GRADUATION DAY

Miss J was awarded her Cert III in Children's Services ** by Carrick Education today. 

Dear Jane 

We are so proud of you our precious daughter.  We love watching you grow into the woman God has made you to be.  May His hand of blessing rest upon you daily. May you continue to know Him and hear His voice directing you. May He bless you with His perfect will for you.  May He clearly give you a vision and hope for your future. We pray He will bless you with favour.  May He bless the work of your hands.  We pray He will draw you ever closer to Himself.  May His mantle of joy and peace be upon your shoulders.


All our love

Dad and Mom

** In Australia a Cert II is the equivalant of Year 12/13 (Matric) school.  Cert III is first year post school study and one year before a Diploma level. Jane achieved two Cert III certificates at the age of 16

Homeschool Mothers Journal {11} - Pinning it Down.

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

In my life this week…

 
In our homeschool this week…

• Completed two Pinning it DOWN challenges. We made peg frogs and Firefighter Fingers.
• Started Abeka math again.  It amazes me how much they forget if you go on holiday ....  so we are working on re - remembering.
• Did a week of holiday swim program at Paul Saddler swim land.
• Made snow globes.
• Celebrated Australia Day by blogging .....

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

•  My Biggest Homeschooling Mistake: Over-thinking Methods & Philosophies by Sarah over at Amongst lovely things.
• A reason Credentials shouldn't Concern Homeschoolers by Luke Holzmann from Sonlight

I am inspired by…

• The one Habit more Important than Quiet Time over at A Holy Experience. 
• We watched The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry this is an excellent family movie that will encourage and impact you and your children for the Lord. Best of all it is based on a TRUE story and at the end of the movie you find out what happened to all the characters in the story.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• We had lunch with the ladies from the Art co-op we are a part of.
• The first CHEF (Christian Home Educating Families) meeting for the year started this week. It was great fellowship.
• Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…

• Watching Sir N remember the skills he had attained in swimming before the holidays during his week of swimming lessons at Paul Sadler Swimland and being awarded his Pink Certificate today!

Miss J was awarded her Cert III in Children's Services today!

What’s working/not working for us…

• Trying to do my One Year Through The Word bible reading / blogging during the day. I have come to the conclusion I need to be up an hour before the rest of the household if I am going to have the time and more importantly quiet uninterrupted time to do it. I now have a few days I need to catch up.  Who said you need 21 days to form a new habit ? It's not true !!

Questions/thoughts I have…

• How do you keep track of the memory work of your children ?
• Writing them on the Doorposts: Scripture in our Home by over at The Purposeful Mom. I love this idea and think I will try it with our memory work with Sir N.

Things I’m working on…

• Thanks to Erin I discovered: Pinning it DOWN!  Love this idea!  Do you have a Pinterest ?  If so you NEED have to join Sarah and Pam who have started a Pinning it DOWN! challenge this year. The challenge is to take one of the ideas from Pinterest and DO IT, blog it and join in the linky!  ♥♥♥♥ it. I Pinned it DOWN this week.
• A couple of Food posts, and a few DIY  blog photo tutorials. (making scrolling button widgets, Favicon ??, Make your own grab my button, Working with HTML code)

I’m reading…

•  How to Sabotage Your Blog (and your life) by Amy over at Blogging with Amy.  This post was so not what I was expecting.
• Freedomship Education: Notes & Thoughts by Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things These are Sarah's notes from Andrew Pudewa's talk on Freedomship Education.  Rather thought provoking.
• A (rather long) Homemaking Post by Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things.
• The results of some interesting research conducted on students using Facebook: Friends Happy Pictures make you sad ?
• Do Other Blogs make you Jealous ? by KM Logan from Lessons from Ivy over at Raising Mighty Arrows. This spoke volumes to my heart:  

"Envy, jealousy, coveting; whatever you want to call it, is sin and it will cripple your ministry.  Besides, God doesn't just bless a blog through numbers…they only tell half the story."

I’m cooking…

• Snapper wrapped in bacon. 
• Collecting Watermelon rind to make another batch of Watermelon Jam.
• Tuna Bake.
• Brown Onion Soup Potatoes

I’m grateful for…

• Good wholesome DVDs that we can watch together as a family and that are appropriate for Sir N to watch with us.  DVDs like:  The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry,  Original Heidi , The Way Home,  The Prince and the Pauper, Pollyanna , Old Yeller, Little House on the Prairie series and The Book of Ruth.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next - Abraham Lincoln

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Chick pop on over to read what other homeschool Moms are doing.

Watermelon Jam (Waatlemoenkonfyt)

Ever wondered what to do with the left over rind from your watermelon fruit snacks?  I have just the solution for you.
Growing up in South Africa this is one of the jams we had and is my favourite.  My children have been enjoying watermelon So I took a recipe from my Mom and one from my Mother in law combined them and made my own. It tastes just like the store bought variety.

Ingredients:

• 1 Kg peeled and diced rind
• 3 Tablespoons Bicarbonate of Soda
• 3 Litres of water
• 6 cups of sugar (1.5 kg)
• 2 Litres water
• 3 teaspoons of dry ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of dry ground cinnamon
• 20 ml lemon juice (4 teaspoons)

Method

• Take the peel of a ripe watermelon. Peel off the green outer rind and remove most of the pink flesh inside. Discard the green skin and pink flesh.
• Prick each piece in several places with a fork and cut into desired shapes.
• Combine Bicarb and 3 litre water and rind and leave to soak for 12-18 hours.  This ensures that the preserve is tender yet crisp.
• Rinse. Now soak in fresh water for 2 hours.
• Rinse and put in a pot covered with hot water. Bring to the boil and boil, uncovered, until just tender. Test by piercing the peel. 
• Drain rind. (Do this a moment before you are ready to add to the syrup)
• In a separate pot prepare the syrup. Combine the sugar, 2 Litres water, lemon juice, ginger and cinnamon.  Put pot on low heat and stir till all sugar is dissolved.
• Bring mixture to the boil and add hot rind.
• Boil rapidly until the pieces are tender and translucent and the syrup is thick. (1 - 1 1/2 hours)
• Pack the peel into hot, dry sterilised bottles, fill with the syrup and seal immediately.

This should fill 5 300 gram bottles. The mistake I made was to put too much peel in each bottle.  It would be better to fill the jar 3/4 fill of peel and the balance syrup.

Enjoy on a fresh slice of bread or toast. What's your favourite home made jam ?

Blessings

For more information:

• Fun Facts and FAQ
• Health and Nutrition.
• Carving & Entertainment.
• Recipes
• Preserves The Traditional South African Way.
• Watermelon Jam or Preserve on Group Recipes.

This post is linking to:

Making your Home Sing Monday over at Moms The Word, Feasting in Fellowship Link Up over at Comfy in the Kitchen, Teach Me Tuesdays over at Growing Home, Natural Living Link Up over at Little Natural Cottage, Food Friday over at The Singing Sparrow.

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