Just One of Those Days....

...when I wish I could just lay in an open meadow and watch the clouds go by....


I realize these are not the most interesting picutres, but in realtime they were big, fluffy and beautiful!

Makes me feel very small!

Callout for Your Best Recipes

This past May, a friend of my children was killed in Afghanistan.

Christopher R. Barton made the ultimate sacrifice for his country in Afghanistan on May 24, 2010.

My children were deeply affected by this which in turn deeply affected me.

To honor the memory of Christopher, the family established the SPC Christopher R Barton Foundation which "will strive to touch the lives of Active Duty Soldiers, their families and veterans through scholarships and donations."

One of the many fund raising projects will be the Hometown Heroes Cookbook. Currently, 200 recipes have been collected, but we need MORE! The goal is 500!

This is where you come in! I know you all have recipes! This is an official call out to all you budding chefs to please contribute your favorite recipes to the Hometown Heroes Cookbook.

Please email them to me at jsm_ph48@yahoo.com Submissions must be received by October 15.

We are also taking Pre-Orders. The books will be $12.50. The books will be delivered by December 17. Let me know if you'd like one.

Lastly, if you're interested in placing an advertisement  for your business in the cookbook please contact me.

Your help is very much appreciated.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).

I Believe

Turn off my Playlist and turn your volume up for this one!!

The Baby Conference {Audio Giveaway!} | Raising Homemakers

I love giveaways. This is a good one!!

Birth, biomedical ethics, doing laundry with a large family, ending
abortion in America, the blessing of life, the hopeful theology of miscarriage,
adoption, naming babies, home schedules . . .

The above subjects - and MORE - were discussed at The Baby Conference!

Although we were unable to attend The Baby Conference, put on by Vision
Forum this past July, we were able to listen to the recorded audio from the
conference.

There is approximately 36 hours of audio (including panels,
discussions, and interviews!) from the conference. A sampling of just a few of
the titles:...."

Keep reading and enter in the giveaway at The Baby Conference {Audio Giveaway!} Raising Homemakers:

Weave Truth or Fail as a Parent |

Weave Truth or Fail as a Parent :

"In What Is a Family, Edith Schaeffer writes:
“The primary place for the flag of truth to be handed on is in the family. The truth was meant to be given from generation to generation….

Explaining the things of the Bible, of God’s love, and of future prophecy is not meant to be something separated into a cubby-hole of “religious instruction” or “family prayer.”

As children grow older there is to be a flowing unity in talking about history, present world news, science, which has its seeds in the beginning days of the first understanding of sentences, the first questions.

Children’s questions must be taken seriously at the ages of two and three, or they won’t be continuing to ask you at twelve and twenty-three. The importance of being given answers and being treated as a significant human being begins as soon as answers are asked for…."

Please keep reading at Generation Cedar.

Bubbling With Excitement

Preschool is in full swing. Small class this year, big blessings.

Today for the Letter of the Week: "B," we made our own Bubbles.

We mixed:

• 2 cups of water 
• 1/2 cup of dishwashing detergent 
• 1 teaspoon on sugar.

We dipped the tip of plastic straws in the mixture. That was initially fun, but made very tiny bubbles.

Then we made wands with pipe cleaners. This made GIANT bubbles!!

We also dipped an old strawberry basket in the mixture. Those bubbles came out looking like clusters of grapes that floated off "to China," as one of my students exclaimed!

Happy Tummy!

Last weekend I toured some local farms with my Mother-in Love, Grandmother-in-Love and Niece. First we went to the Elma C. Lomax Incubator Farm where they raise not so much produce, but rather, farmers. Great educational opportunity and easy way to test the waters (or dirt) of "getting back to the land" without taking a blind leap!

Next, we travelled up the road a bit to T and D Charolais Farms. This was more of a ranch with grass-fed cattle from start to finish, free-range chickens and pasture raised pigs. Sampled a bit (or two) of the beef. What I thought must be Filet Mignon because of the velvety texture was actually flank steak! FLANK STEAK!

Needless to say, I had to buy some beef. I chose a bone-in Chuck Roast.

I prepared using the Pioneer Women's Perfect Pot Roast recipe, which despite the unofficial designation as perfect, IS perfect!! The only modification I made was to the roast it in the Crock-Pot. It was deliciously tender, full of flavor and melted in our mouths! 

Mama, Do You Like Your Children?

Once upon a time, I was caught up in this mindset.

I may be a slow learner, but I now cherish my role as Mother.

"Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he
confronts his accusers at the city gates."

Please read this article from Generation Cedar:

Mama, Do You Like Your Children?

AlbertMohler.com – John F. Kennedy in Houston, Fifty Years Later

AlbertMohler.com – John F. Kennedy in Houston, Fifty Years Later

Know Your Farms - Local Food Services

Know Your Farms - Local Food Services

Duggar kids, free indeed - Jill Stanek

I may have said this before, nevertheless, I love the Duggars!

Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

Duggar kids, free indeed - Jill Stanek: "As we spoke to the 3 of them, one word kept jumping out at me: Freedom. These girls were experiencing freedom teenagers rarely taste. Completely free to be themselves. The exact opposite of the words so often used by media folk to describe the 19 kids."
Click here to continue reading.