Raising Saints & Martyrs

We all have that moment where we look at our kids and say "ugh, really, Spanish?" I mean come on, we homeschool. We have the freedom to do anything. I was so in love when one daughter wanted to do 4-H photography and another decided to do cooking and cake decorating. Sweet! Interesting electives!



Entrepreneurship - Teach your children to make their own money on their own terms! This is great for the self motivated child! BONUS: Did you know, Origami Owl has a youth program? Yeah, the Owlette Program for young girls. Uh, yeah...I think this is great!!!

Photography - This is a life skill people. You need to know how to take more than a selfie at some point. Kids love to play with expensive technology, well, this piece of equipment can get them outside!

Culinary Arts - And I do NOT mean home econ...I am talking real cooking classes. Bear wants to cook, but she can already grill a steak, make homemade mac and cheese, and bake a cheesecake. SO, what should I have done? Well, for one, we use a whole lot of Netflix. She actually gets credit for watching cooking programs! She then recreates what was made, or makes something similar. She has made perfect Eggs Benedict, Gelato, Crepes, and some very delectable cupcake combos!

Creative Writing - If you have a writer on your hands, why not give her the opportunity to use that skill? Creative writing, short stories, poetry, whatever it is...just double your English time and allow your child to explore her skill set with that time. There are a ton of curriculum choices, or just wing it!

Voting 101 - It is election year after all. This is the perfect time to teach older students the ins and outs of the voting process. We can change the course of the country by empowering our children to form educated opinions and follow the vote this year!

Archery - I don't think I need to tell you why this is the coolest elective ever...do I? I mean, sharp arrows, targets, shooting things? I dare you to find a kid that say "eew, no way!"

Let's face it, we all need a good detox every now and then, right? I love soaking and drinking wine...er...tea in my bath. I use essential oils and have been making my own scrubs and soaks for years now. Today, I wanted to focus a quick post on 10 ways we can detox ourselves without doing a harsh detox that will make us sick!


Common Detoxes I Use:

1. Dry brushing - I can only describe it as a way to make the circulatory system work better. Here is a great Pin on dry brushing.

2. Oil pulling - I know...this one is not for every one. I, myself, happen to love it. I use organic coconut oil. I place some in my mouth upon waking and swish it around while I check emails and whatnot. About 20 minutes later, I spit it all out and brush my teeth. It is a really simple process.

3. Salt soak - I make my soaks ahead in large quantities. A single soak is about 1 cup of Epsom Salts (most people are low on magnesium and this is a great way to get it...it can help with sleep issues), I use 5-10 drops of Lavender in my soaks as well. I usually soak for about thirty minutes. DRINK.WATER. Seriously, a lot of water. I then pat dry and apply my lotion (I love Renew by Melaleuca with a drop of Peace oil mixed in).

Check out these great detox baths!

4. Detox tea - There are a million amazing recipes out there, but turmeric is powerful stuff, let me tell you {maybe I ought to do a whole post on it}. Well,a great detox tea will be made with turmeric, cinnamon, and lemon. Add whatever else will make you enjoy it, I have seen honey, ginger, and even black pepper. Better still? Check this pin out! Here are couple ideas to get you started.
*I promise there will be a post with recipe links next week that will include turmeric*

5. Detox waters {infused water} - The clear winner here is lemon and cucumber. Period. It is refreshing, and when used in conjunction with the rest of these, it is a great way to restore electrolytes and get that water in your system. You simply cannot detox without at least 50 ounces of water a day! And that is the bare minimum.

*This post contains affiliate links...so if you like these, get them...they help me pay for my kids' school books, which is kind of important*

You see that look in her eyes...you know the one. The look that says she isn't going to do this without a fight. I see that look daily. Bear hates Language Arts. I haven't found books she enjoys reading yet. I haven't found a grammar program that doesn't make her cry. And I most certainly haven't had an amazing year trying to get this done.


Actually...I lied...I did find one curriculum that didn't make her want to kill me. That was Wordsmith Apprentice. It was fun for her. The writing was approached in a way that made it less like work and more like a fun activity. She began with filling out a job application and moved on to reading newspaper articles. This curriculum moves the child along with writing and gaining confidence without the child noticing. By the end of the semester Bear was able to bust out a great five paragraph sentence! We also used A Beka, but I wasn't loving it, and neither was she! Every day was a new fight this year. I really should I have switched gears early on, but I had hoped she would rally.

I used Wordsmith Grades 7-9 for Boo. She loves to write, so this wasn't a concern of mine at all with her. I did it in conjunction with Saxon Grammar and Writing Grade 7  and Wordly Wise 3000 Student Book 7. Boo will be using grade 8 for both of these next year at her own request. We have found a curriculum that works really well for her and plan to stick with it! She also used a literature curriculum by BJU: Explorations of Literature. I'm lucky because she loves to read and write, so none of this is wasted on her!


What made the cut for this year:

Moving Beyond the Page L/A 11-13 - This is new to us, but looks promising. Bear hates reading, writing, and grammar, but I am hopeful. She did use a couple MBTP books this year for fun and just loved them! They take a more classical approach than I am used to, but I welcome the change.
BJU Excursions in Literature - This went so well, Boo asked for it again!

In honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima I thought it wise to spread her will...or rather God's will. We all know the story, May 13th 1917 the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three children. She had warnings and pleadings to offer us. She also make three requests. Three basic requests we cannot ignore...


Our Lady has asked the following of God's children:

1. Prayer - every time Our Lady appeared she asked that we pray daily. Not just any prayer...the Holy Rosary. Now, as a Catholic we all see them, we can pray with them, but can we really pray with them? Do we know how to focus that prayer? Feel the beads within your hands and let the rest of the world fall a way for a time?

Adapt to life:

I do prefer physical beads, but I will say that the download of Laudate has taught my own children how to maintain the prayer easily. Teach our children to pray from an early age, include them in your daily Rosary. Children mimic what they see. If they see you obeying God, they, too, will obey. If they see you praying, and see you reaping the rewards of that, they will pray too.

2. Reparations - to old school Catholics this is called Penance (ok...to all of us, but reparation sounds way less scary). We are called to confess our sins and leave them behind for eternity. You may want to do more than just "confess" your sins. God grants us mercy without asking...perhaps we should use that and be sure we do ask. Then it will be known to Him that we want His will to be done through us. A simple Act of Contrition is not the answer here. We must be truly sorry, we must mean it when we ask forgiveness of our Lord.

Adapt to life:

Ask for forgiveness regularly. Forgive regularly. Now, forgiveness is not the same as allowing people to walk on you, but that is a whole different blog post. Let your child see you begging God to forgive your transgressions. Let them see you put those sins in the past and no longer committing them. Our children will more readily ask for forgiveness if it does not seem shameful to do so.

3. Consecration - pay attention here...this matters: Consecration makes things holy. If we consecrate our lives to the Holy Mother, then we are opening them up to Jesus. We are consecrating our lives and hearts to Christ through the Holy Mother. This is important!!! By consecrating ourselves to Mary we are making ourselves holy for God. For His glory and happiness. We are called to have a fire within our souls for Jesus and Mary.

Adapt to life:

It seems like so much to live up to...lucky for us, we only have to desire and ask. When you truly desire and ask something of God, he responds somehow.  I cannot fully tell you how to incorporate this into your life, but I can tell you a great book to assist you in doing this would be 33 Days to Morning Glory. I used it as a personal retreat and it has done wonders in my life.



Rosary - Pray this daily with an examination of conscience...then consecrate yourself to God and the Holy Mother.

Make the Sign of the Cross

Holding the Crucifix, say the Apostles' Creed

On the first bead, say anOur Father

Say three Hail Marys on each of the next three beads

Say the Glory Be

For each of the five decades, announce the Mystery (perhaps followed by a brief reading 

from Scripture) then say the Our Father

While fingering each of the ten beads of the decade, next say ten Hail Marys while 

meditating on the Mystery. Then say a Glory Be (After finishing each decade, some say the 

following prayer requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima: O my Jesus, forgive us 

our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have 

most need of your mercy.

After saying the five decades, say the Hail, Holy Queen

I have seen such a massive influx of essential oils as of late. I think every one of my friends must sell them by now. Really. I am not kidding. All my amazing friends want to get back to as natural as possible for their own kids, and I love that! But what happens when this many people get into something like this? What happens when they all start to become "experts"? Things begin to get dangerous.

I have seen a few very well known companies that claim their oils are so good, no carrier oil is needed. Excuse me while I insert a massive eye-roll here. I hope these companies are joking. Anyone who is not well versed in oils needs to use a carrier until they know what oils are safe with their own skin. And, my personal choice is to always be safe with my own children and use a carrier.

See...here is the issue I have with the fact that oils have become so very commonplace. People are not really being educated on how to use them safely. I have been using oils since 2003...they came to me as a relief for postpartum depression. I went to an aromatherapist and learned. I read, I went to classes taught by those who had actually attended a school, I didn't read a blog, I didn't think all the books I read were right, I learned...for years, I studied.

Did you know that there is a whole list of oils that are discouraged from being used in massage at all?
Did you know that children and elderly people are more likely to have a bad reaction to oils?
Did you know some oils cause photosensitivity?
Did you know ingesting oils is NOT recommended without the instruction of a HHP?
Did you know some oils cause seizures?

Here is my favorite: One well known company has a blend that is used all over the house...this blend is almost TOXIC to those with epilepsy. Almost every single oil in it is extremely dangerous to anyone with seizures. And it is recommended to keep you healthy! And you instructed to just put it right on you skin. WRONG.

Please know, I love essential oils, I use them, and I will not stop. But, I do so safely. I do so without risking the health of others.

Holy Week is upon us. I love this time of year. I love the renewed feeling of knowing that God loves us all more than we could ever imagine. I have compiled some great Holy Week activities for the family. Our home doesn't do the bunny or any other non-religious traditions, so I am always looking to make my family feel like we have fun traditions as well.



I love this idea of a "calendar" to teach the story of this Holy Week. See the original post here.

From: Catholic Missionary Family

The Holy Week box is a brilliant idea for smaller children as well. This idea here is adapted from this original post here.

From: It's an always...always kind of love

This cross craft super cute and would be a great keepsake!

From: Mumma Made It

This is a great way to tell the story of Easter and still have eggs. This can be adapted so many ways!

From: Teach Beside Me

And finally, prayer...I feel all children should be led to pray daily...

From: That's what {Che} Said