New Favorite Author

I have a deep love of reading just about anything I can get my hands on.  About 9 years ago I was introduced to Christian Fiction and my love for books grew even more.

I can still feel the emotion I had while reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  I stayed up until 3 am to finish it and woke up with "crying eyes" the next morning.  Amazing book.

I've worked my way through almost every book written by Karen Kingsbury and Beverly Lewis.  I have many favorites that span across quite a few Christian authors.

Back in June I picked up a book that had been on my shelf, sitting among a few pass-alongs from my mom.

It was this book:

Oh my goodness, I could not put this book down!!!  I worked through the entire series (4 books) in a week.  We won't talk about the laundry situation during this time!  This is also the part where I could tell you that I had to beg the library to take me back so that I could check out the rest of the series--I think we could set a record for late fines.

The Heirs of Montana series follows a widow and her children as they move west with a wagon train to join a family member and start a new life.  The hardships that this family endures on the journey are heartbreaking, yet you can always feel the power of Christ working through the author's words.  Don't you just love that, when the story is so alive and you can just feel the emotion of the characters?

I won't give too much of the story away, but let me say that this was by far one of my favorite series ever.  I love the writing style of Tracie Peterson.  She portrays the characters and the landscape in a way that puts you right there in the midst of it all.  I never thought that I would be so enthralled by historical fiction and was surprised that I enjoyed this so much!

I have since read 6 more of her series and a few stand-alones.  I have not been disappointed by any of them!  If you're looking for an inspirational page-turner then this is the book for you!

Hands On Grammar!

Yesterday we needed something fun and distracting for school time.

 Do you ever have those days?  Everyone is grouchy and complaining and we're struggling to get through our work.  Sometimes I just throw in the towel and call it an off day, but we already had one of those at the beginning of the week (don't judge).

I had seen something similar to this on Pinterest and decided it was just what we needed!

We sat with a pumpkin and the kids had to come up with as many adjectives as they could to describe the outside.

Natalie writing her adjectives for the outside

Then we cut the top off of the pumpkin and dug in for the real fun!  The kids had a blast getting their hands dirty and it was fun because as they were talking and having fun, I was able to catch words they were using and write them on the "inside" paper.  It was a great way to show them just how much we use adjectives!

Check out Wyatt's face--this was definitely what we needed!!

Crock Pot Jambalaya

A friend shared a recipe with me last year for Jambalaya, and since I prefer to keep things as simple as possible...I choose to make this in the crock pot!

It's quickly become a family favorite and it's so easy to make!  This makes quite a bit, but  if we have more than just our family to prepare for, I double the recipe.

Ingredients

16 ounce package of cooked, frozen shrimp (tail off) and/or 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken 1 pound link sausage, sliced 1 bell pepper, diced 1 onion, diced 1 cup celery, chopped 4 cups beef broth 2.5 cups instant brown rice 1 can rotel tomatoes 1 can sliced mushrooms 2 bay leaves 1 stick of butter

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

Place all ingredients in crock pot and mix well.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.

Be sure to stir a few times throughout the cooking process!

Fun Fall and Thanksgiving Homeschool Printables

Here are some fun (and free!) printables and ideas to help keep the learning fun!

30 Days of Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving Color By Number

Number Sort Printables

Thanksgiving Bible Printables

Thanksgiving Word Search

First Thanksgiving Mini Book

Five Little Turkeys

Alphabetize Thanksgiving Words

Fall Mad Libs

Anatomy of  a Pumpkin

Statements and Questions

Cute Coloring Pages

These are just a few that we're going to be using this month!

This picture makes me smile...I love that Mason works hard to imitate the big kids (well, most of the time that makes me smile!).

We've been watching Liberty's Kids and the filling out a worksheet as we watch.  Mason insists on having his own and he takes it very seriously!  

I'm hoping that his eagerness to keep up with the other two will make him a bit easier to teach!

Middle Age

 

On Saturday I will be turning 35.  I'm not dealing with this very well.   I know, ridiculous isn't it?

About 8 years ago Ben was hanging with some guys from our small group when something came up about age.  Ben made a comment referring to 35 as middle age--he was joking, but often you don't know that he is.  From that point on we have laughed about 35 being middle age.

I have NEVER dreaded a birthday.  I embrace them with open arms.  I was so excited to turn 30--I finally felt like a grown up!  I think I might be looking forward to 40.  

But 35?  It's haunting me.  I am convinced that my body is falling apart.  I have hit the age that my chart would read "high risk" if we were to have another baby (noooo...we aren't planning it, but still...).   I have so much gray hair right now that I think it's time to wash it out.  My body aches and every time I feel a new pain I start panicking.  Yet I feel better than I have in many years!

I feel like my life is half over--I pray that it isn't, but I still feel like this.  I think about my regrets, how differently I would have done things.   I worry that I haven't made enough of an effort this far, and what if I don't make the best of the next 35 years?

Then sometimes I get this overwhelming joy when I think about my life right now.  I never imagined I could be this happy.  Never imagined that I would be married to someone who loves me unconditionally and takes such good care of our family.  I start looking forward to the time that Ben and I will have together and watching our kids grow.  I love where I am in life and I want things to stay this good forever.  

I know one day I'll look back on "35" and laugh that I felt this way, but for now it's just overwhelming.  I just hope that "35" is good to me!

No More Java

It is no secret to those who know me that I have a deep love for coffee.  A serious, deep love.

I have great memories of being at my grandparent's house and having a delicious cup of coffee, even as a small child.  My grandmother would have the old-fashioned coffee grinder ready and we would get to work.  Then she would brew a very strong pot on top of the gas stove (and sometimes on the wood stove!) in one of these awesome percolators (we bought one of these a few years ago and Ben uses it on occasion).

I can't think of any family function where there wasn't a pot of coffee brewing.  One of my most favorite possessions is the Bunn coffee maker that my dad gave Ben and I for our first Christmas together.

It was routine for me to wake up every morning, stumble to the coffee pot to get it going, and then proceed to drink the entire pot throughout the morning.  That's a lot of coffee.

Then, in the middle of June something strange happened.  

I woke up one morning and the thought of coffee made me sick to my stomach.  Granted I had some other health things going on at the time, but seriously...no desire for coffee???  

This diversion lasted for almost 2 months, and then I drank a cup.  I was a shaky disaster all day!  I no longer feel sick at the thought, yet I can't bring myself to drink any.

I feel like I'm missing something in my day, almost like I have said goodbye to a friend!  I really, really hope that it's only temporary.  I miss my coffee!

Maybe you coffee lovers out there can have an extra cup for me today?