Susie is a slightly crazy, homeschooling, gardening, square dancing Momma with a houseful of babies (10 to be exact), and a whole lot of Jesus. She gave birth to seven of those babies (and she has the stretch marks and scars to prove it) and then God chose her to be Momma to three more who she refers to as her 'Unexpected Blessings'. Having a large family means she has heard just about all of the large family jokes... you know like 'You know how that happens, right', or 'Don't you have a TV?'. Many people believe that she must be related to Mother Teresa but she insists she isn't anywhere close to a Saint although she does appreciate as many prayers as she can get sent her way. Even though four of her babies have flown the coop, her life stays really busy. Most days start out early with a cup of her favorite Dandy Morning Coffee and a quick Trim Healthy Mama breakfast before the kids get up and the crazy starts. She looks at every day as an adventure where the unexpected keeps her on her toes. In the rare moment that she finds a little quiet time, you can usually find her snuggled up with a good book, browsing a thrift store, sewing a new outfit, piddling in the greenhouse or garden, or getting a little 'Pin Happy' with To-Do projects on Pinterest. She is extremely passionate about her family, cooking, being a keeper of the home, gardening, and square dancing. She is also on a mission to help others to make healthier changes in their lives, one family at a time. She strives to live by the Proverbs 31 model but she also acknowledges that she is not perfect and is just a sinner saved by grace. Pollywog’s Place Blog began as a way to share her family's journey with family and friends as they've gone through so many life changes. After getting so many questions about parenting, homeschooling, gardening, and recipe requests she realized that she could really use her blog as a way to help others out there who may be struggling with their roles as a mother, especially the single mothers who may feel like they are all alone on their journey. This blog has become a journal of sorts and a way for her to help inspire and provide encouragement to others. She enjoys looking back over old posts to see how far they have come and to motivate her when times seem tough. On Pollywog’s Place Blog, she talks about their life's journey through the adoption process, how their faith in God got them through some difficult and challenging times, as well as the many ups and downs they have faced with a large family and special needs (ADHD, ODD, and Down's Syndrome to name a few). Susie also shares the products that they use in their home as well as tips and tricks that she uses to keep her family running as smoothly and efficiently as possible with some gardening and video tours sprinkled in. Do you ever feel like your juggling so many things that you can't think straight? She has often felt the same way but has come up with some simple routines and schedules that help everyone to stay on track and I think they just might help you too! Under the 'Keeper of the Home' tab, you can find various tips, tricks, and hints to get your house up and running on autopilot. That's not been such an easy task for them since they downsized to a 600 ft square cabin but somehow they make it work and she loves sharing some of the helpful tips and tricks that they've learned along the way. One question they get a lot is about how they feed this army. It's not always an easy task and trying to eat healthily can get quite expensive so she is always looking for ways to save money and stick to their grocery budget. Under the 'Mama’s Recipe Box' section they have a ton of their favorite recipes like Daddy Can't Wait Casserole, Hoe Cakes (one of the most viewed posts on the blog), freezer cooking, and meal plans along with their family's 'Trim Healthy Mama' plan ideas and successes. If you haven't heard of the 'Trim Healthy Mama' plan you should definitely check it out today! Sometimes eating healthy does mean she spends a little extra on groceries so she finds other areas to cut expenses. One way they have found is with their cleaning supplies and health products. She has always been concerned about the chemicals (Did you know that the average household contains about 62 toxic chemicals?) and toxins that are in many household cleaners so she tries to use more natural and cost effective ways to clean. Susie has been homeschooling for several years now and although she does not consider herself to be an expert but she has found a variety of products and services that have helped to make their homeschooling journey a unique experience. You can find links to these products under the 'Homeschool' tab. Susie and her kids have had a ton of fun reading through the Little House on the Prairie series and she has posted some of the unit studies that they have put together for the different books. The family has been trying to incorporate some of the old fashioned morals and values into their everyday lives. As if juggling kids, home, and a home business weren't enough, the family also enjoys square dancing twice a week or more. Mr. Awesome and his dad happen to be the only father/son caller duo in Florida and are pretty well known in these parts. She also manages a couple of other facebook and blog pages for a couple of the local square dance clubs. The 'Kirby's Korner' tab is where they post links to their square dancing activities which is one of the things they do as a family. Susie loves to dress up in her fancy dance outfits and thinks the fluffier the petticoat the better. She also loves to take selfies of her various square dance outfits and share them with others. Did I mention that she met Mr. Awesome through square dancing? You'll have to poke around the blog to see if you can find that story somewhere. If you just want to find a list of the affiliate/referral programs that the family works with you can click on the 'Affiliate Links' tab. These links help to support their blog, their family, and their homeschooling mission at no extra cost to you. If you like to chuckle about the crazy things kids do or the crazy things they do on a daily basis then you really should follow their blog. They also have accounts on Facebook (@kirbyskabinblog and @susieschemfreezone) as well as on Instagram (@kirbyzkorner and @susieschemfreezone). They have been posting to YouTube as well so be sure to check that out. In July of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Susie and Shane welcomed their youngest daughter, Shyanne, into the family. Shyanne has a dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and Dandy-Walker Malformation w/hydrocephalus. She has gained many followers and supporters from around the world who have joined together to be prayer warriors for this special little girl. You can read more about her under ‘Sweet Shyanne’.
As we wrap up this month long journey of focusing on PEACE, I want to remind you that PEACE is a choice.
A choice to trust GOD and HIS promises. A choice to believe that HE loves us and HE has a plan for us.
By making the choice to hand our lives over to HIM we will find PEACE.
What are you waiting for? Start trusting in HIM and living in PEACE.
Take a moment to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and reflect on all that GOD has done for you.
Now ask yourself what HE is telling you to do… maybe you’ve been ignoring something you’ve been called to do.
You aren’t stuck unless you stop… GOD will nudge you into the way you should go. One step at a time and you will find that PEACE that your soul is craving.
Step out in FAITH and TRUST that HE will meet you where you are right now.
Many of us drool over the beautifully crafted pantries we see on Pinterest or Instagram. They have neatly arranged shelves lined with beautiful canned goods. This doesn’t happen by accident… those jars of proof of lots of hard work that went into growing and preserving each of their contents.
I did a lot of preserving many years ago. I had a garage with custom-built shelves to display our garden’s abundance, but my situation is different now. We dream of a pantry with beautifully stocked shelves, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. I can’t build the pantry today, but I can work on getting some jars filled with delicious food to nourish my family.
I will say that last month went pretty well, and our home does feel a bit more PEACEful. This month, our theme will be LOVE. We will be looking at ways that we can be more intentional in showing LOVE to others through our actions.
I’m going to take a quick look at what we have planned for the month so you can get a little idea about how all of our systems work with each other.
Calendar
My morning routine means that I check our calendar every morning, and here is what I am looking at:
There are few appointments that are noted, and I have reminders set in my Cozi app. One appointment is this week, so I remind my husband about it to make sure he remembers.
There are a couple of birthdays, and I am noting the special meals in my planner.
Homeschool Planning – look for lessons ideas to go along with our monthly task and upcoming holidays
Menu Planning – check that we have everything we need for upcoming meals
Garden Planning – check what needs to be transplanted, seeded, started, and bought.
Other Planning – Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl?, President’s Day, income taxes, and possible outings/vacation; check for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries
cleaning windows and doors -washing curtains and/or blinds
cleaning out the top cabinets and wiping all the cabinet fronts
deep cleaning the countertops, sinks, dishwasher, cutting boards, and dish drainer
cleaning under the sink, and the kitchen drawers
deep clean the stove and oven
declutter the dish cabinet and island storage
move and clean behind the large appliances
take an inventory of what we have in the freezer and pantry – incoporate things into the menu
clean/organize the linen cabinet
deep clean the vacuum cleaner, and clean/change filters for the vacuum and ACs
deep clean the high chairs
deep clean bathrooms
Some of the yearly chores for this month are:
defrost freezers (this can be done when we inventory the frozen foods as we can place foods outside in coolers on a cold day)
deep clean the porches: windows, cobwebs, sweep, clean furniture, etc.
Sometimes the kiddos are tempted to skip over chores, but it catches up to them later on when things break down or run out. We are trying to teach them important skills that they will need later on in life, skills that will hopefully make them successful in all that they do.
Homeschool
Today, I check my Homeschool Manager app for anything that I might not have added to the main calendar. I normally look over the next week’s schedule on Thursdays, after we finish our school work.
I note when we plan to start back.
I add the appointments to the monthly lesson plan calendar as well, so I can plan accordingly. I realize that I may need to alter our start date and just use that as a Home Blessing day to get the house back in order, so I just swap a few things around really quick.
I also go ahead and update the sites for our lessons so everything is set to go for Monday!
These quick changes will keep us from having a very frustrating week back to school… at least I pray it will.
This month, I will be focusing on adding Fine Arts tasks to our homeschool routine, so I will look over those tasks to see what I can work in with our lessons.
Fine Arts(february)
We want our kids to know that you don’t have to buy things to show others how much they mean to you. Often, handmade gifts have more meaning to the recipient.
Some ways we are doing this are:
Art Studies:
Study sacred art and music
create art projects inspired by Bible stories or verses
Hymn Studies:
study hymns and music that appreciate the beauty of GOD’s creation
Research gifts and talents from GOD:
encourage children to use their artistic or musical gifts to help others
Check accounts to see what payments have cleared, and highlight them on the worksheet
Note any bills still left to pay
I usually do this first, so I know what I have left to spend. My bill pay worksheet makes things much simpler as I can see what I have paid, and what needs to be paid.
I write in the birthdays and special holidays for the month, and then add those ingredients to the grocery list. Clicking on the link will give you a ready-made list of holidays for the month and links to recipes and menu ideas to make them special.
I look over the planned meals and pencil them in.
I note the days when we have appointments and swap those meals for easier meals, if needed.
I check the grocery list that the kids have been filling out on the fridge, and add items to the main list.
I also check my pantry restock list to see what I need to add to the list, if money allows.
I make sure I have the ingredients to preserve the produce that I plan to pick up this month as well. I will add supplies to the grocery list, if needed. Some of these posts have not been published yet, but you should be able to find the printables in the library.
I will either schedule a time to go shopping or place an order for groceries and set a delivery or pickup time that works for us. When I go to town, I usually plan to take care of several errands at once.
At the beginning of the month, I will also place a Sam’s Club order for bulk supplies to be shipped, as well as any supplies we need from Amazon.
Some of the pantry restock items I added to list are:
Yeast
Salt
Pasta
Pasta Sauce
one other item that I choose
Some of the produce I’d like to buy for preserving:
Cabbage
Broccoli/Cauliflower
Dry beans for canning
If money is short, we can skip the restock and the preserving items until next month. I don’t like to skip things too often, but we do have our pantry pretty well stocked, and as long as we replace what we use, we should be fine.
Garden & Animals
I usually try to get feed and garden supplies once a month to cut down on the number of trips I make to town. The feed store is in the opposite direction of our normal grocery store, and I need all the space in the back of the van for feed, so I can’t really combine these tasks, or I would.
I go out to the greenhouse and garden just about every day, so I keep a running list of things that I need. I will also check my monthly list of tasks that need to be done. I went over my lists this weekend, and I have:
placed online orders for seeds and plants
I need to:
get some more seeds started for the Spring
finish putting together the new raised beds
get the pile of mulch/soil into the new beds
transplant some of the cool weather crops out to the garden beds
set up bird feeders
deep clean the coops/pens
work on bed layouts/Rotational Planting/Companion Planting
sift the vermicompost to make potting soil for the new seeds – I actually tried a new seed starting mix that you can see here:
Some of the tasks are also listed with my yearly tasks to make sure that I don’t forget them 🙂
I also check with the kids to see what animal feed we have, check that against my master inventory list, note down what we need in my phone, and then I will make time to go get the feed. I try to combine a few tasks during the same trip.
When I go to get the feed I will:
get feed and animal supplies
pick up seeds or plants at the Farm Center
check with the nursery to see what they might have available
stop at the grocery store, if there is anything we need before the next grocery order
fill up with gas on the way home
When I get home, I always have the kids unload the feed right away, mix anything that needs to be mixed, and put the surplus in the old freezer that we use for storage. Once the feed is taken care of, they will clean out the back of the van 🙂
I try to make sure to do this mid-week, as Fridays & Saturdays are a bit crowded at the Feed Store. It’s always a bit stressful when we get too low on feed as well, so by making sure we have a regular schedule, we can alleviate some of the stress and replace it with PEACE, as we know we have what we need. We can also use these tasks as ways to show LOVE to one another.
To-Do List
I also like to start a To-Do List because things always pop up that I can’t fix right away. I also find things when I am out in the garden that need to be taken care of, I will usually snap a photo and then add it to the list if it can’t be taken care of right away.
This is our list so far:
Master Bathroom
build new garden beds – we finished the first ones, but then bought more
add solar lights to chicken coops
finish chicken tractor
hang cameras
put the StarLink on a pole
add trellises to garden beds
create a sensory garden and/or integrate sensory-themed activities into our existing garden
It isn’t too long yet, but it will grow longer the further we get into the year… hopefully, we can stay on top of it.
This is just a quick look at my weekly plans… I have all month long to work on some of them, and I will try to knock out as many as I can. I know that by handling the smaller things now, it will free up time I might need in the future for BIGGER and BETTER things. A little maintenance helps to keep things running nice and smooth… it also helps us to appreciate all that we have been BLESSED with.
I pray that you will find something useful in these links.
I know it is January, and it may seem a bit early to think about gardening, but I need to get plans in place before life gets more chaotic.
In an effort to simplify my tasks and create a more peaceful routine, I had already made up a file card system… the problem is that I keep misplacing it as it doesn’t have a true home yet. I will attempt to outline the major tasks in this post, so I can access it from anywhere 🙂 You may feel free to use it or copy, if it suits you.
This time of year seems to be a little busier for us, so I thought it might be helpful if I just got all my special meals and recipes gathered for the month. I checked the menu plan and have made a list of the holidays that we want to celebrate.
If you haven’t seen our Perpetual Meal Plans yet, then you really need to check them out, as they have all kinds of special and unique holidays listed. Now is the time to start making your bucket list for Fall things, if you haven’t already.
Pollywog's Place Blog 