Raising Hands

Last year at this time things looked very different around here . We made the bold decision to home school our oldest son through his Kindergarten year. The journey to that choice actually began nearly a year before that! Two years ago in January we began touring local schools both public and private. The first school we went to see was our local Catholic K-8, Most Blessed Sacrament. MBSCS has an impressive, new and modern facility. It was obvious just walking through the doors how much they cared for their students. We were impressed by their rigorous academic curriculum and emphasis on the education of the whole child. The integration of arts and sciences together and the amazing access to state of the art technology. Our tours through other schools were mediocre at best (and I'm being kind). MBSCS set the bar high and we were soon on our way through the admissions process. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Class sizes are kept very limited and the Kindergarten class was f...

I love hearing what little ones have to say. I'll get around to interviewing all the kids but I begin today with our littlest little.  What is your name? Isabella (isa•bewa) How old are you? Two What color is your hair? Green What color are your eyes? Blue like Mommy's What's your favorite food? Oatmeal (the last thing she ate;-) What's your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me What's your favorite treat? Chocolate (a girl after my own heart) What's your favorite color? PINK!!!! What's your favorite book? Bunny (Benjamin Bunny) What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Scratchy (Whisker rubs) What's you favorite thing to do with Mommy? Read stories What's your favorite Movie? Frozen Favorite TV show? Doc McStuffins Who is your best friend?  You Mommy What's your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my baby bike (she has a push car and a peddle car so I'm not quite sure. She loves trying to ride her brothers Big Wheels too)  What's your favo...

My sweet friend Adriane from The Little House on the Dairy asked me to do a 10 in 10 this week. I love these little peeks into what my friends are up to since we live all over the country and rarely get to see one another. I picked a day (last Friday) that the kids would have an activity so you wouldn't get ten pictures of the insides of my dishwasher and washing machine. You're still going to see some laundry though. It can't be helped.  What started out as a run of the mill Friday took one turn after another and became sort of a mess of a day. but here it is anyway. It's about to get real. 8:00 AM (really almost nine) The kids and I are reading Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims this Summer. We're really enjoying it so far and I admit to be learning just as much as they are.  9:00 AM Breakfast continues. I'm through reading and usually unloading and reloading the dishwasher while the kids finish up.  10:00 AM  You can ...

You know how you Pin tons of would be delicious meals on Pinterest and then eat the same old same old every night? No? Just me then? Well alrighty. Tonight I broke tradition and made this delightful and satisfying Summer supper. The weather today was dark, grey, rainy and not as hot as it's been recently but with 200% humidity it doesn't matter. This colorful, bright, sweet, and spicy salad was just what we needed. The recipe comes from a blogger named Lindsey who blogs at Pinch of Yum . Reading about her preparation of this dish makes me very thankful to live in a country where a good washing of my vegetables with good ole tap water is sufficient to keep bad things from happening to me and my family. She describes a process of having to bleach her fresh produce in order to consume it raw.   Blogger Lindsey was writing from the Philippines at the time. Head over and check her amazing pictures and please forgive mine. Chopped Thai Chicken Salad What you need: (F...

After a cold hard Winter it seemed like strawberry season would never come. It's been a heavenly few weeks slicing fresh berries on cereal and salads but nothing compares to Strawberry Shortcake.  I love making bakes goods from scratch. I specially love to use family recipes. But I'm also not ashamed to take a little help from the store. In this case doing it just like Grandma means using Bisquick. She used the Shortcake recipe right on the box! The light and slightly sweet biscuits are perfect for soaking up all that wonderful strawberry juice and take me right back to my childhood.  Bisquick Shortcakes What you need: 4 cups sliced strawberries 1/2 cup of sugar (I use half that amount) 2 3/4 cup Bisquick 3 Tbl granulated sugar 1/2 cup milk 3Tbl melted butter whipped cream What to do: Sprinkle sliced berries with sugar. Mix well, cover, and set aside. Combine ingredients until a sticky dough is formed and drop six biscuits onto an ungreased...

Blueberries are in season here on Delmarva which means blueberries are on sale at the supermarket. I'm generally not a fan of blueberries but I'm trying really hard not to pass my personal food aversions on to my kids and I don't mind blueberries in some baked goods.  My Grandma made a killer Lemon Blueberry pound cake. If I ever track down her recipe from an Aunt I'll gladly share it. So what to do with my blueberries today? I'm not afraid to take a chance on recipes found on the Internet. This recipe from SouthernFood was just what I was looking for. It combines blueberries with my love for sour cream coffee cake and begins with a stick and a half of butter. I followed the recipe as written. The only additional step I took was to dredge the rinsed berries in a bit of flour before folding them into the cake batter. It helps with even distribution and stops some of the color from bleeding into the cake. I also made a quick glaze to pour over top (butter, powdere...

This week we traveled back up North to the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children to follow up with Dr Connor, the Orthopedic  surgeon caring for Jacob's broken collarbone. Jacob fell out of bed in the middle of the night (no horse play involved;-) and broke his collar bone almost four weeks ago. We learned on Tuesday that Jacob is healed and free to resume all of his regularly scheduled activities. Jacob was devistated at his first visit when he was told he had to stay out of the pool for three whole weeks! It's been tough for him to watch his brother and sister at their lessons. It's been difficult for me to keep a six year old boy in a shoulder sling with his two feet on the ground:-)  In the car on our way home and not yet off the hospital grounds Jacob asked if he could write a thank you note to Dr. Connor. He said he wanted to thank him for taking such good care of his bone.  Steve reached over and grabbed my hand because he knew I'd just burst into tears behind my sun...