The Countdown

The countdown has begun. We got a notice from the high school’s “official photographer” that we need to make an appointment for Bright Eyes’ senior pictures. She has made her schedule for the fall and she’ll be spending the better part of her day not on the campus of her high school, but at the local college. She’ll be at high school two hours a day and has boldly announced that we should probably consider getting her a car so that my homeschooling schedule isn’t too upset by increasingly complex schedule.

And even though we knew this day was coming; and even though her plan is to live at home while she earns her undergraduate degree, we can’t help but be painfully aware of the fact that our family dynamic is about to change. It’s a joyful but disconcerting time for me. When did the little girl I carried next to me in a snuggly become the young woman driving my SUV, requesting something smaller to putt around in?

This is just the beginning of two years of this family’s transition because she has two siblings right behind her. In fact they’re all taking college classes this summer and SAM and I keep thinking: Where did the time go? I have come to terms with the fact that I have to let my girls go, but I don’t have to like it, do I?

We’re doing mental checklists of all the little lessons we forgot to teach. Is it too late for some of them? Is it still too soon for others? One lesson we’ve always felt a strong compulsion to drive home is this: Do not measure success by this culture’s standards. It would be one of the worst mistakes they could ever make.

I am proud of their academic accomplishments, and I think their acquiring of a college degree is perfectly acceptable, especially since they’ve chosen a route that is cost-effective and doesn’t amass a mountain of debt. Still, the idea that college and career is the only path to a successful and fulfilling life is wrong on so many levels I won’t even attempt to count the ways. If the numbers of depressed, unfulfilled, mean-spirited people in out midst is any indication, that life path leaves a great deal to be desired.

What if rather than finishing college, God sends one of my children to the mission field? What if He leads one of my daughters to a life of marriage and family when she is 20 rather than 30? As Christians our first responsibility is to God when guiding our children. They are His, not ours, and we should direct them to follow His leading, even if it means sacrificing the perks and conveniences of the culture.

A sacrifice, as described in scripture, must die. We must die to our own ways, plans, and desires if we are to be fully formed into the image of who God wants us to be. I’m still working on making this a reality in my life, so that by example  I can encourage my kids to do the same.

It’s an ongoing process, but right now I’m just savoring the moments. I  encourage you to do the same. The time really does pass quite quickly. The baby you’re rocking now will be the young man or woman asking for your car keys before you know it.

Monday’s Musings

Happy Memorial Day. Don’t forget to thank a vet!

1.      Curriculum Delirium: That’s the syndrome I was suffering with by Saturday night, but I feel much better equipped moving forward on our homeschool journey than I did when the weekend began. I don’t envision myself attending this homeschool convention every year. It’s too much to take in and I gather the more years of homeschooling you have under your belt, the less you learn at these things. It does a seem an excellent place to go to remind yourself that there are lots of other “strange” families who have chosen to eschew the conventional education route for their children.

My favorite workshop was one on teaching literature to children. This guy was the best speaker I heard over the course of the weekend, bar none. I don’t know that I’ll ever read a children’s book quite the same way again. SAM, who prefers science and math to literature, even enjoyed it.

I mentioned on Friday that I only saw a few very large families. That changed on Saturday. I noticed many more the second day. Still, I saw a lot of families smaller than my own. Many of the mothers I spoke to while looking at different curriculum or standing in line to register were moms of two, three, or four. And a good number started out in public school and were switching course. Didn’t see many denim jumpers or long skirts either, which further illustrates my point. That homeschoolers rarely fit into a neat little box.

Hearing the woman who hosts this site was probably worth the cost of the convention. Lil’ Princess (4) is very bright, but highly distractible. In fact, her temperament has caused a couple of people to insinuate subtly and not so subtly that I need to put her in school to learn to sit-down-and-pay-attention already. Private school is not an option and public school would just bore her even more. She’s already beyond what the average kindergarten class teaches, and would promptly be labeled ADD, ADHD, hyperactive, or whatever else they’ve come up with that I haven’t heard of yet. No thank you. I’m not buying it, and I was thankful to run across someone who has gone where I am headed.

2.     Three Weeks, 12 pounds. No, not me. SAM. When he decided  few weeks ago to get into better shape, the testosterone kicked in and the extra weight fell off. In a snap. I’m still laboring to get off the last 13 pounds that I wanted to shed by the end of June.

To be honest, I haven’t been working all that hard. I’ve done enough not to regain any of the 22 pounds I’ve lost since January, but not enough to lose the rest. In truth, I need to lose 23 more, but I was resigned to be satisfied with simply losing the 35 pounds I gained from Sweetie Pie. He does in 3 weeks what I couldn’t do in 3 months. Who says men and women aren’t different?

3.     Elliptical, Schmiptical:  Piggybacking on the previous thought, my girls and I decided we would start doing this. Given my endurance on the elliptical machine, I thought it would be a piece of cake even for a 39-year-old whose 20 pounds overweight. Boy, was I wrong!

Running 200 yards on pavement is not the same as “running” a mile on a machine. Ditto free weights versus  a weight machine. It occurred to me that what I need is not more time working out, but workouts that are a bit more efficient. Machines that provide much of my momentum are slowing me down. So, a change of methodology is underway. I was doing the P90X program, but I need to get outside more to exercise. So I’m alternating between the weight training DVD’s and the running program every other day. Maybe the change of pace will give me my fitness momentum back, because I still have a way to go. We’ll see.

4.     I tuned in for the last Oprah show:  I’m a sheeple, I guess. I hadn’t watched an episode of her show in a very long time, but memories of when I was a regular viewer (as a teenager and very young wife) caused me to see how she was going to end this “dynasty” she’d built over the past 25 years. It was the most boring, sanctimonious thing I’d ever seen. The first 20 minutes at least, until I decided to shut off the set and try my hand at baking a gluten-free soda bread recipe to serve with dinner.

On second thought, she did say one thing I agreed with before I stopped watching: You are responsible for your life. I remember finding her assertion a bit ironic even though I wholeheartedly agreed. So I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Happy Monday, all! and Happy Memorial Day!

Kids In the Marriage Bed(room)?

Sheila has a most excellent post up titled, Your Husband Trumps Your Children. I highly recommend it to wives, and most especially wives to be. Here’s a teaser:

…because our love for our kids is so primal and so different, it’s easy to push our husbands out of the way and build our lives around our kids.

Don’t. Your kids don’t need you to be with them every single night. They would benefit from you taking a break and going on a date with your spouse. They would benefit from having their own room, so that you and your hubby can relax together in your bedroom. Your children will thrive when you learn how to resolve conflict with your husband, how to form a real team, and how to put him first.

After all, the Bible says that the husband and wife are one flesh, not the kids and the mom. They may come from us, but we are united with our husband, not our kids.

What most interested me about the post, however, was what inspired it. As a guest blogger on another site, Sheila wrote about making your bedroom a sacred (and private) place for you and your husband. A commenter immediately took her to task for suggesting such a thing, making it clear that she believes a child’s needs should come before a husband’s.

You all know enough about me to know that I don’t agree with that at all. It’s utter nonsense. Of course, Sheila is right. The marriage relationship is the primary relationship in the family. It’s the relationship on which everything else in built. However, does that mean that the children are automatically banished from the master bedroom? I’d love that to be my reality, but it isn’t. And sometimes it’s a challenge.

Before Lil’ Princess and Sweetie Pie were born, our oldest three kids were already in middle school, firmly entrenched in their own bedrooms on the other side of the house. We were in “the zone”, if you will. Our bedroom was our cozy, private space and we loved it. ‘We also spent a lot of time in our room just talking and catching up on each others day. Our communication really deepened during that time because while the kids were doing homework, we were talking to each other. Anyone with little ones appreciates the challenge of enjoying any private time when they’re awake.

The arrival of our two youngest changed the dynamic considerably. Nursing infants need close proximity and it just made sense to put the crib up against our bed so the baby could feed through the night without my having to roll out of bed and walk across the house every two hours.  But they’re three and four years old now, and we’re still attempting to transition to making our bedroom OUR bedroom again.

They have their own room, with comfortable beds and inviting decor. Every night they start out in their room, in their beds. About midway through the night without fail, one of them makes the journey to our bedroom and climbs up into the bed. For a while, we accepted it. Then, we started getting up and walking them back over to their room.

That lasted all of about a month. We have now reached a tentative arrangement where they still end up in our room at 2 AM, and everyone gets some much needed sleep. We harbor no illusions that this is an ideal situation, but it’s working for now. They make their trek late enough into the night that our intimacy is not hindered, and they get the security of close proximity to Mom and Dad.

Additionally, I’ve read that in cultures with a far more healthy attitude towards sex than Westerners, little ones aren’t kicked out until they need their own sense of privacy. Not having lived outside of the U.S. I don’t know how true that is, but I wonder how that affects marriages. Given that most of the world doesn’t enjoy the luxury of  four-bedroom houses, I imagine there must be some truth to it.

Question: How do you deal with the issue of kids in the master bedroom? Is the room totally off-limits? How young is too young to kick them out? How old is too old to let them stay? Thoughts?

Adventures in Homeschooling Lesson 1: To Mine Own Self Be True…

When we started  homeschooling officially last month, I struggled quite a bit  to find a way to make it all click. To find a routine where I can spend the time required educating my children, keep the house running smoothly, and juggle the needs and schedules of my high schoolers. It’s been an uphill battle.

Some days would go well. Other days not so much.  I think one of the mistakes I made early on, before we even decided for sure that we would homeschool, was reading too many different points of view on the subject. I read books and articles written by unschoolers, relaxed homeschoolers, scheduling fanatics, and those who laid out every detail for how to make sure your kids are as smart as they can be.

The books and articles that most appealed to me were written by proponents of a more relaxed approach to homeschooling. Because I tend to like things pre-planned and scheduled, I have a tendency if I’m not careful, to suck the fun out things that would be enjoyed more if spontaneity were allowed to rule the day. In response to my own tendency to over think things, I exhale every Friday afternoons and commit to going with the flow all weekend. This is a sanity saving habit because my husband is a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy. It’s good for me when he’s home to let him take the lead concerning what we’re going to do and how. On Monday, though, the lists come back out.

It was this knowledge of my weakness that drew me to the relaxed homeschooling approach. I want my kids to love learning and I needed to be careful not to plan the fun out of our days. So I settled on the relaxed homeschooling approach. Blocking out sections of time with the intent to accomplish certain goals and allowing for flexibility. Sounds great, right?

Well, it was all wrong for me because I don’t do well with too much latitude in my schedule. I would get so caught up in keeping things neat after a science experiment that I would be wiping, sweeping and cleaning right up until it’s time to start dinner and half of what I had hoped to accomplish in that day would go undone. What’s more, I would get frustrated so what I thought would keep our days loose and fun ended up creating the opposite effect.

The only way for me to ensure that the day goes well is to have a well-planned day. Last week, after a couple of days of chaos, I decided to sit down, make a schedule, have every minute accounted for, give myself some wiggle room, and see what happens.

It has been great! We have been learning much more, having much more fun, and the house is in decent shape by the end of the day. You may remember that I said that had to be the normal order of things.

The weather has been very nice this week, so we’ve spent more time outside.  I simply combined two activities to make up the difference. For example, reading to the kids outside instead of coming back in when it was time to read stories. I can be flexible when the need arises.

The funny thing about all of this is that my need for regimen isn’t because I’m a naturally organized person. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Without a plan I flutter from one thing to the next or worse, get sucked into whatever interests me that day. On a good day, that might mean the bathroom cabinets are organized, the shower is shined and the floor is so clean you could eat off it (though I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s still a bathroom). On a bad day, it might mean I read through most of Mere Christianity  or some other book,  write and save several blog posts in draft, and write even more in my journal. Nap time is prime time so if I waste the whole two hours, there’s more work waiting for me the next day.

While I appreciate the sentiment of you  unschooling proponents, it just doesn’t work for me. There is nothing relaxing about not having a plan for folks like me. I have to pencil the extra time for flexibility into my schedule. And yes, I know how funny that sounds. My kids prefer it this way as well. After all, they’re used to having their days ordered a certain way.

While I’ve accepted that I need a fairly regimented schedule, we still try to keep things loose. We are educating them at home, not trying to recreate a traditional school environment under our own roof. The kids don’t have to raise their hands to speak or ask to go potty, or stand in line. I’m not  pushing my kids too fast into things their not ready for. I’m taking my cues from Lil’ Princess  so that I’m careful not to force concepts that I know she isn’t ready for.

I’m thankful that I learned the lesson early on that having a  detailed schedule needn’t mean our homeschool is too rigid. I am the one who has to execute this grand plan so whatever we do needs to be what works best for me. Even if I run across an idea that sounds like it would be much better.

Check out our teddy bear bread. We had so much fun making this. It tasted good, too!

Enjoy your rest of your week!

“Homeschool for Dummies”

I am the dummy, by the way, and you all get to write this instruction manual.

Overall things are going pretty well, though our days don’t look a whole lot different from this time last year. Our homeschooling consists of reading stories, outdoor play, science projects, and hands-on math. If I subtract breaks for playing and chores, our “school” day would take all of about 2 hours, which I think is acceptable since Lil’ Princess is only four and I also have a two-year-old underfoot.

The only thing I have incorporated this year that is truly new and different  is “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.”  Lil’ Princess is thoroughly excited and sometimes obsessed with learning how to read. We do the lessons five days a week and they take between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on how much energy she puts into it.

Now, I have some questions:

Firstly, I need a good book/program for teaching the Bible. I know some people think doing anything other than reading the Scriptures themselves is tantamount to watering down but I don’t feel that way at all. So any suggestions you all can offer on that score would be helpful. The girls are four and two so it needs to be age appropriate.

Scheduling: I am quickly learning to adapt to whatever the day brings, and to know when to let something slide. When we started, I had a nice, neat schedule all worked out, until the girls slept past the time I had breakfast scheduled every day of the first week. That was easy enough to deal with.  I have also streamlined the laundry problem by washing everything on Saturday morning, then again on Wednesday, and it’s working. But keeping things neat is another story.The house has to be tidy by 5:30, and this is on-negotiable most days. Thank God for my big girls helping me out on that.  Books, art supplies, leaves collected, and other little items we handle throughout the day can make a lot of clutter. Ideas?

Co-ops: I have been contemplating joining a homeschool group for the past couple of months despite Lil’ Princess’ young age. What should I look for? While I’d love to be a part of a Christian group (and I think I found one), I am also not shutting out other possibilities. I am as uninterested in rigidity and legalism as I am interested in having my children make friends with kids who are also being taught a Biblical worldview. Is that a tall order, or what?

Writing: Is it too soon to be thinking about writing? Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons has a letter writing drill at the end of every lesson. At this juncture, I’m thinking that’s enough. If I do decide to go further, what’s a good program?

My biggest challenge is math. At this point, I am focused mainly on counting, sorting, and shapes. Good enough for now? All suggestions welcome.

Lastly by way of advice, I need a whole host of creative ideas: to keep us occupied at home and surrounding areas because we are living, as one blogger euphemistically puts it, car-free. Actually we are living with one car temporarily, so I am always looking for ways to keep the little ones busy while we are spending more time at home than we ever have. I never realized how few people are at home during the day until I was at home most days of the week.  We are doing pretty well since there is always something that needs to be done. But books and websites that are full of really creative ideas would be helpful. Thanks!

The most fun we’ve had so far: Science, hands down. It’s everywhere you look and easy to engage in. This book has been a wonderful source of inspiration. We’ve explored all kinds of fun ideas. Making applesauce (thanks for that idea Berry Bramble Cottage!), observing and identifying clouds and then making our own versions using cotton balls, light and shadows, colored sugar crystals, and most recently, catching lovebugs. Do those exist out of the south?

Additionally, a sink full of water and suds provides hours of fun and learning combined:

 I recently signed up for Passport to India, after Diane suggested it. What a great way to learn about another culture. I guess I’ll call it social studies although I haven’t the foggiest idea as of yet when to begin with that subject or where to begin when I do. I guess that’s another solicitation for ideas. I have been doing my research on all of these topics, but I am a big believer in word of mouth advertising, much more so than the snippets provided on the websites of the companies trying to sell me curriculum.

Like I said, the floor is open to any and all suggestions. I am learning as I go here, and I’m almost as much of a student as my kids. Looking forward to looking up all the links, ideas, and books you all suggest.

Thanks and Happy Monday!

From the “Duh” Files…

The “Duh” files because both of these stories should be non-stories. It used to be called common sense.

• Even the world can see that the church’s obsession with cultural relevance is costing not only new converts, but the young people who grow up in the church at high levels.  You have to wonder why the church continues on the same path? For the record, this is not a condemnation of youth ministry, but of the way most youth ministry is executed.  These are eye-opening articles to be sure:

From the Wall St. Journal: The Perils of “Wannabe Cool” Christianity

From CNN, of all places: More Teens Becoming ‘Fake’ Christians

FRom USA Today: Forget the Pizza Parties, Teens Tell Churches

I would add more commentary, but I don’t have time and the articles speak for themselves, quite loudly.

Hat tip: Defending, Contending, via Berean Wife

• Take one very attractive young female reporter, paint a pair of jeans onto her, and stick her in a locker room full of red-blooded NFL football players. When they notice her and comment accordingly, yell sexual harassment:

Offensive Lines? New York Jets Apologize After Locker Room Flap With Female Reporter

If you take the time to watch the news report, you will note that this reporter repeatedly emphasizes that she didn’t bring the sexual harassment charge, another woman did. My husband had some funny and choice words about that. If you ask, I’ll tell you.

I Finally Dropped the “H” Word…

Homeschooling, that is.

A while back I mentioned that I’d never mentioned to my folks that we have no intention of enrolling our  youngest two children in school when they reach Kindergarten age.

I finally spilled the beans. Actually, I wasn’t even brave enough to spill the beans. I was backed into a corner when my mother of all people, asked if I was planning to enroll Lil’ Princess into a four-year-old pre-k program this fall. You know, because it would be good for her. At that point, all my reasons for procrastinating faded away and I jumped in with both feet.

Me: Well, uh, we’ve decided that we’re going to homeschool them.

The response: Do you have your license?

Me: I don’t need a license.

This opened the door for me to offer a bit of intelligence and explanation of homeschooling and all that it entails, as far as what’s required in our state. The initial skepticism remains, though I’m sure in time I’ll have their full support.

While I was prepared for a bit of skepticism,  and even a bit of opposition, I still found myself feeling compelled to address the “socialization” aspect. This, even though we have a house full of kids, live near countless cousins, and am in constant fellowship with other people. What is it about that socialization aspect that we have swallowed hook, line, and sinker?

Right now, I’m just relieved that the conversation has finally begun. It’s one that will be ongoing for a while, I’m sure.

At least until it becomes obvious that we know exactly what we are doing, and that the kids are well-educated, appropriately socialized, and all around okay.

Monday’s Musings Are Back!

It’s summertime, and though the living is easy, it is also busier, with all the kids in the house full-time. I’ll be very fortunate to write one post of substance per week. So I figured this to be as good a time as any to bring back an oldie but goodie from days gone by- Monday’s Musings. Without further adieu:

• I have been brainstorming ideas for keeping the girls busy and productive over the next 10 weeks. I already shared our book club selection for the summer. I have also decided to have a “cooking school” for all the girls. My teenagers can cook a little bit, but they are still far behind where they would be if I had more time to work with them. High school is interesting in that it simultaneously manages to be very demanding while not at all challenging. So now that they are home for the summer, it is my intention that they become much more comfortable and accomplished in the kitchen than they have been to date. We also have a few other things planned as well.
• Speaking of cooking: The kids wanted peanut butter cookies recently but we were out of eggs. We’ve never made eggless cookies so I went online looking for a recipe, and found this one. It is quite good. Feeling as though I may be on to something, I decided to look for recipes for eggless oatmeal cookies and eggless chocolate chip cookies. Both of these looked very promising, though I haven’t tried them yet. What a great way for people with egg allergies to still enjoy home-baked cookies.
• Has anyone noticed how any and every business seems to offer a summer camp? Does it bother y’all as much as it bothers me, that people who don’t deal with children at all much during the school year suddenly advertise themselves as safe havens for parents to drop their little ones off for day care (all day!) during the summer? The demand is so great for childcare that just about anyone can make money providing it. I have thoughts about that, but I’ll keep them to myself right now since I’m not feeling particularly controversial.
• I have to admit, this story saddened me greatly. Regardless of how I feel about Al Gore and his politics, the demise of a 40-year marriage is jaw dropping. When I first heard the news, I thought it was a lie or tabloid rumor. There was no way that these people, after 40 years, could be throwing in the towel. But it appears that these things can happen to any marriage. Very, very sad news.
• Somehow, via a random click, I stumbled into what I guess I’ll call the Afrocentric blogosphere. It has been a fascinating foray. I have run across all kinds of posts written by all kinds of people, from a young black woman who has somehow bought  into the notion that blacks are genetically inferior to other races (she considers herself a rare exception), to religious blogs written from a black perspective, to a blog written by a very intelligent brother who sees feminism for what it is (which is good), while stopping short of believing in traditional family structure as a part of the cure (which is not so good). I’ll say here what I said there: I am much more comfortable in the realm of the Christian mommy blogs. However, it has been quite interesting!
• When I altered my blog name and template, I mentioned my new focus: learning. I have made it my goal to pay attention and learn the lessons every day. Lessons about God and His word, myself, marriage, motherhood, or even random bits of this and that. There is always things to learn and opportunities to grow for those of us willing to slow down and pay attention. So far, it’s been great. Challenging in ways that I hope to share and other ways I dare not, but challenging nonetheless.
• I am currently praying for a deeper understanding of the lessons I need to learn from this passage in 2 Peter:  But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,  to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,  to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;  for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1: 5-11.

 I like this idea, of bringing back the Monday Musings posts. I hope you all agree!

Happy Monday all!

Flour Obsolete, and Other Kitchen Stuff

Something was recently brought to my attention. It seems obvious now, but I didn’t recognize it before due to the generous amount of flour I use in a  typical week: bread flour, all purpose flour, and whole wheat flour, not to mention corn meal, which I realize is actually not flour. But we like our corn bread around here. Do you know that a large percentage of women (people in general) NEVER buy flour? Well I think it’s true, though I only learned it recently.

Bright Eyes (15)  had occasion to spend some time visiting with a  school friend at her house. (Side note: this particular friend,  a delightful girl whom the Lord saved partly through Bright Eyes’ witnessing and prayers, is a wonderful reminder to me of  God’s grace even in the most unlikely environment of a public high school.) Anyway, while visiting, they decided to bake some cookies. All 3 of my teenaged daughters are known for their delicious home-baked cookies and my daughter’s friend wanted to know how to make them. Into her kitchen they went, and began to search the pantry for ingredients. They hit  a road block early on as there was no flour to be found.

“You guys don’t have any flour?”, my daughter asked. Her friend replied, “Who buys flour?”  My daughter said, “Who doesn’t?” They had a good laugh,  and proceeded to bake flourless cookies, which they both report as being quite tasty, and moved on. Except they didn’t move on. The exchange  apparently remained in the forefront of both of their minds, so they decided to take an informal poll of their  friends at school the next day.

The result? Quite a few acquaintances responded with, “Why would you need to buy flour?”  Then it occurred to Bright Eyes, and to me as she recounted the incident, that it is entirely possible to eat many bread based foods  without ever having to actually buy a bag of flour!

As my daughter’s friends pointed out, if they want cookies, they just buy this:

To bake a cake, most people, at least among those my daughter surveyed, would simply go and buy this:

Want some muffins?

Corn Bread? That’s covered, too!

After I thought about it some, it occurred to me that it is entirely possible to create many breads, cakes, and pastries without actually buying flour. And apparently that is the case for many families. As a new bride, I used my share of corn bread mix and boxed cake mixes though I made every effort to learn to bake things from scratch as quickly as possible. It was interesting to be reminded how much money Americans spend on pre-mixed stuff, even though I found that they don’t save all that much time!

Just an interesting tidbit I ran across recently that I thought the reader might enjoy.

It’s been a while since I posted a menu, so here goes:

• Sunday: Arroz con Pollo (made with brown rice and seasoned with homemade sofrito)
• Monday: Burgers off the grill, baked beans, grilled corn on the cob
• Tuesday: Toasty Tuna Melt Casserole (recipe from Family Feasts for $75/week)
• Wednesday: Orange Chicken w/brown rice, salad
• Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore (from Family Feasts), served over egg noodles with a side of steamed fresh green beans
• Friday:Sage and spinach Penne (also from Family Feasts), caesar salad
• Saturday: homemade pizza .One with white sauce, chicken, mushrooms and broccoli, one with traditional tomato sauce, and  an assortment of fresh veggies for topping

Bon Appetit!

A Very Interesting Article

Apparently, as a result of the lack of demand for the newborns here in the states, more and more black American babies are being adopted by couples overseas who just want a baby to love and raise, regardless of color.

I am not surprised by the lack demand for black babies. This is a well-known fact. I was surprised that I didn’t know about this trend of Canadian and European couples snapping up the babies that white families over here are passing up.

I guess it’s true that you learn something every day:

Born in America, Adopted Abroad. (ht: Butterfly Squash)

I was tempted to elaborate on my thoughts concerning this and what it says about how far we’ve come with regard to race relations in America, but I won’t. Yet. This was frankly, a very disheartening piece to read as a black American. I am, however, very pleased that these children are being placed in loving homes abroad rather than languishing in foster care here in the states.

Enjoy a restful, worshipful, family-filled weekend.