my blessed life

Today after doing school lessons we decided to take the kiddos to the library. It'd been a few weeks since we'd had a chance to go and since it was a gray, rainy day it seemed like a good time to go. After I'd looked around and gathered up a stack of fall themed books for the kids, I left Vince in charge of watching them (our library has a great play area) and I took off for my favorite spot there: the used book store! I love that smell of musty old books that hits you when you first walk through the door. Most always I find some little something there that I *need*, but today I really hit the jackpot! I found some great books in the children's section. First there were these: The Discovery of the Americas (perfect since we've been discussing Columbus) and Sarah Morton's Day (a day in the life of a real-life pilgrim girl--perfect since Thanksgiving is upon us). Next, I found this awesome Van Gough coloring book! It has tons of his paintings in coloring page fo...

We are in for a spell of perfect weather now, every day luminous, every night brimmed with stars. Picnics at noon, supper by the applewood fire at night, a walk in the cool moonlight before bed. Gladys Taber

These muffins are mmmm...good!! They're the best blueberry muffins I've ever had and are a HUGE favorite with my family.  You've got to try them! The Best Blueberry Muffins (from my friend Sandy) 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups flour 1/2 cup milk 2 1/2 cups blueberries 2 Tbls. sugar 1/2 tsp. nutmeg ********** Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs; then add vanilla, baking powder and salt. Fold in half of the flour and milk, then add remaining flour and milk. Dust blueberries with flour and fold into the mixture. Scoop batter into a greased muffin tin. Mix together the 2 Tbls. sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 large muffins.

This is one weekend that I'm glad to see go. It has been a long one for me. For the first time in my life I had a stomach virus. It was pretty terrible and from now on I have a whole new sympathy for people when they say they've got one. Mine lasted 4 days! It felt so good to wake up this morning and be feeling like myself again. Now I've got lots of catching up to do. Vince was a huge blessing with the kids all weekend, which was wonderful since all I felt like doing was lying on the couch. But the house has gone to pot!! It's a total mess everywhere, so it's going to be a busy day. And I sure haven't gotten any menu planning done since the thought of food, well...it wasn't pleasant. If everything goes well today I think we'll be having turkey meatloaf tonight, but I've got to get to the grocery store today, too, since the cupboards are looking bare. So I'll be back later, much later probably, after whipping this ship we call a house back into s...

Recently I've discovered several new-to-me blogs that I've really been enjoying. One of those is Mt. Hope Chronicles . I enjoy Heidi's photography and also her thoughts on homeschooling. If you haven't visited her yet, you should! This week she tagged me with some bloggy fun, so here goes... 7 Random/Weird Things About Me: I have some texture issues with certain foods, such as: coconut, most nuts, tapioca, oatmeal, cream of wheat.... I'm a history nerd. I like to read all of those historical markers you see around town, on the side of the road, etc. What can I say? I was raised by a dad who was the same way. I love Chopin's Nocturnes. In fact, I think I'll go put them on right now...be right back... I have a secret love affair with butter. I've been caught sneaking little bits of it while cooking. I love to write letters and also receive them. There's nothing quite as nice as walking out the mailbox and finding a handwritten letter from a far-away...

The Princess and I completed her first lapbook today! I think I was even more excited that she was. I'd never even heard of lapbooks until maybe a year or so ago, but since I was preparing to start homeschooling The Princess and so many homeschoolers seem to make them I thought I'd look into them a little more closely. It turns out they are a great way to put together all of the things you've learned and made in a particular study--and a great resource for your child to refer to again. We kept it simple this first time around, but I'm already looking forward to making the next one! Our study was on *Apples*. It included: studying about Johnny Appleseed (I found the best book by Will Moses) learning the parts of an apple going to the local Apple Festival where we taste-tested many varieties of apples and bought apple cider making apple prints with apples and paint fun activity and coloring sheets that I found online making apple cake and apple dumplings (and hopefully I...

I just had to show you this beautiful necklace that I recieved for my birthday from my mother & father-in-law. It is sterling silver with Philippians 4:13 engraved on the ring. It's lovely! It's from this company and by looking at their website, they have a lot of very nice pieces. Thank you again, T & V!!