Homeschool record keeping is my least favorite thing about homeschooling. I’m just not great with repetitive day-t0-day processes, so I tend to gravitate towards the easiest homeschool record keeping techniques that work for me, and still satisify any potential homeschool requirements we might run into.

Here’s one tip on how K keeps her own daily homeschool log and what I do that makes record keeping easier for her.

Enjoy!
…Shannon

P.S. Do you have any quick and easy tips for for homeschool record keeping? Please share!

This week I found myself wiped out from a recurring back injury and after a very effective deep tissue massage, my massage therapist recommended that I follow it up with some Emergen-C as well as the bucket load of water I already was going to drink.

Supposedly the extra nutrition from the Emergen-C combined with drinking the extra water helps with the soreness that sometimes follows a deep tissue massage. I knew about the water, but hadn’t heard the nutrional recommendation before, but I was willing to give it a try.

I happen to have some Emergen-C left over from our road trip first aid kit, but needed another way to drink it – cuz the only way I like it is mixed with really cold bottled water, which I didn’t have. 

So I thought I’d do an experiment – how would it taste in a  banana orange smoohie recipe?

Oh my goodness – you’ve got to try this! It’s like drinking a Dreamcicle. Yum!

It even passed the kid test (I didn’t tell them I boosted it).

So here it is, my new Banana Orange Smoothie Recipe, with the optional nutritional boost:

1 banana

1 -2 cups vanilla almond milk, depending on how thick you like your smoothies

a heaping large spoonful of frozen concentrated orange juice

a handful of ice cubes

1 packet of Emergen-C, orange flavored (tangarine might work as well)

Dump it all into your favorite blender, and blend to taste (but be sure to use a setting that can handle ice cubes, cuz I’ve burned out more blenders on ice cubes and frozen bananas, and it’s not fun going without smoothies!)

Drink cold, hopefully with all those little yummy ice chips in there …yum!

Now if I can only find a way to keep J from drinking my smoothies… just kidding – just don’t tell him they are healthy for him

While I had done transcription and freelance writing on the side before kids, my first solution to make that transition from a more-than-fulltime job  to being an at-home mom was like many other wanna-be work-at-home moms - through multilevel marketing and direct selling.  

I was first approached with the idea of building a business with a well-known multilevel marketing company by a co-worker, in the Fall of 1996 when I was first pregnant with K.   We were looking for a solution to help deal with our debt so that I could be an at-home mom, and the idea of  part-time income was appealing.

Greg and I investigated the opportunity, met the people involved (a very important thing in any business, but especially in MultiLevel Marketing), and after some serious discussions on whether it was a good fit, decided to have a go at it.

Now Greg and I are both introverts – he even more than I. So the idea of approaching people we didn’t know and “selling” was not comfortable and took a lot of energy.  And that phone – wow… it’s amazing how scary a little everyday device can be when you are facing your fears and putting yourself out there.

Legitimate, ethical multilevel marketing opportunities and direct selling are very viable ways to earn an income, and there are some wonderful opportunities out there, including the one we were part of. 

If you believe in a product, believe in yourself, have a great support system and training, and are willing to put in the work, it is very possible to earn more than a decent living at it. I’ve seen this prove true for multiple people in my life, across a variety of opportunities.

But to build a business, any business, it takes energy and effort. For some - those who truly succeed at it – that energy and effort is fun and enjoyable, and it feeds them.

But for Greg and I, while it had its fun moments, and we learned a LOT about business and about ourselves, multilevel marketing was not a good fit. It took more energy than we had to give it, and it didn’t capture our hearts, our passion, and more importantly, our commitment.

Don’t get me wrong – we loved the products and the people. Greg grew as a leader and as an individual hugely during that period of time because of the  business and leadership training, and the association with other like-mind people. In fact, because of that training and personal growth, he nearly doubled his income at work.

But the multilevel marketing business and the direct selling piece of it  just wasn’t a good fit for us.  We gave it a go for over two years, and then decided to let it go and embrace the other, more comfortable, opportunities that  also came up during that time.

And, even though we decided not to “build” the business side of the opportunity after the second year, we have kept our distributorship active, even after all these years, simply because it makes sense to continue to buy the products at distributor cost. 

And hey, maybe one day, we’ll be able to use internet marketing to sell the products online and then I’ll be in my element again.

Coming up next… the business lessons we learned from MultiLevel Marketing & Direct Selling,  followed by the other opportunties I explored during that same time period.

I promised you two more heart-healthy cookbooks, and today’s is heart-healthy Southern recipes. I know that sounds like a misnomer, but it’s true. Southern cooking can be healthy.

Today’s free cookbook is called Heart Healthy Home Cooking African American Style, but it is full of down home southern cooking – with a healthy twist. This is yet another free cookbook from the National Heart Lung Blood Institute.

Inside you’ll find 26 healthy southern recipes like:

• Good for you corn bread
• Homestyle biscuits
• Smothered greens
• Spicy Okra
• Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
• Jambalaya
• Spicy Southern Barbecued Chicken
• Mock- Southern Sweet Potato Pie
• Peach Cobbler

Makes my mouth water just reading through it.

You can download the free PDF version  or you can order a print version from the National Heart Blood Lung Institute website. (There may be a charge for the print version)

Enjoy!

…Shannon

Other Posts You Might Be Interested In:

On February 21st, the ChristChurch area of New Zealand was hit with an earthquake that rated 6.3 on the Ritchter scale, which causes all kinds of devestation. 

My readers in New Zealand have been part of my prayers and thoughts since Tuesday.  Having been through an earthquake nearly that powerful (I was in Southern California for the 1990 5.7 earthquake), I know it can be a scary thing, especially for kids.

CurrClick, who also serves a large number of homeschoolers from New Zealand, has put together two options to help out the Red Cross in New Zealand.

Note: The CurrClick donation opportunity has expired. To further help out in New Zealand, visit the New Zealand Red Cross site for updates and more information on how you can help out.

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