What's for dinner?

This is the 2nd time I've made this and it was really good! The marinade is amazing at tenderizing the meat.

beef with broccoli

Free Lapbooks at Homeschool Share

This is one of my very favorite sites! Great stuff! Hope you enjoy it. :-)

Free Lapbooks at Homeschool Share:

'via Blog this'

Ingles360: February task cards

Many neat resources here for pre-school and kindergarten! Lots of freebies and everything else is very economically priced.

Ingles360: February task cards: From now on, I will be offering a free set of monthly resources such as poems, decoration for the classroom, word wall cards, task cards, c...

Home School Adventures

I started my home school adventure with Teddy, 6 years ago!  I had so much fun teaching him.  I started with pre-school and I used Sing, Spell, Read and Write.  It was amazing how fast he learned all the letter sounds.   For Kindergarten we started using Sonlight Curriculum.  I had taught school for many years and probably could have handled kindergarten on my own, but wanted to have a curriculum that was planned out, so that I would be sure not to miss any of the important things.   The first few years I was definitely what one would call a "box checker".  I had to do EVERYTHING and check it all off.  

Last year we added 2 precious children to our family.  They both have their own needs, and finally after about a semester, I was able to figure out where they were and start working with them on their level.  We figured out that basically they are 2 years behind "normal", but then that is the great side of home schooling.  You can meet your children exactly where they are and go from there.   Still learning to juggle 3 children at 3 different levels was a huge change from just teaching 1.   Carla worked through Sing, Spell, Read and Write Kindergarten level and also started Rosetta Stone US English.  We use Singapore Math, and she worked through the Early Bird K level books.   Matthew, wasn't ready for the Kindergarten level work, so I pulled out files from my years of teaching K-4, and we also used a beginner English Program by Britanica.  Teddy worked in Sonlight's 3rd grade program which was the first of a 2 year study in US History.   He also added Rosetta Stone's Spanish program and continued with Piano.   

I will admit that for most of last year, I felt like I was just barely swimming with my head above water. ;-)  Toward the end of the year I started hearing more about the "workbox" method.  I started searching blogs and eventually bought the ebook that explained it thoroughly.   We actually tried it for a few weeks at the end of school, because I wanted to know if it was something that I thought would work for us.   

This year we started out using the system, as it was described in the book.  I couldn't find "boxes" so I bought baskets...and did a combination of baskets and folders.  After a 6 week term of trying to make this work for everyone, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't really working for us.  I didn't want to scrap the whole idea, as I thought it had some really good points.  I decided, that I would put in the kids folders, all of their "independent work".   While 2 of them work on their folders, I'm working with the other one, and then we just switch off. It has worked out really well, and we have just finished our 3 term, so are now half way through our school year. :-)   

I will look forward to "chatting" with you about our home school experiences.  Would love to hear any ideas or thoughts you might have.

Blessings,

Joy

--
Joy Anzalone
Manta, Ecuador

What's for dinner?

Friends on Face Book have been asking for recipes when I mention what we had for dinner, so I decided, I would just start posting them on here.  I doubt that I will post everything I cook...after all that could get really boring!  :-)  This first one, is simple and plain, but my family enjoys it.

Creamed Tuna and Vegetables
This recipe is from "The Wycliffe International Cookbook"

Drain and combine, reserving all liquids:
1 cup tuna or any cooked fish
1 1/2 cups cooked, diced carrots
1 1/2 cups cooked, diced potatoes
1 cup cooked peas
3 tablespoons chopped onion
(I just cook 2 1/2 to 3 cups of frozen mixed veggies for the carrots and peas.)
Combine separately in skillet and cook until bubbly:
1/4 cup cooking oil or shortening, (I used margarine)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
Add slowly, stirring until it thickens:
2 cups liquid, reserved liquids and milk
Combine vegetables with sauce and put in a greased baking pan.  Cover with pie crust or buttered crumbs.  Bake at 350 F for 20 to 30 minutes.

Topical Fruit "Ice Cream"

Ok, this really isn't Ice Cream... but my kids didn't know the difference.  It was very yummy and a yummy way to get the kids to eat more fruit! :-)  I got the idea from the "Jamie Oliver 30 minute Meals".


I added 2 frozen peeled bananas to my food processor, along with frozen papaya, and some frozen strawberries.  I started processing them, and added between 1/2 cup and 1 cup of vanilla yogurt. (Our yogurt here is more like a drink than what you get in the US, so you may need to add more) You just want to get it the consistency of soft serve ice cream.   Then I added about a tablespoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.  At this point it tasted pretty good, but my family has a sweet tooth, so I added about a 1/4 cup of "lite sugar" (a white sugar and stevia mix, it is much sweeter than just plain sugar and you only need to use about half the amount you would normally use).  I then filled up little dessert cups that we have and stuck them in the freezer, to be ready to serve after lunch.

Sunday Services

Today I awoke to a rainy Sunday morning.  A couple weeks ago, when we had rain, our attendance took a nose dive, so we were expecting about the same this morning, but were surprised to end up with a great attendance of 148!  The ladies class was full, in fact we ran out of lesson hand outs.

2 sweet little girls were baptized after the morning service.  It is exciting to see God working in the lives of our families!!

This evening we are having our annual meeting.  Tony will be introducing Darwin as our new assistant pastor!  We are so excited to be taking this step.  Please be praying with us for Darwin, Jessica and their 2 sweet kids as they make the adjustment to full time ministry.  Also be praying for the church as they take on the responsibility of a Pastor and his family.

This coming week, we would appreciate your prayers for the group from Battlefield Baptist Church in VA.  They will be arriving in Ecuador on Tuesday evening, and in Manta Wednesday.  We have lots of things planned.  Pray for open doors.  Good health for all of them.  

Blessings to each of you as you start your new week!

Joy

--
Joy Anzalone
Manta, Ecuador

Starting the new year is always exciting!  The kids and I have been back in school for a couple weeks now.  They are doing really well.  Both Carla and Matthew are reading short vowel words and Teddy is moved on to bar-graphs from fractions. :-) Many days it often feels like that my whole life is tied up in homeschooling these little ones. 

We are preparing for the church's 7th anniversary, which will be Feb. 5.  This coming week a group from Battlefield Baptist Church, in VA. will be visiting us.  We are looking forward to having them here!  On Saturday the 4th, the ladies are having a special tea, and we are excited that Mrs. Skinner will be speaking.  I know that she will be a real blessing.  On Sunday, Pastor Skinner will be preaching in the morning service.  That evening we will have our annual dinner and program reviewing the history of the church.  This year we are preparing for 200!  So happy that several of the ladies have stepped up to help organize and cook for this special event.

This coming Sunday, Tony will be introducing Darwin and Jessica as our first Assistant Pastor!  This is a huge step for the church, but we are so happy about it!  We appreciate your prayers for them as they step into this role, and as the church learns what it means to take care of a pastor and his family.

It is always exciting to see God working and to be a part of it!

Blessings to you and yours,

Joy