February Review

I can't believe it is the end of February already. I am continuing to work on some of the goals for the year and striving to be intentional.

I worked on my Unfinished Projects and finished one project this month and worked on a fourth. I did begin a new project, Summer House. I have four charm packs of Summer House fabric and I am making a quilt from that. I am almost finished my I Spy quilt. I just need to finish the binding.

I finished the binding on a block of the month quilt, which I did not do each month but rather waited until I had all the blocks and allowed them to sit in the sewing room and then quickly finished al of them in a few weeks. It really would be easier if you did the block each month when it arrived. This quilt is called Pennsylvania Dutch. I picked it based on my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage which is mainly from my dad's side of the family (my mom can correct me if there is any of that on her side as well).

I think we did a good job on hospitality this month. We had a some guys over for dinner and also a couple over for Stuart's birthday. My kids enjoy company because I will often make dessert on those evenings.

I think I might call the movie our outing for the month. I am ready for spring and nice weather so we can go on some more outings.

I might squeeze a quick hike in this afternoon. The weather is nice and so we will put on our hiking boots and go for a nice long walking -- all three of us.

I didn't do any knitting this month. I think I was busy finishing projects and working on other goals.

I have gotten rid of more things this month. Every now and then we get a plastic bag in our post slot that a charity is picking up clothing or other donations. It is easy, fill the bag, and put it outside for pick-up on a specific day. I had made it a challenge to put at least some things in each bag that we receive.

As I think about March, knowing that the weather will be warmer and the days a bit longer I do want to do more walking and exercise. I have been doing a 60 day T-Tapp challenge. I will measure on the 10th and see how many inches I have lost.

I found someone that will do machine quilting and that person is local. I love the piecing but do not enjoy the quilting. I have decided that I will continue to learn how to quilt on my machine but at the same time send some of the quilts to get machine quilted. My goal is to take two quilts to get machine quilted in March. These are two on my unfinished projects list.

I have my theory portion of the driving test scheduled for March. I have been studying and I am praying I pass the first time.

Those are some of my goals for March. What do you have planned for March?

Beth

Week in Review - February 27, 2015

Where did February go? I will say that I am enjoying the slightly longer days and there are hints of spring. As we walked to the shops this morning, we saw crocus, daffodils, and buds on the trees.

I was a bit nervous about how our week would be after having part of a week off. Thankfully I think we got back into the routine through I just remember J and I didn't do spelling today. I guess he got a break.

I have figured out a way to get some art into our day. Normally we begin our day together with me reading Bible, History, and whatever else. I have begun to give the kids an art assignment using a textbook that I got in a thrift store.

Miss K's still life was a mug. The little squares on the top are marshmallows. The handle is a bit small but it does look like a mug.

I have decided that I want to give the kids opportunities to use real art supplies. I bought some little canvases and allowed them to paint them. J used acrylic paints and Miss K just used some poster paint we had.

Overall it was a good school week. I found some time to work on projects. Miss K wanted to make a dress. Really her idea of sewing is just to cut up fabric. I decided that I would use some of the flannel that I have and make her a nightshirt. I actually made it in an evening. Maybe I have been inspired by British Sewing Bee. I then took the scraps and am zigzagging them to make some more rags.

This morning Miss K packed her suitcase and brought everything downstairs. She told me she is going to Seattle on Tuesday and she wanted her password. She has everything planned for her time there except the ticket to get there.

That about wraps up our week.

Beth

Therapy Thursday #7

Welcome to another week of Therapy Thursday. This is a place where we share ideas, resources and activities that we have done relating to therapy for your homeschooler. It might be physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or another therapy that you are using to help your child reach their potential.

One of the things that I am learning is that I need to plan for therapy to happen and I also need it to be part of our school day. I need to do a better job of that this coming week.

I did pull out some nuts and bolts and give them to Miss K to play with. It has been a long time since she had them out. I did hear an "I can't do this." I sat with her and told her what she needed to do.

It is good twisting and turning practice and does mean the fingers have to do some work.

I have some stickers that we have had for years. I am slowly working through things like this that we have had for years. This was for math. She needed to put 10 stickers on the page. I did combine math and therapy.

It doesn't sound like much therapy but it really does require her to use her fingers and pull the stickers off the sheet.

Our days are getting longer and I am ready for warmer weather so we can get out and run and play.  I hope you are having a great week.

A few things to know before linking up:

• Please link up to a specific post on your blog, not the main page of your blog.
• The specific blog post linked needs to be related to therapy. Please note if the post is not therapy related it might be deleted. 
• By including your blog on this link you are giving permission to have your post linked to other social media and graphics used in featured posts. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Beth

Praying with Confidence

Yes, I have written a number of things on prayer. I think that is because that is something that I am learning at this time. I am learning to pray more and hopefully those prayers are deeper prayers. I am excited to be in the final stages of writing Praying for the Heart.

Praying with Confidence

We can pray with confidence knowing that God hears us.

We can pray with confidence knowing that God cares.

We can pray with confidence knowing that God is able to work.

We can pray with confidence because of who God is.

Our confidence comes from who God is. We need to know him as a God who listens, cares, and is able to do the impossible.

Psalm 25 gives us a picture of who God is and what he wants to do for us as well as a picture of who we are and what we need to do.

God is trustworthy. He is the God of my salvation, a merciful God, loving and good, and a faithful God. When we think of all that God is we know we can pray with confidence.

The picture we see of who we are is not a pretty one. We are sinners, guilty, distressed, afflicted, and troubled. That is not the image we want for ourselves. We need to go back and look at who God is he is merciful and loving. There is hope for us.

This Psalm also gives us instructions as to what we are to do. We are to trust God, wait on the Lord, learn from God, keep his covenant and testimonies and fear God. When we are doing this things we will be knowing and growing our relationship with God and be able to pray with confidence.

We can pray with confidence.

Beth

Choose Life

Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I was reading in Deuteronomy this week and as I read these verses this sentence just struck me. Choose life and there are some simple and yet hard things to do to choose life. My desire for myself and my family is that we will love the Lord, obey and hold fast.

Beth

Half Term Week in Review 20 February 2015

Even though we don't follow the local school schedule we have found that during break weeks there are activities and so we end up with somewhat of a break. This week was half term. We did school Monday and Tuesday and then J went to the local Christian camp with a bunch of boys from church.

Reading is Miss K's strong point. Math is coming slowly. I decided it was time to introduce her to the Bobbesy Twins. This is one that I had when I was a child. She likes to read in bed and she will read for a long time if you don't stop her.

We dissected a rose. (I saw this on a blog recently and don't remember which one, if it was yours thank you for the idea.) We had just finished our chapter on plants and decided it would be fun. One of the Valentine roses was willing offered for science. I needed to hear J excitedly examine and look for the different parts. Biology/life science is not his favourite. He would rather blow things up in the name of science.

Here is a close-up of the rose.

This is what the table looked like on one of our morning. It can be interesting to see what happens. I still have plans to create a self-cleaning homeschool area.

Miss K is modelling a skirt that latest in grocery store bag fashion. Things are so rough here that my kids have been forced to wear grocery bags. Just kidding. It does count as creative play.

J has been missing his Hardy Boys books. We had gotten a bit of a collection when we were in the States by shopping at thrift stores -- 99¢ a book. Someone had posted 43 books for £40 and I decided that was a good deal.

J went to camp. We took a break and I had some fun sewing -- I am finishing some projects and I did start a new one. I made a cover for my iPad and did some mending.

I am excited to try an online organic delivery. An online friend, had a voucher for a free box. Thank you, Sarah. I think I could get used to this.

Have you seen some of the Bible journaling art? I am not an artist but decided to begin to do just a bit. Here is my first page. As I was doing this, I found that I was meditating and really thinking about the passage. I used all supplies that I have here including the journaling Bible.

That about wraps up our week. Next week it is back to school. I am starting to panic that we will struggle to get our days and finish our books. I know you don't have to finish books and there are some that I don't care but there are some that we need to finish.

I had my camera with me this week and took lots of photos hopefully that will redeem me for last week with limited photos.

Beth

Therapy Thursday #6

Welcome to another week of Therapy Thursday. This is a place where we share ideas, resources and activities that we have done relating to therapy for your homeschooler. It might be physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or another therapy that you are using to help your child reach their potential.

This week is half term break. We did a bit of therapy.

I would say that for the most part Miss K's speech is understandable. One of the challenges is the fact that you need to know the context of what she is thinking and talking about. She does struggle with a few words and sounds. Currently one of those is thirteen which often sounds like fourteen. I might have found a speech therapist here that could work with her and help a bit.

I did give her the Toobaloo to see if using that would help her. I bought this but have seen instructions to make your own from PVC. This helps the child to hear themselves clearly. I am not sure if that helped with thirteen but it was worth a try.

That is about all that we have done this week in specific therapy. Join the fun and share what you have done.

A few things to know before linking up:

• Please link up to a specific post on your blog, not the main page of your blog.
• The specific blog post linked needs to be related to therapy. Please note if the post is not therapy related it might be deleted. 
• By including your blog on this link you are giving permission to have your post linked to other social media and graphics used in featured posts. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Beth

Living Overseas - Our Community

We have been here for living in England for 10 months. I thought I would share bit and pieces of our life here. These are our experiences based on who we are and where we live. Experiences may vary in other locations and with other people.

One of the big differences I think between living here and living in the USA is the amount of walking you do. Here we walk to church, the parks, and the shops.

There are some shops at the bottom of the hill. It is about a 7 minute walk unless you have Miss K with you and then it can be a 10-12 minute walk. She might even ask if we can ride the bus. No, we don't ride the bus to the bottom of the hill.

I am thankful for the shops down there as they are great for getting things we need. This is the bottom of the hill. You can see the fields in a distance.

There is a news shop. Basically it has newspapers, magazines and sweets. I don't go in there often except to buy Miss K here Frozen stickers.

The hardware store really has just about anything you could need or want for around your house. I bought birthday candles there for J's cake. We bought our sledge there and it was cheaper than the sports store. I bought slug powder there. We have had a problem with slugs in the utility room and kitchen. The store is not that big but they have all kinds of things in there that you might need.

There is a post office which is great for mailing packages and letters.

The Fruit and Vegetable shop has a bit higher prices than the supermarket. I find the quality to be good and I like supporting a local business plus they call me love when I shop there.

Then across the street there is an Indian take away. I think every group of shops probably has either an Indian take away or a Chinese. We have an Indian one here. We have gotten food here a few times. I miss the Indian restaurant in Hong Kong. I compare all Indian restaurants to that one and usually end up missing Hong Kong.

There is also a butcher. I have gone in there once or twice.

There is a Co-op which is a bit more than a convenience store as it has meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, bread, and a number of other things. I will say that we are probably in the Co-op a few times a week. The supermarket is cheaper but it is great to have this option here in our neighbourhood. J will run to the store sometimes for me.

So when I say I am running to the shops, this is where I head. I might be getting milk or some fruit or sending a letter all of those things can be done in the shops.

What else would you like to know about life here?


Beth

Remember

". . . you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, 

who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

Deuteronomy 20:1

This was a reminder to the children of Israel but how true it is for us today. The reminder of what God has done and the fact that he continues to be with us. That was a reminder that I needed today.

Beth

Week in review - February 13, 2015

Somehow it has become my routine to blog about the week on Saturday morning. Maybe that is because the house is quiet. Here it is Saturday morning. It is a bit hazy outside but warm inside.

I love Mondays as it is a new week and we do not have anything outside of the house on Mondays. Miss K said she was sick Monday morning and did spend quite a bit of time in bed. I am not sure how sick she was but I allowed her to spend the morning in bed.

J and I had a great morning doing school together. It took me back to the days when I began homeschooling and it was just he and I as Miss K was at preschool.

Tuesday is our busy day. I have decided not to require much of J -- he has flute and piano lessons, he has his "socialisation" time with the other HE boys and he get French and composers. If my expectations are within what he can do it will be better for all of us.

Wednesday was a busy school day working to get as much as we could done so we could go see Big Hero 6. We did it. We got our work done and were able to get to the cinema for the 2:30 showing. I am glad that I did it. It is fun to sit and watch the kids smile and laugh and just enjoy themselves. We are making plans to go to Shaun the Sheep (well, they don't know about those plans yet).

Thursday is another day in the week when we don't have anything on the schedule until Miss K's ballet at 4:15. She loves ballet and would get ready at 8:30 in the morning if you allowed her. Ballet has been so good for her.

Friday is a short day -- J normally goes to HE football in the afternoon but it was cancelled. He had another football game in the evening. I love living here I give him money for the bus and he meets his friends and they go. I really should go see one of his games but he plays goalkeeper and I get nervous.

I have been putting more Bible memory into our weeks. The kids are not doing AWANA at this time so I decided to just do it as part of our day. I am pulling verses from my old BMA (Bible Memory Association) books. Those books are old -- from when I was a kid.

We were reviewing working on memorising one of the verses and popping balloons. The kids had fun popping the balloons and I think we memorised the verse at the same time.

I thought I had more photos from this week but I can't find them. Anyone have a good system or organising photos?

Today is my husband's birthday. I am making his favourite food -- Mexican. We invited a teammate and his wife for dinner so it should be a fun evening.

Next week is half term -- While we don't follow the school system here there are all kinds of activities during the break and so we will take a break for part of the week.

I will try to have my camera out and get some more photos.

Beth

Therapy Thursday #5

Welcome to another week of Therapy Thursday. This is a place where we share ideas, resources and activities that we have done relating to therapy for your homeschooler. It might be physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or another therapy that you are using to help your child reach their potential.

I have to say that this is helping me to be more intentional about doing some therapy activities. We did some fine motor activities this morning.

I saw this on pinterest and decided it was an easy activity -- just a can and some rubber bands.

It actually was a bit harder than I thought. It requires quite a bit of pinching to get the rubber band and then to pull.

She used one hand to hold and the other to pinch and pull off.

I could tell it was hard as at one time her tongue was out which is usually a sign that she is tired or working hard.

She was quite proud of herself when she finished it. She made a comment about her hair being wild. It is but it is not that noticeable in this photo.

I also have her a dish and some tongs to move fuzzy balls. She enjoyed that.

Those were just a few fine motor things that we did this week.

A few things to know before linking up:

• Please link up to a specific post on your blog, not the main page of your blog.
• The specific blog post linked needs to be related to therapy. Please note if the post is not therapy related it might be deleted. 
• By including your blog on this link you are giving permission to have your post linked to other social media and graphics used in featured posts. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Beth

Organising Recipes

The assignment this week from Michelle at 34 weeks of Clean was to organise recipes. I had done quite a bit of that before we moved but decided that it was time to go through them again.

Here is my shelves of cookbooks. I find it interesting to see what cookbooks other people have so I will share mine.

Bottom Shelf
More with Less - I use that quite a bit and it looks like I use it which spots and splatters. This has  lentil recipes, chicken & pineapple, English Muffins, white sauce and other recipes.
Betty Crocker's Vegetarian Cookbook - there are a number of recipes from that that we enjoy
Betty Crocker's New Cookbook - This is a great go to book for things like meatloaf, cookies, Alfredo, and a few other things.
Red notebook which fits my A4 paper - I did go through that and put everything in the big blue notebook.
Big Blue Notebook - This fits 8.5x11" paper. This has printouts and magazine recipes. I did find some things that I need to try. These are all in page protectors.

Top Shelf
Extending the Table - This book has recipes from around the world. I have found a number of lentil and curry recipes in that book.
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes - I have used this in the past but currently I don't have a refrigerator large enough to store dough.
Wholesome Home Cooking - I have used this some but I think this is a cookbook that I should explore a bit more.
Mennonite Country Style Recipes - I use this for a number of recipes including lots of my Christmas cookies.
Delia's Complete Cookery Course - this was recommended as a great British cooking resource.
Jamie Oliver Comfort Food - I just got this for Christmas and have not cooked from it much.
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - I bought this a few years ago and have found a number of recipes that we love in here.

I enjoy looking through cookbooks. I did declutter before we moved.

Here is the work in progress as I sorted through the recipes. I did find quite a number of pages to get rid of and also found a yummy recipe that I used to make.

Here is the stack of papers that I decided to get rid of. For some I decided I will not use the recipe and don't need to keep it.

My big goal in this area it to have a chart of meals we like referencing where the recipe is found. I have not decided if that is a real goal or just one of those dreams.

I do have this done on a small scale for soup, salads, and side dishes. I need to make some better tabs.

My recipes are organised and I did find a few new things to cook. Here is the sausage recipe I discovered.

Italian Sausage & White Bean Bake

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb Italian sausages, cut crosswise in 2 in pieces
3 leeks (white and green parts) I used onions
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 in pieces
3 clovers garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans white beans such as cannelloni, rinsed
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I skipped this and maybe added some dried parsley)
salt and pepper
2 cups fresh coarse bread crumbs

Heat over to 375. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages until browned, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate.
Wipe out the pot and head 1 Tbsp of the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add the leeks, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until beginning to soften, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices; bring to a boil. Stir in the beans parsley and 1/4 tsp each sale and pepper. Transfer to a 3 qt casserole dish.
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the remaining oil and sprinkle over the bean mixture. Be until golden brown and bubbling. 25 to 30 minutes


Beth