Just a little reminder amidst a busy season

Thankful for Family and Friends

Really the things that I am thankful to God for are just too numerous to list! My top 4 are...

• My salvation - saved from sin and brought into glorious fellowship with God the Father through Christ's atoning sacrifice - "but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us". Romans 5:8
• The Word of God which imparts wisdom and gives comfort.
• My sweet family - my amazing husband, 8 wonderful children and all other the members close and far.
• Friends whom with we have shared sweet memories and lots of laughter.

For the last 13 years we have celebrated Thanksgiving with dear friends. 22 in all gather to share in prayer, thanksgiving, laughter, warm hearts and delicious food. 

"Childhood friends - celebrating together"

"Pass to the right...about 14 times"

The patriarch/host of the group is 91 (I'm pretty sure) He was so happy to be able to hold our little Mary, 8 months. How awesome is that?!

The greatest and the least!

And winter officially begins when?

It's snowing here!  This is our earliest snow that we've ever gotten since we have lived up on "Heidi's Mountain".   Even though Thanksgiving is still a week away, I think I can say with confidence that "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

Can you see the snowflakes?

You know You Live in the Country When...

You know you live in the country when...

  ~ You look out into the dark, cloudless night time sky and see hundreds of stars.

  ~  The traffic noises you hear are the chattering squirrels and the "maaa" of the goats.

  ~  The tractor has covered parking while the family vehicles do not.

  ~ And when you can shoot a black bear in your own yard!

Yep,  Eric did it again!  We were awakened in the wee hours on Sunday morning to the sound of banging - kind of sounded like pounding on the door.  Then we heard some rattling of bottles and cans.  Hmmm, something was in the garbage.  A raccoon?  No way, the banging was too forceful.  Must be a bear. Pretty awesome since bear season had two days left.  Eric was excited and his adrenaline was running. He was going to get himself a bear. 
We keep our garbage cans along the side of the garage just outside the side door.  I asked Eric how he was going to get outside and not scare him off.  
"Through the side door."  he said matter-of-factly.
"WHAT??  The bear is right there!" I exclaimed. 
I stayed in our room, praying for safety, and watching out the window to see if it would lumber off.  I heard a loud rifle shot followed by the bear's yell/groan/growl.  I heard another shot and yelled out the window to Eric, "Did you get him? Are you ok?"
 "YEP!  Got him!"
The bear had opened the lid of one of our large garbage cans and had pulled out a bag and was ripping it open and piliging through it. When Eric opened the side door, the bear stood up.  He was able to get a clean shot right in the heart.  The power of the shot knocked the bear back several feet.  He got up and started to run down the driveway.  (Amazing power in those animals - running off with a bullet in his heart!) The second shot went into his shoulder.  It stopped him.  Just a couple of minutes later and he was dead.  Eric guessed his weight was about 200 lbs.  The hanging weight at the butcher was 98 lbs. so that's about right.  It's being made into breakfast sausage (without all the additives, of course) 
Because it was Sunday morning and he wanted to make it to church, he got right to skinning, gutting, and hanging the meat.  He said it was the easiest skinning/gutting job he has ever done.  He thought it was due to all the fat on him; I think God just wanted him to make it to church on time!  We didn't think to take a picture until after we got home from church. The photo below is not a pretty one, but we just had to show you. 
Yep - we certainly live in the country!

Excuse the gore... icky!

A Stitch in Time

Hannah has shown great interest in learning how to sew on the machine.  We looked through all my patterns and made a list of projects that we could do together this school year so that I could teach her some of the basics.
She is doing wonderfully.  This is her most recent project - what she calls her "medieval dress".  She wanted to make a special dress for her birthday this year as she will be turning 13, and has a fancy date with her daddy!
This particular project had its challenges.  The fabric was slippery and the weight of the train made the fabric shift around.  This particular fabric also freyed a lot...very frustrating.  She learned several new things with this project.  She learned how to line the bodice, put in gussets under the arms, (Something new that I learned too!) and how to put in eyelets for the lacing. 
I teach best when I can demonstrate how it is done.  For this dress, I would sew one side and then she would sew the other side on her own.  It was very fun to sew side by side with such a sweet and eager student.

Lamplighter Book Show - Come Join the Fun!

Do you know about Lamplighter Books?  We love them and have been collecting them over the years. It's usually our biggest splurge at the homeschooling conventions.  We want to build a family library of quality books that build character.  They are beginning to make some of the stories into audio dramas.  We really enjoy listening on long car rides (like to our friend's farm in Ellensburg.)  Last summer Lamplighter began a whole new program called The Guild where the best of the best in their craft for dramatic and visual arts teach and mentor students for five solid days.  Some of you may already know that Caleb, for many years, has had the desire to become a voice actor.  We think this will be an excellent opportunity for him. This year's Guild meets July 15-20, 2012 and is limited to only 100 students.

The registration is pricey, but they offer a "scholarship" opportunity.  They write, "We realize that the cost of attending this once-in-a-lifetime event may be a bit prohibitive for some families. But we strongly believe that students who are willing to work hard should have the opportunity to attend. Because of this, we are offerring a special affiliate program custom-designed for participants of the Lamplighter Guild. Now, students will have the opportunity to sell Lamplighter books and receive a 30% commission on everything they sell."

He has ordered lots of catalogs and is hosting a "Lamplighter Book Show" - this coming Saturday, November 12.  It's an Open House from 1 - 5 pm at our home.  You can look at the books we own, browse through the catalogs, enjoy hot cider and sweets and help Caleb work towards his goal of raising $2,000.

Building a collection of character-building literture is one way you can make a lasting difference in the lives of your children and your children's children.  The values are timeless, the issues are relevant, and the stories compelling.  All the books are beautifully crafted hardbacks.

They make great gifts and Christmas is just around the corner!

Even if you can't make it to his book show, you can still support Caleb by using his code (GUILD 37) when you place an order directly from Lamplighter.  

Can you imagine hearing Caleb's voice as a character in an audio drama?  How cool that would be!

So tell your friends and come join the fun!!  See you Saturday!

"Providence is wonderfully intricate.  Ah! You want always to see through Providence, do you not? You never will, I assure you.  You have not eyes good enough.  You want to see what good that affliction was to you; you must believe it.  You want to see how it can bring good to the soul; you may be enabled in a little time; but you cannot see it now; you must believe it.  Honor God by trusting Him."
                                                                                              - C.H. Spurgeon

A Fabulous Fall Day on our Friends' Family Farm

When we first moved up to Washington I had been in a cute gift shop where I saw a needlepoint pillow that said, "You can't make old friends". I remember thinking that that was so true.  It only happens with time.  One of the first families we met when we moved here remain our dearest and closest friends...eighteen years later!  (YIPPEE for old friends!) At the beginning of this week Hannah went to stay with them (3 daughters) and we got to have their only son stay with us.  I don't think the laughter ever stopped.  You wouldn't think boys would have so much to talk about, but they do! They had such a great time together. 

 Because of unpredictable weather on Snoqualmie Pass, the kids couln't enjoy an extended stay.  We headed over to spend the day and return and gather "chicks".  The day started out cold and very windy, but the skies were clear and the bluest of blues.  At our home, almost all our golden maple leaves are off the trees now.  Our driveway is a lane of leaves!  Ellensburg is so different from the little town on Sultan.  While we live in a forest of tall trees and mountains with often cloudy/rainy weather; Ellensburg is much more flat with wide open space, clear, sunny skies....and often lots of wind too.  This day was no exception, bright blue skies, glorious sunshine, a crisp breeze and...friends! 

It's always fun to see what they have done on the farm since our last visit.  This year they launched a new business, Anderson Family Farm.  They make hand crafted goat milk skin care products (body butter, lotion, soap. salt scrubs).  They really did well at the Farmer's Markets.  They also held a first annual Fall Farm Festival on their farm complete with fiddlers, pumpkin chili, cupcakes, hay maze and obstacle course and a goat train.  Yes, a goat train- little wagons hitched together and pulled by the quad. 

 Since we weren't able to make it to the Farm Festival due to sick children, they were so sweet to hook it all up for us and give it a go.  Our young children L.O.V.E.D. it.  It was so darling.  One of their daughters did much of the painting of the goats.  

Another fun thing that my little girls enjoy on their farm is Millie's playhouse. It's a little girl's dream house with festive window boxes on the outside, pretty curtains on the inside, a red, retro stove and refrigerator, a real (elecrtic) woodstove with glowing embers, and even a snoozing kitty (one of those sleeping pets that look so real!)  Can you say, charming? 

 May I say, that keeps little girls happily occupied for hours! 

Meanwhile the older children talk and laugh and laugh and talk.  I don't think there is ever a lull in their conversation.  Grace buzzed around the kitchen like nobody's business whipping up divine boule to go with the lasagna lunch and super yummy cupcakes (chocolate zucchini with chocolate frosting.) They spoil us everytime we visit.
We are so thankful for this sweet, enduring friendship, so thankful that our children share it too.  They've known eachother all their lives.  They have "old friends".  What a treasure that is!

Cinnamon Rolls

There's something about the smell of fresh baked bread that is so welcoming.  The only thing better than the aroma is the first bite of warm bread with a melting pat of butter on it.  Sometimes that's what we enjoy for lunch, just a loaf of warm,fresh bread and some fruit on the side.
My recipe makes 4 loaves, but sometimes I like to do different things.  Yesterday I divided it up into 4 sections and made a loaf for lunch, 24 rolls (each section makes 12) to go with our beef stew at supper, and a batch of cinnamon rolls. 
This morning we enjoyed the cinnamon rolls.  What a treat to have on a busy schooling morning (Art teacher to arrive soon!)

Below is the recipe for you.  Bread and rolls and freeze well, so even if you have a smaller family, you could still use this recipe, or just cut it in half, if that suits you better.

*1 important note....I have a Bosch mixer which handles this volume very nicely, if you are using a KitchenAid you will need to cut the recipe in half. 

5 c. warm water
4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. olive oil
2/3 c. honey
6 cups whole wheat flour* (I also use spelt or kamut or a mixture of any of these three flours.)
2 Tbsp. yeast (I use SAF)
4-6 cups more flour

Put the warm water in the mixer bowl.  Add the salt, olive oil, honey and first 6 cups of flour. Mix on 1 until all incorporated.  Add the yeast and mix in again.  Add the remaining flour (1 cup at a time), and mix on 2 until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.  Add flour until it is just slightly sticky to the touch (do this by adding just about 1/4 cup at a time.)
Turn out on your counter and divide the dough into fourths.  You can now shape into 4 loaves, or rolls or cinnamon rolls.  You can mix and match or do all the same thing with each portion.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven. 
Bakes loaves for 35 minutes.
Cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes
Rolls for 25 minutes.  (You can also brush with egg whites and add sesame seeds or other seeds to the tops.)

 (I have a WonderMill and grind my grain fresh. This is great because it's warm from the grinding. It's also more nutritious as the bran of the grain is freshly cracked and hasn't lost it's nutrient content yet.)