Nov. 10, 2009 - Just Passing These Along...
Some Thanksgiving Crafts
Turkey Apple
Turkey apples are a fun craft to make with the kids as well as a healthy snack. You will need an apple, 6 toothpicks, 1 large and 5 miniature marshmallows as well as some raisins and one piece of candy corn for each turkey.
Set the apple stem up on a flat surface. Stick a toothpick in the top part of one side of the apple. Add the large marshmallow to the top of the toothpick. Decorate the face of the turkey with two raisins as eyes and stick the candy corn in upside down into the marshmallow to make the beak.
Thread each of the remaining toothpicks with 3 raisins, and then top it off with one of the miniature marshmallows. These will be the tail feathers of your turkey. Stick the 4 toothpicks evenly spaced on the opposite side of the top of the apple.
Corn Collage
Cut a basic corn shape out of yellow construction paper. Tear little pieces of yellow and purple tissue paper and crumble them into little balls. Glue them on the corn shape to represent kernels of corn. Cut leaf shapes out of green construction paper and glue them behind your ear of corn.
Pilgrim Hat
You need a large paper grocery bag and some construction paper in black and yellow for each child. Fold the rim of the bag over to make a brim for the hat. Then cut a large strip of black construction paper and tape or glue it around the hat. Cut a belt buckle shape out of the yellow construction paper and glue it to the belt in the front of the hat.
Turkey Handprint crafts
This craft is a family tradition in many homes. First, outline your child’s foot once on a piece of brown construction paper. Then, outline her hands twice on red or yellow construction paper. Cut a beak out of orange construction paper.
Of course, if you visit craft stores like Michaels or online craft supply stores, like Oriental Trading, you’ll find thousands of craft ideas for your kids. Oriental Trading offers foam leaves, felt Pilgrim hats, quilts in fall colors, foam turkeys, stickers, craft kits and more.
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 26, 2009 - My Knitting Progress
I learned a new technique a few weeks back: The long tail cast on. I've gotten to practice quite a bit (seeings I've started the same project over 7 times already). I found a great tutorial for anyone wishing to know...
Thank You KnitPicks !
http://community.knitpicks.com/
AND Leslie :)
http://thoughtsofgrace.wordpress.com/
This cast on is fast and neat once you get the hand of it. You may also see it referred to as the slingshot cast on.
Before you make your slip knot you will need to leave a “long tail” that will accommodate the stitches you are making. The tail must be roughly three times the width of your finished pieces of knitting. For instance, if you want your knitting to be 10 inches wide, leave a tail of 30 inches plus 6 for weaving in = 36″ total.
 Make your slip knot, leaving the appropriate length of yarn for the tail. Place the slip knot on one of your needles and snug it up by tugging lightly on the yarn tails. Hold the needle in your right hand with the needle tip pointing to the left.
 The bulk of the work is done with the right needle. Grasp the two yarn ends below the slip knot in your left hand. Push your left hand thumb and forefinger through the two strands (the long tail should be lying over your thumb, the working yarn over your forefinger).
 Spread the fingers apart and lower the needle so that the yarn makes a V between the thumb and forefinger. You can use the forefinger of your right hand to hold the slip knot on the needle.
 Pass the needle under the yarn around the thumb (1), over the top of the yarn around the forefinger (2), and back through the yarn around the thumb (3).
 Draw the thumb out from the yarn loop and tug lightly on the yarn tails to tighten up your stitch.
Repeat these steps until you have cast on the required number of stitches.
|
|
Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 26, 2009 - The Truth About Halloween
Well, it's THAT time of year again and I have in times past, posted the contents of a little tract I recieved many years ago... to the dismay of most but to the relief of others, I'll leave it with you....
The Truth About Halloween
On Halloween, many parents encourage their children to pay respect to the devil and evil spirits. Thousands of people willfully sanction the homage of Satan, decorating their homes and church buildings with trappings from Lucifer's kingdom in violation of God's Word. Preposterous? Read on.
The first observance of October 31 as a holiday began well before Christ's birth. This day marked the end of the Celtic calendar year. It thereby was the eve of Samhain, a three-day festival of the dead, celebrated by the Celtic pagan cult called the Druids. During this festival, the following activities were said to have occurred: the dead rose and wandered; divination and soothsaying were practiced; fairies, witches, and goblins harassed the people of the countryside; Druids demanded contributions of food to support their special diet.
The observance of Samhain continued, and in A.D. 837 Pope Gregory IV instituted All Saints' Day and All Hallows' Even, or Halloween, as a Christian holiday, which the church hoped would eliminate or replace Samhain and its pagan practices. It did not. During the Middle Ages, such practices accompanied a surge in witchcraft and actual worship of Lucifer himself. One of the special "Sabbaths" for this worship was October 31, and witches were said to travel to these services on broomsticks, accompanied by black cats.
In light of this brief historical review, consider some of the current practices and activities associated with Halloween.
1. October 31 is obviously linked with a pagan holiday during which divination and soothsaying were practiced.
2. Masks and costumes are used to conceal the true identity of children, who are then urged to go out and mimic the acts of trickery and harassment previously attributed to fairies, witches, and goblins.
3. The simple trick-or-treat is a demand for food contributions, which is clearly connected with the Druids' demand for their diet.
4. Posters of witches on broomsticks across the moon actually depict them as on their way to a special "Sabbath" service for the worship of Lucifer.
5. Pumpkins carved to show a face are related to the turnips carved into death masks, which were carried by Druids during Samhain.
6. The whole concept behind Halloween involves death, darkness, deception, fear, pagan rituals, and Satan.
The Christian is to concentrate on pure and heavenly things, for the fruit of God's Spirit is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22,23). But what is heavenly about witches, fortune telling, magic, screams, threats (trick-or-treat), disfiguring property, skeletons, hideous masks, spooks, haunted houses, coffins, owls (omens of bad luch and death), graveyards, pirates, monsters, demons, and the like? Really, Halloween's emphasis is associated with the underworld of hell.
"But we only do it in fun and make-believe," you may object. But God knows what you do not know—that you can't get involved in satanic practices without certain danger of being deceived by the devil. God says, "There shall not be found among you any one that... useth divination [fortune telling], or an observer of times [one who uses horoscopes and such like], or an enchanter [one who casts spells or hypnotic trances], or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits [one who works through spiritistic mediums], or a wizard [warlock], or a necromancer [one who speaks with the dead]. FOR ALL THAT DO THESE THINGS ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD" (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
The former queen of witches of Europe, remarked to a Christian audience in Louisville that she and other witches and satanists would laugh when they saw Christians participating in and celebrating Halloween, even though they did it unknowingly. Can we afford to popularize this "holiday" while our land is dark with the blood of violence and is groaning under the results of ignorance and sin?
Be prepared for Satan's attack when you repent of your respect for this base holiday of death. Satan has enjoyed your support, and he will not give it up easily. Family and friends will oppose you, and even your church may speak evil of you. Persevere, and trust the Lord, because He is faithful to direct your paths. When children come to your door on October 31, sing them a verse of "Jesus Loves Me"; give them a small New Testament or a copy of this tract and a brief, kind testimony of why you want to give God glory on this day.
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Ephesians 5:8-12).
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and *****mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Revelation 22:14,15).
—Selected and Adapted
Hmmmm ~ I wonder if she was pondering his costume?
|
|
Comments (2) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 18, 2009 - Things To Poder at 3:39 am ~ also title: Sorry I needed a distraction
Why would I ever think of eating Apple Jacks?
Do those plants need water?
A 5 month old is really NOT lulled to sleep by the sound of his own name, ~ repeated hundreds of times.
Wow, you really can't taste the fiber in Apple Jacks.
Has my dog really snored this loud all these years?
Is it now 4:17!!!????
I am so thankful I thought to keep the extra down comforter stashed by Sam's crib.
Is it too early to make coffee?
When did Apple Jacks turn green?
Really, is my husband truly sleeping through all this?
Can one grow potatoes in containers?
How can there possibly be this much "wiggle" in a 15 pound boy?
This place is a mess.
I should take this time and clean.
Laughing at last entry...
Sigh.
These are NOT the Apple Jacks I remember when I was young!
Did I bring the laundry in?
Is there anyone bored enough out there who would still be reading this?
Is he alseep??????????????????
|
|
Comments (2) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 17, 2009 - Chore Day Around the Sub
It's Saturday and around here that means chores. Funny my children have never seemed to agree :)
Saturday also means baby food making day!
This weeks menue will include: apple/pear sauce, carrots and squash. Yum!
While living with the "less is more" attitude, one must continually make adjustments. Do we NEED this verses WANTING this, a concept I have to contunually practice~ for those who know me, know I have a sickness called "shopping".
I think all in all I have been doing really well in the "carbon footprint" reduction phase of our newfound lifestyle. Many things I have just contiued on, other things I've had to give up. The worst being my Fuzzi Bunz, here come the tears, I love cloth diapering, always have.
Unfortunatly until the Sub gets equipped with a washer/dryer combo, paper diapers have replaced my beloved all-in-ones and flannel wipes. I am encouraged to find bleach-free and gel-free choices at the local market now (rather than having to order through a far away co-op).
Don't forget, when it doubt: Check it out!
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
At this site you can search toxicity levels from anything to shower gels to baby wipes.
One of the things on my list to tackel in the Sub are the KNOBS! These knobs are a sore spot to be sure! Loose, wiggly, popping off here and there... sigh, time for some serious "Honey-Dos!
What do ya think? Am I cracking the whip a little too harshly?
NAHHHHHHH......
Dad's motto
Speaking of "No Idle Time", it seems as I stuggle to even get casted on and begin knitting the Suprise Jacket (http://www.schoolhousepress.com/patterns.htm ) for Sam, Katey has "book learned" herself on how to make socks!
3 days!! Two socks!! Sigh....
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 14, 2009 - A Stormy Day at the Ol' Homeschool
Well the winds have been blowing and the rain has been falling! It seems so far the Silver Sub is withstanding the gales! Let's have a peak at whats going on with school this wild weather day....
|
|
Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 12, 2009 - Banana Bread Recipe for Cold Autumn Mornings
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
Whole Wheat Banana Bread Recipe
1½ hours | 15 min prep
SERVES 12
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 3 medium bananas
- 1 cup unbleached flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Melt butter.
Put the butter, sugar, bananas and eggs in a blender. Blend until nice and smooth.
Now transfer to a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, stir together flours, salt, and baking soda.
Add dry ingredients to banana mixture alternately with hot water.
Stir in chopped nuts.
Cut a piece of waxed or parchment paper the size of the bottom of your loaf pan.
(This helps the loaf come out in one piece while still warm).
Put the paper in the loaf pan and spray the pan well with non-stick spray.
Scoop the batter into the pan.
Bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for one hour and 10 minutes.
(adapted by recipe #58802 from Recipezaar)
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
John 6:51
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 12, 2009 - Trying Something New
I've enjoyed reading the "Simple Women's Daybook" entries on other's blogs and thought I would try it myself today. Not quite sure if I'm "doing it right", I may have to tweek a few things over the next few days...
FOR TODAY
October 12, 2009
Outside my window... a grey squirrel having his lunch from the iron gazebo shaped feeder.
I am thinking... of upcoming rain.
I am thankful for... A beautiful "spot" to park our Sub.
From the learning rooms... Math lessons and laundry, just to keep a balance :)
From the kitchen... Steak thawing.
I am wearing... pink housedress, pink flowered softy capris and white sox
I am creating... a new blog entry
I am going... to be needing more coffee soon
I am reading... A Suprise Jacket, knitting pattern
I am hoping... Sam has a nice long nappy, tucked in his baby bed with a large orange floppy lion that has a yellow mane.
I am hearing... a dog barking off in the distance accompanied by the roof vent's gentle whir.
Around the house... are stacks of clean laundry
One of my favorite things... stacks clean laundry
A few plans for the rest of the week: Grocery shopping, making Sam a few more batches of baby food and enjoying the fall
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
Here is the link to the Simple Womans Daybook Blog...
http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 12, 2009 - Free Curriculum!
Almost all of you already know about Currclick, so dont forget to check the site every week for their fantastic freebies! If you haven't already, create an account so you can join in the fun. The downloads are simple and their stuff is great! We have used many many things from them and have never been disppointed. Here's the link for the latest fun:
http://www.currclick.com/index.php?free=1&filters=0_0_0
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 10, 2009 - The Rise and Fall of Crisco
I have read this article many times and find myself growing in amazment every time. I thought I'd pass it along ~ JUST incase there are any iquiring minds out there....
The Rise and Fall of Crisco
By Linda Joyce Forristal, CCP, MTA
On April 25, 2001, Proctor and Gamble (P&G) put its product Crisco on the auction block, just ten years short of its 100th birthday. Crisco, initially made with hydrogenated cottonseed oil, is the quintessential imitation food, and the first to make its way into American kitchens.
The story of Crisco begins innocently enough in pre-Civil-War America when candle maker William Proctor and his brother-in-law, soap-maker James Gamble, joined forces to compete with fourteen other soap and candle makers in Cincinnati, Ohio. P&G entered the shortening business out of necessity. In the 1890s, the meat packing monopoly controlled the price of lard and tallow needed to make candles and soap.1 P&G took steps to gain control of the cottonseed oil business from farm to factory. By 1905, they owned eight cottonseed mills in Mississippi. In 1907, with the help of German chemist E. C. Kayser, P&G developed the science of hydrogenation. By adding hydrogen atoms to the fatty acid chain, this revolutionary industrial process transformed liquid cottonseed oil into a solid that resembled lard.1
Not content with using hardened cottonseed oil for soaps, and mindful that electrification was forcing the candle business into decline, P&G looked for other markets for their new product. Since hydrogenated cottonseed oil resembled lard, why not sell it as a food?
The new product was initially named Krispo, but trademark complications forced P&G to look for another name. They next try was Cryst which was abandoned when someone in management noted a religious connotation. Eventually they chose the near-acronym Crisco, which can be derived from CRYStalized Cottonseed Oil.
Crisco was introduced to the public in 1911. It was an era when wives stayed home and cooked with plenty of butter and lard. The challenge for Crisco was to convince the stay-at-home housewife about the merits of this imitation food. P&G’s first ad campaign introduced the all-vegetable shortening as "a healthier alternative to cooking with animal fats. . . and more economical than butter." With one sentence, P&G had taken on its two closest competitors—lard and butter.
P&G’s next step was a stroke of genius—they published and gave away a cookbook. The Story of Crisco2 looked like most other cookbooks of the era, but there was a difference. All of its 615 recipes, everything from lobster bisque to pound cake, contained—you guessed it—Crisco.
 The Story of Crisco is recognized as a classic in the subtle art of persuasion. Its language and contextual variety are "representative of the pre-WWI social milieu and reflect the urbanization, domestication, commercialization, education (or lack thereof) and simple sophistication of the times."3 Crisco is presented as healthier, more digestible, cleaner, more economical, more enlightened and more modern than lard. Women who use Crisco are portrayed as good wives and mothers, their houses are free of strong cooking odors and their children grow up with good characters (because, according to the tortured logic of P&G’s advertising department, Crisco is easier to digest).
P&G also had the brilliant idea of presenting Crisco to the Jewish housewife as a kosher food, one that behaved like butter but could be used with meats. Because it made kosher cooking easier, Jews adopted Crisco and margarine—imitation lard and imitation butter—more quickly than other groups, with unforeseen consequences.
I remember switching from lard to Crisco to make pie crust when I was a teenager. We always used lard from the farm, but sometime in the 1960s, Mom innocently brought home our first can of Crisco. We started to use it liberally. That was the overt addition to the diet. What we didn’t know was that Crisco and its cousins were being covertly added to countless food items.
We also didn’t know that the partially hydrogenated oils in Crisco—the trans fatty acids—were bad for us. In fairness to P&G, they didn’t know this either, not at first. But when reports of problems began to appear—problems like increased heart disease, increased cancer, growth problems, learning disorders and infertility—P&G worked behind the scenes to cover them up.4 One scientist who worked for P&G, Dr. Fred Mattson, can be credited with presenting the US government’s inconclusive Lipid Research Clinics Trials to the public as proof that animal fats caused heart disease. He was also one of the baleful influences that persuaded the American Heart Association to preach the phony gospel of the Lipid Hypothesis.
The truth about the dangers of trans fatty acids in foods like Crisco is finally emerging. Perhaps that is why P&G decided to put their flagship product up for sale.
Today when somebody asks me about diet, I make the following recommendation: vigorously seek to eliminate two things—hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup—and you will see noticeable health improvements. Not all hydrogenated fats are made with cottonseed oil today; in fact, most are now made with soybean oil. But by eliminating just these two commodities—which is not as easy as it sounds—you will find that you have eliminated the majority of the "displacing foods of modern commerce" that Weston A. Price spoke about.
Besides all the possible health risks of hydrogenation, I believe there is another compelling reason to avoid Crisco. Just before harvest, cottonseed plants are sprayed with strong defoliating chemicals to make the leaves fall off so that it is easier and cleaner to pick. Do your own research. Type the words "cotton + defoliation" into a web browser and see what you come up with. You will be as amazed as I was. Unfortunately, without the benefits of a lab, it would be hard to know how much harmful residue Crisco actually contains.
However, I can provide some anecdotal evidence. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine who is an alternative health practitioner told me that she kept running into cases in which patients had very severe upset stomachs after eating chips. After a fair bit of investigation and inspiration, she found a common denominator was that they had all been fried in cottonseed oil. She herself had grown up in the South and knew about the practice of cotton defoliation. Since then, she has counseled her patients to avoid cottonseed oil and Crisco.
For obvious reasons, this column on Crisco does not contain recipes.
|
|
Comments (1) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 8, 2009 - ~Reading Links and Resources~
-
-
This is actually a picture dictionary with links to hundreds of carefully chosen children-friendly sites throughout the world. Available in French, German, Portugese and Spanish.
-
-
-
Here you can find many children's stories that can be read on the internet or downloaded, some from well-known published authors and others available only online.
-
-
-
At this site are links to Alphabet stories and activities, Phonics activities, stories to read online, spelling actitives and much, much more. This is a site you will want to bookmark and visit again and again!
-
-
-
Animals for each letter of the alphabet, a poem, and some information about each animal. Available in a standard text version as well as with real audio sound with animated gifs. You can also take a quiz about the animals. A fun site to visit.
-
-
Here you will find well written, beautifully illustrated stories online, classics as well as newer stories. Definitely worth a look!
-
-
-
This site has E-book available for purchase, including Classics, Picture books, Story books, fantasy ands much more.
-
-
Holiday stories that you can read or have read to you online.
-
-
Every Mother Goose Rhyme imaginable can be found here.
-
-
Site includes books to read, sounds, mazes, riddles and coloring pages.
-
-
-
One of my personal favorite stories by author Mercer Mayer
-
-
Fun and interactive site to help young children to learn ABC order.
-
-
There are a lot of fun, learning links on this site, including ABC recognition, beginning books online, coloring activities, games, and some fun quizes you can take to see what you know and what you have learned.
-
-
Here you click a letter to hear it's name spoken and to see a picture of something that has that letter as it's beginning sound.
-
-
-
This site has a number of interactive games for Pre-K through 1st grade, including ABC order, sorting, color recognition, and much more. Requires shockwave plug-in.
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 8, 2009 - It Even Smells Like Fall!
Super Tasty ~ Super Easy
Honey Oatmeal Bread
Place all ingedients in your bread maker and set cycle for "dough".
When the dough is finished remove and place in a bread pan ~ allow to sit about an hour and then bake at 400 degrees for 45-55 minutes depending on your oven. My daughter like to brush the top with milk halfway through the baking.
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Oct. 7, 2009 - ~Sam Goes for a Walk~
After much research and "to-do" over a backpack for Dad ( Slings and wraps seemingly heavier than Dad's back was ready for!), we decided on trying a pack. So began the great search... that quickly dwindled (on account of my new distaste for consumerism) so I grabbed one at the local thrift store, soaked it good with a good mixture of Tea Tree/peppermint oils and some Dr Bronners and PRESTO, Sam (and Dad) were in business!
~~~Off They Go~~~
Don't forget Yoshi Daddy!
Hmmmm maybe I should have nemed this: Daddy gets a phone call....
Yes, I do believe that's a better title....
And they're back!
And so is Yoshi.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
|
|
Comments (0) :: Post A Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
|
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Philippians 3:12-14
Links
• Home
• View my profile
• Archives
• Email Me
My Husband's Blog
Buy Handmade
Bulk Herbs
Make Your Own Castile Soap
Heavenly Places Blog
Pasta Making Tutorial
Interested in Rocketry/Aerospace ?
Weston Price Foundation
FUN Learn-To-Knit Site
Say No To GMO's
GUIDE TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CA School Immunization Law
Fuzzi Bunz Website
Dr. Bronner's Soaps
Reflections of a Mother's Heart Blog
Sewing Your Own Cloth Diapers
(More) Sewing Your Own Cloth Diapers
Coffee Break with Java Mama
Granny Goose Tidbits
 
|
