Homeschooling

Ironing is not one of my favorite chores. While ironing the other day I thought of how nice it would be to send all of Keith's dress shirts to the dry cleaners to be cleaned and pressed. Of course it would also be great to get the windows washed professionally and have a regular house cleaning service. But I seem to have more time than money, so I do it myself with the help of the family.

I am blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home Mom. And the reason why? This quote from Gregory and Martine Millman's book, Homeschooling: A Family's Journey, summarizes the decision that Keith and I made.

"One of the most important decisions we made on the road to homeschooling was that our children would have a very costly "luxury": a full-time mom."

I know that homeschooling or being a stay-at-home mom isn't for everyone. I enjoy getting out to work at Koetsier Ranch at my very part-time job. But this lifestyle works for this family and I am glad for the 19+ years we have been able to do it!

Chemistry

You know how when you are busy or immersed in some activity you start dreaming about it? Well, the other morning when Keith was getting up, I glanced at the clock and saw this:

I wasn't dreaming, but I read that as SO4 which is the chemical symbol for Sulfate. I am teaching Nathan and Lorissa chemistry, and I must have gotten too much of it the other day. They feel like any day with chemistry is too much!

OK, Kids and Keith...

My dear husband Keith did admit to opening a new jug of syrup the other day. He was busy fixing breakfast and did not spend a lot of time checking to see if there was an unopened bottle. And I am spoiled because Keith and the kids usually are the ones to fix breakfast. Nathan makes burgers on Saturday nights and the kids take turns cooking up some eggs on Sunday evenings. So all are forgiven for the extra open syrup jugs.

Thanksgiving 2008

The tables are all set for Thanksgiving 2008 at John and Rita's house. Mom and Dad Brower, Joel and Irene and kids, Ed and Jennifer and kids, and our family ate with John and Rita in the garage. With 19 people it would have been a bit crowded in the house. Lorissa made little cards for each person with a picture and a Bible verse about being thankful.



Irene and I caught up with the latest while doing dishes.

Pake played games with the kids.

The girls served up dessert while the rest of us relaxed. It was a nice evening without too much work because we all brought something. Hopefully Rita did not have too much to do before or after, but it was very organized and the evening was over too fast.

OK, Kids....

What's up with this? Why do we have three jugs of syrup open at one time?

Firewood II

That pile of firewood only lasted until Tuesday. We have not gathered firewood this year so I hope we have enough at this rate.

Firewood

Nathan hauled in firewood and stacked up a large pile. With daytime highs in the low 60's and nights in the 40's, how long do you think this pile of wood will last us? Of course today is Saturday and Keith is working at home, so he likes it warm when he is just sitting with the computer. We have been burning the wood since about 10:00 A.M.

Nathan said he would rather haul a lot of wood at once rather than making a mess everyday. We also are getting a bunch of daddy-long-legs hitching a ride in the house on this wood.

Chili Dogs

We usually eat spaghetti for Friday night dinners. Last week I decided to change things up a bit so we had chili dogs. This week we will be having Winco pizza for Friday night: haven't had pizza in ages!

I try to have plans for dinner, but I have had a hard time lately. Maybe it is the change of seasons.

Usually the menu goes like this:
Sun~ scrambled or boiled eggs and toast
Mon~ meat and potatoes
Tues~ ?
Wed~ ?
Thurs~ Mexican
Fri~ Spaghetti
Sat~ Hamburgers

How about some good and easy dinner suggestions, especially for ground beef?

You know you live in Central CA when...

This is the Severe Weather Warning for Central California for this week as found on weather.com today. I think we will get a spritz of rain because I decided to do my biannual window washing.

Watches and Warnings

Visalia Forecast

WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-

SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-

MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-

TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-

235 AM PDT WED OCT 29 2008

...AN END TO THE DRY WEATHER IS ON THE WAY...

AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF MILD AND DRY WEATHER...A CHANGE TO COOLER

AND WETTER WEATHER WILL TAKE PLACE LATE THIS WEEK AND ESPECIALLY

THIS WEEKEND OVER THE REGION.

A SERIES OF WEATHER DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.

THE FIRST IMPULSE WILL ARRIVE THURSDAY BRINGING JUST SOME CLOUDS.

A SECOND SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO

AREAS MAINLY NORTH OF KINGS AND TULARE COUNTIES. A THIRD...AND

MORE IMPORTANTLY...WETTER AND COOLER SYSTEM IS SLATED FOR LATER

SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AND IT WILL LINGER INTO MONDAY. DUE TO THE

STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...RAIN IS EXPECTED OVER MOST THE AREA.

AT THIS TIME RAINFALL TOTALS ARE UNCERTAIN...HOWEVER A WETTING

RAIN WILL UNDOUBTEDLY OCCUR AT MOST LOCATIONS IN THE CENTRAL

CALIFORNIA INTERIOR.

PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THIS LATER THIS WEEK AND OVER

THE UPCOMING WEEKEND SHOULD PREPARE FOR WET WEATHER. CHECK RAIN

GUTTERS FOR DEBRIS AND BRING INDOORS ITEMS WHICH MAY BECOME

DAMAGED BY RAIN WATER.

Monday, Monday

There is something about Mondays. One should never plan too much to fill that day, because it will get filled up with the unexpected. Lorissa looked out the window and noticed our mailbox standing all crooked. So we went out and determined that some vehicle loaded with tree branches had scraped by it. We pushed it back into place, removed the leaves, and hoped the dented box will still keep our mail safe.

At lunch time I was reading emails and I sniffed wet soil. Sure we had some sprinkles on Saturday but I shouldn't be still smelling the dampness. A sniff at the heater vent in the living room and Renee's room verified the damp smell was coming from under the house. Nathan crawled under the house and confirmed that my washing machine was draining under the house about in the area of the bend in the hallway. Could this be in anyway connected with the plumber coming out about 3 Mondays ago when he had to unclog the bathroom sink? The same Monday when he punched a hole in the elbow under the sink and sewer water drained into the bottom cupboard and bathroom floor? When he explained that this can also happen when you snake out other lines, which we had him do because that one usually clogs on a Monday which coincides with the main laundry day at our house?

Then Richard from the next door warehouse comes by, while I am on the cell phone talking to Nathan who is under the house to check out what is happening. He wonders if we could help him get rid of some frozen stuff because he has more than his freezer can handle. Sure we could, but there goes another 45 minutes.

Well, today is Tuesday and a plumber fixed the leak so we can finish laundry, run the dishwasher and drain the water out of the kitchen sink. The mail was delivered to the dented box, and we heated up the frozen goodies and enjoyed them for our 10:00 AM snack. Now I better get going so I can get caught up before next Monday.

Church Camp at Kaweah River Resort

We went camping at Kaweah River Resort with a group from church on Sept 26-28. It was very relaxing, had worship with Pastor Dieleman on "The Tabernacle As a Shadow", a short walk up a dry creek bed, Saturday night potluck, and Sunday morning breakfast. It was quite hot in the afternoons so we were pretty tired when we got back home.

Daniel By Beth Moore

Our church's Bible studies started again this week. I will be facilitating Beth Moore's study of Daniel. We are just a small group of women who meet on Wednesday nights, but we learn a lot from God's Word watching Beth Moore's video sessions and completing our homework.

Covenant College's Ranking- Part II

Forbes Ranks Covenant College High in National List

Forbes Magazine, in its newly released ranking of America's Best Colleges, puts Covenant College #117 among the nation's colleges and universities.

"We are always delighted when people recognize Covenant for its strong program," said Covenant College President Niel Nielson. "We take such recognition with a very large grain of salt, in that we don't consider it a goal nor do we modify anything we do in order to gain it. But it's wonderful to hear such confirmation of our efforts!

"The Forbes criteria certainly correspond to some features of Covenant that we take very seriously: outstanding faculty, students, and alumni; overall financial value; and graduation rates."

A number of Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) member schools were present in the Forbes ranking, including: #91 Wheaton College, #117 Covenant College, #205 Biola University, #257 Westmont College, #308 Taylor University, #357 Messiah College, #372 Calvin College, and #374 Dordt College.

Other ranked schools in the Georgia and Tennessee region include: #67 Sewanee University of the South, #105 Vanderbilt University, #248 Berry College, #282 Union University, and #364 Rhodes College.

Copied from Covenant College's website.

Covenant College's Ranking- Part I

Covenant's Rank Rises to #4 in U.S.News & World Report

In its 2009 edition of America's Best Colleges, U.S.News & World Report ranks Covenant College #4 among baccalaureate colleges in the South and #4 in the "Great Schools, Great Prices" category in the same field.

This placement continues a steady upward trend for Covenant, which ranked #7 and #6, respectively, in the same categories last year. This marks Covenant's 6^th consecutive year with a solid position among the top ten baccalaureate colleges in the South.

Covenant continues to have the 4^th highest graduation rate in its field.

"The U.S. News rankings are based on a set of criteria that, while they aren't the most important or mission-critical values we embrace, nevertheless reflect some of the attributes that often characterize excellent institutions," said Covenant College President Niel Nielson.

"We are pleased with Covenant's high ranking in terms of both overall excellence and financial value. At the same time, we pledge to continue to focus on those aspects of Covenant's work that enable us to stay true to our founding mission and our aim to declare and demonstrate the preeminence of Jesus Christ in all things."

Copied from Covenant College's website.

Hume Lake Campground Scenery

Hume Lake is beautiful, but unfortunately once again our camera was not fully charged up so we did not get any pictures of our Saturday morning 2.5 mile walk around the lake. People were in sailboats and kayaks rented from Hume Lake Christian Camp. We also attended Sunday morning church services at the Christian Camp.
Thanks 1flatworld for this picture of the lake.

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Camping at Hume Lake Campground

We decided to take a final outing before Janine went back to college so we took some more school days off and headed to Hume Lake Campground in the Sequoia National Forest. We left on Friday afternoon August 22 and came back on Sunday, August 24. On Friday we set up camp in the only campsite left that was not reserved for either of those two nights.
Providentially, the campsite was flat enough to accommodate this tent for the kids, our tent trailer and plenty of room for cooking, washing dishes, and eating.


Renee and Janine washing dishes.

Renee, Janine and I doing more dishes.

Lorissa and Janine.

Nathan.

Lorissa.

Janine and Rebekah

Janine and Rebekah enjoyed a final cousins get together before Janine leaves for Covenant College and Rebekah leaves for Seattle Pacific in September. Have a great time girls!

The Olympics

We have been watching the Olympics regularly, and have been enjoying the increased coverage this year. We have even watched during the day to see what is on (we rarely watch daytime TV). It is neat to see all the sports like synchronized diving, fencing, and swimming.

Michael Phelps has impressed us, and we have tried to recreate his speedy swimming in our pool. We haven't quite got our times down to his but we have a few disadvantages, like not having size 14 feet and dolphin ankles.

Back to School

We started school on August 4 and then took August 7 and 8 off. We enjoyed a visit with Linda, Rebekah and Jonathon on those days. We had a full week, and now this week we are planning a short camping trip, so more days off. Keith is taking some days off for Janine's final days at home. She returns to Covenant College on August 26.

Was it worth starting school and then taking so many days off already? I think so, we have put in 11 more days than we did last year at this time and we usually get spring fever. We would rather be outside when the weather warms up in May. It was a short summer of only 2 months off because of our late start last year. And now days off are already stacking up!

Kiwi

Believe it or not, this kiwi was picked at the end of November and refrigerated. We are still eating them and they are delicious. It seems to go in streaks, we will eat some and then quit for awhile. The kids seem to get sores in their mouths if they eat too many at once. Thanks Jennie and Debbie for getting these kiwi to us!

Countdown Completed for Lorissa

Lorissa got her braces off today. Her teeth look "Hollywood Perfect" according to her orthodontist Dr. Jay Perko, and I agree. She wore her rubberbands as ordered and completed her treatment in 21 months. I hope to get a picture posted soon.

One Countdown Done!

Janine arrived home on Thursday evening, so one countdown is complete. She had a good trip from Lookout Mountain , GA to Yerington, NV from Monday to Wednesday. We picked her up from Yerington on Thursday. Lots of miles put in by Janine this week!

Countdown

We have a couple of countdowns going, these numbers are from Thursday 4/24.

Family Game Night

a We played some Scrabble games the last couple of nights. Keith won this game. I believe there are some words on there like "pib" that are not actual words, but they went unchallenged. This was a real close one!

More Bird Eggs

We have this wreath on the front door: we can change the little wooden cutout according to the holidays and seasons. The birds thought this was a good spot for one of their nests. I thought I heard a lot of birds twittering by the front door a while back. Now i don't hear the birds as much; I will have to see if they are really sitting on this nest. So watch out as you approach the front door.

Earth Day

The kids were so impressed because I took care of recycling a bunch of bottles and newspaper on Earth Day. They were afraid that all the green people would be lined up at the recycling center, but we were the only ones there at the time, and the place was not overflowing with recyclables.

Spring has Sprung

We had a weekend in the low 90's so Keith and Renee decided to swim.
The birds made a nest in my hanging flower basket. Here two of the four birds have hatchedThe citrus trees have blossomed and have a heavenly scent.

Home Made Pizza

Trying to stretch the pizza dough. I made the whole wheat dough in my bread machine. It seems like when I want to make a rectangular crust it ends out round and if I want to make a round crust it wants to be rectangular.

I ended out making 4 pizzas: 2 ham and pineapple, 1 pepperoni, and 1 taco meat/tomato. this was enough for 2 dinners. They all tasted good but the taco meat one wasn't the pizza taste that you crave.

Reminiscing II

This is Susie, a doll my Dad bought for my sisters and I. She stand about 3 feet tall and was already loosing her hair when we got her about 40 years ago; thus the wig. We enjoyed playing with Susie and now she is enjoyed by our children. They like to pose her in interesting settings like laying on a raft in the pool.



We recently saw Susie's replica in a magazine ad; she is a Patti Playpal or a cheap knockoff. Some people buy these dolls so they can display some of their little girl's fancy dresses on them.

See more at: http://www.angelfire.com/art/dollmemories/pattiplaypal.html

How Green Are You?

Since Earth Day falls in April it seems that every magazine, newspaper and advertisement has tips for being "Green". The Reader's Digest, Real Simple, Country Living, and Better Homes and Gardens all had articles, as well as the Visalia Times-Delta. You go to the Target ads and it shows that you can buy organic and recycled clothes. I am getting tired of these, even though a lot of the suggestions are good. We already do some of them and other suggestions are ridiculous. If they have a fresh idea that would be news; now it is just repetitious. So do you have any new ideas or have you already changed out all of your light bulbs, recycled, and turned off the water while you brush your teeth?

Reminiscing

When I was young I remember having a postcard like this one. I really loved looking at it because of all the detail it contained. Then recently I came across 2 more postcards I bought when in nursing school by the same artist, Eugen Hartung. These were published by Alfred Mainzer, Inc. in the 1940's to 1960's.Do you remember these postcards? Check out more "Dressed Cats" at this website:
www.mainzerdressedcats.com/

Not Posting Very Much!

Wow, this obviously isn't my top priority! I haven't posted in about two months. I should make it a goal to post something every week or this blog won't be worth having. Ok, I will see if I can post something once a week.

Less Kids at Home, Less Clutter

My oldest daughter is in college and the next two teens spent a week in Mexico on a mission trip. It sure was quiet, and there sure was a lot less clutter around. On the other hand we really missed their input, and it is worth cooking again now that they are home.

Making Oliebollen with Debbie

A New Year's Day tradition for the Dutch is to make oliebollen which quite literally translated means "oil balls". These are like a free form light donut that can have raisins or apples added. When they are eaten they are dipped in powdered sugar or granulated sugar and cinnamon.
Keith and I wanted to learn how to make oliebollen so we could keep up this Dutch tradition. We knew we wanted our sister-in-law Debbie to teach us because she has been doing this for many years. She was taught by her mother, and has continued to perfect her recipe

and technique. Debbie is our own Martha Stewart because she is skilled in cooking, baking, decorating, sewing, crafting, painting, and etc. (see Country Sisters blog to see the craft she taught Lorissa).
In the first picture, Debbie (in the white apron) and I are preparing the apples and other ingredients.









In the second picture, Keith is being taught how to "klop" or beat the yeast dough to incorporate air into the mixture.












Here we are checking how much the dough has risen in the warm oven.










Now we are checking how hot the oil is. Debbie is used to eyeballing it. We are using a meat thermometer for future reference, 375 degrees seemed to work the best.
















I am now frying about eight oliebollen on the hot oil. You spoon the batter into the hot oil and let one side get brown.
Sometimes they turn over by themselves, otherwise you give them a little nudge.











Here they are getting brown.






















Here is one all finished.









I am getting ready to get the next one in with Debbie's instructions.













Keith, myself, Debbie, and Renee watching the oliebollen fry.















Here are some of the finished raisin oliebollen. They seemed to fry up much darker and have much more "legs".