For Today ( November 16th, 2008)

                                Outside my window.... dark and peaceful.

                              I am thinking....I do not know how I will ever get ready to go on my trip back to MS and how much I am going to miss my hubby when I go.

                                I am thankful for.....the great relationship I had with all my grandparents and the christian heritage I received from them.

                                From the kitchen...fresh root vegetables that I am going to roast tomorrow.

                               I am wearing.....still in my p.j.s ... I worked two 12 hour night shifts this weekend at the hospital.  I am a registered nurse and work several shifts a month.

                              I am creating....my lesson plan for teaching the pre-k class at our homeschool co-op.  We are studying fruits and vegetables and seeds.

                             I am going...to get up very early in the morning and finish that lesson and gather all my materials.

                                I am reading.... The Web That Has No Weaver...Understanding Chinese Medicine.... by Ted J. Kaptchuk.  I have had the "hives" for over 5 months and accupuncture is actually helping me.

                           I am hoping....my granddaddy lives until we get home.  He is at my parents home on hospice with heart failure:(.  He says he saw a tall, beautiful angel holding a baby three days ago...reaching out for his hand...he says he took her hand...but his body would not go with her...he says he was not quite ready to go with her.  He knows we will be there in a few days.

                            I am hearing...my middle daughter's audio tapes...Johnathan Parks...

                        Around the house....since I was working this weekend, my husband has the kitchen looking nice and clean and shiny...I have ALOT of packing to do.

                   One of my favorite things...pumpkin ice cream.

              A few plans for the rest of the week...will be going to back home to parents for a few weeks...

                 From the learning rooms....In co-op tomorrow, the middle girls will be completing their study on Vikings and doing some story telling.  We wil be packing all our books to go on a trip.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

If you would like to participate in the simple woman's day book, please visit Peggy for instructions: 

http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

My husband and I had a great afternoon date today.  We had been wanting to see the movie, Fireproof...it was really a great movie!  There was not a dry eye in the theater.  I really enjoyed it so much...I am so glad we were able to go.  We just hung out for the rest of the afternoon at the park, exercised, and talked.   It was a great day!  I am so glad God changed our hearts and our marriage and has blessed our marriage.  Even though we still struggle at times,  God has held our marriage together and has caused it to develop and grow in ways I never thought possible...This movie had a lot of great points (I love the reminder that marriage is covenant not a contract and you can not always rely on your feelings, and the notion of what true love is... and many more) and I would recommend this movie to any engaged or married couple or even young adults...maybe highschoolish age.  I am so thankful to see a movie like this playing at the theater.  I hope they continue producing movies such as this. 

www.fireproofmymarriage.com

A few months ago I participated in the 30 day encouragement for wives (www.reviveourhearts.com/pdf/30DayChallenge.pdf ).  Now, I can't wait to get started on the Love Dare... I think it would be so beneficial even if your marriage is not at the brink of disaster!

Check out the Love Dare:  http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/lovedare/

To Die For Pot Roast

1 beef roast

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1pkg Italian dressing mix

1.cup water

Combine mixes well and sprinkle over roast in pot.  Pour water into bottom of pot.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours.

 http://w4.nkcsd.k12.mo.us/~rbeckett/Pumpkins.htm 

This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine!  Let it shine!  Let it shine!  Let it shine!

 We had a great Pumpkin Patch Parable party this year.  I have done this party several times for different groups.  This year it was for our homeschooling group.  We have had the party for neighborhood kids and for a couple of MOPS groups.  I had stations around the house and outside with different activities.  I had a coloring page table, spiders made from tootsie pops(http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28637025.tip.html), a table to make slime (http://www.madsci.org/experiments/archive/878680114.Ch.html), a station to make glittery spider webs (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/halloween/spiderwebcard/), and a scrapbooking table to scrapbook the "pumpkin prayer" and a station to collect tracts for everyone to take home and pass out to Trick or Treaters.  We had some great food.  Everyone brought food and I had made orange punch (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Orange-Party-Punch/Detail.aspx), spider crackers (http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf89919296.tip.html), apple cider, and "dirt with worms"(http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/dirt-cups-57763.aspx)?.   When we scrapbooked the "Pumpkin Prayer", I also had various verses which were in the Pumpkin Patch Parable that they could glue on to their page.

Here is the "Pumpkin Prayer" by Liz Curtis Higgs

(cut off top of pumpkin)

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

(remove innards)

Remove the things in my life that don't please you.

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

(Cut open eyes)

Open my eyes to see the beauty you've made in the world around me.

(Cut out the nose)

I'm sorry for the times I've turned my nose at the good food you provide.

(Cut out the mouth)

Let everything I say please You.

(Light the candle)

Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do.

Amen

Here are some of the verses in the book:

"I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener."  John15:1

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field."  Matthew 13:24

"My hand made all things.  All things are here because I made them," says the Lord."  Isaiah 66:2.

"Creat in me a pure heart, God."  Psalm51:10

"In the same way, you should be a light for other people.  Live so that they will see the good things you do.  Live so that they will praise your Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:16.

"If anyone belongs to Christ, then he is made new.  The old things have gone; everything is made new!"  2 Corinthians 5:17.

We had several tracts to pass out ... these came from www.ATStracts.org... We used the Bag of Jokes, Costumes are Cool but Heaven is Awesome, and Pick'n Pumpkins...and The Secret Wardrobe. 

We also made our own using "Being a Christian is Just like a Pumpkin"

Cornbread and Oyster Thanksgiving Dressing

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 cups crumbled cornbread
• 3 cups soft bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 pint shucked oysters, drained, reserve 1/2 cup liquid

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Sauté onions and celery in the butter until tender, not browned.

Combine cornbread and bread crumbs in a large bowl; mix in sautéed onions, salt, pepper, and parsley.

Add beaten eggs and toss more; moisten with the oyster liquid until moist but not soggy. Gently stir in the oysters.

Pat the mixture into a large lightly buttered rectangular baking pan (it should make a 1-inch layer in the pan). Dot with remaining butter and bake about 45 minutes, until golden brown and set in the center.

This is our favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas dressing. 

To join the Simple Woman's Day book....please visit:http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

•            6  to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar 

•  1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

•  1/2 cup milk

•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I made this flag cake for election party at our homeschool co-op last week.  We had a great party with lots of food and fun!  I also made a punch with 1 can pineapple juice, 1 sprite, 1 bottle white grape juice and 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream.  Yummy!

We ended the unit with a game of Elections Vocabulary Bingo with words like...candidate, vote, electronic scan, conserative, liberal, democrat, republican, mudslinging, suffrage, tax, inauguration, debate, urban, rural, illegal, ballot, victory, poll, elect, campaign and absentee ballot.  We reviewed our study of some of the American symbols like: The Great Seal, Uncle Sam, The Liberty Bell, The Eagle, The U.S. Capitol, Independence Hall, The White House, and the The National Anthem.

We memorized the verse: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32 as we prepared for our own elections within our co-op.  Everyone who memorized the verse got a small pumpkin as a prize.

We had a chance to go to the "voting booth" with a voter card and cast their vote.  It turned out to be a great day.  In conclusion, we made a banner with the verse:

If my people, which are called by name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14.

Each child tied a ribbon around their banner and were asked to put it in a special place and read over it each day and pray for their country.

We had a great time at the fair this year!  Actually, this was the FIRST year we have taken the girls to a state fair.  They loved it..the animals, the rides, the food, the dancing,the lights...

We stayed all day...from 10:30 am until about 8:00 pm.  Oh my.... We rode lots of rides...it was dollar ride day and they each earned 3 free tickets for reading 3 books each.  The girls had a special treat...of corn dogs and snowcones.  We shared a turkey leg and had lemonade for dinner as we were entertained by some Native American dancers.  That was great! 

We rode the sky ride at the end of the day and relaxed looking over all the fun things we had done that day.  The lights looked great and we had a great time!  Thanks for organizing the day Lori... It was homeschool day ... and Lori arranged all the admission process for us. www.homeschoolblogger.com/pearcefamily .

I grew up going to the fair in Jackson, MS and this did bring back a lot of fun memories. 

www.aponderingheart.com/blog

1. Favorite Smell? pumpkin pie and baked apples
2. Favorite Food? cream cheese pumpkin muffin from Starbucks, pumpkin pie, chili and vegetable beef soup
3. Favorite Color? deep red
4. Favorite Drink? hot apple cider
5. Favorite Treat? Halloween candy (Reeses and Hershey's kisses and mini dark choclate bars.
6. Favorite Place to go? In the mountains to see the fall leaves changing colors....or a local pumpkin patch and farm with a hay ride.   7. Favorite Candy? Reeses peanut butter cups
8. Favorite Movie to watch? Wizard of Oz...It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
9. Favorite Clothing to wear? blue jeans and my long gray long sweater.
10. Favorite Outdoor Activity? picnic, going to the zoo...
11. Favorite Football Team? ummm..I don't watch football anymore but I guess...go DAWGS!
12. Favorite Fall Holiday? Thanksgiving                                                13. Favorite Haunted place? you know haunted means “frequently visited”? outdoors
14. Favorite Food at Thanksgiving Dinner? honey baked ham, cornbread dressing, cranberry salad .... all of it?
15. Favorite Pie? pumpkin or my grandmother's pecan(I really only like her pecan pie)
16. Favorite Fall Hobby? carving pumpkins...planting mums
17. Favorite Fall Memory? the feel and smell of the crisp clean air in the morning.....carving pumpkins...leaf collecting, bon fires, hay rides, roasting marshmallows...going to the fair.
18. Favorite Fall Sight? the hickory tree near my grandmother's house, pumpkins, pecans, Indian corn...
19. Overall Favorite thing about Fall? Family gatherings...food...the cool air...of course, the leaves changing...but I don't get to see much of that in AZ.
20. Overall Favorite Season? spring....with fall a close second:)

Thanks Lori...that was fun.. www.homeschoolblogger.com/pearcefamily

An easy pear cobbler recipe with butter and cake-like batter, along with fresh pears.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2 1/2 cups sliced fresh pears ( I used fresh Asain pears)
• 2 cups sugar, divided ( I used a little more and used about 1/2 brown sugar)
• 4 ounces butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 1 teaspoon of allspice too)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg

Preparation:

Mix pears with 1 cup sugar and let stand. Put butter in 2-quart casserole and place in 325° oven until melted. Combine all dry ingredients, including the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly combine with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.
Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream. ( I served it warm with vanilla ice cream)

I made this for a fall dinner tonight...It was soooooooooooooooooooooo good!  In fact, it is totally gone...hmmm. maybe I have enough pears to make one more.  We also had collard greens, beets, and acorn squast.  I love fall .......... "Happy Fall Ya'll".

My mom makes a pear cobbler but I found this simple but wonderful recipe at http://southernfood.about.com/od/cobblers/r/bl80301h.htm.

We had a great "field trip" this past weekend...tent camping and to Annie's apple orchard.  It was a lot of fun.  It was the first time we had been tent camping in a long time.  We decided to stay at a KOA along the way which had some great conviences like....running water(hot and cold), bathrooms, a "Kamp Kitchen" with a sink and a cooktop.  It was great.  We did cook out all our meals on a camp fire.  This was our menu:  dinner: roasted cornish hens, sweet potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and banana boats.  Yummy!  Breakfast: scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, bacon, oj and milk.  The girls loved cooking over the camp fire and thought that was very cool!

The next day we went to Apple Annie's orchard where they have of course apples but also pear trees, a pumpkin patch and lots of u pick fresh vegetables like eggplant, peppers, squash, zuchinni, and beautiful sunflowers.  All the girls  (including me) got to select a beautiful sunflower to bring home.  They look gorgeous on the table and are holding up well.

There was a hayride and a corn maze.  I thought we would never get out of the corn maze!  We had a lot of fun and was a great adventure weekend with the whole family!

We incorporated our weekly nature walk into this trip and found a lot of interesting creatures: catepillars, grasshoppers, red wasps, bees, catfish, bass, lillypads, lillies and more...

www.appleannies.com

Elections Unit Study

We had a lot of fun this week in our co-op class as we expanded our study from Presidents into Elections.  We are adding to a lapbook that was started with the Presidental study as well.  We started out the day with "Start Student" and then had our devotions.  We went into the sanctuary and discussed the need of each family and person praying for our country...not only in these times...but in all times...we discussed some ways we could pray for our country and read over some Bible verses with justice as the theme and then each child pasted a Bible verse to a flag which they colored to remind them to pray for our country.  We discussed that the Bible is very clear that we should obey the government and keep its laws, pay taxes etc...  We learned that in Romans 13, God tells us that all authority comes from God (good or bad) and the we are to be in subjection to it.  We also learned that that Paul encouraged us not only to obey our government, but also to pray for it...(1Timothy 2:1-2 states: First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quite life in all godliness and dignity.)  We learned that it was especially interesting for Paul to be writing this because during the time of his writings, Nero, was the emperor and he was famous for killing Christians.  We learned that even though we are to have an allegiance to our country and obey our laws...ultimately our home is home is in heaven and our king is the KIng of Kings and Lord of Lords and there is no other allegiance as important as our commitment to God.  

We then made a booklet to go on the back of our lapbook that had many of the American symbols in it.  www.bensguide.gpo.gov The kids sang the National Anthem several times while they were working away on their books.

I had several books on the tables which worked our great.  If someone got finished a little early they just sat back and read a book and seemed to really enjoy that.  Here is a list of a few of the books we are using:  A More Perfect Union: The Story of our Constitution by Betsy and Giulio Maestro, Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, The U.S. Constitution and You by Syl Sobel, The Voice of the People - American Democracy in Action by Betsy and Giulio Maestro, This is America - The American Spirit in Places and People by Don Robb,  If I Ran For President by Catherine Stier, America: A Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney, How the US Government Works by Syl Sobel and The Story of the White House by Kate Waters.

I read aloud the Dr. Seuss favorite, Yertle the Turtle, which was suggested as a simple reminder of power and balance and a good analogy for children of all ages.  It is a good example of the concept of dictatorship and how it affects others.  They loved it!

Next we did some exercises and stretches from the Presidentals Physical Fitness Challenge.  www.presidentschallenge.org

We then went outside for some free play and ate red, white, and blue rocket bomb popsicles!

We then moved on to some vocabulary words and made some cards and wrote out definitions and put them in a little book in our lapbook. 

The older class came into our class and did some campaign speeches and we had a chance to do some voting.  That was fun!  We will do more with in the next few weeks.  We also voted on a secret ballot for our drink for next week: milk or juice!

After lunch, we shifted to our book club ... which this month we are basing off the book: 

All in all we had a great day!  We are looking forward to next week! 

I used material from the elections unit study I purchased from:

www.currclick.com and www.handsofachild.com

Camping Recipes

Banana Boats

Ingredients

Directions

Slice unpeeled banana lengthways. Insert desired filling, chocolate and mini marshmallows are always a a favorite. Wrap in foil and cook over hot coals or on a grill for approx. 10 minutes open up and eat with a spoon. Yum! Yum!

                      Fresh Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream....

We have decided to start anew with our Mystery of History curriculum so everyone is in on the fun and learning....we are going over a quick review of where we left off last year.  (which was about 1/3 of the first book).  We are reviewing creation and made these creation mobiles today.  Thanks Lori..... www.homeschoolblogger.com/pearcefamily 

I read the creation account from the Bible as the girls were working on their mobile this morning and then printed them a copy of the scriptures for their notebooks.

Tomorrow we are making creation books with the actual scriptures and will place in a 3 ring folder. 

www.themysteryofhistory.com

We have ongoing birthdays around here that last for a few days or sometimes even weeks....and several parties!  Birthdays are so fun!  We always use the special birthday plate for the birthday girl!  We took our family and some friends to the Constitution Week festival on her actual birthday.  I had found this so CUTE bear in red, white, and blue to remind her of that fun day!  She loved it!  We also had grandma and grandpa over and older sisters' beau over for a birthday lunch on Sunday. It was very fun and we grilled steaks and had baked potatoes, marianated fresh veggies, french bread, and peach pie with vanilla ice cream.  It was all yummy!!!!!!!!!  For co-op the next day, she got to take her class chocolate chip cookies and more ice cream!  Since one of her sisters' birthday is so close to hers and they are 19 months apart, they usually share their friend birthday party.  It works out very well because they have many of the same friends and they can just have one big party (with two cakes)...one year we had Strawberry Shortcake and StarWars...hard to combine those two!  We usually have the party sometime between both their birthdays which is sometime in October....they are planning for a spend the night this year!  Hmmmm...we better get planning!

For Today (September 22, 2008)

Outside my window...a breeze...blue skies...white clouds...

I am thinking...of what I am going to do with the tadpoles that have turned into tiny toads.

I am thankful for my friends that are in our homeschool co-op and all the efforts everyone puts into teaching their classes.

From the kitchen...lots of peaches that still need be cut up and frozen.

I am wearing a brown and turquoise sundress and my gold colored flip flops with nails painted hot pink.

I am creating...a lesson plan for the elections that I will be teaching in our co-op next month.

I am going to my husband's fitness boot camp tonight and take my fitness test.

I am reading...my Bible (Acts) and Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time by Catherine Martin

I am hoping....that my hives have gone away for good!

I am hearing...my youngest daughter playing "house" in her playroom.

Around the house....looking pretty good today!  We had family birthday party here yesterday.

One of my favorite things....homeade peach pie with vanilla ice cream (Bryers)

A few plans for the rest of the week...middle daugther starting sewing lessons this week.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing.....

Did you know that Sept. 17th - Sept 23 is Constitution Week?  Our town celebrates in a great way.  All week they have volunteers that go into the schools dressed in period clothes and educate the students on the Constitution.  We had a wonderful lady visit our co-op and do a presentation.  We found out she was a homeschool mom and Christian.  On Saturday, they hold a big festival with games, music, food, campaigning, characters dressed in historic attire, replicas of some of the buildings in Washington, fireworks...and the list goes on and on... I am planning to volunteer at this event next year! 

Maybe I can dress as Betsy Ross!  We took our girls and two of their friends.  We also made it a mini birthday celebration for one of our daughters!  It was so much fun!  We have been to this several times before and it always such a wonderful patriotic experience.  We had hamburgers, hotdogs (which they only get on rare occasions) and apple pie!  Yummy!  Later that night we stopped by Sonic and got mini banana splits and sang "Happy Birthday" in the car!

I also met a very good contact for the DAR (to join DAR is on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days) and the Children of the American Revolution.  I am very excited about that! The Children of the American Revolution has a wonderful program here in our area that I wasn't even aware of!  www.dar.org

The website is www.constitutionweekusa.com.  It has specific details for the event in AZ but it also has a great family lesson plan that you can download for free and some other really good resources. 

We are studying the presidents and the election over Sept. and Oct. in our co-op so this just fit in perfect with their learning.  We are working on a lapbook in co-op.  Some of the sites we are using are... www.whitehouse.gov , www.notebooklearning.com (a great free downloadable lap book on elections) and www.handsofachild.com .

 Here is another good site: http://www.usconstitution.net/constkidsK.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc