31 July Lessons learned

Lessons Learned July 31

• Homemade Chocolate cake is the best kind of motivation for a 6 year boy to do all of his school work with out complaining.
• Homemade Chocolate coconut frosting is a great motivation for a 3 year boy to play quietly with his "Wrinds" (Toys).
• Boys can surprise you sometimes. I prepared for the great chocolate cake tornado and the boys did not mess a single morsel of cake not even on their sweet faces. It is serious business.
• Just because you buy Cherry tomatoes from the Farmers markets doesn't mean they are going to be sweet.
• Not eating out is a good habit to get into even if it is hard to make dinner every night.
• My kids love Frittatas no matter what I put in the filling.
• I love farm fresh eggs. The thick yoke and hard shells make me swoon a little.

The biggest lesson (even bigger then chocolate cake) came this morning when Damian came and whispered to his dad, "How many scoops of coffee do I use?" My husband got out of bed and went and showed him how to make a pot of coffee. I realized that God gave us these children to make us better people.

I almost forgot about Egg In the Hole. I am in love with them. I made them for the boys for breakfast earlier in the week and we all found our favorite breakfast. I am not the awake until my second cup of coffee in the morning so often I will put a pot of water on for hard boiled eggs with my first cup of coffee. It is easy and requires no thought. I discovered that makeing Egg in the hole is easier then hard boiled eggs and I can enjoy another favorite butter and toast. Yum!

I hope your day is Blessed with Love and Laughter.

When in doubt

Make chocolate cake. Today the boys were running around like crazy little monkeys, swinging from their beds, making silly noises, and fighting over the best toy. Damian decided not to do school work. I decided I was to tired to argue and instead made Chocolate Cake. As soon as the cake came out of the oven, and was covered in Chocolate Coconut frosting the yelling, fighting monkeys turned in to sweet little boys. Damian got busy doing his school work and James settled down to play with his friends. Amazing Chocolate cake! I never knew the power it held. I know that soon very soon my sweet little boys will be telling me how good they have been all day for just a little piece of cake. I will have to post pictures of the carnage of the cake and the chocolate mess that they will become.

I am going to let them eat cake after dinner.

Peace prayer

It has been a long week, a very long week. I think we are in desperate need of a vacation. Rob has worked 12 + hour shifts for most of the month, leaving the kids and I to fend for ourselves. I am smiling because I sometimes it is Mom who is fending for herself. Maybe a I need a Mom's afternoon off but Rob is working all weekend so that is not going to happen. I love my kids, and family never doubt that. I love the life that we live and I am very grateful that I get to stay home and raise our children. So try not to judge me to much when I say I need a break. We home school all year around. We take breaks when we need to a week here and there to break up the endless days off convincing children to sit still and do what is asked of them with out fighting, or making excuses all day. Damian is normally a good sport, which is why we take breaks as needed. When he starts getting tired of school work he lays it thick. Really think! He cries, he yells, he will spend hours sitting at the table not doing anything but staring into space. He is stubborn just like his father. There is no telling them anything when they have made up their minds. This is both one of my favorite things about all of the boys in my house. They are strong willed and independent. Unfortunately this is also my biggest problem. It can take something as simple as writing a daily bible verse to a full out battle. As much as I like to think that I always wind sometimes I am the one defeated. I do not want to make learning a chore and lately I have to force Damian to stop reading to do real work. That is hard to say stop doing something good for you and write. Most of the time Damian loves to do his school work. This week besides form enjoying cursive writing he has fought me on everything else.

So why am I not throwing in the towel and calling a week break you ask. Well because we are hoping to spend a week in Panama City in August. Where the only work that I will ask the kids to do will be to read for fun. We just have to make through another week. Just one more week! So this week I am praying for Strength, and patience. I am not always good at saying a prayer so I look up prayers to help me along. Today I found a peace prayer that seemed to fit perfectly. God is Good and he sometimes he whispers when you are listening for shouts.

Peace Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Catholic/2008/09/Catholic-Prayers.aspx?p=3#ixzz1TVSrHUZl

I hope that your day is filled with peace and Love.

Recipe Tuesday

Since I am now doing a menu plan on Mondays and I post a picture of my favorite meal of the week. I have decided to do a Recipe Tuesday featuring that recipe so that you can try it at home too. I have to admit, if you didn't know by reading my blog already I am a cookbook junkie. So I will share where I found the recipe and if I changed it at all, believe me I change every recipe sometimes a little, sometimes so much it is unrecognizable. This week I have two recipes to share with you. One from the menu and one lovely surprise. The winning meal this week is. . .

Open-Face Ratatouille Sandwich

ingredients

• 1 small eggplant, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used two regular eggplants from the farmers market)
• 1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch slices (I used two of each)
• 1  medium red sweet pepper, cut in strips (I didn't have a pepper oops)
• 1/2 of a small red onion, cut in 1/2-inch wedges (I used the whole thing)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (I just drizzled and guessed)
• 1/2 tsp. herbes de Provence or dried thyme, crushed (I don't have thyme growing, but I do have oregano and rosemary for the herbs de provence)
• 2 medium plum tomatoes, each cut lengthwise in 6 wedges (I diced up three roma tomatos)
• 8 small or 4 large 1/2-inch slices whole wheat or white French bread, toasted ( I baked my own bread and sliced up 8 nice sized slices and then toasted)
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (again I drizzled and guessed, I added more because I love balsamic)
• Fresh thyme sprigs (optional) (none)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large shallow roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add eggplant, zucchini, sweet pepper, and onion to prepared pan. Drizzle olive oil; sprinkle herbes de Provence, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat. Roast vegetables 30 minutes, tossing once. Add tomatoes to roasting pan. Roast 15 to 20 minutes more or until vegetables are tender and some surface areas are lightly browned.
2. Meanwhile, rub toasted bread with cut sides of the garlic clove. Place two small slices or one large slice of the bread on each of four serving plates. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar over vegetables; toss gently to coat. Spoon warm vegetables on bread. If desired, garnish with fresh thyme sprigs. Makes 4 servings.

Really I followed the directions using the ingrediants that I had. It was very enjoyable. I used extra ingrediants because I have to feed a hungry family of four, three of which are boys! This recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes 2008 page 162.

The lovely surprise is . . .

Apple Cheddar Bread (muffins in my case)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( I used pecans and almonds)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 1 apple - peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese ( I guessed on the cheese so I am sure there was more then 1/2 a cup)
• 1/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon walnuts, apples, and cheese. Add the eggs, melted butter or margarine, and milk; stir until well blended. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until done. If loaf starts to brown too much, cover with foil.               

I made muffins because I think they last longer than a loaf of bread. Also you can tell how much you have eaten then a large slice of bread. I know I always cut gaint pieces of bread and then everyone wants more and there is none. 45 minutes for the muffins. I didn't have a problem with them over browning. This recipe came from Allrecipes.com here is the link http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Cheddar-Bread/Detail.aspx?src=ShareOnFacebook&recipeID=7241

 I hope you enjoy these recipes. If you make them I would love to hear how it turned out and if you liked them as much as I did.

I hope your day is filled with Love and Laughter

Meal plan Monday

Last week went off the menu maybe three different times. I enjoy something a little different occasionally. I noticed that my family looks at the menu and likes knowing what is for dinner. So instead of the horrible question, "What's for dinner?" I hear are we having _____ tonight? Fill in the blank with a menu related item. Which is nice. My husband even made dinner one night although his were grilled sausages which were no where on the menu, I am always happy when he cooks. My favorite meal of last week was Open Faced Ratatouille sandwiches.

Monday

Pan Sausage and spinach frittata

Tuesday

Beef Tacos and Spanish rice

Wednesday

Spaghetti

Thursday

Open Faced Ratatouille

Friday

Pizza

Saturday

Lamb Meatballs in rich tomato sauce

(I didn't make this last week but I love these meatballs)

Sunday

Hamburgers and grilled veggies from the market

Amazing Grace

This morning I came across this beautiful version of Amazing Grace by Celtic Thunder. It literally made water leak from my eyes while I listened to it. I guess it reached in and touched my heart unexpectedly. I hope that you enjoy it too.

24 July Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned this week.

Just because a book store is closing doesn't mean that they are giving away free books. Although the book store rush might take away the quiet ambience that you have grown to love. Also most people rushing to the book store for a good deal may not care about books, as I witnessed when one women gently stepped on a book on the floor next to my son.

I have a serious problem, really it is a full blown family addiction! Books, add the fact that our book store is closing and we have no idea where to find another bookstore and we buy $200 dollars worth of books. I just wish they were discounted down more then 10%. Here are my two new cookbooks. I can not wait to try them out!

Sometimes off the weekly menu can be fun and very delicious. This week I made Apple Cheddar muffins. It was the first time I had made this kind of bread and honestly I wish I had known about it all before.

I love these silicone muffin cups. They slide right off and leave perfect muffin lines.

Coffee is best when served in bed by a six year old boy, He is so careful and can not wait to make my coffee in the morning. I love how sweet and thoughtful he can be.

I love to walk into the quiet living room to find this...

Last but not least this week. Iced Peppermint Schnapps, with water and fresh mint and stevia from the garden helps cool you down in 100+ degrees.

I hope you have a Blessed week full of love and laughter.





Books

I fell in love with books the first time I walked in a library. I was a very small child and this library seemed to be a castle, a cathedral for books. I love the smell of well used books. I love the musty smell of old books. I love the sound of opening a brand new hardback, crackling with anticipation. I love reading a well loved book and when someone I love gives me that book it makes me feel like they are with me as I read it. When I buy a used book I wonder who read it before me. I love the feel of the page when I turn to the next book. Sometimes, okay a lot of times when I get really into the book and can not put it down I skip ahead to read the end just so I know. Between my husband and I we have a small library of books and now that our children are reading their books are growing at a faster rate then our collection. I love seeing my children reading a book. I love how books look stacked, sorted, placed on selves. There is always something waiting to be read. Sometimes we go to a book store or library just to look at books. Sometimes a book that I never knew I wanted to read jumps out at me and I fall in love. It is a treasure of secrets waiting to be told, adventures waiting to be had, lessons waiting to be learned. I am a cook book junkie so I love to sit in the cook book section looking for one to take home and I also love a good story. My husband is a fantasy junkie, although he says he has bigger range the just fantasy but he always finds himself in that section. Damian is just discovering chapter books and loves a good mystery, but is always willing to give all books a chance. James who may not be able to read yet still loves a good story with his picture books. He wants to read is the important part. There is something simply beautiful about finding a book you weren't looking for. So when I read an article claiming bookstores will go the way of a record store I was heartbroken. It couldn't happen everybody loves books. But even we have a kindle, that we don't use. I bought for my husband's birthday because he will read a book on the laptop, it drives me crazy. I don't like the feel of it so I have never even tried to read a book on it and surprisingly after the first day of playing with it my husband went back to real books. Yes, you can keep thousands of books in one little tiny place but where is the romance that comes with holding a book? How can you pass that book to someone else? I can't tell you how many times I have given a favorite book away only to replace it with another copy. I love lending books out to people to discover. I love being able to pick just the right thing for a friend to read and enjoy. It is one of my favorite feelings. If you love the book so much you want to keep it, well it was my pleasure.

Don't give up books, go to a book store and fall in love.

 Theses bookcases are a bit more full and I am not even showing you the boy's bookcases.

Billy Crystals book was a surprise because it was so good, there is love, laughter, and heartache. It has everything. Zoya is a copy of a book I was given in high school by a summer lunch lady at a school I took my younger siblings to for free lunch during the week. I have read it dozens of times, and I smile every time I run across it. Walt Whitman taught me about poetry and helped foster a real passion for all poetry. The Joy Luck Club was lent to me by my first boss Lianne Chu. This is a copy as I gave her copy back. I love this book and was my introduction to this author. I have almost all of Amy Tan's books. I love Jacquelyn Mitchard when I read Cage of Stars I cried from the beginning to the end. Sofie Kinsella is just fun to read all of her books are easy, quirky and always brings me a laugh. Gone with the wind is, was my Great Grandmothers copy that I got after she passed. I will never upgrade this because when I read it I am reading it with her separate but together. When was the last time you picked up a machine and felt connected to a loved one?

So today go out and find a good solid book and fall in love again.

I am Happy.

This morning my husband left for work early. I was laying bed with James snuggled in next to me when I heard the tinkling noises coming from the kitchen. I thought that maybe Damian had woken up hungry and just listened to him move around. A few minutes past quietly and then my oldest child came walking through my bedroom door with a cup of hot coffee and a broad smile. Coffee in bed just because he loves me. My kids ask me if I am happy and this morning I am very happy. He then explained, "I asked Dad if I could make you coffee in bed last night and he set my alarm for 6:50 really early. I told him not to tell you. Did he?" I said, "No it was the most wonderful surprise." I am one very lucky girl.

Homeschool days

Damian loves to read.

He is so serious when he reads.

 First day of learning to write in cursive.

 He is doing good on his very first day.

When we have days where everything falls into place and "school" is easy I am glad that we homeschool. I love my life. God is Good.

Meal plan Monday

So I am starting to enjoy meal plans, but they are still used as general suggestions. I often look up at my board and think that does not sound good or that is going to take more time then I am willing to put in and quickly change it up. I always carry over my unused suggestions to the next week. My favorite meal from last week was Cornish Pasties. I think I will put up the basic recipe in another post. The pastie can be filled with your favorite ingredients and I am looking forward to filling them with all kinds of goodness. Before I begin the menu a picture of the Cornish pastie, I only wish I had taken a picture of the prettiest one before I ate it.

Monday

Baked Chicken with Okra

Tuesday

Beef Tacos



Wednesday

Chili

Thursday

Open Faced Ratatouille sandwiches

Friday

Pizza

Saturday

Chicken and rice casserole

Sunday

Lamb Meatballs in a Rich tomato sauce

17 July Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned Take a picture of the prettiest Cornish pastie before you serve them. You never know how good it is until there is only one misshaped pastie left. For the record it was still yummy.



Cornish pasties are just as good at home as they are in a far off country. My boys even declared that they were better then peanut butter and bananas.

Now for the biggest lesson I learned this week. God will sometimes answer prayers directly through your child. Everyday I ask God to show me the path and to help me to lead my children to him. This week Damian wanted to say the Rosary and I knew that my prayers were answered. I will continue to pray for guidance. Now that I know God is listening I will be more thankful.

I hope your coming week is filled with Love and Laughter. Remember that God is Good.


http://celebratelifewithus.blogspot.com/

The Lord is with you

Yesterday Damian asked if he could say the Rosary. So he got his rosary out and my little cheat sheet that tells you how to say the rosary. He sat on the couch and said the rosary loudly pronouncing each prayer, his voice echoed through the quiet house. James sat playing quietly and I was filled with love. Sometimes I doubt my parenting abilities, these small moments come out and I know that we are doing okay. I think that the greatest gift that we are giving to our children is the gift of God. Both Rob and I were raised without a firm religious foundation so it is nice to see that our children's foundation is being build on solid ground. It is a really nice feeling to know we are doing at least one thing right. So before the pictures I want to share my prayer of gratitude.

Thank God for chosing me to be the mother of both of my children. Through them I am able to see your great love and know that we are all your children. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. 

Secrets revealed

I had a secret that I kept to myself in hopes no one would find out. So why do I tell you about it? Easy my husband found out. I noticed a silver hair growing from my temple (I wish it was the first one) and as I was pulling it my husband walked in. Men, at least my man can be very insensitive. He wears glasses and and he saw the grey and said loudly, "Is that a Grey Hair?" I turned and just stared at him my secret was out all I could do was say, "I guess so." Then I saw another one, unthinkable two in one day. I was not the only one who saw it either. Damn. I really love my hair. I don't use heat to blow dry or curl, or a lot of products in my hair in order to keep it healthy. In fact I discovered the No 'poo (shampoo) movement and decided to give it a try to see if it was really all it was cracked up to be. I will do another post all about that later. So now I wash my hair with an all natural soap made with goats milk once a week. This is not part of the No 'Poo movement but there was a lovely family selling their homemade soaps at the flea market. Let me tell you I love to support  home school families so I bought 3 body soaps that smell divine, and one shampoo bar. The shampoo bar is going to last for awhile I think.



I love the smell of Balsam, it reminds me of home.

Now I find myself thinking how long before the greys take over? Will I have to die it to cover the silver? It really is a silly thing to worry about considering I have a whole plate of real worries, so maybe this grey hair is keeping my mind off the bigger things I have no control over.

I hope your Monday is filled with Love and Laughter!

Meal plan monday

It is here again meal plan Monday. Last week I started on a Wednesday. I ended up changing a couple meals at the last minute because of poor planning but we did not eat out. So a couple of last weeks meals will be moved to this week. Before we move to this weeks menu a picture of Pizza Friday. Homemade crust topped with homemade sauce, eggplant, spinach and two wonderful kinds of cheese. It was a hit and as it turns out no body complains about their veggies if the vegetables are found on a pizza. Yum

Monday

Cowboy pastries using kabob meat and home grown lemon squash (Jamie Oliver)

Tuesday

Pork Tacos and refried beans and a random vegetable

Wednesday

Wacky Mac (vegetable pasta) with homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade bread sticks

Thursday

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with sweet potato fries

Friday

Pizza

Saturday

Baked chicken with Okra (From Greek Cooking)

Sunday

 Lamb meatballs in Rich tomato sauce and a nice leafy salad (From Greek Cooking)

I hope you have a great week filled with love and laughter! Peace be with you always.

July 10-Lessons Learned

So on another blog that I read http://celebratelifewithus.blogspot.com/ (and love!) Karen decided to start a new theme for Sundays Lessons Learned during the week. I love this idea and the theme so I have decided to join in on the fun. I hope you will too. First a picture of my very own Indiana Jones

• Our Neighborhood pool is quiet in the morning so we can play/ swim laps (me) without worrying about disturbing our neighbors fun.
• Menu planning makes the question "What's for Dinner" easy to answer.
• Making dinner at a regular time is easy when you know what is for dinner at lunchtime.
• Let GOD worry for you. Somethings in life can not be changed even if you spend all your time worrying over an outcome. Give your worries to God and let him comfort you.
• Saying the rosary before bed makes for a restful night.
• There are never enough friends in the bed.

 God is Good. Remember to count your blessings and be thankful for both seen and unseen.

Menu plans

Alright so I love the idea behind menu plan Monday. If you must know we did not follow it at all. We got paid and ate out more than we should of. Rob and I sat down and decided on not eating out for the rest of summer. We have been costing by check to check and it is no longer working. We get paid and we eat out buy what ever is needed or wanted and soon there is nothing left until the next check. So we did a budget and made some hard decisions. The top being to make eating out a special occasion not a lazy outing because I don't feel like cooking. The second is beer, not that we drink a lot but we have been drinking more then we should so that is no longer in the budget. The truth is Damian is turning 7 next month and then Christmas quickly follows. We need to get ready for the holidays. So now for the meals. To make eating in and cooking every night easier on the chef (me) We have decided on Taco Tuesdays, Pizza Fridays, and Wednesdays are pasta or chili dishes. This leaves four days of elaborate cooking, my favorite kind of cooking. Before I was planning to many difficult meals and getting a little burned out cooking up to 4 hours a day. I know it is Wednesday a couple of days late on Monday Menu planning, still I am going to try this again on a abbreviated version.

Wednesday

Chili with cornbread

Thursday

Sweet potato Shepherd's pie

Friday

Pizza

Saturday

Pulled Pork and zucchini casserole

Sunday

Grilled kabobs

Wish me luck!

Prayer of the day.

O Lord, my God,

grant us your peace; already, indeed, you have made us rich in all things!

Give us that peace of being at rest,

that sabbath peace,

the peace which knows no end.



- St. Augustine


God is Good.