Forever, For Always, No Matter What : Catholic Adoption & Home Education Blog

Homeschool Mother's Journal :: This & That ~ 5/25/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:16:00 +0000

Robin's Eggs in a tree by my parent's deck.

In our homeschool this week…Sarah finished up her Math U See book last week and is working on some areas she needs to review. The boys are both working on finishing up their respective books.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…I recently started using Awesome Note to keep track of my to-do list and my shopping list. Keeping a to-do list on my phone has been very helpful.

I am inspired by…my kids

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…our last week of co-op. My kids are sorry that it's ending, they have very much enjoyed the last six weeks.

My favorite thing this week was…our pool opened this week, that makes my kids very happy!

Things I’m working on…Summer plans for learning and for fun. I need to work out some sort of schedule for tv/computer time.

I’m reading…I finished Veganist and have been reading a couple of vegan cookbooks The Gluten Free Vegan, and Let Them Eat Vegan. Also reading Attachement Focused Parenting.

I’m cooking…some new recipes, tonight we tried vegan macaroni and cheese. Everyone liked it except for my oldest, but I'm not quite sure he gave it a fair try!

Also we have been making a yummy, simple, squash soup. Bake the butternut squash as normal, dig out the squash and place into blender. Add a cup or so of coconut, almond or whatever type of milk you drink. I push the soup button on our Blendtec and in less than a minute it is ready to go. Add salt and pepper to taste. Delicious.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…The kids and I have been enjoying the book about Abraham Lincoln we are reading. I thought this quote was very appropriate:

"Lincoln always felt handicapped by what he called 'his lack of education.' In this he made the common mistake of thinking that going to school was 'education.' In all, he had less than twelve months in schools in Kentucky and Indiana; but in those schools he acquired the basic tools for learning - reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. Afterward he used those tools to learn whatever he needed to know for the work he chose to do. His speeches, writings, and lifework prove that he was well educated, and that anyone who is willing to work and can borrow books can educate himself."

Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Our Favorite Adoption Books

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:16:00 +0000

I have shared our favorite adoption books for kids before, and I have recently updated adoption books for parents to include some of the helpful books we have been reading about attachment.

In the last couple of weeks I have ordered a new {new to us!} slew of adoption related books. Not all of the books have an adoption theme, but they do all have an over-riding sense of family. So far my {younger} kids are enjoying all of them. I wanted to share in case your family loves books as much as we do.

Hazel's Amazing Mother

Owl Babies

Hush Little Baby

At Home in the World

I'll Promise I'll Find You

The Little Green Goose

Praying for my Husband

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:01:00 +0000

Praying for my husband is the most powerful thing I can do for my marriage, our children, our family. Prayer can do more to change a situation or give me fresh perspective, than anything else. But I didn't always pray for my husband on a consistent basis, nor did we always pray together.

One of my very favorite books, and one that has had a meaningful impact on our marriage is Power of a Praying Wife, buy a copy for yourself and purchase Power of a Praying Husband for your spouse. I think those books can be life changing, or at least marriage changing - which in turn does change your life!

When we were in Florida in February, we took a bit of time to get on the same page with our prayer life. Specific things we wanted to be praying about for our family, each child, and for each other. From items such as our continued journey to living a more healthy lifestyle, to the jobs that we need to perform each day. I know it's a great comfort to me knowing that I can count on the prayers of my husband.

Also, there are little things to do like send a text saying, "thanks for working hard for our family, I'm praying for you today" or "I love you, I prayed for your intention today". It's only takes me a minute, and in the life of a busy family, sometimes it seems like a short text is our longest conversation of the day.

Maybe it would work to start a Novena to St. Joseph the Worker, to end on Father's Day? I know I spend a lot of time thinking about the perfect gift to give my husband, as I should, but it doesn't get any better than praying for the intercession of St. Joseph, for the man who leads our family.

Another book that has impacted me is this one by Dr. Laura. I know, people either love her or don't....but the book is worth checking out. It isn't so much about praying for our husbands as it is finding ways to truly respect our spouse.

Love this little reminder from pinterest

How do you pray for your husband each day?

Encouraging an Entrepreneur

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:06:00 +0000

Last summer Jacob started helping to mow our lawn. He often talked about wanting to mow neighbor's lawns to earn some money. At 10 I thought he was too young, who would hire a 10-year-old anyway? Well, this year he was determined to mow lawns and earn some money, he was 11 years old after all and much wiser than he was a year ago! This year we told him to go for it and he has.

On his own he created and distributed a flyer throughout the neighborhood. I thought maybe he would get a job here and there throughout the summer. Summer hasn't even officially started and the boy has been busy!

He now has three regular weekly customers, and has already earned over $100. That's big money for an 11-year-old.

Of course we are helping him a bit, I created a couple spreadsheets to help him keep his customers organized and Bob supervises the mowing a bit. In our neighborhood the front extension is a fairly steep little hill, so it's a bit challenging even for an adult to mow, Bob helps with that portion.

Jacob is learning all types of things from cultivating phone/communication skills, to time management, and money management. His goal is to earn enough money to buy stock in Apple. We are researching some options for that right now. But purchasing stock opens up a whole new avenue for learning about the stock market and the way our economy works.

We are so proud of his leadership and his work ethic. He didn't sit around talking about starting a business, he just got up and did it! It's inspiring to me and he is setting a great example for his younger siblings. These lessons that he is learning will serve him well for the rest of his life.

These are some of the books Jacob is working through this summer:

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy {this is on my to be read pile too!}
A Bluestocking Guide: Economics
Common Sense Business for Kids
Capitalism for Kids: Growing up to be your own boss

Small business owners are the heart of our country, and the opportunity for turning a passion into a business is really unlimited. We are hopeful that this little taste of being his own boss will serve him well in years to come.

First Holy Communion

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:18:00 +0000

On Saturday Anna received her First Holy Communion. She was both nervous and excited, she doesn't like being the center of attention. She did a wonderful job and it was a beautiful mass. Her sisters were almost as excited as she was to help her get ready in the morning.

Big brother Jacob helped serve at mass. I love this picture!

Our priest is a wonderful example for our children. So faithful and encouraging to both parents and children. Pray for our priests!

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe

God Bless you Anna!

Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:11:00 +0000

Whatever kind of mother you are, first mom, adoptive mom, waiting to be a mom, a spiritual mom....Happy Mother's Day to you.

"Jesus gave more glory to God his Father by submitting to his Mother for 30 years" St. Louis de Montfort

"The bond between Mother's and their children is one defined by love. As a Mother's prayers for her children are unending, so are the wisdom, grace, and strength they provide to their children." President George W. Bush

Homeschool Mother's Journal :: 5/11/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:40:00 +0000

In my life/homeschool this week…our dryer was finally repaired on Wednesday. 10 days without a dryer really isn't that much fun. Thankful it's working again!

In our homeschool this week…our new curriculum arrived in the mail. I love digging through the boxes and looking at everything, now I just need a spot for it all.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…in the past I had a link to a great Five in a Row planning page, that blog has recently gone private. I'm going to make my own planning page to share in a couple of weeks. What are you looking for in a planning page?

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…We took our first trip to Yogurt Palooza. Yum! Met some friends at the local Hands on Museum. The museum runs a discounted price in the evening, not only did we get a good deal, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

My favorite thing this week was…finishing the 21 day Ultimate Reset.

Things I’m working on…A couple of guest posts for other blogs, I'm excited to be working on both of them.

I’m reading…Thought I would share what the kids are reading. Since we finished up our Paths of Exploration, we started reading Abraham Lincoln: Friend of the People. We are all reading Devotional Stories for Little Folks Too (my kids never get tired of these books), and we are reading Coyote Autumn. So far not all the kids are loving this selection, but hopefully it will start moving a bit more quickly.

Recently Jacob read the book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy. He enjoyed it a great deal, so now he is reading Common Sense Business for Kids.

I’m cooking…Since finishing Beachbody's Ultimate Reset earlier in the week, I have been enjoying quinoa for breakfast. Quinoa and fruit are a great combination, actually, quinoa is really good with just about anything. I have a couple of recipes on my breakfast board. Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe?

I’m praying for…Anna. She is doing her First Holy Communion on Saturday!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food."

- St. Francis de Sales

Thankful for His Grace and Mercy

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Yesterday I had the opportunity to share a post at Truly Rich Mom, if you have a moment, go over and check it out.

Have a wonderful day!

Butterfly in the Wind

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:33:00 +0000

A child is a butterfly

in the wind:

some can fly higher

than others ~

but each one flies the best

that it can.

Why compare one

against the other?

Each one is different ~

Each one is special ~

Each one is beautiful.

~ Author Unknown

Homeschool Mother's Journal :: Dryer Woes ~ 5/4/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:15:00 +0000

In my life/homeschool this week…our dryer decided to quit working on Monday morning. Wouldn't you know, Mondays are always my biggest laundry day. Probably won't be fixed until next Monday at the earliest, ugh.

In our homeschool this week…we are just about finished with Paths of Exploration. Next week we will wrap up Trails West and our Johnny Appleseed study. I have been looking for a fun field trip to end this study, but all of the Johnny Appleseed festivals/celebrations are obviously in the fall.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…This week I wrote a blog post for The Homeschool Classroom, called 10 Ways to Wrap up the School Year.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…last weekend we went to see The Hunger Games with friends. I don't normally like those type of books/movies, but for some reason this particular series has captured my attention.

Questions/thoughts I have… Anyone have any experience with this reading program, Easy for Me Teaching Manual? I've never heard of it before and I'm intrigued. What caught my attention is that it's supposed to work for many different learning styles, learning quirks, etc. I'm hoping to work on teaching my youngest three to read starting in the fall, it might work for all of them?

Things I’m working on…I ordered our curriculum for next year. I'm happy with what I have chosen and just decided to order now so I don't second guess myself and try and spend the summer trying to re-invent the wheel. I look forward to getting the new materials in a few days.

I’m reading…lots of books on attachment and adoption, I listed some of them in the post here on attachment therapy.

I’m cooking… a few new and interesting foods over the last couple of weeks. Bob and I are on day 17 of BeachBody's 21 Day Ultimate Reset, it's definitely been a challenge and I will blog more about it in the future.

I’m grateful for…everything!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

We've been listening to this song a lot lately

Have a great weekend!

A Review :: Speed! Multiplication Card Game

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:54:00 +0000

Several months ago I was contacted by Julie, the creator of Speed!, to see if I was interested in reviewing a card game. Since one of my goals for this year was to incorporate more game time into our week, I eagerly said yes.

Now I remember why I rarely do reviews, because I'm embarrassed to admit how long I had this fun card game before we got around to playing it!

Speed! is an easy to play game that was created to help children learn and retain multiplication facts.

Once we finally sat down to play, it was very easy to get started and learn the rules. It is similar to a war type of card game. The goal is to get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible, before your opponent.

This card game is an excellent addition to our home. I had forgotten how fun it can be to play card games. I have to admit I don't really love playing board games, mostly because they can go on forever, Chutes and Ladders anyone?? But this game was quick, fun and challenging. We could play "best out of three" in just a few minutes. Plus, the bonus is the kids don't really even realize they are working on their math facts.

Here is a short video on how to play the game:

My older kids can easily play with me or with each other. I'm only sorry I waited so long to get around to playing. You can purchase Speed! through this Amazon link. This is a great resource to keep those math facts fresh throughout summer. Enjoy!

Linking up with Works for me Wednesday ~ A couple of my Works for Me Wednesday tips were featured in the new e-book "That Works for Me", because of this they are letting me share a coupon code if you are interested in purchasing the e-book. You can get $1 off, regular price is $8, with the code SAVE1

*Speed! was sent to me for the purposes of this review, all opinions are my own.

10 Ways to Wrap up the School Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Today you can find me at The Homeschool Classroom, where I'm writing about 10 Ways to Wrap up the School Year. Even if you are year rounders like us, it still feels really good to mark the end of a great year, and any time we have the honor of spending the days with our children, it's a great year. Enjoy!

Adoption isn't for Sissy's

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:29:00 +0000

As much as I would always contend we are a normal family, I would have to amend that now. Sometimes I think I have under estimated how significant the needs of my children are. I know normal is a loaded word, maybe typical would be a better choice, really who is "normal" anyway? I have always felt that one of my greatest callings of this blog is to advocate for adoption. To show others that just because our family was formed differently in the beginning doesn't make us any less of a family than anyone else's. I still wholeheartedly believe it, and will advocate the notion until I run out of words.

However, adoption is not normal.

● it's not normal to not be living with your birth mother/family

● it's not normal to be separated from your biological mother minutes after birth

● it's not normal to spend your first minutes/months/years in an orphanage

● it's not normal to spend many months with a foster family, only to be moved again

● it's not normal to be cared for by random people

● it's not normal to be neglected by your birth mother and spend the first few years of life in chaos

This is the reality of my children and so many children around the world. Ignoring, and refusing to acknowledge this reality doesn't help anything. Children who have suffered this kind of trauma, and please don't ever tell me this isn't a trauma, have the deck stacked against them from the get go.

What does this mean for my family and for families like mine? It means we have our work cut out for us. We can't parent the way that we were parented or like our friends parent their biological children. It means a whole paradigm shift of thinking, at least for my husband and myself. God put these particular six children in our home for a reason. It's up to us, through His grace, to rise to the challenge and help our children thrive, to be men and women who love and serve Him, and to reach their greatest potential, whatever that maybe.

While I wish I could erase the trauma portion of our children's beginning, and I wish I could alleviate the hurt that may always follow them throughout life, I would say "yes" to each of them again a hundred times over, a thousand times over. They are who they are because of the circumstances they have had to endure. My husband and I are the blessed ones chosen to help them navigate through these rough waters.

I'm thankful that God has opened our eyes to many things in the past several weeks. Thankful that we have so many resources available to our family and to our children. Thankful that God has entrusted us to care for these six wildly wonderful and unique individuals.

We are up to the challenge and so are our children. There are two verses from Philippians that I have always loved and are so applicable to life right now:

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests know to God" 4:6

"I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me" 4:13

Attachment Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Just when life is moving along at a nice pace, surprise! a little bump in the road appears. No matter how minor the bump, it's still a change in plans, my plans!.

For us, our bump in the road is the need for attachment therapy. I guess some sort of therapy was inevitable for our family, with having six children adopted from "hard places", I'm just surprised it happens to be this particular child.

I was missing some of the more subtle signs of attachment issues. When we finally talked to our social worker she said this is "absolutely attachment related". We have a fabulous social worker whom we have known since before we brought our oldest son home. She never said "duh, you should know this!". She simply said this is who you need to call and what you need to do.

We are now in the process of coordinating schedules to make a weekly standing appointment with the attachment therapist part of our new normal routine. We are looking forward to helping our daughter, and really, our entire family.

When we met with the therapist for the first time last week, she suggested some books and resources that may be helpful. I haven't had much time to go through all the suggestions myself, but I thought I would pass along the recommendations:

Heather Forbes Beyond Consequences
The Whole Brained Child
Parenting From the Inside Out
Attachment-Focused Parenting

Have you found any of these books particularly helpful? Anything that I should be reading that isn't on the list? Has attachment therapy been helpful for your family? I'm all ears!

{if you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment, please feel free to send me an e-mail at jen @ foreverforalwaysnomatterwhat.com}

Homeschooling with Baseball

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:02:00 +0000

Today I'm over at The Homeschool Classroom talking about ways to incorporate baseball into your homeschool day. Enjoy!

Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Today I'm over at The Homeschool Village writing about spring cleaning. The curriculum variety, not the mopping of floors variety!

Mother's Prayer for Her Children

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:06:00 +0000

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of my children.

I am humbled that You thought me worthy of watching over someone who is so precious to You. Equip me with all the wisdom, strength, and insight that I need to complete my assignment in a way that will be pleasing to You. Show me the way that I would take even as I instruct those ones whom You have entrusted to my care.

As I commit them into Your care, I trust You to keep them safe in all of their ways. Grant me an increased sense of discernment to recognize the work of the enemy in my children's lives. Give me the strength to battle against the forces that will seek to pull their heart away from You, to break their spirit and bend their will.

When I grow weary, strengthen my weary arms and renew my faith in Your ability to keep us all. By the authority that You have given me over the lives of my children, through Christ, labor the plans of the enemy and his agenda for destroying the purposes of God in my children. Guide my prayer life to strategically call forth the destiny of these little ones. Help me to secure the inheritance that You have reserved for them.

But most of all, Lord, in those times when the going gets tough, remind me first that children are only part of my reward for answering Your call. Reaffirm my worth when the world is telling me that I have no value, and let me find my validation and all that is truly worthwhile in You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

This beautiful prayer was on a holy card I received from the Cukierski Family

Homeschool Mother's Journal :: 4/13/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:51:00 +0000

In our homeschool this week…I'm planning our remaining weeks. The kids are all on track to finish their items {ie Math U See books} by the end of June. We won’t get through all of our Christian Studies or Latin, but we will pick up where we left off in August.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…we saw our out of town family last weekend. The kids were thrilled to get together with cousins and are counting down the days until we see them again in July.

My favorite thing this week was…celebrating my husband’s birthday.

What’s not working for us…eating Easter candy, glad it’s out of the house!

Things I’m working on…getting some new activities together for the younger kids

I’m reading…I just finished reading Growing Up Amish, still reading What’s Eating Your Child, and I’m starting to reread The Connected Child.

I’m cooking…Since brunch on Easter morning, not much of anything! We had a couple of gift cards that we used up, one for P.F. Chang’s which I think is one of my favorite restaurants. We went out for the birthday dinner on Thursday and we have eaten leftovers. Next week we get back to real life and home cooked meals.

I’m grateful for…a husband who takes good care of his health.

Happy Birthday...

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:02:00 +0000

to the best husband and father we could ask for!

I love this guy!

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:05:00 +0000

In the cross met death and life. The victorious Lord of life leads us in triumph through the gates of holiness into the eternal kingdom of our God.

Behold, I make all things new, says the Lord. Alleluia!

We went to mass at 8:00am this morning. Jacob was an altar server and was in charge of the incense, he was so excited. We came home and had family over for brunch.

The Pina Colada Cake was delicious!

What's a feast day without desserts?

the sacrifice jar is overflowing with jelly beans,

now we are enjoying a quiet lull before we head to more festivities and more food!

The boys had their clothes changed before I even got out of the van from church, so I only caught the girls in their Easter dresses.

We're enjoying a fairly warm spring day, spent with family and our Risen Lord!

Hope your day is spent with the ones you love too.

Happy Easter!

Birthday Treat :: Cannoli Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:55:00 +0000

We made a Cannoli Cake for Jacob's birthday last week. This cake kind of evolved from a brainstorming session we had. After Jacob tasted a cannoli at a local restaurant, he decided he wanted some for his birthday. I found these cannoli cones, as I wasn't too keen on trying to fry the cannoli shell.

While Jacob liked the idea of the cannoli cones, he wondered if he could somehow put the cannoli cones on top of a cake. Now, I love a good dessert, but I thought that was a bit over top. So, we finally settled on the idea of using the cannoli cream as a filling.

The cake was a big hit. It was good! The birthday boy approved.

Bob even brought home one little cannoli for the finishing touch on top.

I actually used a box mix, white cake doctored just a bit, added mini- chips to the batter as well as the cannoli cream. I followed the recipe from the cannoli cones for the cannoli cream, and used this recipe for the chocolate frosting.

It was a simple to make and tasted yummy. Lots of bang for my baking buck!

Hope you and your family have a blessed Holy Week and a wonderful Easter. Don't forget to start the Divine Mercy novena on Good Friday, one of my very favorites.

The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:21:00 +0000

Even though we have had some unexpected warm weather here in the midwest, it's still not quite time to start gardening. We're back to our normal unpredictable spring. Yesterday we had pouring rain and then hail. I dearly miss the 70 degree days we had a few weeks ago.

Last year was our first year with a compost bin. We decided we needed to start composting when we started making green smoothies. We were going through so much fruit that we needed to do something with the remains besides just throw it in the trash. We are anxious to get all that good decomposed "stuff" into the ground this spring.

We have opted not to continue with the square foot method for our garden. Our garden area is small enough that it doesn't seem necessary.

We learned some things from last year's garden, we won't be planting fennel or spearmint. I never did anything with either one. We planted too many tomatoes, we ate a lot, but some ended up going to waste before we could use them. We forgot to plant cucumbers and zucchini, and we were too late to plant lettuce. Hopefully we can change that this year.

What are your gardening plans for this year?

I'm linking up with The Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal :: Birthdays ~ 3/30/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:12:00 +0000

In my life/homeschool this week…well, it was much less hectic than last week. We made it through the week with no home repairs! I’m slowly getting our kitchen reorganized and reordered. I’m very much enjoying all of our new space.

In our homeschool this week…we finished up our Lewis & Clark unit this week. Next week we start our final Paths of Exploration unit, Trails West. I have talked about this program a lot, but I feel like the kids have learned so much this year.

My favorite thing this week was… we’re celebrating our oldest son’s birthday today, Jacob turns 11! We finished up our school for the week so we could go to lunch on Friday and enjoy the day.

Questions/thoughts I have… I have used workboxes for several years now. As the kids are getting older, the boxes are becoming more of a dumping ground for junk than an organized way to hold their school work. I’m thinking about finding a different way to store their books. Actually I’d like to revamp our entire school room, but I’m fresh out of ideas.

I’m reading…This week I finished up my 90 Day historical read through the Bible, I can check that goal off my list, and I’m still reading What’s Eating Your Child.

I’m cooking… We had Quinoa & Ham Cups this week, they were very good and so easy to make. The leftovers would make a great breakfast the following day. We are in the midst of birthday time so we have been treat making too. Next week I’ll share the cake we are making for Jacob, I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

I’m grateful for…Jacob’s birth family in Russia. We’re praying for them and thinking of them today. So thankful that we have the opportunity to parent him.

Birthday Treats :: Chocolate Covered Oreos & Rice Krispie Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:56:00 +0000

As I've mentioned before, we are in the midst of birthday season right now. Sarah recently turned 8 and Jacob turns 11 on Friday. 11! All of a sudden we have a tween in the house, how did that happen?

Anyway, we've been having fun pinning birthday treat ideas over the last few weeks. Although, I don't know about you, but I personally have to stay off Pinterest at night because sometimes it seems like all people pin is food!

Do you remember how fun it was when someone had a birthday at school and they brought in a treat? Or even better, when it was your birthday and you were able to bring in a treat? Does that still happen in school these days?? Well, my kids aren't in school obviously, so we decided to make treats to share with their Tae Kwon Do friends after class. It worked out great that Sarah and Jacob are our two TKD students and they share a birthday month. We picked a day in the middle to bring in treats for both of them.

Now, picking this treat tells a lot about each of their personalities. When I asked Sarah what treat she wanted to take, she said "how about a chocolate chip cookie?" Really, she would have been thrilled with a bag of cookies from the grocery store. Jacob? Not so much. That boy has watched too much Cake Boss!! Although he did decide on something relatively simple, wait to you see what he picked out for his actual birthday dessert! He keeps me on my toes for sure.

Sarah ended up choosing Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookies with Sprinkles, and Jacob chose Cake Mix Rice Krispie Treats with Sprinkles.

The Oreos were very simple, my one tip is to make sure you buy the double stuffed otherwise the treat stick won't fit in between the two pieces of cookie. I found that out the hard way ;)

Simply melt chocolate and dip away, add sprinkles. I let them harden on parchment paper in the fridge overnight. When they came back to room temp I put them in the bags.

The treat bags aren't necessary if you are making them for a party at home, but I thought with all the sweaty kid hands digging into a pile of treats, it was a bit more sanitary.

Plus, they looked a little extra cute too.

You can find the recipe for Cake Mix Rice Krispie Treats here. Her photos are more appealing than mine, oh and we did make the cake mix cookies with the remaining mix too!

Happy Treat Making & Eating!

Linking up with Works for Me Wednesday.

Advocating for Malcolm

noreply@blogger.com (Jen @ Forever, For Always...) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:44:00 +0000

If you have a moment, please head over to Conversion Diary and see if you can help Malcolm. Maybe you can help with a small donation, maybe you can help spread the word. Who knows, maybe he is supposed to be part of your family?

Most certainly you can pray for him, and for millions of other children around the world who need, and wait, for a loving family.