Milestone

It's not the best picture, but it's the best I could get. I noticed that today's smoothie was Number 500 on my BlendTec. I like nice round numbers.....and green smoothies! Here's a recipe that I plan to try this week.

Primal Toad's Cinnamon Power Smoothie Recipe

3 Large Eggs (pastured only, please)
1/2 Cup Almond or Coconut Milk
1 Pear, Chopped (can sub other fruit, if desired)
3 TBSP (1/2 Medium) Avocado
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Ice

Blend and enjoy!

TIMBER!

Last night, a branch on our Bradford Pear tree fell. No wind, no rain, no cause but a weak (unpruned!) tree, I guess. So today, My Honey and all of the Lambies are working on cutting the branch up and pruning the tree. I am taking pictures to document the fun and making a Big Breakfast to feed all the hard workers. I love my job!

ETA: Of course, after making, and eating, breakfast I joined the family in the work. It took several hours, but we got it mostly done. Our green can is full, it will get picked up Tuesday, and we'll fill it right away again. It will probably take a month to get all the branches and leaves hauled away. I wish we had a chipper! Then we'd have lots of free mulch rather than a pile that means an extra weekly chore.

Baked Burritos

We had a yummy new 'recipe' tonight. I made the standard burrito fare: spiced ground beef, Spanish Rice, beans, shredded lettuce and cheese, and sour cream. If I had planned ahead, like KidCraze did, I would have made tortillas, but, alas, Costco provided those. I offered four dinner choices: tacos, taco salad, burritos and baked burritos.

Almost everyone chose the baked burritos. They are yummy and simple.


Baked Burritos

Spoon a measure of ground beef, rice and beans into a flour tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll and place in an ungreased baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Spread tops of burritos with butter. Broil for a few minutes until golden.

Dinner by Daddy

My Honey grilled some burgers for us tonight. After I dressed mine, most of the Lambies started laughing at it. Even my Honey got into the game. I think it's a good looking burger, myself!

It's Getting Closer....

It's getting closer to school time. I finally have all of this year's workbooks prepared. I like to take workbooks apart and have the Lambies copy problems into a notebook. Copying math is one skill that is easy to miss out on when homeschooling!

I have students in almost every book in the program this year!

5 Day Club

Most of the Lambies are participating in this year's local 5 Day Club, two as assistants and the rest attending. It's been making for quiet mornings! I love how excited the little ones are to share verses and invite neighbors to come.

The Lord is Good!

It's official! The Warners get to bring Joshua home! His x-ray was clear this morning, GLORY TO GOD!

Breakfast Sausage

Today I made breakfast sausage. Friday, I found a large pork butt roast....15 pounds large. It was use or freeze by the next day, so it was marked down to just .85 a pound. I didn't end up getting to it Saturday, but as we all know, there is a little wiggle room on meats. Properly packaged and refrigerated, it's fine for a day or two past its date.

I cut the meat into strips that would fit in my grinder and used the "Shake and Bake" method to cover it with seasoning. Then I fed it through the grinder. The result was a well mixed sausage. I portioned it into 2-ish pound servings and into the freezer it went. Well, all but one. Eggs and sausage sound good for tomorrow's breakfast!

Homemade Breakfast Sausage Spices

2 tbsp of dried sage
1 tbsp + 1 tsp of salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 pinches ground cloves
4 lbs of ground pork

Friday Breakfast

I surprised my Lambies with a sweet breakfast today.

PB & J Bars

1 cup all purposes flour
1 cup quick oats
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup softened butter
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup peanut butter
¼ milk
½ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cup fruit jam

Topping:
½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup oats
¼ cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp soft butter

Beat butter till smooth. Add the sugars, beat well. Add eggs, milk, peanut butter, vanilla, beat well. Stir in dry ingredients, Spread in a greased 9 x 13. Spread jam all over the top. Combine ingredients for the topping. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, till done.

Larry-Boy!

Yesterday Polly made this funny little creature with her play dough. I thought it looked a bit like Larry-Boy in disguise.

Play Dough Day

Today, we made play dough! It's a good summer activity that is easily done. Here's the recipe we used:

Homemade Play Dough
4 cups cheap white flour
4 cups water
2 cups cheap salt
1/2 cup cheap canola oil
8 tsp. cream of tarter
food coloring and essential oils as desired

Mix everything together in a large saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon, over medium heat, until the dough forms. This only takes a few minutes. When the dough forms, plop is out onto a counter and knead a few times until smooth.

If you want different colors, wait to add the food coloring until now. Separate the dough into as many different colors as you want and add different food coloring to each. Knead it in and add drops until the color you want develops.

Innocence Update

It's been a while since I posted pics of "Innocence". Here it is, with my iPhone for scale.

A close up of the beautiful focal point.

Here's a close up of where I am currently working.

ETA: Did you see the error in this section? When I sat to work again, I found it and had to remove a single stitch. You can click the picture to see it bigger, then click again to magnify even further.

URGENT: Please Pray

Little Joshua's family is in country and trying to bring him home. However, it has been found via X-ray that he has pneumonia........or it could be TB. They can not bring him home while there is a question and diagnosis and treatment are going to be hard to come by. Read their blog for more details. Financially, an extended stay will ruin the family, as you can well imagine. On top of it all, Lisa's sister died unexpectedly yesterday.

As things seem to fall apart around them, pray that The Rock of Ages shows Himself strong in their lives and moves mountains to get this precious little boy home. Pray comfort and peace for the family in the face of death and confusion. Pray for quick answers, quick provision and quick healing.

Everyday Bread

I made six loaves of my Everyday Bread tonight. Between two and four will go to friends this week, and we'll enjoy a couple ourselves. I love the smell of baking bread. It must be one of the best scents ever!

Everyday Bread
I have a Bosch, so the method would be different by hand. This recipe makes six 8 " loaves.

Combine:
6 cups warm water
3 Tbsp SAF yeast
2/3 to 1 cup honey or brown sugar
2/3 to 1 cup oil
6 cups freshly ground wheat flour

Let sponge for 15-20 minutes.

Add:
2 Tbsp salt
Mix and add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. You can use some white flour here, if you want a lighter loaf. Knead 7 minutes all together.

Turn out onto an oiled surface. Divide into 6 parts. Shape into loaves and put into lightly greased pans. Place in oven and let rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. I bake at 325 on the convection setting for 22 minutes.

Pizza Night

Dinner tonight was homemade pizza! I haven't made it for a while, so it was a treat for the Lambies. My recipe makes three large pizzas and there are usually only crumbs left over.

Tonight, the children didn't even finish off two of them. My big eaters were saying they were too tired to have an appetite. Well, they're all off to bed and now I have one lunch already made for the week!

Guest of Honor!

Grandpa brought the Lambies that were visiting up north home today! He also stayed on for dinner, sleep and a fishing trip tomorrow. We're so glad to have him visit!

Kicking It

We have friends over today. Everyone was tired of playing, so I put on "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution" on Netflix. We're learning about mussels, the function of a horses' frog, ostriches and more. So many interesting facts to absorb!

Spend the Time!

I read this poem over at Larger Family Life. What a reminder! It almost brought tears to my eyes, especially in light of one of the posts I wrote on facebook tonight: "While I'd rather be stitching, Troubles is insisting that we learn everything possible about spiders THIS VERY MINUTE!"

To My Grown Up Son

My Hands were busy through the day;

I didn’t have much time to play

The little games you asked me to.

I didn’t have much time for you.

I’d Wash your clothes, I’d sew and cook,

But when you’d bring your picture book

And ask me please to share your fun

I’d say: "A little later, son."

I’d tuck you in all safe at night

and hear your prayers, turn out the lights,

Then tip toe softly to the door...

I wish I’d stayed a minute more.

For life is short, the years rush past...

A little boy grows up so fast.

No longer is he at your side

His precious secrets to confide.

The picture books are put away,

There are no longer games to play,

No good-night kiss,

No prayers to hear...

That all belongs to yesteryear

My hands, once busy, now are still,

The days are long and hard to fill,

I wish I could go back and do

The little things you asked me to.

Debra Barone

Handicrafts

I guess I should get back into the habit of this daily blogging, huh? I'll try today.

Polly and Troubles have taken an interest in plastic canvas in the last couple of days. With some help from big sister EmBlem, Troubles completed his work, "Female Lion". The design was done freehand, without a pattern. Polly should be finished soon, and if she wants, I'll post her project, too.

There's Been Progress!

Happily, Mike and Jamie finally have a court date! Go over to their blog to read the good news and all about Wilson's new name. It won't be all that long before he's HOME where he belongs!