Homemade Meat Sauce for Spaghetti

Homemade spaghetti sauce does not have to be hard to make.  I made a homemade sauce in under 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Meat
2- 15oz cans tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (I use the brand Cento in a tube)
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 small onion diced small
1 bell pepper any color diced small
3 cloves of garlic finely diced


1. In a deep sided frying pan cook the meat all the way through.
2. Add the garlic, onions, and bell pepper. Cook until tender.
3. Add the tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Stir for a couple minuets.
4. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine.  Let simmer for about 8 minutes.
5. Add sauce to your favorite pasta and enjoy.

Let me know if you try this or any of the recipes I share.

Homeschool Does Not Always Have to be at Home

     I don't know how many times my kids or myself have been asked do you like just sitting at home all day, everyday?  Really people, I could ask your child the same thing, about sitting in a classroom all day.  Ok, first off yes we mostly do school in our home, but we also have the freedom to take our learning and even our book work on the road.  We also don't do all of our work at desks or tables. 
   
     For example last week my 12 year old (7th grader) was able to go with our aunt to our church's car care.  He was able to help one of the pastors change the breaks on her van.  He was able to work along side a man that was teaching him a very valuable life skill.  He has been able to help with our car care ministry before.  Most of the time it is getting tools and putting things away, but some times he get hands on lesson.  Any work he does is double checked by the adult in charge that day.  It has sparked an interest for him, he has been talking about looking into going to school for auto maniacs.  in the coming months and as he gets older he hope to help more with that ministry.

     In the past we have taken our books to a park just to get some fresh air and when school work was done they could run and play.  We try to go on a variety of field trips with our kids.  Any were from the zoo to art museums.  All learning does not have to be book learning.  Many times I take the kids with me to grocery shop, this helps teach them about budget, menus, nutrition labels, price comparison, and so much more.  A nature hike can be just as informative, if not more, as reading a book about nature.

     So please if you are thinking about homeschooling or if you are new to it, please don't think you have to be stuck in the house all day, everyday.  I also did not talk about co-op classes or extra curricular actives you can do with your homeschoolers.  We don't personal do co-ops, but many of our friends do.  Our boys are in Boy Scouts and our daughter is in American Heritage Girls.  Our church also has a homeschool group that gets together a couple times a year for holiday parties, field trips, and track and field day. There are so many ways to homeschool and there is not really a wrong way.  As long as your children are learning and exploring you are doing great.

     If you homeschool already can you tell us some ways to break routine and get your kiddos out of the house during the school year.  If you don't homeschool but are thinking about it please ask questions and I will try and answer them.

Halloween Traditions!

   When our kids were little we had a few traditions every year.  So we no longer do because they have grown pass some of them and other have stopped because of life events.  Non-the-less they are memories that I think fondly of every year.

   One of the traditions that we don't do any more in the kids would get dressed up and go to my grandparents house.  We lost my grandma in 2005 and my grandpa in 2012, so unfortunately that tradition we cant do anymore.  Most of their neighbors have also passed away or no longer live in the area.  Most of our kids don't go trick or treating any more, they now help hand out candy.

   One traditions we still do is watch "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", yes even my teens.  It was something we did with my grandparents every year and a way to keep that memory going.  We have also always had chili for dinner before trick or treating.  Most of the time after we got home also.  They would always be hungry after walking and it helps warm them up.

   Make memories with your families.   Breath in their littleness when you can.  Hold on to traditions as long as you can.

Happy Halloween, Be Safe, Have Fun!

Senior Year!

     As we are getting ready to graduate our first homeschool senior this spring, I am realizing how much there is to it.  I knew there would be getting transcripts ready, making plans for what collage he want to attend, and getting ready for graduation.  I never thought about how finding scholarships and some of the other deadlines and things that we would have to look into.  How at times I feel over whelmed.  I am so thankful for the families we know that have walked these steps before us and are more than happy to help if they can.  As we go during this senior year I will write about what we have learned, in hopes that it can help someone.

     This first right of passage of our senior that we took care of was his senior pictures.  I had though about doing them myself, but a good friend of ours ask if she could do them as a gift, plus she wanted to get practice with a new lens she had gotten, lol. I will share with you all some of his pictures.

     The next thing that we had not fully thought through was the fact he has to take the ACT test.  I knew in the back of my mind he needed to, but until this fall it slipped my mind.  So a slight homeschool "guidance councilor" fail.  It will work out and he will be taking the test in December.  I am trying my hardest to work on his transcript, but I have also not done very well with that.  I am lucky we use a computer based program for high school now. But his first two years we did not so I am going back over some things to find final grades.  Fail number two, on my part.  I told him the other day that I feel bad because he is the child that we are learning all this on and I was sorry for not being more on top of things.  In my opinion it is ok to and we need to apologize to our kids. I am looking forward to sharing more of our senior year journey with you all.

What God is teaching me in my Quiet Time (Devotional:Soul Detox)

     Maybe I should start with what a quiet time is.  This is time I take during my day to read the Bible and pray.  Many times I read devotionals on different topics also.  Most of the time I use the Bible App for my quiet times. I am going through a devotional right now called Soul Detox, by: Pastor Craig Groeschel and Life Church.  It is a 35 day plan,  I am on day 17 and I am learning so much.

     So during my quiet times I try and find verses that I can apply to my daily life and focus on during the day and week.  During daily life we can sometimes forget that what we are putting into our minds and what comes our of our mouths can be toxic to ourselves and to those around us.  I know that this was a much needed devotional for my life.  I hope the verse and what I have learned so for can be an encouragement to you.

"Not only should we speak life-giving words to others, but we should also speak them to our circumstances and ourselves.  The toxic words we speak to ourselves can be some of the most dangerous." -Craig Groeschel

This was a quote from day 14 of this devotional.

This quote made me thing about what I am saying to my family and what I am saying to myself.  What I am I believing about those around me and about myself.  What does God think about others and about me?

here is a verse from the reading on day 14:

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
-Mark 11:24-25

Check out the devotionals on the Bible App

October Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness

    So October is Infant and Pregnancy Loss Awareness month.  I have not shared my story with many people until recently.  Mostly because I thought it was a subject that was not suppose to be talked about.  So about six months into our marriage my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child together. I had children before we were married.  It was spring 2004 and we were so excited.  We wanted to wait to tell everyone just a little bit.  So we kept it a secret from everyone but my employer and our parents.  We told my job because I worked in a daycare and I had to do a lot of heavy lifting.  
   At about 10 weeks, I was at work and I started to have a lot of pain.  I told the director and I called Marshall to come get me to go to the hospital.  I had called my OB's office and that is were they told me to go.  So we drove in silence to the ER and I was praying the whole drive.  After what seemed like forever I was taken back into a room and a ultrasound was done and blood work was taken.  It was confirmed that we had lost the baby.  We were devastated,  I felt like a failure.  I felt I had done something wrong.  We sadly had to tell our parents we lost the baby and I took a couple days off work.  My boss was so rude after I returned to work.  Telling me well it was not really a baby yet.  That made me so mad.  After talking with my OB he really encouraged us to name the baby that we lost to help us heal.  We named the baby Kaya, we did not know if it was a boy or a girl, but something told me it was a girl. 
   We never told the kids, because they were little.  I felt after a couple weeks I was the only one mourning our baby.  I felt like Marshall had gotten over it and moved on.  I never wanted to ask him, mainly because I did not know how to ask him.  I read the Bible and prayed a lot in the 2 months following the miscarriage.  When the doctor said it was ok to start trying again we got pregnant  almost right away.  This time we did not tell anyone until I was almost 3 months.  I had changed jobs and so I was not doing any heavy lifting.  We were worried for the baby I was now carrying.  I prayed all the time asking God to let us deliver and happy and healthy baby.  In March 2005 we welcomed our Rainbow baby.  He is now an amazing 12 year old.  We were blessed again and  welcomed our daughter in the summer of 2008.
   I have a story to tell you all about our daughter we had in 2008.  When she was about 3 years old and we were looking at an American Girl catalog, she was asking the names of all the dolls.  When we got to the Native American History Doll, who's name is Kaya, she looked at me and said, "Like my sister in Heaven."  I asked her what she was talking about.  She said, " That dolls name is the name of my older sister that has to live in heaven."  remember I told you earlier we never told our older kids.  That was such a chilling, but comforting moment for me.
   As time has gone on and friends of mine have lost babies I have shared my story with them.  Remember how I said that after a couple of week I felt like I was the only one mourning our baby.  Well in August (2017) as we were starting up our home group meeting again for church, we were asked to share a time when God brought us through a tough time.  Marshall spoke up about the loss of our baby and how God had brought him trough, us trough that time.  It was hard for me to see him cry about it, I did not know that it affected him so much.  I am even tearing up as I type this, thinking back on that night.
   Marshall sharing that with close friends of ours that had no idea that we had gone through a miscarriage, has helped me to talk more about it.  To share our story when I fell it appropriate.  I hope my story helps someone in someway.

14 Years Together!!!!!!!!

  October 20th was our 14th Wedding Anniversary.  So this year we decided that we would stay in for our Anniversary.  I still wanted to do something special.  Two amazing friends taught myself and a few friends how to make Sushi.  So I got the idea that I would make Sushi for our Anniversary Dinner.  It was so much fun to make, but a lot of work as well.  It took me about an hour and a half to make every thing.  I am so amazed how God has worked in our lives and our marriage.  In 14 years we have been through so much.  Our Story is for another post.  I am just grateful for the time that God has given us and I am thankful for all the days he has for us.  So how about some pictures of the Sushi.