... and these Thy gifts ...

People of Faith, Stand Up and Be Counted

These are exciting times. Religious persecution is a scary thing, I don’t think my children even fully grasp yet what is happening right now in the country, though we’ve explained it to them. But to see people of all faiths standing up for what is right, not just because it’s in our Constitution, but because [...]

A Mom-Daughter Date

Savored some precious bonding moments with oldest daughter this afternoon. She invited me to their dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s concert and at first I didn’t want to come because it was a Saturday and… too many things! to do! chores to catch up on! kids’ Latin worksheets to check! laundry to do!… and then [...]

Nino’s Reading Journal

Books he’s been enjoying since November (not including Advent/Christmas books)

A mother’s song / by Janet Lawler
A father’s song / by Janet Lawler
Marven of the Great North Woods / written by Kathryn Lasky
Pond year / Kathryn Lasky ; illustrated by Mike Bostoc *****
The magic kerchief / by [...]

My (Current) Favorite Salad: Celery!!

I have never been a celery fan. Especially NOT of those celery sticks served with ranch dip that appear at almost every party table. What makes it worse is it’s often obviously store-bought, with wilted edges. There it is keeping company with the pretend baby carrots that look dry as a bone, AND [...]

Twenty-Two Years: Highlights of the Day

Lovely, lovely day that started out with Mass with the kids at 8:30 am. Bong got special mention from Father in his homily for being 50. Proceeded to Half Day Cafe for brunch, then killing time at Michael’s while waiting for Aisa to leave for work. Roses came the night before . Migi had to [...]

Our Favorite Edamame

While edamame, simply boiled and salted, has its place in our diet — a quick snack at teatime, or finger food at lunch — this is our favorite, full-flavored, finger-licking-good version. And it’s almost as quick!

Bring pot of water to a boil. Drop in frozen edamame and boil vigorously 5 minutes. Drain [...]

Cream Cheese Brownies

These are our go-to brownies for gift giving and parties. The recipe comes from “The Best Recipe”. Our now-20 year old learned how to make them when she was around 12. This and the other “regular” brownie recipe are favorites, though we don’t make this as often as we used to (owing to [...]

Healthier Cornbread

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic agave nectar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk + juice of half a lemon (let stand 5 minutes before using) — or use buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 cup fine-grind whole wheat [...]

Most Relaxed Thanksgiving Ever

I think we have a new tradition that we would like to keep the next few years.

We didn’t sleep in and woke up the kids at 7:30 so everyone could get ready for the 9 am Mass. Before we left I stuck the turkey in the oven and the pilaf in the slow cooker, [...]

Gamberi Marinati

This is one dish where the flavors just come together so well, you wonder why you never thought of it before!! Can be served as a light lunch, or as appetizers. I served it to my hubby and his co-worker right before they left for Spain a few weeks ago, to tide them over until [...]

The Star-Spangled Banner

Something triggered Yena’s interest in the Star Spangled Banner so I looked for piano sheet music for her.

from the University of Pittsburgh

from Sheet Music USA Page 1 and Page 2

From 8notes.com

This is how homeschooling works here — you go with the flow… this week’s major interests include [...]

Doll Clothing Patterns

Yena has been doing more knitting and crocheting and sewing lately, so I thought I’d have her graduate to using actual patterns. We can’t find Aisa’s patterns for her AG doll from years back, so I promised Yena I’d find her printable stuff for now and buy her some patterns on our next trip to [...]

ISO A New Camera….

Putting links/notes here for the grand research…. not getting it yet, as I still have a list of tasks I’d like to accomplish before I reward myself, but these will come in handy sometime soon.

Getting dizzy yesterday from the huge array of choices, so this should help to narrow down some:

Understanding [...]

Arch Support for Kids

Yena’s been suffering from foot pain for several months now, my poor baby. We’ve been to the doctor and the doctor’s advice was for her to stop wearing her flat summer sandals and wear shoes all day in the house. That didn’t help. So when I ordered her winter boots and black Mary Janes from [...]

Tropical Smoothie

2 mangoes, deseeded (Champagne if available)
1/4 cantaloupe, deseeded and chopped roughly
1 16-oz bag frozen pineapple
handful pumpkin seeds
water to keep blender moving

Another smoothie that doesn’t need sugar:) Wasn’t such a big hit with the kids, because of the pumpkin seeds. Maybe next time I’ll powder them in [...]