Family Musings

My mom recently visited Mercier Orchards in GA and brought me back 1/2 a bushel of apples (about 20 lbs). I thought I would get a chance to make apple butter and apple sauce with them, but there never seemed to be enough hours in the day to pull off a canning operation (mostly because it meant I had to go to the store to get some lids and rings). So, I decided to dehydrate as many of these beautiful Maya apples as I could. It wasn't very labor intensive and the results were delicious. I started out by reading several different people tell me how to do it in a dehydrator but since I didn't have one on hand, I needed to use my oven. All of the instructions I found said you had to do it at 140-150 degrees. And well, my oven doesn't go that low so... I present to you, Jennifer's Easy-Peasy Oven-dehydrated Apples: First, wash your apples thoroughly. Then, slice them in half and scoop out the core of the apple. You can be fancy and use a corer too, but, again, I don't ha...

I really want to write a super meaningful Thanksgiving Day post for all of you to read and get all teary eyed at... but even though I cry at Publix commercials, I just can't get all sappy tonight. So, let's just say I am thankful for all of the good things in my life and leave it at that. What are you thankful for? If you wrote a sappy list or shared a great Thanksgiving Day story, let me know in the comments so I can come and be inspired. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire. Hebrew 12.28-29

I had so much fun giving away all sorts of great things and reading the comments everyone left on my giveaway posts last week. Thank you to everyone who entered and shared the event with your friends and readers. For those of you who subscribed to receive extra entries, thanks too. I hope you will stick around for a few weeks and decide to stay! Without further ado, here are the winners, chosen via the random integer generator at Random.org . Three The Secret Mountain Books - Ali #52 , Timestamp: 2008-11-27 01:04:36 UTC Norton PC Tune Up - MoziEsme #11 , Sherilyn #17 , Ginny #19 , Timestamp: 2008-11-27 01:05:13 UTC 2 Packs Bella Sara Trading Cards - Abby #7 , Timestamp: 2008-11-27 01:06:11 UTC Home is Calling Pilsbury Gift Pack - Nanja #7 , Juicebox Mom #63, Katy #65 , Timestamp: 2008-11-27 01:06:43 UTC Mystery Giveaway - Holiday Basket - Amy #21 , Timestamp: 2008-11-27 01:07:49 UTC I'll be contacting the winners either via their blog or e-mail address. Please get back to me ...

I've had so much fun the last few months baking and am glad that I could share my creations to you. Fortunately, no matter how they turn out, they will never show up on Cake Wrecks, I'm obviously an amateur (see above links if you think I'm kidding). For a Thanksgiving playdate, I made turkey cupcakes with Dove chocolates and candy corn. It was really simple and required no real skill at all. Even if they aren't the most realistic looking cupcakes, I can proudly say that I thought this idea up all by myself while staring at my choices in the candy aisle. Then, my sister-in-law, Michelle, wanted to take some corn cupcakes (from Hello, Cupcake) to school for her faculty party. I was more than happy to oblige and here are the results. They didn't turn out as good as the originals because I cut the jelly beans in half, thinking that would make them go further and we didn't have any black sugar to stand in for pepper. But I think they still look like corn, don...

After the way I have been feeling lately , I need a dose of Super Jennifer ! (HT: Andrea ) What super hero power should I ask for?

This giveaway is now closed. As I sat around trying to think what would be the best prize to giveaway on the last day of Holiday Handouts, I decided it definitely needed to be holiday themed. That is, after all, kind of the point of this week. Before I reveal the awesome prize, let me re-cap the giveaways that you can still enter. Monday's Giveaway - Three The Secret Mountain Books Tuesday's Giveaway - Norton PC Tune Up Wednesday's Giveaway - 2 Packs Bella Sara Trading Cards Thursday's Giveaway - Home is Calling Pilsbury Gift Pack Now, onto my finale. I am giving away a Christmas-themed gift basket worth at least $50. I can't show you a picture because the contents are a surprise, but it will include items for the home that everyone can use. Younger. Older. Single. Married. With kids or without. I have already purchased some of the items and thought I'd tease you by mentioning that I bought something at the Yankee Candle Company and at Hallmark! Even though I ca...

As part of my continuing series of guest reviews for homeschooling materials, Tess is discussing a novel written by a home-schooled teenager. ********************************************** Missing Link: Found by Felice and Christine Gerwitz has been the latest review endeavor my family has been involved in. This is one book in a series of books called “The Truth Seekers Mystery Series.” Believe it or not, this series has been written by a home schooled girl. She completed it by time she was 17. The topic of the series is Creation Science. I am truly amazed at the story that a young girl was able to create. I began reading Missing Link: Found and was immediately captivated because the setting is in Florida and involved fishing and places I have been to. Beyond those aspects I wasn’t very interested. Personally, I found it a little difficult to read. I don’t think it was for any reason other than I just wasn’t interested in the topic of Creation Science for a leisurely read. I do think ...

This giveaway is now closed. I've written before about the importance of eating as a family . I even gave some stuff away with my post about Pilsbury Savorings . Now, Pilsbury has given me another great prize pack and I get to share with you for day 4 of Holiday Handouts . And I get to have 3 winners again today! Yeah! I have 3 Pillsbury Home is Calling ™ gift baskets to give away to 3 readers. The basket includes a coupon for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls, a magnetic coupon holder, a house-shaped mouse pad, pot holders, a cookie sheet, a bread basket and a lovable Pillsbury Doughboy figurine. Isn't that fun! And with Christmas baking coming up, who couldn't use an extra cookie sheet? And even better, Pilsbury is also making donations to local food banks this holiday season. They want our help too. All you have to do to help them is visit the Home is Calling website and send their commercial to some friends. Now to the giveaway. I will randomly draw 3 winners ne...

This giveaway is now closed. Bella Sara, the most successful trading card product ever developed for girls, features horse-themed fantasy cards that offer positive, inspirational messages. Each card, purchased in packs of seven, includes a unique code that activates a virtual version of the horse pictured on the card at the Bella Sara website. Bella Sara taps into young girls' love of horses and offers them the ability to nurture their virtual horses in their online stables, read stories, and play games featuring horses. Bella, the icon of the rand, is a legendary horse in North of North and also appears as a teacher nurturing the young foals. Baby Bella, a new line of cards recently launched, pairs foals with the original line of horses, expanding the game experience. Baby Bella card packs retail for ~$2.99 each, making them an ideal stocking stuffer for the holidays. Today, I am giving away 2 packs of Bella Sara Baby Bella trading cards. I will randomly draw 1 lucky winner next M...

This giveaway is now closed. I love my laptop. It was a surprise gift from my husband in January 2005. He saw how slowly my former laptop worked and didn't understand how I could edit a college newspaper on it and keep my sanity at the same time. I told him I was just practicing using what I have on hand so I dealt with it. My beloved laptop is now almost 3 years old, and it is showing its age. It doesn't always boot up quickly. Sometimes it shuts down unexpectedly. Or it just gives me random errors that require a re-boot, but no other solution has ever been offered. Stacy from Mom Central (the sponsor of this giveaway), explains, "All the whirring and unexpected shut downs often have a cause (other than orneriness); incorrect settings, fragmented hard drives, and unused, bulky programs slow down computer performance until you're practically pulling your hair out. Just as our cars need regular tune-ups and oil changes, so, it turns out, do our computers." We now h...

This giveaway is now closed. I love finding new children's books to share with my daughter. We visit the library as often as possible looking for new authors and illustrators. So recently, when I received 3 new books from The Secret Mountain publishing, I was thrilled that they exceeded my expectations for both content and beauty. And the fact that they came with music cds to accompany the theme of the book made it even better! I received copies of Down at the Sea Hotel , A Duck in New York City , and Dream Songs Night Songs from Belgium to Brazil . I am hard pressed to choose a favorite, because they are all inventive, yet simple, stories, but I think I like Dream Songs Night Songs best because of the CD. I really want to introduce my daughter to other languages, even if she doesn't actually learn them, and all of the songs on this CD are in various foreign languages. She needs to get all of those language neurons firing by hearing different sounds. If I had to choose a fav...

Holiday Handouts starts tomorrow! Check back to find out what I am giving away for Day 1. If you'd like to share my button with your readers, I'll give you an extra entry into every day's giveaway. That's right, EVERY DAY! Just leave a comment on this post, with your blog link, letting me know you've Holiday Handouts button to either your sidebar or in a separate blog post. To share the button just highlight the code in the box below and copy to your blog. <a href="http://www.familymusings.com"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ME9eGxuMxiM/SRumdcyN5WI/AAAAAAAABuI/Fo3lzuxPgzU/S180/holiday+handouts+button+200x200.jpg" /> Thanks for sharing! I can't wait for you to come back next week and see what I am giving away!

Tess, from The Oldschoolhouse Homeschool Crew is back with another review, this time for the Homeschool Library Builder . *********************************************************** Hi there!!!! I have been asked to pass some information on to you home schooling families or any other families that may be interested. There is a site called Homeschool Library Builder that I think will interest anyone that would like to expand a family library. We all know how expensive books can be and having the right book available right away during a lesson is important. Libraries are great, but sometimes they aren’t convenient. So check out this site for books that are very reasonable. There is a huge selection too. You can find their online store by clicking here . This is a family run business that has lots of books to choose from. You can search by curricula, subject, and age. They have both used and new books. They have soft and hard cover. Their goal is to provide you with good, qual...

Admittedly, I've done a poor job of involving Charlotte with tasks around the home. She is at the stage now where she wants to be involved with everything I do. It doesn't matter to her that the tasks take three time as long with her in my arms, or are simply impossible while I am holding her. It is just easier to do things myself most days. Inspired by an article about age appropriate chores , I've been working on letting her participate more thoroughly in what little I do to keep our household from running out of dirty clothes or food to eat. (Because I don't want to end up like Tonggu Momma .) The first chore I involved Charlotte in learning how to do is move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. When well supervised, she really likes to do this. Probably because she knows I'll let her push the power and start buttons when we are done. And if you knew the girl in real life, you would understand that she LOVES pushing buttons - figuratively and literally. Then...

Next week I am doing something extra special on Family Musings. I have a giveaway scheduled every day of the week! Yep, that's right... come back every day between Monday, November 17 and Friday, November 21, and you will find a new giveaway to enter. I have things for your children and for you. If you'd like to share my button with your readers, I'll give you an extra entry into every day's giveaway. That's right, EVERY DAY! Just leave a comment on this post, with your blog link, letting me know you've Holiday Handouts button to either your sidebar or in a separate blog post. To share the button just highlight the code in the box below and copy to your blog. <a href="http://www.familymusings.com"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ME9eGxuMxiM/SRumdcyN5WI/AAAAAAAABuI/Fo3lzuxPgzU/S180/holiday+handouts+button+200x200.jpg" /> Thanks for sharing! I can't wait for you to come back next week and see what I am giving away! Monday...

I knew from the beginning of motherhood that I wanted to teach my children sign language. The benefits are well documented and can be found with a simple Google search. We began teaching Charlotte signs when she was 7 or 8 months old. I concentrated on a couple of key signs (milk , all-done ) that I knew would enhance her ability to communicate with us her most important needs. I figured that milk was her greatest need, and letting us know she was done with something would prevent us from pushing her past the point of enjoyment, or fulfillment, when it came to food. Since I knew some sign language from a class I took as a teenager, I just started with that. Eventually, I moved onto using sign language DVDs. My favorite has become the Signing Time series. I sit with Charlotte several times a week and we sing the songs and try to make the signs together. Then, while we are moving along in our daily life, I try to reinforce the signs we've seen on the video, or add new ones as the op...

I know I have been bringing you a lot of homeschooling reviews lately and thought you might like to know what my purpose was. First, I intend to home school Charlotte when the time comes. Reading these reviews helps me begin to form my opinions about how I will teach her and what products I might or might not need. Second, my friend Tess had an opportunity to do these reviews and asked me to share my blog readers with her. She has been home schooling her 3 kids for about 8 years and I trust her opinion about what works and what doesn't. I'll be sharing more about Tess and her experiences as a stay at home, home schooling mom soon. ************************************************ Time4learning.com is the website I am going to talk about today. This is an online curriculum that covers all the core subjects that you would want for your kids. This could be a great “green” way to go. After all, there are no books. I don’t know exactly how I feel about this. I think my three spe...

Lately, I've been feeling like a failure as a stay at home mom. I have always been very focused and driven and thought those traits would carry over into being a full-time homemaker. But, for some reason they haven't. My house is never as neat as I want it to be. The books don't get read as often as I'd like. The crumbs on the floor aren't vacuumed up as often as they should be. Outdoor playtime gets pushed back until it is too late and too dark. Lunches aren't as interesting, if they even get packed. The toys never quite make it back into their appointed place. Charlotte's clothes aren't as neat as they could be and should probably be ironed. My blog languishes from a lack of attention. I feel less informed about world events than ever before. My stack of books to read is growing taller than Charlotte. I struggle to fit all the things I want to do on our schedule. Family time seems to diminish on weekdays with promise of the weekend. The weekends disapp...

I can't believe I left you, my lovely blog readers, for almost an entire week! I am so sorry... I had posts written, but forgot to take them out of draft. So I guess I'll be busy this week rescheduling several posts so you don't get overwhelmed. For now, enjoy another guest review from my friend Tess, of The Oldschoolhouse Homeschool Crew . This time it is for a nativity set. I love to have one in every room of the house this time of year as a constant reminder of what we are celebrating. ******************************************** Hi again!!!! Tess here with another review from the Homeschool Crew. I was sent a nativity set from the company One2Believe. This company has a real desire to help parents protect their children’s hearts and minds and provide wonderful toys that teach important Bible stories and truths. The company supports several ministries and each member of their team can be read about on their site. You can truly feel that they have your children’s bes...

Our new friend Erin took these pictures during our trip to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. I guess her dad and I need to put some bars on her window and extra locks on the door! (These are entirely unstaged, I promise!) Charlotte and Kayne Charlotte and Cayman Her first carousel ride on a horse

In the past, I've shown you photos and video of our family going to the polls. Tonight though, as I am sure you will get your fill of political punditry, I am presenting photos of all the free food we got today because we voted. First, the sticker that earned us our free election day food. Charlotte got her own sticker, but not her own food. That's okay, buffalo sauce and coffee aren't really up her alley. We began our culinary adventure at Shane's Rib Shack . They were offering a free 3-piece chicken tender meal which included a side and a 20 oz fountain drink. This was by far, the most generous giveaway of the evening and a good start to our adventure. Bruce found their hot buffalo sauce to be a bit much though and he switched to their sweet BBQ. This was our first visit to Shane's and I was really pleased with the meal. It was yummy and I will definitely go back. Then, since it was in the same shopping plaza, I scored 2 different hot drinks. I received a free cof...

I don't get political very often, since I always seem to offend someone who reads this blog. So, this time, I'm just going to share several links that I think are worthy of reading and considering before you cast your vote. This is not an exhaustive list of what I've read and been informed by during this election cycle, but, in my opinion, these are some of the most important links. And lest there be any confusion about who will be getting my vote for president... Voting the Issue Joseph is a Single-Issue Voter , Denny Burk - This might help some understand why abortion is the single-most important issue facing some voters, including me. Abortion is About God , John Piper - "Abortion is an assault on the person-forming work of God. Children are a gift from God . To reject them through abortion is to reject him ." Correspondence on Voting and Abortion, Josh Harris - One pastor explains his church's position on abortion. Even though they ignore 3rd party candid...

It didn't take me long to figure out what to do for Charlotte's Halloween costume this year. I love tutu's on little girls and found super-easy tutu instructions on YouTube. It took me about 30 minutes to whip it up and I think it turned out great. As usual, I couldn't decide which pictures to share, so I am sharing several. The first one is just the tutu. I am modeling it on my denim-covered leg. Charlotte decided she wanted to head outside to show her tutu off to the neighborhood, even though Halloween was still a week away. For some reason, her shoe came off. She obviously enjoyed carrying it around. Love that look on her face! Yep! Momma is still back here taking pictures of you. Don't worry! Oh! Cinderella lost her shoe. Will her Prince Charming find her in time? Charlotte wore her tutu around the house and the neighborhood. Then she had some pictures taken at Picture People (view them here ). On Halloween, we took her to Truck N Treat at Kathleen Baptist Chur...