joyfulhomeschooling

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Where do I begin?  I think I must say that with all of the birthday posts.  Just having these days come causes me to be reflective and to think back in ways that I don't always take time to do.  Has it really been 14 years?!  Don't I sound like an "old person" just saying that?  I remember when I was that age wondering why older people were always so surprised that I had gotten older.  I didn't understand how fast the years could pass.  I didn't know that I would want time to slow down one day. 

I have even joked with Rebecca that we were going to skip this one so she didn't get older so quickly.  She laughed - but was not in agreement.  Guess you only want to skip birthdays when you get older.  LOL

I remember being pregnant with Rebecca and having a vision that I would be having a girl.  I had wanted a "Rebecca" for years.  I was so certain I was having a girl, that my mother had bought only gifts for a girl!  I was delighted with our beautiful new daughter - and yet had no idea the joy that was awaiting us.  I couldn't even begin to fathom the blessing she would be - to me, to our family and to so many other people. 

Where do I start?  I'm thankful for the gifts Rebecca has been given and the beautiful way she uses those gifts to bless others.  She is creative, talented and hard-working.  This is evident in her Wholehearted bracelet ministry (see sidebar for details) in which she has made hundreds of bracelets and raised over $8000 for Duke Children's Hospital.  I see these qualities in her day to day life as well as she is constantly creating things - both craft projects and also cooking projects.  All of us benefit from these!

Rebecca is bright, inquistive and interesting.  She is a joy to teach and has always been a great student.  She is motivated and willing to do all that is asked of her.  I know this will serve her well throughout her life. 

She is brave and willing to try new things.  Starting a business at age 11 is amazing to me.  Speaking to a group of 150 is daunting - and she was wonderful.  All this for a young girl who is somewhat quie and a little on the shy side - until you get to know her. 

Rebecca has a heart to serve.  She demonstrates this every day in so many ways to her siblings.  I would not be able to manage nearly so well without her capable help!  She has also served in the community.  She is wonderful with young children.  She is energetic, athletic and sensitive.  She is also unassuming - so much lies behind her sometimes quiet exterior. 

I have loved being your Mom, Rebecca.  I have learned so much from you.  I love spending time with you, sharing interests and just talking.  You are all I could have ever wanted in a daughter and so much more!  I thank God for you every day and look forward to another amazing year with you!  I know that God has great plans for you.  I have loved watching Him at work in your life already and look forward to seeing the work He will continue to do in and through you.

I love you!

Mommy

Life is made up of little moments

So much has happened over the last several years to make me stop and appreciate the little things.  I think it can be easy to become overwhelmed with the big events, projects and deadlines that occupy so much of our energy.  These can become the focus of our scrapbooks (and sometimes our memories).  It isn't the bulk of our days though.  Most of our time is spent in the ordinary, every day things.  Things that are just as sweet and maybe even more important than those big things.  I want to remember to stop, enjoy and spend time in these moments as it is what my life is made of.

We've been enjoying being outdoors this fall.  I love the fall - the colors, the crisp sounds, the cool breezes (well, eventually we get those!).  We have been studying clouds for a week.  Wouldn't you know that 4 of the 5 days we had beautiful, clear - cloudless - skies!  LOL  The other day was our field trip day which has some great clouds which we enjoyed seeing but weren't able to draw in our nature journals since we weren't at home. 

Even without the clouds we found things to enjoy in nature.  I loved the color of the blue sky against the color of the changing leaves.  Isn't this beautiful?

I also enjoyed seeing my children thrive in the fresh air.  I think it does them good to be outside and I do want them to appreciate the many amazing things that  God has made for us to learn about and enjoy. 

I also enjoy seeing them have fun together.  It does warm a mama's heart to see a site like this one.

Rebecca took advantage of the beautiful weather to take her siblings to our neighborhood park one day.  They had fun playing and I loved that she took pictures while they were there!  Isn't this a sweet one?

She also let Eliana help cook again.  Have I mentioned what a great big sister she is?  I wonder if they truly appreciate how blessed they are to have her?  I probably need to help this along. 

Nothing big.  Nothing dramatic.  Just a few of life's sweet little moments.  I'm loving them!

Blessings
Leslie

Advent, Christmas, etc.

Field Trip - Falls Lake

I love field trip days.  I look forward to the time learning more about nature or history whatever out topic of the day may be in a fun and hands-on way.  I look forward to seeing our friends.  I just look forward to all the day has to offer.

As our field trip day approached last week, it was raining and the forecast was grim.  It was calling for rain and our field trip was an outdoor nature one.  I wondered what the day would hold.  We were assured that it would be a go - rain or shine - as shelters were available (unless it was storming). 

As we drove over to Falls Lake, a few drops were hitting the windshield.  A number of people had to cancel for various reasons.  When we arrived, we were a small group.  It was overcast and dreary  ... and yet beautiful.

The haze obstrucing the view.  The brilliant colors of the leaves, muted through the fog.  Can you see God in views like this?  So many times, I want my path to be clear.  I want to see where I am going.  I want to know what lies ahead.  I want God to tell me what His plans are.  I want.  I want. 

What I don't want is to wait, to wonder, to worry.    I don't want to let go of my hopes and dreams.  I don't want life to be so unfair for so many.  Again, it is all about what I want.  Sigh.  It is hard when you can see so clearly that your focus is on yourself instead of on God. 

I want answers to so many things right now.  Things I've been praying about for a long time.  It is hard to wait and yet I really do want what God wants for my life.  I know He loves me.  I know He is working in my life.  I know He is there - even when I can't see clearly. 

There is beauty in so many places if only we will stop and look.  There is often beauty in places that may at first not look beautiful at all.  My eyes see things so differently now than they did a few years ago.  I'm thankful that God has given me that gift.  I continue to pray that God would give me His eyes to see things.  It is an area in which I fall short often.  I think that the many struggles that our family has been through have helped to open my eyes to so much.  I'm not the same and for that I'm thankful - and yet there is still so much work left to be done in me.  I think the more I learn about Him, the more I can see that I lack.  I'm thankful that I don't have to earn His love, but that it has been freely given to me. 

Now, on to the field trip.  We split into 2 groups.  The younger children were learning about Dangerous Plants and Animals.  The Ranger talked with us about spiders, snakes, fire ants, bees, ticks, poison ivy and unfamiliar dogs.  He gave the children a lot of good information on what to do when you encounter these animals/plants.

We looked at pictures in order to recognize various species such as the Black Widow spider.

And even saw some that had once been alive.

The most dangerous snake in our area is the Copperhead.  It was good to see what it looked like so that we could hopefully recognize one we might see.   (Though I hope we never see one!)

Due to its coloring, this snake can easily hide among the leaves.

The Ranger also shared the most poisonous snakes have larger triangular shaped heads and eyes shaped like slits.  One of the snakes that breaks these rules though is also found in NC, though typically not near us.  It is the Coral Snake.

 In order to help remember this snake, the children learned a rhyme.

Red and yellow kills a fellow
Red and black, OK  Jack

They looked at some snake skins.

We walked around a bit and looked at the poison ivy vines growing on some nearby trees.  Then we just played.  It is a beautiful area and I'm thankful we had the opportunity to be outside today. 

While we were with the younger children, the older kids had a class on Compasses.  They learned about how to read and use a compass and then were tested on this by having to put their skills to a test.  There were directions given and then they followed them to see where they ended up on a numbered line.  The teams were given points based on how close they were to the right numbers.  I heard great reports on this class, but unfortunately have no pictures to share.  Please check out my friend Lynn's blog (click on her name) for more details and some pictures of this group. 

A couple of hours later, some of the fog had lifted and the view was a little clearer.  I love the reflection of the trees!

At lunch, we had a scare as Joshua's blood glucose numbers were very, very high.  I haven't seen numbers like this since the week he was diagnosed.  It was frightening.  I had him wash his hands again and then we did a recheck.  The number was accurate.  We treated it and thankfully he was down 200 points by mid-afternoon and another 100 points by dinner time.  Yes, it was that high! 

He ALWAYS spikes on our field trip days.  Always.  I'm not sure if it is just the excitement of being with friends on a fun outing, but I've come to expect higher numbers on those days.  Just nothing like this.  It usually evens out by later in the day too.  I'm not sure if there is more I could or should be doing about it either.  I have talked with his doctor about this.  I'm going to try to make sure he is well hydrated on these mornings and just continue to do our best.  (There is no other factor that is different in terms of food, carb counting or amount of insulin.)  It's a mystery as this disease often is.  It can be a hard thing. 

So often I'm asked if his diabetes is "under control".  I'm not sure if it ever will be under our control.  We are doing our best to manage it day by day and I think that is all we can do.  Just yesterday a friend told me that it was still a struggle for her dh who also have Type 1 and that he still has highs and lows.  I think part of the challenge is that so many different factors can affect your numbers.  We are learning though and hopefully we'll continue to improve and get better.  There is a high incentive to do well and with God's help we will continue to work at it each day.

I feel like I've been rambling and want to end with some things I'm thankful for.  I'm thankful for our health.  I don't think I'll ever take this for granted again.  I'm thankful for a wonderful medical team.  I'm thankful for friends.  I'm thankful for a great FIAR homeschool group.  I'm thankful for the many things in nature that God has made - each pointing back to a wonderful Designer.  I'm thankful for my family.  I'm richly blessed.

With love,

Leslie

Pumpkin recipes

A friend asked me what she can do with some pumpkins she has, so I'm posting my favorite recipes here:

Sweet Dinner Rolls

see these here

½ cup honey

¼ cup warm water

1 cup milk

1/8 cup melted butter

1 cup cooked pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon salt

3 T orange juice

5-6 cups whole wheat flour

3 ½ teaspoons yeast

Mix all ingredients except flour, then slowly add flour until dough is elasticy and not sticky. Let rise about 1 hour in a warm place, then form into small balls. Place on baking stone and let rise 30 more minutes. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes

Chocolate pumpkin cake

1 ½ cup flour

2/3 cocoa

2 teaspoons baking bowder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs plus 1 yolk

375 for 35 minutes. Makes 2 8” round cakes

Fudgy Frosting

8 oz softened cream cheese

½ stick softened butter

3T milk

3 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat until fluffy

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups sugar

1 cup olive oil

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin

3 cups flour (must be WHITE flour)

1 ½ ts salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Cream together top (wet ingredients first) then add dry. Put into loaf pan(s) (I make 2 small ones) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour