The Versatile Pretzel

We have been at VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the church all week.  Whew, it was a tiring but oh so rewarding week!  One of my parts of it was to make pretzels.  Not the hard stick kind but the big, soft, mall type.  Actually, I didn't have to make the pretzels, just the dough.  The kids did the shaping as part of their craft (a craft that you can eat is ALWAYS fun!).  Now I have to be honest, yeast scares me.  I procrastinated for way too long on this project!  I love to cook and I actually make all of our bread but I cheat.  I use a bread maker.  Throw it all in, turn it on and walk away.  I love it!  But for the pretzels I wasn't going to get off that easy!

Did you know that there are TONS of different ways to make pretzels???  I didn't until I started researching them.  Boiling them, dipping them in a baking soda/water mixture, letting the dough rise, shaping them and then letting them rise etc...too much work for dough that was going to manhandled by a bunch of kiddos!  I needed quick and easy and forgiving!

This is the recipe that I found: http://www.grouprecipes.com/100596/easy-soft-pretzels.html   The only difference that made to the recipe was to cut the salt down to 1/2 TBSP instead of the 1 TBSP that it calls for.  This is a phenomenal recipe!  They are yummy, easy, and so easy for kids (and adults!) to shape (plus they taste good warm from the oven or cold the next morning!).  They puff up quite a bit so smaller designs may not work all that well, other than that they are flawless.  Oh, we also wrapped some dough around some hot dogs for dinner and put them in the oven, yum!!  SOOOOOO good!  We will be adding pretzel dogs to our movie/game night menu!  I love quick, easy, and homemade!  Here's some pics of what they look like when cooked.

One of the "prettier" pretzel pictures...well, except for my cookie sheet.  =)

Cross examples for the kids for VBS

 

Verses for Our Upcoming Homeschool Year and Beyond!

Recently I asked a very sweet lady if she would be my mentor in the aspects of homeschooling.  It can be a daunting and sometimes lonely calling to be a stay at home, homeschooling mom!  I needed some guidance and she very calmly asked if I had a verse for the year.  A verse?  I hadn't ever thought about it.  Sad but so true.  I tend to get so caught up in trying to make sure that math and reading and writing etc... are done that I forget about the most important part of schooling raising my kids.  Their hearts and their souls.  This year is going to be different.  I have spent a lot of time on my knees and the Lord has given me some verses to apply (and memorize!) to different aspects of our homeschooling. 

Here they are:

For our entire homeschool career I have been given two verses:

 

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

and
 
Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

For me specifically:
 
Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

For this school year (two passages):
 

Matthew 7:16-20

¹⁶ "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

 

and

 

Galatians 5: 22-23 "²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

We are also going to be digging deep into the fruits of the Spirit this year as a Biblestudy.  I am at the beginning of figuring out what to do but I am excited to start planning. (I will be posting pictures too!)  I have too many commitments for this month but as soon as August 1st hits, I will be getting out all my books and starting my planning for the next year.  Nahna will be in 3rd grade and Bubby will be starting Preschool/Kindergarten (I wasn't going to start him this early but he is already advanced and wants to begin school!).  Very exciting times in our household!

Do you and your family have "life" verses or verses that apply to your homeschool?  What are they?

The Thomas and Friends Story by Bubby

Once upon a time, there was Thomas and he didn't like Rosey because she was mean to him.  And then one day Thomas and friends was fighting and they, well, were.  Rosey raced along the track and tell Sirr Topham Hat and his friends "Hey Topham Hat and friends, everybody are fighting."  And the Topham Hat squished one of the friends.  And then Thomas and Percy yelled at Sirr Topham and then they squished one of Topham Hat's friends.  And then they went gone.  And then they raced back and they then somebody throwed them into a tupperware and they throwed him away.  Then they went out side and killed a bush.  

The End 

Sorry for the violence in his story.  He has never been exposed to violence in movies or life.  I'm not totally sure where it comes from!  None of the Thomas stories are like this!  He is four.  He is a boy.  I am proud of his imagination!

A Princess Story by Nahna

Once upon a time, there lived a princess in a beautiful castle.  She loved to go into the garden and pick some flowers.  Her name was Belle Noelle Lilly.  She picked the flowers for her mother, the queen, who loved roses and daffodils.  Belle's father, the king, liked ties very much.  He also liked lights.  

One day, Belle thought of a wonderful idea because it was almost Christmas.  She would give her mom and dad something so wonderful that they would never want to get rid of it.  So she picked some roses and she picked some daffodils to put in a box.  Next, she got some pretty and weird ties to put them in the box too.  Belle also got some pretty colored lights to put them in the gift box.  Then she wrapped it in some tie paper and some flower paper.  Now it was Christmas Eve.  She was so excited to give the box to her parents because she prepared it all by herself.  Finally it was Christmas morning and Belle gave the gift to her parents.  They loved it a lot!  

The End 

I love her sweetness.  It comes out in all her stories!  I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming!

The Kids Learning to Ride Their Bikes

We have never lived in a place that we can ride bikes until recently.  It has been a lot of fun to watch the kiddos grow and love the new place!!  Here is a video of Nahna learning to ride without training wheels.

Bubby is learning too with his brand new bike!!

I love watching them learn and gain confidence in new things!  It is the best part of being a mommy!  Now Chris and I need to get bikes and we will be set for some exciting family adventures!

A Sprinkle of Organization

I have discovered the wonderful world of scrapbook paper, picture frames, and wet erase markers to make lists on!  I am like a kid in a candy shop!  Creating functional and beautiful projects fills me with joy!  No more lost scraps of paper!  Score!  Plus, they are very simple to make and take very little time!  The possibilities for them are endless...I use them for my menu, homeschool lesson plans, and weekly schedule but you could use them for chores, lists, medicine schedules, sports games and practices, etc... 

Find a frame that you like (or you can buy a cheap one and paint it).  For my weekly schedule, I have a frame that is six frames in one collage type frame. 

Go to the craft store and pick out some scrapbook paper (and try not to spend oodles of money on the beautiful paper!--that's what I did!) that fits your decor and style.  There are so many to choose from that you WILL find what you like!  If you want to do sticker letters then I recommend getting them there too!  They aren't necessary unless it is your preference.

Finally, if you don't already have some, buy the WET erase markers.  Dry erase ones don't work well on the glass.

Here are the steps... 1.Cut the paper to the size of the glass in the frame.
2. Decorate the paper however you would like.  I will warn you however that crazy prints make better borders.  It is hard to see the words that you write unless it is a semi-solid background.
3. Finally, put the frame back together.  Hang and enjoy!

Here are the finished projects...

These are reusable "boards" to make my lesson plans for the kids on.

Weekly schedule

Menu for our dinners

Take Two...

        It has been SEVEN months since I last wrote!!!  I will admit that writing has never been a strong point of mine.  I was never the kind of kid that wrote in a diary or journal and I didn't really enjoy writing in them at school either (although I was graded for those!).  This blog was created to keep me accountable to schooling my kids regularly, letting family from out of town know about what we are up to, and just plain old self discipline!  I think I am going to expand it a bit though too.  It will now include recipes, lessons the Lord is teaching the family and me, stories and posts from Nahna and Bubby, crafts projects, frugal ideas and ways to make life more organized and easier!  Hubby might even make a guest appearance from time to time.  He is the talented writer in the family!  :)  Take two is now in effect!   

Maybe I need another blog to keep me accountable to writing on this blog...hmmm...