I can't believe it is Friday already. The week has flown by, as they usually do. Today, we are supposed to be having temperatures in the mid 60's, so we have our Indian Summer groove on. We're hopefully going to complete our schooling by noon, and head out for an afternoon of fun at the park. However, if my sleepyheads don't get out of bed, there won't be much time for anything!

I am excited for the weekend - it sounds like it is going to be nice, and hopefully we can get the Christmas lights up on the house. Last year, we did it in frigid temps, so maybe we can be a bit more proactive this year! Don't worry, there's no chance they will be turned on until after Thanksgiving.

JT made Brad and I breakfast in bed this week. We were technically awake, doing our bible study in the warmth of our blankets. JT came up with a tray of scrambled eggs, two washed apples, a knife, and toast. Such a sweetheart and love how he has uch a caring heart. (I also love how they think they are surprising us, despite the clanging of pots in the kitchen! :)) As I write this now, I am hearing him unload the dishwasher, unprompted. I am so proud and honored to be his mom!

Since I love fall, I wanted to share with you a great, easy recipe for my favorite bread. I love any and all breads, and have found such joy in baking all of our bread from scratch over the past months. Here is a fall favorite of ours!

Pumpkin Gingerbread

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (16oz) can pumpkin
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp.
allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 ½ cups
flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 (5 x 9 inch) loaf pans, or 6 (5 ¾
x 3 ¼ inch) loaf pans. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat
until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Beat in pumpkin and spices.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add dry
ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are
incorporated. Divide batter between 2 large or 5 small prepared pans. Bake until
toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour for large pans, or 45
minutes for small pans.
Yield: 2 large or 6 small gingerbreads

**Make it fast and furious tips…Skip combining the dry ingredients
separate – put directly in with the pumpkin mixture.

* Can, most likely,
do ½ cup applesauce and ½ cup oil with same results
* If using whole wheat
flour, reduce to 3 ¼ cups flour

This is NOT how our days have looked recently!

It's one of those days - again. The one where I don't want to teach my kids, but I just want to curl up with a cup of coffee, in my bed, and read the day away. While this may be a good idea, and one which homeschoolers can afford to take periodically, I have the dreaded GUILT hanging over my head that I can't take an entire day just to read. Maybe I could give my kids the time, but, in my head, that would only free me up to work on some projects, clean, or do other things that need to be done. Good heavens. It's difficult to relax around here without the guilt train speeding in at full steam.

Couple of items to share:

TJ got a part in The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever and will be playing Gladys Hermdan. We're starting to work on memorizing her lines. There will be six performances the week before Christmas, so the schedule around here will jack up in intensity, particularly after Thanksgiving. I will be a parent volunteer, doing some backstage supervision and possibly some costume sewing.

We got our airline tickets (thanks for the Southwest tip, Amy!) booked for our trip to San Diego area in January and early February. Now we just have to finalize our car rental and our first week of accommodations. We're going to be ready to leave the frozen tundra at that time, and it will be here lickety split.

I think we will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner, so it's already time to start planning our menu for that. We will be making many traditional items, but hope to make everything from scratch as that is the path we have been following the past 6 months. I hope to post on that journey soon.

Our bible study, Living by the Book, has really prompted me to take a look at scripture in a more indepth way. I am really enjoying going through different parts of scripture, and dissecting and learning more than I ever have. I have found, that when I am able to do it first thing in the morning, I really do ponder it in my heart and ruminate over it for the whole day. It has been a fun challenge and a great time of learning for both Brad and I. Our early mornings are inconsistent due to other commitments, but we're working on doing it together in the AM as much as we can.
We've been working on improving the different Fruit of the Spirit around here - We have some room for improvement, but for the most part, it has been fun to recognize and "catch" the kids in acts of kindness, love, etc. However, it hasn't stopped the personality clashes between the youngest and the oldest. My, how those two are the same in temperament. It is amazing how stubborn they both are and how easily they can fly off the handle at each other. We need to continue to foster kindness and respect for each other - not an easy task, but if we don't nip this now...

One last thing - I haven't tried this Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe yet, but goodness knows I will be soon! Wanted to share it with you as well.

Well, there obviously haven't been any huge insights in this post, and I do need to get my children motivated for school. I promise to post something of interest sometime soon! :)