Five weeks meat free

So we are starting alot of new journeys.   I've also become vegetarian, and working towards vegan.  So in addition to my posts about home schooling, I hope to be sharing recipes that the family actually approves of, as well as sharing the humorous tales of recipes that were epic fails... like the "cheese" sauce that my youngest said tasted like a "cow farted directly into his mouth".  Not sure how he knew what THAT tasted like, but it was a vivid and apt description and was not disinclined to say he was wrong.  It was a horrible recipe.   But I've also tasted some wonderful vegan food, so I'm excited about this journey.   I've found a few blogs for making home made vegan cheese, so, as a cheese lover, I hope these will be amazing.  I chose it, not just for my health, but because not eating animals has been weighing on me for quite some time, and after I made a fancy meal of crab stuffed pasta shells and my youngest refused to eat it, on the basis that he had made friends with crabs at the beach and "did NOT eat his friends!!!", I had an epiphany.   Why is it okay just because we don't know the animal or don't feel it's distress?  It still dies. We don't live a lifestyle that necessitates hunting, and a plant based diet is not just feasible, it is quite healthy.   Admittedly, this town is small, so the options aren't that great, but I've been learning to cook vegan, instead of buying the ready made stuff.  The rest of my family is much more reluctant to giving up meat entirely, and eggs and dairy.   So, like everything else, it's a journey, and a work in progress.   I want them to choose for their own reasons; I won't force it on them.   But I can inform and educate and lead by example.  :)

The guy who started all of this... blame him... 

Another "friend"

More friends...

Hanging out with his new found friends...

Baby crab... 

Our school room.

I may be a bit of a Harry Potter fan.   My youngest may be a Potter fan.  That may be an understatement... We have read the books together and have learned about love, loyalty, and bravery. We learned that we are all responsible for our choices.  And of course, that kids with glasses are very cool.   So, anyway, we decided to decorate his school room to reflect that.  

Even dragons can be overcome...

Of course, we needed a sorting hat... 

Quiet zone... don't wake the mandrake!!

A Dobby inspired chore chart

Always.

Our own House Cup Points 

Our goals

Platform 9 3/4 

Our little reading corner

Our tiny library

Our desk... amazingly clutter free... 

Plenty of room to store all the school supplies and textbooks...

Work area.

New Adventures

     So summer is almost over, and we are starting a new journey in this house with Connections Academy.   For those who don't know, that is an online public school program, but the kids will be now studying at home.  We've loved the teachers they had at the public school they were attending, but Connections has so much more to offer than what they could get at the local public school.   It wasn't a choice, really, in the end.   But it will be a big change for us.  I have to remind myself to breathe every once in a while, because this seems like a huge task right now.   But the school room is ready, and so are the boys.   We will do this.    One day at a time.  
     Initially, we were just going to sign our youngest up, because he finished his work quickly and then was bored in the traditional classroom, and we wanted something where he could keep advancing.  The oldest wanted to go to middle school, because they had an exciting program called "STEAM" which was science, technology, art, math, engineering classes. But then, due to lack of teachers, they won't be offering this to the sixth graders.   Luckily, we already had our youngest enrolled, so when we looked at what Connections offered sixth graders, it was overwhelmingly positive.  So here we are.