Beginning to Learn Sign Language

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Jennifer

My husband and I had decided it would be good for our family to learn sign language.  So a week ago ,I asked a friend from church (who has a deaf son) if she would be willing to teach us sign language.  She excitedly said yes!  To top it off her youngest son, who she home schools, also takes some classes in the afternoons at the public school.  She said that she would be happy to come out to our house on Mondays while he is at school.  This works wonderful for me because we don’t even have to leave the house!

Today was our first day and it was so fun!  Since it is unseasonable warm today, we spent 45 minutes walking through the yard and learning the signs for the things we were seeing and doing.

I know that God has brought this gifted woman into our lives for a specific reason and it will be fun to see what the reason is.  I am certain that at sometime He will give us the opportunity to use this learning to be a blessing to others.

If you are interested in learning American Sign Language you can check it out for free here.  It was interesting to me to find out that ASL is the third most popular language in America (behind English and Spanish.)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Linked to: Farm Girl Friday, Monday’s Homestead Barn Hop

Posted in Homeschool, Sign Language | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Homemade Chocolate Milk

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Jennifer

Our family really likes chocolate milk but I don’t like buying the chocolate milk mix from the store for multiple reasons.   For one it is expensive and for another it is either made with refined white sugar or corn syrup.  So for a while I have been making chocolate milk in the blender with three simple ingredients: milk, cocoa and raw sugar.

I like knowing what is in our food and am on mission to feed my family wholesome, delicious foods.

I pour 5 cups cold milk in the blender add 1/4 cup cocoa and 1/4 cup raw sugar and mix.  Simple and Delicious.  Of course you can alter the amounts of cocoa and sugar to suit your families tastes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Denim Rag Rug

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Jennifer

On Monday, I read about a crocheted denim rug on Proverbs 31 Living which set me in motion.  I have been saving worn out jeans for quite some time and therefore have quite a stash of denim.  Couple that with the fact that for quite a while I have wanted to start making rugs but didn’t really know how to start.  So every spare minute I could find this week was spent ripping jeans and crocheting them into my first rug.

I am so happy about the results!  It was so much fun to make!

Since I ripped the strips rather than cutting them they had this fun white frayed edge on them.  In the pictures below I tried to illustrate how to attach the strips together.  First cut a slit at the end of both strips.  Lay the second strip on top of the first strip with the holes matching.  Then pull the end of the second strip up through the hole and pull it tight.

I just single crocheted around and around adding a few stitches on the round edges to make it lay flat.  The strips were about 1″ wide.  It took five pairs of jeans to make this rug which is 18″ x 27″.

I still have several pairs of jeans left.  I’m trying to decided between making another rug like this one or trying the “toothbrush” method.

I would love to get your feedback about rug making.  Have you made rugs before, what types?  What types of fabric did you use?  Is this something you would like to try sometime?

Blessings!

Jennifer

Linking to:  Farm Girl Friday,  Frugal Friday. Homestead Barn Hop

Posted in Homesteading, Repurposing | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Ready or Not?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Jennifer

Earlier this week the kids were running around outside without coats on.  That changed drastically yesterday.  The temperatures plummeted while the wind blew.   Normally that wouldn’t be a big deal in and of itself, however about 5:30 yesterday evening the electricity went out.

Enter the fact that we live in a rental house that is all electric and then suddenly being without electricity is a bigger deal.  Even though we didn’t have a way to heat food we had plenty to eat with so many jars of canned goodies.  I had thought before that we would just use the BBQ grill to cook if the electricity was out.   The way the wind was blowing last night I’m not sure we could have even kept it lit if we had wanted to use it to cook.  So that got me to thinking about alternatives to our dependence on electricity.    Do you have suggestions for other ways to cook food besides the BBQ grill? (It would be much easier if we owned the house because we would have wood heat etc.  )

By the time the electricity came back on 5 hours later our house had already dropped to 57*.  Since we don’t own the house we are pretty limited on what we can do to heat it in a situation like that but it got me to thinking about what if the electricity was off for 5 days instead of just 5 hours.

Another problem that became apparent was that we would not have enough water to last for very long.  We drink well water but without electricity the pump won’t work. So I am going to be storing up more water in the coming days.

On the positive side we had the kerosene lamp filled and ready to use.  The flashlights had good batteries and the candles the kids and I made were put to good use.

All of this has made me very aware that in spite of the fact I have been making small steps toward being “prepared” for the unexpected, I have much more to do. This year I am going to make every effort to be more prepared!  I want to feel confident that we can take care of our family if for some reason it became necessary to do without the modern convenience of electricity.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Linked to:

 

 

 

Posted in Homesteading, Preserving | Tagged , | Leave a comment

First Time for Wet Flour

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Jennifer

For quite some time, I have been wanting to start soaking my grains.  On Monday evening, for the first time ever, I soaked the flour that I would use for our pancakes on Tuesday morning.  When I fixed the pancakes Tuesday morning, I was really wondering why I had waited so long! They were so delicious!

I love to bake bread but I have been a little nervous to “mess” with my favorite bread recipe.  It has always turned out great for me so I have been a little hesitant to try soaking the flour and changing it up.  Wednesday morning I finally got the nerve up to try making bread with soaked flour.

Flour soaking

Mixing it up

After rising first time

Fresh from the oven

This morning I finished making the bread.  It turned out okay but I think I used too much buttermilk in it.  My husband’s comment after eating a big hunk of bread at lunch, “it’s not the best bread you’ve ever made.”  It wasn’t bad enough to stop anyone from eating it, but like he said it wasn’t the best either.  Once I get it “perfected”  I will post the recipe. 🙂

Blessings,

Jennifer

Linked to:


Posted in Homesteading | Tagged , | Leave a comment