“Because you like them?” I asked.

“We’re not rich so we don’t have any other food,” he said.

“Well, honey,” I said, thinking of all the other breakfast items in the house, “what is it that you want that we don’t have?”

He pondered, “Hmmmm,” then licked his lips. “Like mints!”

“Mints aren’t food!” I replied.

“Well, then, also like oatmeal . . .” he murmured.

“I wish you’d said oatmeal before, honey. We’d have bought some at the store the other day. I never thought about oatmeal.”

James, who’d been quietly listening, piped up, “He said oatmeal cream pies.”

© 2013, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post “We Can’t Afford Good Food” appeared first on Fenced in Family.

“Here I am when I was Whiskers.”

I asked him to tell me more . . .

“Then that rich guy found me – first he was king. Then another guy who wasn’t king but called me Whiskers. But my real name was Robby.

“I was named Whiskers, and I lived in this nice little cabin until it burnt down. Then my mom and dad both were not survivors. I was the only survivor. *sniff* Then the fire was put out. Firemen were in it, and it showed water going over it on the house. Then they saw me jump out, and that’s when you two met me.

“First I was a cat, but when I jumped out and into this world, I turned into a human.

“I got a splinter, that was the first part about Whiskers when he came out of the castle. Then all that other stuff I told you happened, and then I jumped in here and that was the end.”

“This is when I jumped out.”

© 2013, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post A Story of Whiskers by Robert appeared first on Fenced in Family.

We’re in another of those times right now because of my pregnancy. Terrible nausea kept me from doing any lessons for over two months. That’s passed now, but my back hurts, I’m tired, and don’t really feel like I have the mental capacity to plan lessons and follow through with teaching them.

When the nausea first appeared, I searched for online programs the boys could do to continue their school. I found Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool, which is a fabulous and free program for homeschoolers. The boys used it for all their lessons in February, March, and April. At the beginning of May, they did the standardized testing for this year, which they finished up last week.

Where we spent our weekend – lots of educational opportunities there, such as, “That pizza costs how much???

I don’t really want them going back to Easy Peasy, though, and am not ready to start doing my own lessons again with all of the great curriculum we have lying around (All About Spelling, Math on the Level, etc.) Easy Peasy is really good, and I do recommend it if you’re looking for a comprehensive, free, online-based program.

Unfortunately, I found that the kids (especially one of them) skipped as many lessons as they could without getting caught. It was a constant chore for me to try to track what they had done or not done . . . and frankly, I don’t have the energy for that right now!

So I’m thinking seriously about unschooling long term . . .

Won’t their brains turn to mush? How will we handle the end-of-year assessment the law requires next year? Won’t they grow up to be video game addicts with no work ethic? Won’t they be stupid?

Yeah, all that goes through my head. Fortunately, there are many who have gone before me and I’m learning from their experiences. The keyword to unschooling successfully? Trust.

Trust that our children, like all humans, are natural learners with a desire for discovering new information. Trust that living life will lead them to topics they’ll want to know more about and questions that they’ll want answered. Trust that necessary learning will happen in its own sweet time.

Here are a few articles that have inspired and fortified me over the last couple days:

What is Unschooling?

How to Unschool

Ten Tips for New Unschooling Parents

Why Unschooling Doesn’t Come Naturally

When Less Is More: The Case for Teaching Less Math in Schools

Kids Learn Math Easily When They Control Their Own Learning

Children Teach Themselves to Read

What about you? What do you think of unschooling?

© 2013, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post I Want to Be An Unschooler appeared first on Fenced in Family.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving . . . I think we went to my parents for dinner and then Jon’s parents came to visit for a few days. I think. I honestly don’t remember without thinking about it long & hard.

Christmas was nice too. We drove around and looked at the lights some and had a live Christmas tree for the first time in many years. We went to a Christmas tree farm where we got to pick it out and cut it down ourselves. Very fun experience!

We visited with my parents sometime around Christmas too and got to see my grandparents for the first time in about six years. Here’s a picture of them with my boys and my sister’s boys.

I went through a phase in December where I was simmering clove buds and orange slices in a mini crockpot everyday. Heavenly.

Jon worked night shift (6pm to 6am) for a couple months. It was hard, but we survived and he’s back on day shift now.

We got to visit Jon’s family in Tennessee over the winter also. It was the first time we’d been there in a few years. We had a great time seeing everyone, especially Jon’s grandmother, Mamie. She’s 94 years old! I got her to tell me a little bit about her courtship with her husband, which I’ll try to write about soon.

And some special news . . .

In February, we found out we’re expecting our fourth little one. Our surprise baby, to be sure. The boys, especially James and Robert, are very excited and talk about the baby all the time.

We expect the baby to arrive sometime in mid to late October and don’t know yet if we’ll find out the gender. Either way, we’ll be happy.

What’s your guess – boy or girl?

© 2013, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Returning from Hibernation appeared first on Fenced in Family.

© Ed Schneider, White Creek, Tennessee, December 2008

My windows are open, the sun is shining, the air is warm, the birds are singing, and I am listening. Maybe it’s because this winter has been so long or because their sounds are so sweet, but I find myself intensely interested in the birds lately.

We live in a quiet neighborhood where my own kids are the noisiest things around, and I can hear the birds singing all day long. Of course, it’s easy to recognize a crow’s caw and a mourning dove’s coo, but I realized that I couldn’t identify any of the other birds.

So began a quest . . .

I visited The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website where they have a fabulous bird identification guide complete with photos and sounds. We already had three field guides about birds, which sometimes help when we see a new bird, but I really wanted to learn their sounds.

A quick app search & reading through reviews led me to the iBird Pro app, which is amazing. It works with quick a few platforms, but I’m using it on my Kindle Fire and have been super impressed.

The app includes over 900 birds with full color photos and high quality sounds. As I was listening to the different sounds on the app while birds outside were singing, I would sometimes have trouble figuring out if what I heard was coming from the app or coming from outside. It’s that clear and realistic!

The sounds on the app can even be used for calling in birds. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m excited about the possibility.

After just two days of having this app, I’ve learned the sounds of some of the more common birds in my neighborhood. Robert & I sat on the deck this morning, listening and identifying the birds we heard. Because of the trees across the road, we can always hear many more birds than we can see.

Here are a few we heard this morning . . .

Northern Cardinal – It makes a two-toned sound that sounds like “Bird-y bird-y bird-y” or, as Robert says, “Worm-y worm-y worm-y.”

Blue Jay – Did you know that the blue jay is related to the crow? I never knew. More than that, the blue jay’s call sounds like a higher-pitched and quicker version of the crow’s caw. I’d always thought those sounds were just more crows, but nope – they’re blue jays. Sure enough, we heard the sound this morning and I told Robert, “That’s a blue jay.” A minute later, it flew out of the tree where we could see it!

American Robin – This one is a little hard for me to pick out of all the bird songs that are going on at any particular time, but I did pinpoint it a couple times this morning. It’s something like “Cheer-y cheer-i-o” but seems (to me) to be quieter than most of the other birds sounds. Robins aren’t shy, though, and we see plenty of them.

Chickadee – These little birds make a cute little four-toned sound that resembles their name being said sort of slowly – “Chick a dee dee.”

© 2013, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Becoming a Bird Watcher appeared first on Fenced in Family.

Does laundry ever make you feel like this?
(© Dennist1 | Stock Free Images)

Currently, I’m using a once-a-week laundry routine that has greatly simplified things for me and has been working well for over two months.

Each Monday, my sons drag the two clothes hampers from our bathrooms into the kitchen (where my laundry area is). I try to start the first load by 11am.

Then all day long, I keep the washer and dryer humming. When the dryer kicks off, I empty it, switch the wet laundry out of the washing machine, and then start a new load. The boys help by carrying laundry baskets of clean items to my bedroom and sometimes by switching the loads.

Sometimes I fold some during the day – more often, I fold bunches and bunches late in the evening. My husband often hangs up the closet items, and everyone puts their own clothes away in drawers.

I end up doing about 6-8 loads of laundry on Mondays with this method. I also try to strip the beds and wash sheets every other Monday. Sometimes all of this spills over into Tuesday, but that’s okay.

Once it’s all done and put away, I don’t do laundry again until the following Monday. That means…

• no lugging baskets
• no folding clothes
• no measuring detergent
• no bending over to dig clothes out of the dryer

…for five or six days! Hallelujah!

My husband washes the towels later in the week. It’s usually about three loads, and he typically does one a day before leaving for work in the morning. I put them in the dryer and fold them later that day. (For some reason, folding towels doesn’t bug me nearly as much as folding clothes!)

So how do you make laundry work at your house?

© 2012, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Making Laundry Work appeared first on Fenced in Family.

My family is the center of my life; everything I do revolves around them and involves them in some way. I want our family to not only live together, but to be strong together, to be committed to our identity as a family.

To be (and remain) a strong family, I want us to possess certain character traits….

Unity – We are five people, but we are one unit. To me, family unity means that we do most activities together, we identify ourselves as one family, one unit, instead of feeling like fractured parts.

Loyalty – Commitment to our family unit. We stand up for one another! No one messes with a Horton. (Grrrr. ) Family needs come before requests from people outside of our family.

Respect – To foster unity and loyalty, we have to be respectful of one another. Children should show respect to their parents, and parents should speak and act respectfully toward their children. Don’t wait for someone else to be respectful first – start now.

Courage – I want our family to be strong in the face of adversity. I want each one of us to be willing and able to defend the family against any attack, whether it’s verbal, physical, spiritual, or otherwise. Be not afraid; have courage to do what is right!

Integrity – This includes so many things: honesty, professionalism, propriety, high moral standards. I want our family to stand apart from the “average” by keeping our integrity intact at home and in public.

Faith – Both a faith in God our creator and in one another. I want each of us to have an unshakable belief that God is on our side and that each member of the family can be trusted without question.

Contentment – No matter what life brings us, I want our family to be content. Do we have little? Be content. Do we have much? Be content.

Gratitude – A thankfulness and joy for all of the blessings in our lives, for a relationship with Jesus, for each other, for the mundane blessings of running water, a warm bed, a yard to play in. Gratitude in all things.

Hope – Life is not always pleasant. Life is not always easy. I want our family to maintain true hope that, no matter what the present difficulty, life is always worth living.

An Ability to Cut the Apron Strings – I thought I’d save this one for last. Our family is necessary and wonderful right now, but it should not always look like this. I want all of us – Jon, myself, and the boys – to be able (to be happy!) to cut the apron strings when each of the boys reaches adulthood.

No hanging on. No wishing for the past. No trying to make their lives fit my vision of what is right and good.

This safe nest – full of unity and courage and contentment – wants to see them fly and make their own nests full of unity and courage and contentment.

What characteristics do you want your strong family to have?

© 2012, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post 10 Character Traits for a Strong Family appeared first on Fenced in Family.

With that in mind, I’ve put together this reading list of excellent modern literature that I think college bound teens should read.

© Sorinus | Stock Free Images

Fiction

Agatha Christie novels – Celebrated as possibly the greatest mystery writer of all time, Agatha Christie makes worthy and very enjoyable reading! Some of her best books include And Then There Were None, Murder On the Orient Express, and The Mirror Crack’d.

The Mitford Series by Jan Karon – This series revolves around the life of an Episcopalian priest in a small North Carolina town. It’s wholesome, heartwarming, and thoroughly enjoyable. The first book in the series is At Home in Mitford.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett – Based in 1960s Mississippi, The Help tells the story of both black and white woman, giving readers the good and the bad, the ups and the down of each. Beyond excellent.

Based on true events:

From Sea to Shining Sea by James Alexander Thom – A sweeping story about the Clark family (namely George Rogers Clark of Revolutionary War fame and William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition), this book covers several decades of early American history in a fascinating and almost epic tale.

Follow the River by James Alexander Thom – Tells the partially fictionalized story of Mary Ingles’ real-life capture by and escape from Indians during the late 1700s.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Earnest J. Gaines – Alternately shocking, heartbreaking, funny, and uplifting, the true story of Miss Jane Pittman – told by herself and others to Mr. Gaines – is one that no reader should miss.

Non-Fiction

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Ready to have your ideas of modern medicine shaken and rattled? This book will pull you in, make you flinch, and endear to your heart people you’ve never met.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls – Going from the southwestern desert to the Appalachian Mountains to New York City, Jeannette Walls spins a tale of abuse and neglect that is sometimes almost too crazy to believe. Yet it’s the true life she lived – but overcame with strength and dignity.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwadan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza – Remember reading about the terrible fighting in Rwanda back in the 1990s? (Or hearing about it from your parents?) This is a survivor’s first-hand account that both horrifies and inspires.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick – An immensely gripping book, In the Heart of the Sea tells the little known story of 20 New England whalers whose ship was destroyed by a sperm whale and who spent the next 90 days starving, struggling, and sometimes dying on the open sea in just three tiny boats.

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen – Think you know Magellan? Think again. Bergreen’s fantastic book will let you sail on one of his ship’s and fight in the surf alongside him.

© Paha_l | Stock Free Images

The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World by Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart – Learn (and vicariously experience) major events in history, including the repelling of the Persians by the Greeks in 480 BC, the Battle of Poitiers in AD 732, and the Battle of Britain during World War II. The authors contend (and persuasively prove) that these seven events were vital to the development of today’s free world. Had even one of the events had a different outcome, our lives would be dramatically different … and not at all better.

These are all books that I’ve personally read and will encourage my sons to read when they’re teenagers. College bound or not, I think everyone should read them.

Have you read any of these books? What contemporary literature do you think every teen should read?

© 2012, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Modern Literature Teens Should Read appeared first on Fenced in Family.

Sadly, college students don’t have a choice. Or do they?

Renting college textbooks is the way of the future … and the way to save a whole lot of cash. Campus Book Rentals offers hundreds of titles at 40-90% off the purchase prices.

I looked up one of the textbooks I used “way back when,” The Norton Anthology of World Literature – I remember paying $55+ for this book (15 years ago!) but it can be rented from Campus Book Rentals for just $32.87 per semester. You’ll also get these benefits:

• free shipping both ways
• may highlight in the textbooks
• flexible renting periods (summer, quarter, semester, or your own time frame)
• 30 day no-hassle money-back guarantee
• Campus Book Rentals donates to Operation Smile with every textbook rented. (Save money and do good for others at the same time!)

Check out this video to learn more:

http://youtu.be/B-O1-5TxGnI

I sure wish something like this had been available when I was in college and hope that your family can benefit from these savings.

Let me know if you rent textbooks this year!

© 2012, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Save $$$ by Renting College Textbooks appeared first on Fenced in Family.

Last week, we talked about little steps of exercise that anyone can do to start losing weight. Today we’re going to look at diet – what you eat each day and how it can help or hinder your weight loss journey.

Are you ready? Let’s go…!

One of the basic tenants of weight loss is that you should eat fewer calories than you expend each day, which means that your food choices should be high in nutrients but low in calories. (And I’m sorry to say that brownies don’t meet that criteria!)

Bread Items for Weight Loss?

This is my personal weakness. I could eat bread all day, everyday, and never eat anything else (except pizza). Some people say that bread itself is fattening, but I disagree. White bread is fattening because it’s basically just empty calories with no nutrition.

Whole grain breads, on the other hand, are very nutritious and play an important part in any healthy diet.

© Photoeuphoria | Stock Free Images

Pancakes, waffles, biscuits, sandwich bread, rolls, breadsticks – bread accompanies meals all day long, but what color is yours?

Switching from white to whole wheat doesn’t have to be hard. Experiment with different brands of sandwich bread until you find one with a texture and flavor that your family enjoys.

(Our family likes 100% whole wheat by Nature’s Own, Sara Lee, and Kroger brand.)

Many other packaged breads are available in whole wheat or whole grain varieties now as well – pancake & waffle mix, frozen biscuits & rolls, and pasta, for example. If you bake from scratch, make the switch by using 1/3 whole wheat flour and 2/3 white flour and then slowly increasing as your family gets used to it.

Switching to brown rice instead of white add nutrients and fiber to your diet with virtually no change in flavor. Brown rice does take longer to cook, but follow the directions and you’ll do fine.

Don’t be afraid of whole grains! They’re really very flavorful and, eleven years after we made the switch, I truly prefer them.

Fruits & Vegetables: Great Weight Loss Tools

Another weakness for me here … because I don’t like to eat them! If you’re like me, don’t aim for the USDA’s Recommended Daily Allowance – no need to set yourself up for failure.

Instead, make a list of the fruits and vegetables you’re willing to eat and try these little steps:

• • Eat at least one serving of fruit each day – about 15 grapes, six strawberries, one apple, banana, peach, etc. Eat it just before eating a regular meal, which will help you eat a little less during the meal.
• • Avoid fruit juices. They are heavy on calories and sugars but lack the important fiber and “filling power” that the whole fruit provides.
• • Eat at least one serving of vegetables each day – one full-size carrot or ten baby carrots, five pieces of broccoli or cauliflower, half a sweet potato, half a tomato, etc. (See this page for more information about serving sizes.)
• • Eat vegetables raw, steamed, baked or boiled. If you’re in the habit of adding butter or grease to the cooking water, stop!
• • Little by little, decrease and then eliminate any butter you add to potatoes, corn, and other vegetables too. The unadulterated flavor is good … trust me, it’ll grow on you! Just think of the calories you’re leaving on the butter dish.

Of course, once you get used to eating one serving of each everyday, add in a second serving and a third until you’re up to the recommended 5-9 daily servings.

That’s enough for today. Can you do it? Yes! Little steps lead to big changes.

What are your favorite fruits and vegetables? Are there any you won’t touch?

© 2012, Cindy. All rights reserved.

The post Little Steps to Lose Weight: Diet Choices appeared first on Fenced in Family.