"King's Arrow" Book Review

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading “King’s Arrow,” the second book in the “Crown and Covenant” series by Douglas Bond. I believe this book was even better than “Duncan’s War,” the first book of the series (read my review on that book here.) “King’s Arrow” centers around Duncan’s younger brother, Angus. Duncan is married with children in this book, and Angus is now 14 years old and quickly becoming a young man. The story of the M’Kethe family continues from the perspective of young Angus.

Since the time of “Duncan’s War” a lot has happened in Scotland. In 1670 attendance at field meetings was made a treasonable offense. Those who preached at these meetings were punished with death. The book takes place in 1679. The Scottish people continue to be persecuted and hunted down by the King’s dragoons, and terrorized by the Highlanders. The Covenanting men fear for the lives of their wives and children.

One day the M’Kethe family is at a field meeting when bloody Claverhouse and his dragoons descend on their meeting. The Covenanters brace themselves for the climactic battle at Drumclog.

This was a very good book filled with exciting battles which kept me turning the pages quite rapidly! I would highly recommend this book because it shows the strong faith of the Covenanters and gives inspiration to Christians today to remain firm in the faith despite persecution!

Starting Seedlings

Back at the end of April, I started seedlings indoors!

I bought little refill pots for the terrarium I used last year.

Fluffing up the dirt.

This is what I have started so far (Note: I planted 3 seeds per pot, and 3 pots per type of plant):

Beefsteak tomatoes

Chocolate Cherry tomatoes

Mixed Heirloom tomatoes

Sweet 100’s tomatoes

Rosemary

Spearmint

Sweet Basil

Thyme

Bell Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers

Cabbage

Lettuce

So far almost all the pots have sprouted except for a few of the herbs and peppers. I have already thinned the tomatoes and some of the peppers. I did learn that starting cabbage and lettuce indoors probably wasn’t the best idea. It’s just too warm for them inside. I will just start more seeds outdoors in the next few weeks when I put everything out in the garden!

His

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

for He founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the waters.”

Psalm 24:1-2

Recipe--Red Lentil Curry

Several months ago, Mom came home from the grocery store with a Weight Watchers magazine for me. I have been trying to eat healthier and really cut down on my sugar intake. I enjoyed perusing the 45 recipes in the magazine! This was one of the recipes we tried, and it was really good! It’s quite easy to make and is great served over rice.

Red Lentil Curry

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

2 teaspoons ginger

4 teaspoons curry powder

4 minced garlic cloves

1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 cups lentils

4 cups vegetable broth

4 cups baby spinach

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, ginger, curry powder, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add lentils, picked over and rinsed, and vegetable broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring, until spinach begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Serve over rice. Makes 4 servings. PointsPlus Value of 1 serving: 5 points. Enjoy!

Pets: Newton

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the many pets that have been part of our family in the past and the present. I thought it would be fun to do some blog posts on them and the story of how we found them.

The very first pet my parents had after they got married was Newton, a black and white cat. They adopted him from their local Humane Society when he was just a young kitten. Daddy was in school studying to be an engineer, and he was studying Isaac Newton. That’s where Newton got his name! J

Newton was quite a frisky and entertaining kitten. He was the “baby” of the family for quite some time.

He loved finding unique places to rest. These spots included the clean laundry basket, the inside of large mailing envelopes, the back of Mom’s legs when she was sprawled out on the couch, and on top of the coins she was stuffing into coin wrappers.

As Newton aged, he became a bit more sedentary.

He loved being King of the Couch!

Newton was a very special cat to Mom and Dad during the early years of their marriage. But around the time the twins were born, we had moved twice in one year and added several other pets to the family. The stress proved to be a bit too much for him. He started destroying our home, and we made the decision that it would be better to find another home for him.

We were very happy to find a kind family who had one daughter, and no other pets. Their home was very calm, and Newton loved his new family. He even slept on the girl’s bed with her! We loved Newton very much, but we knew this was best for him.

Next week, I’ll talk about the next kitty who entered our family: a sweet and feisty calico, named Novella.

Newsboys Concert

A couple of weeks ago, our family went to a Newsboys concert! We’re always on the lookout for inexpensive Christian concerts to attend since taking 7 people to a concert can get pricey.

There were actually 5 bands at the concert: The Jason Eaton Band, David Bashta, Anthem Lights, Rush of Fools, and the Newsboys.

During Jason Eaton’s part of the concert, they had two huge balloons going around the audience. The kids really enjoyed that!

Photo Credit: Roma.

Jason Eaton was followed by David Bashta who sang some worship songs. Anthem Lights came next, and they were quite lively. Rush of Fools was one of my favorite bands of the evening.

Then it was time for the Newsboys! They were really good, but their sound has changed quite a bit since the members of the band changed several years ago.

The Newsboys are known for their spinning drum set. During one of the songs, the drum set started spinning around while he was still playing! It was pretty incredible!

Photo Credit: Roma.

My only complaint about the concert was that it was WAY too loud. We were sitting 11 or 12 rows back, and the sound was still deafening. We should have brought ear plugs!

After the concert, I had the opportunity to meet the members of Rush of Fools.

We also met the members of Anthem Lights. They were really nice and took the time to introduce themselves and ask our names.

Photo Credit: Mark.

We really enjoyed the evening despite the fact that it was so loud!

Our Last Day at Keeper's Coop

On May 4^th, we had our last day at Keeper’s Coop for the year.

To start off our meeting, we watched a couple of videos on herbs. The first movie was very informational and talked about preparing soil, growing herbs, harvesting, preserving, and cooking with herbs. The second movie talked about making tea, tonics, and vinegars with herbs.

While we watched the movies, we ate a lunch of fresh bagels, fruit, and veggies with dip. Once we finished watching, we headed to the kitchen to do some cooking of our own!

We had several different stations going since we were running out of time. The kids at the far end of the table are making basil pesto, while Mom, Josiah, and I made parsley pesto.

Everyone else pitched in and made two different herb cream sauces. Our teacher also mixed up some “Vinegar of the Four Thieves” mosquito repellent in Mason jars.

Then it was time to taste-test! I LOVED the basil pesto! The parsley pesto was different, but still pretty good. The cream sauces would have been better if they had been spiced a bit more, but we can always tweak the recipe in the future.

Then we headed outside to plant some herbs to take home.

Each family got a large pot which we filled with a tomato plant, a pepper plant, basil, chives, parsley, and cilantro. It’s supposed to be a “salsa” garden, with everything needed for salsa in one pot. We’ll see how they all do!

We have enjoyed coming to Keeper’s during the past school year! We’ve certainly learned a lot, and have lots of great ideas, of ways to implement what we’ve learned over the coming months!

Vacation Day 10: Traveling Home

Here is the final blog post about our recent family vacation on a cruise. . .

(4/23/12) Monday

Last night I woke up around 1:15 a.m. because of the loud partying going on in the courtyard. I’m definitely looking forward to being at home! I also had a very stuffed-up nose, and this morning my skin is peeling pretty badly. The Caribbean sunshine is definitely different than that in Michigan!

Around 8:30 a.m., we met down in the boys’ room for breakfast. Daddy had stopped at a Publix the night before and gotten orange juice, bananas, and coffee cake. It was quite good!

After our breakfast we went back upstairs to pack up our things. This is the view from our room looking towards the beach.

Photo Credit: Roma.

At 10:00 a.m., we pulled out of the hotel parking lot. I was quite happy to be headed towards home! The area of town we were in made me feel a little uncomfortable at times. Anyway, we drove for about 45 minutes towards a very large mall in another part of Ft. Lauderdale.

Photo Credit: Roma.

We looked at the list of stores, and as soon as Josiah heard that there was a Lego® store there, he had to stop! J He could have stayed there all day if we had let him.

We also stopped at a Target where I bought a tether for my camera lens cap. Ben also bought a book while we were there.

The kids wanted to put a coin in the funnel out in the corridor. Those are a bit dizzying to watch!

Around 1:00 p.m., we ate lunch at the food court. Mom and I had Philly cheese-steak sandwiches and fries. It was quite good, and I could even taste it a little!

The rest of the kids got Nathan’s hot dogs.

We stopped in Books-A-Million for a few minutes before leaving (can you tell that if there is a book store somewhere, our family will find it?) We drove towards the airport and dropped off our rental car. We checked our bags and then headed towards security. This time none of us were called to go through the enhanced scanner, but the TSA agent was doing a bit of profiling. Three of us ladies wearing long skirts had to be patted down by her. The pat down wasn’t bad, but one of my first thoughts was, would they pat down a woman wearing a burqa?

While we were waiting for our plane to arrive, Daddy bought us all coconut patties! They were like big Mounds bars.

We were very thankful that our flight departed on time, although the takeoff and flight were quite turbulent.

We landed in Detroit on time and claimed our bags. We all breathed a sigh of relief when all 8 bags showed up safely (we’ve lost a couple bags before.) On the drive home, we stopped at a Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries.

We also stopped at Arby’s for dinner. I had a Classic Chicken Sandwich with Curly Fries and root beer. Interesting fact: This is only the 3^rd time in my life that I’ve eaten at Arby’s. It was quite good!

We finally made it home pretty late that evening. The cats really missed us! J We all fell into bed, tired from our day of travel but happy to be home!

~Epilogue~

This was an amazing and wonderful trip! I wouldn’t trade one minute or experience (well maybe the back injury.) I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! What really made the trip special was the people. The crew became my friends, and I miss them a lot. Being on the ship—and especially the catamaran—felt like one big celebration with family and friends.

It’s a bit of an adjustment being back at home where there are not dozens of activities, where we have to make our own bed, cook our own food, etc. J I was kind of depressed for a few days. But I will always have such fond memories of this vacation! Memories of sitting on the balcony and gazing out at blue waters and mountainous islands; of dining like kings and queens in the dining room; of the camaraderie on the ship between all the passengers, and of spending loads of time with family. I hope we can go on another cruise in the future! I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go on this trip!

Vacation Day 1: Traveling to Florida

Vacation Day 2: Boarding the Ship

Vacation Day 3: The Bahamas

Vacation Day 4: Cruising

Vacation Day 5: St. Thomas

Vacation Day 6: St. Maarten

Vacation Day 7: “Bravo, Bravo, Bravo”

Vacation Day 8: Last Day of Cruising

Vacation Day 9: A Day in Florida