African Groundnut Sauce

Yesterday we made African Groundnut Sauce served over white rice, and ham (but I don't think that part was African).  The recipe was in my teacher's manual for week 28 MFW Explorers to 1850.  We read about the Zulu Wars in South Africa in the early 1800s.  The sauce included natural peanut butter and tomatoes, although I used some tomato sauce because I didn't have any fresh ones.  We all ate it, but I don't think I'll make it again.  I love making food from different countries as part of our school.

On another note, we were driving today and suddenly Matthew yelled, "I see an M!"  Since I was at a red light, I took a picture of his "M".  Can you see it?

Our House - Family of 8

God blessed us with an amazing house we were able to pay cash for!  It was a foreclosure, so we were able to get it at a great price and still have money left to fix it up.  It is 2800 square feet with 5 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a large living room, dining room and an extra family room!

Before we moved in, we had to replace most of the electrical and plumbing.  We also had to put in a furnace, air conditioning, hot water heater, and purchase all of the appliances.  We also covered up one of two basement stairs and took out a hot tub!  Yes, I said hot tub!  It was gross...

We painted the master bedroom (there was a walrus on the wall!) and the bathroom, which was purple sponge paint!

Laminate wood flooring went into the kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom.  Fresh carpet went down in the living room and up the stairs.  Lastly, Kevin and the kids put up a tile back splash in the kitchen that is beautiful.  Here are some before and after pics.

After we moved in, Kevin and the older kids painted 3 of the kid's bedrooms and laid carpet in 2 of them.  Poor Daniel had a hot pink room for a year, LOL!

The last big indoor project we (I really mean Kevin) did was paint and lay laminate wood floor in our family room, which we also use for school.  It's beautiful now and my favorite room in the house!  What do you think? 

And that's the house that God blessed us with!

Homeschool Update

This school year, Caleb is in 6th grade, Rebekah is in 4th, and Joshua is in K, although he moved to 1st grade in March.  I am still using My Father's World, doing the 4th year of the family cycle, Exploration to 1850.  We have enjoyed every year of the family cycle so far, this one is no exception.  We just finished learning about the Louisiana Purchase, and have been playing the game Ticket to Ride.  One big change that we have made this year is switching our writing curriculum to Institute for Excellence in Writing.  I will do a more in depth post about it later, but it is working very well for my reluctant writer. 

Above, some of the kids are posing in front of our botany science experiments (Apologia).  Can you tell in the photo below that they changed color?

This experiment is to test phototropism.  We are growing bean seeds, one in the light, and one in a dark cup with only a small hole in it.

I've gotten out of the habit of taking pictures of the kids school time, but I'll be making more of an effort now.  Below is Caleb's Valentine card box, designed and constructed by him!

Melty beads have become a favorite past time around here.

We also now have a membership to a local children's museum.  They can paint and the mess isn't in my kitchen!

I'm Still Alive!

It's been a couple years since I've posted on here... life kinda just happened!  Since I last posted, we've added two babies and a house! 

First came the house, a foreclosure that needed a lot of work.  You can see that I'm very pregnant in this picture!

Then came Daniel.  It was a crazy November and December!  While I was having a baby, workers were fixing our house.  We brought a bouncy seat and a camping chair so I could nurse the baby and he could be with us while we painted.  We finally moved in two weeks before Christmas.  Here's a recent picture of Daniel.  He was helping to make pie for Pi Day!

Life continued to be busy, and then we found out we were expecting another boy!  Yep, we now have 5 boys and 1 girl.  Here is our latest edition: Peter.

That's an update on our crazy, hectic, but joy-filled life!  Here are a few more recent pictures of the kids.  Caleb is 11, Rebekah is 9, Joshua is 6, Matthew is 4, Daniel is 2, and Peter is 5 months.