Banana Cherry Streusel Muffins

Greetings all! Long time no blog! This has proven to be an extremely busy season of life. I'm hoping to take some time to capture some of these moments and record them here as time allows. Today, I just wanted to share a creative muffin combo cooked up in the kitchen this morning. :-)  Blessings to you all!

Banana Cherry Streusel Muffins

Directions:

1. Prepare your favorite banana bread/muffin recipe batter.

2. Fold in some cherries (or fruit of your choice).

3. Line two muffin tins with paper cups.

4. Fill muffin cups with desired amount of batter. (I like them pretty full!)

5. Make some streusel topping ~ cut all ingredients with pastry cutter until crumbly.

    {I used 1/2 stick butter, 1/4 cup flour, 2 T. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.}

6. Generously sprinkle streusel topping onto muffin batter in cups.

7. Bake according to original banana muffin instructions. {I baked these at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.}

8. Take out of oven. Let cool slightly. Slather some good country butter on top & enjoy!

Well, for whoever still stops by here, thank you so much for visiting! May the Lord bless you with all the simple joys of life He gives!

"Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."  ~Acts 2:28

Spring Beauty

Happy weekend, everyone! It's starting to look like spring around here! Here are a few photos of some flowers around our home right now. A little time spent planting annuals brings a lot of joy!

♥ Each bloom gives a glimpse of the beauty of our Creator. ♥

 "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." ~Psalm 104:24

Celebrating the Art of Homemaking: Recycling & Sewing a Skirt

Greetings, everyone!  I hope you all had a blessed Easter celebrating Christ's resurrection! We serve a living Saviour!!

I've been wanting to do more sewing lately, but I haven't had much time for extra stuff right now. This project, however, was for something we needed, and I was thrilled to take it on.

Our daughter needs a black skirt for her upcoming choir concert. I typically don't buy much black for her. I remembered that I had a black skirt in my closet that I rarely wear. I decided to take a scissors to it and sew it up again in her size. Sew, here is the before and after of my recycled skirt project! ♥ 

                 BEFORE                                                                  AFTER

First, I cut off some of the width...


Then, I turned it inside out, and sewed up a new seam lengthwise...

Next, I kept it inside out and folded over the top quite a few inches to shorten the length. I took off my sewing machine arm and sewed around the circumference of the waist almost entirely, but I left an opening for some elastic if I wanted to put that in...

And that was it. Now, it's sized for our petite little lady, and it cost me nothing! Bonus!

Has anyone else been working on any sewing projects?  

♥ Have a great weekend, everyone! ♥

"The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted."  ~Psalm 18:46

Update on Prayer Request

I just received word that Michael Farris, the President of the Home School Legal Defense Association, was on Fox & Friends this morning giving an update on the German family facing deportation for homeschooling their children. Thank you to all of you who have been praying!

You can view the video that aired this morning here. You can read an update on the family here.

There are now three things we can do to help this family:

1. Continue to pray for the Lord's intervention to help this family! Their case is going to be heard on April 23, 2013.
2. Sign the petition to the White House here ~ authored by Michael Farris of HSLDA. {They are asking for 100,000 signatures by April 18, 2013.}
3. Encourage others to do #1 and #2 as the Lord leads!

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." ~Psalm 5:3

Happy Birthday, Mr. Livingstone!

Do you know who was born 200 years ago today?

David Livingstone!

We've been studying about him in our History & Geography course this year. He was a Scottish medical doctor and pioneer missionary explorer to Africa spreading the gospel to the people there.

I wasn't sure if Google would draw a logo up in his honor, so we just wanted to share. ;-)

Praying that I could be a faithful missionary for the Lord right where I'm planted and be open to go wherever the Lord wants to send me!

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. " ~Isaiah 6:8

Pieces in the Puzzle

Today I'm pondering my piece in God's puzzle. Have you ever thought about that? As I grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, I often ponder and marvel that I am part of God's Story, that He has a specific plan and purpose for my life to bring His Name glory. 

I pray that today as I go about my daily privileges as a wife, mother, and ultimately as an adopted daughter of our Heavenly Father, that I will please Him in all that I do as I submit to His will and seek His guidance. I pray that I will remove my own selfish desires, will, and plans and fully seek out what His agenda is for me today.

I can't see the whole picture of God's great plan, but God can. He designed me, you, and this whole world. He planned out my part and your part in His Story. I just pray that I will be faithful to His plan ~ always seeking His guidance and following His instruction. 

I trust in the One, our mighty Saviour and King Jesus Christ, who can see the completed puzzle ~ who holds every piece in its proper place! What a Lord we serve!

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." ~Revelation 1:8

Dry Erase Board Tip

Ever had someone use a permanent marker instead of a dry erase marker on a white board? Well, I have. :-)  I was just about to throw this white board out when I remembered a tip I learned somewhere along the line... 

Rubbing alcohol will remove permanent 

marker from dry erase boards! 

BEFORE

{Notice how the rubbing alcohol affects the permanent ink?}

AFTER

The red permanent marker had actually been on this white board for a few months. The black permanent marker was added by me just before taking the picture for illustration purposes. If you catch it early, the permanent marker will most likely be completely removed. If it's been around awhile, it may have some traces left behind. But this is good enough for our schooling purposes! Now.....to find a more discreet location for the permanent markers.....that is the real challenge! :-)

Just wanted to share in case you found yourself with this same problem!

Please pray for this dear family!!!

Please take less than 2 minutes to watch the news clip found here.

A Christian family is facing deportation just for homeschooling their children!! Our current government is not supporting them and has agreed with the ruling of deportation! The fate of this family now rests with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, I know that the fate of this family rests in the mighty hand of God, who is sovereign, in control, and has a plan and a purpose for this dear family facing this outrageous persecution. God Bless and keep this dear family standing on His truth. May He protect these dear folks as they seek Him.

Will you please join me in praying for them?

Would you also please join me in offering our wholehearted gratitude to our Lord for allowing us the ability to educate our children in the manner we, as parents, deem fit in the United States of America? Our family does not take this for granted, and we offer up our thanks to our mighty God often. Whether you home educate or have your children schooled elsewhere public or private, please join along in prayer that the selection of education for children would rest in the hands of the parents and not the government! Thank you!!!

 ^"The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry." ~Psalm 34:15

Countless Blessings

"My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof."                              ~Psalm 71:15

♥ A sweet visitor outside our window! ♥ 

I'm pausing today to ponder all the blessings God has bestowed in my life. The verse above indicates that the Lord God's mercies are countless. I will never be able to properly thank my Saviour for saving me and for all that He has done for me, but I aim to live my days on this Earth trying to thank Him as best I can. :-)

Our pastor has been giving a very convicting series of messages on fearing the Lord and daily living that out. To fear God's Name is not just some theological concept. It is a very real practice in the life of a committed Christian! I've been so convicted over things big and small, and I want every area of my life to show forth the reverence God deserves. If I am to claim the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ, as my personal Saviour, I ought to daily be telling of His love and obeying His Word. As our church body heard yesterday from our pastor, glorifying God ought to be our personal, primary, and pronounced aim in life ~ Amen! I was reminded of this post and how I ought to have praise on my tongue all the day long.

Many of the reasons I began this blog ~ to record all that I am learning about sanctification in all areas of biblical womanhood ~ are so dear to my heart. It's truly a blessing to look back and reflect on what the Lord was teaching me then and to see how He faithfully continues to grow, convict, and refine me in these areas. I'm so thankful today that the Lord teaches us little by little how we can be more pleasing and useful to Him, aren't you? Are you as amazed as I that He is always watching over us? Are you in awe as I am that He cares so very much about the tiniest details of our lives? Are you as excited as I am that He wants us to daily go to Him with our needs? He's never too busy with other things to care for our needs ~ He's always there ready to pour out His love, wisdom, and grace in all areas of life. Wow.

I think back on the times when I didn't know Him personally, when I wasn't seeking His will for my life, when I hadn't asked Him to save me from the penalty of my sins. My heart just feels such remorse for how I hurt Him, how I displeased Him, for how I wasted so much time in my life not being useful to Him....and my heart daily (hourly!) grows in humble gratitude that He cared about me and saved a wretch like me!!! How can I waste another minute of my life by not trying to grow closer to Him or to tell someone else of what He has done in my life??? I can't! We live in some weary times! I must not waste any time at all! In the words of Mr. Collins from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, "Make haste! Make haste!"

There have been seasons of my life in which I have been more active in witnessing than others. As I think about it, this really shouldn't be the case. I should seize every opportunity the Lord puts in my path to share the gospel with those around me with my words and my actions. I pray today that as I try to do this by His grace in and out of my home that I will prioritize praising and glorifying His Name in all that I do today ~ from my daily household chores and teaching my children to sharing the gospel with whoever comes my way.

So many reasons to praise our Lord! He is SO good!

What are you thanking God for today? Who can you tell about God's goodness today?

^"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." ~Psalm 34:3

Seeds?

We have been in our home just under a year, and we are looking forward to our upcoming spring here! After the ice and snow from yesterday's storm begin to melt, we probably won't have too many cold days left. We already have spring buds on some of the trees, and mother robins have paid us a few visits! :-)

We are hoping to begin plans for our very first garden in this home. I'm excited! We planted a few things when we lived in Wisconsin in our raised garden beds hubby made and some tomato plant pots, but we are going to attempt to have a decent sized garden this year in our new yard.

My question for all of you veteran gardeners out there....

Where do you get your seeds? 

•   Does it make a difference? 
•   Organic or not? 
•   Store or catalog? 
•   Local grower or farmer? 
•   Your own harvested?

Before we invest, I just want to get your opinions of where to get some seeds. I have so much to learn and I'm hoping to study up, but I really appreciate your tried and true recommendations. Thanks for the help!

Presidents' Day Fun & Memorization Song

Presidents' Day is usually a fun-filled day of learning in our home. Yesterday was no exception! We started our morning with our daily routine of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to our American Flag, our Pledge to the Christian Flag, and our Pledge to the Holy Bible.     




Presidential History Lessons & Trivia: We read some books about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other presidents. We learned about their accomplishments and how some of their decisions shaped our nation's history. We also discussed some presidential trivia ~ fun!

Presidential Survey: Our first grade daughter conducted a presidential survey, asking the question..."Who is your FAVORITE president?"  We conducted this survey via email and were grateful to have received 65 votes for her to tally! President Ronald Wilson Reagan *won* her survey as the president most voted for as people's favorite. She had fun graphing out the results and sending out the official presidential results to those who voted! ♥ Although, she was a bit disappointed her favorite, President George Washington, didn't win. :-) 

Presidential Memorization Song:

We also spent a good portion of the day memorizing the presidents in order as they took office. I had previously researched some potential tunes to help us in this pursuit. The tune that seemed easiest for us to accomplish this was "Ten Little Indians". I had seen some youtube videos of individuals or classes doing this. I have a really large book of the presidents' pictures. We used the book to help us as we sang bit by bit. I turned the page to a president's picture, and they would sing his name. We took three to four presidents at a time and memorized their names in groups. It took us a while, but we sure had a lot of fun doing it. Lots of laughs and tongue twisters occurred along the way! I won't even tell you how many times we sang it. Actually, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to as I didn't keep track, but let's just say we might have all heard the song in our dreams last night! To commemorate the day's events, I asked our two oldest children to record the song we learned so we can refer back to it as needed. This took quite a few takes, but I'm proud of their effort!

                                      

Hope you all had a great Presidents' Day too!!! 

Any fun activities you'd like to share?

"So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations."  ~Psalm 79:13

Happy Napper travels to Washington, D.C.

Look who traveled to our nation's capital with us this past summer! Thanks to Grandma, this sweet little friend accompanied us on our vacation out east. Happy Napper will now give you a tour of some of our favorite stops in Washington, D.C. ♥

First stop...King Street Metro Station....

{We stayed in Old Town Alexandria, VA for our stay.}

While we wait to hop on the Yellow Line here, the George Washington Masonic Memorial can be seen in the distance...

We hopped off at the National Mall and visited The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum...

I SPY Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, do you? Make sure to get some self-guide pamphlets at the welcome desk! 

We could see the Washington Monument in the background, but we weren't headed there quite yet.

We're headed across the street to that building. Do you know what it is?

It's the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Don't forget to go upstairs and see an actual fragment of Plymouth Rock!

Next stop, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
WARNING: Remember to put on your "creation goggles" before you enter. It's evolution central inside!

Can you guess where we're headed next? Here's a hint: It's where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963 as inscribed here.

You got it....the Lincoln Memorial!

Greetings, President Abraham Lincoln! Oh, how grateful we are for your leadership and service to our country, Mr. President!!

Look at this beautiful view from the top overlooking the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Lots of history in these parts!

Now, we're headed on a nice refreshing walk along the Potomac over to our next destination. Do you see it across the Tidal Basin? 

We've arrived at the Jefferson Memorial. Shhhh...it's a quiet place here. What an honor to meet the principal author of our Declaration of Independence!

Time to head back to that really tall monument you can see from all over town. Yes, the Washington Monument, named after our very first president! 555 feet of beautiful granite! This is under repair, however, due to an earthquake that struck close by in 2011. So, just admire from afar, and keep your feet firmly planted on the ground beneath. Time to walk to the next memorial nearby.

Let's pay our respects to our U.S. Armed Forces Service Members from World War II at this National WWII Memorial.

What a humbling walk as we view this tribute.

Let's travel up 17th Street a few blocks to the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion in President's Park. In fact, let's take a rest on a park bench and eat some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from our backpack. Oh yeah, and don't forget to look up while doing so! You just never know when the President of the United States is going to fly overhead to land on the front lawn of The White House! {click through to view clip}

Because President Obama just flew in on Marine One, we can't get any closer to The White House tonight. But it's a beautiful glow in the distance!

Ok, well it's time to call it a day and head back to our hotel in Alexandria. Better hop on the Metro Blue Line over at L'Enfant Plaza! 

I would have liked to have shown you the visit to The Capitol, but I was living up to my name that day and napping at the hotel while the rest of the bunch went. If you visit there yourself, make sure to stop by your home state's congressman's office, and they'll probably be able to schedule you a free guided tour of the building!

Well, it's time for me to take another happy nap. Hope you enjoyed the tour! Don't forget to take a little time to study our nation's history on President's Day this week!

"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old." ~Psalm 44:1