HMJ: Be Authentic

In my life this week… Ordered 10 new baby chicks for our backyard flock. They arrive Oct. 11th and I can't wait! To meet our flock, click here.

In our homeschool this week… We finished our theme unit on Audrey Penn's The Kissing Hand, and celebrated by making heart in hand sugar cookies. 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… don't compare yourself to other homeschoolers. Every family's needs, resources and situation are different.

I am inspired by…people who are authentic.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…Mr. Darcy took me out last weekend for my birthday dinner date. I  managed to stay up till 11pm. The food was amazing and the view was spectacular. During and after dinner, we had panoramic views of both Camelback Mountain and Praying Monk.

My favorite thing this week was… my 7 yr old daughter telling me she loved me "all the way to Jesus' heart".

What’s working/not working for us…Theme units are working. The kids love them; I am able to tie them to all subjects and it has been a great way to have different ages/grades work cooperatively together.

Questions/thoughts I have…Is anyone else bothered when they hit a blog, any kind of blog, where the author presents themselves as an expert on the topic, but they've only been doing "their thing" for a year or less? Really, one year, and you are an expert? Somehow, I doubt that...

Things I’m working on… working on plans for the girl scout troop investiture and rededication ceremony that is in three weeks, and a birthday party for one of my daughters that is coming up in four (a Pink Hello Kitty Tea Pary Birthday Party); and we've been doing alot of fall work outside--power washed the house, got fall decorations up and getting the garden prepped for our fall  garden growing season.

I’m reading… just started Northhangar Abbey by Jane Austen

I’m grateful for… a family who is supportive and an extended family who is supportive.

I’m praying for… a long and temperate fall.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

She loves me all the way to Jesus' heart. Wow.

For the month of October, I am participating in Mother's of Daughters 31 days of Pray. No rules; just prayer for our daughters. If you would like join me, click HERE.

Blessings to you and your homeschool,

Theme Unit Thursday: OWLS

Theme Unit Thursday is a new feature at Brighton Park where I share with you the theme units I have put together for my own homeschool in addition to others!

I have always done theme units in my homeschool. Each month I pick one or two fun theme units (depending on their size), one topic on safety (fire safety, water safety, etc) and one green learning unit (recycle, where paper comes from, compost, etc) to use in our lessons during that month in addition to our regular curriculum. They are a great way to encourage cooperative learning across the various subjects and childrens' ages and the kids really love them.

 I map them out at the beginning of the year so that I can link units together with as much congruity as possible (for example: this month's Audrey Penn's The Kissing Hand theme unit (characters are raccoons) also started a two month long science learning unit on nocturnal animals! This nocturnal animal unit continues in October as our fun theme unit becomes OWLS.

Here are some great things you can do with an OWLS theme unit for October. We wil be doing these!

• Reading to the kids, The Legend of the Guardian
• Netflix Legend of the Guradian Movie once book is completed and watch as a family movie night
• Reading "What do animals do at nighttime"
• coloring sheets and worksheets of owls  (free from Scholastic Learner)
• Utilizing the owl activities from the Evan Moore Theme unit book   , "nighttime creatures" section. (multiple crafts with learning components--all very easy)
• Making pinecone owls, like these I found on Pinterest

You can also do:

• Have a Harry Potter Fan? learn about Hedgewig, Harry Potter's owl. Younger kids will enjoy learning about Hedgewig, older kids could write a report on the type of owl she is and her indelible characteristics.
• Talk about why owls are considered "wise".
• Turn a pumpkin into an owl, using a child proof craft glue, feathers, and felt, or simply with construction paper, like this one:

We chose Owls  this year as our fun theme. Every October we also start some extra work on Saints, since Nov. 1st is All Saint's day, and there are always some Halloween crafts to be had as well. Here are some other great choices for October Theme Units:

• Halloween
• History of Halloween
• Harvest
• Scarecrows
• Pumpkins
• Farm
• Corn
• leaves
• Fire Safety Month
• Saints (if you are Catholic)

(Look for new planned out theme units, categorized by month, already made up for you to give you ideas for your own homeschool or classroom , each month under our "Theme Units" page across the top!)

I will leave you with a few more OWL inspired crafts and pumpkins from pinterest. Enjoy!

**owl pictures from pinterest. Please see this board for the original credits.
**This post is linked up to Mommy Moment Fall Link Up.

Blessings,

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Audrey~ Paris, France~Sept 2010

It's been one year exactly since this photo was taken and my how she has grown...

She loves history and already has three stamps in her passport.

She wants to be either a saint or a pet doctor.

She gave me one of my proudest homeschool moments already this year, when she asked me  "Who doesn't know who Jane Austen is?"

But she gave me my best mothering her moment when she told me this week that

she loved me "all the way to Jesus' heart".

Blessings,

Tuesday Review: Hanging On

This week, I received an invitation, a great opportunity, to try out some homeschool curricula for a company and write a review about it. Being a Speech-Language Pathologist who just happens to homeschool, I enjoy reviewing curriculum and teaching aids as they were such a part of my career in pediatric speech language pathology for 17 years! So of course, I am happy to be asked.  Of course, it also comes right as I am BURIED in preparing for midterms in all my classes and planning the Girl Scout Troop Investiture and Rededication Ceremony. Isn't that how it always goes?

This week, I want to kick "busy" to the curb. I want to enjoy unhurried moments with my family and I want to breathe deeply knowing that everything I am doing, in that moment, is simply enough.

**picture courtesy of pinterest. Please see my post board here for the original credit.

Blessings to you,

Monday Goodness #2: Less is More

Good morning! With my schedule having gone all James Franco this fall, I am trying out a new posting schedule. I am hoping that it will make it easier for me to plan posts, get them done on time, and be easier for you to find the things you love about Brighton Park. I guess I have been craving more structure and organization. And since everyone's time is so busy,  I want to make mine easier too...less words, and more bloggy "to the point" goodness :-)


The "In the Kitchen" page at the top is going away and will be replaced with a regular "In the Kitchen" Recipe Post. Same idea, but simplified.

There will be at least one post each week that is a photo post. A way for me to share my life here at Brighton Park--no wordy description necessary.


In keeping with my vision for my Monday Goodness series, and wanting to share some goodness with you,  here are 3 blogs I like to visit that share the vision of less is more:


Be More With Less  

365 Less Things


Miss Minimalist


People think trying to simplify and minimalize means doing without. It is actually about what you gain: organization, clean spaces, countertops ready for activities (not storage), time (no more looking for misplaced items), Money (no more buying unnecessary items or duplicate items), and peace. That's worth repeating-- PEACE. 

 I have such a long way to go (prime example: my kitchen desk....hello? It's like a file cabinet and a bookstore had a furniture baby...), but so far, the areas of my house I have put my now discriminating minimalist-longing eye on, are now my favorite areas of the house. Coincidence? No. The benefits of less clutter, besides less stress, for me so far has been a home and a homeschool running much more efficiently. Less is More.


Have a good Great Monday,

Back Yard: Phase One remodel

So, a few months ago, I posted our backyard plans and that they were scheduled to start phase one of our remodel the following week. I had several of you inquire about "after" photos.   So here are our before and afters!

The plans. Phase one is in color here. The rest is just tentative plans for later phases.

The landscapers spent the first two days just digging irrigation, then put in sod, 17 trees (date palm, queen palms and sissoo) and about 95 or so plants including Hawaiian Hibiscus, flowering green cloud sage, orange jubilee, lavender, bowering vine, iris, rosemary, ruellia, and lantana. We are two months post phase one and some of the flowers are starting to blossom.

 It was important to us to pick plants that were well suited for our summer heat and were drought tolerant so that we would not have to waste water unduly keeping any of our landscaping alive. Creative Environments, our landscapers, specialize in desert landscaping and helped us create a beautiful space while still remaining true to our lifestyle of living green.

Here is a before and after of the East yard area. This area connects the house to the far east paddock area we keep our flock of chickens, ducks, and turkeys.

BEFORE: This was day two. At this point, I was mildly worried about progress...

 AFTER: And here are photos of same East area of the yard AFTER!

BEFORE: Looking towards the west yard area, closest to the house, that leads to the pool. This before pic is before they were done, but after they dug up all the existing grass that was there to put in irrigation. It looked so barren with no grass during that phase of the project! The homeowners before us kept horses in the back acre. We are keeping it dirt until we decide if we want to landscape it or also keep horses later.

AFTER! Now the area across the yard leading to the pool looks much different!

The pool area got some Green, with red hibiscus, yellow lantana and white bower vines planted around the perimeter. The pool also got three baby queen palms and a date palm; small now, but will only take a few years to mature. The hibiscus havent bloomed yet, but when they do, next summer we will be surrounded in color. For now, there is some much added green.

Some of the flowers planted have started to bloom, which I am loving...and I'm not the only one...The ducks seem to really like my orange jubilee: (bad ducks. no. no.)

While the turkeys seem enamoured with my white bower vines... (bad turkeys. no. no.)

I love that we were able to work into the landscape a little bit of "English Garden" feel for me.

If you can believe this, Creative Environments got this whole phase done, start to finish, in five days. I have to admit by day two, when what little grass I had was dug up, and there were irrigation poles everywhere, I thought there was no way they would have it done in time, but they did!

This gated area here, is on the east and leads to our flock. It was already bordered by pine trees and gives shade year round to "our girls", (the chickens) and our ducks.

The workers, who had to walk through our "girls" area multiple times a day, soon realized they had several unofficial supervisors for this particular job... Here are Poppy and Jenny keeping order:

How do you do with big projects at your house? Are you easy going like Mr. Darcy? or do you get stressed about it all getting done like I do?

(This post has been linked back to the Homestead Revival Barn Hop. HR is a blog I found about 18 months ago; in fact their HR chicken button is up on my original Katie's Kettle blog I had back then! Highly recommend if you like the topic!) This post is also hooked up to the great outdoors linky party at Thistlewood Farm!

Blessings to you!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: The big 4-0

**The homeschool mother's journal is a weekly link-up hosted by Sue over at The Homeschool Chick.

In my life this week…  I did it! I turned 40. and lived to tell about it. I mean really, 40 is way much better than the alternative, right? (not getting the chance to turn 40)...

and our daughter, who auditioned for a part in the Nutcracker Ballet this past week was cast in a role! (so proud!)

 I found out on my birthday that a project I did was featured this week on Night Owl Crafting. That was a great present! (Thank you!)

And here at Brighton Park, we hosted my daughters'  troop sleepover last weekend. These cupcakes I made were a big hit:

In our homeschool this week…Continuing our theme units on The Kissing Hand, North America, and Famous Americans.

I am inspired by… maturity. I read this this week on another blog: "never underestimate the ability of grown women to behave immaturely".  For sure. As I hit my stride in my new 40s, I simply will not allow pettiness, silly dramas, or people who are unable to view things objectively suck up any time in my life.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… My actual birthday was a weekday Wednesday but we still snuck out for some great (and very hot) Thai food--my sinuses haven't been this clear in years! and Mr. Darcy has planned a special date night for us this coming Saturday at our favorite restaurant to celebrate. And, I bought a new dress (my pre-all five babies size!) for the occasion--feeling pretty good that all the walking and yoga are paying off! Now, let's see if I can stay awake past 9:30!

My favorite thing this week was… all the cards and calls I received from all over from friends near and far who wanted to help celebrate my special day. Talk about people who are so dear to me! I am rich in my friends (heart).

Things I’m working on…studying is taking up most of my "free time" but I am still hopeful that I will get my Etsy store opened soon, if only with a few items at first and then hopefully add more each month.

I’m reading… Got all my halloween books and magazines out and siphering through them for some inspiration. We love this time of year and plan to decorate the house this weekend.

I’m cooking… Just made a fabulous wild rice salad. Vegetarian, gluten-free, energizing, healthy, and economical. For the recipe, click HERE. It makes a fabulous lunch or light dinner or dinner side dish with a broiled or baked meat.

I’m grateful for… all the wonderful birthday wishes I received from family and friends near and far. What a fabulous day.

I’m praying for… guidance as to God's long term plan for me. While I am working on two new masters degrees (which is as crazy living it as it is reading it), I want to make sure that this is what his plan for my life is and that I am doing what he wants and not just what I think I want.  I feel like I am being drawn to these new endeavors with the thought in my heart that my preparation now will in fact have me prepared for what God has in store for me in the future. If you ever watched "Facing the Giants", you would understand when I say "I am preparing for rain".

A photo, video, link, or quote to share… So proud of my dancer #15. She has worked so hard, took the audition seriously, and was rewarded for her effort!

Blessings to you this week!

Wild Rice Salad

For those of you wanting to eat healthy, this is a great recipe for a lunch, light dinner, or a side dish. For those of you watching your pocketbook, it is a great meatless entree.

Wild Rice Salad:

(I double this for my family. This recipe serves 4 as is).

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups wild rice
3 1/2 cups water
1 each red, yellow and orange bell peppers, skinned, seeded, thinly sliced (I use whichever color is on sale that week, and use three)
1/2 cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 oranges, peeled, pith removed, and cubed
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
handful (about a cup) of flat-leaf parsley

Dressing:
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (the good stuff)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (the good stuff)
sal and pepper to taste

Put the wild rice and water into a large pan and bring to a boil. Stir then cover and simmer for 40 minutes; until rise is firm to the bite. (al dente). Uncover rice last few minutes so any excess water will evaporate.

Chop the bell peppers, cucumber, oranges, onion and flat leaf parsley and put in a large serving bowl.
Make the dressing by combining dressing ingredients in separate bowl and whisking vigorously. Add more olive oil, vinegar, or seasoning as required for your taste. Drain rice if necessary and add to bowl of chopped ingredients. Add dressing. Mix.

 This recipe is linked to the Friday Potluck over at Ekat's Kitchen. Join me over there for more great recipes. This recipe is also linked to the Brighton Park feature page at www.VeryGoodRecipes.com (#vegetarian #gluten-free),  Whatever you Like Wednesdays and the food and health carnival.

Bon Appetite!

Get the Goods...

Good Morning!

I have decided to do a regular running post series on Mondays called Monday Goodness.  Because everyone can use some cheery goodness on Mondays! I will share good news, wonderful finds from the blogosphere (most free) and other positive, useful things to start your week. I will also share with you other blogs I love so you can have the opportunity to love them too! Here are a few Monday Goodness gems to get us started and give you an idea of what to expect on future Mondays, so make sure you click to be a follower if you are not so you don't miss one drop of goodness! Yeah!

The plan is to turn this into a weekly linky later on where you can link up anything that you want...So how fun is that?

One of my most popular posts EVER here at Brighton Park was  a Pride and Prejudice themed post called "Monday Advice".  If you missed it the first time around, here is the link:  http://bit.ly/qi8Ggd . You are in for a real treat.

Do you need some new free panache for your own blog? Check out my friend Mo at Rose Petals from Heaven (click here). She has all kinds of gorgeous FREE bling on her blog that you can have for your own! Her designs are the most gorgeous I have found on the web and they are FREE, FREE, FREE! (Be sure and credit her if you use it and leave a comment while you are there. )

Lastly, this past week I received the nice surprise that my blog, Brighton Park, had been featured over at Very Good Recipes (www.verygoodrecipes.com) for their home page)! Ah....thanks!  And.....I have my own page there. If you click the red headed chef icon in my sidebar, it will take you straight to a post list of all my recipe posts, making them easy to find!  This is a wonderful site that list every food blog in the blogosphere (we are listed at 6,445 our of 11,000--see, I told you there were alot!). They are indexed in every possible way making it easy for you to find practically anything. Enjoy!

Have a great Monday! Share the Goodness!


Blessings,