Here's a peek at our menu for the next two weeks, if you are into that sort of thing...
Cheesy Enchilada Soup ( Paula Deen's recipe. Surprisingly, no butter or cream cheese was harmed during the making of this recipe. )
Shrimp Fried Rice and Pot Stickers.
Maple Dijon Chicken, Roasted Garlic Herb Potatoes and Broccoli
Italian Beef Sandwiches (thanks to the slow cooker) and fresh fruit
Stuffed Shells, Salad and Bread
Chef's Salad and Homemade Rolls
Yes, I said 2 weeks. I make a big meal so we can have leftovers for a day or so.
I don't know about you all, but I'm excited about Fall and using my slow cooker more and more for those yummy Fall dishes!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
One More Reason I Love Homeschooling
I love homeschooling mostly because of those "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" moments.
Yesterday we had a lesson on scientists and inventors of the past and their contributions to physical science...Isaac Newton, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Otto Lilienthal, Robbert Goddard, Neil Armstrong.
Which lead to us YouTube-ing footage of Armstrong's first steps on the moon.
Which lead to us finding videos of astronauts playing around in weightlessness. Which prompted great questions such as "If there is no gravity, how do you go to the bathroom?" And "Why do they have to workout while in zero-gravity for an extended period of time?"
Which lead us to videos of pilots in a zero-gravity plane popping water balloons.
Which lead to conversations of how an airplane can simulate the weightlessness of outer space by flying in a parabola.
Which lead my son to dig out a 'Magic of Flight' dvd that was purchased years ago at a Pensacola museum of aviation.
Which lead to discussions of how a planes wing is modeled after a birds wing and how wind speed differences create lift.
Those are the moments when I sit back and think, if this took place in a classroom, the lesson would have ended with Newton, the Wright Brothers, and Armstrong.
Yesterday we had a lesson on scientists and inventors of the past and their contributions to physical science...Isaac Newton, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Otto Lilienthal, Robbert Goddard, Neil Armstrong.
Which lead to us YouTube-ing footage of Armstrong's first steps on the moon.
Which lead to us finding videos of astronauts playing around in weightlessness. Which prompted great questions such as "If there is no gravity, how do you go to the bathroom?" And "Why do they have to workout while in zero-gravity for an extended period of time?"
Which lead us to videos of pilots in a zero-gravity plane popping water balloons.
Which lead to conversations of how an airplane can simulate the weightlessness of outer space by flying in a parabola.
Which lead my son to dig out a 'Magic of Flight' dvd that was purchased years ago at a Pensacola museum of aviation.
Which lead to discussions of how a planes wing is modeled after a birds wing and how wind speed differences create lift.
Those are the moments when I sit back and think, if this took place in a classroom, the lesson would have ended with Newton, the Wright Brothers, and Armstrong.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
13 Things
My son turned 13 today.
He was my first baby. The ubiquitous 'guinea pig', the one who taught me in so many ways how to be a mom.
Here are 13 things I learned since August 7,1999:
1. It all washes off. No, really.
2. Even if you don't have a clue in what you are doing, keep in mind the baby hasn't been to this rodeo either. He won't be judgemental if it takes you three tries to put that diaper on right.
3. Your baby won't explode if they eat REAL food. Real HUMAN food. That stuff in the jars? Not human food.
4. It takes 3 days of no sleep for one to begin to questions one's sanity. (Actually, I learned this from my daughter. My son slept like an angel. An angel that led me to believe I was the Best Mom Ever. Until I had my daughter. But that's a whole 'nother story.)
5. It's all cute and fun when you have pets before you have a kid. You refer to them as your 'babies'. Then you bring that baby home and all those pets suddenly become hairy, noisy, germy animals. Amazing, really.
6. Watching nature documentaries, particularly the ones that show baby animals being hunted down by packs of hungry lions while the mother fights with all her might to protect her young become more emotionally gripping than anything Hollywood could concoct. My heart goes out to those mommas.
7. Along with #6...every child becomes 'your' child. That child on the news who is missing? It hurts your heart because...'that could be MY child'.
8. Nothing is better on a day when you are feeling fat or frumpy than a crayon drawing with 'to my beeyoutifull mommy, the best mommy ever' scrawled across the bottom. Heaven.
9. You learn the true meaning of grace. Yeah, you lose it when something gets broken or destroyed, but you still love the socks off of that kid. And thus you realize how much God loves you in the same manner.
10. Watching that first baseball game when the kids are pitching and they all want to pitch a 100 mph fast ball but have NO accuracy what so ever requires many trips to the concessions. I can't watch.
11. I'd rather be punched in the face than see someone hurt my kids' feelings.
12. My parents really WERE smart.
13. No matter how old they get, when I look at them I still see their little chubby smiles and feel those sweet kisses. I always will.
He was my first baby. The ubiquitous 'guinea pig', the one who taught me in so many ways how to be a mom.
Here are 13 things I learned since August 7,1999:
1. It all washes off. No, really.
2. Even if you don't have a clue in what you are doing, keep in mind the baby hasn't been to this rodeo either. He won't be judgemental if it takes you three tries to put that diaper on right.
3. Your baby won't explode if they eat REAL food. Real HUMAN food. That stuff in the jars? Not human food.
4. It takes 3 days of no sleep for one to begin to questions one's sanity. (Actually, I learned this from my daughter. My son slept like an angel. An angel that led me to believe I was the Best Mom Ever. Until I had my daughter. But that's a whole 'nother story.)
5. It's all cute and fun when you have pets before you have a kid. You refer to them as your 'babies'. Then you bring that baby home and all those pets suddenly become hairy, noisy, germy animals. Amazing, really.
6. Watching nature documentaries, particularly the ones that show baby animals being hunted down by packs of hungry lions while the mother fights with all her might to protect her young become more emotionally gripping than anything Hollywood could concoct. My heart goes out to those mommas.
7. Along with #6...every child becomes 'your' child. That child on the news who is missing? It hurts your heart because...'that could be MY child'.
8. Nothing is better on a day when you are feeling fat or frumpy than a crayon drawing with 'to my beeyoutifull mommy, the best mommy ever' scrawled across the bottom. Heaven.
9. You learn the true meaning of grace. Yeah, you lose it when something gets broken or destroyed, but you still love the socks off of that kid. And thus you realize how much God loves you in the same manner.
10. Watching that first baseball game when the kids are pitching and they all want to pitch a 100 mph fast ball but have NO accuracy what so ever requires many trips to the concessions. I can't watch.
11. I'd rather be punched in the face than see someone hurt my kids' feelings.
12. My parents really WERE smart.
13. No matter how old they get, when I look at them I still see their little chubby smiles and feel those sweet kisses. I always will.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Sometimes He Sends a Spider
I love Joel Osteen, don't you? He looks perpetually happy everytime you see him on television, and I truly believe he really is that happy 99 % of the time.
Anyway, I caught his sermon on television yesterday morning before church and it has stuck with me, so much so that I want to share it here.
In a nutshell, it was about a soldier in Vietnam who was alone in the jungle. He could hear the enemy getting closer and closer. He started to run, but could only go deeper into the jungle.
Finally he came to a cluster of caves, and out of desperation, he chose one and hid in its darkness.
All the while he could hear the enemy approaching.
So he prayed. He prayed for a brick wall, an iron fist, anything to stop them from capturing him.
He came to terms with his mortality. And he waited.
Suddenly he noticed a spider in the mouth of the cave. It began to spin a web from one side of the cave to the other, and in no time it had woven it's web across the mouth of that cave.
The enemy approached the caves, and began searching them for the soldier.
When they came to his cave, one of the soldiers saw the spiderweb and suggested there was no way anyone could be in that cave...they would surely have disturbed that web when entering. And they moved on. One little spider saved that soldiers life.
How many times do we pray for that brick wall, that iron fist...or at least expect something huge and amazing to answer our prayers, all the while forgetting that God can take a lowly spider and create something extraordinary out of it?
The next time you pray and think that God hasn't heard you because he didn't send what you requested...look again. Closely.
Sometimes He just sends a spider.
Anyway, I caught his sermon on television yesterday morning before church and it has stuck with me, so much so that I want to share it here.
In a nutshell, it was about a soldier in Vietnam who was alone in the jungle. He could hear the enemy getting closer and closer. He started to run, but could only go deeper into the jungle.
Finally he came to a cluster of caves, and out of desperation, he chose one and hid in its darkness.
All the while he could hear the enemy approaching.
So he prayed. He prayed for a brick wall, an iron fist, anything to stop them from capturing him.
He came to terms with his mortality. And he waited.
Suddenly he noticed a spider in the mouth of the cave. It began to spin a web from one side of the cave to the other, and in no time it had woven it's web across the mouth of that cave.
The enemy approached the caves, and began searching them for the soldier.
When they came to his cave, one of the soldiers saw the spiderweb and suggested there was no way anyone could be in that cave...they would surely have disturbed that web when entering. And they moved on. One little spider saved that soldiers life.
How many times do we pray for that brick wall, that iron fist...or at least expect something huge and amazing to answer our prayers, all the while forgetting that God can take a lowly spider and create something extraordinary out of it?
The next time you pray and think that God hasn't heard you because he didn't send what you requested...look again. Closely.
Sometimes He just sends a spider.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Blueberries and Cream Pie
Yesterday I came across some blueberries in the freezer. Not enough for a cobbler, but I really wanted to make a dessert. Then I found cream cheese.
This is what I made:
I made a pie crust and pre-baked it for a few minutes. You can use a refridgerated store bought one if you wish. Preheat oven to 400.
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 egg
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp AP flour
Cream these together till well blended.
2 1/2 c frozen blueberries (or fresh would be fine)
Stir berries into cream cheese mixture. Pour into pie shell. Bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Mix together:
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp chopped walnuts
Remove pie from oven. Sprinkle nut mixture over pie and bake 10 more minutes.
Let cool on counter, then chill in fridge.
Enjoy!
This is what I made:
I made a pie crust and pre-baked it for a few minutes. You can use a refridgerated store bought one if you wish. Preheat oven to 400.
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 egg
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp AP flour
Cream these together till well blended.
2 1/2 c frozen blueberries (or fresh would be fine)
Stir berries into cream cheese mixture. Pour into pie shell. Bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees.
Mix together:
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp chopped walnuts
Remove pie from oven. Sprinkle nut mixture over pie and bake 10 more minutes.
Let cool on counter, then chill in fridge.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Value of Traditional Family Values
These are all headlines in my local news for today:
"Macon Grandmother Accused in Death of 11 Year Old Granddaughter"
"Augusta 11 Year Old Admits to Killing Dad's Girlfriend"
"Cops: Ga Man Forced 7 Year Old to Smoke Pot"
"Georgia Teen Arrested After Explosive Devices Found"
All of this on today's local news. Never mind what is taking place in other parts of the country.
I don't know about you, but it makes me feel sick, sad and hopeless.
Lately the Christian faith has been under attack for espousing traditional family values. Traditional family values doesn't just mean marriage between men and women, but a value system that supports the family. I personally believe that if more families took the time to embrace some of those values, today's headlines would not be so hard to read.
Parents- take time with your children. Have dinner together as a family. Be interested in what is going on in their school. Monitor their internet activity and the media they see and hear. Evaluate their friendships, and prune the unhealthy ones when necessary. Let them see you pray. Love your spouse. Be gentle. Be kind to everyone you meet. Discipline them when they do wrong, praise them when they do right. Have integrity. I mean, isn't that what Jesus told us to do?
I can't help but be convinced that if these children were raised in homes where they felt safe and loved the outcome would be so different.
Above all, pray for today's children. They need it now more than ever.
"Macon Grandmother Accused in Death of 11 Year Old Granddaughter"
"Augusta 11 Year Old Admits to Killing Dad's Girlfriend"
"Cops: Ga Man Forced 7 Year Old to Smoke Pot"
"Georgia Teen Arrested After Explosive Devices Found"
All of this on today's local news. Never mind what is taking place in other parts of the country.
I don't know about you, but it makes me feel sick, sad and hopeless.
Lately the Christian faith has been under attack for espousing traditional family values. Traditional family values doesn't just mean marriage between men and women, but a value system that supports the family. I personally believe that if more families took the time to embrace some of those values, today's headlines would not be so hard to read.
Parents- take time with your children. Have dinner together as a family. Be interested in what is going on in their school. Monitor their internet activity and the media they see and hear. Evaluate their friendships, and prune the unhealthy ones when necessary. Let them see you pray. Love your spouse. Be gentle. Be kind to everyone you meet. Discipline them when they do wrong, praise them when they do right. Have integrity. I mean, isn't that what Jesus told us to do?
I can't help but be convinced that if these children were raised in homes where they felt safe and loved the outcome would be so different.
Above all, pray for today's children. They need it now more than ever.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Raising Kids in an Overly Sexualized Culture
One of the main reasons I homeschool is to filter influences that affect my children. Call me over protective if you wish...I really don't care. Has anyone spent any time at all watching television, on the Internet, listening to the radio, reading a magazine? If you have surely you have seen or heard the bombardment of sexual content that is being hurled at our children.
"According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average American child spends more than 38 hours a week on video games, music, TV, reading and their computers — nearly the equivalent of a full-time job. And the report notes that 68 percent of the material the children watch contains sexual content." (ABC's GMA report: Children Overly Exposed to Sex)
I don't know about you, but that is an alarming statistic. As much time as they spend in school, they are being exposed to damaging stuff. Heck, even *in* school they are potentially exposed to damaging stuff. A fellow homeschool mom sent her son to middle school so he could play sports. His first year in public middle school he was exposed to pornography. Needless to say, he was very quickly brought back home to continue homeschooling...by his own choice. Pornography addiction is a very real problem in society today. And both girls and boys are encouraged to have 'exclusive' relationships with the opposite sex. Why? When you are 12, WHY do you need a boy/girlfriend? It only adds fuel to the hormonal fire.
It's everywhere. Clothes shopping for little girls shouldn't have to involve the 'squat test' (my own term) to see if, when my daughter has on jeans or shorts, her bottom or underwear is exposed because of the low cut nature of the clothes. T-shirts are cut very narrow and expose every curve. Bathing suits are sometimes teeny weenie bikinis.
And the music. Don't get me started. Seeing little seven year old kids singing along with Lady Gaga and the like, singing suggestive lyrics. The images these celebrities portray...skimpy costumes, suggestive dance moves. Just watch an episode of 'Toddlers and Tiaras' sometime. You'll see what I am talking about.
Television. You can't hardly go to a 'family film' anymore without some sexual references thrown in.
Internet is no place for a child unless strictly supervised. Especially the social media realm. Have any of you seen some of the pictures posted by tween aged girls? You all know the look...pouty mouth, camera angle to show her body. And some of the comments ...wow.
Sometimes my kids ask why 'they' don't have a smart phone, or Facebook account, or have this album or that outfit.
Here is my answer: You can borrow my phone to call friends. You can play on games on the Internet that I approve and have saved on my 'Favorites' list. No surfing the net. Because there are so many things that, once you see them, you can't UNsee them. You need to respect yourself and wear clothing that honors you as a person and that honors God. No self respecting young lady exposes her body for everyone else to see.
Maybe I am 'uncool'. Maybe my kids will be social pariahs because they don't have access to these things. I don't care.
They have the rest of their lives to be exposed to the ugly things in this world. Right now I just want to fill up their minds and hearts with what is healthy and good.
But, boy, is it ever a battle.
"According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average American child spends more than 38 hours a week on video games, music, TV, reading and their computers — nearly the equivalent of a full-time job. And the report notes that 68 percent of the material the children watch contains sexual content." (ABC's GMA report: Children Overly Exposed to Sex)
I don't know about you, but that is an alarming statistic. As much time as they spend in school, they are being exposed to damaging stuff. Heck, even *in* school they are potentially exposed to damaging stuff. A fellow homeschool mom sent her son to middle school so he could play sports. His first year in public middle school he was exposed to pornography. Needless to say, he was very quickly brought back home to continue homeschooling...by his own choice. Pornography addiction is a very real problem in society today. And both girls and boys are encouraged to have 'exclusive' relationships with the opposite sex. Why? When you are 12, WHY do you need a boy/girlfriend? It only adds fuel to the hormonal fire.
It's everywhere. Clothes shopping for little girls shouldn't have to involve the 'squat test' (my own term) to see if, when my daughter has on jeans or shorts, her bottom or underwear is exposed because of the low cut nature of the clothes. T-shirts are cut very narrow and expose every curve. Bathing suits are sometimes teeny weenie bikinis.
And the music. Don't get me started. Seeing little seven year old kids singing along with Lady Gaga and the like, singing suggestive lyrics. The images these celebrities portray...skimpy costumes, suggestive dance moves. Just watch an episode of 'Toddlers and Tiaras' sometime. You'll see what I am talking about.
Television. You can't hardly go to a 'family film' anymore without some sexual references thrown in.
Internet is no place for a child unless strictly supervised. Especially the social media realm. Have any of you seen some of the pictures posted by tween aged girls? You all know the look...pouty mouth, camera angle to show her body. And some of the comments ...wow.
Sometimes my kids ask why 'they' don't have a smart phone, or Facebook account, or have this album or that outfit.
Here is my answer: You can borrow my phone to call friends. You can play on games on the Internet that I approve and have saved on my 'Favorites' list. No surfing the net. Because there are so many things that, once you see them, you can't UNsee them. You need to respect yourself and wear clothing that honors you as a person and that honors God. No self respecting young lady exposes her body for everyone else to see.
Maybe I am 'uncool'. Maybe my kids will be social pariahs because they don't have access to these things. I don't care.
They have the rest of their lives to be exposed to the ugly things in this world. Right now I just want to fill up their minds and hearts with what is healthy and good.
But, boy, is it ever a battle.
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