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Month: November 2006

2006 Yearly Review

Well, it’s getting on toward the end of the year…which means a new year is acomin’. I’ve had such an interesting journey so far this year, and I’ve chronicled it a little on my blog but in scattered bits and pieces.

It all started when I pursued my own study on ‘the Sabbath‘ (Nov 2005)

I decided to try focusing on the 3 R’s for 2006- the new 3 R’s – Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

Jan 2006 saw me not too excited about lessons this year so deciding to have a “Sabbath Season”

We moved interstate in May so we had to ride the waves of moving. Throughout this I was becoming more interested in getting fitter…and I realised something about our home and family, from reading Body for Life. The book talks about hitting high points and efficient workouts, etc. Gee, this sounds a bit like my homeschool- instead of wanting to do lessons and booky stuff all day every day, I want to do our lessons efficiently, hit some high points AND have a life!!!

In July, I was having such a good time that I decided to take stock of the year so far:
and in August I started to formulate our recipe for success… or not!

Throughout this time of Sabbath I have learned a lot…about myself, the nature of Man, the nature of God, how we learn, etc I also learned, in a whole new way, that ‘people will learn what they need to know, when they need to know it’.

So where to for next year? I’m getting a little excited about planning for next year…but with the lessons I’ve learnt firmly in my mind.

Our focus will still be on the 3 R’s.
Rest, Relationship and Refreshment.

There are so many books that we haven’t read……books that I know we won’t even get to read…lessons that I haven’t done, but that’s okay! The important ones have been read, the important lessons have been discussed, relationships have been nurtured and the curiosity that is essential for learning has been kindled. Whenever I start to look at how much a child hasn’t done, I stop and look at how much they care, not how much they know…and I’m left feeling content.

My family dynamics have changed a fair bit over the last 12 months and I’m looking forward to a new season of working with my boys. The girls and I have always loved learning about history- it has been our favourite subject but the boys are more interested in geography and science. Science is something I’ve tried to almost avoid! but I’ve even been writing a unit study based on a Willard Price book in preparation for next year. My goal is to bring John to a level where he will be able to work more independently so that I can spend a little more time with ‘Master C’ . I want to streamline the basics so that we an all spend more time in God’s word and learning according to their delights and interests.

We’ll still have interruptions as we’re probably moving again in May and with two girls working part time and youth group, and ‘A’s softball this means the waves are starting get a little bigger, but that’s fine because that’s life! It’s how we know we’re alive!

So I’m excited about switching focus to a new subject (science) and
teaching my boys, which is totally different to teaching my girls. I’m excited about teaching and showing them God’s word…ahhh, much to be thankful for.

Nori chips

Everytime I’ve logged on lately to blog, it has been about food…so I decided against posting. This is, after all, a *homeschool* blog, isn’t it? Yes but our life is one of learning so I guess it doesn’t matter so much. I guess if it continues though I should think about discontinuing this blog and moving somewhere to start up a food blog.

I’ve just done something quite interesting with some nori sheets that I had left over. I put them on a tray and seasoned them with some oil (I made a few different combinations: olive oil & flax and another combination of coconut & olive oil with a dash of chilli oil). I baked them at 180 degrees for about 6 minutes and then when they came out, yet still warm, I sprinkled them with a Parmesan Sprinkle mix, which is 1 tsp of Celctic sea salt with 1 TB of sesame seeds which have been combined and ground, either in the Magic Bullet or using the mortar and pestle.

I then cut them into finger sized (bite sized) pieces and put them into an air tight container.

They are yummy! I think John will like to snack on them at night. They’ll make a great, nutritious substitute for chips, not that we have many, but what a way to get some extra nutrients. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Yummy Zucchini Dishes

We had an abundance of fresh zucchini at our place and I needed to find a way to use them before it was too late. So, I ran them through the food processor and was left with about 3 kgs of grated zucchini.

I made a Zucchini Slice with salad and it was delicious. I doubled the recipe and it filled the six of us plus there were three generous serves left over for the following day’s lunch

Zucchini Slice
375grams grated Zucchini
1 lg. onion,finely chopped
3 rashers bacon,chopped (I didn’t use this as I didn’t have it)
1 cup S.R. flour
1 cup grated cheese (Oops, I didn’t have this either- I used Serene’s Parmesan Sprinkles on top instead)
5 beaten eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup oil
pepper and salt
(optional: grated carrot, chopped capsicum, finely sliced celery.)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Place in shallow greased baking dish and spread mix evenly. Bake at 190 – 200 Degrees Celcius for 30 to 40 mins or til browned. If desired, parmesan cheese can be sprinkled on top before baking. Serve with lightly cooked green vegetables or with salad. Enjoyable hot or cold.

While I still had more zucchini left over, I made Zucchini Bread, which we all enjoyed for breakfast this morning:

Zucchini Bread
? 3 cups shredded zucchini (about 3 medium)
? 1 2/3 cups sugar
? 2/3 cup vegetable oil
? 2 teaspoons vanilla
? 4 eggs
? 3 cups all-purpose flour
? 2 teaspoons baking soda
? 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
? 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans that are 9x5x3 inches. Mix zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans. Bake 50 – 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves and remove from pans.

Does Studying Hebrew Roots Take Away From Jesus?

G’day,
A question that I previously asked, and one that arises fairly often on the Heart of Wisdom e-group is about the focus on Hebrew Roots or Heritage. Some people mistakenly believe that this focus takes away from Jesus Christ. Robin, the author of the HOWTA and Biblical Guide to Holidays has written a good post in response to this thought: I urge you to check it out!