Ballerinas and a Baby Boy

My little girl and I went to see a student version of the Nutcracker ballet today at the convention center with our home school group. It was shorter than the full production, with helpful narration and some special effects, so it was just right for a nine year old.

With seven daughters, I can relate to Mother Ginger with all of the little girls emerging from under her huge skirt. Maybe that should be my new nickname?

Maria and the Nutcracker Prince take their bows.

All those pictures above were taken without flash in a darkened theater. With the low light setting on my camera and the Picasa editing, I think they turned out right fine!  It didn't hurt that we were in the fourth row.

Another fun surprise? Meeting up with my old friend Debbie, along with her youngest daughter, while we were waiting in line with our home school groups!  Though we've known each other almost 20 years and are friends on Facebook, we haven't seen each other in "real life" for the longest time. So good to catch up!

After we got home, this little guy showed up! So fun to watch one of my grandsons for the afternoon!

Maybe he's thinking, "Lookie here! I can kick my legs all the way up in the air. You think I can join the ballet?"

"At least I can chew my toes.  A little fuzzy, though. Who put this sock on me?"

"Well, if I can't dance ballet, maybe I can be the piano player instead. Thanks for the lesson, Auntie!"

I crashed for a nap after the little cutie left. Around 6 PM, two of my daughters were trying to wake me up so I could go buy the ingredients for orange chicken, which we had been craving. I wasn't cooperating, so they took my blankets! I guess that's payback for all the times I used that tactic for getting them out of bed. They told me it was for my own good. It worked. Eventually.

I finally stumbled out of bed to go to the grocery store, but instead picked up some Chinese takeout in the same plaza. First time I've ever done that, but there were only four of us eating here tonight and I figured we would try something a little out of the norm. Chinese chicken, rice, and broccoli! Yum!

Now it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow I can shop for groceries and clean the house!

Grace and peace,

Mother Ginger
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

Friends: Songs, Quotes, Poems, Stories

These are several of my dear friends
from home school co-op.

Hello friends!

In honor of Valentine's Week, I thought you might like to see a compilation of songs, quotes, poems, and stories about friendship.  I shared some of these with my English students in our home school co-op yesterday.

I also have a Valentine's Unit Study that you might enjoy.



I'm in a musical mood, so let's start there! 

Songs:

One from my childhood....



And from my children's childhoods (and my second childhood)...



"What a Friend We Have in Jesus" 
by Joseph Scriven

What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.

O what peace we often forfeit

O what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged.

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness.

"Jesus What a Friend for Sinners"
by John Wilbur Chapman

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Quotes.... 

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~~ George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." ~~ C.S. Lewis

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.  ~~ Joseph Addison

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.  ~~ Arnold H. Glasow 


In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.  ~~ Albert Schweitzer

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  ~~ Marcel Proust

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.  ~~ Henri Nouwen 

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?  ~~ Abraham Lincoln 

I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world. ~~ Thomas A. Edison 

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good. ~~ Helen Keller 

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
Saint Basil 


Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.  ~~ John Wooden 


Encourage one another and build each other up.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV84)

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.  ~~ Alfred Tennyson

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.  Proverbs 13:20 (NIV84)

Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  ~~ Jesus in John 15

The tender friendships one gives up, on parting, leave their bite on the heart, but also a curious feeling of a treasure somewhere buried.  ~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Southern Mail, 1929, translated from French by Curtis Cate

Yes'm, old friends is always best, 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of.  ~~ Sarah Orne Jewett

A friend loves at all times.  Proverbs 17:17 (NIV84)

The quotes came mostly from these sources: 

• All Great Quotes
• Brainy Quote
• Psychology Today
• Quote Garden
• Bible Gateway

(Which one is your favorite?  Or do you have another one to share?  Leave a comment!)

Poems:

These are found in The Book of Virtues, but you can also Google to find some of them on-line.

• "If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking" by Emily Dickinson
• "A Time to Talk" by Robert Frost (quoted in my post Cloud Conversation)
• “New Friends and Old Friends” by Joseph Parry
• “The Arrow and the Song” poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Stories:

These are found in The Book of Virtues, but you can also Google to find some of them on-line.

• "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde
• "Damon and Pythias"
• “Jonathan and David” by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
• "Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan"
• "The Lion and the Mouse" by Aesop
• "Where Love Is, God Is" by Leo Tolstoy
• "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams

I'd love to read your comments, so leave one below!

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

This blog post is linked at:

• Mom's the Word - Making Your Home Sing Monday
• Raising Homemakers on Wednesday
• Wise Woman Link Up on Wednesday
• Whole-Hearted Home on Wednesday

Thankfulness: Observe, Appreciate, Express, Imitate

Dear friends,

I'd like to share a little outline I created yesterday for my English students as our literature and writing assignments this week center around Thanksgiving!  I want them to be able to communicate with others in a way that lifts everyone up.  I have added to it today.

I am thankful for my seven spunky students!

The Process of Thankfulness

Observe: We must be able to notice things in order to be grateful for them.  This is such a great language arts skill anyway since all good writers need to be able to observe what is around them and how it affects them.  Why can we be thankful?

• provision of basic needs: food, housing, clothing 
• special gifts: money, original arts or crafts, other tangible items, etc. 
• service: what people have done for us, big or small
• opportunities: what people have enabled us to do
• relationships: support, encouragement, forgiveness, mercy, prayers
• hospitality: meals, lodging, companionship
• information: teaching, speeches, blogs, connecting with resources 

Appreciate: Next, we must be able to contemplate what is behind the blessing we have received.  What did it take for the person to give it?

• heart, kindness, generous attitude
• effort (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)
• time
• financial sacrifice

Express: We need to communicate our gratitude to the one who has blessed us.  There are so many ways to do this:

• spoken: face to face private conversation, phone, Skype, in a public speech or group conversation
• written: letter, note, e-mail, blog post, blog comment, Facebook status, public tribute essay 
• gift: a token of appreciation, like a hostess gift, thank you gift, gift card

Imitate: This completes the circle of gratitude.  "Imitation is the highest form of flattery."  "Freely you have received, so freely give." 

• Pass the same gift along when you are done with it (if it will not offend the giver) or give a similar gift to someone who needs it.
• Join your benefactor in their continued service to others.
• Use your own personal talents to uniquely bless someone in the same spirit as your benefactor.
• Let your benefactor know that his or her example has inspired you to bless others.

Of course, I write this to remind myself more than anyone!  Sending thank you letters has always been a challenge for me, even if I am feeling very thankful.  Sometimes I just need to pick up the pen or pick up the phone.

One of their writing assignments this week is to make a list of 20 things for which they are thankful.  I told them that each item must be detailed.  I want to know specifically what it is and why.  So, instead of saying, "My family," I'd rather have them tell me that they are thankful for their sister helping them with their homework and taking them to Starbucks.

Speaking of Starbucks, I bought a $5 gift card the other night as a thank you for an adult daughter who took an hour out of her evening to bring my extra set of van keys to me when I got locked out across town...  I loved her smile when I gave it to her!

I think I'll write my own list of 20 Thankfuls. Maybe I'll share it here later.  

Until then, I leave you with an old hymn that my students will read this week:

“For the Beauty of the Earth”

by Folliott Pierpont (England)

For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth,

Over and around us lies: 

Lord of of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon, and stars of light. 

Lord of of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,

For the heart and mind’s delight,

For the mystic harmony

Linking sense to sound and sight. 

Lord of of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Lord of of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,

To our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine,

Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of of all, to Thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

How about you?  What's on your list?

Thankful for you,

Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

Related posts:

• Our Thanksgiving Indians
• Give Us Grateful Hearts for Common Graces
• Truth and Grace in the Stories of Our Lives
• Thankfulness?

Gourmet Main Dishes: Shrimp Bisque {and} Salt Crusted Roast Beef with Mushrooms

Gourmet Main Dishes:

Shrimp Bisque {and}

Salt-Crusted Eye-of-Round with Madeira Mushrooms

For my mother's birthday weekend, my sister-in-law Dana created an amazing dinner with shrimp bisque, salt-crusted eye-of-round with madeira mushrooms, fall harvest quinoa with butternut squash, spinach gratin, topped baked potatoes, thyme popovers, orange Sunshine State cake, and pumpkin apple crisp with whipped cream. Did I say it was amazing?  Amazing! 

Here are the recipes and pictures for the two main dishes...  I'll do the side dishes and the desserts in separate posts.

Shrimp Bisque

 

• 2 pounds peeled shrimp (any size)
• 1 bunch leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 4 large cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 bunch celery, chopped
• 3 tablespoons dried dill
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 1 quart light cream
• 1 stick salted butter
• 1/2 cup or more flour
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes

Homemade croutons

Saute shrimp until cooked through; remove from pan. Saute onions, celery, and garlic until translucent.  Add leeks, dill, and thyme and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Reduce heat to low and add butter to pan.  Once butter is melted, add flour and whisk until it is thoroughly combined with butter.  Cook about a minute longer.  Add cream and increase heat, whisking until smooth.  Add crushed tomatoes and whisk thoroughly until combined.  Add shrimp and vegetable mixture and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Puree soup in a food processor or in pot with immersion blender.  Serve in crock pot.  Optional: top with croutons and sour cream. 

Salt-Crusted Eye-of-Round with Madeira Mushrooms

6 pounds kosher salt
3 tablespoons dried thyme
3 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1 cup egg whites (from about 7 large eggs)
1 5-pound beef eye-of-round, trimmed of fat and sinew
2 packages sliced cremini (baby portabella) mushrooms
1/4 cup Madeira wine

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the salt, thyme and pepper. In another large bowl, whisk the egg whites just until frothy. Stir into the salt mixture until it looks like wet sand.  In a large roasting pan, place a 1/2-inch-thick layer of salt mixture. Place the meat on the salt and cover with the remaining salt mixture, patting it firmly around the meat. Roast for 45 minutes.  Remove the meat from the oven and let rest in its crust for 10 minutes. While meat rests, prepare mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms in olive oil until tender; add wine.  Saute a few minutes longer, until wine mostly evaporates and the mushrooms create a gravy-like sauce from their liquid and the reduced wine.  Crack the crust and remove the meat, brushing off any salt. Loosely cover with foil and let rest for another 10 minutes. 

Madeira Mushroom Topping

Happy 74th birthday to my Mom!

Dana with my mom Mary, the birthday girl

I wrote this post four years ago for Mom's birthday...

Happy Birthday to My Dear Mom, Mary Quarrier

The entire weekend in pictures:

• To Grandmother's House (And a Petting Zoo) We Go

• Five Generations

• Apple Picking, Fritters, and Goofy Gourds at Larriland Farm

• Gourmet Main Dishes: Shrimp Bisque {and} Salt Crusted Roast Beef with Mushrooms

• Beauty and Diversity on an Autumn Sunday in Maryland

• Love Lifted Me, and a Few More Memories of Maryland

  
  

  
  

Food on Fridays

Raising Homemakers 

Whole-Hearted Home

Weekend Gratitude: A Little Bit of Country with Providence

Tina

Dear friends,

Yesterday my husband and I took four of our kids to a picnic for our Providence home school co-op -- way out in the country at the home of my friend Tina.

When we arrived and walked into her kitchen, I was delighted to see all the country decor.  It's not my personal style -- I'm a suburban girl who goes for an eclectic mix of artsy, funky, classic, with only a tiny bit of country -- but I love to visit and get inspiration!  I appreciated how her house didn't seem cluttered.  I need to work on that in my home.

Stay tuned for the outdoor fun further down in the post, but first, a few pics from the house. (Thanks, Tina, for letting me do this!)

Dinner bell outside
the kitchen door

  
Now for the outdoor fun!

The big hit for the kids: a water slide.  One of my kids said she went down 40 times.  I believe her.

The other big hit: a hay ride...

And a trip to see the neighbor's cows...

Does that look like Mickey Mouse spots?

On the hay ride
after the water slide

Having a grand time with my hubby...

And my PHE peeps!

Jenny, Beth, Lisa, Virginia, Lesli

David and Lisa, friends of ours for 17 years

Grilling up a pile of burgers and hot dogs
for a big crowd!

I love these two ladies, and how they teach world history.  I was grousing to them about first grade math, though. I had finally decided to put my second grade daughter in the class this past week, but the homework packet I copied out from the A Beka book (until ours comes in) seemed way too hard!  Triple digit multiplication with regrouping?  No way!  That's when Rowena informed me that this was third grade homework.  I had mistakenly taken her to the wrong classroom on Monday!  Oh, duh!  Why hadn't I figured that out?  We all laughed hilariously.   

This little girl will be so pleased to get back to simple addition.  For now, she's enjoying a blue snow cone to match her swim shirt.

Country living...

A beautiful country drive

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our day in the country!

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

This post is linked at:

P52 Photo Project 

Raising Homemakers 

Food on Fridays