Melty Sherbet Skies

Ok....I couldn't resist taking pictures

of the sunset tonight. It was so drastically different than the

last time! It looks like melted sherbet spilled across the sky.

Aaaaaand......one more! Just for the happy people

who get joy out of seeing a beautiful sky.

Just pretend you can't see that obnoxious tree branch hanging

down, ok?\

Katie

Fudgesicles-only healthy-ish :)

Well, I am not sure if it socially acceptable to put the

word "healthy" next to anything remotely related to fudge.

At least not where we live.

But, these are pretty delicious, and fudge-y.

And healthy....ish.

I adapted a couple recipes I found online, to cater to our needs.

(aka, I am making these, and I am not going to the store for odd ingredients)

Healthy Fudgesicles

You bet there is a hidden ingredient!

• 3 cups sweet potatoes (I used the canned kind, with a little bit of the juice)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whiz the sweet potatoes around in the blender until it looks like....well...like baby food.
 Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until....blended!

These were pretty thick, so I had to spoon the mix into our holders.
Which irked me for some reason, because I was kinda hoping it would just
pour in. But they are very good, the kids really liked them.

Also, I saw another variation where they used pumpkin instead of the sweet potatoes, which sounds pretty good, but we didn't happen to have any on hand. :)

ENJOY! 

Katie

Sunrise, Sunset.....but mostly sunset

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Ephesians 1:3

There is a dip in the brush along the western edge of our pasture.

It seems like the sun just settles right into it.

"Praise God-from Whom all blessings flow!"

 

I love how the sunset seems different every night.

Some people say, "seen one-seen 'em all!"

But that isn't true, every one is so marvelously unique.

"Praise Him, all creatures here below."

The black silhouettes of the scraggly trees look almost beautiful in the red-orange light.

"Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!"

And as the sun disappears behind the hill, I am reminded 

to thank the Lord for my many blessings.

"Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Have a blessed Sunday

Katie

Watermelon Strawberry popsicles!

Who doesn't love a good popsicle? I mean-truly. It is a sweet, cold, sticky, delicious, mess-waiting-to-happen, all conveniently frozen to a stick!

So, I am hoping this post will be the first of a summer series!

Watermelon-Strawberry Popsicles

We got the popsicle holders at Wal-Mart, they had the bigger curved flat ones too.

I love that the sticks are so colorful!!!!!!

MMMMMMM.....Don't you want one?! 

Ok! Here is the recipe, it was super simple!

I threw some stuff together and it turned out to be a hit!

(One of those times when you just finished cleaning the kitchen, and you don't

really want to have to do it all over again for a snack that won't even be ready 

until tomorrow morning!) :) Technically the whole recipe should be followed with the word

"approximately"

Because.....I didn't actually write it down.

Recipe:

3 cups watermelon-cubed

 1-1.5 cups frozen strawberries

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 T lemon juice

Give it all a whiz in the blender, and taste-test it! :)

This made about 16 popsicles, so you may want to down-size, depending on how much freezer space you have! Hope you enjoy them, I'll be back soon with another recipe *I hope!*

Katie

Hymns

Today at piano lessons, I got to hear some of my favorite hymns played!! I love hymns. Especially the good old ones that are lacking in the chorus department. I mean, I love a good chorus as much as the next person......but after seven verses....it gets a little tiring.

I was recently telling a friend about why I loved hymns so much, and how one of my favorite things to do, especially when I am tired, or stressed, or discouraged, is go to our charmingly out-of-tune piano in our school room, shut the door, and just play hymns and sing. There is something about it that is just refreshing, and it helps put things into perspective. My friend said to me though, "Do you even feel like you are worshiping God when you sing these songs?" To answer very concisely-yes.

I love that hymns-especially the really really old ones, are so full of meaning. The lyrics are filled with melodious language, and you can imagine the author penning the words from their different situations that caused them to sing to the Lord.

But modern people don't relate. Do they? We don't have time to look up why Horatio Spafford wrote "It is Well With My Soul", when from the outside it seemed that it was anything but.

So. I have decided to share some of my favorite  things about hymns, and a few random lines interspersed throughout. Because I am really good at only remembering part of a song.  And it may make you chuckle a bit. But I am not making this up.Really. I'm not.

Here we go!

• When you are feeling a little lost, you could try: "He Leadeth Me" 
• When you are feeling really lost you could juts repeat that one line from " Down to the River" You know-the one at the end : "Good Lord-show me the way." It happens to be really comforting-especially if you just ran over a squirrel and you have no idea where you are.
• Really any Christmas hymn works for doing the dishes. Because bubbles = snow. It also takes away that grossed-out feeling you get when you find unidentifiable things in the sink. Because you can't sing "Joy to the World" and feel gross. It is impossible.

• You will ALWAYS win the "Song Game" *pretty sure the homeschoolers have a monopoly on this one* if you know a lot of hymns Also if you can manage to start the game on "What Wondrous Love is This" it is best because all the words in that hymn are in pretty much every other hymn.

That's all for now-thanks for stoppin' by!

Katie

SERIOUSLY?!!!

Have you been through the Terrified series by Wretched?!!

They are seriously awesome.

Mr. Friel has an amazing sense of humor, and he mixes it in with the tools 

that Christians need to confidently share our faith. 

I loved listening to these, and our family listened to them several times,

along with the Herman Who? series of lectures (also put out by Wretched).

Basically, if you listen to them, and then apply what you hear (there's the rub)

you will, with much prayer and a righteous heart,  be able to share our

faith with the people who frighten the wits out of you.

Hence the clever title, Terrified.

John 4:35

~Katie

*This post is not endorsed in any way by the Wretched Ministry*

Painted saws

Flowers are NOT my strong suit when it comes to painting.

But it seems like every time I do paint them, I am just in awe of the details that they have.

Even the smallest flower has so many intricate details, and they all seem to point to 

our Creator. God made so many beautiful things.

And while everything may not look beautiful around you right now,

know that somewhere, there is beauty.  

I am reminded of Isaiah 61:3 

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."

Here is the latest project, that recalled this verse to me.

(In case you can't tell, it is a field of bluebonnets on the long saw. My dad kind of thought it was the ocean at first. The small saw on the right has an Indian Paintbrush on it.)

Um. yes. I accidentally painted on my table. Fortunately it will come off. 

Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!

Katie