A Fabulous Find

This is not anything new... But I just rediscovered these helpers and I don't know why I ever stopped using them!!  Target had them for $1.64 and I had a coupon for .55 off!!  The box contains 4 liners and what an absolute breeze to clean up your slow cooker!!  You just grab, gather, and throw it away!  I love clean up like this.  And for a little over a dollar, I may never have to soak, scrub, and clean my slow cooker ever again! 

This makes a busy mom happy!  So I had a little extra time tonight after cleaning up from dinner...  I did what any responsible homeschool mom does.  I graded papers...  At first it looks very overwhelming, which is why it continued to grow.  It was only two or three papers for each of the boys.  Somehow tonight, the boys both had about 7 papers for me to read and grade.  Some were short, some were not so short...  But once I sat down without any distractions -  my heart was fill with love because of the writings of my children.

As I read what they wrote, I smiled the whole time...  Thoughts like, "I didn't know he was even listening." or "He has a better insight into this than I do!"  These all go through my mind...  It makes me proud and it also makes me remember that they are great students and I guess I'm not half bad as their teacher. 

The boys are asleep right now, so I will have to let them know how happy I am about the papers they've been turning in tomorrow.  But I love to dote over my boys...It's one of my favorite things.

So two things I am thankful for tonight... Slow Cooker Liners ***** Five Star.
The ability and opportunity to read Caleb and Cameron's writings....There just aren't enough stars.  I love those boys!!

The Spelling Bee (Part 2)

*This is an old picture of us, but it makes me smile!



Cameron did not win... He did not place... He missed the first word he was given.  He was devastated.  Mom was too.  I guess we had concentrated on all the 7th and 8th words and didn't study enough on the tricky 6th grades ones.

He pulled it together and received his participation award...and then we left.  The only thing this momma wanted to do was take his pain away.  So I did what I thought would help the best:  Eating at one of his favorite restaurants and shopping at his favorite store.

And all was well!  He did mentioned it a couple of times over the weekend, but I'm truly proud of that kid...and I guess "Retail Therapy" is not just for us gals!   

The Spelling Bee

Tomorrow Cameron will compete in the 2012 Scripps Howard Spelling Bee at the Highlands Latin School here in Louisville.  The winner of this bee will go to the district bee in March, and the winner of that bee will go on to the national spelling bee in the spring.

Cameron has already made me proud.  He has studied so hard and I'm so excited to see him up on the stage tomorrow.  This will be his third year in a row...the first without Caleb.  The spelling bee is only for grades 3-8.  But Caleb has done a lot to help his brother "train" for the bee.  And I've learned quite a bit by helping Cameron, so I'm sure Caleb has too!

These are tough words!  He was spelling - linguistically - vehemence - astrophysicist - circumlocution, and the word that Matt couldn't even pronounce - dramaturgy.  Thankfully we have dictionary.com and that robot lady to say the words for us!  Cameron has also relied on the pink Vitamin Water named "Focus"... He's drank a lot of that lately.

Making the decision to compete in a spelling be is a pretty big accomplishment for any child.  A child with ADHD and Aspergers Syndrome... I think is a little bigger. (wink)  It has been exhausting and emotionally draining for this mom, but it's something that he wants to do.  (Believe me, there were days I begged him to sit this year out!)  But he's doing it...I'm a proud bee mom!!

And I'll be so relieved tomorrow afternoon... Whew!

Cobbler for Dinner

When I was 18, I worked at a truck stop. I worked in the "diner" part as a prep-cook. I interviewed for the grill-cook, but was told I didn't have enough experience. I told them, "I've been cookin' since I was old enough to stand on a chair to see over the counter top!" But they were right...I needed to start slow. It was an incredibly busy place.

As a prep-cook, I made the salads, made the yeast rolls, and made the cobblers... Had I not started out where I did, I would not know how to place the tomatoes and cucumbers perfectly on the lettuce, know exactly when the dough had proofed, or been able to make my dinner for tonight...

Blackberry Cobbler for dinner with a side of Vanilla Ice Cream...mmm! I can't even tell you how many of these cobblers that I made while I worked there. Peach, Blackberry, Blueberry...whatever I had. And still to this day if the fruit is there, a cobbler can be made.

Tonight, Matt had a late meeting and the boys ate early... So I whipped up a Blackberry Cobbler and I was a happy camper!  The following is the recipe I used at the truck stop, although tonight I split the recipe in half and it turned out beautifully...only took about 35 minutes to bake.

Truck Stop Cobbler

1 stick Butter

1 cup Sugar (a little more to sprinkle on top)

1 cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Milk

2 cups Blackberries

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Spray a non-stick spray into a baking dish. Rinse and dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter, evenly.

Sprinkle about ¼ cup sugar over the top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. And if you're boring, eat this warm...if you're not, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. ~A day without sugar is a sad day...

*Note: To make your own self-rising flour, mix 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Our First Field Trip...

This was after our 2 mile/400 step tour... Whew!

So sitting at Steak and Shake last night, my dear hubby mentions that all the blogs that he subscribes to have not posted in a while... That would include me.

I'm not sure where September went... but hello, good-bye! September was a learning month for me. It took the entire month to get used to this new life I have. You know, the wife, homeschool mom, church planter, children's director, teacher of Ruth, cute baby watcher life... But it's all coming together. Everything is falling into place. I'm learning that lesson that I have taught my boys for years, "Take one thing at a time"...

So here at Four Hills Christian Academy, we took our first field trip for the 2010-2011 school year... Mammoth Cave! It was really nice to see the boys reaction to everything we saw. It really is an amazing place. Cameron loves history, so he was on his best behavior. (He didn't want to miss a thing.)

We try to take some kind of field trip each month. It gives the boys something to look forward too, and gives this momma a break! It also gives us stuff to talk about... I usually have our entire year of field trips planned, but I'm still working on that! There are so many places that you can visit that are close to home!

So our October field trip has been planned... We're heading to the Newport Aquarium! I just hope I can blog again before this month ends. (You know, to keep my hubby happy...)

I haven't posted a recipe in a while... I haven't made anything in a while that didn't come out of box! But this one reminds me of cooler weather and maybe, just maybe I'll make some this week!

Stacy's Candied Pecans

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups of Pecans
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Spray one baking sheet with non-stick spray. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. (About one minute.) In a separate bowl, mix together sugars, salt, and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees F for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Cool completely on wax paper before packing them up to retain crunchiness. :)

One Week Down

Today is the first day of our second week of school. We've decided to work today, after all it is Labor Day! :) Actually, we have our first field trip of the year planned for tomorrow. We're going to Mammoth Cave. So we're working today, so we can play tomorrow!

Our first week of school was draining, but I know we will get back in the swing of things soon. We are doing a new online curriculum and that always takes a little bit to navigate and get to know the site. But my boys are very "tech-savvy" and it was momma that needed the help! :)

The online stuff is perfect for us. I watch a baby two days a week (a very cute and kissable one, I may add) and being able to log on anywhere and see how the boys are doing is very convenient. Matt is here on those days to help give instruction, but sometimes they just need things explained in a different way. And I can sign in wherever I am, and see the exact lesson and assignment that they are on!

I'm still a little concerned with how I will balance homeschool and church planting. Last week, I felt like I had given more attention to church than I did my children. That kind of guilt is heavy... I know I was called here to plant this church and if I don't do certain things, well...they just don't get done. But, my boys must always come before my ministry... So, I'm still working on this one.

"I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." ~John 14:27

Ready to Learn...

I feel like I'll be doing a lot of learning this year...

I've never planted a church while I homeschool.

Four Hills Church has been gathering for weekly services for 12 weeks. I have never been so busy in those 12 weeks. Sundays feel like they just come too quickly now. And I just hope that this is something that I can learn to balance.

We have a personal calendar, church calender, and homeschool calendar. By themselves... not bad, but putting them together - seems very overwhelming! I keep saying, "As soon as school starts, things will settle down." (And then I smile... when has my life ever been "settled"?)

This is our "practice" week. We start school on August 30th, but I will try to get the boys used to getting up and eating breakfast in the AM... :)

We are also starting a new curriculum... Monarch is an online curriculum that is brand new this year, and we couldn't be more excited to get started!! http://www.aophomeschooling.com/monarch/

Cameron was very excited... and not for the reason I thought it would be. He said, "Using an online curriculum is being very green!" And I'll be glad to not have to grade 12 different workbooks! So maybe this was the best year to introduce Monarch. :)

"Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can... You'll be glad you did." -Sarah Caldwell