At the Potomac River

"There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High."

Psalm 46:4

This morning we went to Westmoreland Berry Farm (again....) and picked up some more blueberries and peaches along with raspberries. The raspberries were wonderful and they hardly made it home. Anyways, back to the story. We had been planning to go to Naylors Beach but it started raining and THEN we went to WBF and it stopped raining. We asked a young lady there about beaches/rivers nearby that were nice and she said this spot on the Potomac River. You didn't have to pay anything (except for parking) which was nice because daddy and mommy were expecting to pay $4.00 per person to get into Naylors' which is normally crowded. We brought a picnic lunch (no picture uploaded) and played in the beautiful water! It was wonderful! At Naylors (personal experience - we used to go there for HEFC baptisms) the water was always murky (makes you a little nervous) and they had logs/sticks sticking up in the water sometimes unseen to the eye. I scratched my feet often on those sharp, vertical, rotting logs. I will admit they didn't have rocks but still.... Anyways we were glad for the beautiful water and beach and day. The rain was probably just a way to get us to go to the Potomac River instead of Naylors!

I was going to upload pictures of the river and us eating lunch and Lydia but it wasn't working so these will have to do!

Eden and Josiah - being silly as usual!

Coming in from a swim. I loved being out in the "deep part" (5 feet) and just letting the water move me. It was so relaxing! Josiah loved being out deep when he could experience being a "dolphin" and Eden was really frantic and scared we were going to drown her (definition for: Frantic...clutching at a persons fingers until they feel like they're going to fall off, screaming loudly when nothing's wrong, holding head stiffly above water and doggy paddling like she's losing her life!) There were a few rocks on the bottom but not many. Most of the bottom was sandy and almost slimy as you went further out. I do have a couple scrapes on the bottom of my feet (ouch!) and most everyone has sunburn somewhere but we had a wonderful day!

An eel fish - held by Alexis with daddy looking on.

Carrying the picnic blankets with Josiah trailing behind. Beautiful breathtaking site! Working on my vocabulary you see ;)

Josiah and his favorite dump truck.

On the surf board (what do you call that thing??). BIG SMILES! :-)

Making sand castles - rather rock castles - and talking.

Seth in the sand.

Edee-Weedee relaxing in the cool, sometimes warm, water. Isn't the water so pretty?!

Josiah. He first didn't like the water but then was in it 24/7 once he got used to it. He said he was a baby dolphin that Hannah was the "big dolphin," I was the "little dolphin!" Hmmm. I finally convinced him to switch his thinking to me being a "big dolphin!" He is so cute!

Relaxing - that is daddy up there on the rock(s). Lydia is in the porta-crib behind the bench sleeping. It was a wonderful day to go to the river -with a cool,light breeze. We had to climb up and down that steep (it doesn't look that steep but try going up it barefoot) wall of rock(s). NOT FUN!

Lexi attempting to do a handstand. Who thinks that maybe that didn't work.....

Mother and daughter conversing with Eden making an interesting face! I have no idea what she's doing!

Josiah's helping Caleb out - well, really Caleb supposedly took JOSIAH'S boogy board (I remembered the name!) and Josiah is trying to heave it out from underneath Caleb! :)

Adonai's daughter,
Kimber :)

Baby Turtle

"Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,"

Genesis 7:8

Papa happened to find a tiny box turtle. Isn't he cute?

He was a great mover and was very quick for a turtle.

"Put me down or I'm going to eat you!"

He was a cute but we let him go soon after as we have a name for creatures dying for no reason then being in our house (or lack of food or water). Opps! This one lived though!

A Father's Daughter,

Hannah

P.S. If one of my Uncles (or Aunts) reads this I know what to expect! :)

A Clean-up day

"Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings."
Leviticus 23:3 (Bolding added)

So it's a Friday and we're going somewhere tomorrow and mamma had this idea to do both Friday and Saturday chores which is like a major house cleaning.

So here is everyone cleaning out the kitchen. I actually got Kimber in it!

Here is Lexi cleaning out the school room including the chalk board.

And I hung up the laundry today.

Somebody will update more later on today!

A Father's Daughter,
Hannah

The Cookie Recipe

Here is the recipe for those cookies we made. Enjoy!!!! (The verse from the "Tea Party!" post can apply to this - I didn't have time to get it typed up)


Chocolate-Covered Chocolate-Mint Cookies

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (soft white for those with Bread Beckers – mill 1 cup)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces (*Note* if you don’t buy unsalted butter just use salted butter and take out the ¼ teaspoon salt)
2 large egg yolks
1 ½ peppermint oil
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ pounds bittersweet chocolate


1. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse a few times to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and pulse to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the egg yolks, peppermint oil, and vanilla and pulse until a dough forms on the blades of the food processor.

2. Remove the dough from the food processor and shape into a 2-inch-thick log. Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

3. Place racks in the middle and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (*Note* we didn’t have parchment paper so we just lightly buttered the pans)

4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick disks and arrange ½ inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Switch the baking sheets (pans) from top to bottom and rotate from front to back and continue to bake for another 3-4 minutes, until the cookies are light brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on racks. Make sure to let the baking sheets cool between batches. Do not handle the cookies until they are cool, or they’ll break; they’re very delicate.

5. Melt and temper the bittersweet chocolate. (*Note* I just melted the chocolate in the microwave stirring after every 15-30 seconds to keep from scorching.)

6. Place a sheet pan upside down on your work surface, next to the melted chocolate. Cover with parchment paper. Dip the cookies one by one in the chocolate, using a fork to turn them over and then left them out of the chocolate. It helps to tilt the bowl forward by leaning it on a folded kitchen towel.

7. Set the dipped cookies on the parchment, beginning at the far end so you don’t drip chocolate on other cookies when you set them down. Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

8. The cookies will keep for 3-5 days in the refrigerator or freeze for 2 weeks.


*Notes* I put 2-4 cookies in the melted chocolate at a time – depending on your bowl size.
I didn’t worry about appearance too much – as long as they tasted good.
If you like less of peppermint flavor add a little less peppermint oil.
If you want a sweeter cookie (chocolate-wise) use semi-sweet or milk chocolate morsels for the chocolate covering. Remember to melt well since you want a light coating of chocolate on the cookies.
The cookies are WONDERFUL frozen – tasty!
Oh and if you don’t have a food processor it works too by hand – I would think.


Recipe taken from: Desserts by the Yard by Sherry Yard

Tea Party!

"And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat."

Luke 11:37

Tuesday our cousins, Erika, Allie, Claire and Gracie came over with our grandma (Na-naw). Erika & Allie slept in the "Girls" room. We stayed up until 11:00 PM and then still woke up on time at 7:15-30. After breakfast and ch0res we headed outside. Erika and I scooped leaves into wheelbarrows and went to the side greenbean garden and dumped them. Hannah, Allie and Alexis spread them beneath the greenbean plants and in the rows. Then we switched. Mommy then gave us free time and we went in played in the water until 1:00. We sprayed each other on the see-saws, swam in the horse trough, scrubbed the trampoline with soap and water and had lots of fun! In the afternoon after showering and getting pretty we had a tea party!

Lady Bethany - aka Hannah.

Lady Elizabeth - aka Erika.

Lady Jane - aka Allie

and I was Miss Victoria - no picture because I'm the camera lady! I did get a picture of all 5 of us girls but it was too dark so I didn't post it.

Lady Rose - aka Alexis.

This is Erika finishing making thin mint cookies. We (Erika and I) made the dough Tuesday and cooked/dipped in chocolate yesterday! They were good - almost as good as the Girl Scout cookies (which they were meant to taste like).

The table. I think the boys, with some help from Lexi, set it up.

Our wonderful Butlers, Sir Caleb and Sir Seth. They were superb servers!

When we needed the butlers for food, napkin or anything we would ring the bell and they would come - it was lots of fun!

Adonai's daughter,
Kimber

P.S - I forgot to tell you that I probably broke my toe yesterday. I was going up to take a shower and jammed my foot really hard on the wall and now it's all purple on the sides and stuff. (That's why I was limping at church last night...) Daddy also got 4 stitches in his head for running into a 6ft. tall deck and splitting his forehead open. So, we're all pretty bruised up! :)

The Past Few Days - In Picture

'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'

Jeremiah 5:24b

Today Lexi and I harvested corn from our corn "patches." We got a full 6-gallon bucket full - some of it was eaten by corn worms. We would call the chickens over and they would peck and eat the worms out of our hands or the grass (we'd throw the worms to them). They would even walk around our feet as we husked the corn. They're so sweet! Hannah and Mommy weeded the greenbean garden (one of them) and the boys did assorted jobs while Eden and Josiah wandered around (mommy gave them some sort of work - I don't remember what). Lydia, SLEPT!

Peaches from our peach tree. Daddy pulled this peach tree up from Margaret Bradley's (those of you at HEFC know her) yard because it didn't produce peaches. He threw it in our "pit" and what do you know, a few years later we have peaches! I think we've had some before from the tree - I don't know!

Chicken in the peach tree. (He didn't get there by himself. Caleb....)

Huitlacoche - an edible corn mushroom - that was on OUR corn. (Some info. for you:) Cuitlacoche is a black fungus that infects corn fields, making the kernels bulbous and swollen as they fill with spores. It also goes by the name Huitlacoche. If you're having trouble with the pronounciation, it's: Cuitlacoche (kweet-lah-KOH-chay). I've read that U.S. farmers consider it a disease and destroy it. Farmers in Mexico put it in cans and sell it as a delicacy.

I looked at some pictures of canned huitlacoche and it was NASTY looking!

Close-up. Oh and don't worry about us eating it! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay - I think you've seen enough!

Little Lydia sleeping in the car.

A few sunflowers.

Clouds - aren't they beautiful?

Our cow. By "our cow" I mean that we sort of "own" a part of the above tan/white cow. We're doing a milk share. Saturday we drove up to the Martin's Farm (on the way to K.K's b-day party) to see "our cow." The black and red one in the background are Dexters. Daddy is pretty sure (I would say 100% sure) that we're going to get a Dexter. They were so cute and looked soft and cuddly!

Blueberry Pound Cake with Thyme and Lime. I made this for dessert Friday night. It sounds really weird doesn't it? Anyways, I don't like trying new recipes on people for lots of obvious reasons but it turned out okay. Mommy loved it! We gave some to Na-naw (grandma) and G.G (great-grandma) and they liked it as well. I wasn't very fond of it - sadly because it took me about 2 hours to make, cutting up fresh thyme and starting from scratch.

Collin and Caleb on the swing Friday night. Collin spent the night with us because he went with us to K.K's birthday party.

Collin LOVED the chickens!

He didn't care about nasty chicken poop - it's a chicken!

Hannah, Cadence and Eden on the hammock Friday night. Uncle Kevin, Aunt Megan, Cadence and Justus come over almost every Friday night for To Train Up a Child discussion (see www.nogreaterjoy.org). We watch the children outside.

Our cousin K.K on her birthday. They live in Rocky Mount, VA (3 1/2 hours away) so it took awhile to get there!

Opening her gifts.

All her friends and most of us. Ready to blow her candles out. Her candles were the type that re-lights every time you blow them out so it was hilarious watching her try to blow all the candles out and keep them from re-lighting!

Her cake.

Adonai's daughter,
Kimber :)