… things we’re celebrating this season:

1. Our faith in a loving God who meets our every need when times are tough. We are not always grateful for the lessons we’ve had to learn, but we know where our trust belongs: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” —Jeremiah 29:11

2. A family life that not only keeps us busy but also allows us all to be together as much as possible. We’re also thankful for grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who help us juggle a tight schedule and meet responsibilities both at home and on the job.

3. Friends! We’ve kept our current ones (whew!) and made several new ones (yay!) — and reconnected with a few old ones, too (thank you, Facebook). All have inspired us in some way. We’re making it our goal to return the favor.

4. There’s no shortage of work to be done around here — and that’s a good thing! Shawn just took a new job as a project manager for a Tempe company, and he continues to do small handyman jobs on his own. Sonya is still a homeschooling mom and free-lance writer/editor, as well as a tutor and writing teacher.

5. And then there’s school. Kellen (11), Kerrick (9), Kennah (6) and Keillor (4) still do most of their learning at home, but the three oldest also attend two enrichment programs each week for extras like art, history, Latin, music, P.E. and science. It definitely keeps us all hopping — and our brains popping!

6. We actually hope to play more in the near future. Sure, Shawn and the boys have hiked and camped with the Scouts, and Sonya and Kennah have tried to squeeze some girl time in here and there. But we’ve resolved to soon do more of those things that refresh our spirits and keep us going. We hope that’s your plan, too!

Merry Christmas from the Hemmings Half-Dozen!

… fun facts about Kerrick:

1. His first name is English and means “the king’s rule.” His middle name, Andrew, means “manly, courageous.”

2. He loves playing with his dog, his LEGOs and his nine Webkinz (including the newest, a red squirrel named Redwood) — and he collects Playmobil knights.

3. His favorite song is Get Back Up, performed by Toby Mac. To hear it, click on the audio player at right under Song of the Day.

4. He’s super-smart, super-funny, super-outgoing and super-adventurous — all of which makes his parents super-proud (and super-exhausted from trying to keep up with him).

5. He developed our menu for today:
• Breakfast: sprouted spelt raisin cupcakes.
• Lunch: Grilled grass-fed beef burgers on spelt sourdough English muffins.
• Dinner: Pizza (not a healthy version).
• Dessert: a gluten-free (so his older brother can eat it), double-layer chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and strawberries.

6. If you haven’t already guessed, he turns 9 today! Happy birthday, second-biggest Little!

… Homeschooling Life musings to share (answering prompts from The Homeschool Mother’s Journal):

1. In my life this week I was once again reminded that time simply won’t stand still, no matter how much I might like it to. Ever since my oldest son (Kellen, now 11) was of kindergarten age, we’ve participated in C.A.S.A. Vida, a once-a-week enrichment program for homeschoolers offered by local a public-school district. Two years later, he was joined by his younger brother (Kerrick, now 9). And this year, as the traditional school year began, I realized that we had approached some major milestones. Thursday marked not only the first day of Kellen’s last year of the program (which ends after sixth grade), but also the first day of the first year for his younger sister (Kennah, 5), who shares the same beloved kindergarten teacher that her two older brothers had. I managed to keep myself busy while they were gone all day — especially with the help of my littlest Little (Keillor, 3) — but all I could think of was how empty our house (and my life) would be if I they went away to school every day. Author Elizabeth Stone likens motherhood to having “your heart go walking around outside your body,” and that is exactly how I felt as I watched Kennah — dwarfed by her brand-new, sparkly-pink princess backpack and matching lunch box — walk into the classroom with the other kindergartners. Of course, she had a terrific time and can’t wait to go back. And of course, I know I need to let go a little. But that doesn’t make it easy. I don’t even want to envision what it will be like when Keillor heads down the same hallway two years from now — though I’m betting the backpack in that picture will look a bit different.

2. In our homeschool this week I began teaching my third child to read — something that in my pre-parenthood days I never imagined I would do. What’s interesting is that — thanks to my retired-teacher mom, who saved some of her favorite curriculum from her teaching days — I’ve been using the same program that was in vogue at my small-town public school when I was learning to read: Open Court (the 1973 version), which differs from most other reading programs in that it teaches long vowel sounds before short. It’s so fun to see the light come on in their little brains when they start to understand the ways that letters work together to express words, sentences, paragraphs, stories and ideas. Kennah’s first reading words (which form her first oh-so-simple reading sentence) are “See me.” (The accompanying illustration shows a clown looking into a mirror as he gets ready for a circus performance.) Can’t wait to hear her read the rest of the story.

3. Things I’m working on include our homeschool room, which I’ve spent much of the summer purging, cleaning, organizing and streamlining. I’m still not finished — there are a few more big piles to tackle as I decide what works, what doesn’t, what’s worth keeping and what to pass along (there’s that “letting-go” thing again!). But it’s a much neater and more welcoming space for all of us to use as we get back into a regular school routine. I’m also gearing up for another year of tutoring for a tuition-based homeschool program called Classical Conversations. This is my second year tutoring seventh-graders in six different subject areas: math, Latin, writing/literature, geography, science and rhetoric. I’m pretty sure I acquired as much knowledge as much as my students did last year, and I can’t wait to do it all again. This week, I’ve been busy reworking my personal stash of Latin flashcards to make them more user-friendly. Though it’s not a part of the curriculum, I’m throwing in a phrase supposedly uttered by Michelangelo toward the end of his life (and that I’ve adopted for my class motto): “Ancora imparo,” which means “I am still learning.”

4. I’m reading two books: Lumber Camp Library, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, and The Peacemaker, by Ken Sande. The first one I’m reading alongside my sixth-grade son, with plans to discuss its characters, setting, plot and theme using a simplified version of the Socratic method as outlined in Teaching the Classics, by Adam and Missy Andrews. The second I’m reading as part of my Classical Conversations training, with the idea that I’ll gain some wisdom for handling conflict effectively and from a Biblical viewpoint.

5. I’m grateful for the encouragement of a new friend, Sue (a k a The Homeschool Chick), to get back to blogging. Her prompts — shared every Friday in The Homeschool Mother’s Journal on her site, www.thehomeschoolchick.com — helped me pull this post together. I’m sharing it in today’s link-up, along with some other homeschool moms who’ve written about what’s happening right now in their lives.

6. A video link to share that pretty much sums up my thoughts at the end of this momentous week is Stephen Curtis Chapman singing Cinderella (who, incidentally, is the favorite princess of my own little growing-up-all-too-quickly princess).

It was a year ago today when we got the not-exactly-unexpected-but-still-sudden news that my husband Shawn had lost his job. He’d come home early from work that day (which should have been my first clue) and seemed to be in a cheery mood (which didn’t strike me as out of character until later), so I was completely caught off guard when he told me he was home for good—at least for the time being.

I remember feeling slightly panicked. After all, Shawn was (and still is) our family’s biggest breadwinner—not quite the sole provider, but just about. We’d already made a lot of financial sacrifices so that I could be at home with (and homeschool) our four children. And we were right in the middle of a big plan to pay off debt and put away whatever extra savings we could manage (a key to our survival strategy—but more on that later). All around us, people (including friends and family members) had been losing jobs and homes, so we weren’t oblivious to or unfazed by the effects of the economic downturn of the previous year. I think it was just human nature to hope it wouldn’t happen to us. But when it did, we quickly begin to gain a whole new perspective.

We faced a lot of unknowns—from little things like how we were going to pay the utility bill to big things such as how long it might be until Shawn found another full-time job (which, as it turns out, was exactly nine months to the day!). We also learned a lot about ourselves and our priorities—important things to know in both good times and bad. My goal is to share in this series of posts over the next few weeks how we managed to make it through a pretty rough year—and how we continue to recover from it. As is customary on this blog, I’ll share a half-dozen things that helped us not only to survive, but in some cases to thrive, during the most difficult days. (First up: How We Got By With a Little Help From Our Friends.)

If you happen upon these posts, I hope you’ll find inspiration for surviving your own tough times—whatever they might involve and whenever they might arise.

… Kitchen Life musings to share (answering prompts from The Homekeeper’s Journal):

1. In my kitchen this week I’m struggling to stay on top of the meal preparation and cleanup. A lot of other things are requiring my attention right now, so I’ve neglected the dishes and some other regular tasks. I do have water kefir brewing, I’m soaking some pinto beans and brown basmati rice, and I plan to put a chicken in the crock pot today, too. I made soaked muffins with fresh figs for breakfast this morning, and they were super moist and yummy. Just need to tackle and tame the mess!

2. I think we do eat healthily almost all of the time because I insist on it and invest a lot of time into making it happen. Yes, we occasionally settle for foods that are less than ideal when our lives are so busy that I don’t have the time I need to spend in the kitchen. My goal is to have a good system in place that enables me to plan and prepare foods in advance so that we have healthy choices on hand most of the time.

3. My family is not resistant to healthy eating because I try to involve them in the process of choosing and cooking what we eat. That said, some of my family members do balk at trying new things. I think (and I hope) that if I consistently provide healthy food—and teach them at the same time why it’s important on both a personal and global scale—that they will naturally gravitate toward those foods on their own.

4. I don’t have a garden yet, but it is my dream to one day use as much of our suburban lot as I can to grow food for our family. Poor-quality soil means we will need to do a lot of work to build up/amend what we have and/or create a lot of raised beds. My biggest challenge will be finding the time and the money to make it happen. Right now, it’s extremely hot where I live in central Arizona, so I’m planning to make a small start somewhere in the yard in the fall or spring.

5. The hardest part about eating healthily for me and my family is finding the time that’s required to prepare everything. I love to cook, and I aspire to be organized and efficient, but it just doesn’t always happen with all of the other things I’m trying to balance—including homeschooling, house cleaning, freelance writing and editing, blogging, digital scrapbooking and other things that I love to do.

6. My favorite thing about preparing and serving healthy foods is knowing that my efforts are benefiting the people I love most. I also like to think that the choices I’m making with my food budget are helping to ensure that healthy foods will continue to be available as viable options for all of us as consumers. It’s exciting to realize that in providing the best meals for my own family, I am a part of a ripple effect that helps others do exactly the same thing.

This post is part of The Homekeeper’s Journal, hosted by Sylvia Britton at www.christianhomekeeper.org.

. . .reasons why you’ll want to enroll in the GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse scheduled to begin next month and developed by my friend Wardeh Harmon at www.gnowfglins.com:

1. Health. Whether you’ve recently become interested in the real-food movement or you’ve been committed for awhile now to preparing real, whole foods for your family, you’re no doubt aware of the health benefits that go along with eliminating processed, industrial foods from your diet and replacing them with what Wardeh calls GNOWFGLINS—God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season. In each of the 15 lessons included in the eCourse, Wardeh will answer three basic questions about the nourishing, traditional foods she explores:
• What is this food and/or technique? What ingredients do I need?
• Why should we eat a certain food or prepare it a certain way?
• How is the technique carried out or how is this food prepared?

2. Time. Maybe you’ve watched the documentary Food, Inc. and read all of the real-food best-sellers (Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Nina Planck’s Real Food) but you have no idea where to start when it comes to implementing the ideas they present in a practical way that fits your busy schedule. Or, perhaps the mere thought of having to wade through every sidebar and recipe on the 675 pages of the weightiest real-food tome of all—Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions—is enough to give you a migraine. Why not learn the basics—in a simple, methodical way—from someone who’s done the research and has a wealth of practical experience to share? Wardeh promises you won’t be overwhelmed by her simple plan that will take you through one step at a time.

3. Quality. I’ve had a chance to preview some of the things in store for those who enroll in this eCourse, and the attention to detail and multimedia presentation setup is incredible. Each lesson will be available 24/7 on a private Web site in print, audio and video formats to accommodate the learning style that works best for you—and so that you won’t miss a thing, whether you choose to read, listen, watch or do all three! I have followed Wardeh’s blog for about three years now, and I can vouch for her ability to present information in a thorough, down-to-earth way.

4. Quantity. You’re going to get an amazing amount of advice, ideas, recipes and techniques here—including printable guides you’ll refer to time and again, as well as access to freebies and resources that won’t be available on Wardeh’s blog. Among other things, she’ll teach you how to sprout beans and grains, cook pastured chickens and make stock, bake sourdough bread and brew water kefir (a probiotic beverage that can help you kick a soda habit).

5. Money. The eCourse costs $27 per month for five months (a total of $135)—a bargain considering the wealth of information you’ll obtain toward converting your kitchen into a real-food haven. And Wardeh offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can’t go wrong by trying it for a month to see whether it’s something that will work for you.

6. Mentorship. Whether you’ve read my blog since The Beginning (my first post) or this is the first post you’ve perused, you’ve probably gathered that Wardeh Harmon—though she doesn’t know it—has been my unofficial mentor as I’ve explored and experimented with real food. (Actually, she’s probably guessed that that’s the case, as I’ve asked her at least 1,095 questions—that’s one a day for the past three years—all of which she has graciously, patiently and satisfactorily answered!) And, as someone who’s got the heart of a teacher, she’ll do the same for you. Seriously, IMHO, you won’t get better guidance from anyone else for making these changes in the way you cook and eat. And if you sign up for the eCourse, Wardeh won’t be your only mentor: Everyone who’s enrolled can exchange ideas and share recipe results in a special forum. I’m planning to be there! How about you?

Please note: It is my goal to provide a top-quality, content-driven, ad-free blog. That said, I do occasionally include affiliate links in some of my posts. For example, if you click on the banner above, you’ll link to a site where you can learn much more about the GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse. And if you decide to enroll after clicking through from my site, I’ll receive a commission—for which I thank you. But even if I didn’t stand to benefit in any way from sharing what I’ve written here, I honestly wouldn’t change a word.