More summer pleasures...

As we will still be on our trip to Ohio when this posts, I wanted to share this precious summer pleasure...Anna playing 'Pioneer' with her dolls....her big sister , Sara, helped her dress all the dolls, dress Anna in the bonnet that her older sisters played with....I have such wonderful memories of my older girls playing with their dolls! All of the dolls were very busy that day...including Anna!

Can't wait to post pictures of our trip! My little ones will be staying with my mom and step-dad for 4 days while we are gone and Ron is working...can't wait to hear all about their adventures! ~Sue~

Pilgrim's Progress.....

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan....it is one of our very favorite books...and next to the Bible, the 2nd best selling book in history. We have come to collect many copies and interpretations over the years and if I could encourage you to read for yourself, read to your children...watch on dvd, even....I believe it will make a tremendous impact on your life, your children's lives and your family...especially your walk with the Lord thru this life, on your own way to the 'celestial city'!
We started years ago when my older girls were little, reading this out loud...they were enthralled from the first page.

I hope this image shows up....it is one of my favorite images, depicting Christian's journey.

http://www.redemptionca.com/Misc/OtherGames/recommendedgames.htm
THIS is the coolest game! We've had this for years, and as you travel the path, you fight appolyon, get past the lions, conquer your sins, and travel thru vanity fair...if you don't leave your burden at the cross, you cannot enter the celestial city. The website above sells many cool games, but unfortunately, this one is out of print at the moment...I"m sure it can be found, though, somewhere on the internet. :)

We have a 2 disc set starring Liam Neeson of Pilgrim's Progress, including Christiana's Journey. It is excellent...we all enjoy this very much, even my little ones. But...our favorite by far, is the new musical dvd that we got simply entitled "Pilgrim". This was performed by the highschool students of Covenent Life Fellowship, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Maryland. I cannot give this high enough praise! The music is exceptional (we all have now memorized the songs), the acting seems professional and most importantly...this musical adaptation is true to the book AND scripturally correct. If possible...get one of these for your family library...you won't be sorry! Here is the link: http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=O9250-00-41

And, (thanks to my helpful assistant, Anna) we also have a picture book called "Go with Christian" that is a pop-up book with a little board game in the back.

I can only tell you that "Pilgrim's Progress" has blessed our family so very, very much! It has convicted, humbled and blessed us...as well as opening up many teaching and correcting opportunities for all of us...from the youngest to the oldest.

Read 'Pilgrim's Progress'....watch a dvd....get the musical 'Pilgrim'...I know you will be blessed! ~Sue~

Preserving the Harvest....Barbeque Sauce!

Preserving the harvest...this was very commonplace for centuries before refrigeration, and even after as for many people, grocery stores were not on every corner, and many people simply could not afford to purchase 'store bought'...they ate seasonally, which I am trying to do for our family as much as possible. I'm new at eating seasonally, and have to really think and plan, but the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" helped me a lot to realize that the old-fashioned way of eating seasonally was by preserving the harvest.

Now, the above photo is NOT from homegrown tomatoes (or any other veggie right now), but as our freezers are full of meat (Praise you, God!) I was at a loss as to how to store the excess of homemade barbeque sauce that I had made. The container in front is what we used for ribs for Father's day dinner....and I water bath canned the rest. As this homemade sauce is very time-consuming, I am pleased as punch that I now have 5 quarts ready and waiting when I need them! The other thing that makes me very happy, is that there are no preservatives, funny ingredients or high fructose corn syrup in there....and my family loves it! I will try and give the recipe, but, to be honest, I'm one of the 'those' cooks who does not measure...I just estimate and taste until it tastes 'right' . So, here are the general ingredients:

diced onions, green peppers, garlic, pickle relish, yellow mustard, balsalmic vinegar, apple cidar vinegar, lemon juice, pureed tomatoes, salt, pepper, honey, brown sugar.

Just sautee the veggies in a little butter/olive oil, spoon in the relish and just a little bit of mustard....add the rest of the ingredients to taste. My husband likes it sweet, so we add a good bit of honey and brown sugar.

~We are hoping to preserve A LOT of fresh veggies and fruits this summer and early fall...we will be canning, freezing and dehydrating as well. Anyone have any special recipes they might want to share? Here is to a "Happy Harvest"!!! ~Sue~

Family memories....

My hard-working husband was on vacation last week, so we tried to do a couple fun things, relax at home and get some projects done....but the first thing we did was spend the day making a special family memory.

We packed snacks, drinks, extra water and lunches and headed out to Living Treasures Animal park. I really like packing all of our food...it's healthy and frugal..and picnics are fun! The day started out raining...but we decided that rain or shine, we were going to have fun! And...when we pulled into the Animal park...the rain stopped. What fun we had! Meghan and Sara were busy taking lots of pictures on their own cameras and LAUGHING....while Sara took home movies on her new FLIP camera.

Anna was enthralled with the kangeroos....the one on the left had a little baby in it's pouch and Anna wanted to take them home!

Ronnie fell in love with this big guy. He named him "Shellvin"...and spent quite a bit of time with him.

Afterward, as we were walking to the car...the rain started up again! We drove just a couple minutes to Morainne State Park...and by the time we pulled into the parking space at the lake, the rain stopped. We had a wonderful picnic lunch, then headed for the sand! Sara, Ronnie and Anna ended up putting their suits on and swimming, looking for rocks and playing in the sand. The blue gill fish were swimming around their feet, while Ronnie & Anna tried to catch them by hand.

I simply relaxed with a little bit of knitting...it was so peaceful there! I WILL be getting a nice, big straw hat to keep the sun off of my face though!
Meghan kept me company busily crocheting away....while the clouds rolled away and the sky turned a beautiful shade of blue!
Dad enjoyed the peace and quiet for a little nap while the little ones played...

The rest of our week, we watched Ty, went bowling one afternoon, finished our bathroom project! Then...from Friday on, it was BUSY! We had the highschool evaluations for Meghan and Sara (always wonderful, our evaluator, Diane is such a wonderful friend!)...then we went to a very special celebration...and adoption party for our friends, the Porcari's, who adopted Alanna! What fun we had! After the year they have had, since Alanna was placed with them when she was 3 days old...the ups and downs, the uncertainty, the joys...and the trust and faith that they placed in God....it was a joy to celebrate with them! It was such fun seeing all of our mutual friends, the older girls hung out with all of their friends, the little ones played on a big playground with tons of their friends...and Ron & I had a great time catching up with OUR friends, as well!

Saturday, we had my nephew, Shayne's graduation party. I have to say, my sister Lori is a pro at planning parties! It was such a special tribute to Shayne...the decorations were perfect, the food was incredible (my mom made most of it...pulled pork, meatballs, sauce, rigatoni, roast beef....all homemade from scratch)....even with the rain that poured down (it IS Pittsburgh, after all!) everyone had a great time!

We ended our week with Father's day! My wonderful husband enjoyed a special week with his family, we had my Dad and step-mom, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for dinner (Ron's favorite...slow cooked barbecue ribs with my honey barbecue sauce)...then Meghan made 2 banana cream pies for dessert. A sweet ending to a special week!

~Now....tomorrow, our dear friend Gabrielle is coming to stay with us for 3 weeks...a nice, long visit! Then...on Wednesday....I am leaving for Ohio with Meghan, Sara and Gabrielle for 5 special days...time spent with good friends, a large homeschooling conference where we will have the privilidge of hearing Dr. Voddie Baucham speak...then more good friends, and home on Sunday!~ I have a couple posts scheduled to post while we're gone, then it's back next week to document our trip! Ah....summertime!!!! Have a blessed week! ~Sue~

Culinary endeavors....

One of the many lessons my daughters are learning, are the culinary arts...I am so proud of them! They each are not afraid to try new techniques or recipes...and genuinely love being in the kitchen...usually together! They are going to be responsible for preparing many, many meals over the course of their lives, so I'm glad they enjoy it! Here are some of their culinary masterpieces!

Meghan's curried carrot soup with fresh chives...

Sara's 'famous' omlet and homefried potatoes...

Sara's rasberry tarts...
Ronnie "helping" Anna make her 'famous' pizza bagels for dinner! Even Anna is loving preparing meals! I'm looking forward to more culinary endevours from my girls in the future! ~Sue~

Bagels!

Part of our lifestyle is making as much as we can from scratch...rather than buying everything. If it is food, then I know the ingredients (and can usually pronounce them), and it is much cheaper and healthier. So, Meghan and I set out to make homemade bagels...she whole wheat and I gluten free. We had so much fun! Her's turned out much better than mine did, so I will probably not try gluten free bagels again....our next project...english muffins, regular and gluten free! Meghan, kneading her dough.

Dividing it into equal pieces..

My gluten free bagels rising....

Meghan's whole wheat bagels rising...

The finished products...the gluten free version on the left and the whole wheat on the right. Since she mastered the whole wheat, this something that she'll be making for her dad and everyone occasionally as a treat. (we don't buy bagels too often)

As part of the girls education, they are being trained in the culinary arts...everything from canning, baking, cooking, preserving to menu planning, shopping and budgeting....along the way, they are mastering cake decorating, candy making, drying herbs for spices and teas, and natural remedies as well. Next stop...english muffins! ~Sue~

Civic duty....

We are loving the cubscout program that Ronnie is in! Especially the wonderful leadership in Pack 215! Everything he is learning (and having fun doing) is very patriotic and civic minded. Ron & Ronnie were able to participate in a flag retirement ceremony at the boy scout cabin recently. There were 3 branches of the military there, as well as veterans from a nursing home who came to pay tribute to our flag. That was so touching to see the emotion on those veterans faces. Another thing that we love, is that Ron and Ronnie get to do most of these meetings and activities together...wonderful father and son memories. Who better to mentor Ronnie than his dad?

There were cubscouts and boyscouts from every rank...

Ronnie helping with the flag....he has learned proper flag ediquette as well respect for our country and flag.

And he gets to do these things with his friends...this is his friend, James.
One of the best parts of the day was sharing it with his grandfather! My dad was in the Marine Corp when he was younger, and came out to participate with Ronnie.

One of the many fun learning activities we are doing with the cubscouts. ~Sue~

Strawberry Jam! First canning of the season!

Making memories, having fun, preserving the harvest for wintertime...some of the things I love about summer! We had the opportunity to pick strawberries with friends recently, and had so much fun!
Our "Peony" in a strawberry patch!

Sisters...doing everything together. It was so beautiful...cool & comfortable with a pond in the background...

Anna and Hannah...

Ronnie and his friend, Aaron...

(sorry about the steam) mashing the cooked strawberries, which yielded....

20 1/2 pint jars of jam! Since Meghan made dinner (simple salad and black bean pie, recipe courtesy of Dayna http://pleasantboundaries.blogspot.com/ )...I am going to rest for a little bit, shower...then it is off to my nephew's highschool commencements. Have a blessed weekend, everyone! ~Sue~