Finishing the Steps and Floor (Part 4)

To get the full story and to illustrate how much work went into this project you can read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3. Don't be fooled by redecorating and remodeling shows that make it look like this stuff happens overnight.  In the real world (of kids, life, and a one-at-a-time-person remodeling force), these projects take time...and in our case, a couple years.

But finally, it is compete.  While the kids and I were out of state at Cousin Camp, Jamey stayed home to work his day job AND stain the steps.  I touched up the paint soon after returning home and we are so pleased.  And so grateful to have this project DONE.

Remember how there was a "path" of uneven old stain underneath the paint layers?  With a little blending of the new stain, Jamey was able to make it almost disappear.

And, now, I can excitedly say that after 10 yeas of living here, there are no more painted wood floors.

On a side note, after realizing that I quoted this verse to our kids fairly often, I decided to put it at the bottom of the stairs.  In no time, my two readers had it memorized and now they can quote it to me.

On yet another side note, in an attempt to make our downstairs bathroom easier for guests to locate, I hung this picture.  I found the image online, printed it off in black and white, and hung it in a frame that wasn't being used.  I think it's rather sweet.

Surprisingly, there are no major home projects on my horizon.  Not because potential projects don't exist but because sometimes they don't have to be done...so we can just be.

And I like being.

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Closing Summer

Where did the summer go?  It went into our hearts, our memories, our muscles, and bones.  It became another layer of who we are and what we hold dear.  Thank you, God, for summers.

Cousin camp...

(with these water balloons)

A week of rest on the lake...

Our school room in summer...

Volunteer by the back door...

Summer evening quiet...

Garden bounty...

Applesauce making...

Growing pigs...

Non-laying duck boarders...

Honey bees that might have a chance this winter...

Fresh paint in kitchen and bath...

Young apple trees that are finally producing (but only one...apple)...

Four ropes in a tree are always better than one...

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Brace Yourself: Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

I regularly try new recipes but most don't make it anywhere close to being blog-worthy. Sure, they provide us with calories, vitamins and fill our bellies.  Most aren't awful. They're really fine. They're just...lack-luster- not something I want to bring here.  To share with you.

So when a recipe breaks through, please know that I'm sharing it because I love it.  And I hope that you will love it, too.

Enter these Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars.  I'm not even going to re-post the recipe because I didn't make any changes.  I made them just like she said.

When I came to the salted caramel sauce recipe part, though, I was a bit apprehensive.  I hadn't made caramel sauce like this before.  There was threat of burning.  I decided to try it anyway but document the steps (in case I did it right) to show you.  I'm a visual person and would've appreciated more step by step photos so I thought you might, too.  That said, don't be afraid of this caramel sauce.  Instead, prepare your arm for a work-out by giving it a good rub down first.  Also, make the sauce while the bars are baking so you can smell the reason why you're making the sauce and bulking up only one side of your body.  Switch arms, people, switch arms!

Since I'm sharing these photos, I think you know how it turned out.  This sauce is amazing. AND. The recipe yields over a pint so you'll have plenty (tons, actually) left over to top vanilla ice cream, dip apple slices into, you. name. it.  In fact, you could always make the sauce and drizzle it across your favorite apple pie.  Because that would be amazing, too.

Bake on, my friend, bake on.

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Challenge A: Homeschooling through Middle School & Beyond

One of the questions we often get asked when folks find out we homeschool is, "Will you homeschool through high school?"  For many years, our answer was that we didn't know.  We planned on doing school at home through middle school but beyond that, we weren't sure.  It seemed like SO far away. And, as the main homeschooling parent, a bit daunting even though I knew my husband could help with the higher maths and sciences if needed.

Our plan for a long time was to just see how it went.  We are blessed to have a good, Christian private school nearby and figured that if our kids really expressed interest and could make a very good case for going AND if we felt peace about the idea, it was something we might pursue for high school.

Fast forward a number of years and we found ourselves in a different place.  Homeschooling into middle school and beyond didn't seem so intimidating because each year, we were doing it- taking on the higher subjects and enjoying them.  While it is still nice to know there is a private school option available, their tuition is impressive and we didn't want to be that financially stretched.  Also, our oldest was not asking (ever) to go to "big" school.

There is a thriving homeschool community in our area with many options for co-ops and activities.  We participate in some but mostly center our days around life at home.  I knew that as our kids got older, there were different resources out there for them but time snuck up on me and I kept thinking I had time to look into them.  Enter in the providence of God.  At a birthday party, I enjoyed catching up with a friend whose older children participated in the Classical Conversations Challenge Program- a supplement to homeschooling middle and high schoolers.  If Sam was going to join the program, he should start the very next fall- talk about timing!

Excited about the possibility, I went home, scoured the website, discussed it with Sam and my husband, visited a community day (with Sam) and filled out the application.  Sam was excited.  I was excited.  It seemed like the perfect fit/transition/supplement to our middle school homeschool experience.  Knowing it carries a child through high school was an added bonus.

In a nutshell, the program goes like this:  

~ The parent is still the teacher- the one responsible for the child's education, for grading and setting assignment expectations.

~ One day a week, the student attends community day in which they are taught six subjects by a trained tutor in a class of up to 12 students at a similar grade/age level.

~ At community day, they receive their assignments for the week to complete at home.

~ The cost was slightly higher than what we were already spending on curriculum through Sonlight.

We were all a little nervous about starting even though we felt good about the decision.  For those of you who are interested, I'll share more on this and how it's going so far in my next post on the topic.

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