Matching Sisters Day

All of us polka dotted and/or vintage-y sisters decided to pose for a picture together last Sunday. 

Our awesome brother Paul took the pictures for us (along with a friend from church who wanted to hang out. Hi, Liberty!). That's his goofy hand there as he waits for us to position our littlest sister in exactly the right place. ; )

It was a ton of fun, but we sure did miss our oldest sister, Perry, who wasn't able to come since she was sick. We'll have to match again another day, sis. ; )

I'm Back!

Yes, I'm here again. There's a lull in the storm of things to do, so I thought I'd pop in and tell you what I'm grateful for...

The auntastic adventures I had while Aimee and I stayed at Perry and Tyler's house for a few days helping out. Chap and Chum were so hilarious and adorable with their clip-on ties, cowboy boots, and sunglasses (that don't quite stay on their heads or their noses). Their two favorite things definitely are playing outside (except one time when the sprinklers were on--then Chum was happy to just sit on the porch with me) and eating. (Eating a lot. Especially if it is "callilip", known to everyone besides toddlers as cantaloupe. The score was 8 for Chap and 5 for Chum.) ; ) We also had a great time with Perry and Tyler when they were available. Perry took us grocery shopping and treated us to Starbucks. (I got to try out their Chai tea for the first time!!)

My birthday celebration. On my actual birthday, I had a nice quiet day hanging out with my family. My two littlest sisters treated me to a treasure hunt (with very hard clues! They had recently got a kid spy book from the library, so there were a lot of really creative ones.) with a package of cards they had bought together as a prize at the end. Then all of us sibs (and Mom for awhile) played a crazy game of Ultimate Monopoly. Near the end it was just Paul and I switching back and forth, back and forth. We called it a draw, especially since it was time to eat Chik-fil-a and ice cream since Dad was home. Soooo yummy!!!! After that they showered me with presents and appreciations (that were so sweet I almost cried). It was truly a great day!

My other birthday celebration. ; ) Because my birthday landed on a Monday, the Perry and the Tyler and their very silly babies weren't able to come so they had us over that Saturday for more celebration. Ice cream, politics, silly babies, my local aunt and uncle, and leftover wedding cake from my cousin's wedding combined to make it another great celebration. (And the gifts too! More on one of them later...) ; )

Evangelism training. We are going through the Way of the Master training videos with two different groups (north and south since we are so spread out!) from church. It has been great to be able to get to know these church friends better and to grow in our ability to share the Good News. (And this lucky pastor's family gets all the info twice!) ; ) Please pray for me that I would get over my shyness and actually reach out to people.

Reclaiming Beauty webinar by the Botkin sisters. My mom and a friend of hers are leading this study together for their own daughters (that includes me!!) and some other mother/daughters from a homeschool group. It has been so amazing!! I've been learning exactly what God thinks of the whole topic, that I must dress as His ambassador and an example to my younger Christian sisters, and that it really is okay to enjoy it as long as I keep it in its right place just like any other art. ; ) (If you want to find out more about it, you can download the first episode for free here.) It's also been a ton of fun too. ; )

Anna and I spent a several sister-ly hours decorating our study guide notebooks together. (Yes, that's us! Looking weird and horribly lit.) ; )

My book on the left, hers on the right. I love how our different styles came out in the process. ; )

Over the past several weeks, we've also gotten to know some girls that we had never met before, collected a ton of info for our style files, figured out face shapes and colors (vaguely, anyway) ; ), and I had the insanely irritating and wonderful privilege of doing an entire closet inventory. ; ) Which actually turned out very helpful when we went on our field trip to our local modest (unfortunately Mormon) thrift store together. We all found some amazing things and had a great time. ; )

Our Ladies' Bible study. It only happens once a month, but it has been amazing so far. We are studying through "Living the Gospel in Relationships" by Tara Barthel. We like it so much that we've actually been watching it as a family and gleaning a lot.

Stories. What would a blog post by Kate be without her stories? (Don't answer that question. It was purely rhetorical.) In my "Year of Editing Six Large Works", I have four down and two to go! I just finished editing "Fiddler's Bargain" last night, and I can't wait to move on to its companion story. (When I say these are edited that doesn't mean they won't get more later on, but it is a step forward.) ;) "The Book of Dreams" project has progressed in one exciting way--Perry and Tyler have offered to give me a free cover!!! (That's my birthday gift from them. Aren't they just the best?!!!) I have a story spinning in my mind, but I'm not sure it will ever make it out of the idea stage. (The fact that I have 7k+ words does help to encourage me a bit. I'll share an excerpt of the beginning some time here...)

My crazy family. Right now my mom and I have ganged up on my littlest sister and are tickling her mercilessly. Other fun times include another treasure hunt Em made for Blue and I yesterday, watching the second National Treasure movie together yesterday on VidAngel (Anna and I love quoting Riley Poole to each other), coming up with eighty business/book/movie/ministry ideas a day, and listening to Mom read a book about Marco Polo aloud. Pretty great. ; )

That's just a bit of the awesome things that have been keeping me busy. ; ) What have you been doing?

Gluten-Free Shortbread

I've been experimenting with using coconut flour for gluten-free, nut-free baking. My first project (that turned out surprisingly very nicely!) was a batch of miniature cupcakes.

This success, leftover cream from someone's birthday ice cream, and an abundance of frozen strawberries led me to want to experiment more. I decided I would make us gluten-free, nut-free, coconut flour shortbread with whipped cream and strawberry sauce for toppings. (That's a mouthful to say and to eat!) I would make it for breakfast. It would be awesome. I took this recipe but made sure to read the comments and eventually decided (after a couple of tests) that it needed extra butter and an egg. But some people said two eggs and some said one. And was I supposed to sift my coconut flour? It didn't say. So...RESEARCH! It was fun. And crazy. If at first you don't succeed, Google again. I found a great article about coconut flour in general, egg ratios, and sifting. Hooray! It's already hard in the first place to find an alternative flour shortbread recipe that takes just coconut flour and no expensive-as-ground-gold almond flour. If you find one it takes honey or maple syrup. Bummer! We were all out of alternative sweeteners, so I'd have to use refined sugar. People have filled the internet up with tricks for switching from cane sugar to honey but never vice versa. Except this article. Hooray again! (I just read the tips part, so I can't recommend the whole article.) Anyway, it turned out very yummy and successful; and I'll share my version of the recipe in a minute here.

I'm pretty happy with this alternative flour thing, but a couple words of advice before you get started. 1. Follow the measurements exactly. Coconut flour is a wild animal. 2. Make sure your flour is finely ground. Each of these recipes failed when I used a coarser flour (or the wrong one). 3. Coconut four and almond flour bought in bulk can be the same texture, color, and even weight. Careful, this is an expensive mistake to make since they act totally differently so there's no salvaging your recipe. ; ) 4. When in doubt--RESEARCH!

Coconut Flour Shortbread Cookies
You will need:
6 TBS coconut flour, sifted
5 TBS melted butter, cooled
1 egg
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 tsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients until not lumpy. (Coconut flour can be weird!) Roll balls and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. Smash with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before removing from sheet. Serve with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

And if you like videos... 

My younger sister Pearl made one of how to make it!

And whipped cream...

And strawberry sauce! (Yes, those are my clumsy hands.) ; )

Enjoy!

Filter It!

You all know just how hard it is to find a movie the whole family can watch. It's a little more complicated for us since we have such a wide age range; but lately we have found a couple of really, really good ones. Masterful stories that don't scare the wits out of everyone. Good acting. Great characters. Only problem is that they aren't always PG. So we use VidAngel! Mom goes through the list of filters and sets what she would like taken out according to our specific concerns. Then we rent the movie for just a dollar! It's really simple, and you can read more about it all on their site. They are better at explaining it than I am. ; ) So, about the movies...

Woman in Gold

"Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds star in this remarkable true story of one woman's battle for justice. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, Maria Altmann (Mirren) seeks to retrieve her family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Together with her inexperienced but plucky young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Reynolds), she embarks upon a journey which takes them all the way to the heart of the Austrian establishment and the U.S. Supreme Court."

This movie was recommended to us by another homeschooling family with the only caution being about language in one scene. My mom was able to skip exactly where that was, but it would have been way easier to use a filter if we had known about it at the time. It was a really great movie! Set in modern times with flashbacks to World War II, we loved the biographical element of this story (especially since it's about one of our favorite people groups and parts of history). It's definitely not a pull-out-all-the-stops action movie, but instead it's a true to life drama based on a real life story. Really helps you to connect with history. ; ) There were a few intense moments, but never anything that was over PG. (Because you cannot filter out worldview, please be aware of some slight feminism.)

The King's Speech

"After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce of MOMENTO), Bertie (Academy Award nominee Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall of SWEENEY TODD), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Winner of four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor, The King's Speech is based on the true story of King George VI's quest to find his voice."

[Eek! That was a long description!] This movie is another World War II biography, and the first R-rated movie I've ever seen. That's right, it was rated R for a bit of language scattered throughout and especially one particularly shocking scene. The filters took it right out, leaving us a family friendly movie with superb acting (Mr. Darcy and the fairy godmother, anyone?) and a marvelous story! ; ) I personally really enjoyed it. 

The Book Thief

"Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson star in this inspiring film based on the bestseller about Liesel, (Sophie Nlisse), a girl adopted by a German couple (Rush and Watson) who hide a Jew (Ben Schnetzer) from Hitler's army. Soon Liesel discovers that words and imagination provide an escape from the events unfolding around her family in this extraordinary film directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey)."

This movie, filtered of course, is another really amazing World War II story!!! (I'm seeing a theme here!) The worldview (especially the narrator) is a bit odd, so we kept this one just to the older kids. It's a really amazing biographical story that felt so real we had a hard time believing it was a fictional story.

I'm not biased or anything, but I'm gonna spend a little more time on this movie than the others. Maybe because the theme is about books. Maybe because I loved the characters so much. Maybe because Geoffrey Rush is so awesome (and he's been in two of these movies I've mentioned). Or maybe because there are so many good quotes. ; )

I loved the father/daughter relationship between these two! It was so amazing and sweet. ; )

Two main characters...an awesome way of putting their different personalities. Max was such a good older brother to Liesel, and his inspiration helped her very much through hard times.

So, there you are... just a couple of movies that we have all enjoyed recently. I hope you watch them (on filters) and enjoy them just as much a we did! ; )

Just a couple of cautions about using VidAngel: They don't filter the previews or the movie covers, so be careful in that area. Also, the filter descriptions are very explicit, so it's usually best to have an adult set them. We have noticed that a couple of times the filters are off and a few things have come through that we didn't want, so watch at your own risk! (We have watched both The King's Speech and The Book Thief on VidAngel, and the filters were just perfect.)

Story Project: The Twin Arrows

One of my numerous projects last year was writing the first draft of a novelette called "The Twin Arrows". (Last year should probably be named "Year of Three Novelettes and Three Short Stories", and this one is definitely "Year of Editing Six Large Works". Sorry, I'll get back to the what I was saying...) It was a medieval adventure. A journey of danger, hope, and most importantly trust. Each protagonist had to deal with their own doubts and fears in various ways along the journey. Disguises. Horseback chases through the rain. Dungeons. Silver arrows. A father who gave them the very gifts he knew they would need and the companions that would guide them best. That's the story. (And I probably made it sound cooler than it actually is...) ; P

I couldn't tell if the story was good or not (a mother is always blind to her children's faults); so I decided to put the first six chapters (out of nine or ten) on Noble Novels and ask the other authors their opinions. I've gotten some really good feedback so far that has helped me to craft the story better, and I look forward to seeing what they say about chapter six when it posts next month. ; )

Would you like to read them? Please be aware that you won't be getting the whole story, and it is an early draft. You are also quite welcome to comment on them and give your own feedback--everything helps! ; )

Chapter One: Father and the Sisters
Chapter Two: Boy
Chapter Three: A Place of Protection
Chapter Four: Anger
Chapter Five: Not a Sound

Next month I plan to have the next chapter up, and that will be the last one there is on the internet. I hope to publish it as a book someday, so in this "Year of Editing Six Works" I'll need to do some editing of the last few chapters. (I'm kinda' glad I won't be sharing them soon, because those parts need a bit more work.) ; )

I hope you enjoy reading these!!

If you were curious what last year's two other novelettes were, they are two companion stories set during the time of the American Civil War. What makes them different than all other books about the time period? War is wrong. Neither North or South will solve their problems by fighting. Only the Gospel is the answer. ; )

It's been fun. ; )

Discovering, Breathing, Enjoying, and So On...

Yes, I have been extremely busy! You can just look at our church calendar and see at a glance 2/3s of what is filling our time. Add to that birthdays, celebrations, social events, and family ministry--wow!

Today's blog post is going to be a little different. So many awesome things have happened that I'm going to just share a few pictures of some of my favorite experiences. ; )

We celebrated Chum's birthday by feeding "eatmeal" to ducks at the park. He had a ton of fun!!

Chap and Uncle Paul watching the ducks.

Love that sweet smile!!!

Yeah, this is what I mostly did. ; )

On that same day, Pearl and I discovered our first Little Free Library! We had the back of our van full of rejected stock for our used book business, so we decided to take the time to fill the library with an assortment of books. It was so much fun, and we can't wait to do it again! ; )

Our evenings have been mostly occupied by church Bible studies. It's been a really good time of learning and fellowship! Mom, Aimee, Anna, and I are also going through the Botkin's Reclaiming Beauty study with some friends of ours and their homeschool group. We just had our third session today, and it's been really good so far.

Anna and I spent a huge chunk of one day decorating the backs of our notebooks with things we love. (Mine is on the left and hers is on the right.) ; ) It was a great sister togetherness time, and we were sad when the project ended. ; )

What else have I been doing? Well, living, experimenting (more on that later), discovering (love this creative community!), editing ("Mara"), breathing (glad to hear it, aren't you?), cleaning, studying (real Mount Sinai!!!), enjoying, loving, and learning (the Levites were presented to God as a "living sacrifice" just like we are to be!). 

Oh, and um... stories... Perry Elisabeth is hosting a short story contest!!! I'm so excited, and I can't wait to start on my submission. Also, if you go to my page on Noble Novels, you'll find the fifth part of "The Twin Arrows". (The suspense is building!!)

It's been an awesomely blessed week and a half! How was yours?

Josh Gwoban

Happy Leap Day, everyone! I hope you are enjoying this day since it only comes every four years. (Well, presidential elections do too, but that's a totally different story.)  I don't have a lot of time for blogging at the moment even if this day is "extra", but I thought I'd share with you a few hilarious videos we recently discovered. (Please be mindful of the fact that YouTube is a secular site. I also cannot wholehearted endorse the words of the first song since I've never been able to understand them all.) ; ) Enjoy!

Let's say you take a dramatic song like... maybe this...

\

and you do something like this to it...

Then you get us singing along to the dramatic version in husky little kid voices and just cracking up over it. (Add to that that we are coming off a cold so we're husky anyway...it's pretty great!) Poor Mr. Gwoban, though. I bet he's never been able to sing that song normally again! Especially after this...

Pretty awesome, eh? ; P