French Cooking

The kids want to learn about French cooking this year. So after perusing through a few cookbooks, here is the list of what we'll make this year, Lord willing.

Jan - Soups
Feb - Baguette
March - Chicken
April - Eggs
May - Fish
June - Cake
July - Cherry Clafoutis
Aug - Ratatouille
Sept - Croissants
Oct - Crepes
Nov - Cheese (not to make, but to try)
December - Buche De Noel

I've put these down more for myself than anything else. It seems this blog is a great way to store information like this! But, if you have any recipes that fit these categories and are French in origin, I'd love to see them.

What I Discovered Today

I really don't feel so good after I eat chocolate cake. When I spend an hour cycling like a mad woman at the gym, however, I feel terrific. But, I like chocolate cake much more than I like exercise. And I make excuses why I need to eat cake, and excuses why I don't need to exercise!!!

Carrot Cake

My friend Jessica is doing a healthy recipe swap over at her blog. My newest "health" food craze is a sweetener that is much lower on the glycemic index. It's so low that diabetics can use it. In other words, you can eat it and it won't spike your blood sugar levels up and then crash them. Your body processes it more like a complex carbohydrate rather than a simple sugar.

It still wouldn't be great for you to eat tons and tons of it. (It's not a vegetable!) But you can have dessert once in awhile and not totally blow your diet or your health.

If you can't find Agave Nectar at Trader Joes or a local health food store (or want to buy in bulk at a lower price) try Amazon's subscribe and save program. I highly recommend it.

Here is one of our favorite recipes using this amazing sweetener. I made it for a friend's birthday and it was a big hit. It comes from the cookbook Baking with Agave Nectar by Ania Catalano.

Carrot Cake

3 cups finely grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped

2 cups spelt flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup agave nectar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.

Mix together the carrots, raisins, coconut, and pecans in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

In a food processor, blend the agave nectar, eggs, canola oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract for about 1 minute. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to blend. Add the carrot mixture and stir until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centers of the layers comes out clean. Let cool in the pan, then invert onto a platter (or cake plate). Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 Tablespoons butter at room temperature

12 oz. cream cheese or low-fat Neufchatel cheese or combination of both

3/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the agave nectar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Beat well until smooth and fluffy.

Keeping Track of the Miles

Last spring, I started taking a cycling class at our local gym. As it turns out, I really can only make the class once a week. But we have an exercise bike at home that I can use more frequently. Sean and I have started using it more lately. So inspired by Wendy, Lord willing, I'll post my miles on the bike on the side bar. I'm hoping that this helps keep me motivated to keep on spinning.

Books I Read in 2008

I've kept a running list on the sidebar of my blog of the books I've been reading this year. I wanted to keep the list, but not on my sidebar. So I've moved them to this post, with a little comment about what I liked and a short highlight about each one.

Future Grace by John Piper - I just finished reading this one a few days ago even thought I started it with Leslie in October. I'm glad I kept on reading it. Piper always gives me something to really think about. This time it was how to fight sin with greater enjoyment of God. Practical application was interwoven throughout the book and was particularly helpful.

Self-Image: How to Overcome Inferiority Judgments (Resources for Biblical Living) by Lou Priolo - This was actually just a little booklet. A very short, but practical read. Mr. Priolo is biblical counselor (meaning that his counsel comes from the word of God not secular psychology methods). The most helpful thing I gleaned from this booklet is how to see if the area in my life that I'm judging myself to be inadequate in is an inaccurate perception, an accurate perception, but not sinful, or an accurate perception that is sinful and requires a change in behavior.

The Story of Rolf and The Viking Bow by Allen French - I read this to my older kids as part of our history curriculum. We all loved it! It is an intriguing story that not only fit in well with our time period in history, but was a beautiful lesson on love and forgiveness as well.

Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen, and Grace Mally -

This was another book that I read to the kids. Not only was it a helpful book for relationships, it was funny! The kids would beg me to read another chapter, they enjoyed it so much. We learned how to get to the root of the problem, how to see things from someone elses perspective and what it takes to build a friendship. With three writers, there were different perspectives to each chapter. And at the end of each was a quiz to help bring the concepts home. I would highly recommend it! I had to throw in this picture of Evan and Amy. It fits so well with the book.

Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges - This was the first book I had read by Jerry Bridges. I wish I'd read it a long time ago. It was so uplifting and encouraging. Mr. Bridges writes in a way that is easy to read even though he is dealing with tough concepts. I'm sure I'll come back and read it again. It was that good.

When Sinners Say "I Do": Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage
by Dave Harvey - This was by far the best marriage book I've ever read. And I've read quite a few. Bringing every point back to the gospel and in such a compelling way, encouraged me and changed my perspective. What made this book different from so many books on marriage, was that the examples were not about the couple that starts out unhappy because of ... then puts ... into practice and is full of joy. Instead, the stories are about God being faithful, and what the faithfulness of people who love God looks like, lived out in marriages that aren't perfect. It was fresh, real, and made me literally rejoice in God's goodness to me every time I read a chapter.

A Tale of Two Sons: The Inside Story of a Father, His Sons, and a Shocking Murder by John MacArthur - Sean gave me this book for my birthday. I really enjoyed reading it. MacArthur gives historical and cultural information about this well known parable and then unpacks it verse by verse.

A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer by John Piper - I read this book because I wanted to learn more about fasting. I not only learned more about the discipline, but was inspired to put it into practice more. It answered a lot of the questions that I had about fasting.

How Clean Is Your House? : Hundreds of Handy Tips to Make Your Home Sparkle by Aggie MacKenzie and Kim Woodburn - I got this book at the dollar store! I usually try to read at least one book on home management a year to help develop my domestic skills. This one was fun and had some good tips. The best one for me was to use thick black chemical resistant gloves for cleaning. I have a lot more "get up and go" when I use them.

Pleasing People: How Not to Be an Approval Junkie by Lou Priolo - I tend to find authors that I like and then read as much as I can that has been written by them. This year it was Piper and Priolo. This book was so applicable for me. Priolo really challenges your thinking about whether you are pleasing God or man and then offers counsel and hope. For a more detailed review see Tim Challies.

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper - I read this on the recommendation of my friend Rachael. We share a love of books and she reads a lot of Piper too. She saw this on my shelf and encouraged me to read it. I'm glad I did. It is four short biographies of Christian women with a short commentary by Noel Piper (John Piper's wife). I'm always inspired by reading about the lives of others who have gone before me.

Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky - The kids wanted to learn about Mexican cooking this past year as part of our very long cooking education course. So I checked out several cookbooks from the library having to do with Mexican cooking and started reading. Dona Tomas is actually a restaurant that my sister says is good but a bit pricey. The cookbook was a fun read with fabulous pictures. (I like to read appealing cookbooks cover to cover like a book.) But it was the section on making tortillas that really inspired me. Out of our year, the tortillas were the biggest hit. We are now proud owners of a tortilla press and warmer, and make homemade tortillas often.

My Friend Flicka by Mary O'hara - I read this book to Amy. We enjoyed the story about a young boy and his horse. But it was reading this story that helped convince me that Amy should take horseback riding lessons. The story tells how a boy grows up and matures as he learns to take care of his colt Flicka. It is very moving story.

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt - This is a book about books. And more specifically about children's books. It contains chapters on what makes a great book, chapters that list books for various age levels and chapters that list classics as well as new books that are worth buying for your child's library. I had read this before, when Evan was little, but it's one worth going to again and again as your children get older and need guidance on what to read.

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey - I actually did a book review on this one. You can read it here.

So there you have it. My reading list from 2008. What's on tap for this next year? Well, the kids want to learn about French cooking this year and I've found a couple of good books from the library. Dave Ramsey says that you should read a book on finances once a year. Sean bought me a boxed set from Susie Orman. So I think I'll pick one of those. And I'd like to read a bit more fiction this year. I also have several Piper books on my shelf that I have yet to tackle, and I've started The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs. That should keep me busy for a while!

I'd love to hear what you're reading or any recommendations you have.

Red Hats

My parents came down for a quick visit this weekend to see Amy perform with her choir. My mom brought down these red hats she found for a dollar. The girls loved them! They put them on at breakfast and Emily even picked out a red dress to wear to church so she could wear her red hat!

Win a Book or a Doll!

After a recommendation from my friend Leslie, I bought the book Mesi: A Girl 'n' Grace for Amy. She really enjoyed the book. Well, now you can win two new books from Pam Davis the author, Sydney Claire: A Girl ’n Grace in the 1960’s and Mesi’s Season of Change: A Friendship Story, by letting people know about this contest.

Here's how to win:

To win one of these dolls participants must submit a story about their best teachable grace moment with a child in their life to mystory@girlsngrace.com. They also must include the name or link to the blog that they read about the contest on. Pam Davis will read the entries and pick a winner.

To "win" the two new books, post about the contest on your blog, and then send the link from your blog post to ajennings@tbbmedia.com





Here are the official Rules:

• All individual entries must be submitted by December 17 to mystory@girlsngrace.com
• Participants must include a story about a teachable grace moment
• Stories will be 400 words or less
• All entries must include the name of the blog site on which they saw the contest posted
• Bloggers may enter their stories as well, but may not win both dolls
• All entries may be reprinted/reposted by Girls ‘n Grace and Authentic
• Entries should include preference of Sydney Clair or Mesi doll
• Pam Davis will pick the best story and the winner of the contest and notify the winner

Blogger participation

• Each blogger posting the contest will receive 1 copy of each of the fall releases once they forward the link to ajennings@tbbmedia.com
• The blog site with the most number of contest entries will receive one Girls ’n Grace doll to keep for themselves or turn around for another contest on their site
• Dolls will be shipped to arrive on December 23.
  

To learn more about the Girls 'n' Grace series go to their website girlsngrace.com.

Silly Quiz

Alicia did this quiz over at her blog. Since I haven't blogged about much of anything (for a whole month!) I did the quiz too. It is uncanny how much this describes me. But, I have learned to say no, I don't buy into the whole self-esteem bit, and my husband says I need a better sense of humor. Otherwise it's spot on.

You Are a Doris!





You are a Doris -- "I must help others."
Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.

How to Get Along with Me
* Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.
* Share fun times with me.
* Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.
* Let me know that I am important and special to you.
* Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships
* Reassure me that I am interesting to you.
* Reassure me often that you love me.
* Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Doris
* being able to relate easily to people and to make friends
* knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better
* being generous, caring, and warm
* being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings
* being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor

What's Hard About Being a Doris
* not being able to say no
* having low self-esteem
* feeling drained from overdoing for others
* not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish
* criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should
* being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tune in to them
* working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings

Dorises as Children Often
* are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism
* try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding
* are outwardly compliant
* are popular or try to be popular with other children
* act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention
* are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)

Dorises as Parents
* are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)
* are often playful with their children
* wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"
* can become fiercely protective

Anchored In Christ

"I have cast my anchor in the port of peace, knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands." The Valley of Vision

This morning our church had their Fall Women's Brunch. The theme was "Anchored in Christ". They chose this theme months ago, before the happenings on wall street, and before the election heated up. What a timely message! Our hope is not in money saved, or whether or not the candidate we want to win gets elected, but in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I don't normally talk politics here on this blog (or much elsewhere), but Leslie has done a great job blogging about the election and the candidates. I highly recommend her site. While I never will get heated and passionate about politics, I agree with her, and she has enough passion for the two of us! I think John Pipers words, especially toward the end of the video clip, express how I feel about next Tuesday. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to upload video, but you can see it here.)

On the way home from the tea, Evan excitedly shared something he read in his science book. Every second, over 4 million tons of the Sun are converted into energy. I can not even begin to grasp how huge our sun must be. Then to think how our sun is but one star out of billions in our galaxy, and our galaxy is but one of billions in the universe. It hit me again, how our God is so powerful and awesome, more than able to move the hearts of men and direct a nation how He wills. Then heavens truly do declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Quality Adjectives

Today as I was helping Amy work on a writing project, we were talking about the use of "quality adjectives". She was fighting the improving of her vocabulary, so I left her with a cheat sheet of "quality adjectives" and instructions on which words she may not use. (This is a tool that the Institute for Excellence in Writing promotes.) She finished a sentence or two then slipped me this note.

"This is RUTHLESS. May I please have a break. I am tired!"

Evan and I thought her use of "quality adjectives" was so funny!

Our Little Ballerina

A Bumper Crop

Last week, we made these cute little pumpkins from Circus peanuts. I got the idea from Family Fun magazine. Click here to find out how.

The kids loved making these! They were a great incentive for the kids to get their math done. Even Emily got in on the action and made a couple of them herself.

Here they are all lined up in our entry way along with a new flower arrangement I came up with. It's basically a vase inside of a vase. Candy corn lines the in between section. Then a few mums with water in the inside vase and a few preserved leaves and fake eucalyptus branches tucked in to hide the top. Amy decided that one of the pumpkins needed to be awarded 1st prize like at the fair!

Rejoicing Today

The Lord was not willing for the night time construction to end. It looks like we have many more weeks of this. So we will write a few more letters, then trust our good and loving God. I was encouraged by reading 1st Peter this morning.

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."

1 Peter 4:12,13, & 19

A Rough Start

The week before we started school back in August, God really convicted me of my joyless attitude. I was hit with the realization that it would be more important for me to model cheerfulness and contentment to my kids when our schedule is knocked off balance than to "fight" to keep things in line.

I think there is a great value in schedules and it is worth putting time and effort into planning. So I'm not saying that these things aren't important. However, for me, I tend to place too much importance and more significantly, I tend to look for validation in how tightly we stuck to the schedule. Did I get (and my kids manage to do) everything I had planned for the day? I am so tempted to derive my worth based on what we accomplished.


God has shown me in the past, through good teaching mostly, that interruptions from outside are not to be seen as irritations, but as "divine appointments". So I am, through God's grace, mostly able to be cheerful when the disruption is from someone or something outside my family. But when the disruption is from my kids acting grumpy, lazy, distracted or my husband needing me to tend to something that I didn't plan for that day, my sin nature shines right through. And it isn't pretty.


So guess what God saw fit to send to us the night before our first day of school?

This from 4am to midnight. See that fence. That's our backyard. I edited out Amy's bedroom window, but it's right behind the fence.

Beep beep, scrape, CACHUNG, BOOM! Repeat. All night long. This does not make for happy children who are able to focus and stay on task.

We found out that the construction project they are doing on the road behind our house is in "emergency mode" and they have a nighttime permit to work 4am to midnight. Sean wrote several very eloquent letters to city council, the mayor and the head of the construction company. They modified their work from 5am to 11pm. This was something that God was allowing for our good and His glory.

It has put this area of showing grace to my kids in the forefront of my mind. Since we've been living with this noise for 4 weeks now, I have a constant reminder to choose to show cheerfulness and give grace. I haven't always done what I should do or want to do. Driving out sin is hard work. But God is good and He has helped me to grow in this area that I have struggled in for such a long time.

Last week, we escaped the heat and the noise and took the kids to the beach.

And Lord willing, tonight is the last night they have a permit to work at night!

Country Girls

This summer, Amy had the opportunity to take horse back riding lessons from a good friend of mine. She had been wanting to do it for a couple of years now, so my parents gave Amy lessons for her birthday present this year.

It was so fun to see her in a different environment. She loves horses, the country and her teacher. She donned her jeans and her boots and was in her element. Since my friend has three little girls, Emily had a nice play date while Amy had her lesson each week.

So now, were praying about whether or not to keep up the lessons. It's a bit of a drive to get there. It's always so hard to keep the activities in balance. We don't want the kids to be doing so much that they are over scheduled, but this seems to be something that Amy really loves. Our art teacher retired this year, so that's one less class. And with Sean's weird schedule, and homeschooling, we have some extra free time during the week that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Amy and Emily with "the kitty". (No name yet!)
Amy grooming her horse before a ride.
Emily, Kate and Rose pretending that they are horses. Notice the rope around them!
Amy was concentrating so hard on learning her new skills.
She looks so grown up in this picture!

Motivation

Last week, I had a scary episode where my throat closed up and I couldn't breath. I had eaten a couple of grapes from our back yard, and when the juice from the grapes hit my throat it spasmed. Evan was right there asking if I was OK. (It's always good to have a boy scout in the house!)

I was so scared, I peed my pants. Yes, I really did. And I didn't care, because all I cared about was being able to breathe. As I was about to call 911 everything calmed down and I was fine.

After seeing a doctor, it turns out I have a very uncommon form of reflux called Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR). I had no idea since I don't have any of the classic signs like heartburn. However, the acid from my stomach is making its way to the back of my throat causing it to be red and irritated. (I know this because the ENT specialist I saw put a little camera up my nose and into my throat!) Because of the irritation, the sweetness of the grape juice cause my larynx to spasm. Think about the zing you get when something too sweet or cold hits a sore tooth. It's also know as a larygospasm. Click here to see a video of what the throat looks like.)

The doctor gave me a list of things to do to help the LPR go away. And I'm really motivated to never have a larygospasm again!

Don't eat 3-4 hours before bed time.
Avoid fatty and fried food.
Eat small meals, slowly
Avoid chocolate, peppermint and carbonated drinks
Avoid Caffeine
Avoid Tomato and citrus foods

This list looks more like a way to lose weight. Back in January, I said I wanted to be eating more healthy this year. Now, I'm extra motivated!

Summer Highlights

Thanks for coming back after such a long break! I missed blogging, but definitely needed the break.



We started off the summer with Evan and Sean going off to Boy Scout camp at Catalina Island. They had a blast! The girls and I got to go spend some time with a friend whose husband was away on a mission trip the same week. It was lovely. Lots of long talks, a few horseback riding lessons for Amy and giggly girls.


Sean and Evan on a long hike, pausing in front of the bay.

Evan with his group's camp staff.

Evan earned his merit badge for shooting and also made it into the dime club (five shots into the center). He has really good aim!


The whole troop with dads and even one grandpa.

The kids entered art work into the fair again this year. Evan took two first place ribbons for his photography and two second place ribbons for his paintings. Amy took two first places for her art.

Amy's watercolor.Evan standing in front of his winning photo of Emily.

In July we went to San Diego. We went to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and the Midway museum.

The Midway Museum is an aircraft carrier that has been decommissioned and opened up for visiting. Here's Evan sitting in the cockpit of one of the planes.

Emily at the petting zoo. She kept wanting to hug this goat!

The kids at Sea World, taking a break in the shade.

We took our tent trailer and camped while we were down there. The kids loved being able to ride bikes and scooter when we got back from the day's activity.

One of my goals for the summer was to go through drawers and cupboards and clean! While I didn't get to all of them (or even as much as I had hoped) I did get a lot cleaned out. And when I went through the bottom kitchen cupboard, I found out that the whole shelf was sagging and about to break! Sean fixed it for me and then built me a nice sliding shelf so I could get into the back corner without having to lay on my stomach and blindly reach under the shelf.

The finished product!

Summer's harvest of lavender.

Off-Line for the Summer

Well, with the summer break, I thought I'd have more time for blogging. Instead, I am finding that I have less! Days are full of extra lessons (fun ones!) and extra outings as well as some serious deep cleaning. Throw in a vacation or two and our summer is full! So I decided to to make it official and just take the summer off. See you in September!

Misunderstanding...

Is when your 3 year old daughter tries to tell you after swimming lessons to go back and get her pink purse, but you are in a rush to get home, and since you are holding a pink purse in your hand you tell all the kids to get in the car, only to find out later that she brought two pink purses and managed to put your cell phone in one of them.......the one left behind at swimming lessons.

Is also when your husband, tired and hungry at 8:30pm, stops at In and Out Burger on the way home only to find out when he gets home that you had cooked up two chickens and a roast. Plus, he being the spontaneous loving guy that he is, bought french fries for all the kids not knowing that they were in bed with their teeth brushed...... Pull out those tooth brushes for round two!

Summer Ideas

In keeping with the theme for planning for the summer, the kids and I made up a list of projects and activities that we would like to do this summer. We put it up on the refrigerator to give inspiration when the kids get bored, and remind us of what we want to accomplish. In no particular order here is our list.

Pop - up Cards (We bought an interesting book on how to make these.)
Origami
Water balloons
Squirt Gun wars
Painting
Movie Festival
Week at Grandmas and Papas
Swimming at Club
Air Soft
Make Jam
Put a door on the club house, paint the inside and "work" on it - needs authorization and funding!
Children's Museum
Board Games
Bowling
Waterslides
Slip and Slide
Make Ice Cream and Sorbet
Lemonade stand
Model Airplanes
Crochet project

*I'd love to hear some of your ideas for summer!