New Year's Resolutions To Keep

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    New Year's Resolutions like loosing weight, eat healthier, quit smoking, pay off bills, not cuss, become a better friend, wife, mother never seem to be fulfilled in the coming year. We all try, we all promise, we all seem to come short of reaching our goals. (At least, that is what happens to me.) This year I have resolved to just 'Do more.'  
   Do more. Simple right? That is what I did this past year. I just did more. 

• When I started homeschooling my daughter in the fall of 2013, we had to resolve to do more with less. It was Zoey's idea to start the winter garden and to start doing more on our own. Her idea to become more self sufficient echoed my own dreams. The dreams I was not brave enough to embark on until a child wishing to learn homesteading as part of her homeschool sparked a revolution in our home. We were always mini 'Preppers' but we had not yet ventured into self sufficiency.   
• In trying to become more self sufficient, I turned my house into a homestead, sewed a larger garden, and learned a bit about food preservation. We began raising our own chickens. Now we eat our eggs and the meat we butcher. All of this has helped us to eat healthier. 
• Also, homesteading and being more self sufficient was a huge step for us. My motto of 'If you are going to Talk the Talk, you better Walk the Walk' was put into effect, full force. We have learned more than just homesteading. We have built pens and a coup from recycled materials. We have upped our preps, gear and emergency supplies. We have practiced and improved our skills with knives, bows and arrows. We budgeted and learned to reuse, recycle and re-purpose. 
• I didn't resolve to loose weight, I got up and moved more. For several years, I have worked in an office 2 days a week, behind a computer. When I am off, I have a sewing business that keeps me sitting behind a machine several hours a day. Zoey and I did lots of projects that got me up and outside of the house. MOVING! That makes a huge difference. 
• We joined a Homeschool Co-op. One thing Zoey missed the most about school was friends to have class with. I taught her science class. We both made great friends we love and adore. I will be teaching 2 science classes this coming year. EXCITING! 
• We brought up Zoey's reading level by researching all of the stuff we wanted to learn about this year. Foraging, food preservation, raising animals for food and the science of gardening were on her top interests list. Her want for knowledge on these subjects helped to open a whole new world of reading for her. She is an excellent researcher as well.

   So what will we 'Do More' of in 2015? Most of it has been yet to be determined. What ever sparks my daughter's learning creativity I presume. We have already talked about a few things, though.

• Wild Edible Foraging and using herbs for medicinal and edible use are at the top of our list. We will start taking classes at the Star Dragonfly Herbal Company. It is once a month and just a few towns over from us. Zoey also wants to start buying herbs from them each time we go. We have also bought various seeds to start our own herbal/medicinal garden. Zoey will also incorporate a butterfly fairy garden into the garden. 
• Our garden last year did not have a high yield. We believe this is because the area we grew in was not as nutrient rich as we had hoped. We have already done several soil amendments, and we will continue to compost and fertilize the garden area with the animals droppings. We will also be growing more in the front yard. Hubby has decided this was okay since the Mystery Plant did so well. We will also do some more Edible Landscaping.  
• Other classes we will be taking outside of our homeschool are bushcraft classes at our local state lake park. They offer things like using a compass, tracking wildlife, hiking, tree and plant identification, and geocaching treasure hunts. They also have a Dutch Oven cooking expo coming up. They are bringing in people to show us how to cook using cast iron Dutch Ovens. 
• That brings us to obtaining items to add to our preps and learning how to use them. We got a Pressure Canner for Christmas that we look forward to using soon. A meat grinder and slicer, flour mill, a new set of Cast Iron Cookware, Herbalogy books and kits, and a nice medical kit are just a few of the items we would like to add to our preps. This also means we will learning how to use them as well. Will we get all of these items this year? Probably not. But, this is a life long list, not a Must Have This Year list. We will add to the list as we knock stuff off. 
• Our storage area is very lacking. Our house has no room for storage in it. Zoey and I, with help from the hubby, will research new and clever ways of utilizing the space we have. We plan on doing a lot of canning this year, and yet we have no where to put anything else... hmmm... Clever ideas anyone? 
• We will practice more on our bows and maybe, just maybe, learn to hunt. This is one area our house is very lacking on. Hubby hunted with his father as a child, but has not as an adult. The fees for hunting licenses has kept us from it. Also, what do we do with the meat if we have killed something? So hunting and meat preservation is on our list of hopeful To Dos. 

     Our list seems a bit long. If we don't complete some of it, that is okay. We are not pledging to do all of it. Just to 'Do More!' What is on your list? 

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Pumpkins, Knives, and Becoming Independent

    

     
     By the time I was 10, I was cooking and preparing all the meals for my whole family on a daily basis. On my own. Both of my parents worked full time jobs and I always felt cooking and cleaning was my way of helping out the family. That is how I learned to use a knife. The way I held the knife and cut things always scared my parents to death. They always thought it looked like I was going to cut myself. I slice things, cutting straight towards my hand. Always have, always will. Yes, I have sliced myself on occasion, but nothing terribly bad. I've never had stitches unless they were surgery related on something normal. You couldn't tell me my method was ever anything dangerous, because I've never felt any danger or severely hurt myself. I have learned to have great control over the knife, even if it was pointed straight towards my body. 
     Now you ask why I am telling you this... cause my daughter is 10. She has not been made to cook entire meals on her own, we do them together. I am over protective as a mother and at the same time, I try teach her to do everything on her own. Using a knife, I realized lately, is not one of those skills I have let her practice much on her own. I have always hovered over her, tell her what to do, what not to do. 'Don't hold it like that', 'Never cut straight towards your body.' Everything my parents have told me or told me not to do over the years, (and I ignored) has come out of my mouth. I need to let go of the control and just let her learn on her own. But, GOODNESS, it is scary! 
     Why wouldn't she do things like me? I am her model. Everything she knows, she has learned by watching me. We do not spend a lot of time apart. My little shadow, my mini me. I love this. I need to break this. Sometimes, I feel like she is not as independent as she should be. She does not venture out much on her own, preferring to have me close. I am very independent. My mini me, not so much. I need to break this by allowing and encouraging her to go out and do more on her own with out mommy hovering over her every step when she is completing what I feel is a dangerous task. 
     So when she asked if she could cut a pumpkin we harvested yesterday to get the seeds out, I said yes. I sat back and took photos while she cut the top off of the pumpkin and TRIED not to tell her to 'do it like this' and 'don't do it like that.' She has watched me her whole life. She knows what she is doing, but GOODNESS, it is scary! My daughter has my technique... 

     

      I'll just pray she develops my control. At this point, I think I need to issue an apology to my parents for freaking them out all those years, and a thank you to them for allowing me to learn to become independent. Love you guys!