Emily's Music

Last week Emily started Piano Lessons and this week she started Choir! She's going to have a musical year.

We are also reading together as a family, "The Gift Of Music: Great Composers and Their Influence." Each chapter is on the life of a composer, his story and influence during his lifetime and afterward. The author gives suggestions for pieces to listen too. I've been able to get some CDs from the library that correlate with each lesson. Every Tuesday after lunch we read a chapter and listen to some samples of the composer's music. I let the CD run while we do our art class. I just love this book, written by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. Ms. Smith had been an opera singer before she got saved and moved to L'Abri in Switzerland. While not a complete overview of music, the stories are interesting and give a good glimpse at the composers lives. This is my favorite quote. "The more we acquaint ourselves with that which is truly great and beautiful, the more we will dislike and turn away from that which is shallow and ugly." Listening to classical music in this way helped our day be more cheerful. And when Emily noticed the bust of Mozart on Jenn's piano and found out who it was, she was so excited that she knew him and had heard his music. She especially loves "The Magic Flute" and the Queen of the Night.

Not Quite Right

When I was five or six I remember telling my mom that I really liked a certain drink. Only, I couldn't remember what it was called. It was kind of like milk, but thicker and creamier. She could only guess it was buttermilk. It looked right and as I took a big sip I was so disappointed. It was July, and what I was remembering was Egg Nog.

We usually make pancakes once a week. Now that we're gluten free around here, the recipe from this cookbook is our favorite. But Evan mentioned that he missed buckwheat pancakes. Remembering my story, I asked him if he was sure. Yes, it was buckwheat. Well, buckwheat is not really wheat at all. And it's gluten free. So this morning I found a recipe for buckwheat pancakes and made them up. I thought they were better than what I remember buckwheat tasting like. However, Evan realized he'd made the same mistake after all. Looks like I'll be eating a lot of buckwheat pancakes over the next few weeks!

Unexpected Fun

We used to take out the stress by building forts! Fall of '05.

We've been hittin' the books for a solid month now and the strain shows. The house is a mess, kids are not so excited about my less creative meal plans, and I had three days in a row where I pretty much was on the verge of tears the entire day.

While I am learning to depend on God for each day, being faithful to do the job He's given me to do, He gave me some unexpected surprises this week. In the rush of life, I don't want to forget them. I need to remind myself again of God's faithfulness. I too easily forget.

During one of the tearful days, I mentioned to a friend that my neck and back were hurting again because I took on too much housework when Sean and Evan were gone . We have a wood ceiling that collects dust and cobwebs that I was trying to tackle. I only got half way through before I knew I had overdone it. She sent me a text the next day asking if she could come over and help me get the rest of those cobwebs. I was so surprised! It was such a blessing to not only have help, but to know that God has given me real friends who love me, cobwebs and all!

Not only was I blessed with friendship this week, but we got to know our neighbors a bit better too. One neighbor offered to let us use her pool. We took her up on the offer yesterday. It was so hot! Later that day, a car drove down our drive with another neighbor who just came over to introduce themselves. They are believers and have kids our kids ages! I have been wanting to get to know some of the neighbors more and just praying for God's timing.

Then to end the week on a great note, we were invited to go play wiffle ball with some friends tonight. Now, I don't really care for sports. I think the only time I ever really played any kind of ball game was in 7th grade PE. But my kids really wanted to go, and I really wanted the fellowship. We had a blast. Emily had her first experience hitting a ball and she scored 2 runs for her team. As I was rounding second base, I realized that I was truly having fun, unexpected fun!

Poor Child

Last week, Amy was lobbying for a game. She pouted, "All our family ever does together is read the Bible and eat dinner as a family!" Sean and I snickered and then played UNO with her.

She never has any fun.

The Week In a Nutshell

Last weekend Sean and Evan went on a backpacking trip to Yosemite. They came home sweaty and tired, but they had a great time! I gave Evan a day off school to recover, then we were back full time to school. Here are a few highlights.

The week was full of art and writing. We normally do an art class on Tuesdays, but this week, the kids didn't seem to want to stop drawing. I think the colored pencils were out all week. I found an interesting website that teaches drawing portraits. I almost have all the supplies so we can get started. The first videos came this week and while I know we won't be able to draw quite as well as the instructor, I'm going to try and keep it fun so the kids can learn some more techniques.

We started The Institute for Excellence in Writing's Continuation Course this year. The first assignment was to write a story based off pictures. The kids were working late last night trying to get it done. They were laughing at each others stories and frustrated at all the details of the assignment at the same time. Writing has been particularly hard for Evan. Sean and I were proud of him for sticking it out and learning that it can get easier with practice.

Emily will be taking beginning piano with our friend Jenn this fall. She came up to me at church and exclaimed, "Guess what, mom?! I'm taking piano with Jenn, and Riley is taking piano with Jenn, and Maggie is taking piano WITH JENN!!!" She is so very excited to be taking piano with Jenn, whom she loves. It's even more fun for her knowing that some of her friends are doing the same thing as well. Jenn and I agreed that their recital will be a hoot!

Love and Double Digging

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. "

Yesterday, my mom told me there is a new science in gardening. As a master gardener, my mom would know the "dirt". Her next door neighbor, a landscaper by trade, was explaining it to her. It used to be that you would dig out a site, double dig if you were serious, to get the soil all nice and fluffy soft before you would plant your garden. The new thought, that has been proven by science, is to just pull out the weeds, only dig a hole for your plant, then add compost all around after your plant is in the ground. In other words, instead of getting the plot perfect, just dig in and then add lots of the good stuff. The result is less weeds, healthy plants and a lot less work.

Our pastor is preaching a series on marriage. Today he correlated marriage to a garden. He talked about pulling out the weeds of selfishness, laziness, and fear, sowing the seeds of love, joy and peace, and bringing about good fruit by keeping in step with God. Instead of trying to manipulate my way into making everything perfect whether in my marriage or my garden, it seems the "new science" of gardening and the very old timeless words of scripture ring true: pull out the weeds, dig in deep, and add the good stuff.

Double digging a garden is really hard work. Can it be that there is an easier way that still produces great results? We have a lot of ground to plant at our new house, so I'll have ample opportunity to try it out. In the same way, can it be that loving Christ above all else, even my spouse, will help me to grow in love for him more than all the "double digging" work I've been trying to do on my own? (Yes, of course it will; you'd think I'd learn!) Loving Christ in some ways is so much simpler. So is mulching like crazy instead of digging several feet! But when weeds are covered by a thick layer of mulch, they can not grow. "When sin becomes bitter, marriage becomes sweet." When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey

Galatians 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A Big Week for Emily

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" Romans 10:9

Emily confessed Jesus as Lord this week, praying for forgiveness of sins! We were sitting in the kitchen and she just out of the blue started asking what it meant when people say "Jesus died on the cross". So we talked about sin and how it separates us from God. I got to share the gospel with her and pray with her. She was so excited to be a Christian! I was even more excited for her. I told her that we had the date Amy became a christian written down somewhere. Emily said, " I don't think she's a christian all the time; sometimes she's mean to me." Yikes! So right away I got to explain, in 5 year old words the difference between justification and sanctification.

She also recently learned to shoot the pink daisy BB gun. Every time she shouted, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" and then shot the gun. I'm pretty sure aiming was optional in her mind. It was all about the yelling.

Finally, it's been a year now since we took Emily off wheat. Since then we've discovered that she is extremely sensitive to gluten which is also in barley, rye and spelt. She may even have celiac disease. I don't know because we didn't have her tested. But when when we challenged her by adding wheat into her diet she had severe flare ups. Now we know that she is sensitive enough to have a reaction even from eating something that was processed on the same equipment as wheat. Going gluten free has been an adventure, but a fun one. And she is growing like never before.

So spiritually and physically, this has been a milestone week for her!

Meditations on a Sunday

Today our pastor continued a study on Marriage. It was the best talk on that subject I have ever heard. You can listen by clicking on the link here. I'm still processing what he said. Forty five minutes of grace filled truth can at times be a bit overwhelming in a good kind of way. I've read most of the books he recommended, so it's not that what he said was so new. But God used our pastor's presentation of God's Word to specifically bring more clarity to what God has been teaching me recently. Sometimes God uses different mediums to direct our thoughts all in the same direction. After church I spent a little time catching up on some other blogs that I read from time to time. Although not all dealt specifically with marriage, what I read just reinforced what I learned this morning. I commend them to you as worthwhile reading!

Practical Theology for Women
Girl Talk
Shepherd Press
CCEF

First Week of School

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul." Proverbs 2:6-10

This is the verse we started with on Monday. It was very fitting! I'm reading a Proverb or Psalm each day to the kids and then we are working through Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce Ware. I'm really enjoying this time teaching them. I love the questions they come up with and I especially love seeing truths of God's Word come alive as we study together.

After taking a short summer break, the kids were a bit hesitant to start up again so soon, and I wasn't sure I would be ready in time. But, God is good! We had a great week. Despite the fact that I didn't have all my curriculum ordered yet, I was not stressed out. And after the first round of protests the previous week, the kids dove right into school and everyone proclaimed that it had been a great week. Here are a few highlights.

Emily is now an official kindergartner. She begged to do Math each day. I'm using Saxon K with her and she loves it. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is living up to it's title. She is loving that too. We're on lesson 37 since we began a few months ago and already she's starting to sound out words as she sees them around her. I'll follow up with Phonics Pathways. She loves to color and do "workbooks" unlike my older two. So far she's tracking with us as we read through Bible, History, and Pilgrim's Progress (in old English no less!).

Amy seems to have made the jump to being an independent learner much the same as Evan did at this age. I got a planner type book at Target for a dollar to write out her assignments for the week. She eagerly checked off boxes as she did her work. It was so exciting! She said her favorite part of school this week was reading a biography on Helen Keller.

Evan said it was all good. He had a lot of fun doing his science experiment in Exploring Creation with Physical Science (Apologia). I changed the way I scheduled things this year. All of the subjects that I read aloud to the kids or need to direct, I assigned a specific class time. The other subjects that Evan and Amy can pretty much do on their own with a bit of coaching, I left flexible for them to learn how to organize their time best. This has helped me to stay on track and make sure that I'm giving the spelling quiz each day. But isn't so rigid that we're run by the clock every 15 minutes. So far, it seems to be working out well.

Since I knew I was going to be busier this week teaching and organizing school, I tried something new and baked up a weeks worth of muffins and cookies on Saturday. I wrapped them up in groups for each day and put them in the freezer. When the kids needed a snack, I just pulled it out with no mess, clean up or baking required. With leftovers for lunch and cookies already made up, lunch was quick and easy too. If I can, I'll try and do this again. It made time in the kitchen more streamlined, and the kids loved having homemade goodies all week long.

We are starting early this year so we can end early. We're planning on taking the kids on a tour of the country next spring. We'll be driving up to Zion, over to Niagara Falls, down through Washington DC and then south to home. It seems far off in the distant future, but it takes a lot of preparation to make a trip like this a reality. My part so far has been to get school up and running. I'm thankful for the knowledge and understanding He gave us this week as we got started.

Chicken Coop Condo

For their birthdays this year Amy and Emily asked for chickens. Yes, chickens. Not a Barbie or a My Little Pony, but chickens. Problem was, the chickens needed a place to live. Backyard construction projects are Sean's forte. He likes to build. He needed to build quickly because baby chicks don't stay chicks for long.

Sean designed a big sturdy coop. It took him several weekends to build. Evan added muscle to the heavy lifts. They even added power so that the heat lamp and cooling fans could be plugged in without runing extension cords from the barn.

The result of their efforts is our new "home addition" to house our new "babies."

We selected a small pasture near the barn so that the chickens would be safer (we saw a bobcat out there two nights ago!).



Sean framed up the chicken coop on 4x4 posts. Its heavy duty.



The finished project has eight little doors on the end to make egg collection easier.



There is a cute little door for the chicks and another service door for the little people to take care of the chicks.


Our new additions. There are four Buff Orpingtons, three Golden Campines, four Andalusians, and one that might be a Sussex - but we don't really know. Amy can tell the 12 chicks a part and knows them all by name.


Last week we adopted four grown hens and a beautiful rooster to the mix. They are separated from the chicks for now because, well........ chicks are food to chickens. So the chicks need to grow so they won't be food. The hens are already providing big brown eggs for our family.


We are looking forward to the added eggs once the chicks become hens and lay their own in about five months. I'm sure there will be extras to go around!

Evan and PaPa Hiked the Grand Canyon!

Last week Evan and my Dad hiked the Grand Canyon "rim to rim!" They started at the north rim and hiked through to the south rim, camping four nights in the canyon during the process. All told they hiked over 25 miles with a 5,000 foot elevation change!

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

I've been reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series to the girls at night. Yesterday we got to live out a scene from one of the books. Laura helped her Pa make hay by trampling it down while he pitched it into the wagon. Haying was a two person job. Well, we actually buy hay for our horses. But our city has a regulation that our weeds have to be cut down so many feet around our property and our house. Evan is out of town, and it's a two person job! So the girls and I helped Sean as best we could. After cutting down so much grass we figured we could at least feed it to the horses. I'm sure glad we don't have to do this in order for our horses to eat. It's a hard job!

My Dad's Favorite Applesauce Cake - Now Gluten Free

I don't know where this recipe came from, but it made it's way into my school cookbook (when I was in the 3rd grade). I have pretty vivid memories of my dad making the page layouts for the cookbook in our dark room, and of course lots of fond memories of my mom making the cake. It's been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. Last week, I tried my first attempt at making a wheat based recipe gluten free. It turned out so good! I'll be bringing these to church this Sunday to share during the fellowship time. I hope you like them as much as we did even if you don't need to eat gluten free. I've cut the sugar in half to make a muffin we could eat for snack and breakfast. If you want sweeter cupcakes, just double the sugar and add frosting.

Gluten Free Applesauce Cake

1 cup almond flour (I used Honeyville brand)
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tsp. xanthum gum
1 cup sucanat
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups applesauce (homemade or unsweetened from the store)
2 eggs

optional: 1/2 cup nuts and 1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with papers or grease.

Blend the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer or other large bowl. Add butter, water and apple sauce. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, especially at first. Add eggs and beat 2 more minutes. Stir in nuts and or raisins. (My family like them plain so we don't do this.) Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe is linked to Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Haiti

"A semi-truck from Samaritan's Purse brought over 25,000 pounds of relief supplies to be flown to Haiti." - Brian and I graduated from high school together.

My car accident was on the same day that the earthquake hit Haiti. Seeing what has happened there brings things into perspective. I may be in pain, but I am alive. I may be really tired and overwhelmed because of the aftermath of an accident, but my family is intact with a roof over their head and (thanks to insurance) a rental car to drive even.

We have friends who live in Florida and serve with Missionary Flights International. MFI has been giving air support to affiliated missionaries in Haiti, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic since 1964. Right now, they are the only non military air planes being allowed into Port-au -Prince. Brian and Terah's story and blog are here. If you are unsure of where to donate money, Missionary Flights International is doing a good work to get relief to Haiti and to share the gospel.

The Protection of The Lord and The Body of Christ

"19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! 20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.22 I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.”But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,all you who wait for the Lord!" Psalm 31:19-23



Earlier this week, I was broadsided on my way to Costco. I had just dropped Amy off at choir, and was headed down a street that had cross traffic. The young lady that hit me thought I had a stop sign, which I did not. God protected us. Emily was strapped in really well to her car seat. Sean always has me kneel on it to tug it really, really tight. She sometimes looks comical strapped in with her 5 point harness. She can hardly move! But yesterday, it was anything but comical. The other car hit right at her door and even though she got some bruises, she didn't receive any severe injury. Praise God!



Evan was on the opposite side and reading a book with his head down. He said he hit his head slightly and had a headache. I got tossed around the most. When I got out of the car, I realized that my neck and upper back were hurting. So we went off to the hospital to get it checked out and documented for insurance.



At this point I was ready to cry at the drop of a hat. I felt so overwhelmed and so pumped up with adrenaline. The ER was crowded and Amy needed to be picked up from choir in an hour. Evan was supposed to have his first leadership meeting of the year at Boy Scouts that night. I didn't know I was going to do. Sean was out of town. (Thankfully he's home today!) I called the one friend I had a number for at choir. Thankfully, she was at choir and of course, was more than willing to bring Amy to me at the ER. I sent a text to Evan's scout master (who happens to also be our pastor, two texts for one!) telling him we weren't going to make it to scouts because the ER was full. He was out of town too, but said he'd let the elders know to pray for us. In what seemed to me just a manner of minutes, in walk Kevin and Felicia (one of our elders and his wife)to the ER! I started to cry again.

Waiting in the hospital is never very fun. Waiting 3 hours without dinner and with 3 tired children is not something I would ever choose to do. Praise God, I did not have to do it alone. Kevin and Felicia stayed with us the whole time, keeping our spirits light, playing with Emily, and visiting with Amy while Evan, Emily and I went back to be seen by the doctors (finally!). I know Sean was relieved too, since he was so far away, to know that we weren't alone.

Honest Scrap Award

Well after two months (has it really been two months!) of not blogging, I almost don't know what to write! Thank you Tricia, for not only awarding me a lovely award, saying nice things about me, but also giving me an easy way back into blogging.

It's not that I don't have things to say. Sean's dad died in October and we had to leave for Idaho. Most of what I would like to write about, I wasn't sure I should. We are going back up in May to finalize some of his estate. Maybe then will be the right time.

Back to the Scrap Award...here are 10 honest things about me. (As if I'd lie to you all!)

1. I am always cold. It might be a thyroid problem, but I'm not sure. The only exception is when it gets over 100 degrees and then I'm too hot to function. I really like it around 75 degrees.

2. I love to read. I read cookbooks cover to cover. I usually read a marriage book or two a year, several christian books dealing with whatever topic I 'd like instruction on, sometimes good fiction, and as much of the Bible as I can. I always read the forward, introduction, notes and footnotes. I just finished up a series of books by N.D. Wilson. They were so fun! I'm also reading Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs, and the Mr. Pipes series with the kids.

3. I pretty much don't eat anything with wheat (or actually gluten) in it. Emily has responded so well to going off gluten. Her rashes all cleared up and she is no longer so so skinny. Even my parents noticed that she just looks and acts healthier. In the whole process, I noticed that I feel much better off gluten. And when I do eat it, it gives me really bad gas, which is probably a sign that I don't digest it that well.

4. I have to wear socks to bed. See number 1.

5. I've always wanted to be a singer. I tried out for a choir group in college and didn't make it. Now I get to live vicariously through my daughter, who has a beautiful voice, (and coincidentally, sings with the same director that I tried out for).

6. I like really dark chocolate. Anything under 60% cacao is too sweet for me.

7. I have horrible handwriting. Teaching my kids has helped. If I really concentrate and practice it's better. But generally when I take notes (like during a sermon), I have my own shorthand. Most of the time I can read it. Usually people tell me I should have been a doctor.

8. I am so incredibly thankful for our church family. If you've read this blog for a while, then you know my "church history". Having experienced loss, makes this present blessing all the more sweet.

9. I really enjoy quiet mornings. With three kids, I need to get up pretty early in order to get them! Lately the sunrises have been so pretty. Reading my Bible, drinking Teeccino/Coffee blend and looking up to a glorious sunrise while the whole house is quiet is such a fabulous way to start the day! In another season of my life, I'd like to add walking in the morning too. Right now, I can't really just leave the house and Sean's schedule is too sporadic to allow me the flexibility to just take off. But one of these days it would be really nice.

10. I really enjoy blogging (even though I go months at times neglecting to write). It has served different purposes at different times in my life. I started blogging 3 1/2 years ago to connect with a friend who lived far away. I made a few new friends during a really difficult time in my life, friends who I still learn from and love to see all the cute pictures of their kids! At other times blogging helped me to connect with some of the women in our church. This past season has been learning about making food gluten free for Emily (and myself) and finally cutting the cord to all processed food. Learning to eat real food, all the time has been really fun and rewarding, but there is a learning curve to be sure and bloggers helped me through it. Who knows what the next season will bring with this blog?

And now, seven other blogs that have inspired me. I'm going to choose ones that have helped me in this transition to eating gluten free. If you or someone you love might have this issue too, or if you would just like some great healthy recipes, I highly recommend their sites.

1. The Nourishing Gourmet- Not necessarily a gluten free blog, but I've gotten so many great recipes that are gluten free. Our recent favorite is the Orange Dream Smoothie. (That's what we call it.)

2. Elana's Pantry - I was fortunate to win a copy of her cookbook, The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook. It has some wonderful recipes! Our favorite is the pancake recipe. It's so good, you'll want to make it even if you can eat wheat flour. She's having another giveaway of her cookbook and a 5 lb bag of almond flour. If I happen to win again, I'll put the extra copy up for a giveaway on this blog. She has giveaways every Friday and always links to others that are giving away her cookbook. I highly recommend her site! Click here to learn more about her cookbook.

3. Gluten Free Easily - Shirley has some great recipes on her site. We made Pomegranate ice cream for Christmas. Yum!

4. Gluten Free Girl and The Chef - I read the book, then found the blog. Funny, with lots of great recipes. Not necessarily always healthy, but if you want gluten free to taste wonderful, Shauna has probably already tested the recipes for you a dozen times. The ginger molasses cupcakes are so good, you'd never know they're gluten free.

5. Gluten Free Goddess - Karina has a lot of great looking recipes that I'm itching to try, but her most helpful page to me so far has been her Gluten Free baking tips and substitutions guideline. If you don't have a particular flour and want to try a recipe anyway, she explains just how to do it. Very helpful.

6. Kitchen Stewardship - Katie is not a gluten free blogger. But she is interested in "real" healthy food. And she does her homework. If you're interested in reading up on how canola oil stacks up, check her blog out. She also gives away really fun prizes.

7. The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen - I've saved my favorite for last. I won their cookbook too! (Can you tell God has been very good to me lately?!) And not only are the recipes really good, healthy and easy, but they are explained in a way that helps you to understand why that particular food is good for you and in what ways it will help you. Plus all the recipes are dairy free (which we need) and egg and soy free (for those with multiple allergies). Ali and Tom will introduce you to new foods like Teff, a grain that is high in iron, and fiber. Spiced Teff cookie bars. Yum!

If you've been nominated and you would like to participate, the Rules are:

1. Leave a word of thanks for the person of nominated you, and link to their blog.

2. List 10 honest things about yourself.

3. Nominate 7 other blogs who have inspired you for one reason or another.

The Dining Rooom

The dining room is one of my favorite rooms. I love the tall windows and the tile floor. We don't have anything to put on the far wall. But that's OK. I'm enjoying the space for now, since we lived with it crammed with all our extra furniture for 5 months while Sean redid some of the floors in other rooms. The piece in the corner is an English Conservatory. We make jokes about it while playing clue. But eventually, it will have some pretty plants inside it, Lord willing and husband approving! I found it at a garage sale too just up the street.

Our fall centerpiece. Normally we fill the cornucopia with gourds and little pumpkins. But I haven't been able to get any yet this fall. Evan really wanted to set out the fall decorations, so we make do with what we had. I think it turned out rather well and now maybe I don't need the gourds after all.

We found the buffet off Craig's list and it turned out we knew the person selling it! That was fun. My mom painted the beautiful painting over the buffet. And Sean brought me the roses. He said it was to say thank you for taking care of everybody who was sick (including the horse). It looks like Sean and the kids may have had the swine flu. If not, they had a yucky one. The girls were sick with viral meningitis before that. I don't think we've gone much of anywhere for the last month. Praise God, I was spared and didn't get sick. Evan thinks it was because I've been drinking green smoothies. Emily says it's because I've been exercising. Whatever the means, I'm grateful for God's mercy. And I really like the flowers!

The Kid's Bathrooms

The girls are very happy with their muted purple bathroom. It's actually the same paint that we had at our old house in the guest bath. We had a bit left over and this way they can use all my old decorations.

And we got a few new ones as well. I found the cute green accordion hanger at a garage sale and the flower print at a different one.

Evan went for the more sophisticated jungle theme. A friend of ours had the same cute jungle theme in their bathroom so we gave them our towels and bath rugs.

The jungle stuff that we had in the kids bath at our old house from Africa goes really nice with the new updated theme. And lucky for Evan, jungle is really popular right now so it was easy to find new towels that went well and were a little more masculine.

Sean found this great bamboo screen for the window.

We put the mirror from Emily's bedroom in his bath. I think it looks really good!

Up next, the dining room...

The Girls Room

You can see the before pictures here. This was the first room we painted (actually the only room we painted). It was such an awful purple and yellow before. Now it's a very pale pink. The same as Emily's room before.

Sean put up some fake wood blinds that look great even though I don't think you can see them in the picture. The girls are doing really well sharing a room. And it's nice having two closets: one for toys and one for clothes.

Up next the kids bathrooms.

Roasted Vegetable Lunch

A few years ago, and before the movie came out, I made Ratatouille from scratch. It was wonderful. But the recipe that I used (from Martha Stewart) was pretty complicated and took a long time. However, the first step was so good I remember thinking that it would be good all by itself. Last week I got a beautiful eggplant from farmers market (for only $1) and zucchini from my CSA basket. I knew I had to try my idea. I threw some sweet potatoes in the oven to roast at the same time and put the roasted zucchini and eggplant over it. It was tasty and very filling.

For other great ideas for thrifty and healthy recipes, visit the Penywise Platter over at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Roasted Vegetables

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lbs) cut into 1 inch cubes

4 medium zucchini cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh thyme (or a few teaspoons dried)

1 tsp salt

Sweet potatoes washed and wrapped in tin foil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes on the bottom rack. Toss together the eggplant, zucchini, 1/2 cup oil, thyme, and salt on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, on the top rack, tossing every 15 minutes, until vegetables are golden, and sweet potatoes are soft, about 1 hour. Depending on the size of your sweet potatoes they may need a bit more time.

The roasted eggplant and zucchini after cooking for an hour.

To serve, cut open the sweet potato and slightly mash with a fork. Cover the sweet potato with the eggplant and zucchini. Serve with a green salad.

My CSA basket. A very full 1/2 bushel basket for $19. What a great deal and it's organic too.