Fun, Frugal, Family Project–Making Maple Syrup

Making Maple syrup is a fantastic project, if you have access to maple trees, for the family! It is fun, educational, thrifty and nutritious, not to mention gives a great sense of accomplishment as an area of self-sufficiency is mastered!

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to “tap”, the Moore’s have filmed More Than Making Maple Syrup, a delightfully warm, light-hearted, informational DVD taking you step-by-step through the entire process.

Join the Moore family as your questions are answered in a friendly, engaging format. I feel sure you will be ready and more than confident to tap your own trees once you’ve seen the process.

Last year before a tornado took all our trees, my Dad and our children tapped their first maple trees. While it’s quite the process, there is so much to learn and so much family fun to enjoy. And there is nothing like getting to taste that first, sweet batch after all the hard work is done!

I highly recommend More Than Maple Syrup to get you on your way to tapping! Let the Moore’s inspire you and learn alongside them!

1. Selecting your trees
2. Choosing and cleaning your equipment
3. Tapping the trees
4. Collecting the sap
5. Making the syrup
6. Removing the taps from your trees
7. Enjoying your syrup

Watch the trailer now!

Are You Prepared? “The Provision Room” is Waiting for You

Join me today at The Provision Room, a new site by my Internet buddy, Daja, that I think you will find simply marvelous! I popped in for a few answers to questions she asked me concerning our family’s journey through last year’s storms. Read it HERE.

In a nutshell, The Provision Room is about being prepared, “laughing at the time to come” as a Proverbs 31 woman does. Here are some of Daja’s first thoughts out of which the site was born:

“Would it be possible to feed my family of nine while building up my provisions without breaking the bank? That, my friend, is what I want to know.

So, that’s why I’m here.  At my computer.  In the basement.  At almost 11pm.  Blogging about food storage and preparedness.  Without putting too fine a point on it, I just love my family and friends and want to be ready.”

10 Ways Economic Hardship Can Benefit a Family

Prosperity equals advantage.

Do you believe that?

I am fascinated with the irony of this mentality most Americans hold dear.  Maybe even more so since I hear often, as a mother of nine, about “affording all those children“.

All of us believe, somewhere deep within, that to prosper financially puts us at an advantage. And in many ways that can be true (nor am I an advocate of “poor on purpose”).  Hey, we’re an entrepreneur family…I think of ways to make money in my sleep.

But history reveals hundreds of men and women whose very hardship catapulted them to distinction through the chiseling of character, (snatching our bosom-clutched, false assumptions right out of our hands), yet we still refuse to nod at scarcity or give it its due reward for human improvement.

Hard times can have immensely positive effects on people, families and society.

Scarcity doesn’t feel nice; maybe that’s the bottom line. But a panoramic view gives us slightly more confidence to praise the attributes of living on less.  We might be better–the whole society, it seems, was better in a less prosperous era.

From a USA News article, Americans are finding “things they can live without”.  Interestingly, when one thing is lost, another, often better thing takes its place.  Can you see from this list how prosperity so quickly robs families of important things, while a dearth can restore them?

Clutter. As Americans downsize, do more of their own cleaning, and look for stuff they can sell online, they’re discovering tons of things around the house they can get rid of…. “We keep being amazed at how having less stuff, with no deprivation, actually gives us better quality of life,” says Deborah Merchant. “We’ve gained emotional and spiritual maturity.”

Cable TV. Many people are cutting back on pay-TV services or canceling them altogether, which saves $50 to $100 a month…. Others are giving up television completely. “There’s no money for cable TV, so my Internet does me for all my news and other entertainment,” says Mariluna Martin of Los Angeles. “That’s money saved, plus no TV means no blaring of bad news, fear-mongering, ad pressures, and other unpleasantness.” Martin spends more time reading books and sipping tea at a neighborhood café. She finds that rewarding: “The changes I’ve had to make have made my life better. Things are simpler and healthier now.” Better than the money saved by cutting this service, families can be transformed as they discover a whole level of new relationships–talking, playing and living life together.

Privacy. To save on rent or mortgage payments….grown kids are moving back in with their parents….. “We have learned to enjoy a simple, cost-effective, and minimalist approach to life by developing an appreciation for nature and family,” he says. “Big, expensive toys and trips were fun before, but we really don’t need them anymore.”

Prepared foods. More people are cooking at home, and they’re doing it with fewer pre-made sauces, marinades, dressings, and other ingredients. “Moms are back to basic cooking,” says Chance Parker, a market researcher at J.D. Power & Associates. “They want to use fresh herbs and spices. It saves money, and it’s more healthy.”

Extra calories. Some Americans say they’re eating less to save money and drinking more water or doing other things to suppress their appetite.

New gifts. Regifting is a time-tested practice—but there’s always room to refine your strategy. Linda Amicucci of Tenafly, N.J., holds a “treasure party” with a group of friends after Thanksgiving every year to swap recyclable gifts.

New cars. It’s no secret that new-car sales plunged to levels 40 percent lower than the peak in 2006. But many buyers who have traded down to a used model are surprised at the quality of the merchandise.

Comfort. Thermostats all across America are going lower in winter, higher in summer.

A daily commute.  Telecommuting increased during the recession as well, and more people say they’re riding bikes or walking more to save on gas costs—or a gym membership.

Debt. Who needs it? “I have learned that it takes little time to run dangerously high credit card balances,” says Tom Poirer of Lowell, Mass., “but an inordinately long time to pay it back. I have learned to deprogram myself from the consumerist mayhem.”…We may ultimately end up with less stuff. But at least we’ll be able to afford what we have.

Can you hear it?  A country that has been (and still is) so consumer minded, so money-driven and stuff-hungry, that even these changes would sound crazy to a truly impoverished individual?

Added by the recommendation of a commenter: truly the biggest advantage to experiencing financial difficulty is the complete dependence on God and watching His provision and loving protection over His children. Few of us ever get to experience the sheer dependence on daily bread. It is a sweet place to be, difficult as it feels at the time.

Still, I’m thankful for many lessons our family has learned and is learning by “force”, simply because affordability is not an option.  No, I don’t think we should aim to be poor; but we would do well to respect its natural improvements on our lives and not be so afraid of it.

“Simple Christmas” Series: Giving Gifts

The Christmas season is full of possibilities and ripe with opportunities for the homemaker as we balance time, money, creativity and good sense, rejecting the consumer-driven frenzy but still enjoying the simplicity of giving and sharing with those we love as we remember the greatest Gift.

Welcome to the first post in the 3-part series, Simple Christmas. (The other two will include Recipes and Christmas Decor.)

Most of us are aware of the over-commercialism of Christmas. The few stories I heard about Black Friday were sickening…almost makes me ashamed to be an American. Some have lain aside the tradition of gift-giving altogether for different reasons;  others are swept by the current and join the rat race, spending money they don’t have, and leaving little room for any celebration of Christ.

Is there a balance? Can we enjoy giving gifts to each other in moderation, practicing resourcefulness and creativity without the anxiety that comes with the consumer frenzy?

I love homemade gifts for this reason. And one of the many blessings of the Internet is the massive collection of gift ideas, made easy even for the less-than-crafty. I love giving a gift I have put my time, thoughts and/or hands into, with the hopes that the recipient will be blessed by it. We must rethink why we give gifts and let that be our starting place.

The most brilliant website to recently come available is Pinterest. If you are familiar with it, you love it as much as I do. If not, you will Here are a few gift ideas I have found on Pinterest that I plan to try this Christmas (Pinterest includes the original links):

Photo on wood

Photo Tiles

Homemade Cocoa Mix

Pillow case bed

Right after one of our hardest Christmases, I compiled an ebook with pictures and tutorials of all our homemade gifts for that year. Easy Homemade Gifts is still available and customers have told me how thankful they were for the great, easy gift ideas! (That was one of my most fun Christmases as I really had put myself into those gifts.)

There are so many more I’d love to share, but perhaps this will get you thinking about some gift goodies you could try!

And don’t forget the gift wrapping, one of the most important parts of making a gift special. This is an easy place to be creative and save money too. Consider wrapping a gift in fabric, or using fabric scraps as ribbon or cut into shapes, to adorn your package. I love wrapping in brown paper and then decorating with stamps, gems from nature, twine, raffia, or letting the kids draw on it. Maps, newspaper, wallpaper…there are lots of fun ideas!

Another great thought about giving gifts is to simply give gifts that enrich the life of the recipient. My friend, Kathy @ Teaching Good Things, has a passion for producing tools that teach practical skills, certainly a gift that needs to be passed on. She has several homemaking DVDs that are thorough and easy to follow, even for the beginner. If you want to give that kind of gift, you should buy it now, while she is running her biggest sale of the year (as in, 40% off, free shipping and free gift wrapping!).

Homeschooling: Teaching English Simply

(Updated and revised)

“Do not underestimate the importance of all the conversations (slow and clear conversations) that a mother has throughout the day with her child.  If Mother speaks clearly and decisively, she is giving the child valuable language lessons.  All the reading aloud she enjoys doing every day–as her children listen attentively–is doing verbal wonders, naturally, to teach English.  I trusted Charlotte and did not teach grammar directly until each young student reached the age of ten.  Each always did well on the language section of the year-end test…most children just need practice in hearing and speaking the English language (not television language) to get accustomed to the basic “right and wrong” of grammar.”

From Charlotte Mason Companion

I can testify to this truth as a former high school English teacher.  When children have a good grasp of the way language “sounds”, simply from partaking in good, consistent conversation, the nuts and bolts of grammar come more easily and can be postponed until children have a better understanding of abstract concepts.

By the way, when I entered my first year teaching high school students, I was prepared to only review grammar and focus on literature.  To my surprise, most of the class–about 85%, didn’t even have a basic grasp of grammatical structure and could not pick out the basic parts of speech.  Which may have been OK if they could construct a good sentence, but alas, they could not.  So don’t worry so much about “being behind the average school child”

Giving attention to our conversations lets us find ways to introduce new words and ideas in a very natural, but “sticky” way (meaning, it is more likely “to stick”). Look for conversation starters. Often, it comes from a child’s question, usually in abundance throughout the day.

A book can easily spark further conversation and I especially encourage you to ask a child to “narrate”, as Charlotte Mason called it, or “tell back”, in their own words, what they remember from the story.

(Don’t forget to utilize your time in the car or waiting for an appointment for rich conversation.)

In our increasingly electronic age where people spend less and less time interacting face to face, let us not neglect this very basic and needful exercise in teaching our children to be effective communicators!

“Too often home educators try to set up a government school at home. How foolish I was with all my records, charts, tests, and clip boards at the start! Students should read well, write well, be numerate, and cultured.”

John Mark Reynolds

Think Outside the Classroom

$6.97  

Are you a homeschooling mother who worries that you aren’t “doing enough”? Are you thinking of homeschooling but feel afraid that you aren’t qualified? If so, read more…

What We Teach Our Children (or not) Through Family Economy

Face it: we live in a society where an “entitlement mentality” is growing all the time. More and more, money seems to be falling from the sky to a generation who really doesn’t know there is no such thing as “free”. Someone I know recently made this comment: “I love free insurance…no medical bills, yay!”. She really does think it’s free. Obama’s health plan feeds the notion that “we all deserve health care”. It would be nice, certainly. But it’s not an inalienable right.

I’ll never forget hearing one of the young men (single, strong, able, employed) who once lived with my parents in an assisted living-type ministry upon a return visit: “Man, Obama has to do something…I’ve got bills to pay.” Yes, this is the generation we have raised.

And a recent proposal by the President will work wonders to further state-dependency rates: it mandates that in a school where 40% or more of the students qualify for free breakfasts and lunches, every student will be given free breakfasts and lunches. Why? To eliminate the stigma. Like manna from heaven…free for all. Don’t get me started on “eliminating stigmas”.

“We desperately need to teach our children, by real life experiences, the basic connections between earning and spending money, and trading effort for income or benefits.”

We are witnessing a generation who has essentially transferred what they were taught in their childhood to their adulthood expectations. If I spend my childhood being given everything I want, all my favorite clothes, movies, electronic devices and sports equipment, (because everyone else does and I may be stigmatized if I don’t), if I get a new car when I turn sixteen, insurance paid, and gas money to putter around, if my mother does all the housework and cooks all the meals and my father makes all the money to pay all the bills while I spend most of my time having fun and receiving all that I want with little exchange of effort, I will likely grow up with an entitlement mentality.

Family economy is so misunderstood and underrated in the typical American home. Because we love our children, it *feels* like giving them everything they want is a good thing. And while I love to give my children gifts as much as the next parent, we need to distinguish between gift-giving and a daily practice of proper economy.

We desperately need to teach our children, by real life experiences, the basic connections between earning and spending money, and trading effort for income or benefits. The value of work can only be felt by the opportunity to spend or save its pay. The value of things can only be appreciated if there is some investment made. Likewise, the motivation to work can only be felt by a lack of the desired thing.

Obviously, there is balance in teaching this to children. But here our some ideas we hold about family economy:

• EVERYONE is an important part of the family and that belief needs to play out tangibly. ”Teamwork” is verbalized; each member knows his presence is treasured and needed.

• Little ones learn to help with basic chores; older ones grow into age-appropriate responsibilities (looking different in every home). We need to be deliberate in affirming this idea.

• Think in terms of “multiple-income family”. This is something I’ve been mulling over. When we marry, we are one, and therefore our income is one. We have one account and all expenses/needs/wants are paid out of it with no distinction about who made what. What about our children? Should money they make go into this “family pool”? And if so, how do we teach them the distinctions between a socialist attitude (where money is forcibly taken from one and given to another) and a “family-is-one” economy? Just thinking out loud on this one. Would love your thoughts. I love what Kevin Swanson says: “We’re a seven-income family”. Bottom line is, we all work and we all reap the rewards.

• We all participate in making/saving money or exchanging work for food and shelter. Not to be overly simplistic, but a child needs to understand that while Dad may earn the money to buy food and Mom may cook it, he contributes in some way to the process (taking care of his chore so Dad doesn’t have to). Or though Dad pays the power bill, we are all responsible to use energy wisely. If a child disregards his job of conserving, charging a fee or requiring extra chores can help him see the importance; to learn that “nothing is free”.

• A word about “housework”: I have seen so many families instill awful habits in their children by treating Mom like a maid. My job is to manage my home. That includes work but doesn’t exclude other members from sharing that work. It’s an enterprise. We all work, we all eat, we all glean the benefits from the joint effort of family. We all have clean clothes because we all play a part in the laundry. We enjoy a clean home because we all do our part to keep it that way. Mind you, this requires constant reminding and training, but the outcome is worth it.

• Encouraging productivity…going through our years of being laden with debt and scraping to make ends meet (and many months the ends did NOT meet), was an invaluable time of learning. We were forced into a new level of creativity and my children learned more than ever the value of saving a dollar. Now they all seem to share a love of making gifts, making and selling crafts and pursing business opportunities. From the pencil-sketched portrait business my son keeps busy at to my 9-year-old upcycling enthusiast, they all know that each gift they make and the money they earn builds our family economy and they delight to know that God can use their talents in a variety of ways.

Reading over this post seems a bit like I’m stating the obvious. It seems only natural that parents understand the importance of helping their children make these vital life connections. But I’m afraid our super-busy lives and hyper-stimulated minds often just forget these basic concepts that once ran naturally through the course of life. Let’s allow God’s truth and common sense to guide our parenting instead of the pressure of popular opinion.