Our Week In Review – October 17, 2009

So, it’s been three weeks between weekly reviews this time!  Yep, we’re pretty busy with life around here.  Since it’s already kind of late on Saturday night, I’ll just hit the high points!

Rosie Girl is loving Choir.  She had to get character shoes for Show Choir and she was all concerned that they would be uncomfortable.  We were both thrilled when her shoes came in and she found that they were some of the most comfortable shoes she’d worn.  Rosie Girl’s Art class is also going well.  She has made a couple of pottery pieces and is almost finished with her linoleum printing.

Rosie Girl’s academic subjects are coming long pretty well.  She has had no more trouble with getting things turned in on time, although she has been known to not complete her work because she overlooked a section.  She’s more careful, now, though.  She is studying pre-Revolutionary War America in History.  She just finished nutrition in humans in biology.  I continue to be very happy with WriteAtHome.com.  I love that I don’t have to try to teach Rosie Girl to write, but can just advise her on her assignments!

Wild Man is doing great with reading on his own.  He has been able to do several of his workbook assignments without help from me at all (which was great because I’ve had lots of migraines).  He is learning about the 13 colonies and their relationship with Great Britain.  For Science this week, he learned about pH, so I gave him some pH testing paper and let him test substances around the house.

Wild Man still really likes his band class.  He plays percussion and has learned to play bass drum this week (it’s not as easy as it looks!).  He and I still help out at the Senior Nutrition Center on Wednesday morning.

So that’s about it.  For a busy three weeks, I’ve got remarkably little to say tonight!  Ah, well, I’m sure I’ll make up for it another time!

Check out how others’ week’s have gone at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers!

7 Quick Takes Friday – October 16, 2009

1. I’ve had more than my share of contact with health care providers this week.  You’d think I’d enjoy this, since I worked as a Family Doctor, but not really.  I saw the chiropractor twice, the dentist, my family doctor, my counselor, and took my daughter to an ENT.  I don’t want to leave the house now for a week!

2. Speaking of ENT’s (Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialists), Rosie Girl had a visit today with one.  She has had about six months of getting “junk” in the crypts in her left tonsil.  She has to get the white stuff out with a Q-tip and it tastes and smells bad.  As expected, the ENT told us that the only real treatment is to have her tonsils out.  Right now, we’re considering having it done around Christmas time.

3. Speaking of Family Practice (we were, you know, at least, I think we were), I do want to go back to work eventually.  But, I think sometimes about doing some kind of full-time ministry like working in a depressed area (rural or urban).  I don't want to leave this area while the kids are still at home, but I remember how much I enjoyed working at the boy’s ranch in Venezuela several years ago.  Mr. Math Tutor is also not adverse to the idea of full-time ministry work in the future.  Where and when?

4. I always said that I would never marry an engineer or a pastor.  Mr. Math Tutor has a degree in Electrical Engineering, although most of his work was in software engineering.  He’s not a pastor, but he has been an Elder in our church for the last four years, which is pretty darn close to being a pastor.  God is laughing at me.

5. Next weekend, our family and Mr. Math Tutor’s small group of young adults are going up to the Northwoods to help out at Fort Wilderness for the weekend.  I’m going to be working in the kitchen, Rosie Girl will be in the stables, Mr. Math Tutor will be doing dishes, and Wild Man will get to goof off!!

6. The weather is nice and chilly, so I’m making Ham and Tomato Bisque as well as gingerbread.  Definite fall comfort food!

7. It appears that some neighbors may be conducting business of questionable legality.  Law enforcement visited there a few weeks ago but the procession of people of young age and moderately unpleasant appearance in and out hasn’t changed.  Sigh.

Check out Conversion Diary to see what others are saying this week!

Three Things Thursday

Home School Dad hosts Three Things Thursday over at his blog every week.  This is my first time to participate, although I should do it more often, if for no other reason than to support a homeschooling dad.  In our family, Mr. Math Tutor was the homeschooling parent while I was the “make the money” parent until my migraines took over life four years ago. 

Now that our roles are reversed, I am seriously grateful for all the work my dear hubby did for those first several years.  It’s really kind of funny to read Home School Dad’s posts and remember back to the years when Mr. Math Tutor was doing the grocery shopping and taking the kids to the library.     

But, back to our regularly scheduled program – this week’s Three Things Thursday has the theme Three Fears.  Of course, after I gave such a glowing review to Max Lucado’s book, Fearless, I wonder if I should participate at all.  You might think I’m not practicing what I learned.  But since I live in the real world, I’ll go ahead and post about my fears, which I definitely have!

1. I have a great fear of losing control which shows up in lots of different ways.  For example, our church’s women’s group goes to a women’s retreat every fall.  When I was working, I didn’t go because I usually wanted to hang out with my family on my free weekends.  In the last few years, though, I’ve come up with other excuses for not going. 
They boiled down, though, to fear of having a wicked migraine and not having my husband there to “run interference” for me.  I was afraid of losing control during a migraine – vomiting, crying, etc. – and having other women worrying over me.  I’m glad to say, though, that I went this year.  I told a friend about my fear and she promised to help me find a quiet spot if I had a bad migraine.  I also took every migraine medication known to mankind (OK, that might be hyperbole) with me, even taking a little ice chest for the refrigerated medications.  And the retreat was wonderful – I was so glad I went.

2. I’m afraid of snakes.  I don’t know why.  I’ve never been bitten although my cat was when I was in high school.  He was bitten by a water moccasin (we lived in Florida) and had to stay overnight at the vet’s office.  Other than that, I just don’t like their slithery bodies . . .

3. I am afraid of ruining my kids with homeschooling.  My fear isn’t that homeschooling as a concept will hurt them, but that I will do something so bad that they will grow up to become bums living off of me and Mr. Math Tutor until they are 45 (which would definitely be a tragedy).  This is probably my least rational fear.  My kids are socially well-adjusted and seem to be reasonably well-educated.  Wild Man is learning to deal with his dyslexia and can read independently.  Rosie Girl is doing just fine in her high school subjects.  But, especially when I have a week with lots of migraines, I hear that little voice again that I’m not doing a good enough job.  I know that this fear is not based in reality and I have to keep telling myself this.  Over and over and over and over and over and over. . . .

So, what about you??  What are you afraid of?  Is it rational?  Check out Three Things Thursday to see what others are saying!!

  

Is God Random?

I have heard an argument against biological evolution that says that God wouldn’t allow the universe to develop randomly or by “chance”. The argument was that God must have created the universe in six 24 hour days according to a literal reading of the first chapter of Genesis because He would not have allowed the Big Bang to occur and then allowed everything else to develop just by “chance”. I used to think that made sense, but I don’t anymore.

The Bible is clear that God has planned everything that will happen, even before He created the world. Proverbs 16:4 tells us “The Lord works out everything for his own ends.” In Ephesians, we read, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

The idea that God would not use evolution as a means of creation because it is “random” doesn’t hold water when we consider that God already knows everything that is going to happen. Even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground apart from the will of God (Matthew 10:29). What appear to us to be random events - genetic mutations, the roll of the dice, the clothes the kids put on the morning - are events that were known to God from the beginning of time. There is nothing that has happened from the first moment of Creation – whether it was 6,000 years ago or 15 billion years ago – that was not expected and known by God.

And this gives me great comfort. God isn’t surprised by my migraines. He doesn’t freak out when a Democrat is elected to the White House. As a speaker I once heard said, God isn’t on Prozac and pacing up and down in Heaven worrying about the mess down here. And that’s because He’s completely in control.

The words “random” and “chance” aren’t in God’s vocabulary. I am convinced by the scientific evidence that God used evolution as His tool in the creation of His universe. I’m also convinced that nothing that exists or happens is the product of chance. I can rest in the assurance that God loves me and is taking care of me. And I’m thanking God for that every day!!

Updates on Life

Wow.  Two weeks since I last posted.  Actually, that’s kind of good because it means I’ve been living “real” life!!  Let me give my very few readers a quick update on what’s been going on.

• Rosie Girl and Wild Man are still enjoying taking public school classes while doing their academic work at home.  Well, I’m not sure I can say they enjoy their academic work, but they do it without excessive complaining.

 

• Rosie Girl joined the teenage group at the public library this week.  I had a migraine so Rosie Girl rode her bike to the library on Wednesday afternoon.  A friend from Choir class was there and asked if she wanted to stay for a SWAT meeting (SWAT is the name of the group – I have no clue what it stands for.) so Rosie Girl stayed for the meeting and became part of the group!!  They will be doing something during the town’s Halloween celebration next weekend.  In addition, Wild Man is going to a Tuesday afternoon art club downtown and they are doing decorations for a downtown Haunted House.

 

• During the first weekend in October, I went with our church women’s group to a women’s retreat in the Northwoods.  We had a blast!  The speaker was great, but I mostly enjoyed getting to hang out with other women.  I had one migraine that responded quickly to medications – thank you, Lord!

 

• Last Monday, Mr. Math Tutor’s grandmother passed away at the age of 93.  He went down South from Tuesday to Saturday while the kids and I stayed home.  Unfortunately, I had a migraine from Sunday night through Wednesday.  Ick.  I really don’t like “single parenting”.  I was sooooo glad to see Mr. Math Tutor again on Saturday afternoon.  That being said, I was still quite happy that he was able to  be with his mom when she needed him – and she needed him more that week than the kids and I did.

 

• While Mr. Math Tutor was gone, I was able to get Wild Man’s Halloween costume made.  Of course, I think that aggravated my migraines.  Rosie Girl wants the exact same cape, but I told her that she’s going to do most of the sewing this time around!!

 

I think we’re almost back to normal now.  I have a dental appointment tomorrow, a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, and Rosie Girl has an ENT appointment on Friday (more on that later), so we’ll have our fill of the health care professions by the end of the week.  Otherwise, we’re now wearing warm clothes and I’m totally enjoying my Uggs boots!!

So, keep reading.  I plan on trying to post a little more often because I have so much going on in my head that it needs to come out somewhere and this is as good a place as any!!

If God Is Good

I am in the process of reading If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn and like what I’ve read so far.  I’ll post my full review in a couple of weeks, but here’s the publisher’s information about the book and the author.

Summary:  Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.
In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?
These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.
In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.
Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.
As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Author Bio - Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Our Week in Review – September 25, 2009

Wow!  It’s been an interesting couple of weeks around here!  I didn’t post last week because I was in the middle of a run of migraines last weekend so you get a two-for-one post today.

Rosie Girl

Two weeks ago, Rosie Girl had some real trouble with managing her time.  Her schoolwork was due Saturday night.  By 11pm Saturday night, she still had several subjects that had large chunks still not finished, and she went into a meltdown.  She was quite upset because she knew that her grade was going to reflect turning in late work.  She calmed down, went to bed, and finished the work on Sunday.  And we talked on Monday.

On Monday morning, I had her make two significant changes.  First of all, I told her that she needed to finish each day’s work on the day it was assigned (for History, Bible, Literature, Workbooks).  Second, I had her start using a timer and doing a certain timed amount of work on subjects that were assigned by week (Writing, Biology, etc.).  Each day, I asked several times about her progress on each subject.  At the end of each day, I made sure she was finished.  Tonight, at about 8pm, she was completely finished with the entire week’s worth of work.  She has NO work to do on the weekend and she is a happy girl!!  (And she has a happy mama!)  Not only that, but she turned in her writing assignment to WriteAtHome a day early!

Rosie Girl auditioned for and made both Madrigals and Show Choir at the high school, so she has Choir and Art every morning and practices at lunchtime on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Next week, the Choir will sing at the volleyball game on Tuesday and the Homecoming Football game on Friday.  Rosie Girl and I have already talked about how she is going to work ahead on Monday so that she doesn’t get behind in her schoolwork.

I have decided that the money we pay for WriteAtHome is worth every penny!!  I LOVE not having to assign and grade Rosie Girl’s writing.  I love getting to be her cheerleader, not the coach.  I’m also happy with our grading system.  Rosie Girl has occasionally been unhappy with her grades, but not because she thought they were unfair, but because she wished she did a better job. 

Wild Man

Wild Man is learning to work more on his own this year than ever before.  He is able to read his Sonlight readers quite well.  I have him do his Geography workbook on his own most of the time.  This week, I even had him do his History workbook one day by himself because I had a migraine.  He and I still do Bible, spelling, and Science together.  Because of my headaches, we are behind in Science, but I’m not worried about that.

Wild Man’s issues mainly have to do with attention and work habits.  He is getting better about getting up and getting to his chores and schoolwork.  He is sooooooo incredibly distractible, though!!  I make sure he has a list of his independent work to keep him on task.  Even with that, I’ll find him reading a library book because he got distracted from something else!

I have been quite pleased, though, to see that he is retaining some of what he has learned in Spelling.  He is able to write sentences much more easily than he was in the past.  He doesn’t like to do much that requires handwriting or typing, but he really is getting better.

Wild Man is trying out tomorrow for a community theater play in our area.  We live in a very small town, so I think there’s a good chance that he’ll get a part in the chorus.  The theater is within walking distance of our house (as is just about everything in town!) so rehearsals would be quite convenient.  Wild Man is such a performer and this would be such a great opportunity that I hope he gets a part.

So that’s what’s up in our little part of the educational world.  Homeschooling high school is definitely different even than middle school.  Rosie Girl needs far less direction than  she has in the past.  Wild Man, of course, still needs a good bit of my time and energy.  Rosie Girl needs me now for different things, I’m finding – things like teaching her to put on make-up, someone to talk to about school and friends, someone to watch her new tap combination, etc.  And it’s all good.  Migraines and all.

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more Weekly Reviews!!

Updates – September 25, 2009

Blog posting has been a little sporadic lately, as you may have noticed.  That has largely been due to my being busy with my “real” (that is, non-digital) life.  However, I did have a spell of six days of migraine in the course of a week which slowed down everything.  In spite of the migraines, life continues and is full of fun and surprises.

Rosie Girl was selected to be in both Madrigals and Show Choir at the local high school!!  Madrigals is a group of singers that perform in Medieval European costumes and sing Christmas carols during the holiday season.  As far as I know, they only perform for the holidays, so it is a fall/winter group only.  Show Choir is the group that both sings and dances to Broadway-type music.

Rosie Girl goes to school for Choir and Art every morning.  On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, she goes back at lunchtime for Show Choir or Madrigals rehearsal.  This week is Homecoming, so the whole Choir will be singing at the volleyball game on Tuesday night and then at the football game on Friday night (which I’m going to miss – more on that later).  I’m very excited about her getting to be part of these groups.  Not only is it great that she gets to hone her musical ability, but it’s a great opportunity for her to make friends in our community.

Wild Man is enjoying his band class.  The sixth grade band class is mostly for just learning to play the instrument, so he doesn’t have any performances scheduled yet.  Tomorrow is the auditions for a community theater production, and Wild Man is trying out for a part.  (Mr. Math Tutor may also volunteer his time and expertise in sound and lighting.)  Wild Man also has gotten a lot of the performing genes from his grandmothers and loves being on stage.

The kids and I have been going to the Senior Nutrition Center once a week to help serve meals.  Rosie Girl probably won’t be able to go very often until after the holidays because of Madrigals practice.  We usually get to the center right about the time the food arrives from a local nursing home.  We pack up the meals for Meals on Wheels first.  After that, we serve the people who come to the center for meals.  We sometimes will sit and talk with people during or right after the meal.  We help clean up and are done around 12:30.  It’s a great way for me and the kids to be involved in the community.

Mr. Math Tutor and I are attending a small group again, although I missed our first meeting last Saturday because of my migraine.  Our church is doing a series based on Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (which is an excellent book) in which the sermons and small group curriculum is tied together.  Mr. Math Tutor’s high school small group (several of whom are now high school graduates) are also working through this on Sunday nights.

Speaking of Mr. Math Tutor’s high school small group (AKA “Revolution”), they are going to do a Project Serve weekend at Fort Wilderness later this month.  And, I should say that “we” are going since this trip also includes our family.  We will be volunteering for the weekend, doing whatever needs to be done – kitchen work, maintenance, stable work, etc.

I’ve also decided to go to the Women’s Retreat this year.  Our church takes a group to the Fort Wilderness Women’s Retreat every year.  I haven’t gone before because I’ve been worried about getting a bad migraine and being without Mr. Math Tutor, etc.  But, I’m going to do it this year.  Pray for my head!!

I missed a week’s worth of chiropractic appointments because of the week-long migraine.  I started back today and kind of feel like we’re starting over.  The chiropractor did give me some exercises to do and has me using a special chiropractic pillow.  I’m keeping a headache diary, hoping to see results, although I’m sure any changes will take a while.  I’ll try to be patient.

You can see that we are getting to be pretty busy these days.  Mr. Math Tutor and I are pretty determined, though, to not let our lives become over-busy to where we don’t have time to be a family.  For example, Rosie Girl very wisely chose not to audition for the community theater production because of her music commitments.  Homeschooling really helps us stay connected to each other.  Mr. Math Tutor’s schedule keeps him busy during the evenings, so we have our main meal together at lunch time.  We want our kids to have fun and enriching experiences, but never at the expense of healthy relationships.

Well, I’ll write more later, I’m sure.  I’ve got a few books to finish reading and review.  And, of course, sometimes I just have too many thoughts to fit in my brain, so they end up on my blog!

7 Quick Takes Friday – September 25, 2009

1. When I got my hair cut a few weeks ago, Mr. Math Tutor and I joked that maybe my headaches would improve with less weight to carry around.  On Monday, when I was having my 4th day straight with migraine, Wild Man (who was adamantly opposed to the hair cut) said, “Maybe the hair cut is making the migraines worse.”  It was the first time in four days that I laughed.

2. Our poor garden just hasn’t been doing well.  Do you think it could be that we hardly ever watered it during the 21 days without rain a few weeks ago?  We’ll need to be more disciplined about it next year!

3. I got a silicone muffin pan and have decided that it is my absolute favorite kitchen utensil.  Muffins are so easy to make, but I rarely made them because cleaning the muffin pans was so difficult, but the silicone pan makes it incredibly easy!!  I just put it in the dishwasher and it came out looking brand new.

4. I went on a kitchen cleaning spree the other day.  We had tons of soap scum build-up in the dishwasher, so I ran an empty dishwasher cycle with a couple of cups of vinegar which worked like a charm.  The main event, though, was that I cleaned my wooden cabinets above the stove which were sticky and gross with a layer of grease (that was probably about 10 years old).  It took lots of Pledge and some elbow grease, but they are beautifully clean!!

5. My kids both drink coffee – not every day, but they enjoy it.  Mr. Math Tutor really likes his morning coffee, but not me.  I’m a Coke Zero gal.  But, the other day, Rosie Girl made me a cup of strong coffee with chocolate, cream and sugar in it.  I think it was about as effective as the migraine meds on that headache and I actually enjoyed it!

6. Sharing an office with Wild Man has its ups and downs.  Now that he’s a “real” percussion player, he is always drumming on something.  He’ll be sitting at his desk working on a workbook, but he is always drumming with his fingers or pencil.

7. One of Rosie Girl’s favorite things to do now is to back the car or van down the driveway.  She’s only 14, so that’s as much as she’s allowed to do as far as driving goes, but it thrills her to no end!!

Check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes Friday posts!!

Our Week In Review – September 13, 2009

Weeks 1 and 2

I never got around to writing a Week In Review post last week, so I’ll just wrap up the first two weeks in one post.

Rosie Girl

One of the new things for Rosie Girl this year is that she is taking two classes at the local public school: Choir and Art.  In Choir, she found out that she is a Mezzo Soprano.  She is excited about trying out for Show Choir and Madrigals this week.  In Art, her class is working on pottery.  She also wants to try out for the Fall play.

At home, Rosie Girl is working quite independently.  Overall, this is working quite well.  She still could use her time a little better since she finds herself struggling to finish some things on time.  I had both kids scheduled to learn the states over the course of about six months, but Rosie Girl has already learned all of them.  She asked for a map of the entire US to fill in on Friday!

Rosie Girl’s other new thing this year is an online writing class.  She has been doing PowerSpeak for Latin for several months, but the WriteAtHome is new for her.  So far, she has just been doing her diagnostic assignments and hasn’t gotten any feedback.

In Biology, Rosie Girl did a microscope lab this week.  (Sorry, but I forgot to take pictures!)  She did the work all by herself, although I was close by (since she uses my microscope from medical school).  She looked at cells from her cheek and her dad’s blood (since she couldn’t quite bring herself to poke her finger).  It was a great experience for her.

Wild Man

Wild Man seems to be enjoying his band class.  I’ve had to help him some with organization to make sure that he gets where he belongs at the right time and that he has the right papers with him.  I’m really proud of how he’s doing.

Reading seems to be coming more easily this year to Wild Man.  He read most of his reader completely by himself!  In addition, he has been able to do his Geography workbook almost by himself.  I am finding that Wild Man likes to have immediate feedback, though.  He doesn’t like to do a whole workbook section before he finds out whether or not he got the answers right.  Something we need to work on!!

For Science, we are using a book on crime scene investigation techniques.  The first week, Wild Man did a lab exercise evaluating different handwriting samples.  This week, he learned about liquid chromatography by analyzing three different kinds of ink.  I put marks from markers on coffee filter strips.  Wild Man dipped the strips into water, vinegar, and alcohol, and then measured how far the ink traveled on the coffee filter strip.  Fun stuff!

Wild Man has decided that he wants to do his last year of AWANA this year instead of starting to go to the Junior High group.  Because of that, I’ll have him using the AWANA for his memorization.

In other news, Wild Man is going to try out for a community play that will be performed the first part of December.  Rosie Girl might try out for it if she doesn’t get a part in the high school play.

Conclusions

We’ve had a really good couple of weeks.  These are the weeks that make me glad we still homeschool!  I’m also very happy that we live in a school district that allows our kids to participate in some school activities.  Rosie Girl is looking forward to auditioning for the play and to singing with the Choir at homecoming.

I don’t plan to make many changes.  I have already told Rosie Girl that her schoolwork is now due on Saturday night instead of Friday night, giving her more time to work on it.  I will also start writing a daily list of independent work for Wild Man on his whiteboard.  He has two lists of work that he has been using, but it was rather overwhelming for him to figure out what to do next, so I’m helping him out by making a list of what he can do without my help. 

So, how has your week been?  Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have been up to!!

Potato-Sausage Pie

I made some seriously yummy Potato-Sausage Pie last night so I decided to share the recipe.

The basis of the recipe is this Bacon-Potato Torte from Melissa D’Arabian of Food Network.  Here are the modifications that I made:

1. I used 1 pound of Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage that I cooked and drained well instead of the bacon.

2. Because of the amount of sausage I used, I didn’t need quite three potatoes.

3. I didn’t have fresh thyme, so I used dried and ground thyme.

4. I used half and half instead of cream.  It doesn’t really make it healthy, but it does give it a little less fat.

Here’s the final product – well, after we had served it!!

 

My thoughts about the final product:

1. The crust was amazing!!  I have made pie crusts before, but they weren’t any better than what I could buy at the store, so I tend to go for convenience.  From now on, though, I’ll be making pie crusts with this recipe and technique.  This crust was buttery and flaky and delicious.

2. Using sausage meant that the flavor of the thyme and Gruyere was really masked.  I think I will probably leave out the cheese next time or use a less expensive cheese.  I love the flavor of the sausage, though.

3. This recipe is definitely NOT heart-healthy.  That being said, it is a pretty heavy dish, so it should be served with something light, such as fresh veggies, so it can be part of a reasonable meal.

Enjoy!!

7 Quick Takes Friday – September 11, 2009

1. Wild Man and I watched a TV show about September 11, 2001 today.  What sad memories.  And I realized how little he knows about what happened.

2. I’m seeing a chiropractor now.  A couple of the adjustments actually triggered migraines, but now they’re just giving me neck pain and worsening of the chronic headache for a day or so afterward.  I sure hope this helps some.

3. I’ve started wearing make-up again and bought some new clothes when I went school clothes shopping with the kids.  So, I got my hair cut yesterday.  I have no idea why!!  I’m starting to feel more social and like being more active, even though my headaches aren’t much better.  Whatever the cause, Mr. Math Tutor has noticed the change and is enjoying it as well!

4. The kids and I are volunteering every week at the local Senior Nutrition Center.  We help pack lunches for Meals On Wheels and then serve lunches to the clients who eat at the center.  Being in a small town, there are usually fewer than ten clients at a time, but they enjoy seeing the kids, and they do need the help.

5. Our garden has been moderately successful this year.  I’m going to put in some garlic later this fall.  We’re going to simplify next year and just plant some of the things that were most successful this year, like green beans and onions.

6. Mr. Math Tutor and I have been watching all the extra appendices and material with our Lord of the Rings DVDs.  We did this when we got the DVDs, about 6 years ago.  It’s great fun to do it again!!

7. I mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors tonight.  This is exciting for me.

So, what’s up with you?!  Check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes Friday!!

Book Review – Fearless

Fear – it’s all around us.  Fear of the economy getting worse (or of not being able to feed their family in the current economy).  Fear of the the culture’s influence on our children.  Fear of terrorism.  Fear of Swine Flu.

And our culture feeds into it.  The media tells us how awful the Swine Flu pandemic will be (which it might be, so get your vaccine if it’s recommended).  They make it sound like each tropical storm is going to be another Katrina.  Conservatives tell us that Obama is going to corrupt our children with a speech to children in school.  Liberals tell us that Christian fundamentalists are going to take over the government.  Environmentalists want us to believe that we have only a few more years of life on this planet.

According to “It’s a Jungle Out There” by Randy Newman (theme song from Monk),

People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time
If you paid attention, you'd be worried too
You better pay attention
Or this world we love so much might just kill you
I could be wrong now, but I don't think so
It's a jungle out there

But Jesus tells us (more than once!) not to be afraid.  According to everything above, we absolutely should be afraid.  But, Jesus tells us otherwise.  And that what Max Lucado wants us to learn from his book, Fearless.

With his signature prose, Lucado goes through the most common fears of mankind and reminds us that Jesus is the answer to all of them.  He tells us that we don’t have to worry about not mattering, because we mattered enough to Jesus that He died for us.  We don’t have to fear loss of stuff because we can’t trust stuff in the first place.  The answer to all of our fears is Jesus.

A couple of things really stood out to me in this book.  I loved the chapter on the fear of disappointing God.  In this chapter, Lucado reminds us that we can have courage to tackle whatever God puts before us because we know that God has forgiven us.  The connection between forgiveness and courage is one that I had not seen before but it makes sense.  I can have courage because of God’s grace.  How amazing!!

My other favorite chapter was “Fear of God Getting Out of My Box.”  In the last several years, I have seen God do lots of things in my and my family’s life.  We are stronger and love each other more deeply.  Yet, God didn’t work in the box I had made for Him.  If He had done that, I would be done with my headaches and be back at work.  Instead, He has done what He wants to do.  This chapter was affirming to me that God is God and I don’t have to be afraid of letting Him be Himself.  God knows what He’s up to, even when I don’t.  And the end result is much better than I could have imagined.  So, there’s no need to be afraid.

This is an excellent book that I can highly recommend.  It is quite readable.  Lucado includes a number of stories and examples, but not so many that the message gets cluttered.  He remains focused on how we can leave a Fearless life in Jesus.

For more information, check out the Fearless website.  You can purchase the book at Amazon or Thomas Nelson.  There are discussion resources at the back of the book and a small group discussion guide is sold separately.  Enjoy!

Updates

Hey, guess what?  I have a blog!!  No, I have not completely forgotten about it!  So, here’s what’s up in my life.

1. I’m seeing a chiropractor for my headaches.  Unfortunately, the adjustments last week ended up giving me migraines – part of why I wasn’t blogging!!  Today’s adjustment seems to have been a little bit easier on the head and neck.

2. The first week of school was great all the way around.  Both kids are getting into the groove of doing their schoolwork.

3. Rosie Girl is going to try out for Show Choir and for Madrigals.  Wild Man is going to try out for a community theater production.  Yes, we’ll be busy!

4. The kids and I are helping out at the Senior Nutrition Center on Wednesdays at lunchtime.  We help pack the Meals on Wheels lunches as well as serve the lunches to the clients who come to the center.  They have a keyboard so Rosie Girl can play her piano pieces and they have games so Wild Man can play cards and checkers with the clients.  We’ve enjoyed it and the clients seem to be happy about our coming to help.

5. Dance starts this week – Tap for Rosie Girl and Theater Dance for Wild Man.

6. Rosie Girl is in the High School group at church – EEK!  And Wild Man is in the Junior High group – EEK! EEK!  I am seriously not old enough for this!!

7. I made some yummy Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup a few weeks ago, but the tortillas disintegrated, so I’m trying again this week with white corn tortillas.  I’ve also gotten a hankering to make a meat pie after watching some old Top Chef episodes – lol!!

8. I have many thoughts rambling around in my head, but I’ll wait until I can put them into some semblance of order until I post.  Here’s a little foretaste –

What kind of paranoia do conservatives have that we can’t let the elected President of our nation talk to schoolkids for 18 minutes?  Obama is talking about having a “trigger” to a mandatory public option – that’s the same as a public option, just a few years down the road!  I love doing fixed hour prayer, but I wish I was more disciplined about it.  Have you ever eaten “ramps”? – I’ve heard about them on two cooking shows recently and now I want to try them!   Why am I having to run the air conditioner in September in Wisconsin?  I found a great new sock pattern! 

Does that whet your appetite for more of my crazy thoughts?  Well, stay tuned.  First up, though, is a book review.  That’s coming later tonight!

Our First Day!!

Today was it – the first day of school 2009-2010.  And it was even better than I could have imagined.  We had donuts for breakfast as a treat.  The kids got their chores done without any prompting at all.  They started their schoolwork and stayed with it until it was all finished.

Rosie Girl worked independently without needing any prompting from me today.  She did have a few questions, but otherwise did quite well.  Wild Man read out loud to me and I read his History book to him.  I gave him a Geography workbook to do, and he did the entire lesson and only missed a couple of questions.  His dyslexia showed up by his writing his “p”s backwards, but I’m thrilled that he was able to answer the questions on his own, even the short-answer questions.

Rosie Girl asked me a few days ago if she could start wearing make-up.  I rarely wear make-up, although I have started to do so more frequently.  I never really considered that Rosie Girl might want to, so I was kind of taken off guard when she asked.  We’ve never set a definite age when she could start, so I didn’t have an immediate answer.

The question did present a great opportunity to talk about beauty and the importance of our beauty coming from inside of us.  Rosie Girl seemed to pretty clearly understand the Bible’s emphasis on our character being more important than our appearance.  She’s interested in using make-up to cover her acne and enhance her eyes.

Today, I took her to the store, and we bought her some make-up of her own.  (She actually had some from dance recitals, but it was all old and had to be thrown away.  Besides, it was kind of cool to make a little event out of this.)  We had a little lesson in make-up application tonight (which is, unfortunately, a little like the blind leading the blind, but I only tried to teach the basics, so I don’t think I did any real damage).  Rosie Girl did a great job of using the make-up to just enhance her natural features.

Tomorrow is the start of public school, so the kids have their first day of classes there.  Rosie Girl is quite nervous.  We prayed with her tonight and have reassured her that all the other freshman are just as nervous.  Her classes are second and third period, so she will be home well before lunch.  Wild Man’s class is right after lunch.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow – more great homeschooling and some adventures at public school!!

Almost Ready!!

We start school in this house on August 31, and I am shocked to realize that I will probably be ready!!  All the books and supplies are purchased and put away.  The schedules are almost completely done.  Next Monday, I will meet with each child individually for “orientation” where I will go over their books and types of assignments so they are ready to go on Day 1.  This is particularly important for Rosie Girl since she’s working pretty independently this year.

I have made up a set of grading scales for Rosie Girl’s assignments.  The scales are from 1 to 5 and for such topics as content, completion, labs, etc.  I’ve also decided now how much each item in a course is worth.  At the end of the year, I’ll take her grades and do a weighted average and assign a grade.  While I’ve never been big on grades, Rosie Girl really likes to know exactly what is expected of her and when.  Doing this work on the front end will, I hope, lead to less angst on the back end.

Rosie Girl: For history, she will be doing Core 100 from Sonlight which uses the History of US by Hakim as the spine.  I will have her also read the notes that come with the curriculum and answer about half of the questions in the notes.  I also got the test packet from Amazon and she will do a test about once a month.  In the spring, I’ll have her do a research project, probably with the WriteAtHome workshop.  She and Wild Man will both learn the states, and I have Maps, Charts, and Graphs Book H for her to do.  She also will do a weekly Current Events oral or written report.

Her English course has a lot of components.  She will do composition with WriteAtHome online.  But, I still have her doing the literature portion of Sonlight Core 100, so she will read the books and answer some of the accompanying questions (as well as discussing them with me).  She will do Daily Grams Junior/Senior High, Analogies, and Wordly Wise as well.

Science is Singapore Biology with Castle Heights Biology Lab.  Singapore Biology comes with a workbook and I’m making up a few tests to give throughout the year.  The biology lab includes some microscope work as well as dissection.  At the end of the year, I will have her do some reading on the Creation/Evolution debate.

She will do Sonlight Core 100 Bible which involves a Bible Study Sampler with daily reading and questions along with several other books about prayer and faith.  Math is Life of Fred Beginning Algebra that she will do with her dad.  She will take Art and Chorus at the local public school and do Latin online with PowerSpeak.

Wild Man:  Wild Man will do Core 3+4 which uses The Landmark History of the American People as the spine.  I will probably do most of the reading from this book to him, although he is able to read from his readers on his own a good bit now.  He will learn the states with his sister and do Maps, Graphs, and Charts Book E

His Language Arts uses the Sonlight readers and Grammar Ace from Sonlight.  He will also use All About Spelling, Explode the Code, and Getty-Dubay Handwriting.  For Bible, he’s doing Bible Quest – Promises Fulfilled: Luke and Acts.  I anticipate that we will do that together since it involves a lot of writing.

Science is Crime Scene Investigations.  I have gone through and found the investigations that we will be able to do here at home and ordered the supplies that we need.  I think it’s going to be great!

He will do Math Mammoth with his dad as well as PowerSpeak Spanish.  He’s already done his summer band lessons at the middle school and will be taking band class two days a week.

Getting all this ready and putting the schedules (except the Sonlight part) into Homeschool Tracker has taken far more than the last week, so this isn’t exactly a week in review.  It’s more like a summer in review!  I’m feeling generally ready to go.  This week is my meetings with the kids to introduce them to all the new stuff.  They also have open house at the public school to find their classrooms there.  It’s the week of the Fair, so our town will be busy, although my kids are no longer involved in the Fair.

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have been up to – mostly people who have actually started their school year!!

 

 

To Grade or Not To Grade . . . .

. . . that is the question for this homeschooling mom!!  I am philosophically not a fan of grading, generally believing in an unstructured lifestyle of learning approach to homeschooling.  But things are changing around here.  Rosie Girl needs the structure of knowing what is expected and when.  I need concrete measuring guides for consistency.

One of the really nice things about Mr. Math Tutor having gone back to school to get his teaching certificate is that he learned some good stuff about evaluating students.  For one thing, the purpose of evaluating students is to improve teaching, NOT to determine whether they are doing well or poorly.  In other words, we don’t evaluate to give a grade.  At this point in Rosie Girl’s life, I will give grades so that it’s nice and easy to make a transcript.  Each weekly evaluation, though, is intended to help her see what she needs to do to improve her performance and to help me see where I need to improve teaching.  Grading is to improve my teaching and her learning, not to put a grade on the paper.

Right now, I’m feeling rather overwhelmed by the entire idea of grading.  I’ve read through lots of Sonlight forums to see how other families do it.  This year, we’re going to have to be more structured than previously.  My plan right now is to do some kind of weekly evaluation of most of her subjects.  She’ll also be taking some tests and writing papers.  I’ll be spending this week sorting out how I’ll be doing the evaluating.  Pray for me!!

So, the answer to the question is, Yes, to grade.  But, to grade to help a child learn, not just to have a grade in a grade book.

7 Quick Takes Friday – august 14, 2009

1. My kids are on a Lord of the Rings kick.  Not only are we reading Fellowship of the Ring as a family, but the kids have been watching the movies with commentary.  It’s kind of fun for me to experience them again, but this time with the kids.

2. In an attempt to get ready for the school year, I put up a US map next to our World Map in the dining room.  It’s the only place with enough wall space, and it also sparks great mealtime conversation.  I want the kids to learn the states and some US geography in addition to US history this year.

3. Our DVD player died today so the kids had an impromptu electronics lesson – i.e. they took the DVD player apart!

4. Wild Man is done with summer band lessons but Rosie Girl has her dance intensive next week for four days.  She only takes tap during the school year, but she still enjoys the summer dance intensive where she does some ballet and jazz as well.

5. This weekend is Rock the City where we have our church service at the park.  Mr. Math Tutor will be playing bass guitar and Wild Man will be dancing with the Worship and Music group.  There’s a pig roast followed by a baptism service.  At least this year, it looks to be nice and warm.  The year that Wild man was baptized, it was in the low 60s and drizzly!

5. I’ve been trying to walk for 10-30 minutes in the morning to perk myself up and I’m happy to say that it’s working.  Of course, Wednesday and Thursday this week were migraine days so I didn’t do much of anything, but the walking most other days helps get me going so there’s a chance I can have lunch ready by noon.

6. We start our school year in two and a half weeks.  I really want to have the kids desks clean and organized, but I haven’t gotten it done yet.  Most of the assignments are planned, though.

7. Our little garden is still producing.  We’ve been eating green beans and onions lately  The cucumbers and tomatoes are coming along nicely.

Go check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others have to say !! 

Review – Your Jesus Is Too Safe

In Matthew 16:15, Jesus asks his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”  That’s a question that we, as Christians, need to ask ourselves today.  For too many of us, Jesus is a great teacher or self-help guru.  As Michael Card said (in “Know You in the Now”), “We’ve made You in our image, so our faith’s idolatry.”  Indeed, the Jesus that shows up too often in middle class America looks an awful lot like a middle class American!!

Jared Wilson wrote Your Jesus Is Too Safe to help us start to better understand who Jesus is and develop a true understanding of the Gospel.  And he’s done an excellent job!  He has twelve chapters, each of which discusses an aspect of Jesus – e.g. Jesus as Shepherd, Jesus as Lord, Jesus as Savior, etc. – to help us find who Jesus really is.

Here are some things I found particularly of interest.  In “Jesus the Man”, Jared skillfully deals with the tension between Jesus’ divinity and humanity.  So many of us as Evangelicals don’t like to think about Jesus being truly human, but our picture of Jesus is incomplete without really understanding this part of Him.  Jared gives a nice birds’ eye view of Jesus’ life and then discusses why Jesus’ humanity was so important.

One of my favorite chapters was “Jesus the Provision”.  As a stay-at-home Mom who enjoys cooking (and has kids who enjoy cooking), I spend a lot of time thinking about food, purchasing food, trying to save money on food, cooking meals, cleaning up from meals, etc. (you get the picture).  In this chapter, Jared shows how Jesus ministry was often based around meals and then goes on to discuss how Jesus is our provision.  He weaves into this both the Gospel and the sacraments.  Powerful stuff.

Jared Wilson’s writing is clear and easy to understand.  He uses a number of cultural references, not all of which I understood, but I’m pretty sure that’s because I’m a 42 year old homemaker and not a 28 year old hip, urban single.  I did have issue with one thing.  He inserted a good bit of humor, which was fine, except that sometimes it came right in the middle of a serious passage and was rather jarring.  I think a little more discretion in the use of humor could have made some of those spots more effective.

So, I give this book an A+ in my rating scale.  It is not hard to read, but it is meaty stuff.  This book has motivated me to go back to the Gospels and re-evaluate my picture of Jesus.  Have I made Him in my image?  Or have I allowed Scripture to speak for itself?

Your Jesus Is Too Safe is on sale now.  Enjoy!  And check out Jared’s website and blog!

 

Jared C. Wilson is a pastor and an award-winning writer whose articles, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications.
A minister for over a decade, he has become known for his passionate gospel-centered teaching and strong calls for missional Christianity.
Jared's book Your Jesus is Too Safe is now available from Kregel Publications wherever Christian books are sold.
Encounter his passion for the ongoing reformation of the evangelical church almost daily at www.gospeldrivenchurch.com.

Menu Plan Monday – August 10, 2009

I’m back to planning meals for the week again.  During the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to make some food to put into the freezer so we’ll have some yummy meals during the school year, even when I have headaches.

Our family has also started having our main meal at lunchtime instead of supper.  This has been working well because Mr. Math Tutor works online until lunch and then generally has his face-to-face clients after school is out.  It was hard for us last year to have dinner all together, so we decided to try having lunch together.  We’ve been doing it for about a week and really enjoying it.  I kind of feel like my main task for the day (cooking the main meal) is done nice and early so the rest of the day is free (for exciting stuff like laundry – so maybe it’s not really so free!).

Here’s what I have planned for this week:

1. Hoisin Chicken with green beans and sweet corn (from the garden)

2. Spaghetti

3. Spinach pie (and I’ll probably make an extra one to put in the freezer)

4. Garlic Roast Chicken with Vegetables

5. Leftovers

6. Leftovers

7. Lunch at Rock the City

Check out what others are planning at Menu Plan Monday!

I think I’m sexist

Some of my favorite TV shows are the Food Network competitions shows like Chopped and Next Food Network Star.  I’ve noticed that I have a sexist streak in me while watching these shows.  In the very beginning of the shows, I always support the woman (or one of the women) in the competition.  As we learn more about the contestants, my opinion may change, but at the beginning, I always pull for the woman.  And it doesn’t matter the race – I pretty much don’t care what ethnicity the person is.

I don’t know where this comes from.  I have rarely been the object of sexism, even in medical school, residency, and ten years of medical practice.  I guess it’s probably because I feel something in common with other women.  On Next Food Network Star, I started out rooting for Melissa partly because she’s also a stay-at-home mom but I stayed with her because I enjoyed watching her and she’s super-smart about cooking.

So I’m sexist.

Huldah

Do you remember Huldah from your Sunday School classes? No? Don’t worry. Neither do I. I came across her name while reading in 2 Chronicles.

In the 18th year of Josiah’s reign as king of Judah, the book of the Law was found again in the Temple and read to Josiah. King Josiah then gave orders for his helpers to “inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found.” (2 Chron. 34:21) So, the guys go out and find the prophetess, Huldah, who proceeds to give them five verses of God promising to all kinds of destruction on the people for forsaking Him, but sparing Josiah because Josiah is turning the people back to God.

And that’s all we hear of her. Apparently, she was known to the people of Judah as a prophetess. There didn’t seem to be some great debate as to who to go see when Josiah said to go “inquire of the Lord”. She didn’t appear to be a “second-choice” or the one prophesying because a man didn’t do his job.

Huldah appears to be a woman that God had placed in Jerusalem for a specific purpose – and she was ready to carry out that purpose. The story of Huldah is a reminder that we need to look at the entire Bible to sort out the whole issue of women’s “roles” and not pick and choose a few verses. Huldah is an example of a woman used by God in a male-dominated profession (prophesying – if you can call that a profession) in a male-dominated culture.

Just some food for thought.

7 Quick Takes Friday – August 7, 2009

1. My headaches come in waves.  Right now, things are going pretty well and I’ve been pretty productive and without a rip-roaring headache for several days.  About three weeks ago, though, I had about two weeks of being able to do very little around the house because of the headaches.  Because of this, I‘ve been making lots of meals for the freezer so that we have something to eat besides frozen pizza when I get into a really bad headache stretch.

2. We are trying a new schedule around here.  Since we are all here at lunchtime, but not necessarily suppertime, our big meal of the day is now lunch.  We’ve done it for two days now with real success and I think it will be even better during the school year.  I have to get used to getting up and starting dinner almost immediately, but I like having a clean kitchen most of the afternoon.  And having a big meal in the middle of the day is definitely healthier all the way around!

3. A local chiropractor has offered to give me a free evaluation and treatment of my headaches.  I’ve had chiropractic treatment before without much success so I haven’t pursued it again.  However, this chiropractor is a Christian and offered to give it another, more comprehensive try.  Unfortunately, since I’m on Medicare (because of disability), he’s not allowed to provide free care for me.  My plan doesn’t cover much chiropractic care, so I’m not sure that we’re in a place to try it right now.  That’s one of the most frustrating things to me about government-run healthcare – physicians are limited in doing even good things.  If someone can’t pay their Medicare or Medicaid co-pay, the provider can’t just waive the fee.  Yet one more reason to keep the government out of our lives.

4. I read somewhere recently that people spend only 22 minutes a day cooking, but 30-60 minutes per day watching cooking shows.  We spend a lot more time around here cooking because cooking from scratch is far less expensive than convenience foods.  But, Rosie Girl and I are also often inspired by cooking shows (especially Food Network) to try new things.  Sometimes we look up recipes, but other times we just go in the kitchen and play around and hope it turns out good.

5. We planted Morning Glories in the first part of June and they just started blooming the first of August.  I don’t know if they took so long because it’s been a cool summer or because we needed to water them more, but I’m glad they finally decided to take off!!

6. For lunch today, I used green beans and an onion from our garden.  The garden has definitely required some work and has been a mixed bag of success, but I’m glad we did it.  The green beans have been a huge success.  The onions are also doing well.  I think the squash and pumpkin will do well.  We have carrots, but they are pretty small!

7. Rosie Girl had golden curls when she was a baby, but her hair became straight by the time she was five years old.  In the last year or so, we’ve noticed that she has had some curls around her face.  She asked to go to the hair stylist last week to have her hair trimmed and figure out what to do about the curls.  It turns out that she has curly hair!!  The stylist layered her hair and, once the weight was taken off, all her hair curls.  All Rosie Girl does in the morning is wash and towel dry it. 

Check out Conversion Diary for more 7 Quick Takes Friday posts!!

 

 

New School Year Tips

This week’s WFMW theme is Back to School, so I thought I’d share some of my homeschool Back to School tips.  My kids have never gone to a traditional school (except for Rosie Girl’s taking an art class in 6th grade).  Mr. Math Tutor was the homeschooling parent for the first five years and I have been doing it now for three years.  You’d think we’d be real experts by now, huh?  We would be except that the kids keep insisting on growing up!  We find one thing that works and then the kids grow out of it or past it.  This year, Rosie Girl is taking Chorus and Art at the high school and Wild Man is taking Band at the Middle School, so we are following the school calendar this year.   But, here are some things that have worked for us in the past:

1. Start the year with one new item for each kid.  One year, we found very inexpensive backpacks, which the kids really needed.  We still have those backpacks and use them regularly.  Another year was pencil boxes.

2. Have a special breakfast for the first day of school.  My kids particularly like pancakes!

3. Start slow – ease into school by starting a couple of subjects each week.

4. End of summer field trip – my kids are requesting a trip to the planetarium and laser show before we start this year.

Well, that’s about it for Back to School tips.  Check out WFMW at We Are That Family for more great ideas.

Potatoes Gratin

Our family LOVES to watch The Next Food Network Star and we were thrilled when Melissa won last week!!!  For the last challenge, Melissa and Jeffrey each had to do a short pilot episode.  Melissa did a chicken dish with a potato gratin.  Last night for dinner, I was making roast, but I had a couple of potatoes, so Rosie Girl and I decided to do a modification of Melissa’s potato gratin.

We sliced 2 large potatoes and grated about a cup of mild cheddar cheese.  We then layered the potatoes and cheese into the cups of a muffin tin which had already been sprayed with baking spray.  We topped each cup with a pat of butter and added a little milk.  It went in the oven for about 30 minutes.  (Melissa’s original recipe called for Swiss cheese instead of cheddar, and cream instead of milk and butter, but I loved the idea of using the muffin tin.)

The potatoes were delicious and perfectly cooked.  The only problem was that the muffin tin could have been sprayed a little more completely so it was an annoyance to wash.  This is definitely a “keeper” of a recipe – quick and easy to make and well-liked by the family.

Check out Blissfully Domestic and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for more great domestic ideas!!

 

Math Tools

Mr. Math Tutor’s business is up and going!!  His business is called Math Tools and he provides math tutoring services both in person and online.  I’m pretty excited about it because he’s doing what he’s passionate about.  Mr. Math Tutor enjoys working one-on-one with students to help them become successful in math.  I was going to have him write an article for my blog, but he’s going to be writing for both CurrClick and Heart of the Matter, so I’ll link to the articles when they’re up.  In the meantime, check out his website!