• HOME
  • {A}’s Chipmunk Training Archives

 Homepage

  • The Homestead
    • Home Projects
    • Home Improvement
    • Home Decor
      • Seasonal Home decor
        • FALL Home Decor
        • WINTER Home Decor
        • SPRING Crafts and Creations
        • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • Our Chickens
    • Gardening
    • Organization
    • Re-Purposing
    • Furniture Refinishing
    • Budget
  • Crafts & Creations
    • Seasonal Home decor
      • FALL Crafts and Creations
      • WINTER Crafts and Creations
      • SPRING Crafts and Creations
      • SUMMER Crafts and Creations
    • DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project
    • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Homemade/Handmade Gift Ideas
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Fan Pulls
    • Free Printable/Downloadable
    • Sewing Projects
    • Giveaways
    • Business Features
  • Recipes/FoodFun
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Main Dish
    • Sandwiches
    • Appetizers
    • Slow Cooker
    • On The Grill
    • Side Dishes
      • Soups
      • Salads
    • Baking
      • Breads, Rolls and Muffins
    • Snacks
    • Treats
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
  • Homeschooling
    • Elementary Homeschooling
      • Elementary Homeschooling READING
      • Elementary Homeschooling MATH
      • Elementary Homeschooling LANGUAGE ARTS
      • Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Elementary Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
      • Kids Arts and Crafts
    • Middle School Homeschooling
      • Middle School Homeschooling SCIENCE
      • Middle School Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS
    • Language Arts
    • Math
    • History / Social Studies
    • Geography
    • Foreign Language
    • Field Trips
    • Games
    • Nature Study
  • The Big Picture
    • Life In General
    • Celebrations
    • Faith
      • Into the Light; The Series
    • Giveaways
    • Reviews & Sponsors
  • Photography & Lettering
    • Photography
    • truck lettering
    • vehicle graphics
    • Newborns
    • Kids
    • Engagement
    • High School Senior Pictures
    • High School Senior Pictures Sneak Peeks

French Toast, My Way. (The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.) | Recipe

September 15, 2011 By Laura 8 Comments

fried-french-toast-recipe-4

Recently, a very special breakfast was in order.  It was our triplets’ 9th Birthday, and we always have a special breakfast on birthdays in our house.  Usually, it is my husband’s specialty of ‘Birthday Number Pancakes’, which we have blogged about many times.  But this time, I had plans.  I really wanted to make French Toast, and just like the kind I had had so many times growing up, at a particular restaurant. The crazy thing is, I cannot for the life of me (yet) remember, what restaurant that was! It’s one of those questions I’d love to ask my Mom, but can’t, because she is gone now.  : (  I know she would know. I have searched recipes all over the net, trying to find a recipe even close to the kind I had had, to no avail.  Alas….I decided, “What do I need a recipe to follow for? I can figure this out as I go!”  I decided I believed in me.

And what became of that fearless leap, is the best French Toast, we have ever had. (Quite equal to the mystery restaurant’s French Toast, if I do say so myself. Except their’s was like, a 1.5 inch thick slice of bread, cut corner to corner into a triangle.  The crust sides were the best.)

It’s important to note, I am pretty health conscience, for my family. But this French Toast was to be deep fried, which of course is why it is SO good. And it’s a treat! On special occasions, one needs to indulge. Still, I wanted to make this recipe as healthy as I possibly could, while still making it taste exactly like I wanted.   So, while we never really have white bread, we did for this.  The oil I was deep frying in, was the healthiest possible (I think): Canola Oil.  It’s what we always use to make donuts and such as well in the Fall. And as you read the few steps here you’ll find I had a few other tricks that made me feel better about the whole health thing in my mind.  You are going to need a deep fryer, for this particular how-to recipe. Ready?

Participating Ingredients, to have on hand:

(*Amounts depending…)

  • Bread Slices (I used thickest white slices I could find.)
  • Corn Flakes Cereal
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Vanilla
  • Cinnamon
  • Canola Oil

For Table:

  • Butter
  • Confectionery Sugar
  • Syrup

***

*I say amounts depending, because it really depends on how many French Toast you need to make.  If you need more of a batch of anything, you just get a little more as you go.  No big deal.   Also, to keep things moving and producing quickly, it’s helpful to have a helper. {A} and I were a great team in the kitchen this particular morning. (And will be a gain soon. ; ).  So, the following is stations you want to have prepared before you actually begin cooking.

Dipping Mixture:  In a shallow dish, crack 3 eggs.  Add 3/4 cup of milk,  a few drops of Vanilla Extract, and a dash or 2 of cinnamon. Whip it up with a fork.

Bread/Toast: A key ‘trick’ here, to making your French Toast as good as it can be, is to pre-toast your bread. Trust me, it makes all the difference, as to not soak-up the mixture into the bread, but rather coat it as intended.  So for us 6, I covered 2 cookie sheets with tin foil, and put the bread slices in the oven at the lowest setting. Just watch them, until they are toasted a bit. Flip them if you’d like. Both sides don’t need to ‘look’ toasted, but just feel toasted on the surface.  Once they are all toasted, pile them all onto one sheet and cover the emptied sheet with a layer of paper towel.

Deep Fryer:  Fill fryer with Canola Oil to recommended level. Heat to 350 degrees.

Crunch Coating:  In a shallow dish also, have Corn Flakes cereal crushed up.  Little flakes are fine.  Don’t crush it to dust.

Now…..here goes the assembly line routine, which you can sort of see in the 2 photos coming up:

001 1) Put a piece of toast into the egg mixture, flip it over quickly with a fork to coat the other side, and take it out right away using a forl. Let it drip off as it hangs from the fork, and then lay it in crushed Corn Flakes dish.

2) Press the toast slice down a little into the flakes, flip over, and press again.  Neither side has to be completely covered with the flakes.  You just want some on there.

3)  Move the coated slice from the flakes, and lay it in one end of the deep fryer basket.  Then do a 2nd piece the same way:  Quickly coat both sides in egg, let drip, coat both sides in flakes, and lay in  free area of basket.

4) Now lower basket into oil, and immediately start counting to 1o.  The toast will float.  So when you get to 10, flip them both over, and count to 10 again.  Bring the basket up, and hook on the side.

fried-french-toast-recipe Enter Trick # 1: I had to stand both pieces up after each set, as shown above.  In my mind, it best helps any excess oil drip off, instead of soaking into the toast.  And ultimately, makes it crispier. Then….I would put onto the paper-towel covered cookie sheet in the still warm oven.

Repeat sets of toast until you are done. We only had to make a little more egg mixture once, and crush up some more Cornflakes a few times.

fried-french-toast-recipe-1 Now, this was our Trio’s Birthday Breakfast, and so we had traditions to stick to. I managed to cut 9’s out of the top French Toast on each of their plates, and put it on the side. Of course, this was before we added the wonderful toppings! (Coming up.)

fried-french-toast-recipe-2 The Happy & Hungry, 9 Year Old Triplets!!

For topping, I just lightly butter, sift a little confectionery sugar on,  and then drizzle on the syrup.

fried-french-toast-recipe-3 I can’t even explain how delicious this French Toast is. My family was loving every bite. It’s filling, for sure. But it’s not heavy in your mouth or stomach, in the oily ‘ugh’ kind of way. It tastes light, and sweet, and it’s nicely crispy on the outside. Add some sausage or bacon on the side, with juice or coffee, and it’s a special breakfast, that’s worth the little production effort for sure. Consider trying it this weekend, and letting us know how you liked it!

I think we might be having it again ourselves.  😛




Save

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes Tagged With: birthday-number-breakfast, breakfast-recipes, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, deep-fried-french toast, deep-fryer-french-toast, french-toast, french-toast-recipes, fried-french-toast, recipes, triplets

Early August Gardens, at Our House.

August 11, 2011 By Laura 6 Comments

00_

Just a quick update on how our gardens have grown. It’s August now.

The most exciting recent development, is we finally have some watermelons growing!

001_watermelon-patch They are still fairly small. I forget what variety we planted, so maybe they won’t get much bigger.

002_watermelon-patch
I need to find the seed packet, and find out, because we’ve got a (passed due) deadline here!

 

003_watermelon-patch We need to use the ‘Watermelon Patch’ as our ‘Pumpkin Patch’ soon!  If not yesterday.  If you were with us last year, you may recall we planted our pumpkins way too soon.  We had to harvest them by early October, and so we didn’t have any WE grew, by Halloween.  : ( But apparently, it takes 120 days to grow pumpkins!

That leaves us with…..83 days. Oh dear. This year we’re late!

004 I think we’ll just plant pumpkin seeds tomorrow, right in there with the watermelon vines. There’s room!

005 Are we blessed, with kids who LOVE to weed, or what?

I can answer that.

“Yes we are!”

006_cherry-tomatoes-on-vine Cherry Tomatoes, on the vine.

(The bigger kind.)

007_cherry-tomatoes-on-vine More Cherry Tomatoes.

And some other varieties too….

008_cherry-tomatoes-on-vine

009_tomatoes-on-vine

010_cherry-tomatoes-gardening

011_tomato-gardening
Soon, we’ll have Tomatoes to eat every day.  (LOVE tomato sandwiches.)  Right now, we are eating Cucumber spears every day, and we love it!! The kids eat tons.   The kids dip in Ranch Dressing. I like just Salt & Pepper.

 

012_green-bell-pepper-plant
We’ve got just a few Green Bell Peppers growing.  My mother-in-law was right. We should had started earlier, when we started with seed in the house.

Always learning as we grow.

Oh my favorite this year….

013_sugar-snap-pea-trellis
Our Sugar Snap Peas.

I just love even the SIGHT of them, growing up our trellis and twine.

  014_sugar-snap-peas

015_fresh-sugar-snap-pea It doesn’t seem we got as many as we should have?

016_sugar-snap-pea
But maybe that is because we can’t stop eating them!  Never enough.

Can you believe we have not gotten as far as to even COOK some yet? They are simply sweet, crunchy, divine, and addicting, raw and right off the vines.

017_sugar-snap-pea-flower
I love the sweet little flowers they put off, too.

 

018_hornet-on-wood1 There are constantly wasps collecting wood grain, to make nests somewhere.  I’ve come not mind them around.  It’s actually interesting to watch them work.  So far, I still have a trellis so, it’s fine.

 

019_sunflowers
Lastly, we have some sunflowers, that the kids began to grow inside, and replanted in the gardens.  They make me smile.

And so do your visits here to our blog.  Thank you coming by. How are your gardens/flowers fairing?  Please take a moment to say hi, and invite us over to your place, if you’d like.  Most think we’re pleasant enough folks. : )




Save

Save

Filed Under: Gardening, Photography, The Homestead Tagged With: garden-bed, Gardening, gardens-in-August, gardens-in-early-August, green-bell-peppers, New-England-gardening, pumpkin patch, pumpkins, sugar-snap-peas, sunflowers, tomatoes, triplets, triplets-gardening, wasp, watermelon-patch, watermelons

{A} is 14 / A Belated Birthday Photo Post

July 31, 2011 By Laura 10 Comments

004_birthday_pancakes-300x214
July always seems to get away from me!  I am having deja-vu, about blogging our oldest daughter’s birthday last year, quite after the facts.  But, it’s alright really, because these types of family-related blog posts I generally just put together for the sake of our own recorded family history, and if anyone else is interested, so be it.  So in brief, here is a glimpse into our day celebrating our oldest child’s birthday.

Her birthday is the 5th, and with the 4th making for a long weekend this year, we had an extra-extra long weekend.  All of the typical 4th of July celebrations & activities, and then her birthday too.

001

002

003

Our family’s tradition is to take birthdays as a family day, free of work or schooling. But one of {A}’s  wishes for her day this year, was to go to work with her Dad, at his morning part-time job at a local church.  He truly enjoys his work there, and the setting is in a real wooded area, making for lots of wild critter stories to tell, when he comes home. So naturally, that is very appealing to her as well, if you know her. ; )

 

004_birthday_pancakes  When they got home around noon, I had ready or usual birthday morning tradition: birthday number pancakes. That is usually Michael’s specialty, but since he was not home, I managed.  Did you notice the flower and butterfly, made of butter? And the “bee-line’ from the flower to the butterfly, with syrup. : )

 

005 Oh, don’t feel bad for her.  She ate several more pancakes, after her 14 was gone.

 

006 {JM} made this as a surprise at her place setting. And as usual, I was impressed.

{A} loved it too.

A few other surprises:

007

Football cards, from {JM, O and S}.  They were pretty excited to have gotten these for her with their own money, because she collects them. (Along with other collections she has going.)

008

009

010_homeskoolie-t-shirts 011-homeskoolie-t-shirts

A couple of cool t-shirts she wanted.

012

A package from Grandma. She got a purse, a cool pendant, and a gift card to Michael’s Arts & Crafts.  We also got her a gift card, to Borders Bookstore.  There are a slew of books there she wants badly, and ‘to keep’.

 

013

As a family activity, she wanted to go to the movies, to see Mr. Popper’s Penguin’s, with Jim Carey.  It was a welcome idea, with the extreme heat and humidity that day! Now, I’m really particular as a parent, as to what movies/television my kids see, but after looking into it, I decided this movie would be fine, and it was.  It was more than fine. (However, I was really glad with the decision, to keep them out of the theatreer until the previews were over!  That’s another story.).  But I have to say, this movie we saw was excellent. We all really, really enjoyed it.

Tacos was her dinner of choice, and then, before it got too dark out, we released our 5 butterflies we hatched.

Then of course, we sang, and had cake.

{A} has had a busier summer than she has ever had, with a temporary summer job, teaching 4th grade CCD for a couple of weeks, sports clinics to gear up for another year of sports (now high school), some schooling on the side, prepping for another new school year ahead, and just some sheer fun & relaxation hanging out with friends. We were happy to take this family day, to celebrate her and her life, and give thanks to God for the blessing she is.

Thanks for coming by.



Save

Save

Filed Under: Celebrations, Faith/ Catholic, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: birthday breakfast, birthdays, Catholic-blog, Catholic-families, celebrations, family, triplets

✔’s, Gems, and X’s / Our System for Our Kid’s Responsibilities & Behavior

June 29, 2011 By Laura 9 Comments

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-4

∆ Fair Warning: This is like a 10 minute read.
If you’ve got the time, I’ve got the verbage.
So grab a drink, sit back, & relax.

The Prelude

There are days when I feel like I have 50 things to get done that day. I always have lists going, of my agendas. I’m writing tasks down as I think of them, while trying to take care of others and check them off. Between running a family (I am the thinker & planner, as I suppose most mothers are), homeschooling the kids, running my photography business, and running the blog, my head spins sometimes.  Paid or not, every agenda is all ‘work to do’ in my head, albeit work that I enjoy, as overwhelmed as I can get on some days.

But there is no job on any given day, that is more important to me, or that I am more passionate about in my heart, than helping lead and encourage my children into being the best grown people they can be.   It’s #1, always. It comes before everything else in my book, including them learning any academics.  By a long shot.  The formation of their character, to me, is the most critical aspect of my job as a parent.

In the end, I think we all have the same goals for our children, no matter where the source of our inspiration to ‘get this parenting thing right’ comes from.  Right? If we live consciously, we will do our best most days, and still make mistakes along the way! But it’s in trying to do our best, and loving our children so much that we want to give them our best, that drives us.  Even if we all have different ways of what that means, or how to do it on a day to day basis.

From my own personal viewpoint:  the foundation of character begins with God, and what He expects of me as a parent, raising these children He has blessed us with.  One of those things, is to try and teach my children, what He expects of us all, as people. And how to use His teachings to guide us all.  It’s one I take extremely seriously, and one I never stop thinking about. I’m not perfect at it by any means, but I never give up. My mind never stops….“What is working? What isn’t? What needs to change? How can they best learn from this situation today?  What is the message they may be getting? Are they on the right path, for their age?” And the questions keep coming.  They have since the day I became a mother.  I’m sure so many of you are familiar with this internal interrogation.

Two years ago this month,  in June 2009, I happened to blog about “A 6 Star Date” that I went on with my son.  Some of you who have been following us for years, may remember it.  Others may want to read that old post later, here.   Generally, it was a system I had made up and was using at the time, to encourage and address our kid’s behavior choices.  We used it for the longest time, and still do for the most part.   The concept of the system, and the general basics, have remained the same.  If anything, it has expanded to cover more area, especially as the kids are older now. It has been pretty effective for our kids, and our family as a whole.   I’ve been meaning to share it on the blog here for some time, with the thought that any of you may want to try implementing something similar, or any part of it, tweaking it in ways you see fit, to work for your family.

 *As a reference point, as of the writing of this post:
It is the year 2011. For anyone not very familiar with our family, we have 4 children. They all have a birthday coming right up. Our oldest daughter Alexis, a.k.a {A} will be 14 years old, and then we have triplets who will be 9 years old at the end of August. They are in birth order, son-daughter-son;  JackMichael a.k.a {JM or J}, Olivia a.k.a. {O}, and Shane a.k.a. {S}.

Please understand that this post & system I am sharing, ultimately was fostered by our own personal opinions, convictions,  and style of parenting. We are a practicing Roman Catholic family, but it is completely tweakable for your own beliefs, I am sure. The post as a whole may not be 100% agreeable with everyone, but is offered to those interested in using it possibly as a practice of their own, in part or whole, or as a spring board for their own ideas.  It reflects our faith, and our convictions.  Please respect it’s entirety as such, and take from it what works for you, as you please.


The Responsibility and Behavior System:

(This system was not actually created all at once.  It was simply 3 separate things I had been doing to guide my children, when one day, I realize how collectively, it was a pretty good overall system. )

1) The Check Chart

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting

I want to give them skills to learn how to be responsible for themselves.

We use this responsibilities chart we made up, using vinyl cut letters & lines.  It lists our youngest one’s own personal responsibilities for each day of the week.  They check things off as they do them, every day.  This chart is in the kitchen, right beside the doorway between kitchen and the main living area, where we all pass through 100 times a day. It’s down low, right where the littles can’t miss it walking by. (It’s near the food.   ; )   By referring to the chart, there is no excuse for ‘forgetting’, and I can see at a glance, who has gotten what done. In the big picture, it saves me from talking as much, and asking each & every one of them “Did you brush your teeth yet””…”Did you wash your hands before dinner?”….”Did you…..”(this or that), driving myself and everyone else crazy.


child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-1

These responsibilities basically consist of the things they are expected to do, to care for themselves, and their own belongings. This includes any messes of their own they make in any room of the house, out in the yard, or anywhere else.  Cleaning up after ourselves is an expectation of person responsibility and a family rule. But it is also a responsibility in and of itself, to keep their chart’s check marks updated, which works out nicely.  What if someone is repeatedly neglecting their responsibility chart? We’ll get to that shortly.

I should note that, as of yet, we don’t personally ‘assign regular chores’ to the kids. That may change in time, depending. Although we don’t have a negative opinion in any way, of those families who do assign chores. Right now, we are teaching them that it takes everyone to be a team, and loving family member to work well as a unit.  Because we love each other, and wish to live in harmony & happiness. With that said, they ultimately help out a lot around here without asking them to, much, through this system, as you’ll soon realize.

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-2
As you probably noticed, they also each have their own kid-color-coded marker, so we know whose checks are whose.  Our oldest is old enough not to need to be reminded of these responsibilities, which gives me great hope.


2) The Gems

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-3 I want them to feel appreciated, for their efforts, in being the best person God created them to be.

On top of our microwave in our kitchen, are 4 glass globe jars.   They are also kid-color-coded.  They are marked with each kid’s initial, have a pretty ribbon to match, and hold gems for their random efforts that we have appreciated, in our family.   To be clear, this is not a reward system.  I am not personally crazy about reward systems for the simple fact that, children, and all of us in general, should be expected to choose right, between right and wrong.  To choose to help others when we can. It’s what God expects of us, what shares and spreads love from within ourselves, to others, and what falls in line with our morals we are to live by.  In my opinion, choosing right, should not be bribed for, or lured with, rewards. Because then the incentive is not genuine, but ultimately selfish.  Often times, good things (I like to call natural consequences) happen to come of choosing right, anyway. But we should be expected to choose right, without needing to be rewarded for it, or looking to be.

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-5 With that said, gems may (or may not…) be given to any of the kids, when they are caught choosing right. It may be for doing a cleaning chore in the house that they saw needed to be done, such as sweeping the floor, straightening all of the shoes in the sun room, or picking up a mess someone else left after getting creative, before Mama found it. ; )  It may be because I overheard them put another before themselves, whether it be offering for someone else go first, or offering to share something. It may be for saying something kind to someone, doing a random act of kindness, or acting compassionately towards another.  These things apply whether we are at home together as a family, on a field trip, out on an outing with friends, or anywhere, with anyone, at all. Maybe they were the first to jump up when we called out through the house, “Dinner is ready! Can someone set the table please?” Being helpful, or loving, or thoughtful, or simply choosing right, when choosing wrong would have seemed easier in the immediate moment.  All of these things may get them a gem, which in all honesty, they do not (and cannot) expect. They know that is certainly true by now.

Because the rules have always been:

They cannot ever ask for a gem.

They cannot mention or remind me of gems, in relation to an action they took in any way.

They cannot even point out something they did, to be sure I know it. ; )

I in turn, do not always give them a gem, when I notice something. There are many, many times I don’t.  Simply because…..we all do and will do good, and choose right in life, and no one will appreciate it. It happens!  We can feel good in our hearts, knowing we pleased God, or held strong and chose right.  But there are times that is all we get out of it.  And it should be enough.

So this has really laid a foundation, for no expectations, in exchange for good choices.

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-6

I keep all of the gems, in this box, on the tower of my computer.  I had bought net sacks filled with gems, in similar colored sets that match our color-coded kids, at Michael’s Arts & Crafts.   More often than not, they have no idea why I am calling them to me, when I do.  They weren’t even aware I could hear what was going on, or saw what they did. But boy are they pleased when they realize why I did call them!  Their face lights up, from an expression of wonderment, as they come to me.  I have no set number of gems they get, for any given wonderful choice.  Sometimes, it’s just 1, sometimes it’s 2. Sometimes I tell them it is double the number I was going to give, for one reason or another. (And I’ll tell them why.)  But there is no denying how pleased they are, no matter how many they get.  They always seem perfectly happy with what they got, even when it is just 1! In putting these gems in their hand, I tell them why they should feel good about their choice, why I appreciate what they did, why I am sure God is pleased with them too, and I thank them and we have big hugs.(I’m big on communication with my kids. We talk a lot!)

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-7 They take their gems into the kitchen, and put them in their jar.   And in all honesty, it’s just getting gems, that helps them feel so appreciated.  You can see it on their face, and in their body language. Because they know they chose good, and that someone noticed, and appreciated that.  Don’t we all just love to know that, sometimes? It re-enforces all things good, without expecting a pay-off.

Now I’ll be the first to tell you, I am not always paying attention.  Weeks can go by, without anyone getting a single gem. Simply because I have a lot on my mind, or things have been crazy.  Good choices are expected regardless, although they aren’t always what is chosen. I’ll be getting to that shortly too. ; )  But there is rarely any mention about the gems.

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-8 Meanwhile, they sure look pretty, sitting there in the kitchen, don’t they?

Eventually, someone’s jar does fill up to the ribbon, and we do mark it with a special occasion.  Now don’t judge the children based on their gem levels, in the photo above, because they have all been emptied and re-started at different times.  There is no comparing at this point, but filling that jar is a personal accomplishments that I do like to mark with a special time.   No matter how hard they work at being a good person and choosing right, it’s a feat to fill a jar like that with little gems! It takes quite awhile.  Even for our most helpful ones.  So when the jar is filled up, I’ll give them a choice. We’ll give them a little money, to go shopping with me or Daddy where they can buy something for themselves they specially wanted, OR, they can go to breakfast or lunch with one of us.

Either way, it’s called a Gem Date. It’s special one-on-one time between us, and it always feels as special as it is.   I be sure to take time with each one of my kids every day, to talk with them and connect 1-on-1 with them.  With schooling them myself, I have lots of opportunities all day to do that. But there is always something a little extra-special-feeling about a Gem Date, for both us as the parent, and the child.  They almost feel magical, like all of those little appreciations came together and exploded.

Gems are like magic stones, after a long and tiresome span of time of giving, and giving, with no expectations, when eventually, we can only hope to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-9 This guy has nothing to do with the topic of this post, but he sits on my microwave, and I love him, so I thought I would introduce you to him. Except…he doesn’t have a name. But doesn’t his mohawk rock?  He is very special to me.  Alexis made him when she was 8 years, in a pottery class she was taking.

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-10

If he doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.


3) The X’s.

 

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-11 If a parent truly loves their child, they must be sure they get consequences, for their poor choices.

And in our system, those are represented by red X’s.   They go under that child’s initial, on another (huge) marker board, that is behind my desk, in my office cubby. I use the top of the board to track the point of process I am at with various clients.  But the bottom of the board is free & convenient for this purpose.

If a child knowingly and purposely makes a really bad choice, they get an X.  Now for the sake of this photo, I’m going to tell you that I put these X’s on the board, although there didn’t happen to be any at the moment.  But I have no problem telling you…..there are days I really love my child! ; )   Generally speaking, things run pretty smoothly around here, with the flow of our routines.  But I can tell you, usually when we have a bad day, there is a whole string of them! Maybe one of the kids is out of sorts, and is spreading the non-cheer. Or maybe “I” am tired, or not feeling great, (or both!) and am just feeling extra-non-tolerant of any antics.  Either way, these things can effect the whole family, like falling dominoes, and it usually takes a few days to get back on track. On those days, my red marker may get handled more than usual. ; )

Like the gems, which just feel good to get, and that should be enough > the x’s do not feel good to get. Ask any one of my kids. They are not at peace, if they even have 1-single-X. You should see them peek through the cut-out in the wall, (where the stairs to the 2nd floor are), or come around to my desk, to check their status.  But the X in and of itself is not enough. They need to work them off/pay for them, in a personal way. (One moment again, please.)

Here is what those X’s mean:

They have no privileges at all, until every x is gone.

They need to work it off, in their own way.

Here is how they mightget X’s:  This can really vary, as the good choices can. But poor choices may have been acquired from breaking a family rule, such as not keeping our flailing appendages to ourselves in moments of anger or frustration, striking another.  It may be from talking back in a fresh tone, or starting trouble with another. It may be from breaking a safety rule, OR……being called more than once in a row, for obviously not keeping their chart updated.  (Which usually means they did the do their responsibilities, but did not check the chart. However, the chart is there as a system, to keep things in order and running smoothly for our family. And it’s a responsibility that they are responsible for!  So…neglecting their chart leads to an X.)

The bad feeling they have inside, is also a natural consequence that we all feel, when we knowingly make a wrong choice. It may also happen as a result of the wrong-doing, that others are not happy with us, or something else negative came about as a direct result of the original poor choice. That also happens in life.   But the wrong must be righted, to be truly gone. (It also happens to be much like confession, in our Catholic faith. I know you are not all Catholic, but I’m sharing why this supports what we believe further.)  And so the child needs to do what they know needs to be done, to get it erased. Rectifying the wrong first and foremost must always end with a sincere apology to the offended or hurt, and a clear spoken explanation to myself or their father as to what they know they did wrong, why it was wrong, and ‘what their plan is’ for next time a similar situation comes up. More real talking. But ridding the x usually starts with choosing rights, by their own free will.  I never tell them what they must do.  That is up to them. But whatever it is, it is for the good of others, or the family, or our household.  They may decide to be extra helpful with picking up or cleaning the house, or sacrifice for others all day. One good thing, does not equate erasing an X. It’s when I know they have sincerely made efforts at choosing rights, and have apologized and spoken to us (also of their own free will), and in the meantime, have had no privileges. We let them know when we’re removing the X.  I can tell you, it’s a fair and reasonable deal in terms of exchange.  It’s just not something they can expect in exchange for any one thing in particular.   What they do get when that X is removed, is another sense of self-accomplishment, and rejoicing of their heart.  (Much like our feeling of coming out of Penance. Which by the way, I would hope the actions that the x’s represented are spoken of also. But that is between them & their Savior.)

child-behavior-responsibilities-system-parenting-12 In ‘The Big Picture’ this system works well in our family.  It keeps the kiddos responsible for themselves, and generally in check. And between the ✔’s, Gems, and X’s, it really keeps our home fairly in order, and clean-ish!  (Although it’s rarely ever both enough, for me. I have high standards there I guess, that seem to be impossibly unattainable.  We live here, it looks it, and I’m working on embracing it.) The system we use also helps the kids relate the facts: that choosing wrong not only feels bad personally inside, knowing we let down ourselves, others, and God, but ultimately results in consequences that are not fun to face, come that time. Being responsible, and making wise choices, is a learning process, and we all make mistakes from time to time. But we also need to realize that we are all accountable for ourselves and our choices, more and more so, as we get older. We will be held accountable for them, good or bad. For us, this system we use runs many parallels with life.  Gems, the good and right feeling inside, simply by knowing we chose the right (if sometimes more difficult) path, are what we would all like to have. But they are not just given to us. We must live our lives accordingly, to be worthy, day by day. Our lives as adults DO reflect how we are doing, averaging our own virtual gems & x’s. We are captains of our own ship. But it’s the process of learning to be led by our hearts & our morals while we are young, and wanting to please God, our loved ones, and ourselves, that gives us the practice, and the strength, to navigate more toward the light.  In the end, there can be no greater Gem.

******

*Thanks for reading, and letting us share a bit of the inner-workings of our family. We are certainly not parenting experts, but know many parents are often looking for new ideas, charts, or systems.  We wanted to offer any part of what works for us, to you, our readers & friends.  We hope you enjoyed the post, or have found something beneficial in it, for your family too.


Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Filed Under: Faith, Faith/ Catholic, Life In General, Parenting, The Big Picture Tagged With: behavior system for kids, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Parenting, parenting-help, responsibility charts, teaching-children-behavior-responsibility, triplets

Homeschooling in the Kitchen | Food for Thought; Literally!

November 14, 2010 By Laura 7 Comments

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-6

I’m sure I’ve been forthright about this before, as much as it makes me feel a little bad to say out loud.  (Figuratively speaking.)  But there always moments in time when these things come up, and there is some purpose in being truthful in the matter. Right?

Well, this is one of those times.

So the truth is, <whisper> my mother was just not very domestic in the kitchen. Nor was her mother. <end of whisper> Which says something not good.  Doesn’t it?

I’ll answer that.  Yes it does.

It says that the chances of me being one, was slim to none.

Unless of course, I broke the cycle, and took responsibility for myself.  Made different choices. And God-willing, began a new cycle for my children, and grandchildren, to carry on.

(I’m not really that smart.  I read something like that in a book once.)

I have to say, I did know plenty about cleaning, weeding gardens, and working hard coming into this holy-Sacrament-of-marriage-thing.  I worked for a little old lady from the time I was 11 years old until I was14, every Saturday.  Her name was Mrs. Flahive, (pronounced with long vowels.)  I cleaned her house top to bottom, kept up her gardens, weeded her stone patio, changed the sheets on the beds, did laundry, etc.  I even polished her silver with some grayish-brown, horrid-smelling stuff. I learned a lot from her.  Although I didn’t really appreciate the value in the tasks, at the time.  I never even thought about how they would serve me well someday, in my own home-keeping years.

Some things, she was very particular about how it was done….such as the fine techniques of folding sheets, or making a bed.  It’s funny that I insist on these same techniques in my own home now. lol   She was a nice old lady, made me a fine lunch which we enjoyed together, and later had an afternoon tea as well.  And then she paid me too! She paid me well, I might add. For a kid. Of course, I was also risking my life twice a day, every Saturday, as this 80 year old woman who peered through the hole of her steering wheel, picked me and and brought me home.   I’ll never forget that time we were heading for the side of the bridge…..

But admittedly, I was slow coming around as a new bride-to-be, in the cooking and baking area.  I think becoming a mother sort of kicked me into domestic-gear. Somewhat. Until then, my husband and I did o.k., together. He did have more of a domestic mother, all the way around.  From what I could tell, anyway.  So he had watched, learned, and praise God, was not helpless himself when we married.

Yes, all of this story-telling has everything to do with homeschooling.
In particular today: Homeschooling in the Kitchen

I don’t know if they even have Home Economics in school anymore.  Do they?  But I heard they did, back when I was in school.  Problem is, I went to a private Catholic high school, where the guidance counselor, was also the Geometry teacher sometimes, and the principal was sometimes the Religion teacher. (That was a bad run.). The gym teacher helped in areas he should have never been helping, with the senior girls, if you know what I mean. (But I won’t go there today.)  In other words, we were just a small school, without any extras.  We didn’t even have a football team. Or a field of any sporty-kind.

 

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen My mom was a wonderful mother in many ways, so don’t get me wrong.  But seeing as though I was not learning much in the kitchen at home, it would have been nice to learn about some of the cooking and baking stuff, especially, somewhere.  In retrospect, I mean. (Because I am quite sure I could have cared less at the time.)   And so seeing as though my kids are not in school, and won’t be going to high school either, where they may or may not have gotten Home Ec classes, I feel it is up to me to be sure they get some!!  Otherwise, they could end up as a floundering bride or groom some day.  And if they marry the same, there is going to be a big problem.  Like. . . . a travesty. Know what I’m saying?

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-1 So I need to be sure, my kids get a domestic bone from me, some way, some how, some day.   Hopefully before they are married, or are out on their own.  Even if they are single, I don’t want them resorting to fast foods and whatnot!

And so it was that mindset that I was in, when I got my kids (happily) helping out in the kitchen, since they were about ohhhh….so tall. (Use your imagination.  It’s pretty short.)

But it was in having them help, that I realized just how much schooling can happen in the kitchen!  And the more we do it, the more I see the lessons happening.

It’s a whole lot more than Home Economics!

Let’s see…….

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-2

First, there is READING…..the directions.  I have them do it out loud. It’s such an opportunity for new kitchen-related VOCABULARY words, SPELLING words, and PROPER PRONUNCIATION.

On this particular day in the kitchen, we were making an ordinary box of  cinnamon streusel cake, and making the apple version.

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-3 Then, comes FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS, of what was just read, very carefully.


homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-4 MATH is a biggie!  (age depending.)  There is counting, adding and subtracting, and measuring. (Especially when halving or doubling a recipe.)  Reading numbers, and temperatures!

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-16

SCIENCE is everywhere, in the operating kitchen.  How does one ingredient react, when another is added to it?  Why must we temper some ingredients first, before adding to the big batch.  (There’s another new word!  So what does it mean, and how do we do it?)

What happens with various temperatures set in the oven, and what is the difference between baking, and broiling?

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-5

Enjoying our time spent together counts for something too! For some, it truly is a learned behavior!

(Not for my kids, of course.  I’m just sayin’ ; )

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-7

How about the ins and outs of KITCHEN SAFETY?   We are using sharp knives, reaching into hot ovens….

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-8

…..and operating heavy machinery!

(After you read this post, you may want to find out how this sweet piece of machinery hummed it’s way into our lives, and MiXeD everything up, HERE. ; )

Uhh, by the way…….Where’s the fire extinguisher, just in case?  And how do you use that?

We don’t want to learn that Science, in an emergency. You want to know how to use that thing if you need to!  And if all else fails,< insert the family fire drill skills here>, and we’ll meet at the telephone pole across the street!

Back to the lessons at hand…

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-9

Learning how to WORK AS A TEAM, and also ……..

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-10 …….admitting when you need help, and allowing others to help you.


homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-11

All of these lessons I mentioned, are just the topping of the cake.

I am sure you could think of plenty more, in addition to mine.

Think on it.

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-12
OH OH OH!! I just thought of another one!!  The one I think we all like to forget!:

The RESPONSIBILITY of cleaning up the mess!

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-13

But most times, we can do so, while we enjoy the mouth-watering smell we’ve created in the air.

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-14
Ahhhhhh……smells…..SO…….good!!!   We can hardly wait to cut into it, indeed!

homeschooling-kids-in-the-kitchen-15

Of course the best lesson of all:, our mouths and our bellies, REAP THE REWARDS OF our HARD WORK.

***

All kids, home schooled or not, can benefit from the lessons to be learned in the kitchen.

What lessons have I missed mentioning?  Help me out here.

I’ll be hoping you can you add to my list, because I know there is a lot more.  And you’re smart cookies.

While I wait, if you’ll excuse me, I need to head down to the laundry room, transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer, sort some piles, and start a new wash load.

And you can bet I’ll be taking a kiddo down with me.  And believe it or not, they’ll be excited to come and help! (And secretly learn.)

Hopefully, I’m cutting my chances here of them coming home on weekends from college, accompanied by several loads of laundry.  If they do, we’ll be repeating those lessons, that weekend.  ; )

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS, Elementary Homeschooling SCIENCE, Homeschooling, Math, Middle School Homeschooling, Middle School Homeschooling HOME ECONOMICS, Middle School Homeschooling SCIENCE, Science Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, elementary-homeschooling, homeschooling, homeschooling-in-the-kitchen, kids-in-the-kitchen, kitchen-lessons-for-kids, middle-school-homeschooling, teaching-following-directions, teaching-kids-home-economics, teaching-kids-measuring, teaching-kids-responsibility, teaching-kids-science-in-the-kitchen, teaching-math-in-the-kitchen, triplets

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 11
  • Next Page »

We are wicked happy to have you here! We hope you find much inspiration, help, humor and enjoyment here.




Archives



POPULAR POSTS

* * * * * *

SUBSCRIBE to House of Joyful Noise blog! Every new post, delivered right to your email box!


Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliates

Never at any additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission for our endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products from our website. Your purchase through our links helps support our family, while sharing with you the products we authentically use and recommend, for various ideas, and letting you know where you can purchase them. Thank you for your support!

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 HouseOfJoyfulNoise.com · Genesis Framework by StudioPress