"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
Wow! I can't believe that this is the last day of 2010! It has been a year filled with lots of fun activities.
Here are some of the fun things we did this year: In February Dad went with us for the Homeschool Legislative Day at the capitol. At the beginning of summer I started going to a different Bright Lights group that I have really enjoyed. In July we went to Cedar Falls, IA for Ellen's China reunion. Another thing we did in July was go to the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL. In early October we went to the Living History Farms in Des Moines, IA. I really enjoyed seeing the old fashioned town. Then we had a very nice Christmas Season with friends and family. I am so thankful for this past year filled with family and friends.
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;"
On Christmas Eve we went to my grandma and grandpa E's house for dinner. After dinner we opened presents with them and my Aunt Missy and Uncle Kip. Then on Christmas morning we opened presents at our house. From mom and dad I received a guitar! I am really excited to learn how to play it. :) In the evening we went over to my grandma V's house to spend time with dad's side of the family. We always have a lot of fun!
I hope you all had a fun Christmas with friends and family!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
On December 10th we memorized Isaiah 9:6.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
We started memorizing John 15:5-17 on December 11th.
"I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to m Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his masters business. Instead, I have called you my friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."
This year instead of doing an advent calendar we decided to memorize a verse from the Bible every day till Christmas that has something to do with Jesus Christ. Yesterday we memorized John 1:1-2.
In the beginning was the word,
and the Word with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
We memorized Matthew 1:18 today. (We will also be memorizing Matthew 1:19-25 .)
This is how the birth 0f Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with childthrough the Holy Spirit.
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations
what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the
Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all that God has given us. We have a lot to be thankful for, because God has blessed us in so many ways!
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
This past week we have been getting ready for Ellen's birthday. For her birthday party we made some cupcakes. They are really good! (The recipe said the cocoa and vinegar would react and cause the batter to turn red, however it did not work for us. It also said you needed regular cocoa for this to work, not dutch processed cocoa. We thought we used the right cocoa. In addition we used beet juice for the red dye, but that did not do much for the batter. It did make the frosting a nice pink color, though.)
Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
2 teaspoons red food coloring (recommended: Select natural food coloring. We used beet juice.)
Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Red food coloring ( We just used beet juice)
Special equipment: pastry bag and large round tip
Directions
Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and fine sea salt together onto a piece of waxed paper. Mix the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring in a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat until well combined. Turn down the mixer speed and slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until totally smooth, about 3 minutes.
Line a standard 12 cupcake tin with the liners (preferably silver). Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full with the batter and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans for 5 to 10 minutes, then remove them from the pans. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
Frosting: In a standing mixer, on medium speed, cream the butter until smooth. Turn down the mixer speed and slowly add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy. (We added just a little bit of beet juice till the frosting was a light pink color.)
Today is Ellen's birthday! We went to Panera this morning and had breakfast. Then came home and Ellen opened her birthday gifts. I gave Ellen a cardigan and a scarf for her birthday. I also made myself one because I liked it so much. ( I made them both a little big so we could grow into them.)
When fears are stilled when strivings cease. My Comforter, my all in all, Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless Babe! This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save. 'Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of god was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground his body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain; Then, bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, Sin's curse has lost its grip on me; For I am His and He is mine, Bought by the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the pow'r of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me me from his hand; 'Till he returns or calls me home, Here in the pow'r of Christ I stand!
Dad and I went out to get milk at a farm in Elmwood, NE last Tuesday. When we went into the little building where they keep the milk. We left the back of our car open and this curious kitten climbed into the back of our car.
Isn't she cute! (Sorry I didn't get a picture of the kitten in our car.)
In our backyard we have a compost pile and earlier this summer we put our Cantaloupe and Watermelon rinds in there. (We have a fence around compost pile so Ginger won't get it.) And the Cantaloupe seeds started growing up the fence! Just recently has it started producing fruit.
Here are some pictures of some fall flowers that took yesterday. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking pictures of them. Please let me know how you liked them.
A couple weeks ago we went over to a friends house with some other friends to make bread and butter. It was very fun. We made it with some whole wheat flour ( that we ground in our friends grinder).
This is what the dough looked like after it had risen. Then we rolled it out, rolled it up like a cinnamon roll, cut it in half, and put it in the pan to rise again.
This is what it looked like after it had risen a second time.
And here it is fresh out of the oven.........yum!
While the bread rose we made butter. We made it two different ways, by shaking cream in a jar and by putting cream in the mixer and beating it.
We beat it till it formed little yellow junks, then we strained all the butter milk out really good, and put it in a dish.
This butterfly came out of its chrysalis on August 8, and went in on July 29. It came out while we were gone so we didn't get to take it outside to dry it's wings.
