Sunday, October 01, 2006

The Family Firm

The family firm, October 2008

We are an African-American homeschooling/homesteading family.( Not as unique as one might think!) We are second-generation Seventh-Day Adventists, working on a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. We live on two acres in rural North East Texas after many years in California. We are enjoying the benefits of a slower pace of life.

CEO
My HWH (hard-working hero) is my DH of 16 years. He was born in Jamaica and came to the US at age 12. He brings an Carribean influence to our entire life, from what we eat, to the accent the children have picked up, to the purple yam, coco (taro), and pigeon peas we grow in our garden. He is a supervisor at a local hospital.

COO
I am a California born-and-bred girl. I was a middle school teacher in the California public school system for 15 years. I tried several years of being a working mom with small children, but it was draining the life out of me. We were blessed in 2004 to sell our home in over-priced Northern California and move to East Texas. The Lord timed everything just right, so that I became a stay-at-home mom right at the time our children were ready to start homeschooling.
I'm the Chief Operating Officer (COO)

The Junior Partners
Mirror, age 11, is my mini-me. She is a fast-talker and thinker. She made the transition to homeschooling easy, because she taught herself the alphabet and how to write her name. She is an avid reader and loves to help around the house. She is loves to collect bugs, gardening, loves singing and is learning to sew.

McGyver, age9, is my cowboy, even before we moved to Texas. He loves being a real gentleman. It was his pleasure to pick up heavy objects for me when I was pregnant. His favorite possession is a rope for roping imaginary animals or tying up imaginary bad guys. He is the reason we have a really large stock of first-aid supplies. He loves math, inventing, and is always ready to help me cook.

Butterbean, age 3 is our happy surprise. He is the doll-baby of the family, soaking up all the hugs and kisses we can dish out. I feel blessed that God has given me the opportunity to raise another child.

Our Production Facilities
Our homeschool is Harvest Homeschool, because our ultimate goal is to be part of God's harvest. We follow a relaxed/delayed philosophy, partly because when I was a public school teacher, I saw the detriment of rushing children before they were academically mature. We are not in a hurry to have very young readers/writers, those skills will develop in time. I have no interest in raising little Einsteins, unless that is their natural inclination. We try to develop the current interests our children have, which currently involves anything with bugs or dirt.

Our homestead is a work-in-progress. We enjoy being creatively frugal. We are debt-free after 8 years of hard work. I have always loved organic gardening, we finally have room to have a nice sized plot. We have chickens, ducks, a cat , dog and various frogs and lizards. DH wants goats and a donkey, like he had as a child in Jamaica. McGyver wants a horse, and Mirror wants every stray animal that crosses her path. Butterbean just wants to get dirty. My house is decorated in country hand-me-downs and always looks 'lived in'. We'll never make the cover of Country Living, but we are happy exactly where God has put us.


Here are a few links that are valuable to our family. Enjoy!

A Virtuous Woman


Adult Bible Study Guide