Gratituesday

It's Tuesday - what are you thankful for? Visit Laura at Heavenly Homemakers and see what others are counting their blessings for today.......
It is so easy to get caught up in the yuck and struggle of day to day, far better off are those who can find a smile in the pleasure of the ordinary and simple. I have purposed to become with God's help a seeker of the ordinary splendor in the blessings that surround me each day. This morning while enjoying my quiet time and wonderful rich cup of coffee a flock of Canada Geese - about 30 of them honked their way above the house. We have been in a flight path apparently in the past week or so and they are so wonderful to watch as they just barely clear the roof tops and happily announce themselves. This is the kind of ordinary splendor to which I am intentionally tuning my radar.....and this......

..... sweet unexpected smiles, silliness, a home filled with love and a family who delights in random acts of love and goofiness that put smiles on each other's faces. That is what I am thankful for today - and everyday.

By way of reminder - I hope you are working on having your prayer boxes, bags, jars, hats or whatever you have in mind to use ready to help me launch Prayer Box Sunday this week!! If you have not read my previous post - take a minute before you move on and do so - and then get ready and join us this Sunday! I am excited to see what God will do with this - it was His idea after all so you know it can't help but be wonderful!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Prayer Box Sunday

Allow me to share something with you that our family has been doing for about a month now. It is my hope that by sharing this I will be able to encourage and inspire you in your walk with God to help build stronger families and memorable family time together.

A little over a month ago The Principal and I were talking about the spiritual climate of our home and our desire to grow our family a little deeper still in our walk with the Lord. During this conversation the Lord downloaded an idea that we have given legs to and been enjoying ever since. A Prayer Box. Here's how it works.....first the whole family spent about an hour or so talking about all the things we feel we need to and would like to pray about. I recorded these prayers on slips of paper and folded them in half and put them in a lovely wooden box that I bought at Hobby Lobby several years ago - use your imagination here - anything that holds slips of paper will work! The plan is to add to the box as inspiration and need dictate.

Every Sunday now, we gather together with our Prayer Box and each of us will draw a slip of paper which will determine our individual prayer focus for the week ahead. Then one of us (usually Wonder Boy) will draw a second slip of paper which will reveal our family prayer focus for the week.

Let me share with you our prayers for the week ahead....The Principal is praying for his co-workers, Wonder Boy is praying for family members in Virginia, I am praying for Our President and our family prayer focus for the week is ministry opportunities (how awesome is that one?!!). So each night we will come together and pray as a family at bedtime and then remember these prayers as well in our individual prayer time. Next Sunday we will meet again to select new prayers for the coming week at which time we will pray our prayers from the week just past as well as the week ahead. This is also a great time to talk about anything else that may have a special need. We also use this as a lead in or wrap up to a family devotion which typically ends up being a great time to talk and share and plant seed with Wonder Boy.

Today as we were praying I was thinking how special this time was and how wonderful it would be if I could share it with others so in that spirit, I would like to invite you to join us. This has quickly become a favored and anticipated time for our family each week. I would love to know that others are also coming together and sharing this wonderful family and faith building time.

Between now and next Sunday, get your box, jar, bag or any other paper slip holder and your slips of paper ready and I will, in the mean time figure out the whole how to add the linky thingy to a post (feel free to email me with help if you know how) and we can share and encourage each other - sound like a plan?? Great! See you then - it's a date!! Please feel free to invite anyone you think would be interested to participate - let's link arms (posts) and encourage and inspire each other to build our family in faith for Kingdom Purpose!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Not For The Faint of Heart...

Chocolate Gravy!! Oh My!! I have lived for 45 years and never had or heard of Chocolate Gravy.....until yesterday. I don't considered myself to have led a very sheltered life in any way shape or form, but apparently my chocolate education was lacking - was being the operative word - I feel that it is now complete.

We had a lovely breakfast today of biscuits and gravy..... Chocolate Gravy - Oh My!! I cannot possibly keep this gem to myself - I know that there have to be others out there living in Chocolate Gravy Oblivion as I was - be free!!! Get your biscuits in the oven right this minute and a pot of the stove - do not wait, the time of day does not matter. Do it!! Really!! You will thank me........

Chocolate Gravy.....Oh My!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar (I will use a little less next time)

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional - I used it)

1/4 tsp cayenne (optional - did not use)

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBLS butter

Directions

Mix sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon & cayenne if using together in a sauce pan. Add milk and whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and butter and serve immediately over biscuits, croissants, waffles, thick sliced french toast - the possibilities are wonderful ;-)

Top with chopped pecans, hazelnuts, cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar or anything else that floats your boat.

Oh and by the way, although we did not have any, it was unanimous that strawberries would be a very nice side nibble.

This is destined to be on the 'special breakfast' menu - Birthdays, Valentine's Day, Arbor Day - you get the idea ;-)

Bon Appetit!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

School Starts Monday - 4th Grade Line Up

Yes, we are starting early this year. We did this in 2nd grade and it worked out great. I am always interested to see what other families are using, what they like and what works for them, so in that spirit I wanted to share our 4th grade plans.....

Language Arts

We will use Language Arts Through Literature for the first time. This is a complete program with reading, grammar, writing etc. but I do plan to supplement with Spelling Power, which will only take an additional 15 minutes per day and will be so worth it if I turn Wonder Boy into an ace speller!!

Math

Singapore Math 4A & 4B will be out math curriculum this year. We used Singapore for 2nd grade and Wonder Boy and I both loved it. We took an SOS detour for 3rd grade and are going back to what suits us better for 4th grade.

Bible

We will continue on with Bible Study Guide for All Ages. This is a great flexible program that you can work at your own pace and go as deep as you desire. They sell activity books that correspond with the lessons in various levels to make the program work for various ages at the same time. We use this in a modified approach and make it work for us. We will also be doing Charlotte Mason's Scripture Memory System - this is a whole family not just school element.

Character Training

From a Mom perspective I am very much looking forward to the learning and growth of character that will take place as we begin our journey through The Book of Virtues by William Bennett. Netflix offers the video adventures which we will use and I found a great resource for f-r-e-e (f-r-e-e- that spells free - sing along won't you) - a complete unit study with lesson planning done for you.

History

Wonder Boy and I are both pretty pumped about our new history curriculum - The Story of the World, Volume 1 Ancient Times. I wish we had started with this as it looks fantastic and seems to be a great fit for us.....I will report back later ;-)

Geography

This year we will focus a little more specifically on geography as a separate subject than we have in the past where it has been typically tied in with history. Our 2 areas of focus will be individual state studies which we will do by working our way through each state in order of statehood, and then individual countries of interest. This will be a relaxed approach that will be 'delight driven' and will continue throughout our homeschooling journey.

Science

This is probably the one thing we are most excited about this year.....we will be doing Apologia Science for the first time Exploring Creation Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Wonder Boy loves science and this particular curriculum has a companion notebooking activity book - big fun!!

Music

Wonder Boy is continuing piano lessons with Miss Jenny. We loved the Folk and Hymn Studies that we did with Ambleside Online and are looking forward to getting that groove going again. We also use a modified version of the Composer Study.

Art

Life is art - or at least it should be and we continually get caught up in the urge to create. We do not have one set resource for Art. We will pull from life and work on various handicrafts and hobbies. We will paint, draw, build, do papercrafts with our Cricut and be inspired where inspiration finds us!!

Nature Study

Our love of nature will continue this year with a subscription to Nature Friend Magazine. The monthly publication comes with a study guide feature that we have opted to try - looks like another fun resource!!

American Sign Language

Wonder Boy has taken an interest in learning to communicate through sign language so while this will not be a structured daily study it is our intention to have a working skill in this area by the end of 4th grade!!

OK - that about wraps it up - I don't expect that we will be bored often and hope that I have put together enough variety and hands on fun to keep Wonder Boy interested, learning and growing into the amazing young man God has called him to be!!

I would love any thoughts or input you may have ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Funnel Cake Mommy Points

Summer is all about fun and good childhood memories right? Well in the spirit of summer fun and making good childhood memories I earned a little leverage in the eyes of my 9 year old yesterday when the lunch menu was Funnel Cakes & Watermelon. I had never had Funnel Cake growing up, so sadly my memories are vacant in that regard - it may have made it's way to Canada by now, but it was not "fair food" in my day. I was introduced to it many years back after moving to the South in 1994 and several years ago decided to try my hand at making my own......we love it - and personally I think it is better at home than anywhere - but that may be just me ;-)

Give it a try and earn yourself some easy Mommy Points.........

Funnel Cake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour ( I use 1/2 unbleached white and 1/2 fresh ground whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup milk (buttermilk is good if you have it)

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

oil to fry (I use coconut - yumm)

confectioner's sugar

Directions

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Snip the bottom corner out of a quart size freezer bag and poke cake decorating tip through the hole. Pour batter into bag and seal. Heat oil in cast iron skillet or electric frying pan to 350 degrees. We do ours in a cast iron skillet on the side burner of our grill - this way the house stays smoke free ;-) Pipe batter into pan in squiggly funnel cake style lines and brown 2 minutes per side.

Remove from pan onto paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil. Dust with confectioners' sugar and enjoy warm.

Odds are pretty good that this will likely earn a few Good Wife Points - it's win win the way I look at it ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Peach of a Treat ;-)

Peach season is under way here in the sunny south and it never hurts to have one more recipe to help enjoy the season ;-) This recipe calls for canned peaches, but could easily be adapted to the sweet juicy delights that are going to be available in abundance for the next little while - save a little juice and use fresh peaches instead!!

Peaches & Cream Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup self rising flour *see note*

1 small package instant pudding cheesecake or vanilla (I used cheesecake)

3 TBLS butter softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 large (28 oz) can sliced peaches drained, reserving 3 TBLS juice for topping

8 oz package cream cheese room temperature

1/2 cup sugar or splenda

1/4 tsp cinnamon mixed with

1/2 tsp sugar/splenda

Instructions

Mix together first 5 ingredients and spread in lightly greased (deep) pie plate or 8" square casserole pan.

Arrange peaches over batter.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and 3 TBLS peach juice for about 2 minutes until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mixture over peaches leaving a 1 inch border.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over cream cheese mixture.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven until edges are golden brown.

Cool, refrigerate and chill before serving.

Not too sweet, reminiscent of cheesecake and oh so good!!

Enjoy ;-)

*note* to substitute all purpose flour in any recipe for self rising flour add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for each cup of flour used.

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Tree in the Trunk

I don't think I have openly addressed my burning desire to live in the country here in this particular forum. Those of you who know me personally, know that it is a daily part of my existence. We are s-l-o-w-l-y making plans and working to that end. I have 4 books waiting for me at the local public library right now that are going to help educate us about raising chickens and cows - I know it's goofy isn't it? I grew up in a city of 3.5 million people and I want to live with chickens and goats? But can I tell you how it makes me smile.....it makes me feel connected to things I have spent the majority of my life disconnected from and it makes me feel alive.

I get giddy making soap, yogurt, grinding my own flour and preparing wonderful yummy things with it! I love this time of year when I can pop out the back door to the garden and snip some fresh dill and chives to put in my mashed potatoes like I did last night for dinner. It all just makes me happy..... nature, old fashioned traditional cooking, simple pleasures and handcrafted goodies all whisper come, come. I have so much to learn but the amount I have to learn is nothing compared to my desire to learn it - a good starting point wouldn't you say? The list of things I want to tackle grows every time I get a chance to poke around on some of the fabulous blogs out there ;-) I want to make root beer, ginger beer and rose petal jelly and a gorgeous patchwork quilt out of Wonder Boy's old blue jeans (which by the way I have been saving for years now for just that reason), I want to cross stitch and crochet and make potpourri, I want to raise chickens and hang laundry out in the breeze (grounds for disciplinary action in our sub-division) and that is just scratching the surface......

For now our weekend farm hunting, country exploring drives will have to sustain me and for now they do, old barns and happy grazing cows and a beautiful old mailbox covered in a multitude of buttons of every size, shape and color and this........I really don't think it gets a whole lot better than this!! If you happen to have an old jalopy that needs a home, maybe we can talk after the move........

Learning as I go,

Leisha