How I Homeschool

I fear that I, uh, don't.

Today was the first day of the three-week (yeah, we'll see about that . . .) school suspension. I thought, "Hey, what a great opportunity for Cubby and Charlie to do some things they don't normally get to do at school! Geography! Typing! Spanish!"

Let me tell you what we actually did today, which was sunny and almost seventy degrees.

We put some potatoes outside that were already sprouting to sprout further and get ready for planting. I put seventeen potatoes in the sun and had Cubby help me figure out how many potatoes we might potentially get from those seventeen potatoes. We came up with 134*. (Math!)

The shearer came and we all stood around watching him work and helping however we could. Cubby took care of the gate so A. could go in and out with the fleeces, I wrote down the ewes' ear tag numbers along with a description of each (so we can figure out which ones to cull), and A. actually caught the sheep and moved the fleeces. (Agriculture!)

Cubby on gate duty.

That's a lot of wool.

A. dug many feet of dirt so I could plant 500 beet seeds. Cubby filled pots with soil and planted watermelon seeds. (Botany!)

The boys made boats out of paper and had a contest to see which ones would sail the longest in the bathtub. (Science! And also, lots of screaming and tears about cheating!)

So, all in all, a most academically successful day.

I was obviously born to be a teacher.

* They're really big, so our calculations included cutting each potato in half and getting a minimum of  four potatoes from each half planted.

Homeliving

We got official notice last Thursday that all schools in New Mexico are closed until April 6. That same day, our priest notified us that all church activities, including Mass, are suspended until further notice.

That pretty much eliminated all of our outside social and work obligations in one fell swoop.

So here we are, at home.

I suspect this is not as disconcerting to us as it is for most people, as we are perfectly accustomed and willing to manage on our own. We go weeks at a time without going anywhere but church and school, anyway, so it's not as if our routines depend on getting to a store or sports events or music lessons or, well, anything.

My brother joked that we practiced social distancing before social distancing was cool, and I think there's a lot of truth to that.

We are very lucky in that A. already does his main work remotely, we have no medical conditions of any kind in our family, and we never have to worry about running out of food or supplies because we always buy them in large quantities. Or, you know, grow and make them.

This morning we did church at home. I read the readings for the day and A. explained them to the kids. Then they had their post-church waffles as usual.

Tomorrow the older ones will be required to do some school-ish things (handwriting practice, reading history books or the encyclopedia, Spanish lessons online), but I'm not going to force them to do, like, actual lessons related to the math they were working on at school or whatever.

But otherwise? We'll just be here, tending our garden (the arugula is almost big enough to eat and I'M SO EXCITED), shearing sheep (a shearer is coming tomorrow, and A. is excited about that), and generally living our lives in a more or less normal fashion.

Keeping calm and carrying on is the order of the day. I hope it's the same for you.

Over and out.

Friday Food: A Non-Food Surprise at the End

Friday

Short version: Leftover goulash, fried eggs, mashed potatoes, green salad, roasted bell pepper/onion/sweet potato

Long version: The MiL arrived the night before for a visit, and what did I serve her for her first meal in our home? Yup, leftovers and fried eggs.

I also gave her a list of things to pick up at the grocery store in Albuquerque before she drove to our house, because that is standard protocol for guests driving into the great emptiness where we reside.

Saturday

Short version: Italian sausage, roasted potatoes, peppers and onions, green peas

Long version: Of her own volition, the MiL stopped at an Italian market in Albuquerque and bought fifteen pounds of Italian sausage for us. She was determined we should have good sausage. Apparently, all it takes is driving three hours, because it was good sausage. Everyone was very excited.

I threw this meal together very quickly after we got home somewhat late from an excursion to a mission church forty minutes away where they have Mass once a month. The same one we took my parents to and then had a picnic. I didn't pack a picnic this time. Good thing we had some quick-cooking sausage and those handy par-cooked roasted potatoes when we got home after 5 p.m.

The peppers and onions were a frozen stir-fry mix. I had fresh peppers, but this was quicker.

Sunday

Short version: Pizza, green salad, chocolate pudding pie

Long version: I always make pizza for guests, so that's nothing new. The pie is new.

You may notice I never make pie. Well, actually, you probably didn't notice, but I don't. I don't actually like pie that much, and I just don't have any practice or skill at it. The MiL, however, is a Pie Master. She actually won a ribbon at the fair for her pie once.

Unlike me, Cubby does like pie, so I've decided he should learn from the MiL and be our resident pie expert.

So the MiL and Cubby made a crust (with all butter, because I don't have any lard on hand):

Master Pie Class in my kitchen.

The rest of the children feel as I do about fruit pies, but they do all love pudding. So I made chocolate pudding (using this recipe) for this pie:

I'm sure there's some trick to avoiding those unsightly cracks, but . . . I don't care.

And then I took a picture of a piece covered in whipped cream and sent it to my dad, because it was his birthday:

Happy Birthday, Dad! I got you a piece of pie you don't even get to eat! Who's the favorite child NOW?

Monday

Short version: Tuna salad, bread and butter, carrot sticks, raw tomatoes, iced animal cracker cookies

Long version: We took an excursion down the hill to a ranch where A. fixed a crack in a brick house for the lady who gave us Samson. The MiL wanted to see the horses there, and there's an abandoned settlement there with yet another historic church.

We're chock-full of historic churches around here.

Because we didn't go until the afternoon, I brought a dinner picnic with us, which we ate in the shade of the church. Here are some pictures.

Poppy was the only child who actually sat down to eat. The others took their sandwiches to go.

I'm so glad I live in a place with so many lovely churches. Ugly churches are a sad thing to me.

I mean, look at all the decoration on the altar. All this for a place with maybe a hundred people in its heyday, and certainly almost no money.

Tuesday

Short version: Carnitas tacos with homemade corn tortillas, refried beans

Long version: I also always make tortillas for guests. We had this meal early so the MiL could drive back to stay in Albuquerque before a very early flight the next morning.

Wednesday

Short version: Scrambled eggs, potatoes/bacon/cheese, roasted sweet potato/pepper/onion, green salad, baked custard

Long version: I'm still trying to finish the last box of huge potatoes we got at Christmas. They're starting to sprout, so I need to partially roast some more and get them in the freezer. I will conquer the potatoes in the end.

I made the custard specifically to use up some milk that was past its date, as well as some of the ten dozen eggs in my refrigerator. (Long story.) Unfortunately, I found when I heated the milk--as well as a full cup of cream--on the stove that the milk was far enough past its date that it curdled. Ew.

I had already separated and mixed eggs and egg yolks with sugar, so I opened new milk and tried again. This recipe calls for two cups of milk, a cup of cream, three whole eggs, and two egg yolks. I made a double recipe this time, with five cups of milk, one cup of cream, seven whole eggs, and three yolks.

I couldn't tell a difference from the original, so it's nice to know I can make it with less of the cream and separated yolks and still get a good result. Cream is sometimes hard for us to get (as you well know), and I hate separating eggs and storing random whites in my refrigerator, so this is how I'll do it from now on.

Thursday

Short version: Chicken drumsticks, potato soup, steamed broccoli

Long version: Cubby had a sore throat, so I made him some potato soup for dinner. He was feeling better by dinner, though, and also ate two drumsticks.

I meant the chicken to be for Charlie and Jack. Charlie ate three drumsticks. Jack ate one, then two servings of soup and two of broccoli.

A. ate everything, along with some leftover pork. Poppy ate everything, too.

I just never do know who is going to eat what, and in what quantity. Good thing I made the whole package of drumsticks, because they were all eaten.

This was the night that we got the official notice of a three-week cancellation for all K-12 schools in New Mexico. The boys have always wanted to try homeschooling. Here's their chance. I suspect it's not going to be as much fun as they think it will.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Parallel Conversations

Yesterday afternoon, I was cooking at the stove--as usual--and A. was in the kitchen with me, discussing how and when we could get our van to the Chevy dealership to have what seems to be a worrisome transmission issue looked at.

The nearest Chevy dealership is over a hundred miles away*, and this is likely going to be a very costly fix if it can be fixed at all. This was a Very Not Fun Adult Conversation.

Meanwhile, Poppy was humming an unrecognizable song and running at full speed from the stove to the dining room, stopping to give me quick updates whenever she reached me. So A. would be talking about buying new tires for the van and then . . ."Mommy, I singin'!"

A.: "But if they tell me the transmission only has another ten thousand miles, then we'll just get a set of used tires and run it until it dies."

Poppy: "It's a song about snowflakes!"

A.: "I'm not giving up on the van yet, but it's going to be an expensive fix if they can do it."

Poppy: "The snowflakes comin' down!"

A.: "And then there's so many computer sensor issues, it's hard to decide which of them to fix."

Poppy: "Mommy, I smilin'!"

A.: "I hate going to dealerships/cost of driving these days/can't keep a car on the road, etc."

Poppy: "Mommy, I happy!"

I know, my sweet. And thank God for that.

* The whoooole happy family is going this morning. Happy Spring Break, kids! Let's drive 250 miles in one day to do something not at all fun! (Pray for us.)

Friday Food: Back To the Elk

Friday

Short version: Homemade corn tortillas, homemade refried beans, fried eggs, green salad

Long version: Those on Team Refried Beans include Cubby, Jack, and me. Team Eggs is A. and Charlie. Poppy chooses as the mood strikes. This night, she chose beans.

Everyone's on Team Tortilla. At least, when they're homemade.

Saturday

Short version: Elk stir-fry, rice

Long version: I marinated the elk pieces in soy sauce, vinegar, corn oil, and garlic powder before searing them and adding them to the frozen bag of stir-fry vegetable mix. The sauce in the stir-fry itself was all the things in the marinade, plus peanut butter.

When I make stir-fry, I pull out some meat for Charlie before I mix in the sauce and he eats that with plain rice (plain except for butter, that is), and some frozen vegetables. This time, he ate some meat and then turned to me and said, "Good job with the meat, Mom. What is this?" And both Cubby and Jack went back for more meat. Not even rice. Just meat.

You know what this means, don't you? It means I win the elk disguise medal.

That's a thing, yes. A thing that I just made up.

Photo break!

This was meant to be a photo of Cubby riding Samson in our neighbor's pasture across the road, but he's so far away, it's mostly a photo of the startlingly blue New Mexican sky.

Sunday

Short version: Elk goulash, garlic bread, green salad, root beer float popsicles

Long version: I haven't been making a Sunday dessert in order to impose some Lenten penance on the children. But Cubby keeps finding a way to ensure a dessert, anyway. He went for a walk with Jack earlier in the day, during which Jack got hot and Cubby promised him root beer popsicles if he would walk back home.

I thought this was actually a pretty good idea for the flat root beer that's been taking up space in the refrigerator for two weeks now. Better than cooking it with pork, anyway.

I don't have a popsicle mold, but I do have extra ice cube trays and toothpicks, which is what my mother used to use to make us orange juice popsicles.

Like so.

I decided the root beer would benefit from being mixed with heavy cream. To make it sort of like a root beer float, I guess. I also added a tiny bit of vanilla. After mixing those things, I filled the ice cube tray and froze it for about forty minutes, by which time it was frozen enough to hold the toothpicks up straight when I stuck them in.

They weren't bad, actually. The texture wasn't too hard. Kind of icy, like an Otter Pop or something. The kids loved them. Except Poppy, who decided they were too cold.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: It's a Monday/workday! Let's scrounge for leftovers!

So Cubby and Jack finished up the stir-fry and rice. Charlie had some goulash meat and frozen green beans. I had a couple of fried eggs and frozen stir-fry vegetables. Poppy had everything, because she kept seeing what other people had and demanding it.

All the children also had bread and butter. To fill in the corners, I suppose.

Tuesday

Short version: Sausage pasta bake, green peas

Long version: A. bought a tube of breakfast sausage when he was at the store last week. I used some of it to make a pasta sauce with tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and basil, which I mixed with some cooked elbow pasta and a bit of grated cheddar cheese. Just before baking it, I decided it would be too dry, so I poured in a little cream and milk, then I topped it with a layer of cheese.

It was tasty. Unsurprisingly.

For myself, I mixed some of the meat sauce with those oh-so-handy frozen stir-fry vegetables (however did I get along without them?) and a little cheese. Also tasty.

Another photo break!

We'll call this one "Girl With Truck."

Wednesday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, fried onions, roasted potatoes, green salad

Long version: Roasted potatoes would normally be too ambitious for a worknight, but these were potatoes I had previously peeled, cut into chunks, and partially roasted, then froze. This is one of the best ways I know of to preserve potatoes. All I had to do was shake them out of the bag onto a pan, and then continue roasting them for another half hour or so until they were crispy.

Thursday

Short version: Leftovers, mashed potatoes, frozen peas

Long version: For the children, I diced the remaining two hamburgers and heated them up with some of the leftover goulash sauce. They ate that over the mashed potatoes.

For me, I heated up the remaining sausage tomato sauce with some frozen vegetables and cheese. A satisfactory way to clean out the refrigerator.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Contemplating Eternity

Yesterday while I was on lunchroom duty in the elementary school, wiping applesauce off the floor and reminding the kindergarteners for the 26th time to please stay in their seats and eat their food*, Charlie came over to me and asked, "Hey, Mom, do you know what would happen if a watch and time had a fight?"

Not really being in the mental place to give such a question much thought, and also not really sure what he was talking about, I asked back, "No, what?"

"Well, time would win. Know why?"

"Why?"

"Because the watch would eventually stop, but time goes on forever."

That was not really what I was expecting, but I had to acknowledge the logic of his philosophical train of thought.

And then he went back to his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, no doubt to mull over the meaning of life and the purpose of human existence. At least until recess, when the game of tag on the playground drove all the philosophy out of his head.

* Yes, being a teacher's aide is pretty much just like being a mom. Except I get paid to wipe up applesauce and nag at the school.

An Easter Cholla

Way back in December when we went to cut our Christmas tree near our neighbor's canyon, Charlie called me over to take a look at something. That something was this:

Yes, it's a cholla in the shape of a cross. And yes, it is pink.

Even though we found it around Christmas, it seems more appropriate for this Sunday in Lent.

That's all.