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Showing posts from November, 2016

home school anniversary

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This week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  We will also celebrate one year of home school.  Last year Elie came home at Thanksgiving break and just stayed. This fall when the boys left for public school, Faith started her journey at home with us too. For this season of life I spend every day with these three beautiful girls. The four of us learning together... not just about academics but about who we are individually and who we are together. I did not have any intention of homeschooling. Ever. I liked my kids going to public school.  There are many great things about being a part of a school.  We loved being connected to our community through our children's school and seeing them grow in knowledge and character through the relationships and challenges offered to them.  And up until a year ago, it was working for us.  I guess, honestly, the wheels started falling off earlier but I refused to acknowledge it.  I am not a trained educator. I enjoyed being mom without the respo

Sausage and Garbanzo Bean Soup

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I love fall.  I love the changing leaves that invite you to be outside. And nothing tastes better after a fall day than soup. Soup is easy and affordable and that makes this mama happy.  Two things that help when you are feeding a table full every night. This is one of our recent favorites.  I am trying to use dried beans in my cooking now instead of grabbing the can.  It definitely takes more planning but I keep telling myself that it is worth it... not just in cost but also in nutrition and safety.  I have found bringing the beans to a boil prior to the overnight soaking is key.  We like our beans a little more on the mushy side so I usually cook them longer than instructed on the bag. The sweet potatoes are already made.  I like to bake two 9x13 pans full at the beginning of the week and then use them in different recipes.  Sweet potatoes make a great addition to any soup or chili. This soup comes to life with the incredible organic chicken sausage from Wegmans.  Any recipe you put

#wewouldhavemissedthis

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November is Adoption Awareness month. As I think back over the past eight years, my mind is overwhelmed with memories and my heart full of thankfulness. I have met some of the most amazing families on this journey. Families who have given their entire lives and resources for caring for orphans. Over and over and over again. In our culture, you are not supposed to say that you "saved" a child. But there are so many cases where that really is the truth. Children who would be dead if their adoptive families had not brought them home in time. Children who would have never had access to medical care or an education or resources to begin healing from all their trauma. I have been in this "world" long enough to know that adoption is not all smiling happy families like you see in the agency catalog.  And not every story has a happy ending. And for those families this month can be challenging. Our own family story is not one without some difficult seasons. Babies a