a hymn for the coming week

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not,

nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God,

he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee,

nor forsake thee.  Deuteronomy 31:6

Be Strong in the Lord

Be strong in the Lord, and be of good courage;

Your mighty Defender is always the same.

Mount up with wings, as the eagle ascending;

Vict'ry is sure when you call on His name.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And be of good courage, for He is your guide.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And rejoice, for the vict'ry is yours.

So put on the armor the Lord has provided,

And place your defense in His unfailing care.

Trust Him, for He will be with you in battle,

Lighting your path to avoid ev'ry snare.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And be of good courage, for He is your guide.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And rejoice, for the vict'ry is yours.

Be strong in the Lord, and be of good courage;

Your mighty Commander will vanquish the foe.

Fear not the battle, for the vict'ry is always His;

He will protect you wherever you go.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And be of good courage, for He is your guide.

Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord;

And rejoice, for the vict'ry is yours.

Linda Lee Johnson from the Baptist Hymnal


Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate
of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:10-17

the promised pictures - part 2

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One more boating picture ... just for Amy :-)

s t r e t c h!

look at me, Mama!

smile, girl!

the promised pictures - part one

I tried to post these pictures on Tuesday, but Blogger and I couldn't get along, so I am trying again today.  Hopefully one of us will be in a more cooperative mood.

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I took exactly 160 pictures over Labor Day weekend.

That may be a little excessive.  It is no wonder I need to get an external hard drive to back up all my pictures.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy a small glimpse into our weekend.

Part One ... the boat ride

Daniel at the helm ... notice Uncle Charlie's hands in his lap!

Just because I thought it was a cool picture :)

LB loving the wind in her face

Mr. Cool

The only way I could get all three of them together

LB (with Bianca) on her first time tubing.

D loves being on the water and walked around
like he owned the boat!

I think Bianca was a little bored with the slower speed Charlie chose
so that LB wouldn't be scared.

JW took a turn tubing, too.  His partner is Bianca's friend Anaka. 
This was toward the end of the ride when Charlie picked up the pace a little bit.

JW took a turn driving the boat, too.  At this point, Uncle Charlie was
helping him navigate a turn.

The kids couldn't sit up on the edge of the boat out on the open water,
but here on the bayou near Charlie's house, they could.

I think they may have been having fun. ;-)

I am not sure if Charlie knows what he has started with my kids or not.  Pat (his wife & Ronnie's aunt) says that he enjoys any excuse to get the boat out into the water.  That is good, because I think the kids will be begging to go riding every time we make a trip to the coast now.

daybook

#28 for 2010
Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window ...

is Granny's back yard.  It is warmer today than it has been, but still not too bad.

I am hearing ...

Ronnie watching Dirty Jobs.  We don't have cable/satellite at home so we enjoy watching our favorite shows when we come to Granny's.  I usually camp out in front of Food Network.

I am wearing ...
my hang in the house clothes are the same anywhere ...
blue lounge pants and an old t-shirt.

I am going ...

home. 

It is a good thing, but I wouldn't mind a few more days of relaxing.

I am hoping ...

that LB had a good night staying with her cousin last night ... and that Charlie survived having two giggling girls all night!

I am noticing that ...

the dog has adjusted well to Granny's back yard.

I am thinking ...

or trying not to think about what has to be done this week.

I am reading ...

I don't think I'll be reading much besides British Lit for the next few months. 

This week we are working towards The Canterbury Tales ... yuck!

I am creating ...

I'll be getting things together for LB to make a wreath at Keepers this week.

On my mind ...

the busy week ahead.

I am remembering ...

that our first Book-It of the year is this week and

we haven't gotten started on our reports yet!

Counting my blessings ...

a relaxing weekend with family, a wonderful sermon at Granny's church yesterday, a chance to visit with Ronnie's 94 yr old Grandmother yesterday afternoon, going home today.

A quote for the day ... (held over from last week)

"Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding. "

— Martin Luther

From the learning rooms ...

we will be focusing on co-op work since it is going to be a short week and co-op meets on Friday.

From the kitchen ...

who knows ...
I have thoroughly enjoyed not having to make any food decisions
for a couple of days.  I do think I'll work on the week's menu on the way home.

Around the house ...

I refuse to think about the mess I left until I get home and have to actually face it.

A few plans for the rest of the week ...

just what I've already mentioned along with a trip to the library and a family reunion on Saturday.

One of my favorite things ...

a relaxing boat ride!

A picture to share with you ...

from Granny's picture file ...

The four kids who have been playing this weekend ... taken in 2007.
You'll notice a distinct difference when I get home and can post the pics
from this weekend ... man, have they grown!

if only i could show you the pictures

We decided to take advantage of the long weekend and and head to the MS Gulf Coast to visit with Ronnie's Mom (aka: Granny).  Ronnie had to work yesterday, so we didn't get here until rather late (but not too late to make a quick trip to Wal-mart!), and, for the first time ever, we made the 3 hour road trip with a dog!  It wasn't too bad though.  Ronnie did have to make a few modifications to Granny's fence to make it Daisy proof.

This week has been somewhat stressful for me.  Our school week didn't work the way I had hoped and I had a hard time preparing to teach Beowulf (the hard prep work did pay off, though ... my class went very well!).  All of this added up to me being extremely ready to get out of town for a few days and quite honestly, it has been wonderful!  Everyone slept great last night and got up ready for fun.

This morning Ronnie's uncle offered to take us out on his boat.  LB had never been out with him and the boys were excited to get to go again.  I have to admit, I enjoyed it almost as much as the kids.  There were a couple of extra kids along (Ronnie's cousin's daughter and one of her friends) so Charlie told the girls he would let them tube while we were out.  Our kids didn't have their swimsuits with them so they were content to just ride in the boat, but ended up tubing in their clothes.   LB and JW loved it!  We wouldn't let D go since he is a little young and we were afraid that he wouldn't be able to hang on.  We stayed out on the water about 2 hours and had a wonderful time.  I took plenty of pictures, but I can't put them on here until I get home. :(

During the time we were out on the boat, I couldn't help but think about the song the kids and I were singing trying to sing earlier this week.  The weather was perfect - sunny, but not too hot.  It was so relaxing to just sit and take in the world around me ... my Father's world ... beautiful and full of variety and all pointing me to the Creator.  What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday!

Following the boat ride, we let the kids swim for a while in Charlie's pool.  When everyone was good and worn out, we headed back to Granny's.  We rounded out the day with dinner at Red Lobster and a quick shopping trip to Target.

All in all, it was a wonderful day ... but it is late now and I am heading to bed.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

daybook

#27 for 2010
Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window ...

It is dark and not so oppressively hot as it has been.

I am hearing ...

Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns ...

I absolutely love that song.

I am wearing ...

blue plaid jammie pants and a yellow t-shirt

I am going ...

to get in bed before midnight tonight!

I am hoping ...

for some good advice from homeschooling moms in

answer to my questions on my other blog.

I am noticing that ...

I am finding it harder and harder to find time

to blog these days and I really miss it!

I am thinking ...

about, and looking forward to, our long weekend

and a much needed break from the scenery around here!

I am reading ...

all about Beowulf as I prepare to teach it this Friday in co-op.

I am creating ...

a few plans for LB's birthday party sleepover ...

I think I may have let her invite too many girls!

On my mind ...

school and my interaction with my kids.

I am remembering ...

how thankful I am that Mama's scan came back clear

and that she will get a little more time off before she has to start chemo again.

Counting my blessings ...

homeschooling my kids (after today, I need to remind myself that this is a blessing!), wonderful new friends that God has brought into my  life, D getting to ride to the coast with my parents and spend last weekend with Ronnie's mom - all by himself - for the first time, being part of the dedication service for our new hymnals on Sunday and hearing our pastor speak on the importance of music in a worship service, sharing the 5th Sunday lunch with our church family.

A quote for the day ...

"Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding. "

— Martin Luther

From the learning rooms ...

aside from the everyday, mundane stuff, we are also studying the skeletal system in Anatomy and should finish up our first unit in history by the end of the week.  I am hoping to do some "fun" history activities and notebooking next week.

From the kitchen ...

it is pantry/fridge clean-out week and I am hoping to stay out of the grocery store all week.

We may have some odd meals, but at least nothing will be wasted.

Around the house ...

I need to catch up on laundry so that we will have clothes for the weekend!

A few plans for the rest of the week ...

amazingly, we have no plans other than church and co-op on Friday morning ...

that is until we head south on Friday night!

One of my favorite things ...

days that I don't have to leave the house!

Pictures to share ...

frying quail eggs ...
 this pan will only hold 3 chicken eggs at one time

I finally finished my scarf!

Thanks for stopping by ...

I hope you have a wonderful week!

new recipes

I have never been very good at following directions.  I tend to like improvisation.  Because of this, any time I try a new recipe, the outcome is always a toss up.  This week I tried two new recipes and both turned out great, though both got a bit of my personal touch.  Whether you follow the recipe exactly, or make it your own, both are worth trying.

The first recipe is called Lazy Lasagna and I claim absolutely no credit for it.  The recipe comes from Katharine over at Just a Thought.  She is always posting great recipes (not to mention great posts about other things), so I encourage you to take a moment to visit.  I am sure that this recipe would have been perfect exactly as written, but since I don't use jarred spaghetti sauce (I can my own tomatoes, so I prefer to use them), I decided I could just make my own, like I normally do.  It would have worked fine if I had realized that I was out of tomato paste BEFORE I started cooking.  I did follow Katharine's suggestion and use ground turkey instead of ground beef and honestly couldn't tell the difference.  The results tasted great, but took longer than it should have because I had to wait for Ronnie to stop by the grocery store on his way home from work.  Still, the dish itself was delicious and got rave reviews from all of my family, kids included ... which, not surprisingly, is unheard of with my experimental dishes.  I was thrilled and will definitely be adding this to my arsenal of menu choices, though I do think I will reduce the amount of pasta, since counting carbs is a big deal at our house these days.  Thanks for sharing, Katharine!

The second dish came from one of my new(er) friends, Rosanna.  It is called Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup.  Yes, I know that I live in Mississippi and I am aware that it is summer, which means that we voluntarily live in an oven, but my youngest son asked me to make chicken noodle soup, so I figured that was a good enough excuse for making soup in the summer.  (As a side note, my Mama expressed her confusion about why it is taboo to eat soup in the summer anyway and I have to agree with her ... we eat most of our food hot anyway, so what does it matter if it is soup?  Good question, Mama!)  Anyway, back to the soup.  I'll give you the recipe first and then tell you how I personalized it.

Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup
8 cups water
8 chicken bouillon cubes
6 1/2 ounces medium egg noodles
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3 cups cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream

Bring water to boil with bouillon cubes.  Add noodles; cook uncovered until tender - about 7 1/2 minutes.  Do not drain.  Add cream of chicken soup and chicken.  Heat through.  Remove from heat; stir in sour cream.

Again, I am sure that this recipe would be just fine on its own, but I have started making my own cream of chicken soup, so I used that and instead of water and bouillon cubes, I just boiled the chicken and used the broth (after it cooled, with most of the fat removed).  Other than those things, I followed the recipe just as it is written, except that I added some of the hot broth to my cold cream of chicken soup and stirred it in a separate bowl until it was smooth before adding it all back into the boiling soup on the stove.  Again, the results were quite tasty ... even my hubby, who HATES to eat soup in summer, liked it.  He and I had a preview tonight, but it will be the main dish for lunch tomorrow and hopefully the kids will like it, too!  Ideally, this is where I would thank Rosanna for sharing her recipe, but since she doesn't blog (or read them, as far as I know) I'll have to settle for actually thanking her face to face the next time I see her ... though I do think I'll send her a link, just as a teaser! ;-)

Just for the record, as much as I enjoy cooking and trying new dishes, it always seems that I make a bigger mess when I cook something new.  I'm not sure why that is true, but I do know that I must thank my wonderful husband for cleaning up my mess while I put all of LB's clothes in her new dresser tonight!