VCE: Oatmeal Gingerbread Cookies

A great fun recipe from the About.com Homeschooling pages!

Oatmeal Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients
• 1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups Quaker® Oats (Quick or Old Fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• Ready-to-spread frosting
• Assorted candies

Preparation

Beat margarine and sugar until creamy. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Add combined flour, oats, spices, baking soda and salt; mix well. Cover; chill about 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F. On floured surface, roll dough out about 1/4 inch thick for a chewy cookie or 1/8 inch thick for a crisp cookie. Cut with 5-inch gingerbread man or woman cookie cutter. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Frost and decorate cookies with candies. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Christmas...in your own way (links)

Just a note: Do or don't do Christmas. That is a personal choice. I go back and forth on this 'holiday' here, but it all comes down to perceptions and traditions. I like a tree, decorated with handmade ornaments, lots of lights...all that showy stuff. I have very special remembrances that go along with each ornament we place on our tree. I have special family memories of just getting the tree (ok, here in Mississippi I'm getting a "fresh cut" northern tree and not walking through the snow at the local tree farm...I do miss that...it's just not the same pulling in to Lowe's, kwim?)

I do not believe one is somewhat less Christian by decorating for the season in their traditional way. Just as there are a handful of Christians out there trying to tie some form of christianity to those vampire movies so popular now. Please...if you can lay any claim to a vampire's life as being somehow an inner struggle and deep choice over good and evil, I can certainly connect Christ to an evergreen, white lights, bells, angel decorations, gifts and His Birthday which by the way brought the Ultimate GIFT with it.

So, let's just agree that we disagree. I will do my thing, you will do yours and life will still roll along as it always has.

Now...EasyFunSchool has some great winter pages set up...
They have some Advent verses laid out daily
There are Christmas Pages, with units for The Names of Jesus, a unit on a Blessed Christmas, one of the legends of the Candy Cane, more fun crafts, mini unit studies, reading stories, recipes for popcorn balls, cookies, gumdrops, holiday candies, coloring pages, word searches, crosswords and other fun stuff than you could ever use in one season!

There is a geat Christmas traditions PDF file to download as well.

And one of our seasonal favorites...A Christmas Carol, by Dickens. EasyFunSchool has a whole section devoted to a great unit study, the entire text online, added resources you can use and more. Their Christmas pages (shared above) have several resources as well with word searches and more. We downloaded a huge unit study a while back from somewhere (sorry...no idea where it came from now) and will be starting it this afternoon after regular schooling is done. We will be reading the book, as well as watching a couple of the many movies of the same name. Our personal family favorites are the 1951 Alastair Sim version (we prefer the black and white one), and the 1999 Patrick Stewart version. There are several 'guides' for using the book in the classroom, too, if you are so inclined.

We even found a neat Victorian Christmas site with crafts, decorating ideas, recipes and more.

If you have a great Christmas craft or recipe site to share, please leave me a comment. We are always looking for more fun ways to decorate and craft...and eat...around here!

Some Considerations for Homeschoolers Seeking College

Happy Hearts at Home shared this article, as well as many homeschool resources, frugal living, coupons and more. Well worth the visit.

This article is just one of many shared by 'higher education' folks getting homeschoolers into their classrooms. Personally, I'm not all about 'higher education' in and of itself, but to each his own. What I did agree with in this article is that homeschoolers tend to be unprepared for that higher education...in terms of the methods of traditional schooling, such as those countless tests, written essays and large-scale term papers, and some schoolers even lack the plain everyday routine that traditional schooling lives by.

You don't do any favors to your children by allowing constant unrestraint, the building of habits that work against routine and structure, the lack of expectations and such.

And we have been having alot of all of that here for a while. It's not a child thing...it's a parent thing. Children are not natural rule-makers and followers. They have to be taught restraint, they have to be taught self-control and they have to be taught how to stick to routine and schedule. No matter how badly you wish to buck against that system, it's simply how the world operates. Every job, every one of those 'higher education' classes, everything they will do short of taking up homesteading in the most rural areas, will require them to conform to the schedules and routines of everyone else around them. Sure, we have 24 hour stores and even classes that are available 24 hours, but 95% of the common world runs on specific schedules and specific instructions, and sadly for most of us trying to release ourselves from it, life for our children just won't be rural enough to be free living and free from schedules and conformity on a pretty large scale.

Just some random thoughts...if those higher education folks are pointing these basic things out, maybe it's something to at least consider in your homeschooling endeavors, if you are trying to produce adults that are fully capable to take the world outside by storm.

College Professor Critiques Homeschoolers

copyright 2009 by Greg Landry, M.S.

I teach sophomore through senior level college
students - most of them are "pre-professional"
students. They are preparing to go to medical
school, dental school, physical therapy school,
etc.

As a generalization, I've noticed certain
characteristics common in my students who were
homeschooled. Some of these are desirable,
some not.

Desirable characteristics:

1. They are independent learners and do a great
job of taking initiative and being responsible
for learning. They don't have to be "spoon fed"
as many students do. This gives them an advantage
at two specific points in their education;
early in college and in graduate education.

2. They handle classroom social situations
(interactions with their peers and professors)
very well. In general, my homeschooled students
are a pleasure to have in class. They greet me
when the enter the class, initiate conversations
when appropriate, and they don't hesitate to
ask good questions. Most of my students do
none of these.

3. They are serious about their education and
that's very obvious in their attitude, preparedness,
and grades.

Areas where homeschooled students can improve:

1. They come to college less prepared in the
sciences than their schooled counterparts -
sometimes far less prepared. This can be
especially troublesome for pre-professional
students who need to maintain a high grade
point average from the very beginning.

2. They come to college without sufficient
test-taking experience, particularly with
timed tests. Many homeschooled students have a
high level of anxiety when it comes to taking
timed tests.

3. Many homeschooled students have problems
meeting deadlines and have to adjust to that in
college. That adjustment time in their freshman
year can be costly in terms of the way it affects
their grades.

My advice to homeschooling parents:

1. If your child is even possibly college
bound and interested in the sciences, make
sure that they have a solid foundation of
science in the high school years.

2. Begin giving timed tests by 7th or 8th grade.
I'm referring to all tests that students take, not
just national, standardized tests.

I think it is a disservice to not give students
timed tests. They tend to focus better and score
higher on timed tests, and, they are far better
prepared for college and graduate education if
they've taken timed tests throughout the high
school years.

In the earlier years the timed tests should allow
ample time to complete the test as long as the
student is working steadily. The objective is for
them to know it's timed yet not to feel a time
pressure. This helps students to be comfortable
taking timed tests and develops confidence in
their test-taking abilities.

3. Give your students real deadlines to meet in
the high school years. If it's difficult for students
to meet these deadlines because they're
coming from mom or dad, have them take
"outside" classes; online, co-op, or community
college.
_______________________________

Greg Landry is a 14 year veteran homeschool dad
and college professor. He also teaches one and
two semester online science classes, and offers
free 45 minute online seminars..
http://www.HomeschoolScienceAcademy.com

You might also like:

The Value of Education

Free Homeschooling Vintage ebook: Bird World for Elementary ...

Inexpensive College Degree

LinkWithin

Goats and Guard Dogs...Questions

We adopted Buddy (a Great Pyr) a while ago. He was very recluse when he first came here, no idea what his history was, but he was not taken care of at all. Skin and bones, wouldn't come near us, hid out all the time, very cautious around all of us, though not the slightest bit aggressive.

Of course, with 8 children running around playing, we cured him of that reserved nature real quick.

He's been with the goats since about his second week here. Not knowing what kind of history he had, we kept him in a separate area, next to but not in, with the goats. And there were only 2 goats at the time. He always wanted in their pasture to play. Followed them along the fence they shared, always jumping and tail-wagging, nothing aggressive in the least.

Now there are 7 females and Malachi, our buck. We moved Buddy in with Malachi when Cotton (another Great Pyr) came to us. After about 4 months in with Malachi, Buddy started laying out his own set of ground rules. Malachi was not to eat his grain while Buddy was at his own dish eating dog food. Malachi wasn't to stay too long at the back of his pasture, but should hang around the barn area more. Weird little things. Malachi is a big baby...he's probably the most gentle buck I've ever seen, and acts more like a family member than part of the livestock. He's just quiet and meek really. They never had any issues together, but then Buddy started barking at Malachi more...every time he moved, really. The he took to nipping at Malachi's ears. Poor thing has short tears in the bottoms of his ears now. Not bad, but still...he shouldn't have tattered ears.

We moved Buddy over with Cotton and the females. Everybody seemed quite calm. Now a few months later, he's chasing (not actually trying to catch, just running around with) the goats. And he has decided they have ears too now. Two of my matriarchs have tattered ear ends :o( Again, not bad at all, just little nipped tears...and they shouldn't have to deal with that.

What do we do? I hate to get rid of Buddy as we really need all the guard dog power we can get out here with nothing but rural around us. Coyote have been all over the trails and timber past the goat pasture. We have wolves out here, as well. Shoot, you name a predator, we have it roaming these mountains around us.

Right now, just to prevent any injury on either side (Dewey was not pleased with the condition of the goats' ears), we have penned Buddy outside the goat pasture by himself. There's no shelter out there for him, so he can't really stay there, but what do we do with him?
How can we get him off this dominating ear thing he's doing?

We figure that as soon as the birthing pens are set up in the barn, we'll have to get another roll of field fencing and make a sort of "run" for Buddy inside the perimeter of the pasture, separated from the goats, but still able to be the protector he's here for. Other than that, all I can do is tie him on some sort of run cable, and I hate to do that. I really need him to get over this, just not sure how to go about it. Cotton spent her life (she's 3 now) tied on a chain, no farm animals, nothing. She's really rather useless when it comes to 'guardian' here -- she allows the other dogs to get into the pen and run the goats (until Buddy puts a quick stop to it) and she rarely barks at anything, unless she's wanting to play. She was no doubt punished for barking while chained up in her previous home.

I need ideas folks...anyone?

Winter Crafts with Children...

We are moving the fall leaves and such from the windows and looking around the internet for ideas for the winter season crafts now.

ActivityVillage has tons of pages...easy crafts, coloring pages, game sheets (word searches, crossword, etc), Advent craft ideas, even "good charts" the children can fill out, and so much more. We've had fun looking through there trying to decide what we might want to make!

A cute plastic spoon snowman...

SimpleMom has a nice sharing on Jesse Trees...
Rocks in My Dryer has a great sharing as well...sharing some free-to-print online ornaments, a Jesse Tree devotional

Free Printable Lesson Plans has several plans available worth looking at, but we were hunting up Jess Tree ideas...

Some other free Jesse Tree ornaments, color yourself cut-outs

Graham Family Ministries has some free Jesse Tree pages available...but you might want to catch a few of the great resources she has offered while there!


Time to go move the table out of the way -- we're rockin' today....sheet rock, that is :o)

Ahhhh, stuffed turkeys...

Really.

Three of them.

And a 19 pound cured, smoked ham. The butcher even sliced it for me and tied it back together so I could smoke it today.

Well, so Dewey could smoke it today :o)

And now, after the turkeys, after the ham...

After the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, baked corn casserole, BBQ baked beans, and all those homemade mini loaves...

And finally, after the pecan, apple and pumpkin pies, pumpkin cobbler, banana pudding and the flopped-but-eaten peanut butter bon bons...

We are stuffed beyond all human comprehension. Early -- very, very, early -- bedtimes are looking so incredibly good right now.

Why is it we just feel the need to eat...and keep eating...and keep on eating...just because there's food on the table...and the counter...and the side board...

Seriously, though this was a very nice day. We did a lot of the cooking on/in the cookstove...and nothing burned...too badly anyway.

The fellas are out hunting. Miss Emily wanted to watch Mary Poppins all day, so it's in, I'm working on some crocheting, the others are playing a game on the computer...Chuzzle, I think.

The woodbox is filled, fires going just enough to keep the damp coldness out but not roast us out. Tomorrow we might bring in drywall and get the walls covered. Don't know yet. I may just finish the sewing. I'm behind and dear sister Amy has waited very patiently and is long over-due on a mere apron :o( and those monkey-on-my-back PIFs that MUST get sent before they become New Year's gifts!

Schooling begins again Monday. Just reading and coloring fun, some math blocks and mazes over the weekend.

And back to the Cookie Exchange again Monday, too. Time to get buckled down and select some to get made up and into the freezer for the cookie baskets. Debi made an interesting suggestion about using the 20 qt mixer and big batching some basic cookies. I only have the bread hook, but I bet we could cream the butter/sugars, whip the eggs then add to the rest in the big mixer to finish off. Worth a try, I think. Imagine the time we'd save...hmmm...hope it works.

Enjoy the rest of the evening...and nap that turkey off...

Fun For YourThanksgiving....

Historical Ideas Thanksgiving - Your Time Travel Portal for Putting History and Creative Fun Back Into Thanksgiving! (Y, M, O, T)

Thanksgiving Mazes - Here are some mazes for you to enjoy this Thanksgiving. They are designed for preschoolers to older kids - with the easiest maze first. (Y)

Spot the Differences: Print Puzzle - Find the 10 differences between two pictures. (Y)

Thanksgiving Word Puzzles - Here are some word search puzzles for you to enjoy this Thanksgiving. They are designed for beginning readers to big kids - with the easiest one first. (Y, M)

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages - Here are some pictures for you to color. Click on medium or large to get a printable version. (Y)

DLTK's Custom Dominos - Pick a theme for your dominos and then choose color or black and white before printing. Kids will enjoy them (Y)

Thanksgiving History Quiz - Travel back in time and find out what the Pilgrims were really up to at their first Thanksgiving. (Y)

Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt - Between the mashed potatoes and the couch potatoes, Thanksgiving Day can get a little sedentary. Give your family a good excuse to get outside by handing everyone a copy of our themed scavenger hunt. Go as a group or split into teams. (Y)

Thanksgiving Fun For Kids - From BethanyRoberts.com (Y)

Thanksgiving Kids' Table Fun - Turkey Day Activity Sheets. Awesome activities for little pilgrims. (Y)

Annie's "Thanksgiving Just for Kids" Page - (Y)

Happy Thanksgiving for Kids, Family and Teachers - From BillyBear4Kids.Com (Y)

Happy Thanksgiving USA - From kidsturncentral.com (Y)

Thanksgiving Activites for Kids and teachers - From KiddyHouse.com (Y, T)

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages For Kids - From Daily World Buzz. Your source of the latest, hottest and hippest news in the world wide web today. (Y)

Thanksgiving activities for kids - Holiday games and crafts both you and your kids will be thankful for. From Mother Nature Network. (Y)

Activity Placemat for Thanksgiving - From Family Fun Magazine (Y)

Happy Thanksgiving! - From A Kid's Heart - A play and learn site with resources for kids and their teachers. (Y, T)

Thanksgiving Day Crossword Puzzle - From Sunnie Bunniezz.com (Y)

Thanksgiving Holiday Fun 4 Kids - Thanksgiving Kids Safe Sites On The Internet - Games, History, Crafts and Thanksgiving Fun Links. (Y, M)

Thanksgiving Games and Activities - Hey Kids! Happy Thanksgiving from theKidzpage.com! Free Kids Thanksgiving Games and Activities. (Y)

Thanksgiving 09 - Fun Thanksgiving Activities - Games, Coloring Pages, Book Reviews, Crafts, Prayers, Stories, Poems, and a Native American Study. (Y)

First Thanksgiving - National Geographic Kid Stories in History pages. (Y)

Thanksgiving Printables - Kids of all ages will have a good time decorating the Thanksgiving table with our printable Thanksgiving place mats, place cards, and paper centerpieces. Plus find coloring pages and other fun printables. From Parents magazine. (Y)

Simple Ideas for Kids' Crafts for Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Craft Projects for Children and Holiday Coloring Pages. From Suite101.com. (Y)

Happy Thanksgiving - From Just 4 Kids electric magazine. (Y)

Gobble Up Some Thanksgiving History - Learn all about Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Native Americans with these sites. From Kaboose. com (Y)

Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids - From AllKidsNetwork.com (Y)

Thanksgiving Fun for Kids - Fun Ideas for Kids’ Activities on Thanksgiving! From Busy Bee Lifestyle. (Y)

Thanksgiving Games - From Surfnetkids.com (Y)

Kid-Friendly Thanksgiving Fun - From Life123: Answers at the speed of light. (Y)

Happy Thanksgiving - From Lil' Fingers.com, a computer storybook, game, activity and coloring site. Lil' Fingers was developed to offer the littlest consumers a free website without the needing to own the latest and greatest computers. (Y)

Thanksgiving - From KidsKonnect.com (Y, M)

Mrs. Turner's Pumpkin Pie - A story for Thanksgiving from Judy's Neighborhood:A collection of short stories and poems by Judy Solomon. (Y, M)

The Case of the Missing Turkey Leg - A story for Thanksgiving from Judy's Neighborhood:A collection of short stories and poems by Judy Solomon. (Y, M)

Plimoth Plantation Just for Kids - "Living Breathing History". Whether you visit the museum in person, or stop by online, Plimoth Plantation makes it cool to learn about 17th-century stuff. This section of the website is especially designed for kids with fun activities like downloadable coloring pages and neat recipes for you to try with your parents, teachers, or friends. This is the place to read stories about 17th-century life, and learn about what it was like to be a Pilgrim or Native child in the 1600s…no video games or movies to watch, but there were great games and things to do that kids today can still make and enjoy. And if you have a homework assignment that has to do with Native or Colonial history, the Homework Help section is the place to get it done right with the best information from the experts at Plimoth Plantation. Your parents and teachers will be impressed with the stuff you learn here! (Y, M, O, T)

Free Holiday Sampler Download - Free from Teacher Vision, this Holiday Sampler contains worksheets about: ·Christopher Columbus ·Election Day ·Halloween Pumpkin ·Hallowed Areas ·Happy Thanksgiving ·Which Ones Are Your Turkeys ·Make and Play the Dreidel Game and more! (T,Y,M)

DLTK's Crafts for Kids - My kids love to decorate and plan activities for Thanksgiving. If yours are the same way, you will appreciate the coloring pages, crafts, games, puzzles, songs, recipes, and other printables from DLTK for the upcoming holiday. DLTK offers many other useful customizable forms and charts, so be sure to browse around after looking at the Thanksgiving section. (Y, M, O, T)

Lincoln's Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day - A primary source dating October 3, 1863 (Y, M, O, T)

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, 1881 - Return to the perspective of giving thanks from a time before television, telephones, and the internet to keep us connected with the rest of the world (Y, M, O, T)

George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation - A primary source dating 3 October 1789 (Y, M, O, T)

You are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving - "Think you know all there is to know about Thanksgiving? Think again! Visit Plimoth Plantation’s new interactive, online learning center to find out what might have really happened at the event known as 'The First Thanksgiving.'” (Y, M, O, T)

Hand and Foot Turkey Craft - From Enchanted Learning for the youngest ones (Y)

Thanksgiving Site for Kids - From Kids Domain (Y, M, O, T)

The Pilgrims - Mini-Unit for the Fifth Grade Level (M)

Life on Plymouth Plantation - An excellent unit study lesson integrating several subjects and incorporating thinking skills within the context of the study; best for older elementary to younger middle school students (M)

Enchanted Learning's Mayflower Quiz - Best for elementary students who are reading well (Y,M)

Plimoth Plantation - Take a virtual tour of Plimoth Plantation. Step almost four centuries back in time and become part of the living history experience at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Through its primary living history exhibits, the 1627 Pilgrim Village, Wampanoag homesite and Mayflower II Exhibits, you can discover what it was like that first Thanksgiving. (Y,M)

A Wonderful Thanksgiving Prayer

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank Thee for this place in which we dwell;
for the love that unites us; for the peace accorded us this day;
for the hope with which we expect the morrow;
for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies, that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth, and our friendly helpers in this place.

... Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends,
soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavours.
If it may not, give us the strength to encounter that which is to come,
that we be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune,
and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving one to another.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Traditional Thanksgiving Accident

Every year we have one. Once it was Abbey, throwing a fit, she threw her head down on a metal tractor corn head attachment. Liked to puncture her eyelid. Even the doctor was crying at what she could have done. You can't repair an eyelid.

Then it was Kati, playing jungle off the bunkbeds, landed on all the junk on the floor, including a broken rubbermaid tub. Liked to poke the sharp edge right into her eye as well. It hit the eye socket on the outer edge and went out, not in, toward the eye. That ER nurse was crying more than Kati she has a dimple on her right eye corner now. A near perfect puncture.

Abbey sliced her toe open once. That was hard to glue closed.

Matthew fell out the back door when he was maybe 20 months old. Landed smack on a protruding nail dead center between his eyes. Still has a dot there.

And now Thanksgiving 2009. Eldest daughter Jennifer, whacking away on a frozen solid 5# roll of hamburger meat...with my best kitchen knife (truth be told, probably the only sharp one we have aside from skinning knives around here)...she sliced a nice pita pocket in her pinky finger.

You don't cut up frozen meat with a large butcher knife, folks.

Just in case the idea seems somehow good to anyone reading here, that serves as my common-sense, utter-stupidity dislaimer notice.

She's fine, Grandma.

She's fine, Dad.

She's not bleeding to death. She's not needing stitches or anything so drastic. Laugh if you will, but I have a nice bottle of super glue just for these moments in our lives. She's been tea tree'd, she's been thoroughly cleansed, and is duly glued and bandaged.

She's a trooper.

She's back to meat cooking for the Taco Soup and prepping cookie dough for the day.

Let's just hope this is the only issue for the holiday.

Have A Wonderful Thanksgiving Everyone!!

I will try to get back to the Virtual Cookie Exchange again Monday.

Tomorrow we will be baking all day:
*2 pecan pies...pecans being shelled as I write!
*2 apple pies
*2 homemade chocolate pies
*A pumpkin cobbler
*Banana pudding (will be put together Thursday after breakfast)
*4 batches of our One Hour Bread, baked up as mini loaves (that will be 36 minis and 3 reg loaves)
*A huge quad batch or more of biscuits -- we will put together sausage biscuits tomorrow for a quick dinner and the breakfast Thursday, with eggs made as desired)
*Country BBQ Beans
*Snowballs and Bon Bons and Chocolate Chip Shortbread and some No-Bake cookies (the cookies are very optional...we may not get that far at all)

Or we might put together a couple Breakfast Casseroles for breakfast and do those sausage egg biscuits for tomorrows dinner...or vice-versa...or Taco Soup in the crockpot...or Jennifer just said as long as we're making all those pie crusts, we could do extras and make quiches...who knows what we'll have?!

In other words, ain't nobody gonna starve here this week and weekend :o)

If you need a recipe, let me know and I'll do what Ican to get it posted tomorrow (Wednesday) for you, otherwise, enjoy the family time, eat well and count the many great (and small) blessings in your life!

VCE: Special 4-in-1 Cookie Mix

Debi shared this over at Our Way of Life, and they sound so simple and easy to whip up...the best kind of Christmas cookie :o)

We do one very similar to what they call Roly Polys every year called Snowballs. Plain, or with mini chocolate chips, or even fine-chopped pecans...yum.

If you read Country Living this is in the newest edition.

This is called Tea Cookie Dough and with this one recipe they give you four cookies that you can make.

I made the one called Roly Polys and they are very good. I didn't have any hazelnuts but will be trying them again with pecans.

So here is the basic recipe:

1 stick of softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 flour

beat the butter until fluffy then add in the sugar, vanilla and salt. Then gradually add in the flour.

Now to make the Roly Polys

Preheat the oven to 325.
you need to mix in 2/3 cup finely chopped hazelnts once the flour has been incorporated.
Roll the dough by the tablespoons into balls and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
Bake until cookies are firm and just beginning to brown. about 20 minutes. Let cool about 2 minutes. Place 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl, then gently toss the warm cookies to coat. Place them on a cooling rack to cool completely. Toss in powdered sugar one more time to coat thoroughly.
This will make 24 cookies.

A few notes on what I did. I used blue bonnet butter, I don't add salt to anything I cook. I also used fresh ground whole wheat flour. As I mentioned I didn't have any nuts so we just left them out, this time. I also doubled this. Yummy.

I know...it's not even Thanksgiving...

The turkey hasn't even thawed yet...neither one of them...and here I go tweaking the blog template with winter stuff. And in Mississippi, no less. I haven't seen enough snow to build a respectable, or even a less-than-respectable, snowman in y4 1/2 years of being down here.

Of course, I haven't been attacked by an ice storm since then either, and apparently I have a far better chance of that happening than waking to find enough snow to build myself a friend in the pasture.

But, I'm a winter sort of person. It's just me. Maybe because I was born on Christmas Eve. But that was in California, not exactly a snow-driven state either.

At any rate, I tweaked and played and created a snow scene for myself.

I'm actually wasting time waiting for Debi to send me a recipe that sounded really delicious...she teased me, I can tell, because she hasn't sent me the recipe yet. She's like that. Sends me a link to the quilters dream sewing room some blogger has....wow, the pictures that lady shared! She did a sewing room re-do and I'm sure it was neat and all, but I was sort of stuck in one of those jaw-hanging-down moments just drooling over the TONS and TONS of fabrics this woman has. All folded nicely, pre-washed and ironed, color coordinated...TONS of it. Debi sends me that, knowing that while I like my Blackberry, I have killed my scroll button on it and it takes a while to maneuver about a blog like that, with all the great photos. She just thinks teasing me with that sort of thing is fun. Hummpphh. Then she tells me about this great 4-in1-cookie recipe she found in Country Living magazine.

And doesn't send it to me, doesn't post it herself. Just tells me about it. Ha ha Deanna....go hungry without these yummy cookies. I know how to make them and you don't. Neener Neener Neener.

That's how she is. You should go visit her blog and give her what-for...and ask for that cookie recipe.

just don't tell her I sent you :o)

UPDATE: Debi gave in to my continual pressure (LOL) and posted the cookie recipe so we can all give it a try. You know, she could have just made another batch and brought them over for me to try in real life....hint hint...

Cute Crocheted Bells for Christmas Wreath

I have really found alot of neat things over at FaveCrafts.com
There are crafts of all kinds...crochet, knit, beading, paper crafts, and so much more! And it's free to register!

Crochet lovely white Christmas bells with festive holly leaves to decorate a wreath this holiday. Crochet is a fun and inexpensive way to decorate simple vine wreaths.

Materials:

• Yarn: Lily Sugar’n Cream Cotton 4 ply Solids 2.5 oz [70.9 g]; Sparkles 2 oz. [56.7 g] 1 ball makes 35 holly leaves. 1 ball of Sparkle makes 15 bells.

Color A - (Dk Pine) 1 ball
Color B - (White Tinsel) 1 ball

• Crochet Hook: Size 4 mm (U.S. G or 6) crochet hook or size needed to obtain gauge
  
• Gold beads ¼ in [10 mm] diameter and Brass coated wire ½ yd [.5 m] long for Bells
• 1½ yds [1.4 m] white ribbon with gold trim 1 inch [2.5 cm] wide for big bow
• 1 yd [.9 m] of red ribbon K in [12 mm] wide for small bows
• 8 small dried pine cones
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Grape Vine wreath 13 ins [33 cm] in diameter

Gauge: 16 sc and 16 rows = 4 ins [10 cm].

Instructions:

BELL (Make 15)
With B, ch 2.
1st rnd: (RS). 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook. Join with ss in first sc.
2nd rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in each sc around. Join with ss to first sc.
3rd rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in each of first 2 sc. 2 sc in next sc. 1 sc in each of next 2 sc. 2 sc in next sc. Join with ss in first sc. 8 sc.
4th rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in same st as last ss. (2 sc in next sc. 1 sc in next sc) 3 times. 2 sc in next sc. Join with ss in first sc. 12 sc.
5th to 7th rnds: Ch 1. 1 sc in same st as last ss. 1 sc in each sc around. Join with ss in first sc. Fasten off at end of 7th rnd.

FINISHING: Cut desired length of wire and glue bead at one end. Insert other end of wire into Bell and glue it in position as illustrated.

HOLLY LEAF (Make 15)
With A, ch 11.
1st rnd: (RS). 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. 1 sc in next ch. (1 hdc. Ch 2. 1 hdc) all in next ch. 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch. (1 dc. Ch 2. 1 dc) all in next ch. 1 dc in next ch. 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch. (1 sc. Ch 3. 1 sc) all in last ch.
Working in other side of ch, proceed as follows: 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch. 1 dc in next ch. (1 dc. Ch 2. 1 dc) all in next ch. 1 hdc in each of next 2 ch. (1 hdc. Ch 2. 1 hdc) all in next ch. 1 sc in next ch. 1 sc in last ch. Ch 2. Join with ss to first sc. Fasten off.

ASSEMBLY
Using photo as a guide, glue Leaves, Bells and small bows in clusters as illustrated. Glue clusters on Wreath. Glue big bow at top of Wreath as illustrated. Glue pine cones onto Wreath as illustrated.

An ADHD kind of Post....

For everyone not interested in my chaos, I'll share the Virtual Cookie Exchange goodie first:

Wilton is hosting Cookie Exchange 2009 from Dec 7th -13th and they already have a great site full of ideas for cookie crafting, decorating cookies, treats and cakes, ideas on storing, transporting, showcasing and more. A perfect visit to get ideas on hosting your own real life cookie exchange recipes for baking new holiday favorites, and for packaging those pretty gift bags and trays to give away some holiday smiles to others. They offer a lot over there...do stop and visit!

My recipe goodie today is Gingerbread....either in rounds or cut-outs :o)

Wilton shares Grandma's Gingerbread Cookies

• 5 1/2 - 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups molasses
• 2 eggs beaten

Makes: 40 medium-sized cookies. Each cookie serves 1.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Thoroughly mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Melt shortening in large saucepan. Cool slightly. Add sugar, molasses and eggs to saucepan; mix well. Add 4 cups dry ingredients and mix well.

Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining dry ingredients by hand. Add a little more flour, if necessary, to make firm dough.

On floured surface, roll out 1/8 to 1/4 in. thick for cut-out cookies. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet, small and medium-sized cookies for 6-10 minutes, large cookies for 10-15 minutes.

Note: If you’re not going to use your gingerbread dough right away, wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Refrigerated dough will keep for a week.

Substitute 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup for molasses to make Blonde Gingerbread.

And if you are a fan of gingerbread, they also share recipes for Gingerbread Truffles and Gingerbread Spritz cookies.
Hey, just go visit and check out ALL the Christmas cookie recipes :o) Then go visit and register at FaveCrafts.com and find some fun crafts for the holidays (or any season) to work yourself or share with the children. There's an idea...Mom's get together for a Cookie Exchange and the kiddo's work on holiday crafts to share while waiting to taste some cookies :o)

Ok...the homestead news...
I'm happy to have the addition here, truly I am. But yesterday and still today, I cannot MOVE in this house and it's driving me nuts beyond belief. Type A nothing....I'm way off into Type AAA+++ or somewhere at this point!

Here I am sitting for a moment this morning while we break for other chores now that the daylight has caught up with us and I'm surrounded, literally and then some, by my clutter. Well...actually, it is clutter, but it's necessary stuff for the most part. We had to move the large wall unit desk/shelving yesterday to finish demolishing the rest of the front wall. Not such a bad thing...then again, with 12 ft. already opened, what's another 2 ft really worth???

Are you sitting down? Put that coffee away...you'll spit it across the computer when you see what I'm trying to function in today...seriously...ready now?

Ok, where to begin...Here is my living room. Mind you, I'm living in a double-wide mobile home so this main 'great room' is our living room and dining room. It is the HOW and WHERE of daily function in this house. Looks as though we will do plenty of functioning around here today, heh?

Here is my attempt at panning along the mess for you, from back area (living room space) to front area (dining room space) and into the new addition...

Hey, look! There's where the front exterior wall used to be!

And there it is, folks. What will be the new dining area and entrance here. Those vertical boards will be gone as we basically finished the new header last night (hence the dark pictures...it was about 10 pm...).
Today Jennifer, Matthew and I will rip another 3 pieces of plywood to give a sort of 'cover' to the new header and get it up, then those vertical boards come out and we're on a big time clean-out binge removing all these materials and such. Finally. Not that I'm complaining...I have an addition here that, while it might not seem huge to everyone else at 16x10 give or take a foot here or there, will open this place up and spread things out far more than you can imagine! LOL...I'll have room to collect more stuff now! shhh....don't tell Dewey! :0)

Ok, I know...you want to know what all that JUNK lying there is heaping mounds is, right? Well, the short answer is all my school materials. All of it. And honest...it all, every piece of paper, every book, everything...came off the large wall unit desk and shelves we have.

The living room floor...the dining table (it's not small either...it's just over 9 ft!), the floor space in the dining room...that's all from those shelves. The full wall unit has 3 floor to ceiling bookcases with a desk along the length of the middle. It is not 3 free-standing units...which is truly a pain (trust me, keep that fact in mind when and if you choose to purchase something that large...). The units are bolted together, however, you can't move it as one unit without twisting and otherwise warping the blasted thing. Not to mention it's a BEAST and weighs a ton, literally.

So, we had to empty it. Top to bottom. Everything. I have a lot of school stuff. I have full curriculum for 8 grade levels, plus references we use most often, folders for our notebooking, reading books, and just lots of related stuff. The dining room table is beyond full. My children are literally sitting on the kitchen floor (and that's where the middle bookcase unit is right now...) eating breakfast in their laps. Good thing I have the ability to make adjustments to the house rules here when needed :o)

The last photo is where the front all used to be. The addition is insulated and decking down ready for the hardwood flooring...that is sitting under the dining room table in it's crates, patiently waiting. The front door is in and I love the amount of light it gives with the half-window. Yes, I said we were getting the 3/4 window...the one Lowe's didn't have one in stock and Home Depot did, except they wanted nearly $400 for it (double the price at Lowe's even with ordering it). Maybe someone wants to pay that for a door, but not me. It's just a door. I'd rather spend that money on the hardwood I want for the ceiling and flooring and not on a door. As long as the rains don't leak in, I'd have settled for a piece of painted plywood :o) Dewey said no...gotta have a real door like everyone else. Fine. Like I said, I love finally having some natural lighting in here.

Thanksgiving. No, the mess won't be here for Thanksgiving. Trust me. There's no give on that score. Now, I won't say it will be rocked by Thanksgiving, and certainly no hardwood down by then, but there's a sort of rustic appeal to kraft paper lined walls, don't you think?

Ponder This

http://viewtoponder.blogspot.com/

I have another favorite place online :o). Shar is on the GoatMilk/Cheese group I'm on and she's just plain fun and full of ideas, tips and suggestions...even if I do wonder about the 'joke' (I'm hoping it's a joke!!) about stringing goat berries for the Christmas tree! LOL

If you have time, stop by and visit. Be warned she's all goats there and loves them big. But she has lots of great tips and thoughts you'll enjoy about rural living with definite self-sufficiency and pride :o)

And don't ask about those goat berries...trust me, if you don't know, you are just as well off!

Herbal Classes over at The Backyard Herbalist & Gardener

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/herbladyisin/

She is starting a series of "classes" on herbal meds. We will certainly be following along, and I encorage you to also. Even a small bit of knowledge can get you along way.

VCE: 3 Layer No-Bake Bars

Doesn't this look delicious? And easy to boot!

Three-Layer No-Bake Bar Cookies

Makes: 48 bars

Prep: 25 minutes

Chill: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oleo (80 percent vegetable oil margarine) or butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons instant vanilla pudding and pie filling mix
• 1/2 cup oleo (80 percent vegetable oil margarine) or butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup oleo (80 percent vegetable oil margarine) or butter
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions

1. Line a 13x9x2-inch pan with foil, extending foil over the pan edges. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cup oleo over low heat until melted. Stir in granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and egg. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until blended and slightly thickened (160 degrees F), whisking constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Stir in graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and nuts until well combined. Press mixture into prepared pan; chill.

2. For middle layer, in a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla pudding mix; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the 1/2 cup softened oleo with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat the pudding mixture into the oleo until combined. Beat in 2 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled layer in pan; cover and chill for 30 minutes or until firm.

3. For top layer or frosting, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the 1/4 cup oleo and chocolate pieces. Microwave on 50 percent power (medium) for 45 to 75 seconds or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Cool slightly. Spread frosting evenly over the chilled bars. Chill until firm. Using the edges of the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into bars. Makes 48 bars.

To store: Place bars in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Deanna sent you a widget

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Book Study: Tuck Everlasting

Ok, through Netflix (which I love and can't even begin to share enough!) we received the movie Tuck Everlasting.

It looked ok. I thought we might like it.

I didn't know we'd be glued to the movie watching it and spend a lot of time over the course of several days, discussing it. Even the youngers are talking about it.

So, we are ordering the novel to keep here, (although it won't match the movie, as Winnie is 10 in the book, and 15 in the movie...ugh...literary license!) and we'll be reading it aloud soon, and working it into a unit study. Here are some pages I've found to get started...

**Vocabulary
Web-Based Thematic Unit, with Teacher Resources, Student Resources
A Curriki Study...I'm still looking into this one
A good Tuck unit here from Capo Creations. He has a great list of other novel units as well.
Here is a lesson plan for grade 5
EdHelper has a good supply of study sections for Tuck that you can access free; otherwise, membership ranges from about $20 to $40/yearly access
A WebSchool page on vocabulary/questions
**A Glencoe Literature Guide I will be keeping this handy and returning for many other novel units from their list.
**A great collection of guides and links, covering several great reads like Caddie Woodlawn,
Plainfield Elementary Guide
NovelLinks has a few offerings you might like
Teacher's Pet has units and teaching guides for virtual every book you'd ever want to teach from...this is not a free site, you have to buy the units.
A Tuck Everlasting Quiz online
This site has some good questions, guides, activities...some are merely linked from others and may be repeated on my list here.
Worksheet Library has a great assortment of, well, worksheets, on all topics and subjects. It is not a free site, and requires registration and costs $29.95/yearly all access membership.
ENotes offers pages at a small fee...
Quizlet has online flashcards...this looks to be a neat site. I'll have to get back and check into more.


And for some other reading list ideas, Walls Of Books Blog has a nice list...She also shares some great links to find studies and guides.

These should get us started and we always tend to bunny-trail around with book studies and ideas!

VCE: Chocolate Chip Shortbread

We've been making these for several years now. I love the taste of a really great shortbread cookie. Be careful when baking, though as they can very quickly go from delicious to rather dry.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 Tbs sugar

Blend as you would any cookie -- cream the butter and brown sugar, add in the vanilla and blennd, then work in the dy ingredients.
Form small balls and flatten as you would a sugar cookie. Bake on ungreased sheets, 300 for 25-30 mins.

Here are some other delicious shortbread cookies:

Another Chocolate Chip Shortbread, from Allrecipes.com
And a great collection of Shortbread Cookies from CDKitchen...they have recipes for some yummy ones, from almond to butter pecan and then some!

Be sure to go check out the cookies at Frugal Creativity and don't forget to sign my MckLinky!

Are We There Yet? The Holidays

Sara, first off, I send you some big hugs. Don't stress. Life's too short for that. It's just the holidays. At your house. In your kitchen. With friends and family.

And don't shoot me. I am The Queen of Stress. Ask my mother. She sure ain't gonna tell you I'm just on top of things, smooth-running life, no worries and all smiles and giggles.

I don't have to cook for family at my house anymore. I did once, but we don't live by any family now so it's a done deal. We used to plan for just ourselves. No one wanted to come over. We were just the relatives with all those children and didn't have to worry about too many family visits, even when they all lived within a half hour's drive. One year, though, that all changed. We had my MIL over. She in turn, invited SIL and family to come. We ate pretty much as usual. We tend to over-cook and serve out a monster buffet of foods, guests or not. Well, SIL got talking to BIL (who didn't come that year) and they started teasing and comparing menus. Apparently mine won out and from that year on for the next several, everyone migrated to our house for Thanksgiving. We did a total of 46 one year. Seating was fun and creative to say the least.

But, we don't do that now. It's just us, plus Chris and Hope will be here. So far no one else has made a comment about Thanksgiving nearing...works for me :o) This year we will fix the normal run of foods, and no doubt have far more than 12 folks need, but that's just how we roll 'round here.

Today's Homeschool Freebie is Making The Holidays Family-Friendly from Penny Raine. Great timing. I'm sure there will be tons of bloggers sharing tips and thoughts on making it through with sanity as the 2 most demanding and enjoyable holidays of the family gathering season near...

VCE: Peanut Butter Bon Bons

My mother makes these every Christmas. They are ultra easy and the children love making them.

4 Tbs melted butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups peanut butter (could use chunky if you prefer more crunch)
3 cups crispy rice cereal

Mix all together and form into balls. Dip into melted almond bark, chocolate or white.
Chill for 1 hour.

A MckLinky For The Virtual Cookie Exchange

LOL....I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm sure you already knew that, or at least figured it out fairly quickly roaming around here with me. I'm very ADHD in blogging. Ideas and plans just flow like a set of rapids around here :o) A blessing and a curse, let me tell you.

Anyway, here (I think) is a MckLinky for the Virtual Cookie Exchange. Sign up...if it's there and you can actually see it. And perhaps, if all is working as it should, we can all follow here and there, blog-hop style, and connect with these yummy recipes out there.

And the blurb from the other post --

Some of the bloggers doing a Virtual Cookie Exchange aren't getting comments as to who is joining along, so there aren't but a few cookies being shared. The websites I've visited have offered more than enough to widen my waistline, though, so I can't exactly say I'm feeling any sort of lack :o) Honestly, the only blogger I have found for THIS year hosting a cookie exchange (though I'm sure there has to be more doing it...) is Frugal Creativity.


So, there are some great blogs and recipes linked on my original Virtual Cookie Exchange post, but you might want to hook up with Frugal Creativity and let her know you are enjoying the cookie exchange she is sharing.

Thursday & VCE Update

First off, the Homeschool Freebie of The Day is a 3-parter. First there are 2 MP3 audio programs for Thanksgiving:
Let's Sing About Thanksgiving is a broadcast that was used for rural Minnesota schools as a music program. There is even a PDF guide that follows along. We've been listening to it this morning -- fun stuff.
Baby Snooks Thanksgiving is the other MP3 audio program available. Daddy and Baby Snooks ate too much Thanksgiving dinner and both take a nap -- and have a wild dream.
And the final bonus today is the PDF version of An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, which I shared a link for here earlier. A PDF is much nicer reading :o)

Now, one week left until Thanksgiving. I have to lay out the menu in specifics now and start my baking plan. And keep collecting cookies on the Cookie Exchange. I'm only slightly disappointed with the turn-out for that, but hey, it's early yet. Some of the bloggers doing a Virtual Cookie Exchange aren't getting comments as to who is joining along, so there aren't but a few cookies being shared. The websites I've visited have offered more than enough to widen my waistline, though, so I can't exactly say I'm feeling any sort of lack :o) Honestly, the only blogger I have found for THIS year hosting a cookie exchange (though I'm sure there has to be more doing it...) is Frugal Creativity.

So, there are some great blogs and recipes linked on my original Virtual Cookie Exchange post, but you might want to hook up with Frugal Creativity and let her know you are enjoying the cookie exchange she is sharing. And I will keep posting and linking here as well. In fact, I have a cookie coming up today yet :o)

Learn to Crochet....and Mile-a-Minute links

Here are a couple links for the Mile-a-Minute stitch. There are as many 'types' of Mile-a-Minute's as there are Granny Squares, but not all are detailed.

Several Mile-a-Minute Projects

Little Fancy Mile-A-Minute

A Collection of Patterns for just about everything crochet

another Collection of patterns, including a Mile-a-Minute

I'll post my directions as well...don't know where they came from, just what I've always done for a simple mile-a-minute:

chain 7, join with sl st to beginning chain to form loop.
chain 3 , work 3 dc in loop, chain 3, work 4 dc in loop
chain 3, turn and work 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc in chain 3 space of previous "shell"
chain 3 and turn....repeat working pattern of "shell in shell" to desired length. End off.

With a different color, attach yarn at edge of shell, ch 3 and work 12 dc in center of end shell (this forms your curve...) the work 3 dc in each turning chain space along edges of panel. Work 12 dc in bottom loop space (to form the curve at that end of panel...) and work 3 dc in each chain space up other side of panel. End off.

From here it's sort of up to you how to proceed. You can add another color, working in a half-double stitch in each dc of previous rows all around....you will work 2 hdc in each of those 12 stitches around the curves. Or you can skip straight to connecting the panels.

You can sl st or sc the panels together using that color, or the original color (that you made those shells-on-shells with). You are only stitching together up to the curve stitches...the edges of the afghan are scalloped by those curved panel ends.

LOL...I'm not a very technical crocheter really. It's probably sounding far more difficult to someone new to crocheting than it really is. There aren't a lot of stitches in crocheting....chain, slip stitch (which is really just a chain), single, half-double, double and then triple (or treble). That's it. There are hundreds of pattern stitches with crocheting, but they all breakdown to those original stitches and how you group them together. For example, a shell is merely 3 to 5 doubles put together, depending on the design of the pattern. In this one, there are chain stitches in the middle...in a traditional shell, there are 5 doubles and no chains in the middle. A traditional Granny Square uses groups of 3 doubles along the sides, and a 3 dc-ch 2-3 dc to form a corner.

It's all really easy. It's just a matter of getting into the rhythm of the pattern you are working.

Here are a couple of tutorials to help you learn:
NexStitch Tutorials for Traditional Crochet and Tunisian Stitch they also have some good tutorials for changing color yarns, ending and weaving in stitches, etc.

and a really good one from Lion Brand Yarns

And several good pattern sites to check out once you get the hang of it:
Crochet at Pattern Central
Fun Crochet they have a great sidebar full of helpful information on hook sizing, yarn types, etc.
PurpleKitty Yarns has some great patterns listed
and of course, Lion Brand Yarns has a great searchable pattern index...and some very easy Christmas Stockings listed now

MIddle of The Week Slump...

Oh I know that should say middle of the week hump, but I'm just slumpy today. It's dark gray outside, a tad on the chilly side, and we have to go to the spring to get water. Ahhh, joy.

I have several pictures sitting on the camera waiting for an upload. We really 'billy-ed' up the barn for the round hay bale they goats have. By 'billy-ed' there I mean hillbilly rigging. Probably offensive to someone, but hey, poor-man's ingenuity has always amazed me. I'm very much a stop complaining and find me a way kind of person these days. We could have gone to town, bought some wood, built a nice-looking round bale thingie-ma-juggy. But we didn't. We could have just built a sort of hay gazebo out there to offer some weather protection to the bale. But we didn't.

We billy-ed it right and proper.

I like cheap and homemade.

Anyway, off to gather water then come back and stoke up the fires to keep out the chill here and do some sewing and baking. My tension is worked out again...seems someone else around here likes to practice a form of ingenuity and they turned a flat screw at the back of the sewing machine and just plain drove me nuts the past few days with pulling out goofy looking stitches. I finally decided I am actually not ingenious by nature and needed the aid of the instruction manual. LOL...that took some search-and-find techniques to locate as I've not opened it in a couple years now. But all is well again, stitches look normal and we're back in business.

I've posted my Virtual Cookie Exchange goodies and linked up with Friendship Alley so everyone can share in the yummies being shared around blogland. She has a delicious sounding (and looking) Chocolate Chip Toffee cookie on there today with the link to the friend who posted it. OH BE STILL MY TASTE-BUDS...there are a TON of delicious recipes on that site. You have to go visit and take plenty of notes.

I may just be baking today...toffee chocolate chip cookies....ginger spice cookies....and I know I'll find even more over at Bake @ 350! I won't try to tempt you further...although I just found Cinnamon Caramel Corn (a.k.a. Cinna-Bun Popcorn) over at Our Best Bites.

I'm just sayin'.

Please share your cookie recipes and finds and leave a comment so everyone else can visit and drool....um, enjoy...along with you!

VCE: Amish Sugar Cut-Outs

These are our signature cookie, if you will. We are asked to make these quite a bit after taking them to gatherings. The icing is such that it cools and smooths out completely, and hardens, much like a store-bought sugar cookie. The icing is easily tinted to any color you wish, sprinkles added when first iced will stay and not fall off all over.

You can ice with any favorite recipe and simply keep them in the refrigerator to keep the icing from sticking about. These are absolutely great in the heat of summer fresh from the freezer, too. Yes, I said freezer :o) With the cream cheese in the cookie, they do not freeze solid....great for hot summer days!

It is not a cookie to be eaten plain, with the traditional sprinkled sugar topping, however. The cookie itself is actually rather bland we think.

4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together shortening, butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and stir to mix. Slowly blend in dry ingredients. Divide dough into manageable portions and wrap with plastic (we stick portions in baggies) and chill for at least an hour before rolling and cutting.
Roll out thin (hmmm...1/4 in perhaps) and cut out as desired. Bake on ungreased sheets at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Do not over-bake -- as the edges begin to lightly brown the cookie is done. Remove to cooling rack after a short time 'setting up' on the sheet.
When cooled, iced as desired.

Our Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbs light corn syrup
2 Tbs milk

Blend well until smooth and thick. Divide and tint with coloring as desired. This icing will smooth out as it dries and become hard and glossy.

The Little House series

We finished The Long Winter recently. What an adventure! In this day of plenty, even given the economy, I cannot imagine a family going through what the Ingalls' did the winter of 1880 without food, barely having enough heat, being snowed in from even the buildings across the street.

Would that happen these days? I just don't think so. Of course, I'm a prepper sort of person, and I do believe things will fall apart soon enough to where perhaps that long winter won't look quite so foreign, but still....

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pages -- from the herbert Hoover Presidential Library
Pioneering Journeys of The Ingalls Family -- from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
Laura Ingalls activities -- from The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

Easy Fun School has some of the best units I've come across for a variety of things. Here are their pages for the books of the Little House series They also list the titles for the books that came later by other authors, The Martha Years, The Charlotte Years, The Caroline Years, and The Rose Years

A nice sharing of lapbook pages for The Long Winter

Of course, a great addition to any Little House study is The Prairie Primer. You can find it used through Amazon as well.

If you don't already have this in your homeschool library, you can find it online free...Webster's 1828 Dictionary. It's a wonderful dictionary and many of the words are defined using Scriptural references. Makes for great copywork!

And here is a blogger doing the whole series, and sharing plenty of thoughts and ideas along the way, Momof2GirlyGirlz She has linked some great finds including plenty of videos covering various topics related to the stories, other pages, etc. Her We Love the Prairie Primer blog is a definite keeper to follow along!

Another blogger doing Little House on The Prairie is here at Kath's Korner.

And of course, The Perkins Family, who has had a Prairie page for some time now.

And here's a YahooGroup based on The Prairie Primer, PrairiePrimerPluses, with files and friends sharing ideas for each of the books.
Here are some other Prairie Primer users group lisitngs, too.