Merry Christmas

Christmas is drawing closer - 11 days a friend emailed me today. At first I thought she was mistaken! Then I realized she was right!

We are ready. My to do list is short:

1. Ship package Tuesday night
2. Do final Costco shop Tuesday night (no grocery stores until after Christmas - oh the joy of the CSA box!)
3. Do some more baking
4. Love my family extra special, lots and lots.
   

Okay, so number 4 is only on there because it is the reason I decided to take a bloggy break until the New Year. We are having lots of fun this Advent season, but it is taking time to prepare that extra fun, and extra time is only found by cutting out other things, which means my computer time, as you can tell by the lack of posts!

I wish you a wonderful Christmas season, and pray that the Lord blesses you as we celebrate His birthday! May He be glorified by and be the center of our celebrations!

See you in the new year!

More Than A To Do List

This time of year finds many women at the mercy or under the tyranny of their to do list, and I confess, I am often no different. As the girls become increasingly aware of things around them I am reminded that life is more than a to do list, life is essentially about living every day to the glory of God.

I certainly don't have this down perfect, but I am slowly learning.

Many friends have praised me for having my shopping done and mostly wrapped...not hard when most of the things that need to leave our house ship internationally! They had to be out last Saturday!

As for the wrapped part - we used a lot of furoshiki this year, and the toys all came from a store that wrapped them for me.

I am skipping the newsletter for the Christmas card this year, I just cannot get it done and be a good mom right now. Not a hard priority call once I realized that that was the trade off.

We are happily baking away - yes it goes slower with little helpers and the mess is bigger, but then, so are the smiles.

When little girls hold up a book, even the one I have read many times today, I am trying hard to say yes.

Yes to reading.

Yes to snuggling and watching a Christmas special...

...or the family hockey night we have planned to watch a game this weekend.

Yes to reading the lunch time advent reading one more time (yes, they ask for the Bible passage to be read again).

Yes to lighting the advent candles every meal and taking turns blowing them out.

Yes to help wrapping presents.

Yes to help of little ones with the Christmas cards.

It is not helping my to do list very much, but it most certainly is helping my joy, and my family's joy too!

Multitude Monday 22

I lost my little list I keep during the week, something new I was doing, so this list is just off the top of my head!

237. Christmas shopping is done, we are just waiting for a couple orders to arrive

238. ...and the presents that need to be shipped are all gone except for 1 that is awaiting its second half, which is arriving on Wednesday.

239. ...and most of the presents are wrapped and under the tree, but that is mostly thanks to my favorite store that wraps everything for you but has excellent prices!

240. The Christmas tree has been up for almost 2 weeks and has not been completely redecorated by little people. Admired and touched, yes, but only 2 ornaments were removed.

241. The Christmas cards with pictures are ordered, the list of who will get them is prepared with addresses, so the hardest is done.

242. We did find a light up angel for our window. I am still on the look out for a nativity, but that can wait for next year.

243. Little girls who seem to grasp firmly that Christmas is about a lot more than gifts...

244. ...who are enjoying celebrating Advent and looking forward to Jesus' birthday.

245. A husband who likes to surprise me!

246. That we found rubber boots for all the girls in the house and new work shoes for my husband for Christmas, but he has them already because he could not wait.

247. A beautiful quilted Advent calendar where you add pieces to make a nativity that just arrived in the mail today - such a beautiful and special gift.

248. The indescribably Gift.

Christmas Shopping...

...is done.

I do have one thing on hold that my husband will pick up tomorrow (it was not available at the store we were at), and am waiting for a few deliveries.

But it is done.

And so am I.

A Servant's Heart

After reading this beautiful post this morning it is clear in my heart that there is nothing more valuable I can write today than to send you to read it. It made me cry.

This Week's CSA Box

This week we are getting some delicious things in our box - but I think I say that every time.

We will be receiving:

Roma Tomatoes, Organic - 1.5 pounds
Bunched Carrots, Organic - 1 bunch
Red Cabbage, Organic - 1 each
Yellow Onions, Organic - 3 each
Avocados, Organic - 3 each
Cucumbers, Organic - 1 each
Satsuma, Organic - 6 each
Broccoli, Organic - 1 each
Satsuma, Organic - 6 each (yes, I am getting a second 6)
Valencia Oranges, Organic - 6 each
Bartlett Pears, Organic - 5 each
Braeburn Apples, Organic - 6 each


I am thinking guacamole and chips one night, fresh squeezed OJ to go with pancakes one night, and that is as far as I got!

Now that I start thinking I wonder if I should not make some Carne Asada with fresh salsa to go with that guacamole....

What would you be thinking of this box was being delivered to you tonight?

January Bible in 90 Days!

All the info for the Bible in 90 Days beginning January 3 is available here! I just cannot recommend it enough!

To Do Status Report

Remember that long list of items to get done that I posted before my break? Well, I thought I should report in on how I did - keeping in mind that there were snow days in there! So anything that required being out of the house was scrapped.

But here is the list with updates in italics.

• Finishing the Christmas Tree Decorations (total of 16) Finished!
  
• Finishing the furoshiki (qty 15) and fabric ribbons (as many as needed) added this year The furoshiki are finished and the ribbons are being done as needed....
  
• Finishing the hanging towels for gifts (qty 20) Finished!
  
• Finishing a baby blanket for a church baby shower (along with 2 dozen cinnamon buns, and a dozen for my family because I would never take something without giving them some first). Finished!
  
• Making fabric ribbons and a coffee cake for the Church Ladies Decorating Brunch Finished and I had a great time!
  
• Decorate our home - we put the tree up, the Advent wreath out, and the books out Thanksgiving weekend, the rest follows in the next week or two. Finished!
  
• Finalize my Amazon Christmas order and place it. Finished, delivered, and mostly wrapped.
  
• Make a quick trip to my favorite toy store for Christmas and Birthday gifts. Not done due to bad weather.
  
• Make a quick trip to Target for a couple small Christmas items (and then I am done shopping!) Canceled - I came up with a better idea that will let me just finish up with a quick mall trip that my husband has to make anyways, but we did not make it to the mall due to the bad weather.
  
• Christmas cards and newsletter done (which will be a feat because I have not started), but this can linger into mid December if need be. Oops - totally forgot about this with all the snow to play in.
  
• Start wrapping and preparing to ship stuff! In progress and will be done in earnest once I make those last two trips and finish 2 more hand knit dish cloths...which I did not mention in the original list...., but I think I am making around 10ish with 2 more to go.
  

Keeping in mind that I like to be done as much as possible before December 1, in a perfect and ideal world where nothing mucks with my plans! Actually, I like to be done the mall, but can deal with little boutique stores and online if needed.

Oh, and I have most of my Christmas baking to still do, including 2 dozen cinnamon buns for gifts.

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Marie Madeline Studios Cyber Monday Sale

I just took advantage of the great sale over at Marie Madeline Studios for today!

I ordered Indigo Denim to make each girl a pair of Tessa bloomers and also ordered turquoise bandanna to make each girl an Emerson Skirt. I realize that they have tons of pink, so should have something different.

Yes, I am making them both the same, they love to match, and it is most often Miss Pear requesting the match!

I am NOT an affiliate for Marie Madeline Studios I just really, really love them. Their fabrics are an excellent quality, and their customer service is even better. I have actually had them call me when I included a question about a match in my order and they recommended a different fabric! They are that good.

That is really the only sale I took advantage of today - did you find any deals?

Multitude Monday 21

221. A five-year-old's delight at seeing snow fall for the first time.

222. 1 st snow man for the girls that was all of 9 inches tall - our 2 year old tucked it under her arm and carried it around with her.

223. 1st snow day.

224. fuzzy mitts, warm hats, woolen socks

225. warm quilts

226. full pantry - no running to the store in bad weather

227. hot chocolate

228. tea on cold days

229. hot baths on cold evenings

230. great books to read snuggled under quilts

231. a thanksgiving paper chain that was long and mostly filled with things the girls were thankful for.

232. A Thanksgiving meal were everything turned out!

233. The joy of decorating the church with the other ladies!

234. The beginning of Advent!

235. Our homemade advent wreath

236. A time of waiting and preparing

Happy Thanksgiving Break

Happy Thanksgiving a little early!

For most families, the holiday season crunch happens in December. For us it happens now! We try to have the bulk of our shopping and all our crafting done before Thanksgiving, and everything ready to ship and mail the first weekend of December. While that may seem ambitious, much of what we mail and ship is international, so it requires being a little bit earlier, plus, it allows for a much quieter Advent season where we really do look forward to the Lord's birthday.

So the next week and a half will be spent thusly:

• Finishing the Christmas Tree Decorations (total of 16)
  
• Finishing the furoshiki (qty 15) and fabric ribbons (as many as needed) added this year
• Finishing the hanging towels for gifts (qty 20)
• Finishing a baby blanket for a church baby shower (along with 2 dozen cinnamon buns, and a dozen for my family because I would never take something without giving them some first).
  
• Making fabric ribbons and a coffee cake for the Church Ladies Decorating Brunch
• Decorate our home - we put the tree up, the Advent wreath out, and the books out Thanksgiving weekend, the rest follows in the next week or two.
• Finalize my Amazon Christmas order and place it.
• Make a quick trip to my favorite toy store for Christmas and Birthday gifts.
  
• Make a quick trip to Target for a couple small Christmas items (and then I am done shopping!)
  
• Christmas cards and newsletter done (which will be a feat because I have not started), but this can linger into mid December if need be.
• Start wrapping and preparing to ship stuff!

On top of this we plan on going to the local Children's Museum and Art Gallery next week. I am so excited. And celebrate Thanksgiving part 2.

Therefore, I will see you after Thanksgiving.

Have I mentioned I LOVE having 2 Thanksgivings?

Have a blessed and gratitude filled Thanksgiving!

Multitude Monday 20

208. The joy of rain and cool weather where I can clearly justify...

209. ...wearing beautiful sweaters I have had in my closet for more years than I care to count because it was too warm in Southern CA for them.

210. ...a pot of delicious soup with homemade bread.

211. ...a cup of hot tea any time of day, even with a book sometimes!

212. The joy of most people knowing how to drive in the rain around here - in Southern CA we would often choose to stay home when it rained because other drivers often made it dangerous!

213. The joy of friends.

214. The joy of feeding people - love doing that!

215. The joy of praising God with His people.

216. The joy of hearing His Word faithfully preached.

217. Little girls who squeel with delight when grabbed as they go by for a tickly, snuggly, huggy, giggly squeeze.

218. Good health care for the girls.

219. Friends who faithfully pray for us, especially praying for the girls and their health.

220. A Lord who is faithful and trustworthy.

Preparing

It seems like I am always preparing for something:

• the next meal
• the pantry for winter
• presents for Christmas
• baking for a baby shower
• baking for Christmas
• Oh, yes, Thanksgiving
• Advent - our family celebrates it!
• Did I mention Christmas and all the crafting we planned this year - fun but lots of work.

In the midst of this preparing, it is easy to miss some important preparing:

• One's heart with Thankfulness for the Lord's Provision
• One's heart to celebrate the Lord's Birthday

There is only one way I really do well at this, and that is to have the bulk of the outside the house stuff done before Advent so that Advent really is a time of preparing our hearts and looking forward to the joy of our Saviour's Birth!

Much is done, much more needs to be done.

Tomorrow morning we are heading to a book store to find some new Christmas reading. Each year we add a book for each girl and so does my husband's mom who is so dear to us - she also supplies the Advent Calendars each year!

So what books would you recommend we add to our library this year?

I will share my list next week....

Tradition

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada - the combination of Veterans' Day and Memorial Day. The whole country all but shuts down, and we always watched the ceremony of Remembrance from Ottawa. My husband's family did the same thing, except they also baked Christmas Cake today.

So today the girls and I made what has been renamed Candy Cake in our house. It is a blond fruit cake, or the fruit cake before it is soaked in liquor, and is very delicious. We make 3 loaves of it, and they will be carefully wrapped and stored in the fridge until at least the first week of December - it is the only way to make sure there is any left for Christmas.

It is a fun tradition, and after the cake is in the oven, the phone calls go out. This year we were about an hour behind the rest of the family - which is impressive considering we are 2 hours behind according to the clock!

Gathering the Fragments

One of my favorite features of More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) and Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook is the Gathering the Fragments section - using up the leftovers!

We have found that with the CSA box we do need to have a plan to use up the leftover veggies, although the fruit never seems to be a problem! There are the standbys of stir fries and soup, which are always good. You can always roast veggies for a lovely remake on them. Or you can make this casserole from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! Great-tasting Food That Won't Go From Your Lips to Your Hips! (Although my favorite book in the series is still the original: Looneyspoons: Low-fat Food Made Fun!):

Viva Las Veggies
(Yes, all the recipe titles are punny in these books)

2 medium tomatoes, cut in chunks
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 large portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp garlic (I go with 1 large clove)
1 tbsp each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp each fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil, oregano, or thyme (can substitute dried)
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp thyme

In 9x13 mix first group of ingredients - I usually just keep the zucchini the same, add some kind of onion and then just throw in what I need to use up. Mix this well.

Roast uncovered at 425F for 25 minutes.

Mix remaining 3 ingredients and sprinkle evenly over top. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot.


How do you like to use up your veggies that are at the end of their prime?

Multitude Monday 19

Totally forgot to post this last week until Wednesday, so I just continued adding....

193. Another mom I was talking to at Classical Conversations just happening to know 2 excellent realtors in the area for us to talk to as we get ready to start looking for our home...and she would know, she was an agent for years!

194. She also asked if I would be interested in organic fuji apples at $0.60 a pound. Did I mention they were organic? I tried to not jump and down and squeal with delight as I requested a case.

195. Our new friends. It is hard to make new friends, but I see now how God is bringing them my way.

196. My 2 year old singing the first half of the nominative pronouns cheer. "I, you, he, she, it!"

197. Miss Pear singing the Lord's Prayer.

198. Baby joining her on the "amen"s.

199. My husband's very successful business trip.

200. The very delicious coffee from "Eataly" he brought me after carefully reading all the offerings and choosing the one he thought I would like best - he was right!

201. That everyone is on the mend from the yuck.

202. God's encouragement through His word.

203. The excellent doctors Baby will see this afternoon for her hip dysplasia check up - at this point she should just need to grow and as she does the hip socket should just catch up.

204. God's encouragement in prayer.

205. That God will never leave or forsake us.

206. The hugs of daughters.

207. The understanding of my husband who took care of so much when I was sick last week and kept sending me to bed early as he did dishes and tidied up.

Christmas Wrap

For many November is all about Thanksgiving, but in our house, with so many gifts needing to be in the mail the first week of December, it is also about getting things done for Christmas. Plus, to be truthful, I like having all my shopping, crafting, and shipping done by the end of this month.

The past couple years I have been looking hard at my thoughts and ideas about Christmas. Particularly the gift giving and the wrapping. Accepting the fact that I was raised with impossibly high standards that were sucking the fun out of it I decided to start over. (One credo was that you must never be able to see the tape, and ribbons and bows must be used in a plethora of abundance that overwhelms.)

In starting over I discovered a few things:

1. Costco has the best deal for me on wrap because you get this huge thick roll that is double sided at a very reasonable price. It may not be the cheapest, but it is a great help for me.

2. I like making my own ribbons with that wired ribbon. Costco's price in the past couple years has even beat the after Christmas sale when comparing yard to yard. These ribbons are beautiful, creative, and last wonderfully from one year to the next. They make me very happy so it is worth it to me.

3. I love furoshiki! (The link shows you some different ways to wrap with it). It is basically a square of cloth where you put your present in the middle, fold in 2 opposite corners, then fold in the other opposite corners, tying a neat knot. I always keep my eye out at the quilting store for fabric this time of year and try to add some new ones each year, yes the quilting store, the fabric is thicker so it holds up better and is harder to see through. If you buy a yard and a quarter you have a large square that you can then cut into 4 squares. A quick hem around the edge and you are done. Once your present is wrapped you can always add some ribbon. This is my favorite way to wrap books! It lasts beautifully year to year.

These 3 things compose the bulk of my gift wrap stash. I do have a lot of gift bags that were given to us, or I collected when we traveled at Christmas, but I am not really a fan, and I most often use these to give gifts outside our home.

The thing that has been the biggest learning curve for me has been gift tags. I was raised that you had to have the fanciest ones and that you had to write a LONG message on each one.

Yeah, not so much.

I like the sticker ones a lot, and we do have some fancy ones that we just reuse year to year because they basically just say to and from.

I have made some of my own, but my favorite make it yourself ones are the ones I print and the girls color - they may not be fancy, but they are made with lots of love.

Here are a couple links I will be using this year:

What are your secret weapons in your Christmas wrap stash? Do you have other links for colored tags?

Lessons Learned

It has been an odd week around here. Miss Pear got sick on Sunday, I got sick on Tuesday, and yesterday it appeared that my dear husband was not going to escape this either.

Homeschooling obviously did not happen yet this week, except the lessons that occur naturally in life and our regular morning Bible reading time and bedtime family worship.

But this has been a great lesson for me.

So often I feel like I am chronically behind on everything, but this week that has not happened. Upon reflection I realized that by not homeschooling in the morning I have tons of time. We are certainly not going to quit homeschooling, but at least now I know where my time goes, and it is a great investment! I am encouraged to try to stay more on top of things though.

I learned that my girls are really good friends. Baby has been trying to nurse her sister back to health, and it is so sweet.

I am reminded that there is very little a squeeze and a cuddle cannot fix, especially when accompanied by a good story book.

And I am reminded why I love being able to stay home with the girls, a blessing not to be taken for granted.

CSA Box

It is time for another yummy box today, and we had to make a change. We have switched to getting the bigger box every 2 weeks because I find I am buying more to add on than I would like, so we will see how that goes. We can switch back with an email if it ends up being too much produce.

This week we are getting:

Broccoli, Organic - 1 each
Leeks, Organic - 3 each
Green Bell Peppers, Organic - 3 each
Red Bok Choy, Organic - 1 bunch
Brussels Sprouts On The Stalk, Organic - 1 each
Bunched Baby Carrots, Organic - 1 bunch
Green Leaf Lettuce, Organic - 1 bunch
Gala Apples, Organic - 6 each
Valencia Oranges, Organic - 6 each
Red Flame Grapes, Organic - 1.25 pounds
Bartlett Pears, Organic - 6 each

We are getting broccoli instead of potatoes which are forbidden in our house, and I substituted green peppers in place of spinach. Spinach is one of those things I am learning to like. I kind of like it sauted in oil with garlic, but if you have a great recipe for spinach could you please share it with me?

I have never had red bok choy before, but love bok choy so I don't anticipate a problem. I do anticipate a stir fry though!

Some hesitation lingers in me over the brussels sprouts. My experiences have not been stellar, but I am hoping that like everything else it will be much better directly from the farm. Plus, my husband loves it, so this is basically suck it up time if nothing else. In order to prepare for this I consulted on of my favorite cooking people, Alton Brown at Food TV and found 2 recipes of his to think about:

• Basic Brussels Sprouts which is currently ranking last, but it is good to know how to prepare them simply in case we love them. Reading this makes me think the ones I tried that turned me off for good were over done.
• Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries which could be the recipe to convert me, but also plays up the "hey, they are just little cabbages" angle.

I am also a big fan of Ina Garten so I checked out her recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts because I really do like roasted veggies, and this might be a winner too.

If this were arriving on your door step tonight what recipes would you be considering?

Coconut Oatmeal

Now that the weather is turning cooler I find myself making this recipe a lot more. Often for lunch with fruit. We love it so much I bought a case of coconut milk from Amazon at a great price, and cinnamon sticks! What recipes are you pulling out for the fall and winter?

Coconut Oatmeal

4 cups whole milk (2% works fine)
14 oz can coconut milk
1/4 – 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
3 cups oats (rolled, instant, either work)
1 tbsp butter (optional)

Bring milk, coconut milk, brown sugar, cinnamon stick and salt to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan, stirring with a whisk.

Reduce heat to moderate and stir in oats. Return to a boil. Cook while stirring for 2 minutes.

Stir in butter, then remove from heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes.

Remove cinnamon stick and stir oatmeal before serving.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Experiment Week 2

Sunday morning's breakfast was not as well prepared as last week's. My husband had left for a business trip on Tuesday and with flight delays returned Saturday just in time for supper.

Not wanting to spend the evening getting brunch ready I pulled out the griddle so it just had to be plugged in come morning, measured my homemade baking mix into a bowl and covered it so it was just waiting for milk and eggs in the morning to make pancakes.

We definitely enjoyed it, and with all the preparation done it was not a whole lot of work!

Definitely an idea to keep in rotation!

Gingerbread House

Guess what we are making for Christmas tree ornaments this year?

You can find the pattern free to download here.

I may also have to make some of these! Or just save this for next year when the girls can do yet more!

If you cannot tell, the crafting bug has bit me again!

Friday Treat

It has been a long week somehow, and we are all feeling it.

I could fight through it and be a trooper.

Or I could break out the blender and make us a treat and get smiles and better attitudes that way.

So I am going for the obvious - continuing to pray while breaking out the blender for a lunch treat.

What will we be making?

Simple Chocolate Milkshakes

Put 3-5 large scoops of vanilla ice cream in the blender

Add a generous squirt of chocolate syrup

Pour in milk of your choice to about half the height of the ice cream.

Turn on blender.

Get out of the way as children come running.

Add more milk or ice cream as needed to adjust the consistency, and more chocolate syrup if needed too.

Serve to happy little girls.

Enjoy smiles, hugs, and praise for being an amazing chef.

P.S. By using homemade ice cream it is basically just milk, whip cream, more milk, a couple eggs and some chocolate sauce in the end, so not even to terribly unhealthy....don't tell!

Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls

I needed a quick meal for little girls whose stomachs were not as steady as I would like last night, and after finding a great deal on Pillsbury crescent rolls I decided to try an idea I had.

Ingredients:

1 roll of Crescent rolls
4 slices of ham (Costco ham cut for sandwich meat is great, you cut it diagonally and it is the size of the individual roll)
4 slices of cheese cut in half

On each piece of crescent roll place a piece of ham and a piece of cheese before rolling it up.

Roll up and bake per directions.

Yum.

The girls at more than I expected, and that was a huge compliment to the chef.

You could certainly add mustard, for more flavor, but that would not have worked for my girls.

What is your favorite idea for a quick meal that is still a bit of a great?

Pumpkin Patch

We are beginning to explore more of our new surroundings and are having a great deal of fun doing it. On Saturday we visited a nearby pumpkin far to select the one that would become our jack-o-lantern. We had a lot of fun, and the girls enjoyed looking at everything and exploring.

They were fascinated by how pumpkins grew.

Here is a close up of the actual field:

And another one....

We turned into absolute tourists with our camera because everything was so beautiful! So because I so rarely post pictures here, I am including a few more!

One thing we have loved about our new home is all the farms so close! It is fun to be so close to where your food comes from!

Learning To Say Yes

It seems like by the time I was old enough to be out on my own for university I had gained the expectation that if I asked I was going to be told no. And that made me hesitant to say yes when I was asked things.

Now I am a mom, and I long to be a great mom, a terrific mom, the mom of Proverbs whose children rise up and call her blessed! For me, growing as a mom means learning to say yes.

While I have a ways to go, I think that I am on the right track, and this track is fun!

Sunday night Miss Pear asked if she could make pizza for lunch Monday, and I have to admit, my first thought was to say no, knowing how our morning looked. But I gave myself my check and asked myself, "Why not?" With there being no good answer to that question I said, "Yes!"

Was it easy neat and clean? No, but it also was not hard and horribly messy.

Would it have been quicker to do it myself? Maybe, but that is not the point!

Would it have been as much fun if I had done it myself? Absolutely NOT!

Miss Pear was so proud to have a job, and not just any job, the important job of feeding our family!

She even let her sister pull up her stool and watch.

When the pizzas were ready for the oven I made a huge deal of this and ran for the camera to capture the moment. The pizzas were so pretty:

Once they were out of the oven I took another picture:

Miss Pear was so happy when lunch was served, and we took the leftovers for lunch this morning to Classical Conversations. When it was lunch time she had to tell everyone that she had made the pizza, and everyone made a huge deal out of!

She was so proud of herself and her accomplishment!

And that is an excellent reason to say yes.

Multitude Monday 18

182. A Pumpkin Farm we visited on Saturday who opened despite the rain, and welcomed us to a morning of fun.

183. A quilt store with the perfect fabric to make a blanket to welcome a church friend's baby.

184. Little girls who want to help make the blanket because winter babies need blankets to keep warm.

185. The fascination of children. The construction work never fails to entertain.

186. A large variety of coloring pages in the internet to help feed the fascination. (Although if anyone can find a picture of a cement pumper truck to color, please send me the link!)

187. The faithful preaching of God's word.

188. The words of faith put to music.

189. A sweet daughter who wanted to make us lunch today - pizza. I only helped a little.

190. Fall leaves - I have missed the fall color those 11 falls spent in southern CA.

191. My family's sense of adventure and fun. It makes me spontaneous and adventurous when I am not.

192. An all knowing and loving God who put my family together, truly a special gift! The God and the family.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Experiment Week 1

We are finding that we have girls with a case of the fidgets most Sunday mornings in church. While discussing ways to handle this we decided that maybe a heartier breakfast is in order, especially with the arrival of cooler wetter weather. So this weekend we launched the Sunday Morning Breakfast Experiment (yes, we are all science geeks, we are calling it the experiment!)

The goal is to have a hearty, mostly healthy breakfast for Sunday morning mostly prepared Saturday night with minimal work, or at least minimized work Sunday morning. To complicate this we have a peanut allergy, a potato allergy, and a strong dislike of eggs (egg casserole is out, quiche is out, french toast is fine) to manage. I thought the blog would be a great place to chronicle our attempts and our findings.

This Sunday we started with recipes that were not new Sunday morning, so we knew it would work, and indeed we had a delicious breakfast. We welcomed the Lord's Day with a feast of Orange Overnight French Toast, homemade turkey sausage patties, fruit, juice, milk and coffee.

Results: There was a definite improvement in how everyone felt by the time we got home from church about 12:15PM. In fact, I have to make smaller lunches on Sunday! But the good news was that EVERYONE seemed to do better in church. Okay, so Baby still had a case of the wiggles, but not nearly as bad, and it was a quiet case. This might be the solution!

Recipes:

Homemade Turkey Sausage Patties - I made these Friday for lunch, and we all liked them but found them a little spicy, not hot spicy, just a lot of spice. So I will definitely be making these again, but will be almost doubling the meat, but not the spices...except the onions of course!

Orange Overnight French Toast

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

8 slices of French bread cut about 3/4 inch thick (if fresh, let sit out sliced for about
half an hour to dry slightly)

Icing sugar

Beat together eggs, orange juice, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt.

Arrange great slices to cover the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Pour egg mixture over top. Cover, and let stand in fridge over night.

In the morning, uncover, flip each slice of French toast over, and cook at 375F for 40 minutes or until browned.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Sweet Potato Recipes

Last trip to Costco I noticed something that made me very, very, very happy, and I am not talking about all the excellent Christmas gifts, decorations and books they now have in stock, although that worked too!

I saw the cases of SWEET POTATOES!

Sweet potatoes are in stock, it makes me so happy! They are only available at Costco this time of year, and the price is excellent! So I tend to buy a case every time we go! After all, this is the only kind of potatoes we can have in our home due to allergies, and the cases keep for a long time in the garage! (Do not store them directly on the cement, bad idea)

One of my favorite recipes for sweet potatoes is sweet potato fries. It is very simple, heat oven to 375F. Peal sweet potatoes and slice into fries (think 1 cm square-ish). Toss with olive oil and italian seasoning. Cook for 25 minutes, flip them all over, cook for about another 20ish minutes, or until done to your liking.

What are some of your favorite recipes for sweet potatoes? I am looking for some new ones!

Reading This Week

We have all felt a little bit of the yuck this week, so the week has been a quiet one with lots of lovely reading.

2 things I found on the web today worth sharing are:

• Lindsay's Christian Literature for Children Age 0-8 - we have some of the books on the list, and will definitely be checking out the others.
• Kathy's Time to Winterize - Emergency Kit and Pantry Supplies - with the seasonal forecast being colder and wetter than normal this is something I am readying carefully.

In the crafting front I am rereading Kathy's tutorial on how to make a rag quilt and wondering if Miss Pear and I could do this over the winter?

What are you reading this week?

CSA Box This Week

This week's box looks delicious! We are getting:

Zucchini, Organic - 1 pound
Bunched Carrots, Organic - 1 bunch
Green Chard, Organic - 1 bunch
Celery, Organic - 1 each
Spinach, Organic - 1 bunch
Green Bell Peppers, Organic - 2 each
Romaine Lettuce, Organic - 1 bunch
Delicata Squash, Organic - 1 each
Red Flame Grapes, Organic - 0.75 pound
Dapple Dandy Pluots, Organic - 3 each
Gala Apples, Organic - 3 each
Fuji Apples, Organic - 3 each

The zucchini is a substitution for potatoes which are on our permanent exemption list (as in, "Please never put these in our box as our daughter is allergic!") and zucchini was the automatic substitution.

The gala apples are also a substitution for the d'anjou pears which everyone we know says are delicious, but we respectfully disagree. What am I missing? Are they best for baking or canning? We just want to take them out of the fridge and eat them.

Through our box we have become huge fans of pluots and red flame grapes, so we are always happy to see those in our box!

The one item that will be new to us is the delicata squash. I had never even heard of it, but our rule is that we never substitute something out because we don't know what it is, we get it, do some research and try it. If we don't like after that, then we know, but we are trying to be adventurous in our eating. I might try this recipe with the squash. Have you had this before? Did you like it? How did you prepare it?

If you had this box coming to your door this week what are some of the ways you would be preparing the contents?

When in Doubt - 5S

We have had a few projects on the go, like making the car fit in the garage now that the temperature is dropping and organizing the pantry now that it is better stocked. These jobs seem somewhat overwhelming, and we found that once again we fell back on our "business" knowledge. Now all the terms I am going to use have homemaking equivalents, but what make these 5 terms work is putting them together.

To start these projects, we basically started by "5S"ing the area. This is a foundation of lean manufacturing, and honestly is one of my secret weapons in a big organizational project. And for all the times I laughed or rolled my eyes and manufacturing engineers "5S"ing parts of their home, I apologize, I was wrong.

5S stands for:

• Seiri (sort)
• Seiton (straighten and set in order)
• Seiso (shine)
• Seiketsu (standardize)
• Shitsuke (sustain)

So basically it ends up being this:

• Sort - go through everything in that area, touch it all and sort it into piles to keep in this area, to move to a more appropriate area, and to purge. Take everything that does not belong in the area OUT!
  
• Shine - I like to shine at this point even though I might have to do it again after strighten - clean it all up, dust, wipe, polish, the works, after all, you just pulled everything out! All those surfaces are clean!
• Straighten - now that you have successfully purged the area of everything that does not belong, set the area in order! Put things in their new home, organize like with like, and items that get used together next to each other as much as possible. Again, if you find something that does not belong in that area take it out!
  
• Shine 2 - this is where shine really belongs, and you might have to do it again, or at least a little touch up.
  
• Standardize - congratulations you have a whole new organized area - now label it or in some way make sure you know what goes where! In manufacturing they will actually take colored tape and tape squares on the floor and label absolutely everything so you know where stuff goes when you are new and come into the area.
• Sustain - this is the tricky one. Now that you have done ALL THIS WORK you certainly don't want to have to do it again! So now you have to maintain the area. This is easy. If it is your pantry just make sure you put things back where you got them from, and when you put away your grocery shopping put it in its spot as opposed to just jamming it all in quickly. When you go into this area you might just want to do a little straighten as you go through, makes it easy to sustain it!
  

And yes, this was one of the first major steps to organizing our pantry, which is looking great! Although not labeled because I am giving myself time to use everything for a while before I commit to its location.

Once I had this done in my pantry I started using another business practice...but that is for next week.

Multitude Monday 17

I fell off the Multitude Monday bandwagon when Monday was also Bible in 90 Days check in day, and let's face it, on a Monday a gal can only do so much! But I have to confess, having a thankful heart is much easier when you are writing it down throughout the week to post on Monday morning. But this one is written all in one sitting before I hit publish, so it should be interesting., but more importantly, it is a return to purposefully giving thanks in the craziness of life, of Monday.

171. A husband who knows I cannot do it all and while I was cleaning the bathroom Saturday came in to chat with me and while doing so cleaned the entire shower.

172. A husband who saw the gorgeous Le Creuset pot at Costco and bought it for me because he knows I love to cook, especially for our family, and love Le Creuset. It's new home is sitting on the stove, it is beautiful.

173. A daughter who wanted to wear the split skirt in her closet simply because I made it for her. She then asked what we could make next. She was thinking of something for her little sister.

174. My littlest who is not so little any more who came running up to me, turned her little face up to me and said, "kiss!"

175. The crew of construction vehicles that pulled up Friday to start preparing the lots in our neighborhood for new homes. The girls are so happy to watch - there are nose and finger prints all over the windows and I am thrilled.

176. Little girls who think I am a genius and want to help me with everything.

177. A loving God who gave me this wonderful family!

178. ...and who meets me in my weakness...

179. ...and who gives me a desire to do better in the most important roles in my life and then helps me.

180. A church family who understands that teaching children to worship is an act of worship and encourages us in that.

181. Another day to love God, love my family, and grow in grace.

Seven Tasty Ways to Stop Wasting Food

...can be found here. Great tips - some I do, like the bread crumbs made with the heels of my homemade bread - but some I need to try like saving my veggie shavings for stock.

HT to Frugal Hacks

Taco Soup

Some time in the last 2 or 3 weeks when my brain was going in many directions at once I saw a recipe for Taco Soup and promptly forgot to save it or print it or make a mental note of where to find it. And, of course, could not find it again.

So I did what all resourceful women do - I combined 2 recipes and winged it! Here is what I ended up with and it was delicious!

Taco Soup

1.5-2 lb. ground beef or ground turkey
1 onion minced
2 can pinto beans (4 cups cooked)
2 can black beans (4 cups cooked)
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I used Kroger Tomatoes with Green Chilies, the can is 14.5 oz)
1 can diced tomatoes
1-2 pkg. taco seasoning (1/4 - 1/2 cup)
2 - 4 cups water (whatever you need to get the soup consistency you like, I just rinsed my tomato cans into the pot)

Brown ground beef with minced onion. Drain. Toss everything together into the CrockPot. Turn to low and forget about it until supper time - in my case 8 hours later, but it would have been done before then.

I served it with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream.

It was delicious and enough for 1 meal for us and 2 meals in the freezer.

Friday? Really?

Somehow this has been yet another week that managed to sneak away on me.

Miss Pear is doing great with her cast off, but it is taking some getting used to, and frankly her arm is a little bit sensitive, and does not have a full range of motion at the moment, so that is slowing her down. But she is enjoying coloring again tremendously and has finished almost half her Dover Butterflies Coloring Book, and even completed a page of handwriting today. We have kept things quiet for her to have time to adjust again, and that is proving to be an excellent decision.

In the quietness of the second half of this week we have managed to try a new soup recipe (will be posted soon), and finish Miss Pear's Tessa Bloomers which I made in a purple corduroy with kittens stitched on. They turned out great, and the pattern is exceptionally well written. I am planning on cutting out the Anaclaire Jumper Pattern for each girl next (I am thinking no apron but with a bottom ruffle).

In my effort to get more iron in our diets and healthy protein while still eating simply and not breaking the budget I found a new recipe to try next week: Slow Cooker Mexican Pinto Beans. I am always looking for ways to serve beans and lentils to my family in ways that they will love. So if you have a great recipe I would love it if you would please share a link to it or a copy of it in the comments!

At Our Home Today You Will Find

Miss Pear - Cast free and gaining movement in her arm as the day progresses. It just came off this morning and she is both thrilled and apprehensive. She has a special bubble bath in her afternoon plan.

Baby - running around waving one sock like a flag and the other sock half off. My Southern California girl cannot figure out what these things are mom keeps putting on her feet. But she has become very good at saying please and thank you...as in please take these things off, thank you!

Supper in the crock pot - Taco Soup - a combination of 2 recipes, will let you know how it turns out.

Little girls napping - it has been a big morning.

Mommy thinking some quiet reading time would be great.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

We may live in the US now, but for my first 23 years I lived in Canada, so we celebrate both Thanksgivings. Canadian Thanksgiving is a little different that American Thanksgiving. But basically it is traditionally a time we give thanks for the harvest, and therefore it is earlier in the year because the harvest is finished earlier.

We are trying a new tradition this year to try tie the two Thanksgivings together in our family seeing as we will not be heading over to our neighbors in Southern CA this year for American Thanksgiving! We started a paperchain with each chain having something we are thankful for on it. We started it Sunday and strung it across our dining room window. Between now and our next thanksgiving we will add to it and see how long it gets.

Our menu for today is not the traditional turkey based one because we spent 11 years in Southern CA and this time of year it was often too hot to roast a turkey. So here is our family's menu for today:

Pork Tenderloin in a dry rub
Rice Casserole
Zucchini Bake
Candied Carrots
Coleslaw
Dressing (just made and put in a casserole dish)
Rolls

And for dessert we are having Mars Bar square - not exactly traditional, but very Canadian.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Official Start of NHL Season

We can't help it, we are Canadian, and we love hockey - even our girls at 2 and 5 love hockey. Miss Pear even has a favorite team in the East and the West!

We got all excited when preseason started and then hardly any of the games were televised. Very disappointing.

But the Montreal and Toronto game will be televised tonight. Did I mention that both my husband and daughter are die hard Canadiens fans? (That would be Montreal). So I pretty much know what we will be doing this evening.

And I feel the need to make a cake to celebrate.

What does a hockey night look like in our home?

Well, we sometimes eat in front on the TV - a huge rarity around here. Actually, it only happens for hockey or a rare and special movie night. With it being the start of the season it will be an eat in front of the tv night. I make something fun for dessert, of course. And once the supper supplies are cleared from in front of the TV either trains or playmobile are set up and we spend the rest of the time playing and watching and laughing together.

There are no square eyed TV zombie looks, we are all laughing and talking and having fun together. It is wonderful.

Schedule Subject to Change

Our homeschooling schedule was just not working for us.

The key problems were that we were not getting all our morning storybook and chapter book reading in, I was not getting my work done, and frankly, by the time we were finishing up we were not having a whole lot of fun.

Old Schedule:

Breakfast, Bible, Scripture Memory and Catechism
20ish minutes of play while I get some work started
9:00 Math and Handwriting
Recess
10-10:15ish Start Reading and Phonics
Playtime
Lunch
Naps

The good thing was that we were done by noon.

New Schedule

Breakfast, Bible, Scripture Memory and Catechism
Storybooks and chapter book reading
9:00ish Girls to play, me to start some morning work, and often the girls "work" with me, but we are at least in the same big downstairs room.
10:00 Math and Handwriting (although we are not doing handwriting while Miss Pear has her cast on).
11 - lunch playtime, work with mom time
Lunch
Naps (yes, Miss Pear still naps)
After nap time and post nap time play in room time to finish waking up we do Reading and Phonics.

This is working so much better for us. The school time is going faster because there is not this feeling of drudgery that we will be here all morning, attitudes are better, my work is actually getting done and I am not feeling so far behind and like I will never catch up. Plus our days are just going smoother.

It was revolutionary to me when I realized that I could set the schedule any way I wanted, and that did not mean finishing everything before lunch when frankly we are not huge morning people around here, at least, not with projects that require a lot of thought!

CSA Box for This Week

This week in our CSA box I made no changes, substitutions or additions and we are getting:

Romaine Lettuce, Organic - 1 each
Green Onions, Organic - 1 bunch
Rapini, Organic - 1 each
Baby Bok Choy, Organic - 3 bunches
Bi-Color Sweet Corn, Organic - 2 each
Red Radishes, Organic - 1 bunch
Cucumbers, Organic - 1 each
Zucchini, Organic - 1 pound
Nectarines, Organic - 4 each
Peaches, Organic - 3 each
D'anjou Pears, Organic - 3 each
Gala Apples, Organic - 4 each

What would your plans be if this was the box you were picking up?

I already have plans for many of the vegetables, and hope to do better than I did with our last box when we all passed the ick around and I ended up throwing a lot away. I did not even pull out any of my usual tricks to use up veggies! So sad. Although we did love the new thing we tried - lemon cucumbers!

Christmas Crafting

I am fairly sure I will be making these hanging towels for Christmas presents if they still have those nice towels at Costco!

I am thinking for my mom who is impossible to buy for but claims she is not (a 2 pack to go with a 2 pack of dish clothes).

I am also thinking homeschool group tutor and Sunday school teachers....

Are you making any Christmas gifts this year? What is on your to make list? (Help a girl out, I am still looking for ideas!)

Monday Mayhem

Well, maybe not mayhem, but it was one of those days where the day kind of got away from me, so it has taken me until now to pop in to say that I am over visiting a friend today...you can find me here!

May the Lord bless us this week as we strive to be faithful in the ordinary everyday.

Done - Now What?

This is the point that is hard. I am done reading the Bible in 90 Days. Now what do I do? I think it is complicated by the fact that this is the second time I have finished reading the Bible this year.

My plan for the rest of the year is not necessarily my plan, it feels like a plan God started to write through what He taught me as we read. One thing that came up again and again in my reading was the importance of being faithful in the everyday. I am great at being faithful in times of crisis, but sometimes in the everyday I get off track. I miss a day of reading, which sometimes becomes 2 or more. I forget to stop and pray for that list I keep by my sink. My kitchen Bible gets put away during a cleaning and not pulled out again. It is little things, but these serve to pull me off course. I have a Bible study I have wanted to do for a while....actually I am pretty sure the book has been in our home longer than Miss Pear, who is 5. This study is about walking faithfully with God, walking worthy, and I will begin that on Monday.

That still leaves the question of my Bible reading because as much as I enjoy a Bible study based in a workbook they have never replaced actual Bible reading for me. So between now and the end of the year I will be reading the New Testament chronologically. Technically in my The One Year Chronological Bible NLT the NT started September 24, but after reading at 4 times the pace I don't anticipate it being a problem to catch up.

Although that is a concern for me...not having to catch up, reading at a slower pace. Another thing I learned while reading the Bible in 90 days is that while we are all wired differently, God has wired me to need large portions of scripture daily for my soul to feel nourished, to feel plugged into Him, to hear His voice. That is just me. I am not sure this is enough Bible daily for me, even with the study guide, so if it is not, I will just read 2 days of reading instead of 1, and see how that works.

So that is the plan...I think. I will let you know how it goes...but for now, I have some reading to do.

Bible in 90 Days

...I finished!

In 87 Days.

I read all of Revelation in 1 sitting, and by the grace of God my eyes did not cross and brain did not scramble (I struggle with Revelation).

More later....

Bible in 90 Days - Day 87

Today is Day 87 of the Bible in 90 Days reading. While it is a 90 day reading program, it includes 2 grace days. This means that because I am on day 87 of the reading I am on track to finish tomorrowish. I say tomorrowish because the last book is Revelation and I always find that a challenging read that requires me to read slower than usual!

So I thought that this was a perfect time to write about why I chose to read the Bible in 90 days.

First let me assure you that it is not because I am super-spiritual. It is more a case of "I suck and I know it!" I read through this plan at the beginning of the year because I felt that desperate for MORE of God. With all our family was facing I need Him so much, needed His wisdom, His guidance, His strength, His encouragement. It took me more like 120 days to finish due to our family moving, but it was great.

I decided to do it a second time for 2 reasons. I had committed to the Lord to read in 90 days and failed, so I felt like I needed a do-over. Plus, once we had moved there was a lot I was praying for, a lot on the horizon that was uncertain, and I was still needing God lots. Once again, I was desperate for God and knew it. Hence it was time for the do-over.

This time through the reading has been excellent. The main lessons I have been learning about during this time is being faithful when life is ordinary, seeking whole heartedly for God when circumstances were not dire and desperate, realizing that my soul requires large chunks of scripture and time with God to feel nourished. It was also a time of learning to cast my cares on the Lord being confident and knowing bone deep that He cares for me.

It has been a time of great blessing for me.

As for where I go from here, I think I have a plan, but I will share that with you after I finish this plan!

One thing I have told many friends is that reading the Bible in 90 days is actually in many ways easier than reading in a year. And that I highly recommend that every believer does it at least once. Amy at Mom's Toolbox will be leading a group through the Bible in 90 days again starting in January - and I cannot recommend it enough!

P.S. This is the last blog post until I finish, and considering I do my reading after the girls go to bed at night it might be Friday before you hear from me.

Beaming Mama Moment

This morning we went to Classical Conversations, our homeschooling group. It was Miss Pear's first trip out of the house with her cast on because of the yuck in our house.

I am thrilled to announce that she did not accidentally whollop any other children! (Hey, the thing goes from her fingers up past her elbow, this was a concern!)

But the beaming mama moment was one that had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with God.

During the presentation time when they practice speaking in front of the other 7 children and practice being good listeners the children where to share something about history. Either their favorite historical event, some historical fact we had studied etc. (Keeping in mind we cheer wildly for everyone, even the ones that get up there and hug the tutor and mumble into her shoulder and sit down. The goal is that by the end of the year they can stand up and speak to their friends, not exactly high pressure).

So yesterday I asked Miss what her favorite historical event was, and after I explained what I meant by event she said, "That Jesus died and rose again for your sins and my sins."

She just went with that this morning. No coaching on my part. Just a happy heart for what God is doing! Thank you, Lord!

Bible in 90 Days Week 13/Day 85 Check in

It is Monday, check in day, and I am amazed to say that I am on track!

Amazed because here is our last week, and if you remember I started 2 days behind.

Monday - Baby got sick with a cold
Tuesday - Classical Conversations in the morning, Baby still runny nose
Wednesday - Company for supper, I have a sore throat starting but we forge ahead. As a great visit is winding down there is a mishap in which Miss Pear (5) falls and has hurt her arm. A trip to urgent care reveals a broken elbow but they cannot find the break, so they put it in a sling. (Long story).
Thursday - Miss Pear wakes up not sure about this sling, I wake up very sick with a cold so Daddy takes Baby for her 2 year check up. Doc asks were we are, finds out what happens, pulls up results and says to call the Children's hospital for an appointment that day, and gives a copy of the x-rays on disc. Lovely orthopedist finds the break and gives Miss Pear a bright pink cast.
Friday - Mommy sick, Miss Pear not sure about cast, Baby on the mend.
Saturday - Miss Pear getting good with cast, mommy thinking she may be on the mend, Daddy gets sick.
Sunday - let's just say it was bad enough we did not make it to church because no way were we sharing this!

Which brings us to today and the report parents are on the mend, and children are napping.

Woo hoo!

So I am really not sure how it is that I am caught up, but I am thankful because I am sure it was nothing I did!

Of course, the reading plan ends on Friday... any suggestions for a reading plan after that? What do you do?

What a Week!

It has been a crazy week. Baby got sick with a cold, we had company Wednesday night for supper, and just as we were wrapping up Miss Pear fell and hurt herself. A trip to Urgent Care revealed a broken elbow but they could not find the break (long story), so a trip the pediatric orthopedist Thursday revealed the break and provided a cast. Daddy had the job of taking her as I as home pretty much flat with a doozy of a cold, and they don't let contagious people into Children's unless you are a patient (as it should be).

All this to say, see you next week.

This Week's CSA Box

It is a happy day indeed, the yummy box arrives today.

Our CSA portion is:

Green Leaf Lettuce, Organic - 1 each
Thompson Grapes, Organic - 0.75 pound (Substituted in place of beats)
Bartlett Pears, Organic - 3 each (Substituted in place of a leafy green)
Bunched Carrots, Organic - 1 bunch
Spinach, Organic - 1 bunch
Lemon Cucumbers, Organic - 0.5 pound
Escarole, Organic - 1 bunch
Napa Cabbage, Organic - 1 each
Dapple Dandy Pluots, Organic - 4 each
Nectarines, Organic - 3 each
Tosca Pears, Organic - 4 each
Gala Apples, Organic - 4 each

I placed an add on order this week to avoid going to the grocery store - the sales were poor and franky, I just didn't want too! But I needed a few other things, especially in light of the fact that we were given cucumbers to make relish! Here is my order:

2 Cauliflower, Organic
1 Celery
1 Vanilla Yogurt
2 Green Bell Peppers, Organic
1 Rainbow Carrots, Organic
2 Sweet Onions, Organic

While not all the veggies have a recipe plan for them, Relish and Taco Salad as well as a side salad will take care of a LOT of them.

If this box was coming to your house this week what would you be thinking?

Lovely Day

Today, even though we had to be out the door at 7:45 to take Daddy to work, home for breakfast and out the door again at 8:30, even though Baby has a doozy of a cold, is a wonderful day.

It is the start of preseason NHL hockey. Okay, so it is not like the real season started, but this is great, we will actually get hockey coverage this year in our new home ON MULTIPLE CHANNELS! This is a big deal considering one of Miss Pear's early words was hockey, as in she was saying it before age 2. We are not sure when Baby will say this - she has never had hockey coverage.

Plus we had classical conversations this morning which is always great!

It just helps to look at the positives sometimes! And when neither girl is napping despite being exhausted you have to take what you can get!

What are the highlights of your day?

A Return

Company is gone, bedding is washed, laundry is caught up, and bread is cooling.

Monday's always are kind of the same. After breakfast we start the laundry, start the bread, and then start school.

I like the routine of our days, the natural flow we now easily fall into.

Even on days when 2 little girls are feeling under the weather it makes like just a little bit easier when we all know what the plan is.

And now my plan is to work on the 2 days I am behind in my Read the Bible in 90 Days!

Semi, Kinda, Mostly Break

We are getting ready for company arriving Sunday and staying for 2 weeks. During that time I will be mostly missing. I may be in here and there, but not likely because we will be celebrating Baby's 2 year birthday and are hoping to sneak out for a couple date nights!

I am also thinking about what direction I am going here and whether or not to make some changes. I am thinking changes yes, but still keeping this little space alive. Will let you know in 2 weeks! Is there anything you really like around here that you would be disappointed to see disappear? Is there anything you would like to see more of?

One thing, one change that is really something I have already done, will be that the only meme you will see around is Multitude Monday once Bible in 90Days is done. This is a very small site, and frankly I kinda like it that way. :-) I do enjoy your visits, I just don't particularly care about numbers, and that seems to be what the link ups are about. Not really my style, I am actually a bit on the shy side in real life with a small group of close friends.

So let me know your thoughts!

Is there anything you really like around here that you would be disappointed to see disappear?

Is there anything you would like to see more of?

Reading Princess Party

The reading princess kind of sprang her reading on us, and so we had a small party last night. Daddy brought home supper, and then when we were at Costco (we needed milk) we let Miss Pear pick out a package of early readers - 6 pack of Curious George for $9.99!

Tonight is the real celebration.

I am making Chicken Parmesan - one of Miss Pear's favorites, and we are making homemade pasta just for fun.

A cake is waiting to be decorated, and I am going to see if I can make it look like book with white pages and a chocolate cover and white lettering. Not sure if I can pull it off, but I will certainly try!

And then we have 2 early reader books that I have been hanging on to waiting for this for a gift.

Then we are making a trip the quilting store to get fabric to make a baby quilt for some friends. Miss Pear loves a trip to the quilt store, especially because she can help! Plus I am looking for some fabric for Christmas napkins and furoshiki (square of fabric used to wrap gifts or other assorted things).

Is it weird to be so excited because I am really excited.

Reading

We have a reader in the house!

Miss Pear asked to learn to read at the age of 4 because she wanted to read her Bible for herself. So we started working on it. It was slow going because she was a bit too young, but we just kept working on letter sounds because she really wanted to learn.

As she was getting better at sounding things out we picked a book, an early reader from Veritas Press called Bad Meg. I looked at it carefully again this morning and was confident that after working with Alphaphonics and Rod and Staff Phonics and Reading for Grade 1 that she could read it.

So I pulled it out.

She painstakingly sounded out each word, needing the occasional correction, and occasionally getting on a roll and saying a whole line without having to stop and sound out words.

But here is the most important thing.

SHE READ THE WHOLE BOOK!

So she is our Reading Princess.

And tonight we are going to celebrate!

Winter Rain Storm

It rained today, and everyone was complaining about having a winter rain storm.

This is what winter is going to be like?

Winter is going to be awesome.

Thank you God for a beautifully rainy windy day.

Monday Meanderings

Mondays here always have a few things in common. We clean up the weekend wreckage, we start school time after a weekend break, and we do a few things to make the week go smoother.

The weekend wreckage was not too bad, we were all sick this weekend so we just kept putting everything in the dishwasher and only ate simple things, so almost everything went in the dishwasher!

Plus, while my knee is MUCH better, it is still hard to get down too far, so it is hard to peak in the very low front loading washing machine to make sure I collected all the socks. So my sweet husband did all the laundry on Saturday!

That leaves me in good shape as far as weekend wreckage goes.

I did a small sink of dishes, got rice in the rice cooker for supper, and got chicken marinading (although I am using chicken breasts because that is what I have on hand), also for supper.

We did our math and handwriting. You know your 5 year old likes math when she asks what the math game is for today.

Then we snuggled and watched Curious George.

For a family where everyone is sick with a cold, that is a banner morning! Plus the kitchen is clean. Therefore it is nap time.

Rainy Days

Growing up I loved a good rainy day. When I was in high school I learned the beauty of a rainy afternoon spent reading a good book and drinking tea.

11 years in Southern California where rain was scarce and measured preciously each season, hoping to break into double digits but rarely accomplishing that made rain even more precious to me.

Now we live in the Pacific Northwest.

And it is raining today.

I can love any gray day as long as it is a rainy gray day.

And it is raining today.

It makes me smile.

The Sick List

While I have not posted much in the run your home like a business but with a lot more love series it has not been for lack of ideas, but rather for lack of time! But this week our whole family is either sick with colds or on the way to being sick with colds. It reminded me of this helpful list I shop for and fulfill each August. I try to keep it stocked all the time, but always make sure it is fully stocked before cold and flu season starts. This year it seems to have started early with strep, bronchitis, pnemonia, stomach bugs, and rotten colds all making their appearances!

In...um...honor (?) of that I thought I would share my list with you! Let me know what you would add! Also, what is not on this list is a huge stash of tea, honey, and homemade bread!

• Gatorade - minimum 4 per person, ideally a whole case from Costco
• Canned Soup (4 per), plus stuff to make homeade
• 7-Up 2 L (for upset tummies and heartburn)
• Popsicles (box)
• Saltines (box)
• Baby Wipes (extra)
• Flushable Wipes (extra)
• Extra Diapers
• Infant Tylenol (one full unopened one in addition to what is open)
• Children's Tylenol (one full unopened one in addition to what is open)
• Children's Motrin - this used to be on the list but it makes my children wake up after 2-3 hours so I am taking it off the list.
• Lysol
• Laundry Soap (at least 1 full bottle extra)
• Antibac Wipes (cleaning)
• Tylenol
• Motrin
• Hand Sanitizer (I shoot for 1 on each floor and 1 on the change table)
• Antibac Soap (refills for my refillables)
• Sudafed
• Children's Cough Syrup **
  
• Cough Syrup
• Kleenex (we actually buy this in huge quantities at Costco when they have coupons)
  
• Bendy Straws (at least 1 unopened box to use in place of my usual wash and reuse ones)
• Dixi Cups (to use for rinsing after tooth brushing)
• Papertowels
  

This list does not cover every eventuality in life, but it gives me a serious fighting chance at NOT having an emergency run to the store! Plus it was updated after Miss Pear was in CVICU during N1H1 season to include antibac stuff because she will always be more at risk for flu complications.

**I understand a lot of doctors are saying this is unnecessary in most cases, but both my girls have been told by doctors that they need this to help them.

To Do List Perspective

Only God gets His to-do list done each day. We are not God. We are finite creatures with serious limitations. - CJ Mahaney

Bible in 90 Days Week 8, Day 50 Check In

It is Monday, and that means it is time to check in with Amy to report how things are going in my reading. I am pleased to report that I am one day behind.

Pleased to be behind?

Yup.

Exactly 2 weeks ago I hurt my knee, but caught up that weekend in time to report in.

This past week we went away for a couple days, but baby woke up sick after one night and we came home early, and she was quite sick until yesterday after nap time, now she is on the mend.

And despite all that I am only 1 day behind which I am fairly confident I can catch up on in the next couple days. I am amazed I am not more behind to be honest!

I have a quote written in my Bible for Ecclesiastes it says, "Enjoy the gifts God has given you every day. Eat, drink, and enjoy your work." That definitely sums up much of the book for me.

If I were to mix in what stood out to me in Proverbs it would be to speak carefully and work hard.

What is God showing you in His word this week?

Perspective

We are home early.

Friday morning, the day we had planned a special trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery and a surprise trip to the Children's Space Center Baby woke up sick. Then she threw up. Twice. On the hotel carpet floor.

The hotel graciously let us check out early with no charge, and the cleaning staff said nothing that was not sympathetic when I flagged one of them down to help.

We then headed home because when we are sick, we just want to be home, and we thought Baby would be the same. Sure enough, even though Baby is still sick, she is a bit better because she is home, and she is certainly more settled.

It was disappointing to have our plans changed, but it is amazing how a little perspective can make it better.

So I counted some blessings:

1. We were close enough we COULD just drive home.
2. We were able to stop for lunch right by the kids bookstore I wanted to check out, so we were able to do that.
3. We finished all our shopping for "essentials when you visit Canada" on Thursday, so worse case this was a reverse of the Canadian tradition of heading to the US for the weekend to shop.
4. Baby is clearly on the mend. She is sleepy, and not eating great, but doing better.
5. I feel bad about this one, but I am really grateful I do not have to scrub the floor where she was sick. I can do it, but it always makes me feel kind of sick too. And the hotel did not charge us for the night we canceled.
6. We can go back anytime, it is close enough. We could easily do it in a weekend.
7. It is disappointing to miss the art exhibit that only goes until September 6, we have the benefit of knowing that there will be an exhibit by Picasso at the Seattle Art Gallery starting in October. And yes I have searched art galleries in Oregon, Washington and BC.
8. We are home. There is always something nice about that after being away, even if it is for 1 night.
9. Since the, um, let's just call it the hotel incident, there has been no tossing of the cookies, and no fevers.
10. No one else appears to be getting sick, and Miss Pear has a whole new appreciation for what Baby can do....

Quick Trip

We are heading out for a long weekend quick trip just our family. But are leaving on Thursday.

We have been planning this trip for a while, and it is a big deal to us! So we have a fair bit to get done tomorrow before we go.

See you next week!

It's Monday, I'm Melting

I know I said I was working on a better attitude about no air conditioning, and I am, on Saturday when we set record breaking heat I was stoic and creative and even optimistically cheerful. On Sunday we again set records and I looked on the bright side and said that after a month of trying to get to Sunday night service with 2 little girls we were finally going to make it! And we did! It was great! It was also a good thing we got the girls into the air conditioning because Baby was starting to get sick from the heat and Miss Pear was not far behind if her pink cheeks and resting her head on my lap were any indication.

But last night it was still 80 in the house at 10PM, and my good attitude fizzled.

Actually I think what annoyed me the most next to the girls getting sick in the heat (always a concern in our family) and effectively killed my good mood and attitude was that I was almost 3/4 of a day ahead in my Bible in 90Days reading in anticipation of a family 3 day trip this week and am now only on track.

Sigh.

In other news, I am sure our neighbors were laughing at us when it was at least 90F out side and we were all heading out in sweats carrying jackets after supper! It was Miss Pear's last day of formal skating lessons for this session so we all went to watch and then had an ice cream celebration afterwards.

It is a complete mystery how it can be record breaking heat and Dairy Queen is not packed. But the drive through has a line up around the parking lot. Very interesting.

Now that I think about it, signing Miss Pear up for skating lessons during the summer was genius on my husband's part. People look at us funny when we say we are doing skating, but when it is blazing hot out it feels so refreshing to be in the cool ice rink!

Okay, I just read what I wrote, and am tempted to delete it, but in the interest of trying to be authentic I am going to leave it because it lets me say one thing.

Each day, just as the heat was becoming a concern for the girls there was something that made it okay. Either it was having ice cream on Saturday, church Sunday night, or skating on tonight, such perfect provision! So often we just look at things and say that it was great it worked out, and don't go beyond that. I don't believe in things "just working out" or in coincidences, but I do believe in God, and He is the Almighty, able to do more than we can even comprehend, and provide perfectly for us.

And before I forget, a sweet commenter noted that a lot of people have the window air conditioning units up here - that made me feel better after thinking that all these people were superhuman and could handle this heat with no problem. Such a comforting perspective!

Okay, that's it, I am done, I need to read my Bible in 90 days, and that means I need to get reading. Good night!

Homeschooling Kindergarten

Homeschooling kindergarten is fun, almost as much fun as preschool. We started preschool because Miss Pear was begging to learn to read so she could read her Bible (still working on that, but making progress), and math so she could read recipes.

Definitely my girl.

We start the morning with Bible time at the breakfast table reading:

1. Everything a Child Should Know about God
   Excellent basic Bible doctrine
   
2. The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
   
3. A chapter of the Gospels. We are in Mark right now, when we get to the end of John we head back to the start of Matthew.
   

We then have reading time, picture books first and we always start with God Knows My Name and then read about 3-5 others, and then have chapter book reading time.

We then take a break, I tidy the kitchen and get some things like laundry started and it is time to start school.

Baby tags along with us, doing what she can, playing with brain food toys in her highchair and reading books, playing under the table at my feet, sitting in Daddy's chair and coloring, then running off to play.

Or Core, or official like type stuff is:

1. Saxon Math 1 (we did K for preschool, it is fun math toys that sneak in learning, and so far Miss Pear is handling this easily).
2. A Reason For Handwriting A (Yes, the grade 1 level, we did the K one for preschool).
   
3. Rod and Staff Reading and Phonics Grade 1 (first level offered, and Miss Pear is handling it easy and asking to do more than the day's lesson)

(Daddy and Miss Pear have a "reading meeting" in the evening after supper and are going through Alphaphonics).

If we sat down and just plowed through this we would be done in 1.5 - 2 hours. But no body would be having any fun, and it would quickly become drudgery. So if the Math lesson was longer than usual like yesterday's one where we made a pictograph then we take our first recess there, otherwise we do math and handwriting, have recess and come back for reading and phonics. So this ends up taking us almost until lunch, but we have fun, and the fact that we don't rush seems to help Miss Pear get it much easier.

Starting in September, on Tuesday mornings we will be doing Classical Conversations.

After this is done we can be done for the day if we want, and usually we are as far as formal learning goes. After this the rule is to feed the curiosity. So we explore science topics, social studies things, read about art, craft, and learn to do things around the house. Miss Pear wants to know how to do everything, so when I do laundry I show her how the washer works etc. She also wants to cook, so I am constantly on the hunt for things she can make. Today at lunch she made banana yogurt salad and mostly assembled the grilled cheese sandwiches herself (I grilled them). It is fun.

In a lot of ways we fall nicely into the classical model of education, but our love for reading also ends up placing us in the Charlotte Mason method, and our practice of feeding the curiosity puts us a little bit in the unschooling method. I don't really worry about what method we use, I just concentrate on what works for my family and how we learn.

All in all, I am having a GREAT time!

Homeschooling At Our House

We started kindergarten last week in our house, and we started in August for a lot of reasons. While I have wanted to share about our plans for this school year, there is one thing I need to say first.

While I enjoy sharing about our schooling adventures, and yes, we are a homeschooling family, I sometimes get odd responses to this, and often it is of a defensive nature, which kind of confuses me.

So let me tell you my secret....

...If you don't homeschool your children, that is perfectly fine with me.

Seriously.

Just because we homeschool does not mean I hold it up as the standard for all families.

Although there is one standard I do hold up for Christian families - ask God and He wants you to school your children and then do it, even if you are unsure. If you have done that, and are doing that, then I will totally support your schooling choice, even if it is polar opposite of what we are doing. If you have not, I would encourage you to ask Him!

That is how we ended up homeschooling. And yes, this has been confirmed as the method of schooling for Baby too.

If my knee cooperates I will share some of our homeschooling plans starting tomorrow.

How do you school your children? What is your favorite part of that method?

CSA Boxes 5 and 6

The produce boxes are now filled with locally grown beautiful produce! I did not post box 5 before it arrived as that was the day of Miss Pear's cardiology appointment and we were distracted. At that appointment it became clear we are doing the right thing as it is very important she enjoy a heart healthy diet, more so than for most people.

The box we got that night included:

Bunched Carrots
Roma Tomatoes (it was supposed to be Chioggia Beets, but I needed tomatoes!)
Green Beans
Walla Walla Sweet Onions
Cabbage
Spinach
Salad Mix (Cut Greens)
Cherries
Blueberries
Peaches (a double order because I really needed more fruit so I swapped out the arrugala)
Nectarines

I also ordered an extra bag of carrots because they are so delicious and taste like they came right out of the garden, none of this store bought taste!

This Week's Box

Red Leaf Lettuce
Bunch of Carrots (swapped in place of Baby Chioggia Beets)
Green Chard
Mixed Summer Squash
Savoy Cabbage
Cucumbers
Red Radishes
Baby Bok Choy
Flavor Supreme Pluots
Blueberries
Peaches
Apricots

I also added a bag of carrots and a bunch of celery as we never have too many carrots and I needed celery. I am finding it is better both by cost and by flavor to order extra fruits and veggies through the box!

As it stands now, unless the grocery store has a screaming deal and I am going any way I only buy fruits and veggies through the box or at Costco where I regularly buy bananas and peppers.