Wordless Wednesday: First Tooth!

Some of My Summer Reading

I've been reading quite a few books for review lately, some great, some not as great.  Here's a couple of my reviews:

Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson with Susy Flory

I think most of us remember where we were on Sept 11, 2001.  I know I do, and I wasn't anywhere near New York or connected to anyone who was.  For those who were there and went through the attacks on the Twin Towers, I'm sure they remember much more about that day than those who weren't.   Michael Hingson was one of the survivors who was in the first tower that got hit.  He was up on the 78th floor and was able to walk all the way down the stairs and get out.  If that doesn't make his story amazing enough, he did it blind, using his guide dog Roselle to guide himself and others out and to safety.  The story goes back and forth between Sept 11 and Michael's past as he tells about how his blindness and his guide dogs have shaped his life, but it was still very easy to read and flowed together very nicely. This was a great true story and as the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, it is a good reminder of all that happened on that day, how many people were killed, and how many people made it out safely.

I received this book for free for review from Booksneeze.

Dry As Rain by Gina Holmes

When I first started to read Dry As Rain, I wasn't really sure if I was going to like it.  It is written in the first person from a male perspective, despite the author being female.  As I got into it however, I found that Gina Holmes did a great job writing it.  It is a story of betrayal and a broken marriage.  When the story begins, Eric and Kyra are already separated with little hope of reconciliation.  But when Kyra loses her memories of the separation in a car accident, Eric sees it as a second chance from God to try and save his marriage.  Slowly she regains her memory though and also finds out about Eric's infidelity and kicks him out of their house again.  Eric finally faces the fact that he needs to be completely honest and write Kyra an apology letter for all he has done to break down their marriage.  You will have to read the book yourself to see how it ends up!  This book has some good lessons about honesty and forgiveness and is a good reminder to have good communication and not take your marriage for granted.

I received this book for free for review from Tyndale House Publishers.

First Week of School

On Monday we started our homeschool year again.  I think the kids (and me) were really ready to get back to having a little more of a set schedule of things to do.  Even though Buddy claims he doesn't want to do any school, I know they were all getting a little bored and so far are having fun with our new curriculum.  Of course I still can't get in the habit of taking pictures while we are working, so I don't have much to show for the week except what we did today.  We have decided to stick with My Father's World again and this year we are doing the Adventures in My Father's World for our combined subjects of history, geography, science, etc.  Buddy is doing 2nd grade math, reading, and spelling, and Sweetie is doing 1st grade.  I have been doing a combination of Tot School printables from 1+1+1=1 and Confessions of a Homeschooler for Lovebug and then he also joins us once in a while for the other stuff so I try to find a picture to color or something related to what we are doing that he can do.  On Fridays we get to spend most of our day doing a nature walk or studying nature some way and then making a page to put in our nature notebooks.  Since the weather is so nice, I decided to head up to the hills today and let the kids do some exploring.

Right away the kids found a little green frog.  It was so tiny and just kept jumping out of their hands, so I couldn't get a very good picture.

We brought along some clipboards so the kids could draw some of the interesting things they found.

There were quite a few slugs and Sweetie wasn't going to try pick any of them up.

The kids found some good climbing trees.  This was an old stump with lots of smaller trees growing out of it.

This is a natural spring coming out of the ground. 

 This tree had a hole in it and it took a bit for any of the kids to get brave enough to look down into it.  We could only see some sticks and leaves.

 We found this creepy crawly guy just before we left.

Everyone had lots of fun, so hopefully we will have good weather on Fridays so we can always head out and do some nature exploration!





Tasty Tuesday ~ Zucchini Salsa

Is it weird that I love standing in my pantry staring at my slowly filling shelves, planning where the next canning project will get lined up?  Does anyone else do this? No? Well, I guess I am weird, but I love seeing my hard work lining the shelves and deciding where it should all go!  Last week I had fun trying out a new canning recipe for zucchini salsa and it is pretty tasty!  We always have loads of zucchini and so do most other people I know, making it hard to even give it away so I thought I would find something new to do with it this year.  I've also done zucchini bread and butter pickles for the first time this year and they turned out pretty good too.  Here is instructions for the salsa:
Ingredients

10 cups chopped zucchini (you can peel and/or shred it if you want, but really, who has time for that?)

4 chopped onions

2 chopped green peppers

2 chopped red peppers

8 chopped jalapeno peppers (I left the seeds in one and removed them from the rest and this produced a medium salsa, you can adjust according to your taste or leave out altogether)

1/4 cup pickling salt

1 tablespoon pickling salt

2 tablespoons dry mustard

1 tablespoon garlic powder 

1 tablespoon cumin

2 cups white vinegar 

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon pepper

5 cups chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons cornstarch 

12 ounces tomato paste

Directions: In a large bowl combine: Zucchini, onions, green pepper, red pepper, jalapenos and the  1/4 cup salt. Mix together cover and let stand over night.

The next day rinse, drain well and put into a large pot (or 2 if you don't have a really big one like me) then add mustard, garlic, cumin, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper flakes, remaining salt, cornstarch, nutmeg, pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Pour into sterilized jars, add lids and rings, and water bath jars for 15 minutes.  Remove from water and listen for that magic pop, pop, pop of sealing jars!

This makes about 12 pints, but I put a lot of mine in 1/2 pints because we don't eat that much at once.

Linked up with:

Waving the White Flag

This is a guest post by Brook, author of Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most.  I personally already have this book and have loved reading through it and using it to pray for my kids.  I highly recommend it for all parents and would encourage you to sign up!

Are you the mother of boys who
often finds herself ready to wave the white flag in defeat?

Do they drain you, overwhelm you, steal your heart, break your heart and cause you more
anxiety than you ever dreamed possible?

Maybe you only have one boy amongst a sea of estrogen and you just can’t figure out how
to respond to him in a way that affirms all that is good about his masculinity.

You're not alone.

Last May, over 1300 women and a few dads in SEVEN different countries joined together to
pray purposefully and passionately for the hearts of their sons in a challenge called
21 Days of Prayer for Sons. 21 Days is based on the
best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need
it Most.



Even our best parenting efforts don't come with a guarantee. As much as we
might wish we could change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), we
can't. But we serve a God who can. Knowing this, it becomes quite clear that there is
only one thing we can do…

Plead with God.

Pray.

“The fervent
prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:17.

It’s our hope.

The next 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge starts
September 6 and ends September 26, 2011. How can you participate? Easy!

1. Purchase your own copy of Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in
   the Areas They Need it Most (just $5.97 as a PDF download or on
   A
   mazon Kindle!) You could, in theory, participate in the challenge without a
   personal copy, but your experience will be much deeper and richer with it.
2. Commit to praying for your son(s) or grandsons 10 times a day for 21 days
   straight. This is a huge commitment, so if you feel God leading you to participate, pray
   and ask Him to give you the strength and endurance you need.
3. Consider leading your own group on your blog or in your
   community!
4. Sign-up HERE!

Get inspired by recent participants!

“This challenge…has given me my joy back in mothering” ~LaToya

“Thank you for giving me a tangible method for transformation in my family!!”
~Anne

“Thanks, Brooke for your help. I’ve always known that God was listening; I just
didn’t know what to say!” ~Laurel

“So many heart changes are going on in our home and I’m just so thankful…”
~Ashley

************************

Brooke is a
mom of two young boys who leave her desperate for God’s grace. Her pursuit of being a
better mom has left her at the foot of the cross, knowing that if God doesn’t show up …
nothing happens. This dependence upon God to turn hearts of stone to hearts of flesh
leads her to her knees in prayer. She’s the author of the best-selling eBook Warrior Prayers:
Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most, creator of
the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons
challenge and co-founder of the well-loved online community for mothers of boys, the
M.O.B.
Society. She offers hope for change to the hearts of women at her main blog,
A
Life in Need of Change.

Frugal Friday

As you may remember from my shampoo experiment, I love to find ways to save money.  (By the way, I am still using the baking soda & vinegar and it is still going great!)  Awhile back I experimented with making my own dishwasher soap and although it was cheaper, it didn't clean worth beans.  I was constantly having to rewash dishes and so I figured wasting my time wasn't worth the money savings and I went back to my dishwasher tabs.

Recently, however, I have found a way to cut the price in half!  Did you know that you can cut the tabs in half and get two loads out of one?!? And it works just as well.  I have been cutting them in half for a while now and still rarely have to rewash a dish!  I would recommend cutting (knife or scissors equally work well)them while they are still in the package because they get kinda crumbly as you cut and can make a mess.  That way you can just dump half the package in the dishwasher, crumbs and all.

Tasty Tuesday ~ Homemade Vanilla

Did you know you could make your own vanilla?  It's really easy.  The hardest part is buying the vodka that you will need. But if you send your hubby, then there is no hard part. ;)  All you need is vodka and vanilla beans.  The amount of both will determine how strong your vanilla is.  This  is the first time that I've tried it and I used a bottle of vodka (750 mL) and put in seven vanilla beans which is all that I could fit in the bottle.  You will need to slice open the beans length wise before you put them in.

Then just shake it up and put it in a dark place for 4-6 months.  You should shake it up every once in a while.  Then after you have patiently waited for what seems like forever, strain your vanilla through a coffee filter in a colander and then you are ready to go! Mine turned out a little on the weak side compared to the pure vanilla that I bought from Costco, so next time I will probably use a few more beans and put it all in a bigger jar. If you make it really strong (like 20 beans in 750mL) then you will only need to use about 1/2 of what the recipe calls for.  If you like using real vanilla, this will save you a ton of money because real vanilla is pricey! 

A True Farm Girl!

Peanut can't get enough cheese! She loves it and gets so excited every time I take it out of the fridge.  She gobbles it up so fast that I couldn't even get a decent picture because she wouldn't sit still!  (And I'm not sure what is up with the foot!)

Tasty Tuesday ~ Fresh Cherry Coffee Cake

This month I've started filling up my empty freezer and pantry shelves with frozen and canned goods.  It's exciting (at least for me) to see all my hard work being lined up on the shelves for winter.  A couple weeks ago we picked a bunch of cherries that I canned and dried.   I had a few left over that I used to make this tasty coffee cake.  Hubby said it was one of the best he's had because it was really moist.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2/3 cup melted coconut oil or butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (Twin Brook Creamery is the best!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour a 10 inch tube pan. Place cherries in a bowl and toss gently with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Beat together the oil (or butter), eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and milk until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour mixture until smooth. Fold in the cherries. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate or wire rack.           

Linked up with: