Caleb is 5!!!!

It is hard to believe that my children are getting older and growing bigger. For some reason Caleb has always seemed older to me than he really is...maybe because he has spent most of his short life trying to be like Elijah...trying to be bigger. The good thing is that I feel he is finally starting to become his own person and make his own decisions. He is coming out of Elijah's shadow and I LOVE the person he is becoming. He is very unique, spirited, and artistic. He was our latest talker, but I am almost convinced that he could talk, but just chose not to:) He has never been one to "perform" for others. He has always been kind of a lone ranger- very reserved, a home body, always loyal, very intuitive, humble and tender hearted. He finds meaning in the little things. He notices details. He is also extremely comical- the one always making silly faces and keeping things light-hearted. I am so thankful for my sweet Caleb.

Giving Thanks

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting."
-Psalm 136:1-3









Little arms reaching up to me, little hand in my hand, warm breath on my chest. Touch. Isn't this what we all need? To be close to someone.
Big eyes looking at the world with awe and wonder. All things new and exciting. God, open my eyes so I can see.
Lots of laughter- giggling, joyous sounds. Isn't this what we all seek? Lightness of heart.
100 times a day of look at what I made, look at what I drew, look at what I can do, look, look, look at me...isn't that what we all want? To be noticed.

My heart is full of thanksgiving for all these sweet moments. They are life-giving. They remind me of what is important, what is beautiful, what is good.

The journey from pumpkin to pie

This year I decided to ditch the canned pumpkin and try my hand at making a pumpkin pie from scratch.
The first step is picking the right pumpkin. There's a great pumpkin site here to research all the different varieties. There are several pumpkins that are good for making pumpkin pie, but I chose to go with the Jarrahdale.



The kids were so excited when we cut open the pumpkin. At first they were a little hesitant to get their hands in the goo, but before long they were digging for seeds like they were gold.




We put the seeds aside to roast and placed the pumpkin in the oven.



The pumpkins produce a lot of water while baking so it is important to place them in a baking dish instead of a pan otherwise there will be a real mess in the bottom of your oven. Place the pumpkin skin up, poke skin with a fork several times, place in the oven at 350 for 1.5 hours (a little less or more depending on size).



When it is done a fork should be able to easily pierce through the skin.



Then scoop out the flesh and drain in a mesh colander until most of the water has been removed and then puree with a hand blender or food processor.





When it has a nice, smooth consistency then you can start to assemble your pie. This is the recipe that I used:

2 c. pumpkin
2 eggs
1.5 c. heavy cream
1 T. flour
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger
1/8 t. cloves

beat eggs in a mixing bowl, add pumpkin and mix well. Mix in all other ingredients one at a time stirring well and then pour into your pie crust.

Crust recipe:
1/2 c. butter or shortening (whichever you prefer)
1.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour (which you can purchase in bulk from here if you live in the Triad. Their flour is the organic King Arthur flour that you would buy in the store, but it is MUCH cheaper to buy it directly from the mill.)
1/2 t. salt
2 t. sugar
1/2 c. ice cold water

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter or shortening, then crumble with fingers until very fine. Add water a little bit at a time stirring rapidly with a fork until it forms a big clump. Form into a disk and refrigerate for an hour. Roll out dough about 2 inches wider than your pie dish, fold it gently in half to transfer, then unfold and pinch the outside.

....back to the pie...Place aluminum foil over crust to prevent from burning and bake at 425 for 15 minutes then turn down to 350 and cook for an additional hour. Remove when a toothpick comes out clean when placed an inch from the crust. Don't worry if the center is still a little jiggly- it will set as it cools. Place in refrigerator overnight. The flavors will be enhanced and it helps the texture as well (just my opinion).



Then get a plate, fork and some whipped cream and enjoy some homemade goodness! We had so much fun making this pie and even though it is time consuming, it is actually quite easy to make. This is definitely going to be a new Thanksgiving tradition for the Vaughn family:)

Nature Journaling

"Your goal in nature study is much more than just to 'inform' your children about the details of creation. Your greater task is to 'form in' them eyes that can see the Creator in his creation (Romans 1:20), an abiding sense of wonder and appreciation of what God has made (Psalm 8 and 19) and a passion to care for, subdue and rule over this earth as God's highest expression of created being (Genesis 1:28)." -Sally and Clay Clarkson, Educating the WholeHearted Child

I have been making my children do nature journaling for about a year now and it is something I love and think is so wonderful for children, but I never realized it could be wonderful for me too. In the past I have used the time while they are drawing to hurry up and do a chore or prepare for the next lesson, because they were quietly occupied. But lately I have been trying to really implement the tomato staking idea in our house, of staying together in all that we do- cleaning, schooling, playing etc. I have a regular journal that I keep, so I decided I could keep nature drawings in it as well...that way I can teach by example and not just with words. It was a glorious fall day and I gave my children the task of drawing a picture of fall. I left that up to their own interpretation. They drew acorns, inside and out- they drew trees changing color, and squirrels busy at work. I chose to draw a leaf that really stood out to me and then Elijah decided he wanted to draw the leaf as well. It has been a long time since I have drawn anything and it was such a good feeling to be outside sitting in the warm, fall sunshine with my children drawing a leaf. It might not be the best leaf drawing in the world, but it inspired me and I think it inspired them a little bit to see mom working along side them. It is good for the soul to take time to be still, to look around and notice the details of God's marvelous creation. Much better than running off to wash a few dishes:)

A tiny glimpse of our home school

I haven't written too many things about the way we home school but I am planning on writing a lot more about it this year. I am VERY passionate about Charlotte Mason. Her philosophy on life and education is one that speaks directly to my heart. What she says makes so much sense to me and just seems so natural and good. So we mostly apply her philosophy to our days but in a very eclectic way. I don't follow any one curriculum or program. I haven't found the perfect curriculum yet and I am pretty sure there is no such thing, so I just use what I like best from a variety of sources. For example, I use Ambleside as a resource for picture study and music study and I use Simply CM's Shakespeare schedule. I pull my literature selections from Sonlight and Ambleside, but only use what I think will really interest my children. We use Math-U-See and love it and I really want to use Beautiful Feet for History but haven't had the money to buy the packages, so I look for the books at used book stores and the library and have had great success finding the books for very little money. I use Queen Homeschool's Language Arts for the Very Young along with English For the Thoughtful Child for an intro to grammar, but I am also going to look into Emma Serl's grammar books. We use the McGuffey Readers and love those so much. They are very old, but full of beautiful language and pictures. I try to mix up copywork everyday. Sometimes we do Draw Write Now, letters to friends or family, scripture, poetry, literature selections etc. We do a lot of nature journaling and nature walks for science and I adore the The Nature Study Handbook- it is a true treasure. Every now and then I do a unit study from KONOS because that curriculum is so fun and easy to use for all ages and they always LOVE doing the projects because they are so hands-on. I know I am leaving lots of things out, but that is basically the core combination of resources that I use and I can't wait to expand more on these things in future posts.




These pictures are from the unit study we are doing right now on Native Americans. We used Konos and they made their own Native American shirt (brown paper bag) and found symbols that they liked and painted them on the front. They learned Native American sign language, made tomahawks and a drum, studied the crops that we got from Native Americans. Most importantly, we read numerous books about Native Americans such as Sitting Bull, Pocahantas, Sacajawea, and Squanto just to name a few.

The final harvest

I think I have already mentioned that we are part of a community garden, but we had not visited our bed since before Addy was born six weeks ago. No weeding, no watering. We thought the garden was pretty much done and we didn't plant any fall crops. However, a friend of mine was visiting the garden and asked if I would like her to harvest what was left in our garden. I told her she probably wouldn't find much, but boy was I wrong. The garden had a second life and we were so excited about what she brought back!




This a picture of the peppers and one delicious breakfast that was made from them.

They love their sister

The boys absolutely love having a little sister. I can't explain how different it is, but the biggest thing is that they don't see her as a threat. They don't feel the need to compete with her, but they are still competing with each other over who gets to hold her first and who can make her smile. I am glad she has so many big brothers that love her and want to protect her. Elijah and her seem to have the most special bond. He has wanted a sister since I was pregnant with Caleb and he loves walking around with her, singing to her and rocking her in the rocking chair. If she is crying she instantly stops when he picks her up. It is really sweet watching how he cares for her and I know he will be a great father some day...all of them will be.
I had to add a picture of wild-eyed Ezra. Since she was born he seems so much bigger, though he really is still a baby himself. He is definitely having a delayed reaction to her being born... a little bit of anger has set in, but so far he hasn't directed it towards Addy...though the other day I put her on my bed so I could brush my teeth and when I was in the bathroom I heard Ezra climb onto my bed and say "squeeze the baby"! I ran back in the bedroom very quickly just to find him nicely sitting next to her- thankfully no damage was done:) Needless to say, I won't be leaving her alone on my bed anymore.
She continues to be sweet and is finally giving us a little more sleep at night, which makes her even sweeter. It seems like she is changing a little each day. It is amazing how fast they grow at this stage. She is smiling and cooing and blowing bubbles...so adorable. We love our little girl.