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Christianity, life

Communication is Key

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Here in the NerdFamily we support Compassion International. We believe in the work they do and I encourage you all to support them too! But onto my point.

I was reading my facebook  feed (that Compassion is on;) and they had a couple of posts that really convicted me. See I have a nasty confession… I have never written my sponsored child. Frankly, I never knew what to say and I figured he didn’t want to hear about my life. Then I saw a couple of posts. In both The Impact of Letter Writing and There is Power in Sponsor Letters, they talk about how important their sponsor letters have been.

I then realized how prideful and sinful I have been. I felt so self-conscious at the idea of sitting down and writing what ever was on my heart. What would he think of me? But it isn’t about me. How dare I withhold myself because of fear and pride? How dare I withhold the affirmation and love God has placed in my hands to give?

I need to go and write a letter now. You need to go sponsor a child or bless someone in what ever way God has put in your reach!

Food

Freaky Kit Kats

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I remember when I found some white chocolate Kit Kats NerdDad said that you shouldn’t mess with something like that. Well, then the Kit Kats that have been released in Japan are going to blow his mind. They have released flavors like miso, green tea, and chili. Most of them sound gross but that is probably because I think of pairing them with chocolate and that probably isn’t how it works;). What do you think?

Food

It’s My Party (Top Chef Masters)

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This week’s competitors! Marcus Samuelson has been on Top Chef before and is always impressive! I didn’t recognize Monica Pope, Thierry Ratereau and David Burke. But Carmen Gonzalez seems familiar but I am not sure from where.

For the quick fire they were doing the grilled cheese for Kelly. I love cheese on the outside of the sandwich! It makes a great crispy crust if you do it right! So I think that Thierry was on the right track. I would worry that David’s cream cheese would just be to runny. Carmen’s combo with manchego and tomato could be really good. But the most interesting to me was Monica’s Mediterranean grilled cheese. And Kelly agreed with me.
So our elimination challenge is a birthday party for Mekhi Phifer. It is a soul food party. Monica got to choose her protein first and no one else could use it. That is an awesome advantage. I don’t think I had ever seen the stairs in the Whole Foods market before.
Thierry is doing farro and I think he is going to have to be very careful to make sure it is done. Carmen left her stew behind at the Top Chef kitchen so she had to go get it while the clock is running down while she is gone. Monica and Thierry jumped in to help out Carmen while she was gone. Then they burned Carmen’s yucca. I have to say through everything Marcus is a bit more competitive than I thought he would be.
I love that Gayle is back! Everything looks yummy! I would love to try Monica’s dish. Marcus seemed to be struggling to keep up with the plating but people kept coming back so that may be the problem. Thierry’s roasted cauliflower and his brussel sprout slaw both sound good! I think that Marcus and Monica are going to move on. It was interesting that David had never done the pickled watermelon before but it was a big hit. The judges said Monica’s shrimp was undercooked. That may cost it for her.
Carmen won with 15 1/2 stars. Maybe her mash burning was a huge blessing in disguise! The second place chef who will also move on was Marcus.
So just 2 more weeks before we get to the winners’ round!

TV, Video

Why I Love Dance

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I love watching dance. While I have no talent I have always loved but, with the dancing shows that are on I can’t watch them with my kids. I find it so disappointing that there isn’t more just straight dance that isn’t about skin and sex. As much as I like So You Think You Can Dance it is just a little too sexy for my kids. But I loved the Macy’s Star of Dance segment this week for my whole family! Travis Wall is a great choreographer! This is just a great piece that really seems to exemplifies all I love in dance!

The NerdPie loved all the acrobatic moves and the fact there was a ballerina;). My boys loved the fact that there were more boys than girls dancing! What do you think?

Food

Sandies

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Yesterday I wanted to make something yummy for dessert but I am out of chocolate chips (Gasp! Shocking I know;). I am trying to use up all my “desserty” pantry ingredients before I buy another big bag of chocolate chips from Costco. My other challenge is that I only have 3 eggs right now. While that would be more than I would need to make the box of brownies or cake mix I have in the pantry. I really don’t like being out of eggs;).

This recipe is super easy and doesn’t call for eggs! My Better Homes and Gardens cookbook calls them Sandies but I could swear that they taste a lot like these cookies I used to get as a kid that I think were Mexican Wedding Cookies. But anyway, they were quick and a big hit with everyone. Not overly sweet but the perfect treat when you want a little something without chocolate.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Procedure:
Cream your butter then add your granulated sugar and continue to blend. Then add the water and the vanilla, blend completely. Then blend flour into the mixture in batches. If it get too thick for your mixer, continue by hand (I did everything with my stand mixer). After all the flour is incorporated add the pecans and blend those in too. Scoop balls that are about 1 inch (the smallest of the 3 Pampered Chef scoops) and place on the cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 19 minutes or until the bottoms just start to turn golden. Remove to a rack to cool completely. Then put cooled cookies into a plastic bag with the powdered sugar and toss. Then eat!
Makes about 3 dozen.

Uncategorized

Stop Bow Loss!

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I love how cute all the little girls’ bows and flowers are but (there is always a but;) they get lost. These are fairly pricey little gems and then you let your little girl out of the house with them and they just don’t always make it home with it. But I saw this great solution posted over at Babes in Hairland. Go and wear hair bobs in good health!

Frugal Homeschooler, science

Frugal Homeschooler: The Ear

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The joy of homeschooling is that you are in the driver’s seat. So you can choose to study what ever you want. You know each family has little games and such you play? Well, I always do the “I am going to eat you up” thing. So I told NerdPie that I wasn’t going to eat her ears because she needed them to hold up her glasses but I was going to eat NerdBug’s. She said she was sure he needed them but when I asked why (the hole would still be in there to his ear;) she wanted to know too. Thus inspired our morning of ear study!

First we started by reading an article together from Kids Health. It layed out all the parts of the ear and what their jobs are. It was presented well and the kids really liked it.
Then we did a little bit of seat work. For the older 2 kids I went to Enchanted Learning. They had a diagram with blank lines and a list of parts. Each part had a definition to go with the name and then the kids had to place them on the diagram. Enchanted Learning does have the diagrams available perfectly formatted for printing but you have to be a paid member for those. These were the free versions;). There was also an answer key so I didn’t have to figure it out.
Then for the younger 2 I went to Edupics for a simple picture of an ear for them to color. While it may not have furthered their real knowledge of the ear, it did work on their hand eye coordination. Look how nicely the Nerdling stayed in the lines!
There you have a simple morning of free learning just because someone asked a question!

Food

Meal Plan Monday

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Hey guys! I hope that you are having a great week! I am getting bored with my standards so I may have to find some new recipes to try soon! But for this week, here we go!

Monday: Spinach, Corn and Chicken Enchiladas with Beans and Rice
Wednesday: Pasta Bake
Thursday: Corned Beef Hash
Friday: Shrimp, Spinach and Gnocchi in a Butter Garlic Sauce with Buttery Rolls

Fresno, politics

Tea Party Without Tea

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This was the sight as I walked up to my first tea party. I admit it, I wasn’t completely sure about the Tea Party thing. While I agree with the premise I was a little afraid that the crowd my be a little, oh what should I call it? The fringe element? But I want to be more educated and informed of local politics so I went.

I was a little underwhelmed at the crowds in the stands. One local news channel says that 4000 people came but I wouldn’t say it was all at once;). I have to say that unless you were coming to hear someone specific or are completely new to the conservative movement, it isn’t really worth coming to sit in the stands to listen. Maybe I am saying that as someone who already reads a fair amount of politics on the internet .

But there were booths, booths and more booths. We had booths with petitions, local candidates, state wide campaigns with a few candidates, and then booths that were selling stuff. Some of the stuff was just that some vendor had bought a booth. Like BRE selling boxes and boxes of dvd’s. But there was a lot of “Tea Party” memorabilia being sold. I thought this booth for women’s jewelry was a bit funny. Not wrong or anything but funny.

Overall I walked through the concourse at the stadium and got a lot of information from the candidates (which I will blog more about later).  I got to meet and talk with a few candidates and heard some interesting things. I think I will probably be getting more involved in the Tea Party movement and will probably attend another one in the future. A side note: I was shocked that I didn’t see 1 person I know. I go to a conservative church and have politically active friends so I was shocked to not see anyone. Not that it matters but it was shocking;).

Oh, before I end this long droning post. Best answer from a candidate! I was talking to Lawrence Naritelli who is running for Governor. I asked him what his big issues were and one of them is water. Now in my head a bell goes off because it is a huge issue here but not really seen as something the Governorship can do much about (since it is the Federal government causing all the trouble). It really annoys me when a candidate just picks up what ever issue is a hot one in the area even if it is something they will not be involved in if elected. So I asked him what he would do about it if he is elected. He had an answer! He said that the sheriff has immediate physical jurisdiction with the actual pumps but they need an order to turn them on. So as Governor he would issue an order for the pumps to be turned on. Now I don’t know how definite of a solution that is but I was impressed he had an actual action he would do. So I deem that best answer from a candidate for the day!