The Walnut Acre Daily - Garden Work, Homemade Cheesy Bread and More

Walking With the King

 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. ~1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

We Are Learning

We watched two videos about plants and flowers and the kids colored two flower pictures. They also did the Gg phonics page.

We Are Reading
Here are the stories the kids and I read today - 


Mickey's Alphabet Soup



There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly



David and Goliath




and 
Then Animals on the Ark from Bible Animal Bedtime Stories for Bedtime

In the Kitchen
I've been experimenting with making these cheesy breads today and they are absolutely delicious. I'm going to try some other toppings over the next week or so and then I'll do a full post with the recipe. This is one experiment that the whole family liked.

In the Garden

I pulled what I think will be one of the last bunches of radishes this morning. As it's getting warmer and the plants are getting older they just aren't doing as well. Also, some are going to seed without really forming a good radish.

I also picked peas from the very few plants that came up. There were just enough to have a few for lunch. The kids had fun helping shell them.

Both Austin and Amanda spent some time working on pulling the weeds out of the carrot rows this morning.

On Our Nature Walk

Lauren found a ladybug this morning while we were on our walk that she carried around with her for much of the time.

We also watched some water striders on the water. It's fun to watch them skate over the surface of the water but they are much too fast too get a good picture.

Other Outdoor Fun

Michael was given a bubble shooter yesterday for perfect attendance at KidWorx. After waking up at midnight and again at 5:45 wanting to play with it, he finally got to use it this morning. 

Out and About
I have not had to go anywhere today, and I loved it.
Doug and CJ went to ACE this evening to get a tool Doug needed to work on his truck, and Austin, Amanda and Michael went to their grandparents house for the evening.

Other Notes and News

Daily Deals

Today's Quote

;Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~ Winston Churchill

The Walnut Acre Daily -Taking A Deep Breath

Walking With the King

In God, whose Word I praise - In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? ~ Psalm 56:4

MORE HERE - What Can Mere Mortals Do To Me?

We Are Learning
We continued learning about plants and flowers today and also did our Ff phonics page.

This afternoon I worked on making some of the games I will be using with CJ and Michael this summer. I will do a full post on these when I finish them. I have a number of ideas that I'm still deciding how to implement.

We Are Reading
Here are the books the kids chose for me to read to them today.


There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Mickey's Alphabet Soup

and

Simba's Pride.

Homemaking Joys
Amanda did quite a bit of laundry and Austin washed the baseboards in the kitchen. I swept both porches and straightened up a little out there. 

In the Kitchen
We had leftovers for lunch today and dinner at church.
I had a craving for homemade crackers so I made two batches this morning. And they are all gone already. And no, I didn't eat them all, the kids definitely at their share as well. 

In the Garden
We had a lot of rain last night and the garden was too muddy to work in this morning.

On Our Nature Walk
It was also still really wet this morning when we would normally go for our nature walk so we didn't do that either. 

Other Outdoor Fun
The kids did play outside a lot but after things dried off. But somehow I never got any pictures. There was lots of swinging, bike riding and digging in the dirt. 

Out and About
This evening was the last evening of the Wednesday night children's ministry at our church for this school year. We ended with a fun evening that included awards, prizes and outdoor games. My class of four and five year old kids joined the elementary grade class for the evening. Michael received an award for perfect attendance. 


The middle school class and the teens celebrated by going to Common Ground for the evening and enjoying time with other youth groups. Austin and CJ both went and enjoyed it. Amanda chose to stay home.


I'm taking a deep breath tonight and feeling myself relax a little. In the last month Michael's weekly physical therapy appointments have come to an end, preschool drop off and pick ups three days a week are done, being my friends means of transportation to and from work three to five days a week has ended, and teaching Wednesday nights has ended. While I was glad to do each of these things, I am also ready for a change of pace.

Daily Deals


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Today's Quote
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. ~ Aldous Huxley

Ten Things We Plan To Do This Summer

With the last day of school on Friday and a long summer ahead of us, I did what I do best. I sat down and made some plans. I love to make plans and schedules and I thought I would share some of the things we are planning to do this summer. 

1. Have fun at the parks. There are so many parks and playgrounds in the area that we can enjoy. So I have each Wednesday scheduled as park day. The plan is to spend the morning at whichever park or playground we choose that week and eat lunch there before we come home to crash for naps. I'm also going to post on facebook when and where we are going and see if I can interest others in meeting up with  us and joining the fun. 

2. Picnics. Lots of picnics. Monday will be our backyard picnic day and of course, on Wednesdays we will be enjoying our picnics in the park.

3. Water play -  We don't have a pool but that doesn't mean we can't have water fun. Friday mornings will be our water play day and I'm planning to set up the sprinkler, put out some tubs with water and water play toys, and provide water guns or squirt bottles for lots of water fun. 

4. Backyard Camping - Our family really hasn't gone camping at all in the past so this year I want to start us out with some backyard camping. My plan is to camp out in the backyard every other Friday night. I'm hoping to make this as realistic as possible - cooking out on the grill or fire pit, making S'mores, sleeping in a tent. We have a tent somewhere but we need to dig it out and see if it is still usable. If not we will make some makeshift tents with quilts. This is one of the activities that I'm looking forward to the most. Maybe, if we do well with the backyard camping, we'll get brave enough to take the kids out on a real camping trip or two. 

5. Berry Picking. On the land behind us there are SO many berries growing. There are at least two different kinds although I'm waiting for them to ripen so I know which two they are. I can hardly wait to introduce the kids to the joys of berry picking . . . and eating . . . and preserving. 

6. Foraging. This weekend I plan to visit the bookstore and find a good book on foraging. Then we're going to have some treasure hunts - with the treasure being wild edible treats. I'm really hoping the kids like this idea as much as I do. 

7. Schoolwork. Both CJ and Michael need to continue with a little work this summer to make sure they keep the skills they've learned so far. So most afternoons we will do about an hour of work. I've found one sight word game I can print, and I have ideas for making two more as well as some fun math games. We'll do some reading as well and some fun online work. 

8. Play Games. I know there will be some hot days when we do not want to be outside and playing games will be a great way to fill this time. CJ wants to learn to play Skip-Bo and I think Michael is ready to learn to play UNO. Both boys know how to play Go-Fish. Connect Four is another option for us. 

9. Gardening. Both vegetable and flower gardening are in my plans for the summer. CJ has already said he would like a small garden space of his own, and I'm sure when CJ gets a garden space, Michael will want one as well. 

10. Sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. What is summer without sitting on the porch on a warm summer evening, relaxing and listening to the summer evening sounds - insects and birds, children at play, a lawn mower somewhere, conversation and laughter. I can feel myself relax just thinking about it.

So, those are my plans for the summer. Do you have some fun summer plans. I'd love to read them in the comments if you do.

Morning Musing Over Coffee - What Can Mere Mortals Do To Me?

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

In God, whose Word I praise - in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? ~ Psalm 56:4

When I read this verse this morning I nearly laughed out loud, not because it's funny, but because of the joy and the freedom of knowing that I really do not have to worry about the condemnation of "mere mortals." 

Why is it, that when I am serving such a wonderful and awesome God, I let the fear of what others think, or will do, steal my joy? If God is as awesome and wonderful and powerful and loving as I keep saying He is (and He is and more) why am so concerned with what others say and think. 

So today, I am going to claim this verse and live in the freedom of God's love and His work in my life.

The Walnut Acre Daily - Learning About Flowers and Other Fun

Walking With the King

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;

for He knows how we are formed, 

He remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone, 

and it's place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord's love is with those who fear him,

and His righteousness with their children's children - 

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

~ Psalm 103:13-18

MORE HERE - As a Father Has Compassion On His Children

We Are Learning

Our unit this week is flowers. Here the kids are working on a craft that shows the parts of plant/flower. At the end of the week, probably on Saturday, I will post a full list of the crafts and worksheets we did, videos we watched, and stories we read for this unit. 

We also did an Ee phonics page.

We Are Reading

We only read one book today - The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds.

Here is an interesting article I found today that I thought I would pass along - 'Vertical Farm' Blossoms at Meatpacking Plant. 

In the Kitchen
It was a casserole kind of day with a pasta, hamburger and cheese casserole for lunch and rice and hamburger casserole for dinner.

In the Garden

Austin, Amanda and I each took a turn pulling weeds today. A lot of the earliest things I planted are almost finished producing and it's time to till them under and plant a new bunch of things - green beans and potatoes are high on my to plant list.

On Our Nature Walk

The kids were pleasantly surprised to find that this field was mowed over the weekend. It's much easier to run out here now.

I was noticing today how much more confident the kids are than when we first began these daily walks. Here they are exploring a spot for the first time. They have learned to look where they are stepping, and to carefully find a way around or over obstacles. They don't give up near as easily as they did at first and we are slowly expanding our comfort zone and exploring new areas.

Other Outdoor Fun

Popsicles are always a welcome treat.

Michael soon found that riding his bike and eating a popsicle at the same time did not work out well. 

Out and About

I took my friend to get everything in place so that she can once again drive herself to work. She was so excited to be able to drive herself again. And, while I really didn't mind providing her the transportation she needed, it will be nice now to have a little more time at home again. 

Other Notes and News

Doug took off work early this morning and he and one of his friend's were able to get his truck that broke down yesterday back home. So he was working on that this afternoon. 

This evening he went to pick up a refrigerator friends gave us to use as an extra. We have an extra now but it's very old and starting to make strange sounds at times so we were glad to take them up on the offer of this one. 

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Quote For Today
The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. ~ George Elliot

Morning Musing Over Coffee - As A Father Has Compassion On His Children

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;

for He knows how we are formed, 

He remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone, 

and it's place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord's love is with those who fear him,

and His righteousness with their children's children - 

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

~ Psalm 103:13-18

We are so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who understands us through and through. He remembers that we are human, He knows we are going to stumble at times. And yet He loves us anyway. He proved that love by providing a way of salvation for us through Jesus, because he knew we would be completely unable to save ourselves. This is a love we can depend on no matter what is going on around us. All he asks is that we remember to keep His commands and that when we do fail, as we will, we come to Him for forgiveness and then continue to walk in His ways. What a wonderful, loving God we serve!

The Walnut Acre Daily - Unidentifiable Red Berries, Hydraulic Brake Line Failure and More

Walking With the King

Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. ~ Romans 12:15

We Are Learning
This evening Amanda, Austin and I watched the documentary Mermaids: The Body Found. Amanda loved it although I found it a little strange and unbelievable.

We Are Reading

I read an intreresting blog post today that I thought I would pass along.

Stevia - How to Grow it and Make Your Own Sweetener

Homemaking Joys

It's been one of those days when simply picking up, a little laundry, and dishes was the extent of our housework.

In the Kitchen

I cooked two pans of sweet potatoes today and mashed them and put them in freezer.

For breakfast we had cereal and for lunch we had sandwiches. With no daycare kids here today and Doug at work and CJ gone fishing,  I just let everyone get there own cereal and sandwiches when they got hungry.

For dinner we had hotdogs, baked beans and Sweet Potato Fluff.

On Our Nature Walk
Michael and I went for two short walks today. The first time I saw a small bush with berries on it so I took some pictures and came back to see if I could find out what kind it was. 

I couldn't make a positive identification from the photos so I went back and picked some to compare to the pictures online. I still haven't been able to make a positive identification so I guess we won't be eating these. Unless someone reading this can tell me what they are. I think I'm going to have to buy a book on foraging that will help me identify edible plants.

Out and About
Michael and I made two trips to Food Lion today. After the first trip I realized we also need sugar so I had to go back and get some. Other than that I've just been taking Jen back and forth for work. 


Today Doug went to work on a friends vehicle and as he was getting ready to leave the brake hydraulic line burst and he had no brakes. Thankfully he wasn't on the road when it happened, that could have been really bad. 


CJ came home this evening from his two day fishing trip happy and excited. It was a good two days for him.

Other Notes and News
Yesterday was our family's turn to be in the church nursery during the main service. We had fun and the kids were really good.

Daily Deals

Quote For Today
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ~ Joseph Campbell