Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

To All My Blog Readers

~ Merry Christmas & Happy New Year ~

May the Lord

Bless & Keep

You in His Loving Care

Gingerbread Goodies

A Twist On the Gingerbread House

According to Plan - Hupomone

In my efforts to continue the According to Plan series documenting our house construction, I wanted to ensure that I provide an update before Christmas. Our intentions, and plans were to see the construction come to a close in time for Christmas. Folks have been cheering us on to be able to have our first night in the house before the clock strikes midnight in 2014, and break bread finally at our own dinner table, and be able deck our own halls this Christmas.

While this was in our plans and in the hopes of many others, it wasn't exactly God's plan. At least not this Christmas.

This Christmas, the Lord wants us to Hupomone.
Hupomone is Greek for,

To be Patient.

To Wait.

To Endure.

While the inclement weather delayed varying aspects of construction, God has not been delayed. The title of this series has been "According to Plan" - God's Plan that is. Though we're not seeing the final culmination of our home in 2014, God is asking us to not swerve in our faith, knowing that all things work together for our good.

Ok, so no Christmas in the house this year. So, what now? What can we do while we wait?

Hupomone,
Remain steadfast in prayer,

&

 offer up Praise for what HAS been done. 

I praise the Lord that the drywall, and all the interior painting has been completed. All the external siding has been completed. The location for the septic system has been cleared away and made ready for its installation. We have electricity and can now walk through the house in the evenings and at night without running into walls. Fans and lighting have been installed. The well was successfully dug and the water that they reached over 600 feet in the ground was plentiful.

Several years ago, if I was told that I'd be where I am today, out of our first home, homeschooling, and nearing the closure on a second home, I'd gasped and stare at you in shock.
I praise the Lord that everything that has happened has been His will for us, as He's training me up in patience and dependence on Him. He's granting us a second chance as a family to walk in the financial freedom from being bound to a home in the past that required a dual income home. He has blessed me to walk in the freedom of serving my children at home and through this second chance I'm experiencing joy, peace, and the Lord's Grace.

But as for me, I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more.

Psalm 71:14

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon Entrance

We had our first field trip of the school year this week with a trip to Mount Vernon. The girls have been studying the life of our first President, George Washington, in all his varying roles as a Surveyor, a Commander in the Army, and a politician.

 

Swearing in of President George Washington

Lea being "Sworn In" as President

 

Trey listening to Washington's Farm Animals

Its hard not to admire a man that willingly took on the role as the first President of the U.S. In a time when Americans of that day knew only what it meant to be ruled by England, it had to take a hefty measure of both courage and imagination to embark on a journey towards independence.

 

George Washington's Home at Mount Vernon

 
The location of the home is in a beautiful spot, nestled right on the Potomac River. We walked the grounds of Washington's Estate with the highlight of the trip being the tour of his home. Whenever I tour the home of a notable person I always find myself imagining what it would've been like to have experienced a day in the life in the home I'm touring. I imagined George and Martha entertaining guests in their fancy dining room, servants running to and fro to wait and serve, and Martha at the President's bedside when he took his last breaths as he passed away after suffering from quinsy (an inflammation of the throat).

What a day in time it must have been in the 17th century. What was it like to establish a new and fresh government? It could not have been easy and I can believe that George had a many sleepless night pondering over in his thoughts what he needed to do to establish America. No one has all the answers to why the events of history happened the way they did. While in the establishment of the U.S. Government there are many injustices that have been experienced since the breaking away from England, what has remained constant from one generational group of leadership to the next is God's sovereignty over it all.  We may not have the answers, but God does.
 

A New Hobby Patch

I have added a new patch to my Hobby Vest. Up until about a year ago my only patch was the Book Reading patch for my love of reading. When people would ask me, "What do you like to do in your spare time?". Well, the only hobby I could think of was reading. Maybe that's because until leaving the career world behind, there wasn't much time for me to discover any other hobbies. I'm happy to share that I've gained a new patch that I'm going to sew next to my Book Reading and Kniting patch... Wreath Making!

It's sort of strange to think that I arranged a wreath because I'm not the crafty type with my hands. Most crafters that I know are very meticulous and careful as they paint, create, and arrange crafty things into wonderful masterpieces. I'm more of the just-quickly-put-it-together-and-be-done-with-it sort of crafter. I did do my research for this wreath. I perused the pinterest boards and found several wreaths that I liked and then sketched a design that I liked. I'm delving into the burlap wreaths as well and will post them as the inspiration comes!

If you're interested in putting together your own twig wreath, the materials that I used consisted of:

- a twig wreath (you can find at your local craft store)
- a hot glue gun
- light-weight floral wire
- artificial flowers specific to the color scheme you choose
- brown burlap ribbon
- monogramed letter 'J' came from the Michael's craft store
- acrylic paint in the color you choose to paint the monogramed letter

The Joys of Sticking it Out

It's that time of year for Christmas plays and recitals. After months and weeks of practice the girls braved the stage for a Christmas play which they both performed in and Love debuted a new piece that she's been working on with the violin.

What I love most about seeing the girls up on the stage is reflecting back on how they've perservered. Perseverance is a character quality that is challenging to teach. The girls can read the definition of the word, they can read stories of characters that have remained committed to complete a difficult task, and I can lecture them with great compassion on what it means to perservere when the going gets tough. I can even share personal stories of how I have tried and failed at times to persevere as a child and as a adult. While all these methods may get the point across to a certain degree, there's a chance that their understanding on what it takes to perservere may end up just being head knowledge.

Perseverance is one of those character traits you just have to live and then learn.

When the excitement of performing Christmas songs wore off a few months ago and by the time Love had struggled through her violin piece for what seemed like the 53rd time and she was at the point where she would've rather get a root canal than pull out her violin to practice, the meaning of what it meant to persevere became real to them. They began to learn what it means to persist, to press on, and go the extra mile even though their fleshed yearned to do something else rather than practice. When you're working towards a goal, quitting can be a little tempting.

You know the feeling that you get when you're committed to exercising and you find the courage to climb on the treading mill and as you're walking or running hard your flesh screams out to you, "stop now, your flesh hurts, please stop now!". You know that exercise is good for you, but there's a part of you that always gets in the way of going the extra mile. It's hard to teach a young mind that in the face of adversity and difficulties, perseverance brings us to a place of rich blessings. As a parent we may want to rescue our kids when they're frustrated and take away their discomforts, but there is fruit even for a child to gain as they struggle a little and in the end see the blessings that come when they persevere.

Thankfulness.

I have so much to be thankful for and not just because the Thanksgiving holiday has just passed us by. It has seemed to pass by so quickly that this blog entry, which I started typing in November, has sat in my DRAFT box until December. Oh well. Better late than ever. It's my heart's desire to maintain a spirit of gratefulness and thankfulness everyday. Not just in the month of November. In the midst of "living", it can be challenging to sustain an upbeat spirit of thankfulness, but with God its possible.

I'm thankful for the gift of salvation, for my family, and the Lord's daily provision. I turned 35 just a few days before Thanksgiving. One of the enjoyments of being born around the Thanksgiving holiday is having the reminder to be thankful as I grow older.

I'm also thankful to report that progress continues to be made on our home. The second floor is shaping up as all the rooms have been framed up and the builder prepares to hang drywall. We've been having a lot of "quality family time" together in Lowe's and Home Depot as we've picked out appliances, fans, paint colors, etc. As this year draws to a close it is bittersweet to think back to my first blog entry back in November 2012 when I rambled about the thoughts and feelings stirring within. I knew then that God was driving me towards a change, but I didn't know how to get to the place where He was leading. In hindsight, I didn't need to know the details. He promises in His Word that what He begins in us, He will complete. As He works within us, changing us from one degree of grace to another, He desires that we surrender life to Him. To simply trust Him, no matter what life circumstances we find ourselves in.

 

~ One day at time, with thankful hearts, a submissive spirit, and praise always on our lips ~

 

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I've Got A New She-ro

Has there ever been someone who's life captures your heart in such a special way that its like your heart has been ensnared in a trap, but you're so captivated that you don't want to be let go? It may be words that a person may say, the way in which they live their life, or acts of faith so endearing that you're moved to action yourself.

A sweet Mommy friend and I were talking in the nursery at Church one Sunday to pass the time about what we've been reading. She shared with me a book that that she reads every Thanksgiving to ponder over God's grace and mercy during this time of the year.  I became a little inquisitive about one of the authors in this book, wondering what was it about this author that made her want to read her writing during the season of Thanksgiving. What was so special about this author's life that beckoned her heart to be more thankful?

Joni Eareckson Tada was the author that she spoke of and as she described this woman's life, her struggles, trials, and journey with Christ, my heart stirred to know more about her story. In the few weeks that followed, Joni was on my mind and I didn't know much about her. I just knew that I wanted to know more about her Christian walk. As I came to learn about Joni, I was captivated, enthralled really at how God has worked in Joni's life through trials and suffering.

Instead of trying to give my own synopsis of Joni's life, my hope is that this meager rambling of mine about my new she-ro will move you to dig into Joni's world a little. I promise you that one peak in and you'll never be the same. As I read Joni's book, "The Glorious Intruder", and her biography, "Joni: An Unforgettable Story", my heart broke to read of her suffering, yet I was awed by the Lord's orchestration of what she went through to draw her to Himself and to make Himself known not just to Joni, but to one person after another. After closing the pages of her biography and disposing of my tissues that I went through from reading it, I was... speechless for just a bit. As I let the words from both books soak in for a minute, the words came to my heart and mind.

What an awe-inspiring, amazing, & awesome God we serve

Family Christmas 2014 Photos Sneak Peek

While the stores seems to get a jump start on all things Christmas earlier and earlier each year, we decided to follow suit with early planning. We rounded the family up for some family pictures for our Christmas Card.

Here's a little sneak peek!

 

 

God's Riches At Christ Expense

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Over the past six weeks or so I’ve been studying about God’s grace in the study, “Lord, I Need Your Grace to Make it Today” by Kay Arthur. Up until taking this study I understood God’s grace to be, unmerited favor. Something I did not deserve. I considered this favor to show up as “the good things” in life that I experience from one day to the next. While this is true, as I’ve dug a little deeper I’m learning that grace is more complex than “good things happening”. It’s wider, deeper, and much more multifaceted than I could have ever imagined.

It’s God’s grace that sustains me every second, minute, and hour of the day. His grace shows up in my salvation in the forgiveness of sins when I didn't deserve it, sanctification as He changes me from one degree of grace to another, and preservation as He keeps me in a state of grace as His child. Grace is a powerful gift in that it enables us to withstand life's difficulties as God makes Himself known in us and through us. God's grace has covered a myriad of sins in my past and its depths cover every sin I will ever commit until I go home to be with the Lord in Heaven. Every day that I wake up and feel an ounce of hopelessness about my inabilities to do what is required of me as a wife and mother, I can count on God’s grace being sufficient. It will enable me to “survive” the day and then there will be more grace for the next day’s journey. Life and its struggles can be intimidating, but God’s grace is abundant, it’s enough, and its abounding for those that love and serve the Lord.

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According to Plan - House Day

It has been an adventurous couple of days with the house arriving yesterday afternoon and being set  today. The kids and I actually caught up with the house and the house escort as they travelled down the highway towards the house yesterday afternoon. We were speechless and filled with glee as the house came into view, on wheels. There were blinking lights and flags to escort the house, so it was not hard to miss it coming down the highway. As we followed the house towards our property, our excitement grew to finally see the house with our own eyes.

House Chasing

The workers got started when the sun came up, getting the crane in place and hooking the house up to be hoisted up and set on the basement.

Rear of the house being set on foundation

Front of house being set with dormers awaiting their turn

Roof being put into place

House all closed in, Shingles being applied

The process for our second home differs from our first house in that we're using a Builder to coordinate the majority of the house construction process. With our first home, we served as the sole Builder and had to schedule, coordinate, and sometimes even fill in for varying aspects of the process when necessary. While serving a your own "owner-builder" can save the homeowner a tremendous amount of money by cutting out the "middle man", the homeowner gets the headache that comes with the job of being overseer and project lead. There are no words to describe how grateful I am to have a Builder this time around as an overseer and coordinator. We are still responsible for portions of the overall process, but nothing nearly as large as the projects we had to fulfill in our first home. With a Builder that works on site to oversee the construction and the Master Builder guiding, leading, and providing for our needs, we are in Good Hands.

Acoording to Plan - House Arrival

We are praising the Lord for His provision and grace.

The house arrived safely after traveling over 300+ miles yesterday. 

I will be back to share pictures.

 

Recipes for Your Next Potluck

I don't want to mislead my readers into thinking that I've been keeping my regular list of recipes in rotation over and over again without adding any new ones. So, here are a few more recipes for those that don't find cooking up dinner to be a natural instinct! These recipes are simple to make, yet very tasty and especially fantastic for pot luck dinners.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This recipe is from the infamous Ree Drummond (a.k.a., The Pioneer Woman). I can always count on her recipes to be wonderful and tasty. I love Panera Bread's Broccoli and Cheddar Soup and have been wanting to make it on my own. With the help of the Pioneer Woman, I was successful in whipping up a crock pot of soup that was delish!

Ingredients:

4 heads broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets

Olive oil, for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

1 whole onion, diced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

2 cups half-and-half

Pinch nutmeg

3 cups grated cheese (mild Cheddar, sharp Cheddar, Jack, etc.), plus more for garnish, optional

1 cup chicken broth, optional

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove 2 cups of the broccoli florets, cut in half, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet cut-side down and bake until the florets begin to crisp and turn slightly brown, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top. Stir to combine and cook until the flour is absorbed and smells lightly toasted, 1 minute or so. Add the milk and half-and half. Add the nutmeg, then the broccoli, a small dash of salt and plenty of black pepper. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and allow to melt.
Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve the soup as is, mash with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree in a blender, return the soup to the heat to heat back up. Splash in some chicken broth if needed for thinning.) Garnish with the toasted broccoli or grated cheese and serve.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=broccoli+cheddar+soup+recipe+and+pioneer+woman

Ramen Noodle Slaw

I received this recipe from a good friend that would always make it for gatherings. When I first saw it, I asked, "What is in this salad?" It looked familiar, but I just couldn't put my taste buds on exactly I was crunching on because its an odd ingredient. Ramen Noodles in a salad? Yeah, it sounds weird, but let me tell its yummy!

Ingredients:
2 (3 ounce) packages beef-flavor ramen noodles 
2 (8 1/2 ounce) packages broccoli coleslaw mix
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup white vinegar

Directions:                                                                                                                                                                                             

Before opening noodles, crush into 1 inch pieces. Open packages and set aside flavor packets.

Place noodles in bottom of large serving bowl. Top noodles with broccoli slaw, then sprinkle with almonds and sunflower kernels, and green onions.

In a separate bowl combine sugar, oil, vinegar, and flavor packets from noodles. Pour over slaw, cover and chill up to 24 hours.

Toss before serving.

http://www.food.com/recipe/oriental-ramen-broccoli-coleslaw-281644

Cream Cheese Sausage Dip

This dip can look a little nasty when you make it, but it was REALLY good! It will not let you down. Grab some tortilla chips and go to work on this dip.

Ingredients:
4 (8 ounce) packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese

2 (16 ounce) packages jimmy dean original breakfast sausage

2 (10 ounce) can original Rotel tomatoes & chilies (use a can of hot rotel if you want it to be spicy)                                                                                                                                                                         

tortilla chips

 

Directions:

Brown both packages of sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Drain the sausage in a colander. Cube the cream cheese into a crock pot. Add the sausage to the cream cheese in the crock pot. Add both cans of rotel (with the juice) to the crock pot. Heat the mixture in the crock pot on high heat for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the dip is well mixed. Reduce heat to warm/low and serve with torilla chips.

 

bon appetit!

Turning One Page after Another

I'm over the moon excited about the girl's school year thus far and their learning experiences through books. Its amazing the places that you can go in a book. In regards to homeschooling and teaching history, what's just as neat about journeying through a book is when its based on true, historical events and you're able to grasp what it might have been like for people in history to experience life as it was in varying times throughout history. The sights, the music, the government, and the culture, all from a different time period that we can never experience for our self. When you read about history in a textbook and are made to memorize and then regurgitate dates and facts, you lose the enjoyment of what history is all about. History isn't just facts and dates, the events of history help explain the "why's" surrounding the people and cultures of today. The saying, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been" might be said too much and very cliche, but the saying is true.

As the kids read books about early American History and we discuss them and they write their thoughts about life in the past, it puts the world around them into a perspective that a date alone isn't able to do. In the books that they're reading they have been exposed to journeys from the past. They've chartered along with characters across the Atlantic to the New World as they read the journals of seafaring men and they get a chance to be a juror in a witch trial during the time of the Puritans. These experiences along with so many others are difficult to grasp solely reading through a textbook. I can relate because after having the textbook education as a child, to now participate in my kid's education through the reading and discussion of books, I'm seeing what a difference this style of learning can make.

While the girls have enjoyed individually reading their own assigned "readers", collectively we use the technique of "reading aloud" for the more challenging, historical books. The Read Aloud books that the girls are to listen to as I read them aloud have a more challenging vocabulary and so they are challenged to understand the stories in context as they listen and form in their minds a visualization of what is actually happening in the book. As they listen, they are transported back into time. It's a gift to be able to learn in this way. From an educational perspective to enhance, promote, and encourage children to read one author put it this way,
 

"Reading aloud is a commercial for reading. ...Think of it this way: McDonald's doesn't stop advertising just because the vast majority of Americans know about its restaurants. Each year it spends more money on ads to remind people how good its products taste. Don't cut your reading advertising budget as children grow older." 

-- Jim Trelease in his book The Read Aloud Handbook

(See more here)

I can't help but get excited about many of the books that we've read so far into the school year, so in many ways Mommy's excitement about reading becomes contagious. I find myself tearing up as we turn the corner and head into the final chapters of books. I've said it many times before as I've journaled about our homeschooling experiences that being a homeschooling parent opens up the door of learning again in ways that I didn't experience as a child. There is a freedom that the homeschooling community has access to as they teach their children. There is the option of teaching in a similar fashion with textbooks and multiple choice tests to assess how well a child has learned, but there is also the opportunity to challenge the status quo of educational techniques by allowing children to simply learn and their comprehension be assessed through conversation and written expression or creative writing. There's something unique about being able to "experience" history through the journeys and life experiences of characters that come to life in an era far ago.

For this little guy, we'll simply start with ABCs

Oh, the places we will go...

 

In a Book!

 

According to Plan - Basement

We praise God that He is working things out according to His plan with the house construction. This entry marks the second blog entry in a new series, according to His plan. Its refreshing to see things change before our eyes. The basement has been dug out, the footers have been poured, and the basement walls have been poured.

You can go here to read about the house construction process from the first, initial stages.




Basement Dug Out

Footers being dug out

Footers Poured with Concrete

Forms in place for concrete walls to be poured

Walls being poured

Basement Walls Unveiled

We've been making daily field trips to the property as work is being done. Our homeschool schedule affords us the opportunity to halt our regular school schedule at a moment's notice so that we can extend the school day over at the property and get an up close and personal lesson in building a house. As the girls ask question after question, I can tell that they are soaking the process all in. Its been a family affair as we all lend a hand wherever we can, seeding the grass and spreading the straw in areas for grass to grow.



Our muscle girl

Hubby laying the grass seed

Trey hanging out on my back giving orders

 

Laying Straw Out to grow grass

Trey giving the Truck a try

 

The Lord is doing Great Things for Us

It's Good To Be Useful

This new thing called knitting has sort of gotten me all in knots. Before knitting if someone asked me if I had a hobby, I'd say "reading". There was nothing more enjoyable to me when I had spare time than to curl up with a good book. Now, I have something else that curls me up. Yarn!

It's the neatest thing to take a simple ball of yarn and turn it into something useful. I think that is what amazes me about the ability to follow a pattern and create something. I can actually make use of it. To create something that you would otherwise purchase from a store excites me! Here's a look at my projects thus far.



My first project was this basket weaved blue scarf and then came the hats!
This hat is for my 8 yr old, "Rainbow" 

 

My First Hat - The Hubby

My Second Hat - Pinkie



My I'm Now on a Roll... Hat for my 10 yr old

After making my first hat with my first pattern that I learned to read, I started making one hat after another. I'm trying my hand at slippers now...