Happy Anniversary

Well, Mr and Mrs Fish have officially been married for 10 years ! We were married on September 12, 1998 - it was a hot September day (which I was NOT anticipating) it was not all that common in Minnesota. It was a beautiful clear blue sky. All in all it was an awesome day!

Happy Anniversary, my love. I pray for many more fun and exciting years to come. You have taught me so much these past ten years and I am thankful for the 3 incredible guppies we have blessed with. Through everything, you have been there by my side encouraging me in our walk of faith. For all this and more I can honestly say ... Baby, you ROCK!

No Apples

I kind of knew this was coming and yet tried to deny the fact (funny how we do that) - but, it seems I am not going to have any apples this year.
Last year was AMAZING! We had more apples than we knew what to do with: we made applesauce, apple butter, apple pies, diced apples, apple slices, apple crips and more! But alas, the freezer is now apple empty and we have maybe 5 apples between the 2 trees (waaah!) I absolutely love the smell of apples cooking on the stove, especially during these cooler days. It is so easy to peel and pop some apples in the crockpot before school and then later reap the benefits during snack time. Oh how I miss it... I am seriously praying one of our neighbors has an overabundance - hahaha!

Funny thing though, even with no apples... I am still finding myself with plenty to do.

I am beginning to think that God just knew that I would already have my hands full with other things and thus, no apples. Would I really have time this year for apples with homeschooling all 3 children AND my part-time nonprofit job? Even though I only work 15 hours a week, it seems that now with my afternoons eaten up. Maybe it was the addition of 2 kindergardeners (that's what my daughter calls it - Kinder Gardener) added to our schedule? Although we did "school" them last year, this year requires a bit more time.
I shall just trust that God knows best and wait for the apple blessings as they come. I guess it is true that He never gives you more than you can handle...even if it is ... just apples.

Lesson Learned.

Too many cucumbers = pickles

I am absolutely NOT a pickle fan...

but my family is (go-figure). Well, basically for me it is the dill that drives me away. APPARENTLY, I ate a few too many dill pickles as a 4 year old and well, now I can't even stand the smell of dill. *blush*

Anyhow, I decided to make pickles out of all these cukes we were blessed with...but not dill. I typically don't even attempt to eat pickles without dill because, well, the thought never occurred to me before yesterday *duh*. So, i sliced up 2 cups of Red Onions (cuz i like them) and chopped 2 cloves garlic (cuz i like them too) and then washed and sliced (the long way) one ice cream pail of cukes. I dumped the onions, garlic and cukes all into a large glass bowl. I then took out a stainless medium sized pot and began to concoct my "vinegar" -- this is basically the same recipe as refridgerator pickles.

I used:
6 cups vinegar
3 cups sugar
3 T sea salt

I stirred it until the sugar was mostly dissolved and brought it to a boil for about 10 minutes and promptly poured it over my fresh veggies, making sure that the "juice" came over the top of the veggies. I let them all cool on the counter then dumped the whole mess into the ice cream bucket, covered and popped into the fridge. I did steal some onions and thought they were awesome.

Today, before breakfast *blush* I ate one... guess what-- I liked it :)
Hope you do too!

grandma

Grandma's are such special people in a person's life, no matter how old you are.

Today, I am thinking of my grandma... see, she is pretty ill and well, they don't give her much time. BUT, she is one tough lady.
Over the last few months, I have spent a lot of time reminiscing and remembering all the fun we had together... like sitting in the shopping mall watching people and laffing our butts off till we cried. We never went to the mall to shop really, but more to enjoy ourselves by walking, talking and laffing. I remember racing her to the only restroom on a vacation only to have her pull trump on me by saying she was older than me and I should respect my elders. LOL I have to admit, I learned to bake from the best darn baker in the world, Grandma Hazel!
My grandma was like a second mom to me... she helped my mom to raise us after mom and dad got divorced. She taught me to tie my shoes, she taught me to clean house, she taught me some good life lessons - but most of all, she taught me how to remember to laff once in awhile. She was an incredible woman...and still is.
I love you grandma!

Crockpotting 365

Oh my! This blog is absolutely a crockpotter's paradise!

Stephanie of Crockpot 365 has vowed to use her crockpot every day for A WHOLE YEAR! And the best part of the whole deal.... she is GLUTEN FREE!! Which makes this fish a happy happy momma!

See, I am gluten free and I LOVE my crockpot. So, by default Stephanie and I should just be the very bestest friends -- she totally makes you feel that way when you read her blog. She not only gives you an awesome recipe to try, but also posts the "verdict" of her cooking as well. It ROCKS!

I already use my crock probably 3-4 days of the week, because I enjoy coming home and not stressing over getting dinner ready. Since I work from 2-5pm 5 days a week plus the 20 minute drive, Crockpot is simply... the way to go! I have gotten a lot of GREAT ideas from Crockpot 365 and for this I say, "Thank You Stephanie!!! My new bestest friend " LOL

My only problem now is that I need to buy another crockpot, one just does not seem to be enough!

Webkinz craze invades our home

So, my newly turned 8 year old son has gotten this really cute little stuffed animal for his birthday. I think it is really sweet and I dismissed it as "just another stuffed animal" ... boy was I wrong!

This is the biggest thing among his friends Webkinz

WEBKINZ are these cute little stuffed animals that come with a little "tag" attached to them. This tag contains a code, which you enter online to officially "adopt" your little pet. After adoption, you are given a room for your pet and a vehicle. Mr. Tiger has this screamin' cool convertible. LOL Mr. Tiger has arcade games, rooms that you can buy and decorate, an academy, a clubhouse to meet your friends, a job center and so so much more!! It's an entire Webkinzworld out there in cyberspace - haha! You can grow a garden, play games, dig for gems... the list seems endless.

My son is now concerned about doing his daily "chores" online to care for his adorable Mr.Tiger. This really works well as a tool for Mom to encourage him to 1- do his schoolwork, 2- to be diligent about his work, 3- to do his 'real life' daily chores and oh so many other things LOL.

Thing is......... IT WORKS!! He will happily and joyfully do his 'real life' chores in order to be able to care for hisWebkinz later. It really is fun. BUT, now he wants another Webkinz so Mr. Tiger won't be so lonely. UGH, I see his money jar dwindling soon.

I guess this adventure will lead to a much bigger lesson in handling money. Which is good, as up to this time, he hasn't really wanted to spend his money on anything. We really aren't the type to just hand out cash to our children... when they receive money either as a gift or for doing little things here and there (we sometimes will just reward him for a job well done, but it is not an allowance per se', that day is coming) he will divide his rewards into 3 piles. Saving 10%, tithe 10% and the rest is his "spending" money. He has been really diligent about following the plan and his "spending" pile has grown .... So, I guess we are off to find a friend for Mr. Tiger. ... let's go shopping!

A new Gluten Free Resource!

I just have to share a very cool new site Gluten Free Network. It is a lot of fun and is a great resource for gluten free friends, recipes, ingredients, finding recipes and more!!

This new Gluten Free community is even throwing a contest in order to get noticed. Just by writing a simple review like this one you are entered in the contest to win 2 new gluten free cookbooks they are giving away!

So, give em a visit and blog about the site to earn yourself a coupla' cool cookbooks — FULL OF GF RECIPES!!

Hot Chocolate, Math and Peanut Butter Cookies

What on earth does math have to do with baking cookies?

In our house....everything.

Thursday's math lesson was a lesson in doubling fractions - sorta. Momma had to get some baking done and well, who is best to assist with this feat than the 3 little guppies?

Today's entry is about cookies. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip to be exact. OH Beloved, I can honestly say that I have never in my recently gluten free life experienced cookies like these. All this time my favorite was a simple flour less peanut butter cookie recipe, but that has all changed--well, sort of. Mary Frances' hubby, John of Gluten Free Cooking School, has taken these cookies to a whole new level!

Feast your eyes on these -- don't they look simply amazing?!?! And the best part of it all is that they are gluten free, dairy free and can also be made egg free - wooot!

and these

3 1/2 dozen of deliciousness! (I doubled the recipe and used a tablespoon to measure *winks*)

After baking all the cookies, we decided that they absolutely MUST be partnered with Hot Chocolate for our midmorning Math break ;) We studied fractions while baking and then continued with our regular math lesson from Miquon

See the happy smiles.

And after the first bite delight!

The Taste Testers give them 3 smiles!

Hot Chocolate and cookies

First follow Mary Frances' Recipe for John's Peanut Butter cookies - You won't regret it! We had many hands to assist in measuring, doubling the amounts and finding the ingredients.

Second, Cool cookies while working on math and momma makes the hot chocolate.

1/2 c. sugar

1/4c. baking cocoa

dash of sea salt

1/3 c. warm water

Bring these ingredients to boil, reduce heat and add:

4c. Milk - we used goat milk today, but have used soy and rice milks as well.

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Third, Stir well, do not boil. Serve when hot with Mary Frances' cookies and SMILE WITH DELIGHT!

Foot Fetish and Copywork

Today, husband needed to leave work early to go to the shoe dr. We have struggled to find the right insoles and shoes for his feet. Since he is a diabetic we need to be very careful as to what shoes he wears. He needs shoes that will protect his tootsies yet not cause any seam issues and wear funny. So, we began using a wonderful podiatrist and a shoe dr. LOL.
Daddy got a brand new pair of nice black oxford Ambulator Shoes with 3 new pair of insoles. We are so excited! The only drawback is that his job requires steel toed boots, the pro is that the new insoles he has also fit his boots - Praise the Lord!
Since his appointment was before lunch, the children were overly excited to see Daddy for lunch and were busy sharing their copywork with him. Poor daddy, trying to understand the scribblings of 4 year olds -LOL! I must admit, though, in the last few weeks these little 4 yr old scribblings are actually taking shape and resemble very well the letters I have written in the books for them to copy. With each of my children , I have started them writing copywork from stories I wrote about them. It keeps them interested enough to repeat it and makes a very cool keepsake...All in the Charlotte Mason gentle way of teaching. Ahhh, that woman is wonderful.
This is how we have begun to learn to write in our home. Each child has their very own Manuscript Tablet. You know, the ones with the lines made for printing with the dotted middle? On the first line I begin the story. "Once upon a time there was a (skip line and print on the 3rd line) little boy named Elijah James Fisher." The children begin to giggle at this point. I then turn the book over to them to COPY what I wrote on the lines directly below my words. It is an absolute blessing to watch them and now to see the difference simply by reading back in the story. Once the book is finished we move onto copying from Psalms or other tidbits from other whole living books, like the real Winnie the Pooh books. "House At Pooh Corner" was a favorite of Collin's. He enjoyed copying from that wonderful author A.A. Milne. Another bonus to copywork time is that mommy is able to update her recipe blog, the healthyfishies website, the business blog and of course share our day with you here.

Smile... these are among the simple joys in life.

Welcome to Fishie's Fishbowl

Howdy ya'll!!
While there are so many things to share with you...I thought it best we begin with introductions?

As much as I dislike introductions where you have to go and say your name (Theresa Fisher aka fishie) followed by where are you from (Minnesota,USA) the names and ages of your children (step-son Devan 17, Collin 7, and twins Emma and Elijah age 4 1/2) and maybe a little about yourself (I am a homeschooling mom who follows the Charlotte Mason Method. I enjoy good living books especially the "good book". I am in love with Jesus , the lover of my soul and also a man who has stolen my heart, Todd. Our family lives with a few chronic diseases, like Diabetes and Crohn's disease, so we live gluten free, dairy free, casein free, and low carb but we don't let it get us down. We actually enjoy sharing what we find and what makes us well with others. Hence,I have a few *lol* websites - Healthyfishies - a web 2.0 environmentally friendly community of like minded individuals seeking to live a more healthy and exuberant lifestyle.) I feel that the introductions are the best way to get to know one another.... SO- stop in and introduce yourself by leaving a comment!

Nice to meet you ;)