It's Official

Carsyn's violin has been complete since June already, but with all the going's on around the farm there's been no time to post pictures etc.

Besides the finish was still curing ... and he hadn't slipped in to the city to get the official appraisal (for insurance purposes).

That happened last weekend.



The verdict is ... he has created an instrument with a $1,400.00 value. That is really pretty good for his first solo attempt as a Luthier!

He already had a buyer for the violin so it is sold and gone ... and he misses it dearly.

So do we 'cause Carsyn has played it a lot. It sings beautifully, easily.

He'll be making another one ... and another ... and another ...

He's good at it.

This is his passion.

This is his gift.

Way to go, Carsyn! We're so happy for you. Thanks for making the world a little sweeter!

Freebie: Dinosaurs Explained

Do dinosaurs interest you? Your children? Or someone else you know?




This week Answers in Genesis is offering a free audio download of The Bible Explains Dinosaurs by Ken Ham.

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Venture Advance

Our Beeswax Candle business has made strides this winter ... so much, in fact, that we are already marketing them at the Brandon Farmer's Market every Friday.

The sweet smell of beeswax fills our home as Brayden makes his creations in our basement work room. Many of the candle shapes are formed from molds we've made ourselves. The sense of accomplishment is just as sweet ...



As new things go, we've experienced some challenges in the learning curve - like using the correct wicking as well as the correct wick thickness for each candle - but now, some of those hurdles are behind us, the candles burn brightly clearing the air as only beeswax candles can do and adding much delight to our decor.

Delightful, beautiful, functional and healthful, these candles will make great gifts for anyone and everyone - I know I certainly feel like I've received a gift every time we get to do a trial burn test of one of the newest creations.

Smooth and Easy Days ?

Those of you that are homeschooling parents may appreciate this free download. Then again, you probably don't need to be homeschooling to benefit from what Charlote Mason has to say.
You may want to download this free ebook on how to develop good habits in your home in order to create "smooth and easy days".

Thanks Crystal!

Parenting with Purpose

A few days ago I found a parenting book online. From what I've read so far, it looks really helpful. Besides growing tomatoes is what we do here on our Family Farm @ Klasse Woods!

And, yes, by God's grace, we're committed to raising "Godly tomatoes" ... it is our eternal mission in life -- and who can't use a little help and encouragement along the way? If you'd like some, see what Elizabeth Krueger has to say.

Before I had children, I knew all the answers ... now I have children - and I'm finding that I always have more to learn!




Would you like to read it? This is the author's home page.

It can also be ordered as a print book here.

A Luthier, Maker of Stringed Instruments

We have a luthier in our family. Carsyn is currently in the process of building his second violin.

It's taking shape ...



It takes incredible patience, perseverance and precision. Carsyn is a good match for this project which he had set on hold while he completed his high school studies last year.

Color Our World

Our twins enjoy coloring. They have since very young. Their walls, our walls and now their door are often covered with their artwork. Cutting and pasting rate right up their also in the FUN category.

Their school workbooks are often splashed with color also. Their attention span at this delightful passtime is nothing short of amazing:

Phonics Fun

Getting to do this again...

Already a month ago, Bronlin wrote out the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as I dictated it to him (at his request - he wrote out this special song as a gift for Grandma).

Teaching our children to read and write is a great thrill. By God's enabling grace and mostly on their own, the twins have already progressed very well in Mathematics aided by Father, Mother, brothers and workbooks so ... this year we are focusing on learning how to read and write words. Of course, Mathematics is still part of each day and they're continuing their progress, grasping new concepts like subtraction, clockwise & counter clockwise, time, and thousands with amazing ease. Ah, to God be all the glory! Thank you, Lord!

Back to phonics though, their penmanship is already neat and orderly. They know the names of the alphabet and most of the sounds that each one makes. Now we're beginning to put consanents and vowel sounds together to form blends and then words. Today they put together their first words and wrote them onto paper.

It is so rewarding to listen as they come to me throughout the day telling me that " 'v' starts with vehicle" or "Mom, 's' starts both six and seven". They are learning skills they will be using for life -- what an amazing privilege to lead them in this, one of the most basic things in learning.

Meanwhile, Faith Mattaya is discovering the joy of books ... I am continually amazed at the length of her attention span.

Boyer's Gift

The Boyer's have a deal for you. Get the "coupon code" on their blog:

Take $5.00 off your next purchase at the Learning Parent.

Offer is good now through October 26, 2009.

Some items in their product list are $5.00 and less ... hop on over to their blog then to the Learning Parent and see for yourself what you can find.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2009

Read more about the history of Thanksgiving in Canada.

Pray for the Klicka Clan

Chris Klicka, HSLDA’s first full-time attorney, who has been fighting multiple sclerosis for many years, became very ill this week at the Home School Legal Defense Association's National Leaders Conference in Colorado last week. Chris was admitted to St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs, where he remains in critical condition.

Chris & Tracy have had an exemplary marriage of twenty-five years which was blessed with seven children.

His family has traveled from Virginia to be with him. Please pray for
them as they wait on the Lord during this difficult time.

For updates on Chris’s status visit CaringBridge.

For more about Chris’s years of service to the homeschooling community,view his bio at HSLDA’s website.

Edit note:Monday, Oct. 12,
God called this soldier home. The loss is felt by the homeschool community, Christians and his precious family. Keep them in your prayers.

Batter Writing Skills

Our littlest young men are getting to be my good helpers in the kitchen. Zucchini Cake has been THE cake to make recently. We make it in coconut & chocolate flavors.

Today, though we did something different: we had our phonics / spelling lesson in the cake batter.

They used a spoon as their writing tool and wrote the letters of the alphabet in the batter. Spelling words worked well in the batter too ... who knows they may even stick better in their little minds when written in batter, lol!

Of course, "erasing" batter is easy, so if they made a mistake they just "erased" and tried again.

In the end, the baked cake showed no traces of the lesson plan, but boys & Mom had fun learning together again. I trust the academic repetition mixed up with fun will have long lasting effects ...

Reason to Rejoice

A few short years ago, we were blessed with a second son. Much has transpired since then and Carsyn has made good use of his time - he has packed 12 years of school work into 10. He was only in Grade 3 when he first voiced the idea that he wanted to finish his schooling early.

Acceptance, diligence, perseverance, precision, loyalty, determination and wisdom are a few of the character qualities that God has built in Carsyn through his life's journey thus far.

On Saturday, June 13th, at the graduation ceremony, the fathers each had opportunity to encourage their son. Ken chose to encourage Carsyn to attempt great things for God & the furtherance of His Kingdom. Philppians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This verse was the theme verse we chose for Carsyn. He has demonstrated great tenacity in accomplishing his goals, now he was encouraged to seek the Lord in setting further goals and relying on God's strength to accomplish those as well.

We celebrated Carsyn's high school graduation along with two other young men of the local homeschool group. Numerous family & friends joined us in the celebration which began with a pit roasted pork supper for the Grads, their families and Grandparents.

Planting a CSA Garden

We put the first potatoes into the soil on May 1, 2009. So far we have planted potatoes, corn, peas, spinach, herbs and some zuchinni (under hot caps).

Daddy supervises Timothy, Benjamin & Bronlin doing what they deem as the "best part" of the job - cutting the seed potatoes while Faith Mattaya gets the cushy job, Overseer of Operations.


Everyone can help plant:



As always, clicking on the picture will open it in a larger window for a close up view.

Piles of Opportunity

There are piles of opportunity everywhere.



Five of our young men are back in action catching gophers - that perfect enterprise for little guys.

AND ... its multi-tasking!

They're:
- earning pocket money,
- helping us and a neighbor improve the pastures and hay fields,
- feeding the cats & dog
- learning business "skills"
- getting extra exercise 2x/day
- learning money & math (at least the littlest guys are)

Gotta love that!

Spring into Savings

Yet another great offer this time on topics like: saving money, getting-out-of-debt, frugal living and homemaking tips.


The ladies at LivingOnADime.com and MoneySavingMom.com. have just contacted me to let me know that with the rise in the price of groceries, they have decided to team up to offer you their two grocery savings e-courses along with a huge pile of bonus items. Even better, they are offering this Savin' O The Green 17 e-book package to our readers for $17, a substantial discount off of the regular price of $75 for these e-books.


The e-books that are included in this offer are:


Supermarket Savings 101 eCourse with audio downloads
Grocery Shopping On A Budget eCourse
Money Saving Meats e-book
Saving On Cleaning Supplies e-book
Eating Healthy On A Budget e-booklet
Is Eating Out Eating You Up? e-book
224 Meals In A Hurry e-book
Grocery Savings e-book
Menus That Make Cents e-book
Plan Ahead Leftovers e-book
Quick Dinners e-book
Menu Planning Made Easy
Simply Centsible Breakfasts
Simply Centsible Suppers
Kids Recipes
Menus On A Dime
470 Crockpot Recipes


For more information on this exciting offer, go here.

Fun & Educational Resources

For those of you who are homeschoolers - well, perhaps some of the rest of you may be interested also ... Homeschool Freebie of the Day offers a download each day Monday to Friday. Sign-up for their weekly reminder and then pick and choose which resources you can use.

There is some cool stuff here ... enjoy!

This week they are offering five e-books to download at no charge, one each day:
Monday, Feb 23rd:FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (PDF ebook)

A HUGE collection of eyewitness stories and amazing
personal accounts about the "Underground Railroad" by which
many slaves in pre-Civil War years escaped from their
owners in the south and made their way to freedom.
This is riveting, real-life "living history"!


Tuesday, Feb 24th:ROCKETS & FLYING MACHINES! (PDF ebook)

Straight from NASA, here are some great flying contraptions
you can make at home - and learn the principles of flight
while you're at it!


Wednesday, Feb 25th:SLIMY EXPERIMENTS! (PDF ebook)

How to make your own slimy, fun "science toys" such as
Guck, Goop & Oobleck. Great fun...
and great chemistry lessons too!


Thursday, Feb 26th:
INCREDIBLE BUBBLES! (PDF ebook)

Learn how to make the BEST bubble-making solution ever...
and then learn how to Make Giant Man-Eating Bubbles,
Make Bubble Paintings, Questions & Answers on Bubbles & more


Friday, Feb 27th:
MOUTH EXPERIMENTS! (PDF ebook)

Ewww! Science experiments in your own mouth?
Yep! Pick up some biology and chemistry savvy with such fun
activities as: Making a Tongue Map; Rock Breath;
Stuffy Smellers; Hot and Cold Tastes; Disappearing Gum;
Fireworks in Your Mouth... and much more!

You can get all of these on their respective days at

www.HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay.com

--------------------------------------

Finally, This week's subscriber exclusive link:

PENNY EXPERIMENTS! (PDF ebook)

So, what can you learn with a simple penny?
All sorts of interesting chemistry and physics concepts!
In this neat activity booklet, you'll discover all sorts of
fun and educational "penny" experiments, including:
Penny Splash - Penny Droppers -Penny Plated Nails
Floating Penny Boats - Green Pennies - Penny in the Well
Penny Haloes - Super Clean Pennies -
The Problem of the Counterfeit Penny - Penny Powered Cars
The Disappearing Penny - Old Pennies VS. New Pennies
The Penny Flopover Experiment - The Penny Spinout Experiment
Shining Pennies - Rocket Powered Pennies
Penny Mushroom Piles... and more!

Crafting Joy & Gift Ideas

Crafts that give joy in the making and extend to the joy of giving.

At eight years of age, Timothy is now enjoying Christmas crafting using our scrollsaw. His first nativity:


And here he's making some stars that he "dreamed up" all on his own ... simple stars etched with the words of "Joy" or "Love" (he's already wrapped them & I missed a picture):

The words on the stars are etched using a wood burning/pyrography tool - another tool we recommend as a great crafting tool. Lee Valley sells a great one. It gets hot so do use caution & supervision.


The scrollsaw has definitely been one of the most worthwhile investments we've made(thanks Uncle Barry):
- it is a relatively safe saw due to the slow speeds with which it can be used though supervision is recommended when children are young and inexperienced with using it. We would recommend getting a variable speed saw. A good warranty like Canadian Tire offers on their MasterCraft brand is a good thing to have also - Canadian Tire also regularly offers deep discounts, watch for those...

- through the years it has positively paid for itself as our young men have made many gifts using the scrollsaw and in addition to that they have made items that they have sold. Professional looking, unique gifts - to the glory of God!

If you have young men or young ladies in your home who love to be crafty - we would recommend buying a good quality scrollsaw as a gift that will keep on giving ... gifts and hours of productive enjoyment. Who knows where it may lead them - or you!

Farmer's Market One Last Time

Our farm buyers requested a day at the market with us as part of their introductory business "training".




The market was 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM. By the time, the children & I arrived around 2:00 a lot of produce/baking was already sold out ... but there's only so much a person can do!!!!

We've found the market to be "like a job", therefore we deem it not a necessary part of our itinerary. We LIKE living outside of the rat race.

But to humor the buyers ... we picked fresh zuchini, dug new potatoes, baked more zuchini into Zuchini Breads and added the variety of Banana Bread(these breads sell WELL!), baked up that one last tub of cherries from last year into Cherry Tarts and Cherry Coffee Cake, made two pans of our ethnic "Platz" using fresh rhubarb and saskatoon berries (this time I made one panful of each though I have combined the two fruits for a nice variation as well), Sesame Crisps are always a hit, and of course, the staple - Whole Wheat 'n' Flax Bread with its variation made into Focaccia. We always bring along some of our organic eggs, copies of my cookbook and this summer our boys have sold quite a few of their pyrography wood photo frames (good job guys!).






Those things nicely fill a table & line our pockets when we go to market. Some of the boys have found that they rather enjoy the time interacting with people and we've met some really nice, interesting folks as well, I might add. So not only is it an income venture it is also a learning growing experince - one that the boys can do with their Dad (another bonus!)

All that preparation done on Wednesday, our regular egg marketing day - this time, also introducing our egg clients to the new owner who came along with us for another aspect of his "training". We, and they, are working to make this a smooth transition for them - but I'm sure there will be surprises along the way for them anyway. Such is the nature of ... farming!

What a day!

Thank you, Lord, for Your sufficient grace!

Free All About Zebras ebook

Anybody interested in this freebie? We have one twin who thinks zebras are "his" while the other claims all giraffes ... we just couldn't pass this up!



Free All About Zebras ebook--includes research guide and 16 hands-on activities. Perfect for homeschoolers or families looking for some educational projects to do this Summer!

(Thanks Money Saving Mom!)