Lots of blog ideas...

I have so many blogging ideas running through my head and so little time to actually write them down! I suppose I'll have to be content with a catch-up list for now...

• thanks to the generosity of a friend, we were able purchase an upgraded computer. Our friend built it and sold it to us for a VERY reasonable price. It runs faster and better...except
• the first week we had it, a new virus attacked it. ;( Thankfully, after our friend returned from vacation, he fixed it!
  
• While preparing for my first ever overseas short term ministry trip, I have been busy getting shots, folding and stuffing prayer letters, and making lists of the necessary items. Added to that, I'm gathering the items for my part of the trip and praying for those I will be working with and for myself.
  
• Both of my sweet girls need some extent of vision therapy to correct problems with their eyes. This will entail 1 hr. 15 min. drives to a nearby city every two weeks for progress checks. We are thankful for God's direction in helping improve their ability to see and do their school work with more accuracy, and less frustration and fatigue.
  
• Our annual Kids Craft Sale with our homeschool group is fast approaching (second Thursday in December.) My main little crafter, Bethany, and I need to get a move on! In a future post, I'll reveal what we are doing this year. :)
  
• My goal (and hopefully not too lofty) is to write several posts, with pictures included, of the batches of preschool/kindergarten fun we have been having here! Our camera was not downloading to the computer for a LONG time. We've managed to fix that and now I have lots of pictures to post. :)
• In our Jr/Sr High girls Literature Club we recently read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Amazing story and I'm thankful that a friend let me borrow several other Corrie books...Amazing Love, Each New Day, My Father's House and Prison Letters.
  
• The above family picture was lovingly taken by our friend, Erin at Lasting Snapshots. She is talented, funny and efficient!
  

I have been challenged and encouraged by reading Corrie ten Boom's books. So many quotes and nuggets to take away from her life. I'll end this post with such a quote:

"If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest."

A Batch of Recipes

My niece asked me to give her some of my recipes for a bake sale she is doing. I thought I'd post them here as the holidays are coming and you might enjoy these too. All three of these recipes are tried and true! :) The first recipe came from an old church recipe book, the second two are from friends. I've made all these recipes lots of times.

Monster Cookies
6 eggs
1 pound brown sugar
2 c. white sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 pound butter (softened, NOT melted)
1 1/2 pound peanut butter
9 c. oatmeal (quick oats are fine)
1/2 pound chocolate chips
1/2 pound m&m's

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
In a LARGE bowl, mix eggs, then add sugars and vanilla. Add soda, butter and peanut butter until well mixed. Mix oats (you will have to switch to hand stirring as the oats will make it too stiff to mix with beaters.) Once the oats are mixed in, add chips and m&m's.
Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, but do not overcook.

Makes 8-10 dozen cookies. These freeze well and taste oh, so, yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream together:
2 cups butter flavored shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon water
2 teaspoon vanilla

In separate bowl, mix:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
Stir in 12 oz bag of chocolate chips and 1-2 cups of nuts (optional)

Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.
Makes approximately 10 dozen cookies

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Mix together and press into 9x13 greased baking dish
1 box yellow cake mix--withhold 1 cup
1 egg
1/2 stick melted butter

Mix together; then pour over crust
1 16 oz can pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash vanilla

Mix until crumbly; then sprinkle on top
1 cup cake mix
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter

Bake 45-50 minutes in 350 degree oven.
Note: I have a neat little rolling pin and that REALLY helps with rolling the crust out while in the bottom of the baking dish. If you don't have something like that, you'll have to work hard at getting the crust to spread out in the dish. Believe me, it's worth the effort! These are yummy!!

Two Tidbits

Happy Monday Morning! Before my day gets too far underway I wanted to share two things: a book I'm reading and a handwriting website.
First the book: Humility: True Greatness by CJ Mahaney
I've read the book once straight through, now I'm going to read it again and take notes. I find I learn better and retain it better that way. So many good truths and practical suggestions in this relatively short book!
Here is a review of the book by a blogger that I do not know, but I thought the review was good.

Second the website: Meacham Handwriting I have been teaching my 5 yo (plus the 3 and 4 year olds that I babysit) how to write the letters of the alphabet. We've also been working on the sounds the letters make and overall have been having FUN doing it. I saw an idea for "gel tracing" on my FAVORITE homeschool blog E.V.E.R. and googled "gel tracing" to see if I could make my own gel packs. The Meacham Handwriting site came up and I liked the ideas right away. So, I'm off to try to make my own gel pack using hair gel, food coloring and a zip-lock baggie.

Hello Again, long lost friend

I really want to be consistent about updating my blog. Going back and reading past entries is something I enjoy and I can't read past entries if I'm not writing any. However, in my attempt to balance my {life} computer time, homeschooling time, house work time, hunny time, family time, etc., blogging gets dropped off the bottom of the list.

With so many things to share, I thought I'd update in bullet points:

• A sweet homeschooling sister in Christ is now in Heaven after a two year battle with cancer. Visiting her and her endearing husband in the hospital was a privilege from God Himself. We picked up her parents, as they were here from another state and didn't know the area very well. They have been in the states for over 20 years, but don't speak English very well. God blessed our time with them. Singing hymns around my friend's bed, her mother singing in her native language, her father humming a harmony line, her husband singing yet another harmony line and me singing the melody--was nothing short of holy. I don't say that lightly, it was truly a time of worship I will never forget. Three hours later, she was face to face with her Savior. V, you are loved and you are missed; see you soon.
  
• Our pastor is teaching on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) and I've been so challenged and encouraged. I've also been aware of how the enemy tries to trip me up and how God wants me to cling to Him wearing my armor.
  
• In an attempt to help our oldest daughter with some health issues she's been having for the past 2 years, her and I are eating gluten free. Really, this is a whole other post, but for now let me tell you that even though all the symptoms are not gone, we both are feeling somewhat better.
  
• My little guy declared that he is done with school; it's just not for him. Hmm, he's got a long way to go before he's really done. I've had many 'hair pulling out, head banging against the wall' days lately. I continue to persevere and pray with him and for him that he will submit to our authority (which really seems to be the underlying issue.)
  
• I am preparing to go on a two week trip to Indonesia in January. {Insert a minute of "freak-out!"} I can't believe it's now only 3 months away and I have a LOT to do before then...not to mention my longest airline flight to date is 1 hour and 15 minutes. I'm nervously excited to see what God is going to do in and through my life because of this trip. And really it is a family adventure. We have all been studying the country of Indonesia--the people, the culture, etc. and we have been praying for the people, the conference I will helping with and for all the details.
  
• Two weeks ago, I spoke with a dear friend (chat through Facebook.) It's been a long time since we've chatted other than just a comment here or there. What refreshment, what encouragement!
  
• God continues to impress on my heart some heavy issues--a friend's marriage that is breaking apart, another friend separated from his wife, a friend who is struggling to grasp God's unconditional love and forgiveness for sins and of course, my children, our homeschooling days, etc.
  
• I'm thankful for our God who hears and sees and Who is caring and loving. In our "morning work" this week, we sang "Deep and Wide" and I talked to the kids about God's love--His love is "deep and wide." Amazing.
  

So, V--I'm looking forward to the day when I can say "Hello" to you, L--thank you for the Facebook chat, and God--thank YOU for being sovereign over all of the bullet points of my life!

The Love of Friends

A little over 30 years ago, my Dad and Step mom met a couple who introduced them to the Lord. I woke up thinking about them. I just "found" their son on facebook--I can't explain the feeling I had when we became Facebook friends! I've thought of them SO often over the years. They truly have never been far from my mind and heart. The husband, Tom has been with the Lord for years now. I remember his smile, his somewhat unruly beard, but most of all I remember his heart. He loved the Lord and I can still picture him bent over his Bible underlining Scripture that spoke to him. He and his wife had two kids--a girl and a boy. We had SO much fun playing with them when we were growing up. And they had a German Shepherd named Shadow.

I honestly don't know how my parents met them, but I'm so thankful God, in His sovereignty, saw fit to bring our two families together. I came to know the Lord because of this family sharing with my parents and then my parents taking us to church. I was 9 years old when I asked Jesus into my heart--and it was on Tom's daughter's birthday...July 6th.

As I've experienced friendships over the years, I realize that people enter your life, stay for the God allotted time, then leave, or stay (according to God's perfect plan). Even though I had lost touch with this family, they've remained dear to my heart. I'm eternally grateful for their friendship and influence on my parents and our family. I suppose we don't know what God is going to do with our efforts to love others like He does, except that whatever it is, it will be to His glory.

So, "R" Family--thanks for sharing Christ with us so many years ago. {I look forward to the day when either God calls me home or He returns and I get to hug the man God used to bring me to Himself.}

May I be faithful to love Christ and share Him with others He brings into my path.

It's time for SCHOOL!

This week was our first week of Kindergarten (for my youngest, T) and Preschool (for a 3 yo and 4 yo that I babysit.) Honestly the week didn't work out like I'd dreamed it would (you know, in my head it all works out GREAT!) I made the plans, cut out the shapes, bought the supplies and prayed for good days. The other thing I have to confess is that it was MY boy that made the worst trouble--whining, pouting, arguing. I felt like each task took 3 times as long because he wasn't going with the flow! I did not give up and the Lord indeed gave me strength. It's Friday and today was better!!

Our theme for this week was the sun.
Our color for this week was yellow.
Our shape for this week was a circle.
Our Bible story emphasis was Creation.

Here are some of the things we did: (and hopefully I can get the pictures to download from the camera and add them to this post)
I made suns, with Marissa's help, and I hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.
I bought small yellow plates and served their snacks on them.
Snacks included round ritz crackers with cheddar cheese, bananas, and lemon jello.
I took a lemon and cut it in half. I had the kids smell it and then taste the juice (I squeezed some juice onto individual spoons.) Then they used half of the lemon to dip in yellow paint and stamp onto a piece of paper.
They painted their own suns after tracing a circle onto their paper.
We went on a "yellow hunt" around the house.
Today they ran outside in the yellow sunshine and played! =)

Each morning we have also incorporated the calendar, the pledges, and other morning work. I've used Homeschool Creations ideas and once you go to her site you'll see that she links to other creative moms. Our morning work has been fun this week.

On the days when I don't have the extra babysitting kids, I'm doing more kindergarten work with Trenton. This week we read The Napping House and are working on this lapbook to go with it. T loves this book and enjoys hearing it over and over again. He is also doing Pathway Readers (he is on "Before We Read") and Math-U-See Primer.

Head over to Homeschool Creations to read more from Preschool Corner.

The older I am...the harder I fall

Goodness me...wait till you hear what I did! Just so you aren't speed reading to the end...nothing is broken and the story has a happy ending.

Bethany and I were walking across the long soccer fields from her practice back to her older sister's game. I was carrying two camp/sports chairs in their bags, an insulated bag with our water bottles and my purse (complete with book stashed for reading between quarters.) With the sun setting and blazing in my eyes, I squinted to try to catch a glimpse of my girl on the field. That's when it happened...along the bike path, a rather large hollowing out of dirt had occurred. My foot went in that hollow, ankle twisted, skin scraped off leg, hands tried to cushion my fall and yep, I'm sure it was a sight!

I've never been graceful. It's a fact and I've tried hard to accept it. Sure I try not to fall and make a spectacle of myself, but sometimes it's unavoidable!

Thankfully Bethany [aka "Nurse Nancy"] was there with me. She surveyed the damage to my leg and hands, told me to leave all the goods with her and hobble off to the bathroom. I washed myself up the best I could and emerged from the bathroom pining for the moment we could go home!

The next couple days my sweet hunny and kids have been compassionate and sensitive. Trenton asks about my leg and pulls up my pants leg to check out the "blooding!" He even brought me a pillow to prop my leg up on. Bethany apologized for not carrying more of the stuff and for not warning me about the hole. She insisted on carrying EVERYTHING for the rest of that evening. And the two of them had a conversation about being the "scout" looking for holes and not letting momma fall in them. :) Isn't that sweet??

My hunny cleaned my "wounds", applied antibacterial cream and gave me an ice pack to help with the inflammation. Marissa helped with more than her share of chores. All of this sweet, tender attention made falling worth it...well, almost. Astounding, really, at how sore I've been and I didn't even break anything or fall completely flat on my face (thank God!)

I'm so thankful for my family and I love how we take care of each other. A true gift from the Lord.

So that's my story...watch out for holes...and have a great weekend!