JCnaturals

The Olson Academy

Anna — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:50:46 +0000

When our family moved to Colorado in 2009, our youngest son, Jonah, was really struggling. As a result of these struggles, I was no longer able to home school him. I was burnt out and my heart was broken as my dream to home-school through high school had been shattered. God had other plans and His plans are always best. Scott and I decided to send him to public school. And he thrived like never before. It was wonderful.

Then we moved back to Oregon at the start of January. We planned to have Jonah finish out the year at the local public school and then evaluate whether or not to start schooling him at home with Jaden in the fall or send him to a charter school around the corner from our house. Things have not been going according to our plan, however, so we have been evaluating and processing and adjusting to God’s new plan for our family.

Jonah’s health had started to deteriorate again around March. Since then, we’ve been to see several doctors in search of answers and he has started therapy again. The local public school has not done a good job at schooling him or helping him with his struggles in the midst of these changes. We so appreciate his principal and teacher and applaud their efforts, but it just hasn’t been working. So, after much discussion and prayer, we’ve decided to withdraw him and begin schooling him at home once again.

Today was day 1 and it went really well. Jonah is happy and learning. Jaden is happy to have his brother at home learning alongside him. The Olson Academy is up and running again. And the Lord is giving me the strength to daily care for and teach my two handsome boys.

MFW – CTG Week 28

Anna — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:02:59 +0000

I haven’t been blogging much since we moved, so thought I’d share a little bit about what we’ve been learning in our home school. We are really enjoying reading through 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings together. Below I copied a summary that Jaden wrote today on the prophet, Jonah. We’ve also been learning all about Assyria and we’ve been reading The Children’s Homer as we study some Greek mythology. We have been listening to some of Handel’s famous works and have completed a short study on the life of this great composer. Math and Language Arts round out each day. One thing I’ve slacked on has been science. I’ve not been very good at gathering the needed materials for the experiments, so most weeks we’ve just been reading about the experiments. For next year’s curriculum, I’ve decided to purchase a pre-assembled lab kit which should help a lot.

A highlight since moving here has been the home school co-op that we have joined. Jaden is taking 3 classes this spring – Boys Will Be Boys, Deconstruction Class and Computer Game Programming – and he is loving it. His favorite class in the deconstruction one where the kids take apart a bunch of stuff, study how it works and try to put it back together or fix it. Fun stuff!

Here is his summary on the life of Jonah (his spelling and punctuation):

God told Jonah to preach in Ninevea. But he fled to a ship but a storm came so the sailors drew straws and they went to Jonah so they throuw him overboard. He got swallowed by a fish. He prayed to God for 3 days and finally the fish vometed him to shore. and then the profet of the Lord told the people to beleave and he wacht from a hill. God gave him a vine. He waited for the people to be destroyed but then his vine died and he got angere at the Lord for killing the vine. So the Lord said why do you care so much about a plant yet you don’t care about a legion of people? So the Lord showed pity on them.

GF Cooking – Freezer to Crock pot

Anna — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:47:41 +0000

Again while perusing Pinterest, I ran across this site. The blog is written by Jaima, a young wife and mom. (And what a great name, by the way! Love those J names.) This link is to her page on freezer cooking. It includes some great, kid-friendly and gluten-free recipes for the crock pot that I’m going to try out soon. Teriyaki Chicken, Sweet and Tangy Meatballs, Mexican Style Beef. Yum!

I'm trying this one later this week.

Mason Jar Salads

Anna — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:29:44 +0000

I saw these on Pinterest yesterday so decided to make some for my lunches this week. It took me about 30 minutes to make 6 salads – 3 seafood (using Trader Joe’s canned crab) and 3 honey mustard chicken. Super easy and super quick!

Healthy Fast Food - and portable, too!

A 10 year old and his GF Coffee Cake

Anna — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:34:42 +0000

My youngest son turned 10 yesterday. Ten. An entire decade old. I can hardly believe it. We celebrated on Saturday. And Sunday. And then on his actual birthday yesterday. I really think that it’s been his favorite birthday so far. He got to eat gf pizza and play arcade games. He opened gifts and ate a yummy gf cake that I made for him. He ate his favorite birthday breakfast – gf coffee cake – and had two of his favorite meals – cheese enchiladas and homemade macaroni and cheese. His Poppa brought a gf Subway sandwich to school and ate lunch with him. Best of all, he got to talk to his birth mother on the phone for the first time. His heart has been singing ever since. I love that boy. I am proud of that boy. As he told me last night when I tucked him into bed, “I can’t believe it, mom. Now that I’m ten, I’m a big boy.” And he certainly is. Happy Birthday, Jonah Matthew!

And this is the recipe for the Coffee Cake. It’s been in my recipe file for years and I have no idea where it came from. I know that it was originally made with wheat flour but I adapted it to be gluten-free. It is full of sugar and I haven’t even attempted to try making it with honey… but it’s a special birthday treat and I’m fine with that! You put it all together in the evening, refrigerate it overnight and then bake it in the morning. Warning – it’s really, really yummy.

GF Coffee Cake

2 c. gluten free flour mixture

1 t. xanthan gum

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

(Note that this time I substituted Pamela’s Baking Mix for all of the above ingredients, because I was lazy!)

1 t. cinnamon

2 eggs

2/3 c. softened butter

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. milk (rice, almond, whatever type you have)

2 T. vinegar

Add the vinegar to the milk and set it aside to sour. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars in a stand mixer and then add the eggs, one at a time, with the mixer running on low. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Then slowly pour in the soured milk. Pour the entire mixture into a greased (I use cooking spray.) 9×13 pan. Then sprinkle the top with the following mixture: 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 c. chopped nuts of choice, 1/2 t cinnamon, and 1/4 t. nugmeg.

Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, Bake in a preheated oven @ 350 degree for 35-40 minutes. Take it out and cool it for about 5 minutes and then drizzle with a glaze made out of the following: 1 c. sugar, 3 T. milk and 1 t. vanilla.

It’s best served warm… with a cup of coffee! Enjoy -