Thanksgiving at Nana and Pops....

The Little Ones!

All the cousins let us make their picture for Nana and Pop's Christmas card.

We broke with tradition and went to get a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving!  It was such a beautiful day and we didn't have anything else to do except rake leaves and cook a turkey....

Before we left, Steve decided he needed to go ahead and give me my Christmas gift early so we stopped by the office and he went to get my new camera lens out of his secret hiding place.  So far I love it....this picture of Grace is one of my favorites I have ever made.  I just love the colors and shapes of this picture....and of course I love the subject also!  Thank you Steve, for my gift, and for staying up until 10 tonight  cooking for my family! 

"So here is another way of viewing the challenge:  Nature as antidote.  Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life-these are the rewards that await a family when it invites more nature into children's lives."

-Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv

My friend Andrea taught me to make pesto 14 years ago when we were roommates in optometry school.  We used frozen spinach, but it was still delicious.  Now we have pesto at least once a week for as long as we have basil.  I put some tender greens in the last batch and it was delicious!  We eat it over pasta or on  pizza instead of the red sauce.

Pesto

2 c basil leaves (can also use spinach)

1-2 cloves garlic

1/8 c lemon juice ( i don't always put this in)

1 c slivered almonds ( I often use walnuts or pinenuts and cut it back to 1/2 c)

1/2- 3/4 c olive oil

1/2 t oregeno

1/4 c  fresh parsley ( I only put this in if I have some growing)

1/2 c Pamesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste (usually doesn't need much due to the Parmesan)

Blend or process until smooth.  Freezes well!  This is one of the best ways to preserve the extra basil you have at the end of the summer. 

Steve made this soup the other night ,and ,although it was very GREEN ,it was delicious.   He used tender greens out of my dad's garden instead of the spinach

Cream of Spinach soup

1 c spinach

1 slice onion

1 carrot

1 rib celery

1 bouillon cube

1 T cornstarch

1 c milk

1/4 c swiss or cheddar cheese ( he used swiss)

Put all ingredients in vita-mix blender. Increase to high for 3-4 minutes until smooth and steaming.  If you don't have a vitamix, you could just cut up veggies, cook on the stovetop and blend in a regular blender. 

Lately, I have to keep paper out available for Nathanial, unless I want some original art on my walls!  By the way, later he took the flowers out of the jar and drank the water!

My Mamaw Wilma died Monday fairly suddenly.  As you can see from the photo in the last blog at Patrick's birthday dinner she was pretty healthy for 84 years old.  A few days after that picture was made she broke her hip, had surgery, and died 2 weeks later.  I was close to her, as those of you who know me well knew, and will miss her terribly.  I have cried so much I can't hardly cry anymore.   I know she is in a better place where she can walk, run, and hear well again. 

I feel like I can truly empathize now with those who have lost someone that they loved so much that they thought their heart was breaking when they lost them. 

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you." Matthew 5:4 (The Message)

On Tuesday Patrick turned 5!  We had a party in Huntsville with his cousins on Sunday.

My sister-in-law, Ayumi, taught me to make Miso soup when she and Steve's brother, Tim, came to visit.     I made it Friday and then again last night to go with our sushi we made.  We made it using eggplant instead of tofu because that is what we had and also she said that was her favorite kind.  It was delicious!  Here is a picture of Ayumi and Tim when they came to visit in August.  It was their 1st anniversary!Here is a link to a miso soup recipe if you want to try it:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Miso-Soup

Here are some photos of summer history projects.  These hands on activities really reinforce the day's lesson so well and the kids enjoy them so much!!.  These are all based on ancient history, although now we are studying the Middle Ages.

Model of a Roman aquaduct.

Togas!

Great Wall of China (This still stands through 4-5 days of rain!)

...As it has always done, somehow Government, like some monster from the past, has again outwitted the freedom-loving masses and has convinced them that they don’t need protection from Government, but from everything else. And so the age-old beast our founding fathers had tamed is once more banging at our door. —

Here are most of our books for this year- all except Grace's First Language Lessons. She did the 1st half of that in 1st grade.    Hopefully, we'll begin next week!  

History for both will be Biblioplan's medival period.  http://www.biblioplan.net/

Grammar is First Language Lessons. Spelling is spellingcity.com.  Bible is Explorer's Bible Study.

Science is earth science and astronomy, and math is Singapore, grade 2.  Art and Music will be Ambleside online:

http://amblesideonline.org/ComposerSch.shtml#anchor_thisterm

Also, hopefully, Grace will begin piano lessons.  This summer we began teaching Patrick to read using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching your Child to Read.   It will probably take us all year to work through that with him.

Grace is so excited about starting 2nd grade.  We just have one more chapter left in Biblioplan Ancients and we'll be done.  We got behind in history last year and spent this summer catching up.  We LOVE history though, so it has been a joy to stretch it out and take our time with it. 

Hopefully tomorrow I will post some photos of some of our history projects from this summer.

I read the following idea in this month's "Mom's corner" on Titus2.com.  We have tried various methods of scripture memory as a family, but nothing that lasted.  Since we will always eat, maybe this will be easier to continue with! 

How can the Word of Christ dwell in me richly if I haven't memorized it? I read my Bible personally every morning. We are also in the Word daily as a family in the evenings, and Steve reads a chapter of Scripture to me at night. I can think about the Word and meditate on it from those interactions with it, but what is dwelling in me richly is what I have memorized.

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalms 119:11). Once again, to have the Word hidden in my heart is going to mean that I have it memorized. It is accurate, and it is true, and it is continually available in my heart to direct me. This is important not only in my life but also in my children's lives. We want them to have the Word hidden in their hearts, dwelling there richly.

The simplest way our family memorizes Scripture is what I might term the whiteboard-mealtime-grace method. After we say grace before lunch and dinner, we recite a portion of Scripture together before we begin to eat. We have a whiteboard hanging in the dining room where the current Scripture is written down for us to read until it is memorized. The verses on our board now are Matthew 5:3-12. A couple of the previous passages were 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galatians 5:22-24.

Just by reading the verses two times a day as our family sits down to meals, we memorize them usually in a few days to weeks. The children learn them before Steve and I do. There is no pressure on anyone, and everyone—even the youngest—will eventually know all the verses on the whiteboard. We leave the set of verses up even after everyone knows them well so they become very ingrained. At that point, the Lord will put a new section of Scripture on Steve's heart to put on the whiteboard on which we will begin to work.

The following is from My Utmost for His Highest, July 30.   Lord, help me to be disillusioned by all but you!

  "The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life.  It works in theis way- if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being that which he or she cannot give.  There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Why Our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster.  "