Saturday, November 18, 2006

SATURDAY

I spent some time this a.m. giving Mike info he needed.

I baked 4 loaves of bread. I had given Adrienne a loaf of the Italian bread and they really liked it. She asked for the recipe and I said, "take the 7 grain bread, divide the dough into loaves, sprinkle liberally with garlic and throw a couple of handfuls of Italian spices on...knead". She also liked the Cin loaf...start with the same dough, add rapadura and lots of Cinnamon, knead and bake. OK - well we were talking this a.m. and she said that she thought it was funny how I cook - she heard me say something about how much of something was needed. She said she needs exact measurements. SO....I measured just for her. It's 2 T of garlic and 1/4 a cup of Italian seasoning (Oregano, basil, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme). And 2 T of Rapadura and 1/8 a cup of Cinnamon. ANYWAY - I baked bread! LOL

We also went to the chapel to work on the chapel's Christmas card. These are 4 x 8 pieces of plywood and they line the base entrance. We've not had a chapel one but many other squadrons do. Melody organized this. She picked a great design. The kids had fun. I'll upload photos later.

There came a point where Mandy and I thought it would be good to take the young ones to the playground so that the "exacting" work could be done. It was nice to visit with Mandy and the children had fun playing.

When we got home Arielle went to visit with Ashley.

I baked a pecan pie. The pie crust is again very flaky but it was so sticky that it wasn't pretty - had to be pieced together. I used a honey pecan recipe and it was good. I think I can adjust it and do my Uncle Bill's chocolate pecan with honey as well. I'll post the recipe later.

The children and I are talking about making our own "Christmas Card" for our yard....I have to figure out if we could really pull it off. LOL

That's the day.
*Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel*

First, a confession. I have avoided reading this book for years. I assumed it would be "psychobabble" and promote cheap grace. Grace is amazing, awesome, scandalous - but never cheap or an excuse for overlooking sin. I had heard this author and book spoken of disparagingly. You can fill in the comments for yourself based on my above confession. {G}

I was able to get this audio book from bookcloseouts.com. Since I was done with my parenting study, I was intrigued by his title.

Things I learned:

1. I'm not sure audio books are for me. I had a hard time listening. I also had several near misses when I decided I HAD to write down notes....picture notes on sides of receipts, lab reports etc.

2. I really like marking up my books, better than listening to a book.

3. I was able to finish this book in a week of driving. I would not have finished it if I was attempting to find time to read. Audio books may be an o.k. option....still considering.

4. The authors voice pattern or lisp or accent was very distracting to me...but I eventually adjusted.

Basic Premise of the Book:

~We should model our parenting after the way that God deals with His children. What? This sounds very familiar to me - THIS man can't be a psychobabble heretic! ::snort::

~We should strive for grace based rather than fear based homes. Yes, YES, YES!

~Every child needs security, significance and strength. We meet these needs by offering them a secure love, a significant purpose and a strong hope. This is accomplished by engaging with our children and by pointing them to a relationship with God who provides them with a secure love, significant purpose and strong hope. Dr. Kimmel develops this through Scripture....beautifully relating how our needs are the same and God fulfills each one.

~We are to keep the three needs in mind in all our interactions with our children.

~The delivery system of grace is: freedom to be different, freedom to be vulnerable, freedom to be candid, and the freedom to make mistakes. (Umm....how cool. Think about this. Does it really matter if my child has spikes or a Mohawk? Does it REALLY matter as long as his heart is right? Do I seriously listen to my child's fears? Can my child tell me anything at all? Will I support my child as he works through the consequences of his bad choices?)

~No WHERE are we told to ignore sin or "let children run wild".

~There was a good chapter on prodigals that I think would be very encouraging.

~I have never heard the difference between fear based and grace based parenting presented so clearly. I found this BEAUTIFUL. In fear based homes we view our home as a fortress. We try to build a fence with strict expectations, rules etc. Sin is on the outside. If our fence is strong enough, we can keep sin on the outside of our family. In a grace based home we recognize that sin is within each of us. We view ourselves and our children as sinners in need of grace. We don't attempt to keep sin on the "outside" ....we attempt to teach our children to walk STRONGLY with their God. Our emphasis is not on making our children look or act in a Christian manner....but in reaching their hearts. I really am not doing this justice, but it was good. To sum it up he said the difference is that some think " sin will penetrate their barriers" and others think "sin permeates our being"....this will greatly affect how you parent. I was so able to SEE this.

Problems:

~The voice thing go to me, but if I were reading the book this wouldn't be an issue.

~ Somewhere in the middle of the book (as I was merging into traffic) he dealt with definitions of good and evil. I am not sure I caught all he said - and if I did - I'm not sure I agree with his definitions. I'd need to think this over more, pray, probably study it in the Word and certainly have some discussions with my favorite theologian before I would be sure I agreed with what I thought he said...but again...I know I missed a lot listening while driving.

SPANKING:

~ I know for some (on both sides of the discussion), it doesn't matter what else he says...the question is "what does he say about spanking"? He says that it should not be the ONLY tool a parent uses. He said that some children respond well to spanking and some do not. He said that we must recognize that if we are not comfortable with spanking or if our child doesn't respond well to it - it isn't required by Scripture.

Great Quotes:

"Love is a commitment of my will to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost." Wow....love means I WILL find the energy to continue to disciple with my children.

"In a grace based home, no child is ever written off!" Amen.

"...evangelical busybodies" I can't remember the exact quote but there were some great thoughts about being concerned about our children and extending grace rather than worrying about judging from ...... NOW he is a Christian and was NOT slamming the church but we may all know some of these types. I know that I do....I've had several encounters with this type...the ones that are sure that they know better than I what my child needs....and it isn't grace! {G}

Recommendation:

I honestly believe that this is a book that all parents should read or at least become familiar with the basic principles in the book. He doesn't really go into "discipline techniques" - but the concept of extending grace rather than fear is one we could all benefit from - regardless of our spanking stance. I did not agree totally with his stance on spanking.....but hey...it was a great book. It was good enough that I'm considering buying it so that I can highlight quotes and mark it up. I think there is much to glean from this book.

Dr. Kimmel is the founder of "Family Matters". You can find more about this book, including a table of contents here.

LAMINATING LAPBOOKS & FOLDER GAMES

Warning - those of you allergic to laminating should not read this. ::snort::

I keep seeing references to laminating lapbooks.....and folder games. Folder games I get. I can laminate the cover and the pieces.

Lapbooks - WHAT are you all laminating? The folders before you make mulitple folder books and before you add the little folds? You aren't laminating all the individual booklets, are you?

I can see that laminating would be helpful for games - but is it really beneficial for the lapbooks?

Opinions?
Lap Book Samples - STEPH

Stephanie, I'm not sure you saw my comment under "lapbook mavens". I'm really intrigued by the lap book you made with all the sample folds, instructions and booklets in it. Do you sell these? Are you interested in selling these? Seriously....figure your price for materials and time and think about it. LOL

Has anyone ever seen anything like this on the market? I have the Dinah Zike books but, it would be so helpful to have something like this for the children and ME to be able to SEE. I figure things out much quicker by touching and seeing, than by reading the destructions. If I had a book like this I could run with anything I wanted. LOL Seriously, I know it would be basic, but it would be a great start. I mean I can figure out "Gee, I could cut this in a pig shape and write facts about pigs on it"...it's more those folds that perplex us....and the children aren't terribly excited to sit and watch while I figure them out. LOL

I know, I know....I could make one myself...but there you are back to that "WHAT DID THEY SAY TO DO???" problem. LOL
STARTING VEGGIE SALES (PRODUCE CO-OP) For Stephanie and others interested readers...

* I decided to post this here rather than under comments so it doesn't get lost. LOL

I've started produce co-ops two ways.....In San Antonio there was a produce terminal. I would go down at 5 a.m. weekly and hand pick the produce that we wanted. Here, there is no produce terminal. HEB DOES get produce daily and the manager is very willing to work with us. He gives us 25% (officially 20 but it's always more) off the prices he is selling in the store. The quality is consistently better than I got at the produce terminal. There has been one time that he and I had checked a case and when I got it home the underside of all the fruit was awful. He had me come in and gave me another case immediately and told me to salvage what I could from the others. We aren't supposed to get discounts on sales items - but we also do in the sense that he throws in case of the sales stuff for free. LOL That makes it hard to figure out what a "manageable" share is but who can say no to free produce?

I've discovered that "shares" work best. It is much less work for the organizer. In our current case we are charging $28 per share.

Every week I total the shares. Adrienne will do the ordering, but for the next few weeks we'll do it together as she figures out the whole share thing. This week we had 15 shares (up from her and I a few weeks ago). It's simply a matter of deciding what a sane amount for a single share would be....multiplied by 3. So the single shares would be fine with 1 head of lettuce...triples will get 3 that works....we need one case of lettuce (comes in 24). I put the extras in a basket and as members show up can take what they'd like from the extra basket. Also - if someone hates something in their basket they can swap if there is something they'd rather have. I also encourage them to swap with each other or give it away and bless someone else. We found someone who was thrilled to take extra heads of cauliflower and someone else wanted extra lettuce...it all works out and when folks realize how much produce they are getting for $28, they are usually willing to be flexible.

This brings us to selection. My stock line has become "we are not a grocery store - don't give us a shopping list". LOL We tell folks we guarantee the staples and will add extras as funds permit. All collected money is spent on the week it was collected for....no money rolling over...because that wouldn't be fair to those who ordered for THIS week. I also make sure all know - more shares equals less quantity of more variety....now there are some things you have to up as your shares increase or you'd' get to few. It's a matter of trial and error to figure that out. We NEEDED twice the apples or all would have run out....I'm not sure we NEEDED twice the carrots....but then that's why it will be good to hear what others have to say. Adrienne's family could NEVER get enough carrots and my family may be less than the average consumer....who knows? We can get a general consensus from listening. We do not take individual orders. We do not refund if an item is bruised....We do not offer shares lower than $28. In SA shares were $15 but we paid much cheaper for produce. AND well the quality is wonderful with HEB. We went with $28 because we thought that is what we needed for the amount we wanted in a single share......and because I'd talked with someone whose sister is in a co-op a few hours away and that is what their shares are.....seemed good to adjust.

Usually the organizers or sorters take free produce. We aren't. We'd rather have bigger variety. If our order falls less than $10 below the funds we have to spend Adrienne and I will split that and deduct it from our shares. So yesterday we both had to pay $75.50 instead of $80. For years in SA I got three shares of free produce each week. People were still getting a good deal. We may revisit this as the co-op grows and it becomes more work...we'll pray about it.

We are playing with how best to receive payment. I was leery of charging this much each week since I have to mail deposits to AK.....so everyone is giving me cash. Adrienne and I were talking and if my credit card limit can handle it.....I get airline miles so maybe it's best to go back to checks so that I can mail them to AK - can't mail cash....not sure on this one yet. I can only cash $100 a day at the BX and I don't want to have to run up each day to cash a check.....playing with options at this point...but we are switching to require payment in advance.

We ask for two - four laundry baskets by their 3rd order. This allows some to go home full and some to come back empty each week.

You can grow via word of mouth. In SA I made up a brochure and left it at homeschool support group meetings, members took them and passed them out at churches etc.

They key is to get big enough for variety but not so big that you can't easily handle the time required for ordering and sorting etc. In SA I had 30 families who ordered every week.....between 60 - 80 shares...that was fine. Cynthia had about 6,000 shares and it was too much. Cynthia, do you remember what was comfortable???? I want to be able to sort at home. I like this because we expect our children to be the worker bees of the project and then I can still tend to little ones as needed....instead of my older ones having to give up a whole a.m of school. This week the olders helped unload and then did school while the younger ones and I sorted.

We do allow people to change their shares and to sit a week out as needed. We also allow them to order complete cases of something IF they are ordering shares as well.

I let everyone know up front that they WILL get items they don't like...they may have too much of one item or another....if they hate most things or don't eat most...they need to either go to a smaller share or just leave the co-op because it isn't worth it to have lots of produce if you don't eat it - waste of money.

My brochure is on my crashed computer....so I wrote up a letter for yesterday and tried to remember all the things that had been areas of concern in years past....and to explain how it all works.....if you'd like a copy of that I can email it to you - email me privately.

I think that's it. In typing this out I realized that it is KEY to figure out how big you want to get so that you don't overwhelm yourself. As for pricing shares....the more you charge the more variety you can order.....I think you sort of see how much folks are getting and decide if that's a good amount to charge. $15 wouldn't give a person much here at all......in SA they got about the same amount as our $28 here...so check the prices you have and estimate how much a single share would be.

I think I can get Stacia down now.