A bestselling author, Sue Harrison, read Connelly's book and left the following review on amazon.com.
By S. Harrison
Format:Kindle Edition
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
I am excited for Connelly
Connelly had a very successful morning yesterday as a guest speaker at Pickford School. She gave her 15-minute presentation three times. It was followed by question-and-answer sessions. She captivated her audiences of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, who were amazingly quiet as they listened to her talk about the process of writing her book, TORN. They were astounded by how young she is. God has blessed Connelly with the ability to hold an audience's attention as well as to write. She is a very special girl.
A bestselling author, Sue Harrison, read Connelly's book and left the following review on amazon.com.
A bestselling author, Sue Harrison, read Connelly's book and left the following review on amazon.com.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Connelly goes to Public School
It's not what you think. We didn't stop homeschooling.
Connelly is spending the morning speaking at the public school where I went to high school. Grandpa is a retired teacher and has been substitute teaching. He read the first chapter of Connelly's book to the classes, and the kids wanted to meet her. Grandpa arranged for Connelly to speak at that school and again at another one later this week.
Connelly has worked diligently on her presentation. It's all about how she wrote and published her book and overcame obstacles in the process. She will be speaking for about 15 minutes per class, then having a question and answer session and book signing.
I am so thankful that God prepared her for this moment. Little did we know two years ago, when we first started attending Classical Conversations, that public speaking would be looming so near in Connelly's future. The amazing thing about Classical Conversations is that the students have to give weekly presentations. Connelly has been practicing public speaking every week for the past two years. She's not even worried!
I sure love my little girl and I am so amazed at how fast she is growing up. She turned 13 last week. Connelly loves God and loves people. She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met. I am excited to see the places God will take her and grateful that He entrusted her to us.
Connelly is spending the morning speaking at the public school where I went to high school. Grandpa is a retired teacher and has been substitute teaching. He read the first chapter of Connelly's book to the classes, and the kids wanted to meet her. Grandpa arranged for Connelly to speak at that school and again at another one later this week.
Connelly has worked diligently on her presentation. It's all about how she wrote and published her book and overcame obstacles in the process. She will be speaking for about 15 minutes per class, then having a question and answer session and book signing.
I am so thankful that God prepared her for this moment. Little did we know two years ago, when we first started attending Classical Conversations, that public speaking would be looming so near in Connelly's future. The amazing thing about Classical Conversations is that the students have to give weekly presentations. Connelly has been practicing public speaking every week for the past two years. She's not even worried!
I sure love my little girl and I am so amazed at how fast she is growing up. She turned 13 last week. Connelly loves God and loves people. She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met. I am excited to see the places God will take her and grateful that He entrusted her to us.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day!
I am a happy mother!
My three middle children left this morning to spend a week at Grandpa's and Grandma's house--but that's not what makes me a happy mother.
I just spent 3 days away in Chicago with my husband--and that helped make me a happy mother. :-)
Looking at external circumstances: kids with issues, kids with special needs, kids with severe dietary restrictions, more work to do than can ever be done in one lifetime.... I should be a tired, discouraged, worn out mother--and sometimes I feel like I am.
But, overwhelmingly--
I am a happy mother!
The joy of The Lord is my strength.
My three middle children left this morning to spend a week at Grandpa's and Grandma's house--but that's not what makes me a happy mother.
I just spent 3 days away in Chicago with my husband--and that helped make me a happy mother. :-)
Looking at external circumstances: kids with issues, kids with special needs, kids with severe dietary restrictions, more work to do than can ever be done in one lifetime.... I should be a tired, discouraged, worn out mother--and sometimes I feel like I am.
But, overwhelmingly--
I am a happy mother!
The joy of The Lord is my strength.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Greater Hopes Family Services Fundraiser: My Speech
Hello. My name is Brooke. My husband's name is Lee, and he is at home with our five wonderful children.
Our oldest son's name is Garrett, and he is 15. Our oldest daughter is Connelly, who is 12. She is a very young author and she as published a novel. She donated a copy to this event tonight. Kelton is also 12. He joined our family 16 months ago when he was 11. Annika is our youngest homegrown daughter. She is 10. She loves babies; she loves animals; she really loves baby animals. Finally, we have Kristina who came home when she was 4 years old. She is now 7.
Our adoption story begins with Garrett, even though he is our biological son. Garrett had many autistic symptoms when he was young, and his childhood was very difficult. He had very difficult behaviors which resolved through a change in diet. Garrett taught is how to parent difficult children, but more importantly, he taught us that brains can heal. I had worked with many difficult children before becoming a mom, and when Garrett was young, I remember thinking, "Either all the difficult children I've worked with prepared me for Garrett, or Garrett is preparing me for something else down the road. If that's the case, I do NOT want to know what is coming."
In hind sight, God knew that we needed Garrett and all of his troubles to prepare us for Kristina. Kristina was originally adopted from Russia when she was 3 1/2. She was adopted by a wonderful, Godly family. This family was not prepared to parent a child with Kristina's level of special needs. After meeting Kristina in Russia, and suspecting that her delays were more than just the normal delays from institutionalism, they still felt called by God to rescue her, even knowing that they might not be her forever family. When Kristina came to the United States, she was evaluated at about a 15 month developmental level. She weighed 20 pounds and wore size 12 to 18 month clothing. She was soon diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Kristina's original adoptive family made the very difficult decision to find a family who was more equipped to handle a child with that degree of developmental delay. We entered the picture when my sister-in-law, who attended the same church and helped lead their adoption ministry, told me about the situation. I had been doing extensive brain research to find ways to help Garrett for several years prior to that conversation. In my research, I had read about methods that helped autistic children which also worked with children who had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. We babysat Kristina for a day, and my girls had a great time playing with her. They had no idea of what was happening, they just thought we were babysitting. I talked to my husband about the possibility of adopting Kristina, and Lee was not open to adoption at that point. So the adoptive family found a family out-of-state that had adopted before and were interested in adopting Kristina.
I thought the door was closed, but I also hoped we would adopt someday. One day, while riding in the car with Connelly and Annika, Connelly asked, "Mom, do you think we will ever adopt."
I answered, "That is up to God and Daddy."
Annika said, "I want to adopt Kristina."
Connelly told her, "You can't adopt Kristina. She is already adopted."
Annika replied, "I think that her family is going to decide that they don't want her, and they are going to give her to us."
Connelly answered, "That would never happen. Kristina is too wonderful."
Annika declared, "When I adopt my baby sister, she will look exactly like Kristina, she will act exactly like Kristina, and her name will be Kristina."
I sat in the front seat, driving while trying to hide my tears as I cried out to God, "How can this be your plan? Why couldn't you change Lee's heart toward adoption?"
I had to learn to trust. That summer I learned to trust God, trust my husband, and trust that God was leading my husband. God used our conversations that summer to bring needed healing to our relationship with each other and with Him.
We have a tradition in our family. My husband is a computer systems network engineer, and every time we have a baby, we get a new computer. Well, at the end of the summer, my parents were looking for a new computer. Lee suggested that we give them our older computer an buy a new one. I joyfully exclaimed, "Yes!"
Lee said, "That is not what it means."
I said, "Yes it does. We are getting a new child if we get a new computer."
He said we weren't. We laughed about it and he ordered a computer.
Amazingly enough, I was on the phone with my sister-in-law, listening to her tell me that Kristina's adoption had fallen through, when the delivery truck brought the new computer. Lee and I needed time to talk about it without little ears around, and by an amazing coincidence, our three children had all been invited to other houses for sleepovers for the next three nights. Lee and I had time to talk, and we made the decision to get to know Kristina and see if adoption would work out. We planned to have Kristina for an overnight visit, and she ended up staying for a week.
By this time we knew we wanted to adopt her, but didn't know how to go about it. The situation had gotten complicated with DHS involvement because of the adoption that fell through with the out-of-state family. Our neighbors knew Cathy at Greater Hopes, so they told us to call her. We did, and Cathy helped unravel all of the tangles in this complex adoption situation.
Kristina came home and made great leaps in her developmental progress. Right before we finalized Kristina's adoption, I was trying to help her understand what adoption meant. I knew she understood when she told me, "When I was little, where I used to live, I used to cry and cry, 'I want my Mommy. I want my Mommy.' And then I came home, so you could be my Mommy and nobody can take me away."
Kristina has been home now for 3 1/2 years, and she is doing very well. She continually amazes us. She loves life. She is still making developmental leaps and bounds. She is very tiny and looks so young that she continually frightens life guards and other moms who are shocked at how well she can swim. She has many friends. She can read. She can add. She can pretend.
Just as Garrett had prepared us for Kristina, we didn't realize that Kristina was preparing us for someone else. Because of Kristina's high risk for Reactive Attachment Disorder, I started studying that part of brain development and was fascinated by it. I read stories of children who had been through traumatic circumstances and multiple adoptive disruptions who still were able to heal and become connected to a family. In the back of my mind, I thought that even though Kristina seemed connected to our family, someday we might need this information, so I continued to study Reactive Attachment Disorder.
One of the people who watched Kristina grow and change was a family friend who worked at the Juvenile Detention Center in Ottawa County. She told us that there was an eleven-year-old boy named Kelton, who was staying at the detention center, not because he had done anything that required him to stay there, but because they were having difficulty finding a foster family who would be able to take him.
Kelton was originally adopted from Kazakhstan at age 5. At age 6, he was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and ADHD. He was heavily medicated from then on. I'm sure that Kelton's first adoptive parents had good intentions when they chose to adopt him, but they ran into some difficult family circumstances and were also not prepared to parent a child with Kelton's emotional issues. Shortly after Kelton turned 11, they placed him in the detention center and terminated their parental rights.
We met Kelton and realized immediately that he was just a scared little boy, not a delinquent who needed to be locked away in the detention center for five months. Once again, we called Cathy, and she and Lindsay were able to help us navigate the complexities of adopting from the foster care system.
Although we felt prepared to become Kelton's parents, we faced many struggles. In fact, his first six months home were some of the most difficult we have ever lived through. One of the phrases we use to help him understand the effects of cruel words was, "Unkind words are like shooting darts and people's hearts." When Kelton had been home for about 6 months, he asked me, "Why am I the only one in the family who shoots darts at people?" Garrett was next to me, so I grabbed Garrett's hand and intertwined our fingers together while I explained, "Garrett and I are connected like this, but you are not. When you first came home you were like this (I touched the ends of my fingertips to his), and now you are getting more connected, but it takes time."
Kelton grabbed my hand, fully intertwined our fingers, and declared, "I'm going to be like this Mom, and it's not going to take me a whole year to get there, either."
Kelton has been a part of our family for 16 months now, and I am amazed at how connected he already is. His heart is healing as he learns to trust Lee and I.
Kelton asked me recently, "Why do the other kids have such an easy time obeying, but I have such a hard time?" I explained about how "trust" and "obey" go together.
When God first became my father, I did not immediately trust and obey him completely. Our relationship took time to grow and mature. I had to know how much he loved me, no matter what I did, before I could trust him enough to obey him when he asked me to do difficult things--things that required me to sacrifice my time, my money, my wants, etc... And as I obeyed, and saw the good results of obedience, I learned to trust him more as my faith grew.
Kelton came home full of fear. When we became his parents, he didn't trust us at all. He wanted to be in our family--he wanted to be in ANY family at that point. He didn't trust us or obey us. Our relationship has taken time to grow and develop. He had to learn how much we love him, no matter what he says or does, before he began to trust us enough to obey us even when we ask him to do difficult things--things that require him to sacrifice his will and his time. Things that require him to move out of the center of his universe and let God be there. Things that require him to think of other people more than himself. These are difficult things, but we ask him to do them anyway, knowing that as he obeys, he sees the good results of his obedience and learn to trust us more.
Adoption is difficult, and adoption of a child with emotional problems is really difficult, but seeing Kelton's fear being replaced with peace and seeing his trust in us and in God grow as he matures has been a very rewarding and humbling experience. Not too long ago, Kelton just walked up to me and gave me a hug. When I tucked him in bed that night, he asked, "Mom, do you remember when I hugged you today? That was because I feel like I trust you."
When I told the kids I was coming here to talk to you, Kelton asked me to tell you some things about adoption. He titled them the "Wise Sayings of Kelton."
When you adopt, expect to get a bratty kid and don't be surprised
when you do. You have to teach the kids how to have good behavior.
They don't already know it.
You have to teach them. Don't yell at them; it only makes them want
to argue with you. Correct them, then give them a chance for a
"do-over" and let them do it right.
Try not to get upset, but when you do take a deep breath and
EVACUATE! Go to your room or somewhere and calm down. After you are
calm, then go tell the kid what he did wrong.
You have to have patience to adopt a kid, but the kid will teach you
to have even more patience. Kids will teach you lots of things you
never knew you wanted to learn.
The sign at the chiropractor says, "Healing takes time and repetition."
Healing backs takes time at repetition, so does healing hearts.
Don't believe the kid when he lies to you. When he says, "I don't
love you" he really does. He's just saying it because he's afraid
you're going to get rid of him.
Have integrity. When you say, "We aren't going to get rid of you,"
actually mean it. If you don't, you cause heart break for the kid and
make the next parents have a much harder time.
Kelton now reads a chapter from the book of Proverbs every morning and
prays before he gets out of bed. All of the kids are memorizing the book of
James so that is the source of the next bit of advice.
Read Proverbs every morning and pray before you get up so that you
can get wisdom. Also, "Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have
its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing. I any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives
generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given to him."
It's hard when you adopt a kid, but do it anyway.
Our oldest son's name is Garrett, and he is 15. Our oldest daughter is Connelly, who is 12. She is a very young author and she as published a novel. She donated a copy to this event tonight. Kelton is also 12. He joined our family 16 months ago when he was 11. Annika is our youngest homegrown daughter. She is 10. She loves babies; she loves animals; she really loves baby animals. Finally, we have Kristina who came home when she was 4 years old. She is now 7.
Our adoption story begins with Garrett, even though he is our biological son. Garrett had many autistic symptoms when he was young, and his childhood was very difficult. He had very difficult behaviors which resolved through a change in diet. Garrett taught is how to parent difficult children, but more importantly, he taught us that brains can heal. I had worked with many difficult children before becoming a mom, and when Garrett was young, I remember thinking, "Either all the difficult children I've worked with prepared me for Garrett, or Garrett is preparing me for something else down the road. If that's the case, I do NOT want to know what is coming."
In hind sight, God knew that we needed Garrett and all of his troubles to prepare us for Kristina. Kristina was originally adopted from Russia when she was 3 1/2. She was adopted by a wonderful, Godly family. This family was not prepared to parent a child with Kristina's level of special needs. After meeting Kristina in Russia, and suspecting that her delays were more than just the normal delays from institutionalism, they still felt called by God to rescue her, even knowing that they might not be her forever family. When Kristina came to the United States, she was evaluated at about a 15 month developmental level. She weighed 20 pounds and wore size 12 to 18 month clothing. She was soon diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Kristina's original adoptive family made the very difficult decision to find a family who was more equipped to handle a child with that degree of developmental delay. We entered the picture when my sister-in-law, who attended the same church and helped lead their adoption ministry, told me about the situation. I had been doing extensive brain research to find ways to help Garrett for several years prior to that conversation. In my research, I had read about methods that helped autistic children which also worked with children who had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. We babysat Kristina for a day, and my girls had a great time playing with her. They had no idea of what was happening, they just thought we were babysitting. I talked to my husband about the possibility of adopting Kristina, and Lee was not open to adoption at that point. So the adoptive family found a family out-of-state that had adopted before and were interested in adopting Kristina.
I thought the door was closed, but I also hoped we would adopt someday. One day, while riding in the car with Connelly and Annika, Connelly asked, "Mom, do you think we will ever adopt."
I answered, "That is up to God and Daddy."
Annika said, "I want to adopt Kristina."
Connelly told her, "You can't adopt Kristina. She is already adopted."
Annika replied, "I think that her family is going to decide that they don't want her, and they are going to give her to us."
Connelly answered, "That would never happen. Kristina is too wonderful."
Annika declared, "When I adopt my baby sister, she will look exactly like Kristina, she will act exactly like Kristina, and her name will be Kristina."
I sat in the front seat, driving while trying to hide my tears as I cried out to God, "How can this be your plan? Why couldn't you change Lee's heart toward adoption?"
I had to learn to trust. That summer I learned to trust God, trust my husband, and trust that God was leading my husband. God used our conversations that summer to bring needed healing to our relationship with each other and with Him.
We have a tradition in our family. My husband is a computer systems network engineer, and every time we have a baby, we get a new computer. Well, at the end of the summer, my parents were looking for a new computer. Lee suggested that we give them our older computer an buy a new one. I joyfully exclaimed, "Yes!"
Lee said, "That is not what it means."
I said, "Yes it does. We are getting a new child if we get a new computer."
He said we weren't. We laughed about it and he ordered a computer.
Amazingly enough, I was on the phone with my sister-in-law, listening to her tell me that Kristina's adoption had fallen through, when the delivery truck brought the new computer. Lee and I needed time to talk about it without little ears around, and by an amazing coincidence, our three children had all been invited to other houses for sleepovers for the next three nights. Lee and I had time to talk, and we made the decision to get to know Kristina and see if adoption would work out. We planned to have Kristina for an overnight visit, and she ended up staying for a week.
By this time we knew we wanted to adopt her, but didn't know how to go about it. The situation had gotten complicated with DHS involvement because of the adoption that fell through with the out-of-state family. Our neighbors knew Cathy at Greater Hopes, so they told us to call her. We did, and Cathy helped unravel all of the tangles in this complex adoption situation.
Kristina came home and made great leaps in her developmental progress. Right before we finalized Kristina's adoption, I was trying to help her understand what adoption meant. I knew she understood when she told me, "When I was little, where I used to live, I used to cry and cry, 'I want my Mommy. I want my Mommy.' And then I came home, so you could be my Mommy and nobody can take me away."
Kristina has been home now for 3 1/2 years, and she is doing very well. She continually amazes us. She loves life. She is still making developmental leaps and bounds. She is very tiny and looks so young that she continually frightens life guards and other moms who are shocked at how well she can swim. She has many friends. She can read. She can add. She can pretend.
Just as Garrett had prepared us for Kristina, we didn't realize that Kristina was preparing us for someone else. Because of Kristina's high risk for Reactive Attachment Disorder, I started studying that part of brain development and was fascinated by it. I read stories of children who had been through traumatic circumstances and multiple adoptive disruptions who still were able to heal and become connected to a family. In the back of my mind, I thought that even though Kristina seemed connected to our family, someday we might need this information, so I continued to study Reactive Attachment Disorder.
One of the people who watched Kristina grow and change was a family friend who worked at the Juvenile Detention Center in Ottawa County. She told us that there was an eleven-year-old boy named Kelton, who was staying at the detention center, not because he had done anything that required him to stay there, but because they were having difficulty finding a foster family who would be able to take him.
Kelton was originally adopted from Kazakhstan at age 5. At age 6, he was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and ADHD. He was heavily medicated from then on. I'm sure that Kelton's first adoptive parents had good intentions when they chose to adopt him, but they ran into some difficult family circumstances and were also not prepared to parent a child with Kelton's emotional issues. Shortly after Kelton turned 11, they placed him in the detention center and terminated their parental rights.
We met Kelton and realized immediately that he was just a scared little boy, not a delinquent who needed to be locked away in the detention center for five months. Once again, we called Cathy, and she and Lindsay were able to help us navigate the complexities of adopting from the foster care system.
Although we felt prepared to become Kelton's parents, we faced many struggles. In fact, his first six months home were some of the most difficult we have ever lived through. One of the phrases we use to help him understand the effects of cruel words was, "Unkind words are like shooting darts and people's hearts." When Kelton had been home for about 6 months, he asked me, "Why am I the only one in the family who shoots darts at people?" Garrett was next to me, so I grabbed Garrett's hand and intertwined our fingers together while I explained, "Garrett and I are connected like this, but you are not. When you first came home you were like this (I touched the ends of my fingertips to his), and now you are getting more connected, but it takes time."
Kelton grabbed my hand, fully intertwined our fingers, and declared, "I'm going to be like this Mom, and it's not going to take me a whole year to get there, either."
Kelton has been a part of our family for 16 months now, and I am amazed at how connected he already is. His heart is healing as he learns to trust Lee and I.
Kelton asked me recently, "Why do the other kids have such an easy time obeying, but I have such a hard time?" I explained about how "trust" and "obey" go together.
When God first became my father, I did not immediately trust and obey him completely. Our relationship took time to grow and mature. I had to know how much he loved me, no matter what I did, before I could trust him enough to obey him when he asked me to do difficult things--things that required me to sacrifice my time, my money, my wants, etc... And as I obeyed, and saw the good results of obedience, I learned to trust him more as my faith grew.
Kelton came home full of fear. When we became his parents, he didn't trust us at all. He wanted to be in our family--he wanted to be in ANY family at that point. He didn't trust us or obey us. Our relationship has taken time to grow and develop. He had to learn how much we love him, no matter what he says or does, before he began to trust us enough to obey us even when we ask him to do difficult things--things that require him to sacrifice his will and his time. Things that require him to move out of the center of his universe and let God be there. Things that require him to think of other people more than himself. These are difficult things, but we ask him to do them anyway, knowing that as he obeys, he sees the good results of his obedience and learn to trust us more.
Adoption is difficult, and adoption of a child with emotional problems is really difficult, but seeing Kelton's fear being replaced with peace and seeing his trust in us and in God grow as he matures has been a very rewarding and humbling experience. Not too long ago, Kelton just walked up to me and gave me a hug. When I tucked him in bed that night, he asked, "Mom, do you remember when I hugged you today? That was because I feel like I trust you."
When I told the kids I was coming here to talk to you, Kelton asked me to tell you some things about adoption. He titled them the "Wise Sayings of Kelton."
When you adopt, expect to get a bratty kid and don't be surprised
when you do. You have to teach the kids how to have good behavior.
They don't already know it.
You have to teach them. Don't yell at them; it only makes them want
to argue with you. Correct them, then give them a chance for a
"do-over" and let them do it right.
Try not to get upset, but when you do take a deep breath and
EVACUATE! Go to your room or somewhere and calm down. After you are
calm, then go tell the kid what he did wrong.
You have to have patience to adopt a kid, but the kid will teach you
to have even more patience. Kids will teach you lots of things you
never knew you wanted to learn.
The sign at the chiropractor says, "Healing takes time and repetition."
Healing backs takes time at repetition, so does healing hearts.
Don't believe the kid when he lies to you. When he says, "I don't
love you" he really does. He's just saying it because he's afraid
you're going to get rid of him.
Have integrity. When you say, "We aren't going to get rid of you,"
actually mean it. If you don't, you cause heart break for the kid and
make the next parents have a much harder time.
Kelton now reads a chapter from the book of Proverbs every morning and
prays before he gets out of bed. All of the kids are memorizing the book of
James so that is the source of the next bit of advice.
Read Proverbs every morning and pray before you get up so that you
can get wisdom. Also, "Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have
its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing. I any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives
generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given to him."
It's hard when you adopt a kid, but do it anyway.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Pizzania (Pizza/Lasagna)
Brown 1 to 2 pounds of ground beef and one chopped onion.
Add:
2 cans or jars of Pizza sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons parsley
Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Seasoning
In a blender:
1 block of sheep/goat cheese
thin with goat milk or rice milk
Layer in a cake pan:
meat sauce
uncooked rice lasagna noodles
less than half of the cheese mixture
ham (Hormel Natural Nitrate free lunch meat)
pineapple
meat sauce
noodles
pineapple
ham
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
Top with the rest of the cheese mixture.
Sprinkle with chopped green pepper and fresh sliced mushrooms
Add:
2 cans or jars of Pizza sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons parsley
Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Seasoning
In a blender:
1 block of sheep/goat cheese
thin with goat milk or rice milk
Layer in a cake pan:
meat sauce
uncooked rice lasagna noodles
less than half of the cheese mixture
ham (Hormel Natural Nitrate free lunch meat)
pineapple
meat sauce
noodles
pineapple
ham
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.
Top with the rest of the cheese mixture.
Sprinkle with chopped green pepper and fresh sliced mushrooms
Summer Salad
3 cucumbers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
Dressing:
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
1 onion, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
Dressing:
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bar Cookies
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup flax
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup Enjoy Life soy-free, dairy-free chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Stir all ingredients together. Press into 8" x 8" square pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup flax
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup Enjoy Life soy-free, dairy-free chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Stir all ingredients together. Press into 8" x 8" square pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour
Micro-Munchies
1 tablespoon coconut oil--melted
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 egg YOLK
dash of salt
1 to 2 tablespoons Enjoy Life brand soy-free, dairy-free chocolate chips
3 drops vanilla (optional)
Mix all ingredients together in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave one minute.
Cool.
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 egg YOLK
dash of salt
1 to 2 tablespoons Enjoy Life brand soy-free, dairy-free chocolate chips
3 drops vanilla (optional)
Mix all ingredients together in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave one minute.
Cool.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Oh the strange ideas that come out of a gathering of great minds
Yesterday afternoon, I had the privilige of hosting the end-of-the-year party for my Classical Conversations Challenge II class. These 15 to 17 year old kids are amazingly creative.
Abi and Hannah rode together, got lost, and arrived late. While Daniel, Seth, and Isaac waited, they came up with a great idea for a video game. Daniel, my nephew, is a video game programmer when he's not doing other things such as learning Japanese, calculating Algebra 2 problems while riding a ripstick up and down the driveway, or scrubbing my pots and pans.
The boys thought of a game in which Abi and Hannah could hit each other with basketballs. Daniel recorded my little girls' voices for the game. They are so funny.
Here is a link:
http://nukermage.blogspot.com/2013/05/abi-vs-hannah-dodgeball.html#comment-form
Please play the game and leave comments.
Abi and Hannah rode together, got lost, and arrived late. While Daniel, Seth, and Isaac waited, they came up with a great idea for a video game. Daniel, my nephew, is a video game programmer when he's not doing other things such as learning Japanese, calculating Algebra 2 problems while riding a ripstick up and down the driveway, or scrubbing my pots and pans.
The boys thought of a game in which Abi and Hannah could hit each other with basketballs. Daniel recorded my little girls' voices for the game. They are so funny.
Here is a link:
http://nukermage.blogspot.com/2013/05/abi-vs-hannah-dodgeball.html#comment-form
Please play the game and leave comments.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Wise Sayings from Kelton
I was telling my children about the presentation I will be giving on Saturday night at the Greater Hopes Adoption Fundraiser.
http://www.greaterhopes.org/our-events/eveningofsupport/
Kelton articulated many ideas that he would like me to share during my presentation. I am very impressed by this insight of this 12-year-old!
Here are the "Wise Sayings of Kelton."
When you adopt, expect to get a bratty kid and don't be surprised when you do. You have to teach the kids how to have good behavior. They don't already know it.
You have to teach them. Don't yell at them; it only makes them want to argue with you. Correct them, then give them a chance for a "do-over" and let them do it right.
Try not to get upset, but when you do take a deep breath and EVACUATE! Go to your room or somewhere and calm down. After you are calm, then go tell the kid what he did wrong.
You have to have patience to adopt a kid, but the kid will teach you to have even more patience. Kids will teach you lots of things you never knew you wanted to learn.
Don't believe the kid when he lies to you. When he says, "I don't love you" he really does. He's just saying it because he's afraid you're going to get rid of him.
Have integrity. When you say, "We aren't going to get rid of you," actually mean it. If you don't, you cause heart break for the kid and make the next parents have a much harder time.
Read Proverbs every morning and pray before you get up so that you can get wisdom. Also, (quoting from James) "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. I any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given to him."
It's hard when you adopt a kid, but do it anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)