A few minutes alone

Ink eventually comes off!

This was in the fall when Levi was three and had a few minutes alone.

Now.  If I had a few minutes alone at home....what would I do??  

1. Read.  Maybe.
2. Blog. Maybe.
3. Sit.  Maybe, but probably not.
4. Go to bathroom....I rarely get to be in there and NOT be interrupted! 
5. Make a phone call and actually have a conversation.  I dream about doing this.
6. Start thinking about my kids! 

As I was writing this, thinking that I really don't get "alone time" I realized that I actually do.  It's early in the morning when the kids are still sleeping.  That's when I exercise.  I'm so glad I wrote this....it made me realize that I do have some alone time!

What do pre-schoolers do during school when their older siblings are doing their school work?!

What do you do when you have a few minutes alone? 

Do your kids have an interest in medicine, law, national security?

My 16 year old is interested in the CIA.  So, this spring he will attend the National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D. C.. In case you have a child interested in leadership, national security, medicine, law or crime scene investigation I want to let you know about this amazing opportunity.  The information below is from the forum's website.

"STUDENTS EXPLORE U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY DURING SPRING FORUM
National Youth Leadership Forum Provides Insight into U.S. Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This spring, outstanding high school students from across the United States will take part in a unique career development program in our nation’s capital. During the six-day program, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security (NYLF/NS): Exploring American Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense will introduce students to the challenging careers in national security, intelligence, the diplomatic corps and more.

“Imagine being 16 or 17 years old and the responsibility of securing the United States at home and abroad rests on your shoulders. Through specialized simulations, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security strives to put students in the driver’s seat of building a strategy that will uphold our national security,” said Dr. Marguerite Regan, Dean of Academic Affairs for NYLF. “The combination of interacting with professionals and with other students in this setting ensures that leaders are being developed
so the future of our country will remain very bright.”

The curriculum for the Forum on National Security is based on actual world events. Throughout the program, students use critical thinking, leadership and public speaking skills to tackle the complexity of national decision-making as they examine how the U.S. plans for peace and prepares for crisis. They employ a crisis decision-making process similar to that employed by the nation’s top policy makers. Students also participate in thought-provoking question and answer sessions with highly respected, internationally recognized civilian policy makers and senior military personnel. In addition, leading institutions open their doors to Forum on National Security students, where they are educated in diplomacy, international affairs and military strategy. In the past, students have explored several government institutions and military installations, including the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Naval Academy, a variety of embassies and many others.

Founded in 1992, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) is an educational organization established to help prepare extraordinary young people for their professional careers. Forums are offered in 14 cities across the United States in a wide variety of career fields, such as national security, law and medicine. Over 50,000 young people have attended NYLF programs.

For additional information, visit us at www.nylf.org." (click here for  NYLF website)

 Students can earn one college credit after attending the forum!

The National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security: Exploring American Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense has partnered with nationally ranked George Mason University to offer one college credit to our attending scholars! George Mason University was featured in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2009" ranking as the number one national university on its list of "up-and-coming schools."

Click here to view a mind-boggling sample schedule for the forum!  

 Until a few months ago I didn't know anything like this existed.  Please share with others who may be interested.

Do you know of other opportunities like this?  If so, please share it, and other opportunities for high schoolers, in the comment section!

My Word for 2013

Happy new year!  I hope you have a great year.

My word for 2013 is...................................................................................FAITH.

Click below to see more about choosing a word for the year.
My words from 2011 and 2012.

For the past two years I've picked a word at the beginning of each year to "cast a vision of the person you want to be in"  the next year.  (K-Love website)

Our family will experience some big changes this year- potentially.

• In the summer we will move back to Germany after being in the States for three years.
• We may have our second oldest driving with a learner's permit before we leave.
• For the past year, we've been working on adopting so it's possible we could increase the size of our family.
• Our oldest will apply for colleges in the fall!   

Recently I've seen a few movies that make me think about important our faith is.  A line in one of them, Life of Pi,  went something like this..."You don't really know God until He has tested your faith."   

Some things I do are relatively easy for me to do.  If I took some of those endeavors to the next level, that might require FAITH! 

What are you doing that is easy?  What would it take to do something similar, but having faith to take it to the next level,  and get to know God better? Or, what are you already doing that requires faith?  I bet some of you have an enormous list! 

 

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Hello again,

It's been too long since I've posted and I've missed you!  I hope you had a Merry Christmas.  Below is a copy of an email note (with some minor editing) that I sent to the pastors at my church asking them to host Frank Turek from CrossExamined.org at our church.

I've been using his I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist curriculum in my high school homeschool this year and I am so excited about it that I want to share it with you.  I thought that an easy way to share it with you is to share the note I sent to my pastors.  Feel free to forward my note to your pastor(s) too!

Hello Gentlemen,

Would you consider inviting Frank Turek, from CrossExamined.org, to come to our church (*)? Frank is a former Naval aviator, with a PHD in apologetics, who conducts seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools to help young people understand why the Christian faith is true and reasonable and train them to defend that view.

I am using his curriculum, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, in my homeschool with my high school boys this year and we are enamored with it. One day I said to my boys, "I can't believe I've never heard this before even though I've been a Christian since I was a child!"

We recently completed the first 6 of 12 chapters in the book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Those chapters use science, logic and philosophy, not the Bible, to help people see that it only makes sense that there is a Creator. It's fascinating. My boys, who are generally not jumping up and down with enthusiasm to do their school work, actually like this class and are learning from it....which, I think, is the equivalent of them jumping up and down with joy!

"Christian young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate, mainly because they are not equipped to examine the skepticism and atheism they encounter after leaving home, often coming from their college professors." (CrossExamined.org) I believe that having Frank speak to our church would greatly benefit the Kingdom.

"CrossExamined.org is a non-profit ministry started in 2006 that conducts dynamic I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools. Led by Frank Turek and other Christian apologists, CrossExamined.org exists to address the problem that 3-out-of-4 Christian youth leave the church while in college, many because they are intellectually skeptical." (CrossExamined.org)

When I asked Frank about coming to our church, he requested that a church pastor contact him to make arrangements. Here is the email address where you can contact him: seminars@crossexamined.org.

Below is a link with more information:

CrossExamined.org

If you would like to take a look at the curriculum, let me know and I would be glad to show you what I have which includes a DVD with 12 recorded sessions of Frank giving his seminar.
Thank you for all you do for our community.

Sincerely,
Sue S

* The original note had the name of our church.

Click here for

You Tube Clip about I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

What do you think about what Frank says in the clip?

Thanksgiving Recipes for my Kids!

This post is for my kids.  

I want to make sure you have the recipes that I use each year to make our Thanksgiving dinner in case you want to make them in the future.  

I like to set the table the night before so everyone comes downstairs to a pretty surprise!

 

The first year I tried to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, the bird never cooked.   (I was in my young thirties.)  The most likely reason is because I used a pottery piece to cook it in instead of a roasting pan.  

This roasting pan, on the right, works well.  A metal 9x13 pan works too if you use a bag.

Hopefully I'll teach each of you how to cook a turkey so that doesn't happen to you!  It's really pretty easy to cook a turkey, but I think it helps if you do it with someone else a time or two before doing it on your own.

Luke helped prepare the stuffing and stuffed, cooked and carved the turkey.

Here is our menu for this year:

1. Turkey.  (Recipe follows.) I've been using a 12-13 pound turkey to feed 8 and have leftovers.  Make sure you thaw it if it's frozen.  About three days in the fridge.
2. Stuffing.  (Recipe follows.)
3. Rolls.  Store bought.  Frozen.
4. Mashed potatoes.  Cook them.  Peel them.  Mash them.  Add salt, mild butter and if necessary, mix with beaters.
5. Sweet potatoes.  Baked, peeled and mashed.  Put in casserole and cover with marshmallows.  Bake for just a few minutes to soften and brown the marshmallows.
6. Green bean casserole.  Recipe on French's French Fried Onions.
7. Carrot souffle.  (Recipe follows.)
8. Cranberries.  One can jellied and one can of whole cranberries.
9. Butter.
10. Gravy. (Recipe follows.)
11.  Dessert:  Pie. Cake. Toffee. Whipped Cream.  Ice Cream.  Um...I ahem...shhh...bought. the. pie. this. year. (Recipes follow for Dump Cake and Toffee.)

 Turkey

Rinse turkey inside and out. 

Salt and pepper the inside cavities.

Put foil into cavities to make it easier to pull out stuffing.

Gently put stuffing into cavities- don't press too hard.  Use skewers to keep the skin closed around the stuffing.

Put turkey into pan breast side down.  

Brown turkey for 30-45 minutes at 325 with lid off.

Spread butter on outside of turkey or pour melted butter over turkey.

Put quartered onions in bottom of pan.

Add some water to cover bottom of roasting pan or 9x13 metal pan.

Check to make sure there is still water in pan every hour and baste the turkey.  Cover and cook until temperature is 180 degrees in the thigh.  (*Make sure you have a meat thermometer.)Or...Use a cooking bag and follow directions- that's what we're doing this year.

Gravy  
Take some of the juice from the turkey and put it in a pot on the stove. Mix some water and corn starch in a bowl.  It will be white colored and watery. The thicker it is, the thicker the gravy will be.  Heat until it boils then gradually add the water/cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened.  Add more cornstarch and water to thicken, or more juice to make it thinner.

Stuffing

Bread, broken into small pieces. 

Bread crumbs.  I use about half a bag of "Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing".

Pour water and melted butter over bread to moisten.   I use about a cup of butter!
Chopped celery

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Mix together in a bowl to taste.

 To make stuffing without turkey, bake at 275-300 degrees covered for about 2 hours.

Carrot Souffle

16 oz fresh carrots, boil till soft, drain, run through food processor

Add

½ c. melted butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

Puree all.  Pour into greased soufflé dish.

Bake 350 degrees 45 Min.

Dump Cake
Spray 9x13 with Pam.
Layer ingredients in a pan in this order:
- 1 can of pie filling, any flavor (I used cherry)
-1  can of crushed pineapple with juice (I omitted this at Luke's request)
-1 yellow butter cake mix, sprinkled on top
-1 stick margarine or butter cut up in small pieces all over top of cake mix.
Bake @350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Heath Bar Crunch Toffee (from my sister, Beth, and Tracie)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 package of chocolate chips
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lay aluminum foil on cookie sheet (I use 11x15 pan) and arrange crackers flat on sheet.  In a small-medium saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar.  Heat over med-high heat until boiling.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Pour mixture over crackers, spread evenly and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove cookie tray from oven and pour chocolate chips over top and bake for about 1.5 minutes.  Remove from oven and spread melting chips evenly with rubber spatula.  Place in refrigerator for 2.5 hours or overnight.  Break into pieces.  I keep them in the refrigerator.

 I make as much as possible the day ahead.  Stuffing, potatoes carrots and desserts.  

I have to go....the kids keep coming in and asking when we are going to eat dessert.....! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Happy Memories!!