sleeves that we couldn't talk about before!!  Ms. Artsy's birthday was this past weekend, and we've revealed the surprise to her, so now it can be something I can include in my plans for next year!  It can go along with her digital arts curriculum, or even be an additional side project for her.  It's a Drawing Tablet with Manga software, she can use to draw on and create her own manga characters!

Last week, she found this program on her computer that allowed her to create an anime movie, of sorts.  The program came with it's own characters, and she was in control of their movements, actions, backgrounds, etc.  I think, and I'm not savvy in any of this stuff, but I think this tablet will allow her to draw her own characters, to then transpose into that program and create an entire original manga anime!  Ok, I may not know what I'm talking about, but I know that this takes something that's she's always been interested in, art, and mixes it with something new that she's interested in, japanime stuff, and it gives a sort of foot-in-the-door to future career paths.  I'm really excited for where this will lead for her.