Food Preparation I Class

Last year, our family participated in beginning a brand new homeschooling program right around the corner from our home at our former church.  It has been an amazing answer to prayer for us!!

We have a daily half-day program from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm that utilizes the ACE (or School of Tomorrow) Pace Curriculum for most core subjects, and we offer a few electives for the high schoolers.  There is a "learning-to-read" class for the Kindergarten and 1st graders, as well as Math and Reading supplemental activities.  What we don't finish there, we finish at home!

One of the extra fun perks for me is that I get to teach a high school elective course.
Never, in-a-million-years, would you have been able to convince me that I would enjoy that, but it has been an absolute blast!
Last year, I taught Beginning Speech and Drama, and this year I'm teaching a Family and Consumer Science Course with emphasis on "Beginning Food Preparation" this semester and "Sewing and Crafts" next semester.

We are having so much fun learning how to read recipes and to prepare enough servings of the recipes for all who will be sampling, and experimenting with new flavors and ingredients.

The girls really enjoy learning how to garnish and serve their dishes in an appetizing way.

I love having the time to teach my own daughters in this class in a bigger space than our own kitchen and in the company of other girls as well!

The best part is sampling all the different recipes that each of the girls chose out of their cookbook.

I'm really excited about the opportunity we have in a few weeks to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for the senior citizens of this church!  More pictures to come!!!

Fun spring art!!

This adorable little art project is not original with me.

It was, indeed, a pinterest find.

But it looked like a winner to me, so my plan was to do this at our "Celebrate Spring" party.

I loved how easy it was for my little ones to do.

Let me just say though, not all soda bottles are created the same.

But don't just take my word for it.....

Pinterest fail.

So here's my tip-of-the-day.....

This project works best with Diet 7-up or Seven-up bottles.

The pattern on the bottom of the bottles is flat so the paint sticks to the entire

flower pattern on the bottom.

If you look at the bottom of Coca-Cola bottles (or Dr.Pepper or Sprite), you'll notice

that the points of the flower patterns are raised and will take the paint

and not the entire flower pattern.

We used the smallest size 6-pack bottle available,

and were extremely happy with the results!

Happy painting!!

This....lovely "Easter Garden".......perfect weekend activity

This is our version of this lovely "Easter Garden" that I have been admiring

for the last couple years on the internet.

I love that my children can be involved collecting the items needed for this project,

can help planting the seeds, and the wonderful visual that it is in reminding us

of the great sacrifice that Christ made for us that we remember at this time of year!

For some wonderful tutorials on this project:

An Easter Family Grace Garden

Hill of Calvary

Easter Garden

Mini-Resurrection Garden

Make an Easter Garden

For some wonderful add - ons:

Watercolor Butterflies {Free Printable}

Winged Wonders

Women's Wellness Wednesday: Making my own coconut oil skincare and spa products

I'm pretty sure I have a new obsession.
It's coconut oil.

Have you heard about all the amazing things this oil is great for?
If not......check these out:

10 Uses for Coconut Oil You Haven't Tried

101 Uses for Coconut Oil

(and not to be out-done!)

333 Uses for Coconut Oil

I personally have been experimenting with different uses and these are some of my favorite homemade skincare/spa products:

Homemade Deodorant

(I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this.  I store it in the frig, and pop it out of this little container as needed)

Homemade Body Butter

(Just tried it for the first time today.  More reviews on this later.)

Homemade Coconut Sugar Scrub

(I gave this as Christmas gifts this last year.  A little goes a long way, so I haven't made another batch since then.  But when I do I plan on putting my organic cane sugar crystals in the food processor to make them a little finer.  What I have now is so coarse it almost hurts.  Makes your skin silky smooth though!!)

Summer Fun: Homemade Super Bubbles!!

Who doesn't love bubbles?

I know, I know.....you can buy it pretty cheap at your favorite superstore.......

but how sad when your toddler bends over to pick up their bubble wand

and dumps their little bottle of bubbles all over the porch.

Fun over.

With this recipe.....you can make a gallon of your own for a full afternoon of fun!!

And if it dumps.....oh well.....we'll just make some more!!

I followed the tutorial found here.

Summer Fun: Homemade Play-Dough!

Another idea I've been wanting to try since a friend of mine made some big batches this last winter and shared with us......is a recipe for homemade play dough!

My children will play with this for hours.

Much longer than anything else they own......which is perfect for those piping hot summer afternoons that are just too hot to play outside in, and that Texas is famous for!!
I used the tutorial found here.
I loved how this recipe turned out, and couldn't stop making it!
It turned out perfect, and I think I like it even better than store-bought play-doh!
Terrific to keep on hand for pre-schooler activities while older siblings are being homeschooled!

And just to keep in the spirit of this new found favorite.....
I was delighted to find this in my email the other day!!

Summer Fun: Homemade finger paints!

Summer is always a blur of activity around our house during the summer months.
I am always so glad to be free of the pressure of school work that HAS to be done along with the myriad of other household things, and to throw open the doors and run outside!!
This week my children were involved in their 3rd VBS (2 during this week....1 in the morning, and 1 in the evening), my oldest has been at summer church camp for teens, and my 12 year old has been house "sitting" for 2 different families as well.
It has been busy.
We did find ourselves home one afternoon with some "fun" time, and I decided to experiment with several ideas I found on Pinterest.
The first thing we tried (and loved!) was making our own finger paints.
You can find the tutorial we used here.

We loved it, and it turned out just as the recipe said it would.

Monday Funday !!

I have always felt that when it comes to educating children there is no better way for them to learn than to take them to the places you've been learning about together, and let them see with their eyes and touch with their hands and hear with their ears and smell and taste to further solidify the experience in their minds.  This is particularly effective for children living with ADHD because they have more freedom to be moving around and touching and talking and MOVING!!  These children just ITCH to move, and seat work can be an enormous challenge for them!!  So RUN, I say, RUN!!

Recently we've been studying Texas State History, and we have a plethora of wonderful, engaging, fun and educational places in our area that emphasize all the wonderful things that Texas is about!!
Did you know that Dr. Pepper was invented just down the road from us in Waco, TEXAS??
So, of course, I knew that the "Dr. Pepper Museum" in Waco was a "must see" as a field trip this semester!

I was especially delighted because since yesterday was President's Day, they had a special promotion going on for admission.  We got to choose any denomination of paper currency we wanted to pay with as long as it had a President on it.  So instead of paying $30 for all 8 of us, we only had to pay $8 TOTAL!!  WIN!!

I thought this was so interesting!!

In light of the health issues plaguing American's, I'm wondering if this is really something

to brag about??

When I'm worried, and I can't sleep.....

Do you know the rest of the words to this song?

Can you remember what lovely, old movie you will hear this song in?

As parents of a rather large family (though I think that's really all about your perspective),

my husband and I have found ourselves fretting lately.

Fretting about.....you know.....money.

The fact that there never seems to be enough of it.

No matter how much we cut back.

No matter how close we trim the fat.

No matter how many hours we both work (he outside of our home to bring the money in....

and me inside of the home to keep the money from bleeding out.)

And not for fluff.

Simply for the necessities.

For shoes.

Diabetic medications.

School books.

Groceries.

Gasoline.

We don't take family vacations.

I only shop at THREE stores once a week to limit the impulse spending

 from those extra trips throughout the week.

We don't eat pizza or steak every day, much less eat out....hardly ever.

We don't shop for clothes.....ever.

My husband drives the same car to work that we had when we first married......14 years ago.

We don't have car payments or voluntary debt.

But we still worry.

Doesn't everybody at times?

Isn't that a plight common to ALL adults?

"When my bankroll is gettin’ small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep, counting my blessings"

But then things like this happen:

A neighbor is moving to a new house and wonders if we could use this......

(A piece of organization that I've been wishing for for a long time!!)

The very same afternoon, another neighbor is cleaning out his backyard and wonders if we would like this for our children:

(Something I've read over and over is so very beneficial for ADHD children because of the energy it burns!)

Last weekend my MIL brought us a large box STUFFED full of this from some lovely ladies at our former church who love our children:

(A year's worth of supplies for homeschooling!!)


Wednesday I received a call from some lovely, thoughtful, generous friends from our church family.
They have been cleaning out their daughters closets and wondered if we could use a some things:

Things for the big girls........

.....as well as the little girl.

It's when these kinds of things happen when our anxiety is at it's height that I'm reminded of these scriptures:

"......do not be anxious for your life, 

as to what you shall eat,

or what you shall drink;

nor for your body,

as to what you shall put on.

Is not life more than food, 

and the body than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air,

that they do not sow, neither do they reap,

nor gather into barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not worth much more than they?

.......And why are you anxious about clothing?

Observe how the lilies of the field grow;

they do not toil nor do they spin.

.....Do not be anxious then, saying,

"What shall we eat? or

What shall we drink? or

With what shall we clothe ourselves?

.....for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

Matthew 6: 25-26, 31-32 NASB

"So if you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings."