Spring Activities

~ by Rubia

We have been enjoying a beautiful and active spring this year in Oklahoma! It’s hard to believe we’re less than a month away from our end-of-school vacation to Virginia! It’s also hard to believe we’ve only been here for 9 months, yet have done so much, made many great friends, and are making good memories. We feel very blessed!

This post contains pictures from Roma’s camera roll, so these activities were ones that involved her and me; however there were things that the others recently did without us that I do not have pictures from. For example, Dad went on a business trip to Minneapolis, and Bianca and Ben went on a trip to Texas. Perhaps y’all will see posts from them soon about what they’ve been up to. J

This is a picture from Easter Sunday. Roma dyed these eggs.

The siblings on Easter Sunday. We enjoyed a breakfast fellowship at our church called the “Love Feast” with communion and worship.

A few weeks later Roma and I were invited to a birthday party by a friend from youth group. She turned 13, and is a very sweet girl with a very creative family that threw what Roma and I called, “A pinterest type of party.” J They had a perfect back porch and yard with adorable decorations and *really incredible* homemade chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. We enjoyed seeing other friends from church there and playing fun games that afternoon.

The dessert table.

Look at the cute décor and bright colors! The birthday girl is in the blue shirt closest to the camera.

We learned “The trash can game” at youth group and have had fun with it. J You gather with your friends around a trash can, and then try to pull each other to touch the can and get each other out. The last person to touch the can wins.

Y’all, guess what?!! We finally built a chicken coop and purchased 6 chicks!!

Dad and Josiah worked on the coop together. Now we have an adorable bright red chicken coop!

Next Dad will build a run for them. Right now our 2-week-old chicks are in the garage and doing well! We did have to return 2 that died and one injured, sadly. We’re not sure why they died. They were replaced at no charge. We love having our 2 Black Australorps, 2 Silver Wyandottes, and 2 Buff Orpingtons to cuddle with every day. J This family of egg-eaters is excited for future eggs as well!

Had to put in a property picture. We’ve so enjoyed the recent gorgeous days and our property out here.

Roma and I have had the privilege of serving a couple of times in the kid’s ministry at church. We look forward to continued involvement! We love working with kids. This class has kids about 4-6 years of age. Miss Shawna is the teacher and does an amazing job with them! 

Bianca and Ben have been enjoying their involvement in the college ministry at church. Since our church is in a college town, they’ve had the opportunity to make lots of new friends. A few Sundays ago some of them came to hang out and play basketball at our house. Of course Josiah joined them.

There’s hardly ever a lack of adventure around here. This big tree looked healthy on the outside, but was actually rotted inside and took us by surprise when it fell over the driveway one windy morning. Thankfully, it came down moments before Bianca and Ben were driving there on their way to work…and just before Roma and I returned from our run. God is good! Everyone was safe and no damage was done to anything—the tree just missed the cottage workshop, and the chicken coop.

Now you get to hear about the HEARTS homeschool co-op! It had been years since we were involved in a homeschool group, and never had we tried a co-op before. But Oklahoma is a very homeschool-friendly state with lots of opportunities for homeschoolers. The HEARTS co-op meets weekly during most of the school year at a church close to us. They offer classes that are mostly fun, extra-curricular types, with opportunities to fellowship with other homeschool families. I am so glad we joined for the Spring semester. We loved it so much and look forward to next school year! Josiah especially had a blast and will get to be a part of it for years to come, Lord willing! Since he graduated from 6^th grade this Spring, he got to be part of the graduation ceremony!

I did an art class with these sweet girls and painted my first gourd. There were some awesome creations! The class was unique because while painting was a part of it, perhaps the bigger part was talking with each other, getting to know one another and sharing lots of stories! 

This class of little ones does the Five-In-a-Row curriculum. Roma loved working with these kids over the last semester! 

Roma and I participated in the drama class and had a lot of fun! We had a big, all-girls class with lots of silliness and laughs! On the last day of co-op, we did a short, funny play. Here Roma (as Katie Lean) is interviewing a mermaid.

I was more than just Elsie the cow from Jack and the Beanstalk…I was a Chick-fil-A cow!! J (That was, at this moment, an unhappy protestor.)

On the weekend before the last co-op meeting, the co-op’s secretary and her family hosted their annual end-of-the-year party at their barn & ranch! This was our first time going out there and we had a blast!

The Barn at Gooseneck Bend.

Bianca and Ben were in Texas during this event, so it was Mom and Dad and the rest of us kids. (We were the only ones involved in the co-op anyway.) Pictured here are my lovely parents. Dad enjoyed sitting near the John Deere tractor! J

They had a great barn with a dance floor. I thought the Daddy-Daughter dancing to the left was cute. J

Later, after eating barbecue for dinner, one of the girls asked me, “Do you like dancing?” To which I responded, “Well yes, I did ballet for a couple of years.” But she actually meant barn dancing. I need to do that more! I remember doing it once in our barn in Texas with some friends. I was glad at this moment that I had already learned the Virginia Reel!

Getting started! I was learning slowly…but had a great time! It got way better with the Virginia Reel. I believe here we’re trying to do Cotton-Eye-Joe. It had been awhile since I’d done that one. 

While those were two of the “barn dances” we did, we also stopped at one point for an 80’s throwback and did YMCA. J

Part of our drama class had to get a dramatic picture. (Or two or three.) 

Huge bonfire to end the party!

The next weekend was the graduation ceremony at co-op for the graduating kindergarteners, 6^th graders, and seniors!

The band was youth-led by the praise and worship class! We’ve got some musical talent amongst these homeschoolers.

Our 6^th grade graduate with Mom! (Dad was in Minneapolis.) So proud of Josiah and excited to see how God will use him in the future as he continues to learn and develop his skills. 7^th grade, here we come! 

The siblings.

The next weekend (coming now the end of April) we drove about two miles down our road to the church where Josiah’s basketball coach preaches. They hosted their annual Echo Knights basketball banquet to celebrate the end of the season. Awards and basketball cards with each player’s picture were also given out. The Echo Knights sure had an amazing season! The middle school boys (Josiah’s team) finished undefeated this season for the first time in Echo Knights history. So thankful that JoJo had this opportunity to be a part of it and make great friends and memories.

Josiah and his buddies holding up their basketball cards.

Roma and I spent the next day (Saturday) babysitting our adorable neighbor kids for a second time. We had a wonderful day with Z and L! Josiah was also helpful because he is close to Z’s age and could come play with him. They’ve become good friends since we’ve moved here.

Helping L skate on the driveway.

And that wraps up the highlights of April! So thankful for the milestones, moments, and memories all in just this past month. God bless y’all!

Cooking in Our Family

~Posted by Roma

 

The art of cooking is wonderful!!! It’s so much better to enjoy a good big homemade dinner than to always go out or eat fast food. Nothing is wrong with that, but I just love to enjoy a homemade meal! It’s wonderful to see how God “gives us our daily bread” when working with all kinds of colorful foods He made! I wanted to share with you a little more of what happens in our family when it comes to cooking in the kitchen.



Me cooking in our Mi kitchen over 3 years ago!

Most of the time, my Mom is the one cooking dinner. But Thursday nights Bianca gets to cook, and Tuesday nights Ruby and I cook. My Mom wanted us girls to have more experience cooking--not just baking brownies and cookies all the time. (Which is a problem for me-I love baking but I need to get experience with actual cooking.)

 

Most all of our meals have turned out to be pretty successful and the family loves what we’re able to put together. We’re known for our Tomato Basil Pie J…but you have to LOVE asiago cheese in order to eat this pie. Just sayin’. J

 

 

Ruby and I find that most of the time we use a cookbook called: “5 Ingredients or Less.” It’s a perfect book for beginner cooks like us.

 

We also love a new cookbook we received for our Rite of Passage ceremony from our dear Abuela: “The Daniel Plan Cookbook”. It has some healthy wonderful gelato, soup, salad, paninis, chicken kabobs, etc. The picture on the cover of this book is the chicken kabobs which Ruby and I grilled recently! They are delish!

 

Ruby and I enjoy cooking dinner and dessert every Tuesday. It’s hard work sometimes but worth it. Here are some other recipes we’ve done the past few months:

 

Tomato Basil Pie. We also enjoy making Pecan Crusted Chicken J but I couldn’t find a picture of that. L

 

We’re crazy about salad!

The BEST dessert recipe in this family is my Mom’s FAMOUS double chocolate ring CAKE! It will always be the favorite.

So as you can see, these are a few different foods we enjoy making. But if you ever want any MORE recipes, just go to our recipe page and you’ll find everything from appetizers, to meat, to cakes and cookies and more. God Bless y’all, and have a great day!

Gardening

I am so excited! It has been 2 years since I nurtured a plant. Today I was out shopping and decided to buy some herbs to pot. While I still know almost nothing about Texas growing seasons, I figured if they were selling them it was a good time of year to plant them and that they should survive. J So I purchased pots, plates, potting soil, basil, spearmint, chocolate mint, Fernleaf dill, and flat leaf Italian parsley! It’s not a lot, but it’s a start! Hopefully my herb collection will grow into a garden next year!

W.I.T.

~Posted by Roma

Back in February, close to Valentine’s Day, we did a blogpost about a Girls Night held at our friend Miss C’s house, where we enjoyed a baking and movie night! Well, we all decided to have this girls night once a month and call our group: W.I.T.—Wives In Training! I loved it. We got together again this past Sunday in March, and instead of a movie night and pizza, we prepared dinner ourselves and did a craft. We all wore green for St. Patrick’s Day, and made a huge beautiful green salad with tons of beautiful toppings, and chocolate chip cookies that had green mint chips in them. They melted in your mouth when eaten fresh out of the oven!!!

We enjoyed working for our food. J

The salad we all put together.

Making bookmarks.

Our craft was bookmarks! We had the cutest ribbon, paper, stickers, buttons, and hole punches to accomplish this. J I loved watching all the girls make unique ones. We were bubbly and chattery that night, asking each other lots of questions—questions from what is your biggest pet peeve, to do you read your Bible every day, to what do you want to do with your life when you grow up? We listened to great music and Miss C and A loved dancing. The rest of us girls loved watching. J

We have so many ideas as to what our Wives-In-Training Girls Group could do every month. We may be too busy to get together in April, but will try to in May. We’re thinking next time we’ll put on huge hats and dresses with flowers and pearls and then . . . go to Taco Bell. J Until then, W.I.T. will see you later! J

Chicks and Ducklings

Last week we had the opportunity to go to a friend’s house and see their new baby chicks and ducklings! One day we would like to raise our own, and this was the first time our friends had done it too. We wanted to learn from them!

We loved holding the chicks!

Rubia holding a duckling and Roma with a chick.

I LOVE ducks and really want to have some one day.

Their temporary setup with the heat lamp and feeders.

We were so grateful to our friends for showing us their baby animals! Now we’re at home plotting our own chicken coop . . . J

Steel Wool Photography and Light Painting

~By Benjamin

Recently we enjoyed a movie night at our house with some friends from youth group. There were several photographers in the group so we decided afterwards to do some night steel wool photography.

The way you do this is to take some steel wool, stuff it in a kitchen whisk attached to a short rope or piece of leather, and set the steel wool on fire with a 9 volt battery. You then swing it around sending sparks into the air (have someone nearby to stomp out fires in the grass J). You need to have your camera set to ISO 100, 8-10 second exposure, and your aperture set at f/3.5. Here are some more steel wool pictures we took:

My attempt at the Olympic Symbol

My friend D and I thought it would be fun to both have our flaming steel wool and run in circles at the same time. The picture turned out a bit hectic but we thought it was kind of cool!

My dearly departed friend D getting zapped. J It’s amazing the things you can do when you start playing around with long exposure photography.

While we were out doing night photography we thought we might as well get some light painting in. Light painting is even simpler than steel wool. You simply set your camera to go until you stop it (we use a remote), ISO 400, and aperture at f/3.5. Then take a flashlight and outline a person or object.

My mom asked to be traced with her arms spread outward in the shape of a cross.

All in all it was a fun night with great people. Which picture is your favorite? Leave a comment and let us know!

Christmas Service Projects

The past several years, our family has felt convicted about giving more at Christmas than we receive. This year, we did three big service projects to help accomplish that goal:

*Please know that we don’t share this to brag or show off in any way. These are just some ideas our family had that we wanted to share with you, and hopefully encourage you to do similar things for others!*

1.) One week, we prepared freezer meals, a hot dinner, and brought Christmas gifts to a single Mom in our church. Her health has been poor lately, and she was just released from a stay in the hospital. We wanted to bless her and her son by helping them with meals until she gets back on her feet!

2.) We felt inspired to bless our Associate Pastor and his family. They have three children under the age of 8, and she is pregnant with their fourth child. Mom prepared several meals for their freezer, Roma prepared a fun movie night gift basket for them with lots of gifts and treats, and Ben and I delivered everything. While we were there, we babysat their kids for free while they went on a much-needed date. Just seeing their joy when they came home after having a night alone together made it all so worth it!

3.) Our friend C works at the local ER, and mentioned in the past how much the staff appreciates a hot meal during a busy work day. So we decided to prepare a hot lunch for them as a bit of a Christmas Thank You for everything they do for us! After my graduation party this summer and the cobbler party this fall, cooking for 20 people felt so easy! J

Delivering lunch to the ER.

Photo Credit: Our friend, C.

These are just a few ways our family has tried to serve this Christmas and keep our heart focused on the real reason why we celebrate: because Christ was the greatest gift for us all!

What are some ways you give/serve at Christmas time? We’d love to hear about it in the comments! We’d love more ideas!

Christmas Preparations

~Friday (November 29)~

On Friday, we spent the day decorating for Christmas! The day we pull out our Christmas decorations, movies, and music is always a highlight in our family. J

Pulling out some of our things.

Hauling out the decorations inevitably requires a trip to the store to replace something that doesn’t work anymore. We tried to wait until later in the afternoon to do that, and avoid most of the Black Friday shopping frenzy.

While we decorated, we listened to plenty of Christmas music, drank lots of egg nog, and ate ginger snaps. J

That evening, we had our regular Friday pizza and movie night. Since my grandparents were visiting, we splurged and ordered the pizza from Pizza Hut. We enjoyed watching “Miracle on 34^th Street” with them. (Does anyone else think that movie is the perfect transition between Thanksgiving and Christmas?!?!)

~Saturday (November 30)~

Saturday morning, everyone enjoyed sleeping in and relaxing. We ate breakfast in shifts as people got up. Then we continued working on the  decorations we hadn’t completed the day before. The boys did the outside lights in between watching the Ohio State versus University of Michigan football game. J They were quite happy when OSU won!

I ran out to the store in the morning, and then returned home to work on a Bible study I’ve been doing. But partway through my study, a friend surprised me by coming over! Since the weather was so nice out, we went on a bike ride with the twins.

That evening, we had some delicious soup prepared by my Abuela with some of the Thanksgiving leftovers. It was so nice to have an evening to relax and enjoy our family!

To be continued . . .

Shoe Box Packing Party

Last Monday night, we had an Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Packing Party! We used to do this with our Home Group in Michigan every year, and we thought it’d be a lot of fun to do one with our Life Group here in Texas.

We met and had dinner beforehand, and then got down to business! We packed 20 boxes in record time!

The paper cutting and candy-bag stuffing stations.

The packing crew with the finished boxes!

After the fun and laughter of packing the boxes, we got more serious. We surrounded the boxes and prayed over them. It was such an incredible time before the Father’s throne! We pray that these shoeboxes have a big impact in the lives of the children who receive them!