Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Tuesday, October 16, 2012

In the great outdoors...it’s trying to decide whether or not it’s going to be fall. Trying. Today is a very still, humid, overcast day with temps in the upper 70’s. Not bad – we’ve been able to keep the windows open, even without opening the front door for extra circulation (the mosquitoes are bad again).

Within our four walls...a great need for fall decorations. I think I’m going to bring the tub down from the attic one day this week and let the kids decorate for me.

A heart of thanksgiving...for healthy children. I trust that if that ever changes, God will provide all we need to deal with whatever comes our way. But, I never cease to be thankful for the health that has surrounded our family thus far.

A heart of prayer...for friends suffering loss and for salvation for several loved ones.

Random observations...we have much evidence of growing within this house. Half an inch of growth per child in the last two months. Oh, and Steven is thrilled to announce his first two loose teeth. He’s so proud!

Thoughts from the kitchen...I found a couple of exciting recipes. One of them is for halloumi, the official cheese of the island of Cyprus. In fact, if it’s not made on Cyprus, it’s not really halloumi! It’s a rare treat for us – we used to only get it when someone was coming from the Middle East. Recently we found it at a Middle Eastern store in Little Rock, but it’s quite pricey. Like I said – a rare treat. So, sometime after the Christmas busyness, we’re going to try to make what we will call Ark-alloumi! We’ll see how it turns out!

The other recipe we’re going to try is yogurt. It is getting more and more expensive to buy, but we really like to have it on hand. We could make it for about half the cost, and it seems relatively easy. Worth a try!

On my bookshelf...a couple of fiction novels and a Bible handbook to review this week and next. But, what I’m really giddy about is the fact that three Tricia Goyer books are on their way for my November reviews!

Projects...as soon as I get done here, OIivia and I are going to work on some of her crochet stitches. I’m suspicious that she wants to crochet some Christmas gifts but doesn’t want to tell me. Hmmmm…

I also want to teach her how to use the hemmer foot on the sewing machine so she can hem my fall napkins for me, and maybe even some winter and Christmas ones as well.

Sounds of the moment...kids playing quietly and this chair squeaking every time I move. I’ve also heard quite a few email notification sounds recently as my fellow Home Educating Family reviewers and the members of our Arkansas minister’s wives Facebook page are doing a lot of chatting back and forth right now.

A favorite thing from last week...I went to pick Angela up from her art class, and found her writing. Apparently the kids are supposed to write about the art processes and techniques they use with each project. I happened to glance at some of the cards and saw one or two lines scratched on the cards. Not Angela’s. She covered her index card back and front with detailed information about what she had done. My smiles were mostly over the fact that Angie has discovered a couple of true passions lately in writing and sketching. She writes and sketches all the time, and I love the things she comes up with! It’s so much fun to watch my children develop their personalities and likes.

The planner...we joined Doug for our association’s annual meeting last night, and he’s going alone tonight. Church tomorrow night, and I have a meeting Thursday night. Add to that full to-do lists, and you can probably understand why we’re looking forward to not doing a whole lot this weekend!

Because visuals are fun...I posted this on Facebook, but I just had to put it here, too. Olivia can’t get enough of little Thea, and I love watching them together.