Teaching kids real skills

Today's kids are great at sports and playing video games but do they have what they need for the real world?  We have been like most parents a pocket knife is to dangerous, they can not use the lawn mower they will chop off their toes, can not clean that because its poisonous.  Instead of saying no I am going to start teaching my kids the correct and safe way to use these tools, products, and to perform these important jobs.  I am so impressed at the knowledge kids have know a days but the lack of common sense and not being able to perform everyday tasks is very scary.  I believe parents today use video games as baby sitters and believe sports are more important then chores and work.  Now do not get me wrong it is important for your child to be well rounded but this generation has no life skills!

Today we started with a hatchet.  My 8 year old son was so excited when I said to him today you will be using a hatchet.  It all started off with us talking in the car.  I explained to Emmett the importance of respecting tools and to always think safety when using them.  After lunch we went into the basement for a brief class on how to hold, handle, and swing the hatch. At this point I believed he respected the tool but his skill level was not very good.  It was time to release him to the yard where this years Christmas tree was waiting to be chopped up.  I gave him his task first drag the tree into the back yard where we would do the chopping, second to chop off the limbs, and third stack them neatly.  He started swinging and well at this point his technique was not the fines but it was his first time.  I stood back encouraged him and even helped him with his form.  After a little while he got tired and I had to help him chop but he finished the stacking him self.

Chores like this instill life skills kids will never forget and will be able to pass on to their children.  Now if my son is put in situation where he see a tool like this he will respect it and hopefully not get hurt by it and also if he is put in a situation he has to use a tool like this he will know how to use and and how to use it safely.  Pass on these skills and trades so we have a productive next generation!

Self sufficient and self reliant what does this mean?

One of my top goals is to become and teach my family and others to become self sufficient or maybe self reliant.  I always get lost and can not choose if I want to say self sufficient or self reliant.  During a planning session today trying to figure out yields and how many plants I need I found a man who says self reliance is impossible to reach and self sufficient is also an unobtainable goal.  So with this I did some more researching thinking maybe I misunderstood what I was trying to say.

I went to http://www.merriam-webster.com to pull up some definitions.

Self sufficient 1. able to maintain oneself or itself without outside aid :  capable of providing for one's own needs <a self–sufficientfarm> 2. having an extreme confidence in one's own ability or worth:  haughty, overbearing

Self reliant confident in your own abilities and able to do things for yourself : not needing help from other people

So with those definitions I do believe a self reliant or a self sufficient life style is obtainable.  I do not necessarily believe in a dooms day scenario but I do want to learn and teach the skills that are going by the waste side because I do believe Americans need them.  Being able to grow all your own vegetables, preserve and cook food, repair and make things is what has made the world turn for thousands of years and I do not want my children to not learn these things.  And I do believe if you learn how to do these things you will be confident in your own abilities and able to do things for yourself. And if there was ever an emergency you would not need help from other people to survive.  Hmm that's the definition of self reliant and go figure they are self reliant and self sufficient are synonyms!

Who? What? Where? and Why?

So I have been meaning to write this for a while and just finally made myself do it.  Why am I blogging, and why am I sharing my stories, skills, mistakes, and successes with everyone?  Allot of bloggers YouTubers do it for the money that is not what I am in it for so you will not always see perfect grammar or perfect video editing.  I am doing it because I want to be a better person I want to share and I believe this will hold me accountable to reach my goals.

I know most people have a one track mind when they blog or YouTube but I will be honest mine will range from cooking, cleaning, organization, building, repair, gardening, prepping, and I am sure anything else I dream up.

So who am I?  I am a 31 year old husband with two children a son who is 7 and a daughter who is 3.  We live just out side of Pittsburgh in an old railroad town that is just fine for me for right now.  I was chosen in high school to be the next Bill Gates but I have not made any strides towards that but I am happy right where I am.  I always struggled though school and knew college probably was not for me.  I have always found solving problems is what I do best whether it was fixing machines, houses, or even computers.

At 16 a owner of a small company went out on a limb and hired me into their IT department, not a year later I was managing that department and working to be a certified network engineer.  I worked at this job for about 2 years and got board.  Sitting in a cubical was just not for me!  I have to admit I have spent almost my whole life job jumping and there are days I regret it but boy have I learned allot.  Through this I have learned to be a carpenter, electrician, plumber, heavy machine operator, mechanic, Realtor, manager, inspector, and so many more thing I also achieved a Michigan builders licence, Michigan real estate licence, certified pool operator, novel network engineer and many other things I am not remembering right now.

People are probably asking why haven't you stuck to one thing? Well I cant! I am not sure what it is but I need to be moving shaking hustling and creating every minute.  I will say I always tend to come back to building and construction that is where my heart lays.

So my mission now is to clean up my house and yard and show my family how you live with what you got and bring back family values.  I hope to over the next year live a healthier life style, spend more time with family, and spend less money.  Is this all possible I guess we wait and find out.

Hard Tack Candy Making

Here it is Hard tack cany making on youtube!

Hard Tack Candy Family Traditions

Growing up I always remember the hard tack candy in my grandmothers candy dishes at Christmas time.  Although I can not remember how it got to those candy dishes I do have some family members who have told me about the great times they had making it and how it was a great family tradition. So last year with so many other things I started doing I decided it was time to go into the candy making business.  We made batch after batch of hard tack gave it to coworker, friends, and family and boy was it a hit!  One of my nieces asked uncle Denis how did you make this candy?  So with that one little question I decided it was time to get the family tradition going again and teach this next generation how to make some candy.  Tomorrow we will be gathering and hopefully start a tradition that will last for years.  Tonight I did a trial batch to make sure I did not forget anything from last year and it turned out just right.  I thought I would share my recipe and maybe in a few days a video on how we do this.  Get out there and spend quality time with your family make some new traditions.

 
Hard Tack Candy
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup (I use Bob White Crystal White)
2 cups sugar
1 small jar flavoring (3.7ml)
Food coloring
Powder sugar (for dusting)
Butter (for cooling dish/pan)

Butter cookie sheet and lightly and coat with powder sugar, set aside. Combine water, corn syrup, and sugar in pot over medium heat.  Slowly stir mixture dissolving contents.  Mixture will come to a rapid boil watch candy thermometer closely and to prevent burning.  When mixture reaches 300 degrees or "Hard Crack" remove from heat, add flavoring, and coloring.  Mix well and poor onto prepared cookie sheet.  As this is cooling use scissors to cut into small pieces and toss with more powder sugar if needed.

Homemade Wood Whistle

Spending quality time with my wife and children is extremely important to me.  Today my daughter and I spent some time in my work shop making some whistles.  They are very crude and basic but the work well and the kids love them!

Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Ralph the Elf)

Remember always have fun with your kids that is the most important thing in the world.  You can never get the lost time back!