Chocolate on my Cranium

My Gratitude List: Day 9

2009-11-09T01:58:00.000-08:00

Day 9: Harvard Classics. They add so much to our education, being able to read works from the world's greatest literary minds. We were so lucky to receive ours for free. Someone was giving theirs away! © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

My Gratitude List: Day 8

2009-11-08T01:52:00.000-08:00

Get your daily dose of laughter!

2009-11-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

This cartoon was in our local newspaper. We live in such a small town the paper is published only twice a week. We laughed so hard! Any nursing mother can sympathize I think. :)via RubesCartoons.comWe can't leave out the fathers. This is one of our favorite clips to watch. © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

My Gratitude List: Day 7

2009-11-07T01:06:00.000-08:00

Day 7: Kisses on the nose. Special Dark has his own routine when giving kisses. First on one cheek, then the other cheek, then a big one right on your nose. © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

Chocolate Muffins

2009-11-06T21:39:00.001-08:00

Semisweet made these for breakfast with the help of cousin M who spent the night earlier this week. They were, of course, divine. :)Chocolate Muffins2 eggs1 cup sugar1 cup all-purpose flour6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon vanilla extract2/3 cup milk2/3 cup butter, melted4 oz semisweet chocolate chipsPreheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pan. Beat the eggs

My Gratitude List: Day 6

2009-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

Day 6: Vaccines. We stood in line for 1 1/2 hours to receive the H1N1 vaccine yesterday. Mr. Ferrero Rocher and Truffle had to get injections because of their asthma, the rest of us received the nasal mists. © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

My Gratitude List: Days 1-5

2009-11-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot until now that I was going to post each day something I was grateful for leading up to Thanksgiving. Here are the days I missed and today's item.Day 1: The gift of sight even if I do have to wear glasses or contact lenses.Day 2: Pumpkins! Bright, orange, and cheerful. Harvested from our garden.Day 3: The view off my deck, especially the gorgeous weather we've had this week.

Wordfull Wednesday: Who's Influenced You?

2009-11-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Our assignment this week: "Think about those who have had a significant influence in your life.Besides the Savior, Heavenly Father, and your family, list ten of the most important and influential people in your life. Write the reasons why they are and have been so important to you. Some of these will be people you have known, but some might be people you have only heard of or read about." (Mary

November Splendor

2009-11-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

1. Evidence of Autumn, 2. Königsallee Düsseldorf in November, 3. Berry De-lite, 4. Last Signs of AutumnWelcome November! My favorite month of the year. It's my birthday month. We also celebrate my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. We have many traditions we do during this month.Thanks & Giving Trees - Click on the name to get to last year's post about them complete with a link to pdf files I

How we spent All Hallow's Eve

2009-11-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Sprinkles of Sunshine Week 1

2009-10-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some "Sprinkles of Sunshine" that have lightened my life this week.1. No accidents from Special Dark for over a week! Grandma bought him this flight suit while visiting San Diego. Great Halloween costume.2. Hershey getting into more of a schedule.3. Cranking out five quilt tops while Hershey had her big naptimes in the afternoon. Hoping to finish the last one today.4. Drinking Stephen's

Who's influenced you?

2009-10-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last Wordfull Wednesday we explored our names - how we received the one we did, what we are doing with our names, etc. There's something fascinating about seeing who we are through different perspectives. To carry on with this exploration of who we are, the next assignment for Wordfull Wednesday on November 4 is the following idea put forth in the book Peculiar in a Good Way by Mary Ellen Edmunds

The Shandle: Review and Giveaway

2009-10-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***The dreaded "potty training" task is upon us. Having potty trained six girls I felt like I was a pro until I realized it would be a little different with Special Dark. For the most part he wants to sit on the seat but occasionally he wants to be a "big boy" and stand up. The thought of him raising and lowering a toilet seat grossed me out.Little boy + touching a

Pondering...

2009-10-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Just me and my Hershey bug home from church today.It's quiet. Perfect pondering time.Holding a newborn, so fragile, so precious, so helpless, how can one not feel close to heaven knowing this special spirit just came from there? Makes my heart swell with joy and my mind weigh heavy with the great responsibility we have to raise our children in light and truth.“Never forget that these little ones

Wordfull Wednesday: What's in your name?

2009-10-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

One of the most stressful, but fun experiences ever is naming a child. We are more traditional naming our children with good old fashioned names that people have heard of before. For the most part, there aren't any other children their age with the same name but people do know how to pronounce them.I am not so fortunate. :) Now don't take me wrong. I love my name. I love the culture, the history

Celebrate Winners!

2009-10-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the huge number of guesses it took a little over an hour to carefully go through all the comments and find those who correctly guessed each question. Here are the winners!1. What gender will the baby be? There were 17 correct guesses. The randomly drawn winner of the angel hook from Unique Euphoria is: Shannon 2 days ago 1. girl2. 8 lbs 13 oz3. October 184. 8:20 am5. 4

Hello baby

2009-10-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

God has once again graced our home with a new little one!Two tiny feetThat wave in the airTwo tiny handsThat tug at your hairCute bottom for pattingAdorable faceA bundle of joyTo love and embraceIntroducing...Juliaborn October 15 at 12pmweighing 8 lbs. 9 oz21 inches longalso answers to Jules, Juju, Julie, & Lia © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reservedWinners of the giveaway

Rocks, Pebbles, Sand, & Structures

2009-10-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post this yesterday...."One of the first questions I’m asked when people find out I homeschool all seven of my children is, “How are you able to teach all of them at the same time?”My reply usually goes something like this, “We have built a good structure for our homeschool, one that we are all able to rely on.”The typical response to this is, “Huh?” So let me explain.What is the first

Celebrate!!!

2009-10-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

***GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*** as of 8:30 pm October 16th.No, the baby hasn't come yet! Here's a little fun I've cooked up to get my mind off the waiting and to include you in our guessing/waiting game.There are several milestones going on here at once - baby #8's impending arrival, there are now 1,000 subscribers via a feed reader (wowza!), and my 700th post is two posts away. I'm celebrating all

What's in a name?

2009-10-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

With the wheels spinning of having to name a new wee one (who's still not here yet!), thinking about all my other children and their names, and thinking about my own name I decided next Wordfull Wednesday's topic for October 21 is:"What's in your name?"How did you come to be named? Are you named after someone? Is there a special meaning behind your name? Any funny or interesting stories to share?

Wherein I share my beef

2009-10-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

...about my doctor. He really is a great doctor. We've (Mr. FR and I) never had problems with him. We like his philosophy about birthing, yada, yada, which is one of many reasons we chose him. But right now, I am not too happy. Why?My original due date, according to my last menstrual cycle was for Oct. 22. I had an ultrasound at 13 weeks that estimated the due date for October 13. My doctor

I ♥ Faces Week 40: Excited!

2009-10-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

The birthday season has started at our house. The first birthday was Sept. 29. We have a birthday about every two weeks after that all the way into January. Fudge celebrated her seventh birthday on Saturday. She baked and decorated her own cake (a beehive) and couldn't wait to blow out the candles.This was taken at a high ISO (1600) because of the darkness of the room. I love how the candle

Spencer W. Kimball FHE

2009-10-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

The family home evening swap group that I am a part of is doing lessons on the latter-day prophets. My lesson is about Spencer W. Kimball. I'll post the ones I receive from the swap starting in a few weeks.Spencer W Kimball © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved

Pumpkin Muffins

2009-10-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

This week has been extremely busy gathering the last of the harvest from the orchard and garden. We've been making pearsauce galore to can, pulling onions to cure, storing butternut squash, acorn squash, and spaghetti squash, and last, but not least, baking pumpkins to puree for the freezer. Nothing beats having fresh pumpkin puree to use instead of the canned stuff (which isn't necessarily pure

I'm a contributor now!

2009-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

The newest batch of contributors to Heart of the Matter, a Christian online homeschooling magazine, have been introduced. Come read everyone's short bios here. Scroll down a bit to get to mine. =) I'm so excited about working with so many diverse homeschooling parents. © 2007-2009 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved