More books from our library bag...

I know I just posted about books yesterday, but we read some more today and I just had to share : ). Next to Lois Ehlert, I think Eric Carle is one of my favorite author/illustrators. Again, his "think outside the box" style appeals to me. I also love the bright colors and different art techniques he uses. Some of our favorite Eric Carle books are: The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Brown Bear, Brown Bear; and Polar Bear, Polar Bear. I think the one we read today could be a new favorite! We sat down and read The Secret Birthday Message during story time. I loved it! The girls did, too. It's fun, simple, not too much text so the girls stayed engaged, and several of the pages were cut to the shapes detailed in the story. I love it when book pages have different shapes! It's the story of a boy who receives a note under his pillow the night before his birthday. He has to follow the clues to find his birthday present. Simple, yet fun! The girls asked to read it twice. It was my pleasure!

When I asked which book was the favorite of the day, The Secret Birthday Message got one vote and so did this cute little story! It was also my first time reading Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jacky Davis. Lulu and her dog Bingo have to use their imagination to occupy themselves for the afternoon. Lulu's parents are busy and her big brother tells her she's "too little" to play ball with him and his friends. What follows is a day filled with all the things that "Ladybug Girl" can do. One thing I really love in this story are the illustrations. They really capture some fun expressions on the faces of Lulu and her dog. The girls didn't pick up on that as much, but I enjoyed it. There was a good amount of text, more than the previous book, but the girls stayed interested and really liked it. The inside and back covers also show Lulu in all of her many dress-up costumes...which the girls especially loved : ).

The last book we read...well, attempted to read because we didn't have time to finish...was Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt by Lisa Campbell Ernst. While I liked the illustrations, I'm kind of mixed about my thoughts on the story. In this story, Sam unexpectedly has to mend something that broke on the pig pen while his wife was away. He stays up all night and his mending turns out looking pretty amazing for a first time sewer. He shows his wife and wants to go with her to her women's quilting circle. The women basically kick him out, so he puts up fliers about men's rights and forms a men's quilting circle. The men then put themselves in competition with the women to see if they can make the better quilt for the fair coming up. Honestly, my first thought was...Sam, maybe your wife just needs a little girl time out of the house! And really, are there many guys out there who want to join a quilting circle? I know some men who can sew...and do a great job. I've seen their wives praise and encourage them in that. I would do the same thing. I can't really articulate all that I'm thinking here, but honestly, does there need to be a children's book that divides husbands and wives on something..can't they just encourage each other in their gifts and work together on the farm? Maybe I need to read the ending before I get too critical ; ).

Hope you enjoy!

What we're reading today...

We try to have story time during homeschool on a regular basis. One of my friends who homeschooled her children through high school has told me on multiple occassions..."be sure to read, read, read!". I try to remember that. I've noticed that Sophie...and Isaac...are already picking up on words that they have seen repeatedly. Especially the titles of movies. They can look at one of those VHS tapes and tell just by the writing on it what movie it is! Anyway, a week or so ago I took the kids to the library. Sophie is always asking to go, so I decided to try it with both of them. Well, let's just say we couldn't stay as long as we wanted to. Within about a minute Isaac is running around and talking in a loud voice, and the librarian is going, "shhh! shhh!". I kept saying, "sorry!" with a touch of embarrassment. One of the books I was able to grab before we had to check out was "Nuts to You!" by Lois Ehlert. I always run over to the Ehlert area to see if I can find something we haven't read yet. I LOVE her books. "Nuts to You!" did not disappoint! Even the cover is cute. It has a big hole cut out of it with the little squirrel looking at you. The title page was a thin strip of paper the color of the bark on a tree with the title and publisher written horizontally. I love the way she thinks outside the box! Throughout the story you see Ehlert's typical artistic style in the illustrations, along with text that isn't too long for small readers. I love how Ehlert labels things in her illustrations, like the types of flowers, birds, and insects. She also included some factual information at the end of the book about squirrels. Educational and entertaining! You just can't go wrong with this author!

On a grownup note, I'm reading Paradise Valley by Dale Cramer. I received this book along with a book called Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate for review by Bethany House. So...you will be seeing these titles again in another week or so when I review them! I've finished Larkspur Cove and now I'm starting on Paradise Valley. This is an Amish fiction story, and I'm just getting into it. I like Amish fiction pretty well, but it's taking me a little bit of time to really get into it. I have high hopes, though! We'll see. I really liked Larkspur Cove and look forward to telling you more about it! I'm even hoping I'll get a few more books in the mail. I signed up to get 5...so far I've only gotten 2. We'll see!

One more thing I'm looking forward to reading tonight...my newest Whole Living magazine, which is a Martha Stewart publication. Honestly, I'm not really into the new-agey, body + soul in balance thing, but I have found that there are lots of helpful tips, recipes, and health articles that this magazine contains. The only reason I have a year long subscription is because I got it FREE! Woohoo! There are several websites, my favorite being southernsavers.com, that post tips on free and/or cheap magazine subscriptions (among many other things). I like to have a magazine come in every so often, so if I can find it cheap, then I'll splurge for my birthday or Christmas. In this case, there was no occassion needed! Some of my other favorite magazine subscriptions include Better Homes and Gardens and Taste of Home.

Happy Reading!

A special day

We were invited by a couple in our church to come and eat and fellowship with them today. From the first time I met Mrs. Sylvia, I knew that she and her husband were neat folks. She came to the first Bible study I facilitated at church about marriage. Yes, me, only married 6 years and trying to lead these women to grow in their marriage. I'm just glad someone much more experienced wrote the study! : ) During the time that we met for the study, I got to know Mrs. Sylvia a little better. She and her husband, Mr. Charlie, met when they were about 15 years old, and had never been apart since. They've been married about 50 years now, and have raised two daughters, one adopted son, and 29 foster children. They hunt and fish together. Today they showed us the pictures of how they totally remodeled the house they live in now. It was amazing. It went from totally broken down, falling apart, to a cute little house in the woods. Mrs. Sylvia was up on a ladder drilling right next to Mr. Charlie. They ride 4 wheelers together, walk in the woods down paths they've made, and they took us down to the big garden they planted not far from their house. Can you tell I just love them?!

Here is Mr. Charlie taking Sophie and Isaac for a little ride.

I took this shortly before we left. We were relaxing, talking, and just letting the kids play in the screened-in porch. It was a beautiful day...warm with a nice breeze. Mr. Charlie and Joe rode around the property on the 4 wheelers and when they came back, Mr. Charlie went right over and sat next to his wife and held her hand. So precious to me! The kids just gravitated towards them. They gave Sophie that yellow duck...she named it Steven (not sure why!). She has not parted with "him" all day. Joe asked me later when we got home how I enjoyed the day. I told him I loved it. We haven't spent a lot of time with this couple, but as I said to Joe, "they are special". A special day with special people!

Play ball!

We've entered into a new phase of family life. Our oldest "baby" is now participating in extra-curricular activities. I've wanted to put her in some kind of activity for a while now--to help her get some exercise and do something fun with her friends. I even let her choose. I gave her several options: dance, karate, t-ball. I was kind of leaning towards karate. She quickly informed me that she didn't want karate, she wanted to play t-ball.

Here she is, a proud member of the Cubs. We haven't really worked with her on her batting skills, but her coach does a good job. I'm just glad she went up there by herself. Lately she wants one of us (Mom or Dad) to be with her at all times.

Go, Sophie, Go!

I just had to include Isaac's take on all of this. I handed him the camera in a last ditch effort to entertain him while I was trying to get Sophie to go out to the field without me.

He wishes he could go out there and play, too. Maybe next year, buddy. : )

Family time~

We had Spring Break last week from homeschooling, but the hubby still had to work. Friday came (hubby's day off) and we decided to pack a picnic and go to Little Ocmulgee State Park in McRae, GA. It was just the right kind of little getaway. Above are some of the lilypads in the lake. The trees are so beautiful...dripping with Spanish moss. Did I mention that there's also a great playground?

I love taking pictures with my girl. She makes me smile : ).

My guy makes me smile, too : ).

There's a big dock leading out to the water. The kids enjoyed running on it. You wouldn't want to jump in this water, though. There's signs all around warning you about the alligators. Yes, Joe and I discovered those signs shortly after we took a canoe out on the lake one time. No more canoe rides for us, I'm afraid!

And here's our family shot. Hey...I'm impressed that we all fit! Well, sort of.

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time! Who says family getaways have to be expensive?! Here's a little tip I found out recently. Most local libraries have a park packet that includes a free parking pass along with a family pass that gives you free admission for up to four people to any state park and recreation center in the state of Georgia. There are tons of these places all over Georgia! All you have to do is check it out like you would a library book! I'm not sure if these are available for every state, but it wouldn't hurt to check! That's what we did, and we didn't have to pay anything to enjoy the day at the park!

God bless!

My time...and His timing

I've been trying to think of a way to add some rosettes to my old cardigan...try to spice it up a bit. This is my effort (above). I think it turned out pretty well! And let me just say how much I LOVE the new rosette trend. They are so cute to me! I haven't done a tote bag in a LONG time...but I thought I'd try it for a friend's baby shower. It's a denim material that I added a colorful animal ribbon to on the top and a big B for "Benjamin". It was fun!

And this is what I did yesterday. Tons of dvds....taking up a lot of space. My kids were opening the cabinet they were in every day to get a video out. Not only the video they wanted, but usually about 10 other ones and spread them all over the floor. I guess the ongoing frustration sparked a solution in my brain. What's the phrase, "Necessity is the mother of invention"? Well, this was a simple solution...that I wish I would've thought of sooner! I just went out and bought a cd case and put all of the dvds inside. I zipped it up and put it on top of a little shelf we have. Problem solved! It was kind of hard to throw all of those cases away. I kept telling myself...why do I want to hold on to a piece of plastic?! No hoarding today! : )

I also straightened up these bins. I don't have a before picture. Yes...this is the after shot. And yes, it looks much better!

It feels great to get some organizing done. I can honestly say that it doesn't come naturally for me. I have to think...and sometimes pray...that I can figure out how to resolve a clutter or frustration with "stuff" issue. I can testify that God is faithful! It may take a few years, but hey, His timing is not always my timing! : )

More cookin', more easy recipes

I went back and actually checked this time to make sure I didn't repeat some recipes! I saw that I had repeated the lemon chicken and easy chicken with sour cream/soup...oops! : ) As you've figured out, I'm all about the easy stuff. I like food that I can throw together relatively quickly and tastes good. My hubby also can't have anything too spicy (bummer) and my kids won't eat certain things either, so I try to fix things everyone can eat.

Tonight I marinated a pork loin that I picked up at the store yesterday with one of those bottled teriyaki meat marinades that I found on sale. I cooked it, covered with foil, for 1 hour on 350, then I lowered it to 300 and cooked it another 1 1/2 hours. It was a little more dry this time than it usually is, but it still tasted great! I added some roasted potatoes and steamed veggies. To top it off, I made some fruit salad. This is the good and easy part! The "magic" ingredient...just a package of sugar free vanilla pudding mix!

It really works well if you take a can of crushed pineapple and use it as a base. I didn't have crushed tonight, but I had the chunks, so I used that. Don't drain the juice. Then I added some cut up fresh strawberries. Then I began to pour the pudding packet (I used the 1 oz package) over the fruit and mixed it in with a spoon. It starts to thicken your mixture and give it a good flavor. I noticed that it was a little too thick for my preference, so I got out a can of mandarin oranges. I drained most of the liquid, but left a little bit to help thin everything out a little. That was all I did! Yum! The kids loved it, too. You can basically add any fruit to this that you like--bananas, apples, grapes, etc., as long as you had some "juice" in your mix to help thin out the pudding powder. If you don't like pinapple juice, you could probably just do your fruit and add some fruit juice of your choice. My friend Elizabeth told me about this when she made it at her house one time and I have loved doing it for an easy dessert. Hey...just thought of something...it would be great with a little whipped cream on top!

I also wanted to add another easy recipe. Homemade biscuits. Now don't get nervous. I know that making biscuits yourself does require some work and can sometimes be intimidating. Plus the canned kind are easier and taste good...but are not necessarily cheaper (I guess they could be if you stacked a couple of coupons and found them on sale...maybe?). Anyway, I got these recipes off the side of my flour bag (Southern Biscuit self-rising flour). The buttermilk ones are really good! : ) I'll even throw in the "No Fool Pie" recipe. I don't know how it is because I haven't made it before, but it looks pretty easy to me. Enjoy!

Self Rising Biscuits

2 cups of self-rising flour

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2/3 to 3/4 cup of cold whole milk

2 Tbs. melted butter or magarine (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. Measure and sift 2 cups of flour into a mixing bowl (I just run a fork through it! lol). Add 1/4 cup of shortening to the bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour until the particles of shortening are about the size of grains of rice (which means, I put my hands in and work the grease in until it's in small pieces..about the size of rice). While slowly adding the milk, stir with a large spoon until the flour shortening mixture is thoroughly moistened. Do not over mix. For a drier dough, use less milk, for a wetter dough, use more (wetter is better--if you ask me : )). Turn the dough from the bowl onto a smooth floured surface (it'll be sticky, folks--put some flour on your hands, too). Using as few strokes as possible with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to a uniform thickness of 1/2 in. (ok...I don't really like my rolling pin, so I use a blue hard plastic cup from my cabinet. It also doubles as my biscuit cutter.) Cut the biscuits using a floured cutter (aka blue cup) and transfer to a shallow baking pan. Arrange biscuits on the pan so that each biscuit is slightly touching the one next to it. Bake for 10-14 min., or until done. Remove biscuits from the oven and brush the top with butter.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon of sugar

1/4 cup shortening

3/4 to 1 cup cold buttermilk

2 Tbs. melted butter/margarine (optional)

Directions:

Just follow the same exact directions as the one above, except add the sugar to your flour and sift (my version, once again--stir it up with a fork--hey..it seems to work just fine!)

Mmmm...they're good with jelly!

No Fool Pie

1 cup self-rising flour

3/4 stick (6 Tbs) butter or margarine

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup cold whole milk

1 to 1 1/2 cups drained fruit

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Melt your butter and pour it into an 8 or 9 inch baking dish. Set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, and 1/2 of the milk in a mixing bowl. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the remaining milk to the bowl and stir until smooth. Pour the batter into the dish containing the melted butter. DO NOT MIX. Place the drained fruit on top of the batter in the dish. DO NOT STIR. Bake 30-40 min, or until done (golden brown).

If you make this, let me know if it's any good : ). I hope it is!