Homeschool Blessings

Changes At Breakfast Time

2011-10-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

We have had some recent changes at our breakfast table....the first of which is me being there. I am not a morning person, or at least I havn't been until now. We have recently found our family Bible study time being replaced with work, school and extra curricular schedules. It seemed that we weren't even eating our dinner together in the evenings more than a couple days a week. Dear husband (who is typically a morning person) decided that we would begin having our family Bible study time in the morning at the breakfast table. That would be great, except....I don't to breakfast very well, at least until now. I am learning to like it and honor my dh as well:) It is amazing how this little change in our day has affected the whole day. Some of the changes I have noticed have been things like, getting to bed earlier, ease in getting teens up in the morning, and just more pleasantness in general. One of my challenges has been what to cook for breakfast. Here are a couple of recipes that I have implemented in our life to make my life a bit easier and this transition more permanent.

Oven French Toast Sticks - makes 4 meals for our family

2 loaves of bread, cut in quarters to make sticks

12 large eggs

1 1/2cups half and half, fat free

6 tablespoons maple syrup

12 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

2 teaspoons Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Cloves

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

4 teaspoons vanilla

Cut bread into 4 sticks per slice. Whisk all ingredients together well. Dip quarters into mixture, coat thoroughly but not soggy. Place on jelly roll pan sprayed with non stick spray. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven (375 for dark pan) 10 minutes. Turn over and bake 6 more minutes. Flash freeze. Reheat in oven 20 minutes, or in my case microwave 6 at a time for 2 minutes.

Vegan Granola

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 cup coconut

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pumpkin seeds

Grind together pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and almonds in blender til crumbly. In large bowl combine all ingredients. Mix well. Place on dehydrator sheets til dry, about 12-18 hours. Beware, your house will smell like the best Cinnamon Roll you have ever smelled. I make this available to mix with fruit and homemade yogurt.

Overall, I like getting up with my family. It causes our day to be more productive and helps us all to focus.

The following verse is an encouragement to me.

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep-so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and you need like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:6-11 NKJV

Blessings for a productive day, Suzie

12 Reasons to Homeschool Your Children

2011-08-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

1. Life is not about filling in the blanks, its about learning to think.
2. Home is where you can provide your children with a Christian World View. It is actually illegal for them to recieve that in the public system, this includes public schools online.
3. God's Word can have a place of honor in your home. It can be read freely, without threat of harm.
4. No one knows your children better than you. Is there a better person in the world to teach them besides you? I should say not!
5. Your children can be confident in their role in your family unit. Activities can be done as a family most of the time.
6. God has blessed you with these wonderful children. They are a gift from him. It is difficult to mold them to His will, if they are gone 8 hours of the day.
7. You will never have to worry about where your child is, what he/she is doing or what he/she is being exposed to.
8. Your children do not need to sit at a desk for 6 hours every day to become an educated person.
9. It is not important that your child learn to be in the same environment with 20 other people their same age. This does not happen in the real world. It is said that if your child can get along with their siblings, they can get along with anyone.
10. Each child learns differently and at a different speed. Your child needs to be taught at his/her own pace, not the pace of everyone around them. Grade levels are really not necessary.
11. You will never have to worry that your child is the victim of violence. Your home is safe.
12. And lastly but certainly not least, educating your child at home will give your child a greater chance of an eternal reward in heaven.

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Duetronomy 6:4-7

Blessings as you begin your homeschool year. Suzie

The Four Alls

2011-07-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

One of the activities that is suggested by our Tapestry of Grace curriculum is found in the book Knights and Castles by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell. The activity is called the Four Alls. It is found on pages 26-29 of that book. It's named comes from a poem found on those pages.

"The peasants who worked for all,

Prists who prayed for all

Knights who fought for all,

And kings who ruled all

I had trouble finding that many shoe boxes and we also had a Culteral Display night that we were attending with our homeschool group and I wanted the children to learn the concepts but not necessarily do all that 'creative' art, you know the kind that gets all over the house:) so this is what I came up with. A display board activity that included an overall view of the Feudal System of government and specifically addressed each class.

For each class, the children had to find pictures (on google images, please help them search with a good internet blocker like safe-eyes) that represented what that class ate, the houses they lived in, the clothes they wore, and the type of work they did. They all had to agree (among themselves) about the pictures to use. I then had my UG student write all the synopsis' and she decorated it all as well. I had my dialectic student write a description of the Feudal System (found at the top) and a short discussion about why it didn't work. We all worked together to cut out and glue the lettering. It was a fun project and the children learned a lot. When the Culteral Display night was over, we took the pictures off and displayed them in UG students history notebook.

For our display night, we dressed up in the costumes from our Medieval Fair and served a favorite fall soup called Chicken Barley Vegetable Soup.It was nummy (and easy, crock pot recipe)

Here is the recipe.

3 cup chicken cooked chicken pieces

2/3 cup barley

8 cups chicken stock

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 can diced tomatoes

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon thyme

2 tablespoons parsley

Put all ingredients except parsley in crock pot in the morning. Cook all day. Add parsley. Cook 1 more hour. Serve with bread

Fun stuff. Blessings, Suzie

Strawberry Pie

2011-04-30T17:46:00.001-07:00

Fresh Strawberry Pie is a summertime favorite at our house and I especially like it when the berries are on sale. Great buy today at .99 cents a pound. I try to make it at least a couple times each year. Here is what I do.

For the crust, I use a recipe that is very freezer friendly. It make 12 pie crusts at a time. I make it in my Bosch. Here is my dozen pie crust recipe.

1-3# can Crisco, I use butter flavor

1# butter, softened

20 cups flour

4 cups ice cold water

1T salt

3T sugar

In Bosch bowl with cookie paddles blend butter and Crisco. Add flour and blend til crumbly. Add salt and sugar. Now add water making a smooth dough. It may seem a bit sticky for pie crust but you will add a generous amount of flour when you are ready to use. Pull apart into 4-5 inch balls, wrapping in plastic wrap. Freeze. When needed, remove and thaw overnight. Roll out onto generously floured surface. Bake at 350 14 minutes or til lightly browned. Freezer life is 1 year. This make a wonderfully workable dough and a fraction of the cost of pre made pie crust.

After your dough is thawed and able to be worked, roll out onto generously floured surface. Roll 2 inches greater than a deep dish pie plate. Roll up and place in pie plate and unroll. Make any repairs with extra dough that is trimmed from the sides. Place any additional pieces on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon for a tasty treat. Bake as directed. Crimp top of pie plate with a fork and also poke holes in the pie crust to prevent blistering. Bake as directed and let cool completely. Now you are ready to make your strawberry pie filling. Here is the recipe:

3# ripe strawberries, washed and trimmed

4T cornstarch

2 cups sugar

2 cups boiling water

1-6oz. package strawberry jello

Your baked deep dish pie shell

Whipped cream for garnish

Place washed berries attractively in pie crust. Blend cornstarch and sugar in a saucepan. Combine with water and cook until thick about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add jello. Stir until dissolved. Allow to cook but not cold. Pour mixture over berries. Chill for 2-3 hours or more. Garnish with whipped cream.

Blessings for a delicious Strawberry Pie, Suzie

Mars Study

2011-04-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

You may note in the side bar in our blog that we use Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright. My youngest son, 11 is really enjoying this learning adventure.

This year, I implemented the notebook that goes along with the text. I has helped the children to be more focused and organized about their science studies. I would highly recommend it.

Lesson 7 in Exploring Creation with Astronomy is all about the planet Mars. For Joshua's enrichment portion of this unit he chose to build a Mars Rover.

I considered having him use Lego's but wanted to get his creative juices flowing a bit more, so we made it an edible Rover instead. He made the list for the store which included Oreo's, Skittles, Hershey bar, chocolate icing, pretzel rods, candy Lego's, Oreo Cakesters, rope licorice and a gold chocolate medallion.

Here is the final result. He had so much fun and made a big mess. We have a small Dremmel tool that I let him use to carve/drill the holes in the Oreos and it took some trial and error, but he finally did it. We had a good discussion about building a strong foundation as well.

Blessings to Joshua on a job well done. Happy Homeschooling, Suzie

Wintery Cold Day

2011-02-02T19:34:00.001-08:00

It has been unseasonably cold and we have had temperatures lower than we normally get any year, and yes, we have had snow that stayed around more than a few hours....and yes, my children are loving it!

The boys decided that they wanted to create a snow mountain so they filled an old garbage can with snow and then the next day dumped it out to create a huge mountain.

I really have had to keep a close eye on them as the wind chills have been below zero, yikes!

So, of course when they come in, they are cold and need to thaw themselves out in front of the crackling fire.

One of our family favorites when the weather is like this is called Chicken Tortellini Soup. Here is the recipe.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

6 cups chicken broth

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or whatever you have to equal 1 cup, diced)

1 cup (or more) thinly sliced carrots

1 large onion, diced

4 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 or 2 bay leaves

2 cups Barilla Cheese Tortellini (dry)

Boil the chicken in 6 cups water til cooked. Remove chicken from broth and let cool. Discard bones if any. I use my Bosch to thinly slice all my vegetables, all in the same bowl. Dice chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken back in pot with broth. Add vegetables and spices, cooking til tender about 15-20 minutes. Add dry tortellini and cook 10 more minutes. Remove bay leaves. Serve with fresh biscuits.

You can also dump all these ingredients (except the tortellini) in a gallon ziplock bag and freeze for a future meal. Its just as easy to make 2 as it is to make one. The second one I usually cook as a crockpot dinner, 4-5 hours on high, adding the tortellini the last 45 minutes or so.

For the biscuits, I often use Pillsbury Grands if I have them on hand. I only buy them if I can get them for $.50 cents a can or less. We have had many cans around here lately as I got a great deal on them a few weeks ago, at a BOGO sale. But if I don't have Pillsbury, I bake them from scratch. This biscuit recipe makes 2 dozen, so I refrigerate half of the dough for another time. It will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Angel Biscuits

5 cups unsifted flour (I usually use half unbleached white and half wheat)

1/4 cup sugar (optional)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp yeast

2 Tbsp warm water

2 cups buttermilk

1 stick butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter til pea sized. Place wet/warm ingredients in Bosch bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix. For Bosch users, do not overmix. The mixture will be more wet than what you may be used to, that is ok. Don't get it too dry or your biscuits will be like rocks and too dry and crumbly. Turn onto floured surface and press to 1/4 inch thick. Place on well oiled baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Dough may be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes 2 dozen biscuits.

I hope your family enjoys this meal as much as mine does. It is warm and healthy.

Blessings, Suzie

The Edible Cell

2011-01-20T16:18:00.001-08:00

OK, so this is my edible cell that my brothers and I made to eat on family night. It was a science activity from my new science curriculum Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright.

Mom's note - We are using the notebooks for the first time for both this curriculum and Astronomy, LOVE THEM!!

The filling is lemon/yellow jell-o. Technically speaking it is called the cytoplasm. The mess you see to your right is a mixture of the lysomes (skittles) and the mitochondria (jelly beans). The green twist up at the top is the Golgi body (fruit roll ups) and the tube like thing you see going all thought the cell is the centrioles (Twizlers) If you would like to make one of these yourself here are the instructions:

1 packet of jell-o equals 3 cells.

YOU WILL NEED:

A sharp steak knife

A spoon

A plate

A glass or ceramic bowl

Cooking spray (such as Pam)

A box of yellow colored jell-o (cytoplasm)

A box of unflavored Knox Gelatin

A few jelly beans(mitochondria)

Several skittles (lysomes)

Starburst gummiebursts (Golgi body)

A fruit roll up (endoplasmic reticulum)

Nerds or cake sprinkles (ribosomes)

Twizzler pull and peels (centrioles)

A large gumdrop (nucleus)

Just to let you know we did not follow the instructions completely so ours and yours are not going to turn out the same.

Instructions:

Mix your yellow jell-o according to the package but add 1 packages of unflavored Knox gelatin.

Spray inside of bowl with cooking spray.

pour your jell-o mixture into bowls

let your jell-o harden over night.

Once your jell-o (cytoplasm)

is hardened apply your candies.

Once you have finished putting your candies in your Cytoplasm gently and slowly turn your bowl upside down onto a plate. Wallah! you have your edible cell.

We forgot to spray the bowl before putting jell-o in it so we tried to turn it over on one and it fell into pieces so we just left the rest in the bowl.

Blessings, Naomi

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Everyone!

For many, this is a time for review and reflection. As I reflect on the changes that have taken place in our family in just one year, I am humbled. As many of you know, my dad went to be with God this year. Learning to live without an earthly father is the hardest life transition I have ever made. It forces me to depend on my heavenly father like never before. We have also 'adopted' my disabled brother who will now be living with us. His name is Andy and he is a great 'kid'. His in the picture above. He is the Vietnamese kid. This has been the reason for all the construction around here, which is now comepleted with the exception of a few moldings here and there. The boys now have a very large space in what used to be the garage. Andy has his own bedroom, now as well. My mother has also been with us since the beginning of December and it has been a wonderful visit. She will be heading home in about a week or two. Please pray for her as this is a difficult transition for her as well.

We rang in the new year with a 42 party with a few couples from church. Mom really enjoyed it. It was something that her and dad would do anytime they got together with family. We proceeded to teach the children how to play, with some success. It is kinda an adult game. After all, I had to be an adult before I was allowed to play:)

I don't traditionally reserve this time only for resolutions, rather, I try to get a little better every day of the year. There are times in my life of course that I feel more consistency than others, however most of the time, I am just trying to do better today than I did yesturday.

I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 NKJV

Blessings in the New Year, Suzie

Colonial Williamsburg

2010-11-09T11:05:00.001-08:00

On our recent trip to Virgnia, in September, we visited Colonial Williamsburg. It truly was unlike anything our family has ever experienced. It was like going back in time 200 years, to the 18th century.

The Virginia Governors Palace (Governor Dunmore)

Colonial Williamsburg is a archaeologically accurate area of the real Williamsburg of the 18th century. Many of the houses and shops have been refurbished to be much like they would have in the 18th century. Archaeological research has shown them exactly where and what many of the town shops were, who owned them and what they made an sold. Therefore, Duke of Gloucester Street is much like it was in the 1770's in Virginia.

Colonial Williamsburg has an apprentice system in place as well, where artisans are taught to do the craft/skill as it was done in the 18th century, using the same tools as would have been used then as well. It was quite an amazing place!

Here we visited the blacksmith's shop. This was the only one in town in 1770. There was excavation going on beside this shop on property that was owned by the same person. It was the summer kitchen. It was interesting to watch the excavation. The home was on Duke of Gloucester Street and the shop and kitchen were behind. You entered a small gate at the side of the house and then walked through a courtyard to the smith shop. Not only were horseshoes made here but all kinds of tools, shoe buckles, cooking utensils, anything that was make of metal.

There were many different types of hammers and anvils in this shop, all for different purposes. Interesting!

As we walked down the street, we visited a shoemaker, the silversmith, and the millinery shop where you would buy clothing and accessories and even be fitted for your stays:)

As you leave the city streets of Williamsburg, you go into the 'country' where you find a plantation. This man was showing us how to hand hewn a log into a beam for support for a home. He instructed that you would fall this log in the forest and do all this there and then haul this beam to where you wanted. No sense in moving a heavy log before cutting it. It just made sense. This class was to demonstrate the art of building a home with tools of the time period. There was another man showing us how to split pine into clap boards that would be used to cover sides and roof.

Here the men demonstrated the use of a pit saw, which would be used much in building this house.

Other places we visited in Williamsburg were the Capitol Building where we learned much about the conflicts between the people and their government, the Governor Dunmore's Palace and the Courthouse, where we experienced a mock trial.

Overall this was a great family vacation. We also got VERY good prices as it was during home school week. Check their website. I believe they do this two time each year. There were special classes that they offered to us during this time as well. When we first began talking about it, the children (and I too) were not sure what to fully expect. By the end of our three days there, they were talking about coming back next year. That's what I call a successful vacation.

When we go back, here are some of the things that we will do differently:

1. Make sure to wear comfortable, closed toe shoes

2. Bring snacks and lots of water bottles, maybe even a cooler on wheels

3. Attend earlier in the week. There were some events that you had to 'register' for that were not available to us. The sign ups begin early in the week.

The highlight of our time in Colonial Williamsburg was the wonderful street re-enactments that occurred each afternoon. These provided so much excitement and learning for our children. IMHO there was a bit of literary license that took place but that just provided a platform for discussion among us later on. Above you see the drum and fifer core that marched before the Governors carriage.

Here the Virginia Army is calling people to the town center. The British Army is coming and they need to call for a volunteer Army.

Here the Revolutionary War volunteer army is being sworn in as solders. There is Josh and Daddy, right in the middle.

Here are our two soldiers, ready to fight for their country, and freedom from England. The are equipped with 1 rifle and 2 cider mugs and a bit of hard tack in their pockets.

We were grateful to be blessed with this vacation. Suzie

Construction...and Life

2010-11-03T22:04:00.001-07:00

Things have been a bit quiet here and there is a very good reason for that. Our house is under construction and we have all been busy helping. Our little DIY project has blossomed. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel so I can talk a bit about it. We are converting our 2 car garage to a bedroom for the boys and a utility room and their bedroom will be occupied by my handicapped brother who is coming to live with us. We are excited about his arrival next month. He will be an integral part of our family unit.

So we started this project way back in March when we got home from California. We had to empty this indoor garage space into somewhere so....we built a shed. You can see it in this post.

We were grateful that the tree missed it.

We then moved all the 'stuff' into the shed and other nook and crannies in the house. Have you ever had a pantry in your living room? I have! We hired the electrical and framing to be done but all the rest we have been doing ourselves. I think we will be ready for paint next week and carpet on the weekend, yay!

Take a look at all our work...and play:)

Did I mention that we went without a washing machine and dryer for several days:)

When my father went to be with God, we were blessed with several of his earthly posessions that have made this project possible. The drill ds is using was his, a DeWalt of course, daddy always bought quality when it mattered. We were also blessed to be able to purchase my daddy's truck from my mother. We could have never hauled all the things necessary to do a project of this size, without it. When I was a child, my family did a very large addition to our family home, it took 7 years to complete. One day, I came into our addition to find my daddy's hammer laying there. I had no idea that it had been given to my husband by my mother and was shocked to see it, knowing full well who it belonged to. It is amazing to think that in a small way, daddy is helping us to make our addition possible. Ds and I both have shed not a few tears thinking about not being able to share this space with him.

Here I am with the spackle job. Not my favorite, but necessary! I am glad this job is done.

Last but certainly not least is the sanding. Boy am I glad this is quickly coming to an end. Maybe I will be able to see my furniture again, after I wipe some white dust away:) Joshua learned to like the sander. He became a pro by sanding the ceiling smooth so we could texture it.

I hope to get back to blogging soon. My mother and brother are both coming for Christmas. Brother is planning on staying indefinately and mom will go back sometime, not sure when. We are looking forward to both of them being with us. It will be a wonderfully cozy Christmas.

Blessings for all, Suzie

The Puppy Dog Song

2010-10-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

While at Roundhouse Camp (see here), the children performed a song that we have affectionately named the Puppy Dog Song. It was a favorite of both my grandmother and father who both recently passed away. I think it helped us all to remember them fondly through this song. It's a catchy little tune with honest words. My mother told me that my 94 year old grandmother used to giggle at it, in her sweet, sweet, way.

The children did a fantastic job! I am so proud of them!

See for yourself!

They worked so hard on this project and it came off without a hitch! They proved that they can work as a team.

Blessings, Mom

Roundhouse

2010-10-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a 2 1/2 week vacation. It was fabulous! On of the purposes for our vacation was to attend Roundhouse, a homeschool camp for families who are members of the church of Christ. You can read more about this camp here.

This is the 21st year that this camp has been held. Each year they have a t-shirt made and for their 20 year, last year, this wonderful quilt was made. It hangs above the podium where most of our activites are held. Being a quilt lover, I was very impressed with it. We were not able to make camp last year. The camp spun off from a newsletter called The Home Train thus the name Roundhouse.

This year, the children were able to be involved in the zip line. It was nail biting for me to watch but they all loved it.

Do you see how high up that is?

Roundhouse was mostly about seeing our old friends from years past and making new ones. For me, it was about getting my spiritual cup filled up so that I can make it through another year of homeschooling. My children express that it is truly a place where they feel like they fit in a bit better than in most circles. I glean lots of encouragement for the year to come through moms jam session and workshops. For those who wish, there were all other types of activities including Bible bowl, spelling bee, a crafts fair and activity fair. My children spent a lot of time fishing. They were the go to kids for all the line and tackle needed.

Can you tell we had a wonderful vacation. We also camped on the Piankitank River and spent several days at Colonial Williamsburg. I will post of those outings in a few days.

Blessings, Suzie

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-07T14:34:00.001-07:00

~posted by Noami~

Yesterday -August 6th - was my moms birthday! Before 4 O' clock that day she had no idea what we had planned for her. What we had planned for her was this:

5:30 - dinner at olive garden with dad

8:30 - cake and ice cream at home with family

10:00 - Movie at the mall with dad

While mom was eating dinner, I iced her cake.

Earlier in the day dad had taken her out to lunch.

That's when we baked it. When she came

home we had the cake and ice cream. It was about nine O'clock.

Now before we could eat the cake we had to light the candles so here's us

trying to light the cake. I burned my

fingers twice and well...... just watch the video.

Mom blew out the candles and we wished her a happy birthday. She asked for no present so there were none. But dad had sent her 5 e-cards!

After cake and ice cream dad and mom went back out to the mall for their movie. They were not back till midnight but that's ok. I think mom really enjoyed her birthday.

Blessings, Naomi

Volunteering In The Garden

2010-08-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Our garden has provided us with an amazing amount of produce this year. It has been a very wet year in our area, which I am sure has contributed to this. Most things are dry and shrivelled by this time of year.

Our tomato vines are covered with green tomatoes

We had an interesting situation with our canteloupes. Last year we had an open compost pile of sorts that we designed with an empty concrete pad and cinder blocks. We were impressed with the quality of the compost that came from that, however we got lots of volunteer plants which sometimes was irritating. After a bit of research, I discovered that part of the problem could have been that the compost pile was not getting warm enough to make the seeds so they would not germinate. This year we decided to invest in these composters from Sam's Club.

They also work well to hide the gas meters that seem to take up the most visible space in our back yard.

We needed the old compost pile, that was now nice rich soil, to fill in the new garden area that was formed when we put up the retaining wall near the new shed. We never dreamed that we would have so many volunteer melons. Look what we had for dinner last night!

It was very juicy and a bit sweet. We were amazed that this grew just because of God.

'Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?'

Matthew 6:26

Blessings, Suzie

Gobs of Peaches

2010-08-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

This week, our small kitchen has turned into a peach processing plant!

Our little peach tree had so many peaches this year that we had branches breaking with all the weight. This is the same peach tree that survived the huge maple tree branch breaking and rolling under it rather than on top of it. You can read about it here. So we KNOW that these are all blessings from God!

This has been a wonderful family activity that we ALL have been involved in. The boys picked and washed. Naomi, David and I pitted and sliced while Joshua ran all of our 'leftovers' to the compost pile. We have canned 24 quarts in light syrup. Here is the recipe for the syrup and directions to can. I like this site because they have pictures. I didn't peal my peaches as it doesn't seem to matter to my family and it cuts the work down significantly. We also had to pick these a bit green, which would make them more difficult to peel.

As mentioned, we picked them a bit green because it is our experience that if we wait, the birds and bugs get them before us:)

First we washed, pitted and sliced peaches.

At this point, I sprinkled with Fruit Fresh, then had to decide what to do with it all. I had some jars, but not a ton and I didn't want to use them all because I will want to make applesauce later on in the year. So I decided that I would only can 2 dozen jars of peaches and save a dozen for applesauce later on. If finances are better in the fall, I may purchase another dozen quart jar, but that remains to be seen.

Here are the peaches we canned, all washed and labeled. I still had peaches to preserve even after all my jars were used up so I decided to make peach cobbler mixture to freeze. I found a recipe on Allrecipes for Freezer Peach Pie Filling making a few modifications. I increased amount of peaches used to 4 cups and added 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon. I will use this as a cobbler in a square 9x9 inch pan rather than a pie. I also doubled several recipes to be made in 9x13 pan for church potlucks and such.

Peach Cobbler Toppings

To top these beautiful peaches, I will choose from 2 that I took from other recipes in my collection. The first I made as a go along for breakfast the other morning. My mistake was making it the night before and allowing samples. There was very little left for breakfast:)

Crumble Topping

1 1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

(or you can substitute 1/3 cup applesauce for a lighter version)

Mix all dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add melted butter and stir til combined. Spoon over top of defrosted cobbler filling that has been put in a 9x13 sprayed glass pan. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven on bottom rack for 20 minutes. Turn down temperature to 350 and bake another 30-35 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Baked Cobbler Topping, it is more difficult to make 'lite'

2 stick butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour (use white)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Mix in mixing bowl. Pour over top of thawed cobbler filling that has been put in a 9x13 sprayed glass pan. Bake at 355 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until the top is brown and sides are bubbly. Cool and eat, YUM!

Even with all our recent losses, it is so easy to see that God is blessing us more and more abundantly that we could ever imagine.

My prayer today is that you are able to see God's Blessings in your life.

Suzie

Ants and Hamburgers

2010-07-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are going to a hamburger cookout tomorrow after church and have been asked to bring dessert. See what we made. This idea is taken from a blog sister of mine at

Raising Olives and she got the idea from a book called Hello Cupcake!

Adorable name for an adorable book!

Anyway, Naomi and I had tons of fun in the kitchen.

First we gathered out ingredients. This amount is for a crowd, so we used 2 yellow cake mixes and 1 chocolate cake mix. Made cupcakes as directed. This made close to 5 dozen cupcakes. Most mixes make 2 dozen but we made the yellow ones a bit fuller to have a round top for the hamburgers.

We also needed:

a batch of my Grandma's buttercream icing recipe (see bottom) divided and colored ketchup red, mustard yellow grass green and chocolate brown,

2 packages of bridge mix (you only need the chocolate covered almonds)

sweetened coconut

green food coloring

18 small watermelon cadies

1/4 cup apple juice

2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

a sharp knife

For the ants in the grass we iced the top with green icing then sprinkled a bit of colored coconut (as grass) on top. Choosing carefully, we then put three ants in a row and set it aside.

Later, Naomi and I took turns carefully putting the feet and antena on the ants as well as giving them a watermelon slice to chase.

See how cute they turned out.

How for the hamburgers, you use a whole yellow cupcake cut in half (your bun) and the bottom half of a chocolate cupcake (the meat). On the bottom half of your bun, pipe mustard then place the chocolate piece. Then pipe katsup placing green coconut on top of that for the lettuce. On the top of your bun, use a pastry brush and brush lightly with apple juice and sprinkle with sesame seeds for an authentic looking bun. Place on top of the lettuce and set aside to dry.

See how it turns out.

Looks yummy huh!

I arranged these all on a large lazy susan with a cake plate on top. It will be fun. I hope I can get it there without any incidents. There is nearly 3 dozen. You would not have to make this many unless you were feeding a small army, as we are.

We had a lot of fun doing this but the best part was that Naomi and I had so much fun together! I pray that we will have many more times together in the kitchen, or anywhere, for that matter. She is a wonderful daughter!

I think I have mentioned in another post that my grandmother was a professional cake decorator so this recipe is tried and true. Hope you like it. We love it. I almost always have some put away in the back of the fridge. It's great on cookies too.

Grandma's Buttercream Icing Recipe

1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup plus 1t water
1 cup shortening (use Crisco, others don't hold together well)
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
2 large egg whites
1 t clear vanilla
(today I used regular b/c I didn't have clear and was coloring all my icing)

Beat powdered milk and water til thick then add shorteneing, salt and beat til creamy. Add sugar. Beat until heavy consistency and creamy. Add egg whites and beat til good and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Store unused portion covered and refrigerated. Make enough to easily ice 2 9 inch round cakes.

Blessings for a wonderful Lord's Day, Suzie

Grape Jelly

2010-07-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today we are making Grape Jelly at our house. This is our 10 year old grape vine, which has given us a bounty of around 15 pounds of grapes this year, after the birds of course.

What beauties! We washed. cleaned and juiced all these to make 12 and 1/2 pints of jelly.

These are concord grapes and they were so juicy and sweet this year. We had a lot of rain and they were larger than I think they have ever grown! These grapes have seeds in them so they take a bit of processing to get them into jelly.
Here is my very non-traditional way to extract the juice. I use my Champion Juicer! This is no typo! My mother used to boil and hang everything in the jelly bag, press it through a jelly sieve to separate the juice from the seeds but that all seems like a lot of work to me, and besides mom didn't have a Champion back then. Once I get the juice, I measure 4 cups of it, add 1/2 cup of water and put it on the stove to boil. When it comes to a boil, I add 7 cups of sugar and bring it to a rolling boil. Using liquid pectin, add it and cook it at a rolling boil for exactly one minute. Remove from heat and hot pack in jars with lids from the hot dishwasher (she didn't have one of those either) and turn upside down for 10 minutes. Turn them rightside up and place them on a tea towel making sure that they are not touching each other. Tell your kids to come in and listen for the 'POPS' so that we all know they are sealed properly! When completely cooled, wash, label and store in a cool, dry place.
Now just do that a couple more times and you have all this!

As youngest son and I were out picking these grapes this morning, I saw several that the birds had knocked on the ground. That fruit that became separated from the vine had no chance to mature into anything edible.

This verse came to my mind:

'I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.'

John 15:5

May we all live to abide in him. Blessings, Suzie

Frozen Assets

2010-07-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Many have blogged about Once A Month Cooking and I suppose I will join the many who have already blogged on the subject. My favorite Once a Month Cooking Book is Frozen Assets Lite and Easy by Deborah Taylor-Hough. All of the chapter are organized by type of meal, ie: pasta, chicken, turkey, or beef. There are also seafood and vegetarian choices as well. Having them organized this way, I can buy what is on sale for the week and cook it for the freezer. It all becomes a 'Frozen Asset' to my family. I also like that all of the chapter are mini sessions, meaning, there are no more than 5 meals in one session. I can do that in one afternoon! I do not even attempt to cook ALL our food for a whole month in an entire session. As the title indicates, lite and easy. The recipes have been broken down and replaced with lower fat alternatives. Nutrition information is included with each recipe so it is easy for me to calculate Weight Watcher Points. I suppose I just wanted to share as I have struggled finding a system of cooking that works for our family. I like this method and especially like this book as it is much healthier and cost effective as well.

Blessings to you, Suzie E.

Trip to Wyoming

2010-07-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

~posted by Naomi

While my mom was in California me and my two brothers went up to Wyoming after my granddad's funeral. We stayed with my dad's dad for three weeks. We spent those three weeks going to parks, national monuments, and we even went four wheeling!
Almost every other day we went four wheeling. One time when me and my grandpa went four wheeling on top of the mountain we saw a herd of horses! We were on the four wheeler so we were able to get so close. We got some great pictures.

In one whole day we went to the sand dunes, bores tusk, and saw petroglifs.

Several times while we were in Wyoming our grandpa took us to Green River which was a town about 12 miles from where he lives in Rock Springs. At the green river our grandpa taught us how to skip a rocks!

Sometimes our grandpa would take us for drives in the mountain. On the very first day that we got there he took us up the mountain and he stopped somewhere for us to read a sign. We saw a four wheel trail up to what to us seemed at the time to be a big rock sticking out of the ground. From where we were standing the trail didn't look to long. Our grandpa said we could go and we thought we would only be about 10-15 minutes. Boy were we in for a surprise. Apparently grandpa knew it would take us a while so about 10 minutes after we started hiking he got in the truck and started to drive behind us. After we found this out me and my little brother got in the truck for little brakes but my older brother hiked the whole, long, hot way. It was steep climbing up to the "big rock" which our grandpa later informed us was called pilots butte. We got all the way to the top and looked where we had com from. all in all it took us about an hour to walk to the butte. we found a few caves up on top but we were strictly told NOT to go into the caves for fear of snakes and other animals that would not be so pleasant to encounter. we rode back and went home tired and dirty.

Our mom came on the 23rd of June to pick us up and take us home. We left the next morning and got home safely. We were so glad to meet our dad but over all I enjoyed the trip to Wyoming and sometimes wish we were still there.

~Blessings, Naomi

Memories

2010-06-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

My father passed from this earth on May 25th. Thus the reason for my silence, grief! I was very close to him and I will miss him dearly. He was loved by many. There was standing room only at his funeral. We had folks fill out 'I remember' sheets that were in the folders that we gave out at the funeral. From those, we were reminded of all the lives that he touched. Mom continues to get a couple 'I remember sheet' each week. I feel priviledged to have had him as my earthly father. He gave me a wonderful sampling of the qualities and character of my heavenly father. Thank you daddy!

My cousin did the DVD that we played at his funeral. I have watched it many times and it brings me so much peace and comfort.

Last year, my beloved grandma passed on to be with God and now my father. There are lots of earthly things to handle, however, with each one who goes before me, I have a greater and greater desire to be there also. May I always live my life in a heavenly direction.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, bretheren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. I Thessalonians 4:1

Blessings, Suzie

God Is So Good

2010-05-13T06:19:00.001-07:00

Some folks would look at this a think about catastrophe. I prefer to think of the protection of God.

This limb fell unexpectedly during a wind storm last night. About 3:15AM we heard a thud that awoke both dh and I and shook the house. The hanging lamp next to my bed was swinging. There was thunder and lightening outside and I just thought it was a strike of lightning but thought it odd that there was no thunder to follow.

Anyway, here is what happened! As you can see, this is a extrememly large limb!

Our family is safe, our home is safe and our garden and shed are also safe. We recently put up the shed and garden area, so I am glad that they are safe as well.

Why are we safe? Is this just all a coincidence?

I think NOT!

As I studied this morning, I went to Psalms 107. The entire chapter is appropriate for what has happened but the following verses I pick out to share with you.

He calms the storm so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet: so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.

Psalms 107:29-32

Blessings as you find God in your day, Suzie

Hackberry Flat Wetland

2010-04-25T09:13:00.001-07:00

Last week, several families in our homeschool group took a field trip to

Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area near Frederick, Oklahoma.

It was an amazing experience for all of our children.

Even the girls got involved. One of the activities was kind of messy, especially since it had rained three inches the day before. Each child got a net and explored the flat with it, collecting as many different specimens of macro and micro invertebrates that they could find.

Some of the macro invertebrates were obvious and there was no need to take them to the classroom to identify. This is a crayfish. We pulled out several different species. We also learned that a healthy wetland has lots of these, food for birds!
We did find many, in lots of different sizes.

This is a Cricket Frog tadpole that eldest son pulled up in his net.
The lady leading the children was a biologist and identified everything we pulled out. It was so wonderful to have someone so knowledgeable and enthusiastic to guide our children.

Here is the cricket frog, a male, she showed us his air sack near his mouth. She also showed us how to identify a cricket frog. The come in all different colors but all of them have a tiny triangle on the top of their head.

We brought our specimens that we had collected back to the classroom and discovered that we had many more things than we thought.

This is a dragonfly larvae.

Can you see that baby crayfish?
Also notice that we poured them in a sink with no drain pipes. She explained that she would just put a bucket under the sink and then take its contents back to the flat when we were finished.

We also discovered micro invertebrates that she captured in a dropper and placed on slides that she showed on the wall. It was amazing. We saw Spider mites, Midge larvae and coco pods. I didn't get any pictures of these, they were a bit small. Another interesting creature was called a water boatmen. It was small and cute, had 2 legs just like the paddles of a boat, thus the name.

This is a photograph of a yummy activity that they did with the children. It taught the children the layers of the wetland. Here are the ingredients:

Place 1 piece of BEDROCK (vanilla wafer) in the bottom of a clear plastic cup

Add 2 spoonfuls of SUBSOIL (chocolate puffed rice cereal) on top of bedrock

Add 1 spoonful of WETLAND MUCK (chocolate pudding)

Add 1 spoonful of WATER (whipped topping colored blue)

Add 3 CATTAILS (stick pretzels)

Add 2 shakes DUCKWEED (green sprinkles)

Add 1 animal (gummy frog, fish or bug)

Now eat. YUMMY!

It was a beautiful day to explore God's creation. Isn't it amazing that the more you look at it, the more you believe in Him!

Here are a couple verses that have crossed my mind, recently.

Genesis 1:20-21 The God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters bounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

And God (who is the author of order) likes order:

II Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

May you see the power of God in nature today. It is such a beautiful day.

Blessings, Suzie

Making Chainmail

2010-04-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

During the Middle Ages, one of a knights' most prized posessions was his armor which was very expensive. One book explained it to the children in terms like this.

If we needed to buy a suit of armor today, it would cost as much as a jumbo jet would cost us.

That is how expensive it was back then.

Needless to say, most people didn't go around buying suits of armor however most soldiers wore chainmail. Chainmail is made of small rings linked together in a particular pattern.

Some advantage of chainmail during that time period were:

It was cost effective, while not cheap, less expensive than armor

It was lightweight

It could be put on quickly

It provided some protection against arrows and swords

You begin with rings. You can make them yourself however we chose to purchase them already made. Ours were aluminium ones purchased on ebay. This seller had removed all the sharp edges, to make it a bit easier to work with and more comfortable to wear.

Total cost of this project was about $35.00. It is the type of project that can continue if wanted. Ds has decided to continue it, however he is buying his own links:)

There were some directions included in our curriculum, however we found the best way for ds to understand the design of chainmail was to enlarge the photo and just let him look at it for a while.

When you see how it goes together, you can put it together.

When you get finished with a good size piece of your chainmail, it should have an accordion effect, but only in one direction.

This has been a wonderful project for ds. If you have read our blog before, you know that he is a computer, science and math kid so pulling him into history can be a bit challenging at times. Often, finding a hands on activity to draw your children in takes a bit of creativity on the part of the teacher, but the end result is enthusiasm about the topic of study.

Blessings for creativity with your children,

Suzie

A Medieval Festival

2010-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a very fun weekend. It was the first part of our Tapestry of Grace Year 2 Unit 1 celebration. It has been a wonderful travel through Medieval History.

Here are the children in their costumes, in the parking lot of the Medieval Fair in Norman, Oklahoma. I have to say that I was expecting something a bit different however, we really enjoyed the human chess game and the blacksmiths. I appreciated learning about medieval blanket pins, a large take on a modern safety pin. As impressed as I was, I really should have take some photos of that, but was so enthralled that I didn't.

Dear son, dressed as Robin Hood, or maybe he was one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tale companions. He could have passed for either.

He worked tirelessly on a fair size piece of home made chainmail. He was wearing it modestly under his cape. Chainmail is not easy to make!

Dear daughter is really growing up, I didn't realize how much until this dress was on her. She is a virtual young lady.

Youngest son, specifically requested a Teutonic Crusader Knight costume. I did my best and he was proud. Big brother even made a chain mail clasp so his helmet would stay on. All the costumes used patterns and clearence fabric, so we did our best to keep the cost down.

Our journey was a long one spanning from about 500 AD to about 1500 AD.

Some of the things the children really enjoyed studying about this period in history included The Byzantine Empire, Rise of Muslimism, Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chauncer, Otto of the Silver Hand, that we read outloud, Catapults, Knights and Castles, Monks and Monestaries, Charlemegne, Viking Raiders,

The Papal System, The Crusades, Marco Polo, The Feudal System of Government, and so much more. It was good for me to run through this list. We did a lot!

We finished our celebration by attending a History and Geography fair with our local homeschool group. We prepared a display board on the Feudal system of government, showing clothing, food and shelter for each level. Dear son wrote a bit at the top that discussed the advantages and disadvantages of this system as well as a written discussion about the constant battle between Pope and King. Dear daughter discussed the different types of food, clothing and shelter. Youngest son helped to cut out the letters and to find the pictures. It was very interesting and we learned a lot.

We will spend tomorrow taking this apart and putting it in a notebook for safe keeping.

We also displayed oldest son's map overlay project from this unit.

We displayed a model castle that the boys worked on together.

At our table, we served pottage (or chicken and barley soup) from cups, without spoons, roasted chicken wings and fresh braided sweet bread that folks could pull apart with their hands.

Overall this unit has been a great success. I really like Tapestry of Grace as the curriculum for our family. It fits our lifestyle very well.

Blessings, Suzie

The Birthday Boy

2010-04-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

Our youngest son, Joshua just had his 10th birthday. It was quite a fun event in our home.

Ready, Set, Blow!

And he blew them all out!

We have a tradition in our home. For your birthday, you get a home baked cake from mom and your favorite dinner. We call it the birthday supper.
Dear son came to me about a week before his birthday asking for a cake with a tank on it.
We live near a military town so I thought that would be a breeze, however after searching the local party store, I was stumped for ideas. Nothing I could find was what I wanted.
If you have read my blog, you know that my dear grandmother passed away this past July and in my Memior of her I mentioned her passion for decorating cakes. She left me her Kopykake, which is a bit like using an overhead projector, only it points downward, onto a cake. I searched the internet for just the right color book page to make this cake happen. I was 16 years old the last time I used grandma's Kopykake, and now she was no longer here to coach me. It was a very emotional experience, but with great success. Grandma would be proud of me and dear son was very impressed as well. It was a success on both fronts.

Grieving is a really funny thing. You never know when it is gonna hit you and then there are things that you avoid, knowing that they are going to be painful. I think that I was avoiding using this wonderful tool, knowing that it was going to be a painful, not realizing the growth that would take place.
Now how did I get from birthday party to grieving???
Back to birthday party.

Later, our family visited a place in a nearby town called Incredible Pizza. They have lots of unhealthy things to eat, buffet style as well as an entire back room full of game machines, bumper cars, bowling, Indy racetrack and so much more. Lots of fun was had by all.

While going through some of my grandmothers things, I found the little study book that was given to her when she became a Christian, upon her confession and baptism into Christ.
I know she is sitting at the right hand of God.
I look forward to being there with her, some day. It will be glorious!

Blessings for a heavenly day, Suzie

The Value of Hard Work

2010-03-03T13:46:00.001-08:00

Through time, the privilege of homeschooling has provided us several opportunities to teach our children skills and values that seem to be getting lost in our society. The one I am focusing on in today's reading is the value of hard work.

Everywhere we turn, it seems that this is a quality that is going by the wayside. The construction foreman complains that he can't find able bodied people that want to do more than goof off on the job and get paid for it. The businessman has trouble hiring a secretary that will do more than play card games on her computer all day. The mother complains that she doesn't want to make things too difficult for her daughter as it will tarnish her spirit. All these stories are ones that have graced my ears in the last few weeks, so I know these are things you all are hearing as well. It seems now more than ever, we can create successful adults by teaching the value of hard work to our children when they are young.

Here is one way that we have recently put that into practice in our home, with our boys.

While we were in California, there was an awful ice storm that grasped our area of the country. There were many that were without power for several days and most trees were damaged to one degree or another, many were completely destroyed. That was about three weeks ago and we are making the most of our firewood pile for next year.

We have made several loads around town to pick up wood, most of which will need to be cut into firewood size, and adding it to our wood pile. The boys each got a new saw and safety glasses and off to work they go. The greatest challenge as a parent is to get them to work with a willing and grateful heart. I think even a lot of us adults have challenges with that.

At $80.00 a rick, this hard work has saved our family a lot of money for next year. We burn at least two ricks a year.

FIVE REASON TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO WORK HARD

1. God calls us to be hard workers
I Thessalonians 4:11 and II Thessalonians 3:10 come to mind but there are so many others.

2. Physical labor is a constructive way to work off teenage frustrations and excess body fat.
God wants us to take care of our bodies, as well.

3. When a child works for the good of the family, they feel a HUGE part of the unit.
This is essential in a society where families are falling apart.

4. Often, when working hard, we are able to bless someone outside of our own family.

5. In our society, if we help our children to become hard working individuals with a great attitude, they will truly be successful throughout their lives.

These are just a few reasons. There are so many more. I hope you will ponder these things. I have thought about them a lot over the past several weeks, how I can implement this and do better working hard myself.

...That you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you... I Thessalonians 4:11

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. II Thessalonians 3:10

Many encouragements in the Lord,
Suzie

The New Family Member

2010-02-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

I got a new kitten for my birthday! She is so cute and the newest

family member. We adopted her from PetSmart. She is 10

weeks old and is a rescue kitty!

I named her Millie, after my favorite book character.

We don't know what kind of cat she is but she has

some brown in her fur.

See pictures of me and my Millie, below:

Isn't she just the cutest?

Blessings, Naomi

Medieval Times

2010-01-24T22:29:00.000-08:00

While our family was together at Christmas time, we took a field trip excursion to Medieval Times. It was very close to my parents home and we are studying in Year 2, Unit 1 which covers the medieval time period in history. We had ruled out this field trip previously as it was a bit pricey, but we were able to find a coupon allowing our two youngest children free admission. If you are wanting to do this outing for your own family, make sure to look around for coupons. They often have them on their own website.

The boys made knight helmets and daughter made a damsel hat. I also used burlap and rope cutting a slits in it for the head and the boys had a coverlet and a place to store their swords when the rope was tied around their waist. They were great dress up activities to go along with the theme for the night.
Here is a picture of our family, taken by our server who treated us with royalty.

We all enjoyed the food. The meal of soup, roast chicken and ribs, potato, roll, apple turnover and beverage was served on metal plates with no utensils. Everything had to be eaten with your hands. Soup was served in a bowl that was tipped up and drank. It was a bit messy. They served warm lemon towels at the conclusion of the meal, luckily.

The show was exciting. I did not see one empty seat in the entire arena. We were seated in the 'yellow' section and we cheered for the yellow knight. Here he is with the children at the conclusion of the show. Youngest son was in awe of meeting a 'real' knight. He even had to get his autograph:)

The show was full of excitement with lots of pomp as well as sword fights and jousting. They also had demonstrations of dancing horses and fowl both of which would have been included in a medieval fair. The children were impressed with watching the squire do his job. We have talked a lot about a squire and it was great for them to see one in action.

After the show, we went beyond the gift shop where they kept the horses. They were very beautiful, enormous creatures.
Enjoy the photgraphs. Blessings, Suzie E.

Helping with Family

2010-01-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

The children and I are in California helping to care for my parents. We have been here since mid November and are planning on heading home next week. In the next few days I will share a couple of the activities that we have done while we have been here. It has been mostly work, but we had a few days of play along the way.

I continue to solicit your prayers as my parents are ill. My mother has many chronic problems and dad is finishing up his fourth round of chemotherapy next week. God is so good and is answering many prayers in relation to dad's cancer. The doctor expects his cat scan to be clear on February 8th. After that, he will undergo radiation treatments. This has clearly been one of the most trying times of my life, however, I would not change it for anything in the world. I feel that I have grown so much, especially spiritually and as a mother. I look forward to being together as a family, in our home, soon. There is no place like home.

Blessings, Suzie

A Jumping Jack

2009-10-29T11:50:00.001-07:00

A jumping jack was a puppet that was sold at The Great Fairs of the Middle Ages. They were typically carved of wood and painted to make lots of fun for children and adults, alike.

Here is our version of a Jumping Jack puppet. The pattern for this puppet is found in Days of Knights and Damsels, Activity Book by Laurie Carlson.

I enlarged the pattern on my copy machine and copied it on white card stock. The total size of this puppet is 20 inches. Youngest son colored it to his preference and it was put together with brass brads. You need to make the the brads loose enough that the puppet will swing its legs.

Next you thread the string. We used yarn and a large tapestry needle for this part. Tie a knot at the end of the yarn and thread the needle. Make a new hole with the needle above the place where the brad is inserted. Do this on both sides and the legs as well as shown below. Trim all the extra yarn. Finally, connect a long piece of yarn to the top horizontal thread connecting the arms and then connect the same piece of yarn to the bottom horizontal yarn connecting the legs. We decided to thread a few beads on the pull string that was hanging down.

And here it is in action!

Tapestry of Grace is a perfect fit for our family. It has such creative ways to teach about all periods in history. We are having loads of fun with Medieval History and this craft is perfect for my 9 year old son. I don't think I would have come up with this creative idea on my own. Thank you, TOG

Blessings, Suzie

Photography Class

2009-10-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a special post from Naomi, dear daughter. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. I hope you enjoy. Suzie

I have been taking a photography class these past few weeks and these are some of my favorite assignment pictures. They're all about reflection. Take a look:

In this picture it looks like an upside down landscape.

You can see in this picture the neck of the ducks are reflecting on the water.

This is my favorite picture! I love the fall colors on the tree reflecting on the water!
It just seems so pretty.

Jeremiah 16:7-8
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yeilding fruit.

Blessings, Naomi

BEST Robotics Competition

2009-10-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is our homeschool group robotics team video that we created from the events of our 2009 season. It was a fantastic experience. Dh did a great job dubbing it all.

If you want more information or to contact a BEST Robotics hub in your area, go here.

I hope you enjoy. Blessings, Suzie

Fall Is In The Air

2009-10-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

I approach with aniticipation, this time of year. It is, hands down, my favorite time of year.

Fresh pumpkins, mums in full fall color blooms, the smell of hot apple cider, the vibrant fall color of the leaves as they change color, smoke burning in the fireplace, all these things remind me of fall.

We visited a pumpkin patch today, and came home with five pie pumpkins. You know what we will do with those. Several of the moms were asking about how to cook them so that you can use the pumpkin and it is not so watery. Here is how you do it.

Oil a cooking sheet that has sides on it. Cut the pumpkin on half and remove the seeds and pulp. Turn half of the pumpkin upside down on the cooking sheet. I repeat this process for the second half, as I tend to pick large pumpkins. If its a small pumpkin, you can put both on the cookies sheet. Place in a 400 degree oven for 2 hours, or so, until the skin becomes dark brown and blistered. The pumpkin is going to cook by steaming itself. You may think you are burning it but you are not. After it becomes brown, take it out and let it cool. It will look like it is shrivelling as it cools and that if fine. After it is cool, the skin will just peel off and that beautiful pumpkin is soft and workable. I usually process mine in the food processor and then freeze in freezer bags, 2 cups at a time. Don't add the excess liquid from the pan back in as you process, as it may make your pumpkin too thin. It will seem thinner than the canned stuff but it has never caused me a problem. Some recipes may just need to bake a bit longer. Also, the cost effectiveness of cooking your own pumpkin is phenomenal!

Also, don't throw those seeds away. My family loves to munch on them. Here is how I process them.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

4 1/2 cups raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried

2 T cooking oil of choice

1 t salt

sandwich bags

Rinse pulp and strings from seeds. Drain off excess water. Mix seeds, oil and salt in a bowl. Spread on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Let stand for 24-48 hours, stirring once in a while. (I just let the cookie sheet sit in my off oven for a couple days) Remove wax paper and toast seeds in oven for 40 minutes at 325 degrees. Stir once or twice. Drain seeds on paper towel. Store in airtight container.

Another favorite of ours, during this time of year is hot apple cider. Here is how we do that.

Apple Cinnamon Cider

1 gallon of apple juice or cider

3 sticks of cinnamon

1/4 t allspice

5 pieces of candied ginger

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

2 oranges, sliced

Simmer slowly for a wonderful aroma (your nose will be able to tell when it is done) and then serve in mugs. Store leftovers (if there are any) in jar in fridge and reheat in microwave for a wonderful morning treat.

I hope your fall days are delightfully bright.

Blessings, Suzie

The Summer Project

2009-10-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

This past summer we resolved to do something about our garage. We needed to convert it to storage and living space, however, we did not have a lot of funds to do so. I had begun food storage and needed another place to put it, as well as a need to have it organized and be able to know what I had.

It was very frustrating to find tools all over the house and garage, never knowing where to find one when you needed it.

And finally, we were swimming in books.

With these three things, the inside of our home was busting at the seams.

So we formulated a plan for zones in our garage. One area for pantry space, one for books and finally a home for all the tools. We also had a bit of space left over for a children's play area.

When we were all finished, here is how it looked.

One area for tools, home repair and lawn equipment. Now I can find a tool when I want it and mostly I can train the children to put them away when they are finished with them.

This is the area for books storage. Our curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, uses many living books and thus we need a place to store our books. These are not all school books. David has Bible book collections from his father and grandfather and now, my grandpa too. When all these were in our house, I ofen felt as though we were being over run by books. You can also notice my bulk bucket storage is here as well. They are only one bucket deep so I don't have to go digging for the right one. There is an 8ft. by 10ft. space in front of these shelf where the children can play with blocks and build expansive wooden train design. We put an area rug down to make it more comfortable for them to be on it. With the laundry area out here (not pictured) I spend a lot of time out here so now I just clean this each week like the rest of the house.

Note: my yongest child is 9, so there is not a need to gate up the tool area, but if I had smaller children, that would be very easy to do.

This area is the pantry area. It is like a small hallway, formed by using shelving units. There are identical shelving units on each side. These are heavy duty units that we bought several years ago, from Sam's Club. They will hold lots of jars, both full and empty. I did a lot of canning this summer. As you can see, not all of this is food:) I am still in the process of going through a lot of my grandmother's things that we brought home. It is truly a process. This gives me a bit of space to put the boxes while a grieve and ponder a bit. Eventually, this will all be pantry space. I think it will force me to go through things as I am ready, and as I need more space.

As far as cost goes, I think we spent around $100.00 and that was for the supplies to build the book shelving. The pantry shelves, we already had, we just repurposed them. We also spent about $20.00 of that on the hole hanging system for all the tools. This has been a real easy way to get folks around here to put the tools away, just hang them where they go. I can also think of some other ways that this might be useful in the house, painted beautifully for hanging jewelry, if a person had lots of it.

Blessings for a wonderful day,

Suzie

Challenges with a Robot....and life

2009-10-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks and the next few to come have been filled with problems solving in many different areas of life. My two oldest children and dh are part of our local Homeschool Robotics Team. They are building a robot for the BEST Robotics Competition in Oklahoma City in 2 weeks. The children (and dads) have been working tirelessly on this project for four weeks now, two more to go.

Here is our current robot. We finished putting the claw on last night only to find that the arm motor could not lift the claw, it was too heavy. However, do not lose heart. Only a slight modification is needed, a little counterweight on the other end, to help the motor our a bit.

My thoughts tonight are not really about the robot, but life. God is the ultimate designer of us all. Just as with the robot, God is constantly fine tuning us for His glory. He doesn't throw the whole thing away and start over, he just makes fine little adjustments. When challenges come my way, I need to remember that these are just wrenches, thrown my way to help me make adjustment, for the glory of Him.

A verse for today, James 1:2-3

My bretheren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of

your faith produces patience.

Blessings, Suzie

Spelling Test of a Different Kind

2009-09-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

Things have been a bit wild around our house, lately. We are currently doing school six days a week so that we can get it all done and still be involved in a short term extra curricular activity that we have chosen to participate in. So....today I decided to mix things up a bit and do something a bit different....and fun!

I decided to make cookies for the children to take their spelling tests with.

I have had this set of cookie cutter for many years and we have done many wonderful things with them in the past. Today was another wonderful day!

First I made the dough. It is just a simple sugar cookie recipe. I had to be refrigerated for at least 3 hours, so I made it last night and tucked it neatly in the fridge.

This morning when it was time to take spelling test, I told all the children that they needed to write down any extra letters that they needed. For instance, if one of their words needed two or three or four of a certain letter. I had one child that needed 4 E's. We took time out to cut them out, decorate them and bake them.

We decorated them with leftover cookie sprinkles from the pantry.

Then we took our spelling test. I had them write it out as well as spell it with cookies, so that I could have a copy for their folder and they could have another experience of writing the words. So important to help solidify it in their brains.

When daddy got home tonight, I had each of them spell one of their words for him and then we all had fun eating them.

With so much going on in our home, I felt that it was important to do something fun and out of the ordainary. May you be blessed with an idea to break the monotony in your home, if needed.

Blessings, Suzie

Roxaboxen Candy

2009-09-04T11:15:00.001-07:00

Youngest son and I just finished rowing Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and beautifully illustrated by Barbara Cooney.

This is a delightful, imagination probing book about the playful young days of children in Arizona.

This book is filled with wonderful learning experiences.

Our go alongs for this unit included:

My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter by Joseph Parramon

Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasta

Draw, Write, Now Book 3

Evan Moore's Giant Resource Book

and of course the wonderful packed Five In A Row Volume 4.

There are many online resources for this book found here.
If you are not familiar with Five In A Row, it is a fantastic unit study curriculum that is built around great children's literature.

For fun, youngest son, who is in 3rd grade this year, made this candy that looks like glass, of course with mom helping. I would recommend that you read the book to find out the 'treasure' in the candy.

This picture does not truly do it justice.

And here is my little lad, after all had been cleaned up. What a lesson. He learned how to use a candy thermometer and some patience along the way, takes a long time to get to 310 degrees.
Here is the recipe we used.

Roxaboxen Candy

1 cup of hot water, place this in a large stainless steel pan on medium heat
add
3 1/2 cups sugar and
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup

Stir ingredients raising the temperature a little bit at a time til you get to high (on my stove at least). Insert your thermometer and let it boil until it gets to 310 degrees. At that time remove from heat and add
1 tablespoon liquid food coloring (we used blue and red) and
1 tablespoon liquid extract (we used strawberry and coconut)
Pour onto a Pam sprayed 12x18 cookie sheet with edges. Let sit for about 10 minutes then refrigerate for about an hour. Break apart and eat. Just a note, this makes a huge amount of hard candy. Make sure to have some church friends of neighbors to give it away to.

Days like this are a blessing. I am thankful to have the ability to do activities like this with my children.

Blessings for a wonderful day, Suzie

Medieval Europe

2009-08-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

We are entering the Middle Ages in our Tapestry of Grace studies and are having a marvelous time. The boys are thrilled with visions of building catapults and pretending to be Goth Worriors. Daughter is dreaming of princesses. We have begun reading Otto of the Silver Hand as a read aloud for the next few weeks. I really like this book as it helps transport the children to that time period through the eyes of a child, Otto.

Here was one of our first projects for the year. I only assigned this one for Lower Grammar so only youngest son did it.

I used 2 rolls of Pillsbury Sugar cookies however, you could easily make your own sugar cookie receipe to save on money. We used peal and eat licorice for the map outlines and M&M's for the city placement and chocolate chips for the mountain ranges. We used small pieces of licorice to show large rivers such as the Nile River and the Danube River. We made the coloring with edible tempra. You make this with egg yolk mixed with liquid food coloring. For blue, we used one egg yolk with 4 drops of food coloring. To make the brown, we mixed one egg yolk with 5 drops of red, 3 drops of green and 2 yellow. He used a fresh soft paintbrush to brush the 'paint' onto the cookies. I had to replace the M&M's and the chips after we baked as they got lost in all the dough. I also overcooked it quite a bit. I think you can still tell what it is.

After baking and cooling, we used half toothpicks and old computer labels, cut up, for labels. Youngest son made all the labels and included The Nile River, Rome, Appanine Mountains, The Alps, Crete, Sicily, Athens, Paris, London and the British Isles.

As you all are beginning your school year, may you be encouraged by this verse:

All of your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13

May this be a beginning of a wonderful school year.

Blessings, Suzie

Cherries Jubilee

2009-08-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

Summer is rapidly coming to a close and thus the need has arisen to fill my winter pantry with sale/free fruit to get us through to next spring. W**-Mart had a huge sale on cherries a few weeks ago, so we pitted, jellied and froze enough for an army. Actually 27 pints of jelly and 4 pies.

We also picked the peaches from our peach tree and combined with sale peaches from the store, canned 16 quarts of peaches. They will be yummy in cobbler this winter. Nothing like a great peach cobbler in December.

As I shared previously, I lost my grandmother a few months ago and these are activities that I used to watch her do as a young girl, so along with taking care of my own family, I have been grieving that loss as well. It has been a rather difficult but profitable summer.

I pray that the blessings and bounty of the harvesting season are to your family as well.

Blessings, Suzie

Memiors of My Grandma

2009-07-20T19:04:00.001-07:00

My blog has been very ignored in recent weeks as many events have occurred in my life, the most important of which is the passing of my dear grandma Loula.

There are so many things that I remember her for that this blog could not hold them all. I think I inherited my love for animal (especially cats) from her. The first photgraph she has of herself was her sitting on the old porch holding a cat. More than 75 years later, grandpa took this picture of her holding Snowball. On the back of this photo he wrote, "The two dear ones that live with me".

Grandma was a wonderful help meet to grandpa for all of their 72 years of marriage. She stood by him in the ministry for more than half of that time. They were truly a tag team in so many ways. Grandpa also spent time as a carpenter. He loved shaping wood and made many wonderful and practical things for grandma. Grandma was a wonderful crafter also. She specialized in cake decorating, making many birthday cakes for me as a child and the most beautiful wedding cakes you can image. She also became known in our family as a snowflake maker. Annually, she made each child, grandchild, and great-grandchild a small crochet snowflake to hang on their Christmas tree. As you can imagine, that became quite a chore with 5 children married with spouses, 17 granchildren and many, many great grandchildren. I am so thankful as they have always made our Christmases so special. Even if we weren't there to recieve them in person, she made sure to get them to us through the mail. It has always been a highlight of our holiday season.

While grandma was always very submissive to grandpa, I especially like this picture. There is a story behind it. They were at a bridal party and were asked to play The Newlywed Game as they were the couple present that had been married the longest, about 68 years at this time. The question to the husbands was what cartoon character would your wife most likely describe you as: Superman, .... or Daffy Duck. Well you see the answer. Grandpa thought he was Superman. I love the look on grandma's face. At that same party, grandpa reminded me that she knew to the penny how much change he had in his pocket. Amazing how well they knew one another.

Grandma and Grandpa were avid gardeners. They planted this strawberry barrell and kept it going for several years. I remember it fondly, exactly where it stood and also picking strawberries off and eating them without grandpa knowing. Grandma took care during my early tender years before the age of five. I spent a lot of fun times in their back yard.

I will miss my grandma very much. She has made such a defining impact in my life. In many ways, she has shaped me more than any one person, including my parents. As I go through her personal belongings, I am amazed at the ways we are alike that I never knew. I am also amazed at the quality of character that she and grandpa had.

I have been doing a lot of journaling since she became ill, knowing that soon, she was going to go to be with God. There are so many wonderful memories that I fear I will forget. Even down to specific smells, so I have been writing a lot.

I wrote the following in my journal, a few days before she died. It contains just a few of my fondest memories of grandma.

Of all the people in my growing up years, one of my dearest was Grandma. Her given name was Loula, an orphan she was, how blessed I am that God gave her to be my grandma.

My earliest memories of grandma's house were of morning I spent upon the 'devan' crying and watching mommy go off to work. Afternoons were lots of fun riding in the basket of grandma's tricycle. we knew everyone along the way to the market, Little Lake cemetary and finally the park! My pal was suzie dog.

The service grandma showed to me in those early years became a strong part of who I am to the day. Thank you grandma for loving me.

As years went by, to grade school I went and grandma and grandpa moved to ......... and then to .................. I remember Christmas at the big white house with the front steps and basement. We went to the forest to cut down our tree and brought it back home. There was a HUGE garden next door that another trip we spent picking, snapping and canning green beans. Another place, I remember picking blacberries by the railroad tracks. We must have canned 50 quarts as we had everything blackberry for several years, even blackberry ice cream.

During summers when mom and dad were not teaching, we spent long days fixing up the old house for the next renter, always hoping grandma and grandpa would move back HOME! The funnest places were the side yard garden, gated on both ends, behind the little house and of course the bathroom in the garage. It was a little house but fulled with so many big memories.

In my high school years grandma continued to give to me. Back the old house, she would often invite me over for an impromptu cake lesson. She so patiently taught me skills of her trade. I also remember our freezer, often being full of bread that grandmother had made.

You see, if I had to sum up grandma's life, I would use the words Faithful Servant. She humbly and faithlfully served her husband, her children, her grandchildren like me, members of the Church, members of the community through extension groups and cake classes, her neighbors and everyone she met. She did this quetly with EVER complaining. Mostly grandma was a faithful servant of God, She will hear 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of my rest."

Please pray for me and my family as I travel through this difficult time.

Blessings, Suzie

Teenage Birthday Happenings

2009-05-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

OK, It's official! We now have a teenager in our home, and we are so BLESSED!

We spent all weekend celebrating his 13th birthday. We really wanted it to be special.
On friday evening we had a small family party. We had his favorite meal of Lasagna, french bread and Granny's fruit salad

Next we opened a few gifts. He really, really, wanted an NXT robot for his birthday. We had so much fun with this present as he was so anxious for days before as to whether we had gotten this for him. We kept saying, I don't know, that is such an expensive gift! He wanted it so bad that he even offered to use his own money to buy half of it, if we would pay for the other half for his birthday. He was very surpised. Let us just say that there were tears of joy!

Earlier in the year, he had also requested a 'special' ring, do dh and I decided to do a True Love Waits ceremony, just with our family. It really turned out to be more of a devotional but he now has his ring as a constant visual reminder of his committment to God in so many ways. Our little ceremony included the following five elements:

Your Committment to God
Matthew 22:37
"Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"

Your Commitment to Yourself
Matthew 22:39
"And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself "

Your Committment to your family
Phillippians 4:5
"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near"

Your Committment to your friends
John 15:13
"Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

Your Committment to your future mate and children
II Timothy 2:22
"Flee the evil desire of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith , love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart"

It was beautiful. I cried. I remeber so fondly bringing him home from the hospital, he was less than 6 pounds and now he towers over me saying "I love you, mom" in the manliest, deep voice you ever heard. It brings me so much joy to know that he will grow up to make a difference in the kingdom of God.

On Sunday afternoon, he had a friend birthday party at the bowling alley.

The birthday cake was a surprise and he really liked it, of course what techie kid wouldn't!

Overall, we had a wonderful birthday weekend, full of many, many blessings.

Suzie

What A Successful Grocery Trip Looks Like

2009-05-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

For many months, I have been visiting several blogs on frugal living and have tried to start saving a bit of my own cash, rather than just sitting around watching everyone else do it:)
One of the ways I have been doing this is through forming my menu plans from coupons and grocery sale adds that come in the newspaper on Wednesdays. The children and I currently spend about 2 hours a week clipping, printing, folding and organizing coupons. Today, all the work seemed to have paid off. It was a great day at the grocery store. Here is what I purchased, all at the same store, I might add:

Special K blueberry flavor - 2 boxes
Oscar Meyer Lunchables with drinks - 4 items
Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers - 2 boxes
Kraft Lowfat Cheddar Cheese - 2 7oz bags
Kraft Velveeta Shells and Cheese - 2 boxes
Wholly Guacamole - 2 containers
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies - 4 rolls
EZ Mac cups - 4 of them
Kellogs Rice Krispies - 2 boxes
Kellogs Raisin Bran - 2 boxes
Yoplait Yogurt - 12 containers
Kraft BBQ sauce - 2 bottles
Hunts Ketchup - 2 bottles
Kellogs Apple Jacks - 1 box
Ziplock Freezer Bags - 2 boxes
Kraft fat free cheese - 2 7oz. bags
Peter Pan Low Fat Crunchy Peanut Butter - 1 jar
Capri Sunrise Tropical Fruit Drinks - 1 box
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - 2 rolls, 8 count each
Lean Cusine Meals - 4 of them
2 whole chickens
Kellogs Frosted Flakes - 1 box
Kellogs Fruit Loops - 1 box
Country Crock Macaroni and Cheese - 1 container
Reisers Potato Salad - 1 3# container

All this for $65.94 and a savings (according to the register receipt) of 108.08. I also got back a register printed coupon for $1.25 off my next puchase and several dollars to go towards my Supercenter Mail in Coupon form which means when I spend $20.00 purchasing items I would purchase anyway, I will get $35.00 more dollars in coupons. Some of the great deals included Kellogs cereals for $.50 cents a box and Kraft BBQ sauce for free as well as Ez Mac cups for free and Velveeta Shells and Cheese for free.
I was able to do this with using coupons I currently had and matching them with only items that were on sale. I made a rule to only purchase items that were both on sale and that I had a coupon for. The only exception this visit was the 2 chickens which were marked down for quick sale (ie: they expire tomorrow). I have been learning how to do this over the past several months. If you would like more information about couponing (is this a word??) and especially internet coupons, visit www. couponmom.com. She has links on her home page to where you can download internet coupons. Most coupons have a limit of 2 coupons per computer. She is teaching me a lot about saving money.

Blessings for a frugal day, Suzie

Music Contest With Surprises

2009-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, oldest son competed in a state music competition. We travelled to a nearby large city for the competition. He did very well, taking an honorable mention position. For a state competition, this is quite a feat. He is becoming very accomplished in piano. He has taken lessons from Ms. Hickman for five years now. She is very sweet and so talented musically.

As we were finished and congratulating oldest son, we were walking around on campus and found some very interesting surprises.

From a distance this tree is very beautiful....

However, upon closer inspection you find....

...shoes....hanging from it...what?
I don't know the tradition of this but it might be fun to know...or then maybe not, this is a university...although being a Christian University it might be a Godly tradition, maybe a visual on Romans 10:15? Whatever the reason, it was very interesting and eclectic, to say the least!

We also came upon this beautiful fountain. I took pictures of the children to celebrate the occasion. They turned out so wonderful!

Our musical scholar!

Our princess, or SMILES as her daddy calls her (fits her well, don't ya think)

And, youngest son, in a pose for me.

We finished the day with a cheap dinner from Taco Bell and then on to home. I love days like this when we spend time having fun with family and the camera.

In all you do together, have fun!

Blessings, Suzie

Book Review: The Preacher Had 10 Kids - Frances Bradsher

2009-04-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, we attended a large library book sale. I was mostly looking for childrens' books, however, this one caught my eye. It was the only one that I picked up for myself and I am glad I did. I really liked this book. It is a warm, delightful, but easy read. It documents a time very different than our own. It chronicles the life of young Frances who is the youngest of 10 children of Jeremiah Taylor Cherry, a Methodist Minister in Kentucky and his wife. They moved every year of this childs' young life. That was they way they did with preacher in those days. It was a new city, parsonage, and school. Everything about her life was turned upside down every year. Despite all this, she seemed so contented. The story reflects many of the people, places and friends she made. It chronicles the difficulty in leaving all this behind and the adventure of a newness. One place they lived, you could only get there by boat, imagine that! Some of the parsonages were inhabitable and others, not so much. Her mother made sure that it was clean, at least. It chronicles a time when folks took care of one another as there was no government help. Churches took care of their own and everyone belonged to a church. One chapter is called 'And Turnips filled the barn' and she discusses the many ways that her mother made turnips edible during this drought year when turnips was all folks had to pay the preacher with. In my own mothers' life, I recall her telling of her father, who was a curcuit preacher in Kansas, who would be paid by jars of green beans, maybe a pair of shoes if there happen to be a shoe man in the congreagation and whatever pennies were in the collection plate. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much is that it reminded me of some of the things that my dear mother may have gone through as a child. Anyway, it is a delightful read.
Blessings, Suzie

Ham and Broccoli Casserole

2009-04-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have recently begun heavy coupon use in a challenge to myself to feed my family of 5 (including a teen boy and 2 tweens) on $100.00 per week, inlcuding toiletries and cleaning products. It has truly been a challenge and I have done about $120.00 per week.

This week, the local sale paper was a bit slim on the great deals so I had to find recipes that I could use with the things I had on hand. Along with all this, I am now a Weight Watcher and am counting points:)

So for dinner last night, I made this recipe. I got the original recipe from here and modified it to decrease the fat and points. This recipe made 8 HUGE servings at 7 points each.

Ham and Broccoli Casserole

20 oz. chopped frozen broccoli (I think I used more than that)
2 cups cooked brown rice
6 Tbsp Smart Balance Light Spread
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups 2% milk
8 oz chopped ham (frozen, leftover from Easter ham)
1/2 cup Sargento Chipolte cheese(from my cheese deal this week, $2.50/pound)

Cook rice and set aside. Cook broccoli and drain. Spoon rice into sprayed 9x13 pan and then put broccoli on top. Melt butter in skillet. Measure bread crumbs and sprinkle a bit of melted butter spread onto crumbs and mix well. To skillet add onions and cook til soft. Add flour, salt and pepper, stirring constantly til bubbly. Add milk and stir til slightly thickened. Add ham and then pour it all over the broccoli/rice mixture. Sprinkle cheese then bread crumbs on top. Bake 350 for 30 minutes or til warm all the way through. Let set for 5 minutes before serving.

Simple but relatively easy meal, using things I had on hand. Everyone liked it. That is a Blessings, Suzie

Birthday Pictures for Our Young Lady

2009-04-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Because the children are home schooled, we don't get school pictures. Instead, we get birthday pictures. We go to Sears because the same lady has been taking my childrens' pictures since they were babies. She is very good and all the children are comfortable with her. They typically also have really good coupons in the springtime, meaning less $$. That is ALWAYS good!

I cannot believe how grown up Dear Daughter looks. She is growing into a beautiful young lady.

Enjoy, Suzie

Leadership Training for Christ

2009-04-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

In our congregation of Christians, we have a program called Leadership Training for Christ. In fact, many congregations of the Lord's people all over the United States participate in this event on Easter weekend each year. There are several locations across the country, but we traveled to Rogers, Arkansas. All of the children in our congregation participated in Bible Bowl or Bible Quiz and did service challenge. They have been studying several hours a week since September for these events. It was a lot of fun and the children learned a tremendous amount. This years' theme was Life, Light and the Word and the Bible bowl/quiz questions were all take from the gospel of John.

Dear daughter received a gold medal in signing for the deaf. It is a beautiful hymn! She is becoming very proficient in ASL and seeks to teach the gospel to a hearing impaired person some day.

Oldest son recieved a gold medal in song leading. See it here.

And here is youngest son also doing song leading. He earned a gold medal also.

We arrived home in time for services sunday morning, however very tired.

My prayer is that the boys will grow up to be strong leaders in the Lord's Church and that dd will be grow up to be a wonderful help meet to a man who will be a church leader.

If you want to learn more about Leadership Training for Christ you can go here.

Blessings to you and your family as you find creative ways to train your children in church leadership,
Suzie

The Rainbow

2009-04-14T09:48:00.001-07:00

The other evening, as we were driving home, we saw this amazing rainbow. It stretched from one end of the sky to the other. The picture does not do it justice at all, but I tried to capture it.

What does a rainbow remind you of?
Recently we have been studying how rainbows are simply prismatic light created by water and sunlight. The children have had fun drawing and memorizing all the colors of the rainbow.
The rainbow is an amazing testimony to the power and awesomeness of God. He created it as a sign of his covenant that he would never flood the earth with water again. Genesis 9:13.
It is so amazing to me that some can simply see a rainbow as a scientific 'phenomenon' and not give honor and glory to the Creator while others see His awesomeness in His creation.
Christ had similar challeges with the people of His time, as well.

'Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand' Matthew 13:13 (NKJV)

May your day be full of blessings and rainbows,
Suzie

We're Goin to a Tea Party

2009-04-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

A Taxpayer Tea Party, that is!

If you want to find one near you , they will be happening all over the country tomorrow,
April 15, 2009.

People are organizing at a grassroots level to peacefully show how frustrated they are with excessive spending and our representatives not listening to our needs.

Our local one is going to be exciting complete with Tea Party Music
and more Tea Party Music
a speaker, and time for folks to have their own say in the microphone.

Here are some of the signs the children and I made.

I have not used my blog in the past as a political forum but have recently realized that my political stands are as basic as my stands about being a Christian. As Christians, we must begin standing up for our rights, or they will be taken away. I hope this is an area that all of us (including me) can evaluate and make a priority in our lives.

The children will also be participating. They helped make signs and it was so appropriate that we are attending TeenPact classes next week at our state capitol. As part of our assigned preparation for this class, we are reading portions of Real Citizenship by Tim G. Echols.
It is very appropriate that the children learn how to make a difference. So along with a Tea Party, we are having 'school' on the City Hall lawn! Homeschooling is AMAZING!

Blessings for a thoughtful day, Suzie

A Pirate and a Birthday

2009-04-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Youngest Son celebrated his 9th birthday this past week and we had a big friend birthday party for him on Saturday.

His cake turned out magnificent, and tasted wonderful too.
I got the ideas for this cake from here
I covered the top of the cake with m&m's so that I could put some non edible items on top of the cake without them touching the icing. The kids loved the m&m's, too!
The inside was 2 funfetti cake mixes baked in a half sheet pan and then divided into 3 layers.
The chocolate icing recipe was from here and the white buttercream icing is my grandmother's recipe. She decorated cakes for over 40 years.

Grandma's Buttercream Icing-makes a large mixers worth

1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon water
1 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
2 large egg whites
or
1 teaspoon meringue powder
1 teaspoon clear vanilla

Beat powdered milk and water til thick and then add shortening, salt and beat til creamy. Add sugar. Beat until heavy consistency adding more or less if necessary. Add egg whites and beat til good and fluffy. Add clear vanilla extract. Store unused portion covered and refrigerated. Will last a long time in the refrigerator.
For our meal we served BBQ chicken wings, hot dogs in a blanket with katsup and mustard, potato chips, and root beer in the bottle.

We all dressed up like pirates, including mom and dad, and several of the guests put on tattoos. We had eye patches, swords, belts, and tattoos for all the children.
It was a blast of fun!

Oldest son, daughter and I send youngest son on a treasure hunt. The most important thing he wanted at his birthday party was a pinata...so the great find at the end was a treasure chest pinata! Some of the clues included things like...Shiver me timbers,me ship can be freezin' if we had one of these, it'd be mighty pleasin. This clue was taped to the fireplace. We found most of the ideas from Birthday Party Ideas.

Here is youngest son dressed in all his pirate garb. Yesturday at church, one of the other boys that was at the party came up to me and said, that was the best party I ever been to. It truly was a lot of fun. I even had a good time. It was so much fun to use all the pent up creativity especially to bless my family.

May you your mates have a blessed day, Suzie

Canning Cuties

2009-03-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Does this box look familiar?

These are mandarin oranges from my local warehouse club where we get most of our fresh produce.

The children helped to peel and get all the stringy stuff off which is important so as to not make the citrus bitter. My theme today is 'Many hands make light the task'. Everybody pitched in and helped while we watched an old b&w movie. We were done within the hour.

I have never canned citrus before so I explored the internet and found some information on how to can citrus here. There was a choice to use orange juice or a light sugar water solution. I have tried it both ways and the sugar water makes the fruit much sweeter, however, I can use the leftover orange juice to make pumpkin bread from my frozen pumpkin so there is no waste.

I cold pack canned them and then added the boiling sugar water or juice, placed the lids and rings then water bath processed for 30 minutes.
Now for the math, which, by the way, I am not very good at. These are very rough figures:)

1 - 11oz store bought can mandarin oranges - actual weight, syrup drained is 6 oz

1 pint home canned mandarin oranges - actual weight after canning, juice drained is 14 oz

The pints contained more than double the actual weight of store bought oranges and very little juice (less than 1/2 cup)

For our calculations, we will use the pints at 12 oz.

In order to buy the same amount of store bought canned oranges, we would need to buy 22 cans at .89 cents each would cost $19.58.

10# of mandarin oranges made 11 pints and cost $13.76 for the oranges. Add to that, the cost of orange juice $1.88 and lids $1.79 and we are up to $17.43 (I already had jars and rings).
There is still a cost savings but consider how mandarin oranges are commercially processed. You can read about it here. Lye is caustic! Like crossed bones kind of caustic!

I am beginning to use my home canner more as I realize the cost savings and health benefits can be significant.

Blessings to you this beautiful spring day,

Suzie

Mickey in the Kitchen

2009-03-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

A good friend called me on my cell phone last week asking if I liked cast iron cooking. I really do, however, it is hard since I have a glass top stove. She asked if I ever baked with cast iron, of course. So she brought me this little gift that she found for a few dollars at the local Salvation Army store. What a find, eh!

It was brand new, still had the tag hanging on it and hadn't been seasoned yet. I spent yesturday seasoning it and cooling it. For lunch today, I made corn muffins in them. They turned out so cute. Don't you agree! Here is my CORN MUFFIN recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1 can creamed corn

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk or buttermilk

Preheat oven. Grease muffin pan. Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs, creamed corn and salt. Mix in flours, cornmeal, and baking powder. Mix. Stir in milk. Spoon into pans. Bake 20-25 minutes til lightly browned on top. This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins and made 8 Mickey Mouse Muffins. This recipe is a sweet corn muffin recipe. If you like your cornbread sweet, you will love this recipe.

Have a sweet day, Suzie

6 x 6 Meme

2009-03-12T13:03:00.001-07:00

My friend, Elaine at Commotion from the Ocean of Life tagged me. So I went purusing my 6th folder and my 6th photo, and here it is. I must say I am somewhat embarrassed at the condition of my home, for all the world to see, however, this is how it looks most often, played in. I am blessed to have such creative children.

This is youngest son playing the piano after having made this wonderful train all over the living room floor. This room is the heart of our home. Maybe sometime in the future I can share some other rooms in our home.

Blessings for a wonderful day, Suzie

Frugal Breakfasts

2009-03-05T22:01:00.000-08:00

One fun thing we have discovered recently in the name of frugality relates to our breakfast time. One of the simplest and most inexpensive breakfast items you can make is oatmeal. We use freshly pressed oats but old fashioned oats from the grocery store are just fine too. Boil

3 cups water and add 1 cup oats and a dash of salt. Reduce heat and cover for about 8 minutes, til all the water is absorbed. We add maple syrup and canned low sugar fruit to ours but you could add just about anything including dried fruit,

brown sugar, and even chocolate syrup, YUM!

Now, what to do with those leftovers. In the past, I would have just pitched them, yucky,

sticky, leftover oatmeal.

WAIT, STOP, DON'T DO THAT!

Here are two recipes that your family will love,

and the ingredients are probably in your pantry already.

Oatmeal Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour (we use whole wheat but white is find, too)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 t salt

2 t baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup oil or butter

1 egg

1/2 cup leftover oatmeal

Combine and divide n muffin pan. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Sift dry ingredients. Add softened butter, applesauce and eggs. Beat til creamy. Stir in oatmeal. Drop on baking sheet. Bake 375 for 12-15 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

Now the children are asking for oatmeal in the morning so that they can have leftovers for afternoon snack, How funny:)

Blessings for a wonderful and frugal day, Suzie

Counting Our Blessings

2009-03-02T20:38:00.001-08:00

With the stock market crashing, unemployment at an all time high, and so many depressed about tomorrow, WHAT IS IT YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR?

I find myself often humming this little hymn Count Your Blessings. Many Sundays we sang this song in worship. It is fixed in my mind. For that I am thankful. It has helped me through many difficult times.

When upon lifes billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings see what God has done

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings see what God has done.

When you look at others with their land and gold,

See that Christ has promised you His wealth untold

Count your many blessings every doubt will fly

And you will be singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings name them one by one,

Count your blessings see what God has done

Count Your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessing see what God has done.

So, what blessings has God provided in your life lately?

Have we taken the time to be thankful or are we full of worry?

I know that I am often full of worry and then that little song comes into my head!

See what a blessing it is!

Here is my blessing list, and the more I think about it, the longer it gets. I am so blessed!

I am thankful for my dh. He is the strong but silent type and supports me in every imaginable and Godly way possible.

I am thankful for my children. God has blessed me with three wonderful children. Do we have our moments and even sometimes days, YES!

I am thankful for Christ who died for my sins so that I can focus on heaven. I don't have to focus on all the things that I cannot do anything about, I can focus on him. I feel sometimes like the Thessalonians did, they wanted Jesus to return, and quickly.

I am thankful for the inquisitiveness to ask a lot of questions and think and reason through the answers. There are so many things that folks simply take for granted, that I, because I seem to question everything, have made different choices, and thus, I feel, our family is in a better place.

I am thankful for parents that raised me in a Godly home. It was not perfect, but what home is? They strove to be Godly examples and that is what is most important.

I am thankful for our church family. They are a Godly group of people committed to spreading the gospel, just as they did in the first century church.

I am thankful for a home just big enough for us. If my home was any bigger, it could become a distraction to keep clean. What we have is a perfect size for our family.

I am thankful for God's provision of food. While things have been difficult in this manner recently, none of us have gone hungry.

I am thankful that I live in America. While it is not perfect, I can still worship God, raise my family as my own, and live in peace. I cannot think of another country that I would want to be a citizen.

I am thankful for the ability to use my eyes. We attended a Blindness Seminar the other day and were amazed at this lady who could do everything a seeing person did, just in another way. I am truly thankful for my eyesight.

I am thankful for the ability to use my hands. My grandmother has hands that are crippled with arthritis and she can no longer use them to do the things she loves to do. I can love my children, garden, quilt, sew, cook, clean, and so many other things that I don't often think of.

As a faithful child of God, I do not need to focus on the here and now, because I know there is a place prepared for me in heaven. Jesus emphasized that over and over in His parables.

If you are not a child of God, I would encourage you to read the Safety Chain part I and part II. Part one will show you from God's Word, how to become a child of His, and part two will show you from God's Word what His Church looks like.

During difficult times, these words of Jesus have brought me so much comfort.

"Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Matthew 6:25-26 (NKJV)

May the blessing of thankfulness fill your day, Suzie

Elegy in E - Piano Competition

2009-02-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

Oldest son competed in Gold Cup Festival Auditions and was the winner in his upper elementary piano level. He will compete at the state level in April.

Take a listen...

He first appeared before a judge, privately and then went on to a play-off recital. This video was take during that recital. You know when you want something so bad for your child and how you feel when they achieve it....well, that is the feeling I have. He didn't do so well last year and was full of determination this year. I am so proud and happy for him.

We celebrated with dinner at Golden Corral and an evening of family games, what fun!

It has been an amazingly busy day. We are getting ready for the Lord's Day tomorrow.

May you all be tremendously blessed as you worship Him,

Suzie

I Got Bit By The Gardening Bug

2009-02-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

I can't help it! Every year the same thing happens. Dh says, "So honey, what do you want to plant in the garden this year?" and I usually respond, "Oh, I don't think I have time for a garden this year, after all we have school, music, church activities......and what about the expense..."

All the while that seed has been planted..in my head. So today, I had a little gift that was given to me by our good friend Nick, who loves flowers, too. He blessed us with this little kit that has been sitting on my window sill since December, waiting for springtime. Well.....springtime is here, almost?

So I put together the kit and had lots of seeds leftover so I dug around in my gardening bins and found some leftover peat pots and potting soil and now I will have lots of herbs I hope. OK, that was when the gardening bug bit! It must have been the dirt, I love playing in it!

Dh must have been delighted (he loves to garden but has difficulty also finding the time) when I telephoned him in the middle of the day to ask, so how inexpensively can we do our garden this year? Earlier in the week we had looked at the Earthtainer method but decided that was too much outlay this year. I also had a good friend suggest using things that we already had, just implement the ideas in different form. That too, seemed like a lot of thought work. At dh's suggestion, I just went out to do some spring clean up in the flower beds and look what I found!

My Purple Coneflower or Echinacea. I have planted many over time however, I have never had any overwinter and survive til the next spring, yea!

Of course, the beautiful Daffodils, signaling that spring is almost here.

This is my Blooming Magnolia. Last year was the first time it had ever bloomed and it has been planted here for at least 3 years. It is covered with a bloom at the end of each stem and will be in full color in a couple of weeks, yea!

These are some Hollyhocks that I planted last spring and I thought they had died as they never came up. Guess what, the aren't dead, yea!

And one lone strawberry!

And of course, the tulips are peeking out of their beds!

"While the earth remains,
Seed time and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease."
Genesis 8:22 NKJV

May God bless all of your endeavors this day, Suzie

Cream Soup Recipes

2009-02-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

In my previous post The Frugal Kitchen I posted a recipe for fake cream soup that is healthful, yummy and economical. I absolutely replace it everywhere and in any recipe that calls for any flavor of cream soup.

Here are a couple of my family's favorite recipes that are easy, economical, and yummy.

Ham and Potato Casserole

This recipe is one that I call a 'scrap casserole' recipe. I use the basic cream soup mixture, potatoes, sour cream and cheese and then fill in with whatever I have on hand. I have used chicken instead of ham and have substituted corn flakes for dry bread crumbs, crackers, whatever. Personally, I think finding and using these type of recipes is the key to learning to use what we have rather than running out and buying more (something I sooo want to get better at). The simple life for me!

2# frozen, cubed hash browns

2 recipes of cream soup mixture (see previous post)

3 cups water

16 oz sour cream

2 cups cooked ham

1/3 cup green onion (or dry chives work well too)

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 t pepper

2 cups corn flakes (or crushed crackers work well too)

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine all ingredients minus corn flakes and melted butter. Mix well. Place in well oiled/buttered/sprayed pans. If baking for dinner, combine cornflakes and melted better and mix well. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake 1 hours. If freezing reserve this part for when you place it in the oven and bake 1 and 1/2 hours from frozen. This recipe makes one huge 9x13 or two 8x8 pans. I usually make one for dinner and freeze one for another time. It freezes well. I usually serve it with a salad.

White Chicken Enchilada Slow-Cooker Casserole

1 whole chicken boiled and picked (or you can use canned)

(I only use 1/2 of the chicken and use the rest for another meal...cheap, nobody knows, shhh)

2 recipes dry cream soup mix

3 cups water

2 cloves garlic

16 oz sour cream

7 oz. can of diced chilies

10 flour tortillas

4 cups cheese (Monterrey Jack is what the recipe calls for, but I just use what I have on hand)

10 oz can black olives - sliced, optional

Cover chicken with water and simmer for several hours. Cool. Pick meat. Cut in small pieces. In medium saucepan combine dry cream soup mix and water. Heat stirring over medium heat until a little thick. Add chicken, garlic, sour cream and chilies. Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray and begin layering tortillas (cut in half or torn in pieces), chicken mixture, cheese and olives if desired. I unusually make 4 layers but you can do as many as you want and have ingredients for. If you wanted to stretch this recipe, you could add another recipe of cream soup mix and have more for less...if you know what I mean. And best of all this is a slow cooker recipe. I set it on LOW for 4-5 hours. Instant dinner that your family will love! I usually serve with a salad and fresh bread or rolls.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Proverbs 31. I have a piece of needlework hanging in my kitchen that references a portion of those verses. Let me share with you the best part.

Proverbs 31:27-31

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, and thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful,and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Blessings to you as you minister to your families in these difficult economic times,

Suzie

Book Fun!

2009-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

Yesturday, we attended an extrmemly large book sale in the largest metropolitian area near out home, and wooaa, was it fun! We came home with about 75 new books for our library. Here is some of what we bought.

Wee Gillis - Munroe Leaf, FIAR

The First Thanksgiving Feast - easily adapted into TOG curriculum

The Viking Press - Rachael Wright TOG go along

Eating the Plates - Lucille Recht Penner, a TOG go along

Baseball Saved Us - Ken Mochizuki, a FIAR go along

Pegasus - Marianna Mayer, a TOG literature book

Robin Hood - Niel Philip, a TOG literature book

The Illustrated Book of Myths-Neil Philip, a TOG go along, used many weeks and years.

Old Testament Days - Nancy Sanders, a TOG history/activity book, used many weeks in year 1

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth - Kathryn Lasky, a TOG core history book

Cleopatra - Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema - a TOG core history book

Chanticlear and the Fox - Barbara Cooney - a TOG literature book

Where was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May - Jean Fritz, a TOG core history book

Johann gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press - Bruce Koscielniak, TOG core history book

Rembrandt by Mike Venezia, easily adapted into TOG curriculum

What if you met a Knight - Jan Adkins, easily adapted into TOG curriculum

Canada - Elma Schemenauer, easily adapted into TOG curriculum

The Babbs Switch Story - Darlene Bailey Beard, our state history go along

Wagons Ho, A Diary of the Oregon Trail - Cynthia Mercati, easily adapted into TOG

Growing Up In Colonial America - Tracy Barrett, easily adapted into TOG

We the People, The Way We Were 1783-1793 - Suzanne Hilton, easily adapted into TOG

When this Cruel War is Over - Duane Damon, easily adapted into TOG

Who Settled the West - Bobbie Kalman, a TOG go along

Give Me Liberty - Russell Freedman, easily adapted into TOG

Celtic Fairy Tales - Neil Philip, just for fun, dd loves poetry and we will be studying about the Celts soon.

Usborne Introduction to Biology, great science book!

The Roman Empire - Peter Chrisp, a TOG go along

Esther's Story - Diane Wolkstein, a TOG go along

A Medieval Feast - Aliki, easily adapted into TOG

Georgia O'Keeffe - Mike Venezia, I love these books. They are great to have around for reference.

Tales from Shakespeare - Marcia Williams, easily adapted into TOG, this is a cool book, Shakespeare in cartoon strips, great for youngest son!

The Roman News - Andrew Langley and Philip DeSouza, easily adapted into TOG

Paul Revere - Illustrated by Charles Santore, easily adapted into TOG, may even use for compare/contrast discussion as I have several versions of this poem by different illustrators.

Wise Guy, The Life and Philosophy of Socrates - M.D.Usher, easily adapted into TOG

The World's Great Explorers, Henry the Navigator - Charnan Simon, easily adapted into TOG

A Long and Uncertain Journey, The 27,000 mile voyage of Vasco da Gama 0 Joan elizabeth Goodman - easily adapted into TOG

I just wanted to mention how easy it is to swap books with Tapestry of Grace (TOG), our core homeschool curriculum. TOG does a very excellent job of choosing core books that are the best living books available, however if there is another title that I feel is better for our family, or in this case, cheaper ($1.00 per book), I can switch them out very easily. That flexibility is built into the curriculum. Isn't that wonderful!

The best part of our book sale adventure was to see the children and dh having so much fun. They all searched for titles of their own. Is was so rewarding to see youngest son, who is just mastering the art of reading, tay up late last night (or early this morning) to finish his chapter book. I love homeschooling!

May you have a blessed day, Suzie

Hannibal and His Elephants - Elephant Carving

2009-02-19T12:55:00.000-08:00

This week in our Tapestry of Grace Unit, we have been studying about Hannibal and the elephants that he attempted to take across the Pyrenees and Alps Mountains to Italy in an attempt to conquor Rome. This was the second Punic War. He began his journey in Carthage with an estimated 30 elephants and 60,000 men. By the time he got to northern Italy, he had lost more than half of his men and only had one elephant left. Cold weather and small tribal attacks depleated his army.

I thought it would be fun to carve elephants out of soap. We used Ivory, cheap and gentle. We have a wonderful book called Pioneer Crafts by Barbara Greenwood and Heather Collins that have really good instructions and pictures for soap carving. There are other great things in thsi book as well.

For cutting instruments, I had several 'dull' sharp knives that we had bought at the dollar store years ago. They were sharp enough to cut the soap, but not a finger. Case knives would also work well.

The picture that we were looking at and using as a model is here.

I just used google images 'elephant carving' and picked the best one for us.

Here is what we got when we were finished.

Just a bit of a warning, this is a messy project, but we all had a great time, lots of fun! The children even used some leftover soap bars to make some other things with their creativity. Dear daughter made a camera (she is camera happy these days) and they are currently in the bathtubs putting all the shavings to good use.

Blessings for a fun and wonderful art project at your house today. Suzie

The Frugal Kitchen

2009-02-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

I too, like many have been working hard to cut the cost of my family's grocery bill each week. As I have talked about in previous posts, making your own yogurt is extremely cost effective. You can read about how to make your own yogurt here. You can grow your own sprouts very easily and for pennies. In the winter months, it can bring some green into your life, too. You can read about that here. A few weeks ago, I visited our local bulk warehouse club and they had on clearence (a few days before expirations) whole chickens for $.29/per pound. I bought as many as I could afford and store. Needless to say, my deep freeze is full of several months worth of chicken. A chicken often will provide our family with 2 meals. One of meat and salad, the other I use the stock and leftover vegetables and meat to make a soup, adding additional vegetables and rice or pasta to complete the soup. We have also stopped using ground beef and have replaced its use with ground turkey that I can buy at the bulk warehouse club for around $2.00/per pound. It is the name brand rather than the off brand that I am not comfortable buying. I have also cut the amount of meat from the recipe portion in half, meaning if a recipe calls for 1#, I will add 1/2# instead. No one has noticed a difference in any of the recipes I make. One other thing that I have done is replaced our use of canned cream soups with a low cost recipe. Besides being healthy, the cost is just pennies compared to buying cans of creamed soup at the store.

Here is the recipe I use:

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 1/2 T cornstarch

3/4 t dry onion

dash of pepper

1/8 t dry basil

1/8 t dry thyme

1/2 t chicken broth powder (I use one without MSG)

Combine all ingedients and mix well. Use in recipes in place of condensed cream of chicken. To reconstitute - in saucepan combine mixture with 1 1/4 cups cold water. Stir over low heat til thickened.

Variations include:

Cream of Mushrooms soup-add 1/2 cup freshly chopped mushrooms

Cream of Celery soup-add 1/2 cup minced celery

Cream of Potato soup-add 1 cup diced, cooked potatoes

Cream of Broccoli soup-add 1 cup broccoli, cooked

Cream of Asparagus-add 1 cup asparagus, cooked

I usually make the basic recipe up ahead of time and store them in my pantry to use when needed. I have several recipes that I use them in including Potato casserole and Cheezy rice and broccoli casserole. Maybe I can share those recipes another time.

It is extremely important to me that I plan wisely the monetary gain that my husband brings into our home. I have been working hard and getting better at it. Blessings to your family as you seek to use HIS blessings in HIS ways.

Suzie

Salt Dough Map of Italy

2009-02-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

We have begun our study of the Roman Republic and

youngest son designed this salt dough map last week as part of his schoolwork.

Salt dough is very easy to make. He measured and mixed it himself. He used the lid of a shoe box as his palate. I have heard of others using pizza boxes.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup white flour

1 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients to the consistency of play dough.

I just used leftover acrylic paints for him to finish the job.

Didn't he do a wonderful job? I think so.

Blessings to you and your school, Suzie

A Valentines Celebration

2009-02-14T08:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dinner was steak on the grill and mashed potatoes with sparkling grape juice for everyone. Daddy toasted to God who gave us all of our wonderful blessings. After we ate, daddy read

from I Corinthians 13.

The children each got a valentine basket. Think I spent about $40.00 in all for our Valentines Day. Most items came from Dollar Tree, including the baskets (which we 2/$1.00) and most of the small toys. We also each bought each other valentine cards, like the would do in public school, and exchanged those. It was a blast.

Here is what our table looked like after clearing the dishes and getting ready for cake.

I decorated the table with a plain red table cloth from Christmas and this inexpensive place mat. Oh, and the candles. Each got a candle next to their plate to symbolize that they are each a light in this world.

I had never made a red velvet cake from scratch. I thought about using a box but wanted to try from scratch. I got the recipe from here , but admittedly, I will probably just buy a mix next time. The cake was rather dry. The icing, however, was a delicious white chocolate and cream cheese icing. It will be a keeper.

Here is youngest son with his most favorite toy in his basket.

Here is oldest son with his most favorite toy from his basket.

Here is daughter with her most favorite toy in her basket.

As we ponder our Valentines experience, I wish to leave the verses that dear husband read last evening.

'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity enviety not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:...And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I Corinthians 13:1-8;13 (KJV)

May your Valentine Day and each day be filled with Charity. Blessings, Suzie

Baroque recital-Judas Maccabeus, Handel

2009-02-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Dear daughter performed in a Baroque Period recital this morning. Take a peek.

Blessings for a wonderful day, Suzie

Managers of Their Homes/Chores

2009-02-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since posting here but let me assure you, we have been busy. We are implementing (with great success, I might add) the Maxwell's systems of scheduling and chore assignments in our home. You can read more about the Maxwell family, their ministry and books here. They have some very wonderful ideas. I have had their Managers of Their Home system for quite some time but have been working to tweak it for our family. Here is what we have done with our daily schedule.

As you can see, this is posted on the refrigerator. We have a limited amount of wall space in our home, and this is a very convenient place, where all can view it. It has taken me some time to tweak this schedule, however, recently, when ds needed 30 minutes of vision therapy with me every day, it was very easy to 'plug it in' without me feeling overwhelmed. I have also incorporated my own chores as well as blocks of time to 'inspect' and 'train' the children in their chores. I need to add that I tried this system many years ago, in our early years of homeschooling and it didn't work then because I tried to follow it too closely. I now have learned to use it as my guide rather than my master (even though it is called a 'master' schedule). I believe that this is a very important key to making this system work for your family. FLEXIBILITY!

Another system that the Maxwells created and is rather new to me is called
Managers of Their Chores.

Chores have always been a challenge for me to implement in our home.
I felt like I spent much of my day telling the children to pick up this, do this job, or do that job. I no longer have to do that. This system does that for me. I have found that I know that the jobs that need to be done, will be done sometime during the week, so I am not concerned about getting it done, right then. This entire system frees me up to focus on other thing, rather than chores. When I work the system, it works.

As with any new system, it takes some time to set up. One of the most time consuming but important things is to figure out what chores need to be done, how often, and which child will do them. Once you do that, the rest is a cup of tea, walk in the park...

The way the system works is that the children have a plastic clip-on pocket (note in photo) that they clip to themselves during the allotted time for chores. They do each chore consecutively, until they are all complete. At that time, the child 'turns in' his chore pocket to me. Having the child clip their chores on them has been especially helpful to my youngest son, as he gets distracted so easily and forgets what he was doing. He is learning that whenever he is 'wearing' his jobs, that is what he is to focus on. All of my children are of reading age, but the Maxwell's have software included with book purchase, that will help you make picture cards for children who are pre-readers.

For me, the most difficult part of maintaining this system was to follow up and check the work that the children had done. I created the following system to help me with that. It is located on a wall in a high traffic area of the house, for everyone to see. The pockets are made out of file folders (a different color for each child) and packing tape. After I have inspected the jobs in the plastic pockets then they go in the completed section and I load their plastic pocket for the next round of jobs, in a couple hours. The children have three, thirty minute sessions for jobs, during each day. I have conveniently labeled them AM, PM and evening jobs. Some jobs they do every day, or several times a day, other jobs, only one time per week. The system teaches you how to arrange all that. The Managers of Their Chores process is not difficult to understand and the way the Maxwell's root the material in the Godly importance of teaching our children the responsibility of hard work is very encouraging.

Several years ago, when the children were younger, I did not see such a great necessity for systems like these, however, as my children are growing and their educational demands increase, I have found myself drowning in a maze of calenders and sticky notes and an inability to figure out where I am suppose to be next, let alone the children. Most days we get all of our school work completed, as well as the many sports and music appointments. We are even getting daily Bible reading done and the bathrooms cleaned, all because these things are scheduled. It is truly a wonderful feeling. Everyone feels better about their accomplishments.

I must thank Steve and Teri Maxwell for their forethought in sharing such insightful information in their books. I will highly recommend them to any home school family. I pray that this post may have interested you in investigating some of their writings. May God bless and encourage you in helping your family be more productive.

Blessings, Suzie

The Peanut Butter Family Homeschool - Book Review

2009-01-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

I don't get much time to read for pleasure, but I picked this one up at a used book store a while back and the title cought my eye...peanut butter? I really liked this book. It was an easy read, I read through the entire thing in about three evenings. Bill Butterworth, the author writes it from his perspective and it begins when their oldest children were in school and how his wife approaches him about homeschooling thier children. This is an older book, written in the mid 80's so that was when homeschooling wasn't mainstream. I found it funny, delightful and heartwarming. It recounts some of the basics of homeschooling from the beginning and mentions the methods of the late Raymond and Dorothy Moore. It helped me to begin thinking about the basics of homeschooling rather than the techniques. Techniques is what we have a lot of in this time and I tend to get lost in the techniques and thus lose the spirit and joy of what I am really doing from day to day. May each of you find the joy in the journey, if only for today. Have a blessed day, Suzie E.

The Santa Barbara Crab

2009-01-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

While visiting in California, dh and I retreated for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We went to Santa Barbara and left the children to spend some time with grandma and grandad.

We really enjoyed spending time at the Santa Barbara Pier. We went there both days we were in Santa Barbara. One evening we ate at a little crab shack at the farthest end of the pier. It was a rather small and informal place but the sunset was breathtaking and the atmosphere so relaxing. Did I mention that the food was exceptional? It was the hands down, the best seafood I have ever eaten! They served local caught crab. Dh and I split this 3# Rock Crab. It was plenty for both of us.

They had huge tanks of these guys, alive! I was amazed!

Here is our meal right before it was cooked, amazing!

We saved the shell and brought it back to the apartment where we were staying. I boiled this all night because I wanted to take it home smelling a bit better than it did previously. Isn't it beautiful. I really think it is a nice color.

Here is the underside. The children discovered that he has a built in happy face.

Do you see it?

I am sure you can see it now. I wonder if all crabs have this smiling face on their underside?

His cute little smile reminds me to always have a HAPPY FACE and never be a CRAB!

Blessings to you for a very happy face day. Don't let crabiness steel your happiness. Suzie

Roman Arches

2009-01-08T22:27:00.001-08:00

Did you know that the Romans were the first to build arches in their architecture even though the Greeks and Egyptians were familiar with the architectural techniques. Today, this was part of our history discussion (TOG year 1, unit 28), how an arch is different from a post and lintel design.

Youngest son demonstrates with legos how the weight of an arch is supported mostly by the blocks at the top, where they come together. The Romans also were able to develop higher grades of concrete that made it all hold together better.

The Romans built triumphal arches, which were built to honor emperors or major military victories by generals. In a few weeks, our studies will take us to many prisoners of war that were forced to march through these arches and into the city of Rome. At one time, there was thirty-six triumphal arches scattered throughout Rome. Only three of those are still standing today.

A Tribute To My Mother

2009-01-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Friends! We arrived home safely from our travels. Thank you for your prayers. We travelled to spend the holidays with my family in California. We had a wonderful vacation.

I would like to introduce you to my wonderful mother. For Christmas this year I made her this quilt. While I don't profess to be a great quilter, it is something that I love to do and do with love. Stitching a quilt is therepeutic for me.

My mother loves flowers. She has a flower garden just steps outside her kitchen door. Her favorite thing is to 'puts' around in her flower garden. I chose each fabric carefully. As mom ages, I want her to be surrounded by the beauty of the flowers she loves so much, as she rests in her recliner as well as in her garden.

When I was young, mom and I didn't seem to have a very good relationship. I think this was more about me being a perfectionist than there really being anything wrong with mom, except that she is an imperfect human, just like me.

As I worked on her quilt, it seems the tears cleansed my soul. I so wish I could take back those difficult years and just be friends again. The good new is that she is my friends. I am thankful that she gave me a Godly influence to look to. I am thankful that she loved my father so I could see how it is to love my husband. I am thankful that she took care of the home I grew up in. I understand so many of the things now, because I am living them myself. There are so many things she did right in my life. I am thankful for her wonderful influence on my life.

If you havn't hugged your mother recently, I would encourage you to do so. I shed many tears on the way home, wishing I could be close enough to hug mom at least once a week. If you are that close, you are blessed.

Blessings, Suzie

Travel Prayers

2008-12-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

Hello friends. We will be travelling to be with family this holiday season, through some snowy winter weather. Our family requests prayers from all of our friends. Blessings for a safe and happy holiday. I hope to have lots of wonderful blessings to share from our journey.

Merry Christmas, Suzie

Holiday Gift Baskets

2008-12-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

Each year about this time, I approach dh to find out how many 'projects' we need to do for the special folks he works with. This year we prepared six gift baskets for his work and several extra to deliver to special people like the children's music teachers and a few special families that we are very close to.

Since I had put up copious amounts of pumpkin last month, I knew that some of it would go into a baked item in these baskets. We made mini loaves of Holiday Pumpkin Bread...simple but delicious. Here is the recipe. It makes 3 regular or 2 large loaves or 9 mini loaves of bread.

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup applesauce

2 cups pumpkin

1/2 cup orange juice

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Allspice

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Cloves

1 cup chopped nuts of your choice (opt. we use pecans)

1 cup raisins (opt.)

Preheat oven, grease and flour 3 loaf pans or equivalent. Mix oil, applesauce, sugar and eggs together. Mix in pumpkin and orange juice. Stir together flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add to wet mixture. Stir in nuts and raisins. Divide batter in prepared pans. Bake 1 hour. Cool on racks.

We also make these cute little suckers. The children had a wonderful time working in the kitchen making these and clean up really wasn't that big of a deal. The spent an entire afternoon making these and letting them set up in between listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies and playing legos. The molds were purchased at a local kitchen supply for less than $5.00 total and the candy was purchased at Hobby Lobby, they have it 30% off this week. I had the sticks leftover from a previous project but you can also get them at Hobby Lobby. They were wrapped in a fold top sandwich bag with curling ribbon.

Here is the final result. Isn't he cute. There were candy canes, snowmen, Christmas tree and a reindeer in the same mold and we make some of each. In our baskets, we also included some of our family holiday favorites like Buckeyes and peanut butter blossoms. Also included favorites like Hershey Holiday mix of mini candy (kisses, mini peanut butter cups and mini bars) and other hard candy, too.

We all have traditions of giving during this season. I am challenging myself to continue my spirit of giving all through the year. Blessings for a wonderful holiday season, Suzie

The Hum of the Sewing Machine

2008-12-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

My sewing machine has been very busy lately. I am finishing up some Christmas gifts including quilts for my mother and newest nephew as well as pillows for many of the extended family. The greatest, most practical items are unmentionables that I will use each month for my cycle. For years I have read that cotton pads would help with my most unmanagable flow but never thought it would help this much. I had the lightest cycle in probably 10 years. I purchased my pattern from Kristin and JoAnns had all thier flannel on sale for $1.49/yard a few weeks ago. I purchased PUL waterproof barrier off of ebay and had some leftover organic cotton batting. I only needed a little of the PUL and batting for the waterproof layer. I went to work and they are truly wonderful. They are so comfortable and pretty, I might add. I will never buy those sticky, boring paper ones again. Also, in considering the cost, I spent about $30.00 in materials to make enough pads for one cycle, with plenty of materials leftover to make several more. I typically spend $6.00-8.00 a month in pads so conservatively, this project will pay for intself in 6 months and I will begin saving that much per month. What a blessing it has been to me. Hope it can bless you in some way. Suzie

Pilgrims

2008-11-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving Day right around the corner, we decided to exit our traditional studies in Ancient Greece and do some Pilgrim studies. I bought a wonderful lap book from CurrClick titled A Season for Giving Thanks by Pleasant Ridge Publishing. It has a book list and many wonderful cutting activites surrounding the Thanksgiving Holiday. Oldest Son is reading Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, The Story of the Virginia Colony (A Landmark Book). Even though the events are a bit earlier and south, he is still enjoying it tremendously. Daughter is reading Whos that standing on Plymouth Rock by Jean Fritz and Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Bulla. Youngest son is reading The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh.

With all of this talk about Pilgrims and their families, the hardships they encountered and even death, I began to ponder. One DVD that we watched called The Mayflower Pilgrims said that the definition of a pilgrim is a person or group that go on a long journey for religious reasons. I have thought about that much since hearing that definition. At breakfast this morning I asked the children if we were pilgrims. Amazingly, they remembered that definition from the DVD and oldest son said, Yes, we are. After a little more discussion on the matter, we sang the following hymn together.

Here We Are But Straying Pilgrims

Here we are but straying pilgrims

Here our path is often dim

But to cheer us on our jouney

Still we sing this wayside hymn

Chorus: Yonder over the rolling river

Where the shining mansions rise

Soon will be our home forever

And the smile of the blessed giver

Gladens all our longing eyes.

Here our feet are often weary

On the hills that throng our way

Here the tempest darkly gathers

But our hearts within us say

Chorus

Here our souls are often fearful

Of the pilgrim's lurking foe

But the Lord is our defender

And He tells us we may know

Chorus

I hope this post blesses your day.

May you and your family have a Blessed Thanksgiving, Suzie

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

2008-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful time of year for lots of baking and one of our favorite things to bake is pumpkin and all the delicious recipes that go with it. Pumpkin is very easy to cook and process. My mother used to cook them this way when I was a child. She grew up in a time when no one wasted anything, and nothing goes to waste on this pumpkin. Seeds are eaten, pumpkin processed and skin and pulp go to compost. I am thankful to mom for teaching me this.

First, when choosing a pumpkin, make sure it is a rich orange color. Any yellow or green on it means it is not yet ripe. Cut the pumpkin in half from stem to stem and remove the seeds and pulp. You can roast the seeds if your family likes them. There is a simple and delicious recipe here. My children love to eat these whole, shell and all.

Oil a cooking sheet that has sides on it. Turn half of the pumpkin upside down on the cooking sheet. I repeat this process for the second half, as I tend to pick large pumpkins. Place in a 400 degree oven for 1-1 1/2 hours until the skin becomes dark brown and blistered. The pumpkin is going to cook by steaming itself. You may think you are burning it but you are not. After it becomes brown, take it out and let it cool. It will look like it is shrivelling as it cools and that if fine. After it is cool, the skin will just peel off and that beautiful pumpkin is soft and workable. I usually process mine in the food processor and then freeze in freezer bags, 2 cups at a time. Don't add the excess liquid back in as you process, as it may make your pumpkin too thin. It will seem thinner than the canned stuff but it has never caused me a problem. Some recipes may just need to bake a bit longer. Also, the cost effectiveness of cooking your own pumpkin is phenomenal! I bought this very large pumpkin for $2.49 and it made an entire gallon of pumpkin puree! They are a great investment for purchase after October 31st if you can find them on clearence.

Here are a couple of our family favorite recipes

Pumpkin Pie

1 pie crust-9 inch

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups pumpkin

3/4 cups sugar ( I use sucanat)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 t cloves

1 cans evaporated milk (I have used home made almond milk also)

Mix all ingredients well and pour in crust. Cook 15 minutes at 425 then turn down to 350 and bake 45 minutes more. Pie is done when knife inserted in center, comes out clean. My experience with this recipe says that it usually takes a little longer to cook, I think due to the extra liquid in the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup sucanat

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp ginger

1 egg

3/4 cup milk (soy or almond is fine)

1/3 cup oil (or substitute applesauce)

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400 or 375 for dark pan. Butter muffin pan. Mix all dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add egg, milk, oil, and pumpkin. Stir until just mixed. Add raisins. Fill cups 2/3 full and bake 20-25 minutes.

We eat this sometimes for breakfast as I can mix it the night before and refrigerate and the children wake up to the wonderful smells of breakfast cooking and it really wasn't all that hard.

Happy baking this fall, Suzie

The Parthenon

2008-10-01T18:37:00.001-07:00

We are currently on vacation and stopped by in Nashville last weekend for some sight seeing (ie: school field trip) before travelling on to our destination. We have been studying Ancient Greece in our Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Unit 3 and I was thrilled to find a scale model of the original Parthenon in Centennial Park in Nashville. It was the perfect field trip to go along with our studies.

Notice how huge this building is.

Here is daddy and the children on the front steps of the Parthenon.

The children are standing in front of the huge iron doors of this temple, that originally housed the goddess Athena in Athens, Greece. It was one of the many buildings in the area of the Acropolis in Greece.

Notice how HUGE these pillars. The children could not even go half way around using themselves as a chain. They were quick to tell me that these were doric columns. There was a very interesting film in the museum that told all about how the structure was built. Oldest son was especially interested in this as he has been very curious about ancient architecture.

Here is a guilded duplicate of the false goddess Athena. This was what was beyond those huge doors. She was the height of those doors as well. As the children turned the corner and got their first glimpses of her they commented, 'No wonder they wanted to worship her'. Her sheer size was overwhelming. I too was in awe.

This a photo of the serpent that was wrapped around her and the shield as she was the goddess of war and protection.

As we arrived back at our hotel, we discussed the awesomeness of her as well as how much more great that God of heaven is. We read from Acts where Paul addressed the greek people that were such prevelant worshippers of her.

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things...therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising"

Acts 17:24-34 NKJV

Have a blessed day, Suzie

Home-Made Dishwasher Soap

2008-09-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

With all of us pinching pennies over the past several months, like many folks, I too have been trying to find ways to stretch my dollar. I used to spend about $6.00 for a large name brand dishwashing soap. Through trial and error, I have made my own dishwashing powder and saved money. Here is what I do:

2 cups Wal-Mart brand (Great Value) dry dishwashing powder

1 cup Arm and Hammer baking soda

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix in a bowl and store in a quart glass jar. It lasts me about a week. I use 2 heaping tablespoons per load and do about 3 loads a day.

I also have begun placing apple cider vinegar in my rinse cycle canister. It actually does a better job than the expensive name brand that I used to use.

"There is treasure to be desired and oil in the swelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up." Proverbs 21:20 KJV

Blessing for a wonderful day, Suzie

Quilt musings

2008-09-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Dear daughter and I have been working hard trying to get our 'first' quilts finished in time for the county fair.

It was my first quilt that I did using my own pattern, for dear son, and dd's first try at hand quilting as well as learning how to 'stitch in the ditch' and learning to do the binding.

DD received a blue ribbon and I a white one (third).

We had a lot of fun learning together.

She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff...she maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple...Strength and honor are her clothing: and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Proverbs 31:19 ff

Blessings for a day of strength, Suzie

The Battle of Salamis

2008-09-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

We just finished studying Unit 24, of Tapestry of Grace. To go along with the battles between the Persians and the Greeks, we found JuniorGenerals.org. It has gobs of games to simulate historical battles throughout the centuries. We had a blast cutting, taping and creating the game. Thanks to Molly's Blogspot for introducing us to these soldiers. She also has a blog titled Historical Paper Soldiers. We used these soldiers and these triremes. Here were the directions to the game. .

The directions indicated to use a ruler to make your moves. This was perfect for my dear children ages 8, 10 and 12.

Check out this great game board they made out of large drawing paper.

Meet the teams....

The Persians and

The Greeks.
It was fun time had by all. Much was learned in the process.

Blessings in your school this day, Suzie

Bread By Naomi

2008-08-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Daughter has started her own business at the age of 10. How did this happen? Several months ago, two ladies from our church asked me if I could begin making bread for them and they would gladly pay for it. At that time, I didn't think I had the time so I told them so. A few months later, these same two ladies approached my husband and he decided that it would be good for dear daughter to begin her own business. I have made the time as this is such a valuable experience for both her and I. Her products are whole wheat, cinnamon and raisin, and rolls from frozen. She has learned how to serve her customers by even making some 'custom' orders like only cinnamon for one lady who doesn't like raisins and whole wheat cheese to another cheese lover. She is learning how to set aside for her business, half of her earning go to the purchase of more products and the other half she keeps. Of that she keeps, she is learning about saving and giving to the church. She is learning the value of hard work and a good reputation. She is learning how to work in the kitchen with her mother (or maybe it is the other way around). So far, it has been a really great experience.

I decided to post the recipe for anyone wanting to try it. This recipe makes 4-1.5# loaves.
It is a modified version of Sue Gregg's recipe from her Whole Grain Baking Book. If you are a whole grain baker, you must visit her web site. She has one of the most healthful whole grain recipe books I have ever seen. http://www.suegregg.com/cookbooks/cookbooks.htm

Whole Grain Bread

4 cups warm filtered water
4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
8 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour
(we use golden wheat but you can use red wheat if you want a more sturdy bread)

Blend these ingredients together and let sit overnight or 12-24 hours
then mix in 2 cup measure:
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup applesauce
4 teaspoons sea salt
Microwave this for about 1 minute til warm but not hot (to activate yeast)

then in 1 cup measure place
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons yeast

This is done to proof your yeast. You don't want to go to all the work to make bread and then find out you had bad yeast. Your yeast mixture should begin to bubble and grow. It should also smell 'yeasty'.

Next mix all the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl with your original mixture in it. To this add more flour (between 4-6 cups more) so that it does not stick to the sides of the bowl when mixing and it can be handled easily with buttered hands. Turn into large buttered bowl and knead a few times. Cover with warm moist dishtowel and put in a warm place to rise. When it has doubled, punch it down and let it rise a second time. Punch it down and turn onto countertop to knead. I do not use a floured surface, only buttered hands to knead. If you use flour, it makes your bread dry. With buttered hands divide your dough in 4 parts. Knead and shape into loaves. Place in buttered loaf pans. Let rise a third time. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until tops are brown. Remove from oven. Butter tops. Remove from pans after 15 minutes and place on cooling racks.

Variations include:
Rolls-same dough just shape into rolls and let rise just like bread loaves. They can be flash frozen then thawed for 8 hours then baked.
Cinnamon and raisin bread-simply knead in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins to dough before placing in pans to rise the 3rd time.

All this talk of bread reminds me of the most important bread, the Word of God

But He answered and said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"
Matthew 4:4

Safety Chain Part 2

2008-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

The purpose of part 1 of the safety chain is to show a person who is not a Christian how the Bible says they can become a Christian.

The purpose of part 2 of the safety chain is to show that person who was just added to the Church (Acts 2:47) what the Church of the New Testament looked like, their work, worship, and lives and how the church they attend should look.

Like part 1 of the safety chain, you look up the scripture and answer the question. It is very easy. The Bible speaks for itself.

Unity, One Church

John 17:11 - Christ prayed for unity. Does Jesus want us to be one as He and His father are one?

I Corinthians 1:10-13 - Is Christ divided? Is God pleased with religious division?

I Corinthians 3:3-6 - What do strife and division show about people?

Ephesians 1:22-23 Are Christ's body and the church the same thing in this passage?

Ephesians 4:4-5 How many bodies (or churches) are there?

Matthew 16:16,18 - How many churches did Jesus build? Upon what did He build His church?

Organization of the Church

Ephesians 5:23 - Who is the head of the church?

Philipians 1:1 - What two kinds of offices did churches have in the first century? Who are the saints?

Names

Romans 16:16 - What does this verse use as a term for groups of God's people? Is a name important?

Acts 11:26 - What were the disciples called for the first time in Antioch? Should we use only terms found in scripture to describe God's people?

Attendance

Hebrews 10:25-26 - Should we make the assembling or gathering of the church an important part of our lives?

How to Worship

John 4:23-24 - How must we worship?

John 17:17 - What is truth?

Lord's Supper

Matthew 26:26-29 - Who instituted the Lord's Supper? What are the two parts of the Lord's Supper? Would it be right to add other things?

I Corinthians 11:23-26 - What is the purpose of the Lord's Supper?

Preaching

Acts 20:7 - Why did the church assemble on the first day of the week? How often do we partake of the Lord's Supper? What else did Paul do?

Giving

I Corinthians 16:1-2 - What should church members give? Is there any specific amount commanded?

Prayer

I Thessalonians 5:17 - Should the Christian be consistent in prayer?

Singing

Ephesians 5:19, 25 - What kind of music shoudl Christians use to worship God?

Colossians 3:16 - Can a mechanical instrument sing? Can a mechanical instrument understand?

Obey all Commands

Revelation 22:18-19 - Should we add or take away from what the scripture says?

Galatians 1:6-9 - Can we preach or teach a doctrine NOT found in the New Testament?

Guides for Living

Romans 12:1-2 - What are we asked to present to God? How are we to deal with the world?

Titus 2:11-14 - How are we to live as Christians?

Study

II Timothy 2:15 - Why are we to study the Bible?

Remain Faithful

Revelation 2:10 - How long must we be faithful to receive salvation?

James 4:17 - If we know to do good and don't do it, what is it?

I close with the following verse:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15

My prayer is that all of us will be one, Suzie

Fresh Garlic Butter

2008-08-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

For dinner this evening we are havin' good ol baked potatoes! YUM!

To top our wonderful potatoes, I will make fresh from our garden, garlic butter.

This plant is called garlic chives and grows almost wild in my flower beds. We got a good rain the last few days so the blooms on it are beginning to open. Perfect for mixing into butter to make a wonderful topping for our potatoes.

Simply remove the flower portion of the stem and cut off only the flower to mix in your butter. You don't want even the small green stem in your butter. Mix into room temperature butter with a spoon. Refigerate a few hours to let the flavors blend. You have gourmet quality garlic butter made with the freshest of ingredients.

Along with our potatoes tonight we will have cucumber and tomato salad from the garden and fresh whole wheat rolls.

Healthful food has been recieving a place of honor in our home, most recently.

I have recently been meditating on the following verse:

And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth. And every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yeilding seed; to you it shall be for meat. Genesis 1:29

Blessing for a yummy and healthful dinner for your family, Suzie

Cicada Adventure

2008-08-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

A few evenings ago, while jumping on the trampoline, dd found this bug, came running in the house for a jar (which she does for just about every bug that she finds) and captured this little critter. This is a cicada that is getting ready to moult! We put a tea towel to cover the jar so the little guy would have something to hold onto. First the back split open and before we could even get our camera set up, here he went.

Look how tiny his little wings are!

A side version.

A litte farther out.

Now he is holding on with his front feet and the bottom end is completely out of the shell. The remaining shell is probably what you see on your trees, if you have cicadas in your area.

Now check out these wings!

They get bigger and bigger!

In the morning, all of the green was gone and the cicada was a nice rich brown color. We then took him to the garden and let him go.

Interesting Facts about the CICADA

The cicada is considered by some to be the loudest animal on the earth.
There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the globe and many remain unclassified

Cicadas are related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs

In the southern Appalachian Mountains they are known as 'dry flies' because of the dry shell they leave behind.

Cicadas do not bite or sting

Some Cicadas have a 17 year life cycle

A female Cicada lays her eggs in a slit on a branch of a tree

Almost all of their lifecycle is spent under the ground

Adult Cicadas don't eat anything above the ground.

Observing this little creature reminds me of a familiar verse:

O Lord, how manifold are thy works!

In wisdom hast thou made them all:

The earth is full of thy riches.

Psalms 104:24

Blessings for a wonderful day! Suzie

Why We Homeschool Our Children

2008-08-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

With the beginning of a new school year, I thought it would be good for me to re-visit and share the top 12 reasons why dh and I have made this choice to educate our children from home.

These are in no particular order.

1. Life is not about filling in the blanks, it is about learning to think. Logic and socratic discussions take place in our school on a regular basis.

2. Home is a place where they will recieve their education from a Christian World View.

3. God's Word has a place of honor in our children's education. Bible reading and listening is a built in part of their day.

4. No one knows, loves, or can care for my children any better than I can. I cannot think of a better place for them to be than with me.

5. My children need a family unit to be a part of. We cannot accomplish this very well if we do not spend time together.

6. I never have to worry about where my child is or what he/she is doing.

7. God has given dh and I these wonderful children to raise. This is a difficult task if you are away from them the majority of the day.

8. My children do not need to sit at a desk for 6 hours every day.

9. It is not important that my children learn to spend time with 20 other children who are their same age. Does this happen in real life? It is important that they learn to get along with each other. It is said that if you can get along with your siblings, you can get along with anyone.

10. It is important that each of our children learn and excell at their own pace, meaning they progress at their level rather than a certain grade level.

11. I never have to be concerned that my child will be the victim of the next drive by shooting or another form of violence. Our home is safe.

12. Lastly, but certainly not least, we homeschool our children because we feel it gives them a greater chance of getting to heaven.

Many of our friends and family have been very concerned over the years with our decision to homeschool our children. Probably the most popular question I get from the 'concerned' is "Do they get enough socialization with other children?" While we do take the time to expose them to 'social situations' like youth group and musical recitals, it is not a huge priority in our lives.

There was a study done in 2004 which the author concluded "this study shows me that these young adults who are homeschooled are doing well into adulthood and parents should be encouraged by that." says Dr. Ray, author of Homeschooling Grows Up. You can view the results of this study at http://www.hslda.org/research/ray2003/default.asp

All that aside, even if we thought our children would grown up to be social misfits (which they are not) we are not here to be concerned about social things regarding our earthly bodies, which WILL pass away.

As Jesus spoke, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Our job is to shape and form the hearts of our children as stated very eloquently by Moses:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy god will all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Duetronomy 6:4-7

Dh and I just do not see how we can fulfill this responsibility any other way than to teach them under the loving guidance of us, in our home. Are we condenming others for their choices that might be different? No! Each family has their own set of circumstances and each has to fullfill the laws of God as best they can. An ideal situation would be for every Christian family to have the opportunity and means to educate their children at home, however we live in a imperfect world.

Blessings for a wonderful day, Suzie

Purim Hamantashen Pastries

2008-08-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

This week we have been studying the story of Esther and some of the traditions of Purim that are part of our Year 1 Tapestry of Grace Study. One of dd's assignments was to make the tasty traditional jewish treat called Hamantashen.

Why do Jewish people eat Hamantashen at Purim? We had that question and when we went looking we found several answers. Our favorite was that Haman wore a three-cornered hat. Eating an image of Haman's hat is a way to symbolically destroy his memory. Another explanation included the fact that Hamantaschen means "Haman's pockets" in German and it was rumored that the evil Haman's pockets were filled with bribe money. Whatever the reason for the tradition, they look and smell very good.

Here is the Hamantashen Recipe we used:

4 cups flour

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely chopped orange zest

1 jar rasberry or blackberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease cookie sheets with vegetable spray and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add butter, eggs, vanilla and orange juice and zest. Mix well. Finally add in flour and baking powder. You should have the consistency of sugar cookie dough. Divide into 4 parts. Roll out each part to about 1/8 inch thickness. Using a round 3 inch cookie cutter (biscuit cutter) or jar, cut out circles. Place on greased cookie sheets. Place 1/2 teaspoon preserves in the center of the cookie. Fold the sides up pinching them on 3 edges making a triagular cookie with filling in the middle. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Hope you all have as much fun as dd and I did making these together. Blessings in your school, Suzie

Growing Sprouts In My Kitchen

2008-08-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can sprout your own alfalfa seeds right in your own kitchen! Even better add a little radish and mung bean and you have a variety of nutrition.

I have recently had some health issues that have created a wonderful opportunity for us to change the way we eat and sprouts are definately on the menu!

Let me show you how easy it is.

I purchased my a Kitchen Garden Sprouter like this one http://www.canningpantry.com/ks1000.html.

If you do not have a sprouter, a mason jar with a breathable lid (cheesecloth) will work just as well.

First choose what type of sprouts you like. For better nutrition, we like a variety mix that I purchase at called Sprout Spree sandwich mix. http://www.frontiercoop.com/. It contains alfalfa, red clover, mung and radish seed. A pound, which costs $11.00 will make you enough sprouts for at least a year. You will not need to buy sprouts again. And best of all, they are fresh!

First, measure out 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of sprouts into warm water in a bowl, like this. If you are using a jar, only use half the seeds, about 1 tablespoon.

Let this sit covered on your counter overnight.

In the morning, simply pour these into your sprouter. Begin spraying them (if you have a sprayer at your sink) or misting them with water 3-4 times a day. If you have them in a jar, make sure to store the jar on its side while your sprouts are growning.

This is what they will look like after 2 days.

Give them 2 more days and the will be ready to eat.

Our favorite way to eat them is in sandwiches, whole wheat bread, avocado, sprouts, tomato, and cucumber, YUM.

I mentioned that our diet has changed. It will be exciting to share some of the new things we are eating and enjoying so much. Blessings for a wonderful day,

Suzie

Birthday Blessings

2008-08-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today was *ahem* my (40th) birthday and I have been approaching it with great reservation, however, the Lord has blessed me abundantly this day both physically and spiritually. Read on to see what I mean.

Dear Husband came home this evening with this beautiful cake. We had a family party and I opened several presents.

My mother (who is nearly blind) made these covers for the counches and chairs in our living room. Aren't they beautiful. When she visited in February, she secretly measured my cushions, taking the measurements home and putting these together. They arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago. They are perfect. Mom, you could not have given me a better gift. Thank You!

My birthday presents from the children included simple things that I have needed in the kitchen (some of which they have lost for me) since we have changed the types of foods we eat. We have recently gone to a mostly vegetarian way of eating so I have been doing much more chopping. The slippers are from my dear daughter. She thought I needed something to keep my feet warm (in August). They are very comfortable and have memory foam in them.

This was an early birthday present from dear husband. I needed a place so I could have my sewing machine out and storage for miscellaneous sewing items. This is perfect fit. I found it very reasonably on http://www.walmart.com/. It came in a large box and half the fun was watching dh and ds put it all together and then wonder what all the extra pieces left over were from :)

It opens up like this and has storage underneath for your machine. There are 3 shelves on the right hand side and as you can see, a large extension arm.

Last, but certainly not least, I am so blessed spiritually. My two oldest dc put on Christ in baptism, Dd on Sunday evening and Ds, tonight. My visions of all of us going to heaven is the greatest gift ever. That dream is becoming a reality. God is so faithful.

As I go to bed this evening I am reminded of this verse:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin.
I John 1:7

Blessings for a wonderful day, Suzie

The Tabernacle Project

2008-08-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

Last year, during out adventure through the Old Testament, we studied about the Tabernacle that the Children of Israel built under the direction of Moses. Here is a picture of their project and the directions to follow.

As our guide to this activity we used the Bible and a small but priceless little book called The Kregel Pictorial Guide to the Tabernacle by Dr. Tim Dowley. This book was mostly text from the scriptures about the tabernacle, condensed into one resource. It had actual photographs of what was being described, which helped children visualize what the finished product would be like.

The requirements for this project were that

1) The finished product was to be a scale model, meaning same of everything just smaller

2) They were to do all the measuring and calculations for the project. They would give them to me and I would go buy the supplies. The cost for this project wound up being around $50.00

3) They were to work together (ds-11, dd-9)

They achieved their goals and we proudly displayed this project at our end of unit celebration.

The actual dimensions of the plywood was 3 1/2 x 5 feet, cut by the hardware store

We used leftover acrylic paints for the plywood (brown) and posts (gold)

The posts were made from 1/2 inch dowel rods

To attach the posts, using a Dremmel tool, they drilled small holes in the plywood and in the center of each dowel. Using finishing nails from underneath and a bit of wood glue, then sliding the dowel onto the nail. Allow to dry.

When dry, attach a small eye screw to the top of each dowel. When curtains are prepared, thread string and curtains.

Curtain fabric was inexpensive cotton with an unbleached look. The inner curtains were a bright blue with iridescent green and red running through it. I found this fabric in the 'end piece' barrel. The outer layer we did not attach but simply laid in place. It was a fake fur that I had purchased previously for a goat project.

All the fabric was cut with a pinking sheer blade into 7 inch strips. We sewed a 1 inch pocket in the top of each strip and then cut the strips (after sewing) into 5 inch lengths. The curtains could then be hung. Dd 9 did most of the sewing. I did the cutting as I wasn't ready to let her loose with the rotary cutter.

The strings were secured with a slip knot and a thumb tack to resemble a large nail

The furniture pieces were all made with bakeable clay that you can get at any craft store. They were painted with leftover acrylic paints.

I hope you have as much fun with your kids and this project as I did with mine. They learned bunches too. Blessings for a great day, Suzie

Egypt and Sugar Cube Pyramids

2008-07-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Egyptian History was part of our studies this past year. We used Tapesty of Grace Year 1. We did lots of fun projects for our Egypt Units. Here is one of our favorites.

Sugar Cube Pyramids

Just using cardboard boxes covered with black consruction paper, we began with a sturdy foundation. Next we laid the cornerpieces. We
had a discussion about how Christ should be the cornerstone of our lives, explaining however that this was a little out of historical context, none the less, extremely important. Your cornerstone must be correct if the rest of the building is to stand. Carefully dipping your sugar cubes one by one into Elmers School Glue (I used this because it needs to be thick enough to not dissolve the sugar cube) and quickly but carefully laying them on the black paper all the way around. When they got all the way around, one layer, this was the foundation layer of their pyramid. They
worked carefully adding layer upon layer. You
must be careful not
put too much glue on each piece and it is better to make the 'steps' narrower than wider. By doing this, there may be some gaps in your pyramid, but this is better than it falling down later on. I would recommend this for ages 3-6 however, you could make a simpler model for younger and let the older ones design their own as we did. This was so much fun that the children often ask me to do it again with all the leftover sugar cubes. Happy pyramid building. Blessings, Suzie