my blessed life

...Egg-in-the-Basket, Birds Nest, Toad-in-the-Hole, Cowboy Eggs, Egg-in-the-Hole....the list goes on and on. Whatever they're called, we love them! My hubby first started making them for us. He had them growing up~I did not, although I'd seen them, recently...you know, in pictures from food magazines:) Once we had them though, we were hooked! And now I've taken on the preparation of them most of the time. Sometimes we even have them for lunch. Here's how we make them: Take whole wheat sandwich bread and cut a 2"hole from the center using whatever works. I use a round biscuit cutter. Reserve the cut rounds. Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a small skillet on medium heat. Place your bread in the skillet...just long enough to soak up a little butter, then flip it over so the other side goes in the butter, too. Crack your egg directly into the hole in the middle and sprinkle on a little salt & pepper. Cook on low enough heat that your egg cooks not-too-quick...

It was so hard to get this week's dinner plans together for some reason. I think I'm just a little bored with what I've been cooking. However, Vince is out of town for most of this week and I need to cook just what the kids will like and eat. I'm pleased with what I've finally decided on~with input from the *peanut gallery*:) I admit I sometimes don't eat very well when Vince is out of town. I'll just fix something child-friendly for the kiddos and then just snack around for myself. But then I get all cranky because I haven't had anything good to eat... haha So I'm determined to make good meals for all of us this week! I did try a new-to-the-kiddos recipe this past week that was well-received, so I'm sharing that with you today. I always love it when The Princess says "Mom, you can add this one to the list!". Quick Quiche 3 eggs 1/2 cup biscuit mix (like Bisquick) 1/2 cup butter, melted 1-1/2 cups milk1/4 tsp. salt Pepper...

That's definitely what these pecans should be named! I made these this weekend to serve at a wedding shower that I was helping to host. They were a hit ! And, frankly, it's a miracle there were any left to serve after Vince and I started *sampling* them beforehand. I couldn't stop! (Maybe that explains my tummy-ache later...). And you know the funny thing? I don't even like pecans! Crazy, right? That's how ridiculously good these things are. Go and make them right now! Sugared Pecans (from AllRecipes.com) 1 egg white 1 tbsp. water 1 lb. pecan halves 1 cup sugar 3/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cinnamon ***** Preheat oven to 250F. Grease one baking sheet. Whip egg white and water together until frothy. In a separate bowl combine sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg white mixture, tossing well to coat pecans. Next pour in the sugar mixture, tossing until the pecans are evenly coated. Spread pecans on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250F for 1 hour, stirring eve...

Remember my summer reading list ? Well, I've been working hard on it all summer long. I admit that it was somewhat ambitious, but I like a good challenge. Since August is almost gone and we start back-to-homeschool in a little over a week, now is as good of time as any to review my list. Books I finished: Before Green Gables , by Budge Wilson~As skeptical as I was about a different author adding to the Anne stories, I really liked this book. I thought that Wilson stayed with the spirit of L.M. Montgomery's writing very well. I think this story gives great background for the original series and it's worth the read. The Glass Castle , by Jeanette Walls~What can I say? This book was amazing--and unbelievable--but it's actually an autobiography. Even thought there is a little bit of rough language and the story is heartbreaking, I definitely recommend it. It's quite eye-opening. Hinds Feet on High Places , by Hannah Hurnard~This is an allegorical book (think: Pil...

Lately I have received essentially the same question from several different people: "How should I start homeschooling my preschooler?" This is a worthy question, although I find that sometimes we stress over this subject more than we should. I thought I would share a little here about how we handled the preschool years at our house. We had fun ! And lots of it! Seriously, even though we focused on educational toys and great books for our children from birth, learning has always been a fun and natural part of our lifestyle. So without any formal preschooling our children were naturally learning their letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc., simply because we were talking with them about those things in everyday life. Some of our favorite *preschool* books are: 365 Days of Baby Einstein Animal Crackers, by Jane Dyer Little Bear's Colors & Shapes, by Jane Hissey The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury The Complete Adventures of Curi...

This past week The Princess has been immersed once again in one of her favorite books, A Princess Primer. You can see how she gets her nickname. There is a recipe in the book for *Princess's Favorite Fizzy Punch*. It involves pink lemonade and ginger ale and my sweet hubby thought it would be fun to surprise The Princess by making it for her and having a family tea. Isn't that so sweet?! We all enjoyed our fizzy punch along with some strawberry tea cakes (a la, Little Debbie). Delish! I'm thinking regular afternoon tea time should be implemented at our house! Although when school starts I'm going to require the sort of tea that has caffeine (Earl Gray, anyone?).

Over at Heart of the Matter {online} homeschool moms everywhere are sharing *a day in the life* at their homes. This includes their schooling schedule, of course, which I am still working on for our year. We are not starting back full-time until the day after Labor Day, so I still have a little time to get my planning finished. My goal for this week is to actually sneak away from the house while my hubby is home and find a quiet corner in our local coffee shop and plan to my heart's content. Lucky for me, I have a wonderful new school planner! And have I told you about my new school planner, The Well-Planned Day ? I am positively giddy with delight! I usually have to wait until January for all the joy of filling in a new planner/calendar. This year I got it early ! Like I said.... giddy ! I debated for a while about what type of homeschool planner to use this year. Last year I sort of made my own using a three-ring binder and online downloads. It worked g...

This past week I have been reminded of the importance of the *little things*. No, nothing terrible happened or anything like that, I've just been more aware. 0261. air-conditioner on a very hot day 0262. home-cooked food 0263. hearing my children giggle 0264. a good night's sleep 0265. good clothes to wear 0266. a {paid-off} car to drive 0267. health 0268. an unexpected rain shower 0269. great books to read 0270. my family

We just wrapped up a fun and laid-back weekend! It was full of things like a visit to the farmers market, exploring a *new* antique store, taking a country drive, making pesto, and a night out with my hubby. " Yea! " for weekends, right?! Now it's back to the weekday schedule and, boy, do I need to get back to it! These past few, busy weeks have left my house a little neglected. (Or has that been the past seven years, since the kiddos have come along)? However, this past week my Princess has been on a domesticity kick: dusting, sweeping, Swiffering, cleaning windows...all without being asked! I mean, she's been begging to do *chores*. And even though she's not as interested in doing the chores I need her to do (you know, like, cleaning up her own room) , she's just dying to help with things like mopping. I think it has something to do with allowances... Whatever has brought on this great desire to help out, I'm planning to exploit it to its full...

Today was the first day of classes for public and private schools in our area. Our homeschool group celebrated by having a *Not-Back-To-School* pool party. It was the perfect relaxing time with our friends on a very hot day. And I have the sunburned shoulders to prove it! The kiddos had a great time...and, yes, they conked out early:)

This has definitely been a summer of reading for my children! I shared in an earlier post that they have participated in several reading challenges, reading over 50 books between them. I've been very proud of them! Plus they've won some cool prizes. My daughter's current passion is The Magic Tree House series. She has read nearly the entire series this summer. I think she just has a few left to go in our library book basket. When asked which was her favorite and why she would recommend it she said, " Lions at Lunchtime is my favorite because it happens in Africa! And you should read it because it's so interesting!" My son is a little more fickle, having more like a favorite book-a-day. His current obsession is a grouping of books that were actually mine when I was a child. (You can see all the tape on the bindings). His absolute favorite is The Mickey Mouse Make-It Book though. He adores crafts of just about any kind and this is a book full...

This week Heart of the Matter {Online} is hosting a blog hop for us to share photos of our children...and *students*. I couldn't resist jumping in because I love to talk about my awesome kiddos! This is The Princess . She is 7 and will be starting 2nd grade this school year. It's hard to believe that we've been homeschooling her (officially) since she was 4. She loves reading and isn't too fond of math (I'm hoping to change that this year); she adores animals and is so happy to finally have a pet mouse; she loves to swim and ride her bike. She is my sensitive child with the tender heart; my little preemie who came at 32 weeks (she tried at 28 weeks), so tiny and precious. I love her so much, she is such a blessing to us. Meet Mr. B . He is 5 and is starting K5 this year. He's very excited about that, too! He has done preschool work along the way, but can't wait to start in all of his new books. He loves Legos, Toy Story, Star Wars and b...

This past weekend we had the opportunity to visit another one of our national parks: Cumberland Gap National Historic Park . I visited there as a child with my parents years ago~I think I was the age that The Princess is now~and remembered how beautiful it was. Since my last visit there however, they have made a lot of improvements, including building a beautiful new visitor center. We all had a lot of fun exploring their displays and browsing in their gift shop. They even had these adorable little Junior Ranger uniforms for sale. I would've bought a couple of them just for fun if they hadn't been $40, but I did get Mr. B to try on a hat for a quick photo. Isn't he cute?:) We had a lovely day to visit, it was actually under 100F! We didn't start sweating till late in the afternoon...lol While enjoying our picnic beside a mountain creek we got to see a host of swallowtail butterflies flying around over the water. They would cluster on the rocks beside the creek~t...

0251. the blessing of getting to be my children's teacher 0252. and spend those precious school hours with them 0253. sharing trips with my kiddos to places that I also visited as a child 0254. and trips to new-to-us-all places 0255. supportive family 0256. supportive friends 0257. watching my kiddos overcome their fears 0258. and take on new challenges 0259. the joy of an ice cream cone on a hot summer day 0260. knowing that God knows our next step even when we don't