Geocaching gets you out into nature

We had another geocaching day. :)

We started out here...

Remy tried to save this guy. :( He had really been through it.

This guy was hiding in the leaf clutter.

I love the moss in Louisiana. It just hangs everywhere.

Matthew and Remy dared the slope by the water and found this huge shell!

Remy found some black moss and decided to bring it home to place on my countertop. *urgh* I really must get him a collection spot set up. The photo doesn't really show how black it is. Remy wanted to take it to the guy at the chinese food store to see if it was the same black moss they put in the soups.

We didn't find the cache at this location but we found so much to keep us occupied. :) That is the beauty of geocaching. :)

Next up was this cache.

Are these two making baby snails???

Elijah found the cache!

Elijah found a birds nest in our yard when we came home for the bathroom and snacks.

Yes, there is a cache hidden here, we didn't find it. :(

But Matthew did find this one!

And we played on the equipment while we were there.

Carrot Waffles

Yes, we are in the fall baking mood here at my house. :)

I made up a double batch of these one day and we ate on them forever. I can't even tell you how yum-o delicious these are. You have to make them.

Carrot-Raisin Waffles

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 Tbs. light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
3/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Lightly coat waffle iron with cooking spray, and preheat. Preheat oven to 200F.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Whisk together eggs, buttermilk and oil, and stir into flour mixture. Fold in carrots and raisins.

Ladle 1/2 cup batter (or amount recommended in manufacturer’s directions) onto waffle iron. Close lid, and cook 4 minutes, or until golden. Gently open lid, and remove waffle with fork. Serve immediately, or transfer to baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter, lightly coating iron with cooking spray each time.

Elijah the Baker

I always find it kind of odd that my type 1 diabetic child is one heck of a baker. :)

He made these brownies that are more like fudge one night. You must try it yourself. :) They are 20 carbs a little brownie.

My sweetheart stiring the chocolate and butter.

Ingredients:

*1/2 cup sweet butter

*4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

*4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

*1 cup light brown sugar

*pinch of salt

*1 tsp. vanilla

*2 eggs

*1/4 cup all-purpose flour

*1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line the base and sides of an 8-inch-square pan with parchment.

2. Melt the butter and the chocolates in a metal mixing bowl set over a big pot of simmering water. Once melted, make sure they are all blended up together. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs once at a time with a whisk very quickly. Beat in the flour and half the pecans. When the batter is smooth, pour into the pan, sprinkle over the remaining pecans, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

3. Cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Lift the brownies out by holding onto the parchment on both sides. Place on a cutting board. Cut into squares and store for 3 to 4 days.

We are very blessed to have Mr. Bowman and he gives us BAGS of pecans each year. I try to find ways to use them up all year long.

Co-op Time

I wasn't going to sign the children up for our co-op this year because I don't quite know how the house situation will work out. Most likely we will still be in this house, we should know in a few weeks. But if we aren't we will not be staying in Louisiana. I want to move where it will be easier to train as a midwife if that is what happens. Really, we are FINE, we are ready to go where we are taken by God. :) It will not be the end of the world. I actually look forward to seeing which way God takes it. ;) Be praying for us!

Oh yes, back to co-op, my friend would not let us back out of co-op. She was going to pay for it herself. I couldn't do that because I couldn't stand the thought of her paying and we wouldn't finish it out through April. I put in a call to our parents and they each paid half of the fee for the boys to have co-op from September - April. :)

My boys are OVER the moon. They have seen God work in such BIG ways this summer and it just warms my heart to see their faith building. I love it! They had just been telling me that they wanted lessons in the things they were into. Elijah has prayed for guitar for about 2 years now. I just couldn't wing it each time he would bring it up. He wants to be a christian singer and travel with his family around to other churches. That boy needed guitar. Remy has been intrigued by any show on tv that shows dancing. He has such great core muscles and he shocks me with how he can move! I mean he is great! He would get my ballet tapes and look at dance books and teach himself. I told them both to pray this summer for the money to do those lessons. I never thought to have them pray for a better place to take those lessons. :)

So my friend Kayla kept on me about co-op. I really LOVE this gal! I love her family and I know she knew she could get me on board again this year with a push. It was really sweet because our family had been asking HOW to help us and then they could. :)

Elijah by way of co-op is taking GUITAR, having board game time, an astronomy class centered on the creator, and an endangered animals course.

Remy is taking health, outside free play, geography, and BALLET!

They will be able to take these classes once a week from September - April. The price was so GREAT and I am so thrilled for them. :) Thankyou God for answered prayers that come from my children. :) What a sweet summer this has turned out to be. I am so happy our children have been able to travel this road of hardship and to see how even in the darkest hours, God hears our pleas, and even finds the time to answer the smallest of our desires. Wow! Powerful stuff going on in our home.

Remy is so excited about co-op and he asks me daily if it is tomorrow. I finally started a count down with him. He drew this one day during school time. It is him in dance class. The instructor is the one saying good and for some reason the whole family is in the class! Hee hee I love the little pirouettes that we are all doing...check out the legs.

Remy's Bathtub Toy

:) Can I call this school? :)

A Swim Day with Nicole and Family

We spent the day with Nicole and her sweet babies last week. I am in love with them all! :)

The older children swam, alot!

The babies took a nap and the bigger kids played video games while we made lunch.

Miss A woke-up later and ate her meal by the pool. :)

I am in love with Nicole's itty bitty girls! Miss E is so sweet!

Nicole homeschools her children and we have so much in common!!!!! I am really looking forward to growing closer to this family. :) Thank God for sweet new friends. :) I guess it doesn't hurt when I get to love on sweet chubby babies. :) Miss A said that she was only a big girl at her house, but she was a baby at my house! HA HA! What a hoot!

You can read along with Nicole and her family at A Higher Calling Christian Academy .

One Mom's Thoughts on Homeschooling...

Brenda over at The Family Revised has posted one of the SWEETEST blog posts I have seen on homeschooling in a while. We all have our own reasons for homeschooling. I know that many look at us and think, WHY, but it is so hard to express it at times.

I love how close I am to my children. Now, when you say this, other moms get in a hussy. They think that by saying this that you think they are not close to their children. But what I mean by this is that in my life I find that I am closer to MY own children because of homeschooling. I am closer to them in a way I wouldn't be IF I sent them to school somewhere else. I know how they learn best, I don't need someone else to tell me how to get them reading better, I already know what works based on my time with them. I have bombed in the things that didn't work, and I have rejoiced at the read alouds that make us laugh and cry as we snuggle on the couch.

I know what they are learning. I don't have to ask the teacher or the child! I will never forget riding with a friend to pick up her child at school (she now homeschools) and she asked the child what he did that day. He shrugged his cute little shoulders and went on. This drove her nuts! And rightly so! My children and I spend the day learning together. I aid them in finding the answers and we are amazed at those answers when we find them. It is so FUN!

And just like Brenda I love that we can bring God into our school as we please. I love that my children know what I believe and believe me something comes up about once a day that shows my convictions or reaffirms a character trait I want to instill in them. This does not mean that I think my mama friends with children in school are missing this with their children. I just mean that I think to myself at 11am during history lessons and a BIG God moment in that lesson, that had they been in school with some other person, learning something else that I wouldn't hear about, that WE wouldn't have had that WOW moment together. I was there! We grew closer in that moment. I saw the understanding in their eyes. I saw the worldview grow within them. I saw the history become real to them.

I hate being on someone else's time schedule. My husband and I both have skills that can earn us a living that do not fit into a "normal" work day schedule. And while some may think you need to be on the 9-5 work schedule in school to be able to be on such a work schedule later, I have to disagree. Who knows what my children will do and they will have college to zap them into shape, they will have to be on time to get that degree. I think the key for my family is that my children are learning responsibility for self. That to reach a certain goal, they must meet the requirements, and work to do it in a timely manner. And if they need money and they work at Walmart one day, they WILL work in a timely manner in the time lot provided or LOSE THE JOB. But the neat thing about homeschooling is that it helps to make a more self-disciplined person. My children have learned very quickly that they must keep to it in order to get to the end. I keep them on task to a certain extent, but much of the time I leave them to complete something with their own steam. But again...this is one of those homeschool moments that one has to SEE to understand what I mean. HEE HEE. I must also say that the more I back away and watch, the more responsibility they take on their own. When I was right over them and making them stay on task each second of the day, the more they needed me. ;)

My children have been very blessed with being able to read something and understand it. They have a few things they run into that requires more focus and brain power, but they just practice, and they get it. They aren't afraid of it. They just feel they are able to figure it out at some point. They don't stress! I don't have letters coming to my house that tell me that my child will not learn what they need at that moment. The learning is not stressful. What this has done for them is neat to watch. Remy had issues with something in math. What we were doing was not working. I brain stormed and I gave him the things I knew would help him to help himself. He used the tools and after 2 days of schooling in this matter for about 10 minutes each time he had it conquered and we moved on to the next new concept. This technique has my children working on and above grade level. The lack of stress to learn something combined with the different tools to meet their different learning styles has made them a success. It is just so darned neat.

I just really love homeschooling. And I guess it takes living this life of learning with your children to grasp it, really. I also see children in school that I love and adore and they have parents that make sure the school is working for them. I see that. But I also see the things I have been able to make better for my children with homeschooling.

What a blessing the whole thing is to our family. :)

"Chicken" Lo Mein

I have to share this yum-o recipe for a vegetarian version of chicken lo mein.

"Chicken" Lo Mein from www.vegetariantimes.com

On medium-high heat stirfry 8 ounces mushrooms with your 6 ounces of "chicken" strips in 2 tablespoons of oil. I use Quorn's cutlets and cut them into strips. It takes about 2 of them.

When the mushrooms soften and the strips are "browned" remove the "chicken" and set aside.

Add one bell pepper thinly sliced to the mushrooms. Cook them until the peppers are as soft as you like them.

Mix together 1 cup of broth, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 tsp. of sugar in a bowl.

Add the "chicken" back to the pan and pour the sauce mixture over the mixture in the pan. Cook until it thickens up.

I like to use these egg noodles that you can purchase from the chinese food store.

They come wrapped up in little noodle "nuggets". I cook one nugget at a time in water like you would with ramen. I then drain, rinse with water, and put it on the persons plate. Top with the "chicken" lo mein mixture and drizzle sesame oil. The sesame is a MUST do it adds so much flavor!

My oldest, Elijah, loves this! It is so yum!

Almond Bundt Cake

I made the yummiest bundt cake the other day. I mean, YUM!

You can fill it with fruit if you serve it at a dinner party or tea.

Almond Bundt Cake with Fresh Strawberries

2 Tbs. sliced almonds (1/4 oz.)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole almonds (5 oz.)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or nonhydrogenated margarine, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
4 cups strawberries, halved
4 tsp. sugar
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Whipped cream for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan with cooking spray formulated with flour for baking. Sprinkle sliced almonds over bottom of pan.

Pulse flour, whole almonds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor or blender until almonds are finely ground.

Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes, or until creamy. Beat in oil. Gradually add sugar, and beat 4 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and almond extracts, and beat until blended.

Alternately fold flour mixture and buttermilk into butter mixture with spatula, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of liquid. Spread batter in prepared pan, and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until top springs back when touched and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Unmold onto rack, and cool completely.

Toss strawberries with sugar in medium bowl. Chill 1 hour to let strawberries release their juices. Serve cake dusted with confectioners’ sugar and topped with strawberries and whipped cream, if desired.

This recipe comes from www.VegetarianTimes.com.

One last summer day with the Frost family

Renee, Taylor, and Logan came over the week before school started for them again.

I love my Taylor girl!

The fabulous duo!

Mr. Logan! He has grown so much this summer. His voice is changing and I can't believe what a young man he is now.

I love this photo of Renee with her mermaid hair. :) Love ya, lady!

Taylor is totally in love with my Piper girl. I have to make sure she doesn't steal her away! :)

Logan and Taylor I wish you a wonderful new year in school! :) Grow well. :)