Crocheting With Joyce and The SF Gals

"I take on inanimate objects and win!" Joyce Taylor

We had a great time learning a few basic crocheting stitches during our last meeting. Joyce brought books, several different samples of yarn, different crocheting and knitting needles, some of her completed creations and a beautiful openness of the labor and love that goes into each project. Some of her advice was to think about your project and purchase the correct yarn for the correct project. We were also introduced to bamboo and ergonomic crocheting needles and circular needles for knitting. One throw she shared with us had beautiful designs and stitch work. She called it her "phone blanket" because she created it while talking on the phone with her daughter while she was away at college. As we sat there in awe over her work and thinking it was so beautiful-and it truly was, that's when Joyce shared the above advice. She realized after all that time and work that she had put into creating her "labor of love" that she had used "cheap" yarn and she wasn't thrilled on the color. So, consider your project and try and foresee the outcome of its use so you purchase the write materials for your project. She showed us where on each wrapper of yarn it gave details that stated the needle size to use, the material and washing instructions and amount of how much was on the roll. Depending on what stitch you are doing, you might need to "check your gauge" to make sure you are using the correct stitch at the right time. Here are some books that she shared with us:

Knit and Purl- Knight

Beyond the Square- Edie Eckman

Leisure Arts Magazines (various knitting and crocheting ideas and projects)

There's definitely a small learning curve when it's your first time that comes with holding the yarn taut so you can stitch it correctly. I'm looking forward to starting a few projects after the baby is born. Sam has crocheted three scarves since our get together. Heather was plowing through her scarf that she was working on. Collen was working on a beautiful knitting project. Why don't you share a picture when you're finished! I know a few others were excited by the instant gratification of creating a chain that night! What a sweet time we had fellowshipping with one another! The salad was so yummy as usual! A special THANK YOU to the Dollhouse Girls for opening their home and sharing their sweet hospitality with us!!

Next month we're talking STRAWBERRIES! I'm still surprised at how many people have not gone out to the strawberry fields yet! Here's your chance!:) We'll be meeting at Favorite Farms at 10 am on March 21st. Our next meeting will be held at my home. All details are on our Savoir Faire group at www.classicallifeschooling.ning.com . Also, go to www.jewelrysupply.com to look into the crystals for our flip-flop project in April.

Blessings to you!

Amanda:)

Getting Ready For Strawberry Picking

Push play to listen to this song with the post:) This is a multisensory post-LOL!



It's Februaury and that means in Florida strawberry picking season is coming! As soon as I heard this song last year, I started imagining the day of picking while playing this song on the way to the field. Of course in my head, it's an ideal day with the sun glistening through the tree leaves, music in the air, strawberry baskets swinging in my children's hands with smiles on their precious faces, they're skipping in their innocence and a slight breeze is blowing our cheeks. Each year, for about the past 5 years, we've made sure to go to a local u-pick farm and pick our heart's desire full of scrumptious strawberries. It's usually very hot, the sun usually picks that day to shine in all it's glory! One year, it was so windy that sand blew all over the place while we were picking-not so ideal:). Their precious faces are red from the sun and heat. The only skipping is usually them jumping over the rows instead of walking around.:) It's still the perfect day! I think we've been to the same place twice, but usually it's a different farm we venture to and we've shared the experience with several diverse groups of friends and family each year too. We pack up our van with the necessary flat containers to tote our goods back in, pack the drinks and sunscreen and head out the door. It's the memories that have stuck with me. One year, my father-n-law came with us along with my sister-n-law and her children. Since he was from Laos, it provided an opportunity to share stories of when he grew up with the grandchildren in the car and for us talk about the Lord with him. He has since passed away, and the trip to the strawberry field is one of my sweet memories of him, his quirky little laugh and watching him out in the field feeling right at home picking strawberries. Ahhh-sweet Patew (Grandpa in Laotion). A favorite picture I like to snap each time is my daughter's little hand around a strawberry. Their hands grow just like them-too fast-and looking back it is so precious to see their tiny fingers grasping the strawberry. When we get back home and rest for a little bit after unpacking the car, we wash our new yummy prized-possessions, eat some more and decide if we're going to make the strawberry jam that day or the next. We'll use the next few days to create as many new recipes with the strawberries that we have strawberries for. I love to try new recipes all the time and to share these cooking moments with the girls. If you have some strawberry recipes that you love-please share them with me! Following are a few pictures from last year. As long as the baby doesn't come early-we'll be picking in a local field real soon!

Sweet Strawberry Blessings to YOU!

Amanda:)

The Group Last Year After Picking:)


Trinity's Hand


And We're OFF! Getting Ready To leave For The Strawberry Field


Jocelyn (5 months) And I


My Sweet Mother And Joci

Organization In January

Hi Guys! Well, I've been a little busy and keeping two blogs is not easy to keep up with.  As we get acclimated to all this new technology available to us, I'm sure communication will get much easier! We last met on January 23rd. During that meeting we shared organization tips that we use and have used and tweaked. Jenn Truman was our special guest speaker and shared how she organizes her family's grocery list and meal plan. More on that in a minute. Also, we're going to start "meeting" online in a group started by Heather REAL SOON! That's where you'll RSVP and get info on upcoming events and can easily post the information you share each week.  This way it's all in one place.  The blog will be on the same page so it's a one stop communication center! Go here: http://classicallifeschooling.ning.com/?xgi=bQCBpqW to sign-up! 

Jenn was so kind to share ways that she organizes her meals.  She uses excel on her computer to make an easy sheet that she prints off for the week which includes the grocery list, what they're eating for the week and a place for extras/specific items. She realized that some weeks were costing them less and some weeks were costing more.  Needing to be more on a fixed grocery budget (don't we all:)), Jenn saved her grocery receipts and meal plans to see how much everything was costing and then switched the meals around so that each week would cost around the same. Her meal plans are simply stated so that anyone can be handed the list and know what to get for groceries that week. She suggested also making some seasonal plans to incorporate during the holidays and seasons.  It brings a nice change not only in the weather, but helps to build memories over a special meal. It's all saved on her computer so she can make adjustments easily if needed. Jenn, we really appreciate your sweet disposition in sharing these wonderful organizational nuggets with us! It was simple and filled with love for your family and ours! Thank you for the hand-out too! 

Here are some quick tidbits that were shared as a group:

• Joy loves her planner! She uses one from graceworks.com.  She's gotten great organizational tips from fly lady- you can google it to get the correct web address:) She also joined a mentors group for $4.95/mo. where tons of info is shared between the members.  Hopefully, she'll post that information soon:)
  
• Michelle finds that while she has a small space to organize at home, she needs small items that do a BIG job! She loves having a small, portable, filing system-she uses one with a handle so she can take it anywhere. She has a tiny planner in her purse  where she can look at the week and it works perfect for her. She used to color-coordinate events, but that got too hard since it's hard to always have the same pens. She also keeps a small plastic cosmetic bag in the car filled with helpful items like shout wipes, a mini lent roller etc..and a blanket.
• Stine organizes her closet by color and clothing articles-like a color wheel-apparently it's very pretty to look at! She always looks great so it must be a great system!
• Jenn tries to buy cards just one time a year.  There are card places that offer great discounts so cards don't end up costing as much. She writes on the box who she's given the cards to so they don't receive the same one later. Also, when cleaning, she focuses on two rooms first. The first room is her and hubby's bedroom and the second is the smallest room which is usually a bathroom. She says you get such satisfaction knowing that a room is clean that you get motivated to do more!
• Mindy color codes her calendar that she has hanging in her room. It's a system she loves. She uses birthdayalarm.com - it's free and helps her to remember every one's birthday.
• Heather helped to organize her mom's recipes for a present for her. I believe she used a pretty album and put the printed pages into the sleeves.  There was also an idea of using index cards and an index card box to store the recipes.
• I shared a couple of ideas that can be tailored to anyone to organize days, events children etc... One is a simple check-off list I made for my children with index cards.  I divided up school work and chores for Monday through Friday-drew a little box -and laminated the cards.  It became an easy re-usable wipe off system they could check things off on when completed. The second one is another day/week organizer that breaks down what goes on during specific time slots during the day. I originally got the idea from a book titled Managers of their Homes and have since used excel on our computer to type up our schedules. It's great to see exactly what people are suppose to be doing during specific times and see where I have availability to do laundry or something else that needs my attention.

Great ideas ladies! Just in time for Spring time! The next time we are meeting is February 13th at the Dollhouse. Joyce Taylor will be teaching us some crocheting skills! Join the Classical Lifeschooling group to get your events and items to bring for our next meeting. 

Blessings,

Amanda:)

Sharing our time together through pictures...

Here's where it begins-the "meeting"! The SF women receive their notebooks to put all their new found knowledge and community ideas together in one place. What are we talking about next month? Organization! Come with an organizational tool you like to use and share it with the group!

Look at all the yummy cookies made for our cookie exchange! Please post your recipes in the comments! Not everyone received copies!

Left: Stine taking the kernal seeds out of the popcorn for the cracker jax.

Middle: Beautiful mother and daughter Kaloger!

Below: Camille and Mindy mixing the fudge.

The SF women gathering for encouragement in conversation, learning some holiday recipes to share with others and building friendships.

Bonnie and Camille prepare the fudge into the containers. Diane brought the recipe to share and it is located in the last blog. Enjoy!

Here's a beautiful family tradition in Kristy's family: The ring she is wearing is a family heirloom passed down from her great grandmother to each first daughter on their 16th birthday. It a beautiful antique ring with a beautiful story. May that ring be blessed with stories of a legacy for the Lord that gets passed along with it as it makes it to the next little girl in the upcoming years!

Merry Christmas from the SF women!

The First Post For Savoir Faire!

What a wonderful time of fellowship we had last night! Thank you Diane T. for the awesome fudge recipe and yummy samples! I don't know about the rest of you, but I had Joy's cracker jax this morning for breakfast-it's good for the baby! The Dollhouse ladies are awesome and we are thankful for your time in sharing your home and oven! The spread of cookies made by everyone for the cookie exchange was beautifully presented in the dining room and they were very tasty! Right ladies? If you didn't get to share your recipe, then please leave it as a comment so everyone can get it! We decided that next month's gathering will be at the Dollhouse on Friday, January 23rd at 7:00pm. Please check back on this blog often as there will be new pictures soon, a way to RSVP for next month and more extras! If you click on the link on the right to follow this blog, it will be easy to get back to often so you can check in for all the new posts/info easily. Next month the topic is "ORGANIZATION". Please bring some type of organizational tool you use along with your binder newly girlified and decorated with your name on it. We'll all be sharing what we brought with each other. Several of you shared an interest in wanting to pass organization links that you go to. Please email me with the links and I will set up 1-click links on our blog so all you'll have to do is remember to come here for the site then you can look over them on your own time!

Chocolate Walnut Fudge

Serves 48

Ingredients:

2 cu mini marshmallows

1 1/2 cu sugar

2/3 cu evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cu butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 cu milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cu chopped and toasted walnuts or pecans

Instructions:

Line 8"pan with foil, greased. In a sucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallows, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour in chips. Stir until smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Chill in refrigerator for two hours or until firm. Cut into mini-squares.

Cracker Jax

Boil 5 min:

2 cu light brown sugar

1 cu butter/ margarine

1/2 cu light corn syrup

Remove from heat and add:

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Stir into 24 cups popcorn (bagged microwave popcorn you've pre-popped is perfectly fine!) & add (optional) 8oz peanuts. Spread into large pan (20x30). Bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour-stir every 15 minutes. Cool and store in airtight container. Enjoy!

May your December be a blessing as you celebrate the coming of our Lord and share His love with others,

Amanda K.