Easter Egg Hunt

We were honored to be invited to an Easter Egg Hunt with some of our new friends from church. Allison told us that her parents have hosted huge Easter Egg Hunts since she was a little girl, and now they enjoy doing it for their grandchildren and friends. We all had a wonderful time! And, oh my, did they have a huge table of tasty sweet treats!

The Easter Bunny entertained the kids...I think he was probably exhausted after all the children chased him everywhere!

Ethan found a tree to climb...He spent most of his time in the tree or with the balloon animals.

What a good-natured daddy...Randy made balloon animals over & over for the kids.

One of Ethan's balloon swords...he kept popping it & Randy would kindly make him a new one.

Who's that cool kid?

Waiting patiently for the egg hunt...

Still waiting...

Searching for eggs...

Fighting over the eggs...luckily there was one for each of them.

Oh, what a day! I'm tired!

Thank you, Sculls, for inviting us! We had a wonderful time!

Why We Decided to Homeschool

Kelly’s Korner had a “Show Us Your Life” about homeschooling, so I thought I’d write a little about our decision to homeschool.

If you would have asked me my opinion about homeschooling 2 years ago, my answers would have been dramatically different than they are now.

Several circumstances led us to our decision to bring Evan home from public school to teach him at home for his 6^th grade year. It all started when I read Sally Clarkson’s book, the Mission of Motherhood, last fall (2009). This was the book that our ladies decided to study on Wednesday nights at church, but I couldn’t join them on the discussions because I was in our handbell group that met at the same time for practice.

This book changed my life!

I had never heard of Sally Clarkson before, but let me just tell you that this author put into words what I’ve felt for the past ten years as I tried to balance all of my roles as a wife, mom, and teacher to the best of my ability! Early in the book she talked about having a “divided heart.” It was then that I started dreaming of the idea that we could actually homeschool Evan & bring our family closer together. (Not to mention that we had become friends with a family just the summer before that had homeschooled for 8 years and totally admired their children!)

Another major influence on our decision is the fact that Evan has dyslexia and has struggled with academics as a result. He is very intelligent but his gifts are not in writing and reading—but if you ask him to explain something to you, he’ll talk your ear off! He maintained an A/B average because we were always staying on top of his assignments and stayed in close contact with his teachers. However, that daily struggle & homework until bedtime was really wearing on all of our nerves.

We also could see how he was being affected by the “worldly” influences at school. It is our heart’s desire that both of our boys grow up to have a love for Jesus and live godly lives. Each year, we could see more & more of the world creeping in on his thoughts & attitudes. We wanted to be able to teach both boys about God’s word every day and teach them about things that have eternal significance. However, with our busy jobs & his homework load, the most important things would often get neglected for the daily deadlines of homework & tests.

After SEVERAL months of prayer, research, and late-night discussions with my husband, we decided God was indeed leading us to take a HUGE step of faith & homeschool Evan. This would mean that I would quit my teaching job of 17 years & live on Eric’s church income. This made us very nervous, to say the least! But we felt that if God was leading us to this decision, then He would help us make it financially!

And I am happy to say that we have survived this first year with so blessings! I can’t say that it’s always been easy…some people have told me that homeschooling is not for the faint of heart! Boy, is that true! Some days it’s extremely difficult. But the positives definitely far outweigh the negatives!

Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Evan’s confidence & love for learning is slowly coming back!
• We have had much more quality family time.
• We are able to travel when necessary without Evan “missing” school.
• We have memorized a ton of scripture!
• We have all learned a lot about so many topics & have enjoyed several field trips as a family!
• Ethan loves “learning” with us!
• We have made some really neat friends that we would never have met otherwise!
• The flexibility and freedom are amazing!

We said we would try this for a year and see how it helped Evan, and we have decided since it’s gone so well this year, then we will do it again next year. Ethan is still too young to start school, so we’ll just have to keep praying about that decision.

This just barely scratches the surface of all the thoughts & discussions that we’ve had about homeschooling…perhaps I’ll share more soon.

Homemade Granola

I came across a Homemade Granola Recipe on the Life As Mom blog that sounded really interesting. I started searching for other recipes. I took what looked good on each of the recipes and came up with my own. I also had to use what I had on hand. I only had peanuts and pumpkin seeds. I didn’t have any almonds, sesame seeds, or sunflower seeds, but I definitely want to use them next time I make it. This was really good…especially with vanilla yogurt! Eric liked it with milk too!

Honey Granola Recipe:

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 cup whole raw almonds

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil or ¼ cup butter

1/2 cup honey

¼- ½ cup pure maple syrup

½ cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, apricots, dates, figs, and/or raisins) (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Either butter or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I used aluminum foil & sprayed it with Pam.)

In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, nuts, seeds, ground cinnamon, and salt.

In a small saucepan, stirring constantly, bring just to a boil the water, oil, honey, syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and toss together, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated with the liquid. Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 25 - 40 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally so the mixture browns evenly. (The browner the granola gets (without burning) the crunchier the granola will be.) Place on a wire rack to cool. You will notice that the granola may still be sticky when it is removed from the oven but it will become crisp and dry as it cools. Make sure to break up any large clumps of granola while the mixture is still warm. Once the granola has completely cooled, store in an airtight container or plastic bag in the refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.

Serve with dried or fresh fruit and milk.

Makes about 6 cups.

You could find other recipes at www.joyofbaking.com and www.lifeasmom.com.

Cottage Garden Awards Assembly

Last week, we went to the end-of-the-year Awards Assembly at Cottage Garden. It was truly a special ceremony where the teachers recognized students for their achievements. We enjoyed visiting with our friends, but we were a little sad because we won't get to be a part of it next year. Since we moved to Center, it's just too far to drive every week. It has been a wonderful experience & we met some wonderful people!

Here are some pictures from the evening...

We were a little worried how Ethan would act on stage but he did a great job!

The opening prayer...

Ethan's pre-school class sang a song for us. Ethan was a little embarrassed at first.

Now he's starting to sing...

He received a Pre-school certificate & "Science goggles" since they learned so much about scientific investigation this year.

Of course, he had to play with the goggles during the rest of the ceremony.

Don't I look cute?

I absolutely love his crooked smile!

The middle school students...of course, Evan had to sit on the back row, making it difficult for me to get good pictures.

Evan said he was so nervous to get up in front of everyone. He was receiving an award from Mrs. Sparks for his social studies class. He also received an award for achieving the goals for his Fit to Serve class. He had to memorize scripture, exercise, and do community service each week. We were proud that he memorized all of Romans 12 and Ephesians 6:10 -20 (the Armor of God passage) this year.

Ethan's best buddy, Kaitlyn!

Ethan absolutely loved Miss Rae Lynn. Every time we would talk about her, he would get this huge grin on his face! She is truly gifted to work with the little ones.

Evan's buddies, Hayden & Mac.

Evan & I both enjoyed getting to know Hayden's mom, Keli Sparks, this year! She was his Social Studies teacher & I had the opportunity to work with her during Boys' Club.

I don't know how I didn't get a picture of Jennifer, my carpooling buddy until we moved. I'm so thankful that we got to ride together during first semester! We especially looked forward to our excursions to Sonic on the way home each week for half price drinks! Wonderful memories with a wonderful friend!

Fish Tacos

Although we live in Texas, I must admit that Mexican food is not my favorite! I know that is a horrible thing to admit, but spicy, greasy, and extra cheesy don’t always treat Kim very well. J And when I go to a Mexican restaurant, I have NO self-control with those chips! I get so mad at myself because I always eat WAY too many—even when they don’t taste very good.

Because I do live in Texas and my husband is in the ministry, we do eat out more than we should. And we usually find ourselves eating at Mexican restaurants more times than I prefer. So when we do eat Mexican, I usually order chicken fajitas and enjoy them!

But, I have found a new favorite dish at Mexican restaurants…FISH TACOS! Anytime I find them on the menu, I just have to try them.

I’ve been afraid to try to make them at home because I am not good at cooking fish. So I’ve been searching for fish taco recipes & I've finally found them! I have combined several different ideas & recipes.

My college roommate told me that she makes them by sprinkling taco seasoning on tilapia & then grilling them on her George Foreman grill. (Great idea if I could only find my grill in the storage boxes in the garage.) But I did cook them on top the stove with the taco seasoning & the fish was fabulous! She also makes a chipotle ranch sauce using ranch dressing & Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning. Sounds yummy!

I also found these two sauce recipes that are really good too:

Cilantro Sauce

· 1 bunch of cilantro- washed and dried

· 1/4 cup of REAL mayo

· 1/4 cup sour cream

· 1 clove of garlic peeled

· juice of 1 lime

· salt and pepper to taste

Throw all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend away. If you would like a thinner sauce you can add 1-3 tablespoons of milk.

Tomato Avocado Salsa

· 2 cups plum tomatoes diced ( about 2 med)

· 1/3 cup diced onion

· 1 avocado diced

· 1 jalapeno minced-optional

· 2 tablespoons minced cilantro

· 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

· 1/8 teaspoon salt

· 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well.

You will also need shredded cabbage and warm corn or flour tortillas to make your tacos. I prefer corn tortillas for the fish tacos for some reason.

To assemble tacos: Place fish into warm tortilla, top with cabbage, cilantro sauce, tomato avocado salsa and/or hot sauce.

I hope you enjoy fish tacos as much as we do!

Messy Marvin!

Ethan loves our backyard sandbox...

he loves to let the dirt slip through his hands...

he loves to explore up close & personal...

and he loves to roll all around in the dirt/sand...

Boys will be boys!

Fun with Friends

On Thursday, we got to spend the day in Malakoff because Eric had a Singing Men concert.

Because it was the National Day of Prayer, we got up REALLY early to go to our city-wide prayer breakfast at our church at 6:30 AM (yes, in the morning!). We were really proud that we were able to get our whole family packed & ready & to the church by 6:32 AM!

Since we were up & ready to go, we just drove on to Malakoff.

As we were driving to Malakoff, Ethan said he was ready to go "home." We soon realize that he was talking about our home in Malakoff. We told him that the new music minister is living in our house there and he said, "how dares they!" And then he said, "You were supposed to lock the doors!" Poor thing! He misses Malakoff!

We were able to play with our friends all day long! It was a beautiful day too! So we decided to have a picnic lunch with some of our friends at Kiwanis Park in Athens...I didn't realize how much the sun was shining until that night when I got this huge burn!

I enjoyed getting to visit with so many of our friends throughout the day! And we were so thankful for Kristi & Nathan letting us spend the night with us too!

The Singing Men concert was really good too! There were around 600 people there!!! It was such a wonderful concert! Jesus really showed up that night!

Here are a few pictures from our time at the park...

Ethan & his "girlfriend," Kaitlyn

Evan slipped into the creek, so he decided to let his socks dry in the sun.

Ethan & Karter in their "house." They both have such imaginations.

They all loved the merry-go-round.