Posted by Posted in Family, Home

Living Like A Pioneer: A Homecooked Meal

So today I made dinner for the family. I was in the kitchen for 2 1/2 hours with my mom helping me. I am glad to say it turned out and was well worth the time and preperation. The menu? Chicken pot pie, scalloped potatoes and apple pie.

Below I have attached the recipe for my pie crust and links to the recipes for chicken pot pie and scalloped potatoes so you can try it yourself.

Pie Crust

2-3 cups flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks of butter (softened)
10 tbl cold water

Mix it all together and enjoy! I made a double batch and I had enough dough for both the chicken pot pie and the apple pie with a little more to spare! Add about 5 diced apples, a generous dash of apple juice, cinamon and sugar to make apple pie! Bake the apple pie for about an hour on 475F.

Here is the links: Thank you allrecipes and food.com!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/26317/chicken-pot-pie-ix/

http://southern.food.com/recipe/scalloped-potatoes-85629

Everything turned out great and I hope you enjoy!

Your little Pioneer,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, Family, journal entries

Journal Entries- Road Trip to Texas

Before I start telling you what we did I will tell you about what we went to Texas for.

Basically, my big brother Jace has been doing a program called College Plus! since he was 14. In those three years he developed a relationship with his coach, took amazing courses like Comparitive Worldviews, Signature Leadership 1 and 2 and study skills, and tested out of college with CLEP tests. He has gotten involved with CP community, become a CP ambassador and made great friends.

This last week was the student conference called CPE3 in a town near San Antonio. There was a graduation for all students who will/have graduated in 2015. My brother finished his college the week before he left and though he still has to apply for graduation he is done with all his college work! Jace has a BA in History now. He is 17. Yeah. (!!!!!) 🙂

Our family wouldn’t miss his graduation for the world so we decided to take a crazy trip to Texas and support him in this huge milestone. Below I have my journal entries for all of the days of our trip so read below and see what our trip was like!

Day 1- Mooresville, NC
Today was a day of packing up, our Grandpa came down from Ashevelle to hitch a ride with us. We got our van inspected, packed food, clothing, books and car activities.

image

All my books. 🙂 From top to bottom:
The Bible, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, my journal, Kingdom’s Reign by Chuck Black, Beautiful Girlhood by Karen Andreola, The Light and Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, William Penn by Janet and Geoff Benge, Beorn the Proud by Madeline Polland, Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien, William Penn (Landmark), Math-U-See Algebra 1 Test booklet, Exploring Creation with Biology by Dr. Jay Wile, my knitting and binoculars. Yeah its a lot.

We had a good trip but it was mostly driving so not much to tell. 🙂 That night was a little uncomfortable but I got a good few hours of sleep.

Day 2- somewhere in Louisiana
Early today, we drove into Texas, stopped at a rest stop, ate muffins, etc. We made very good time and made it to San Antonio, TX around 8:30 am. Everyone trooped out and we headed to the Alamo. The Alamo! What beautiful, brave history there. We bought postcards and really enjoyed that time.

Then we headed to the river walk. It was very pretty. We stopped and had some nacho chips which were really good. There was a guy filming a movie so we walked in the background and made goofy faces. 🙂 There were lots of pigeons, ducks and sparrows.

We checked into our hotel, did some swimming and went out to this authentic Texas burger place with some friends. Then we watched some TV (a rare experience) and crashed.

Day 3- San Antonio, TX
We woke up and had Texas shaped waffles for breakfast. We checked out of the hotel and met the same friends for a short hike at Comanche Lookout. There was a historic watchtower and a quarry for the kids to play in. We picnicked with them at a park and then hung out at the library before grabbing dinner at Chick-fil-A and getting ready for the graduation.

We found the resort and went in. Everyone was so nice. I got to meet Dewey Novotny, my Navigate teacher. It was a really special evening with worship a message from Mr. Novotny, the turning of the tassels and an ice cream social afterward. Lots of pictures were taken and we got to meet Eddy again.

Me and my college graduate brother!

Me and my college graduate brother!

After that, we headed home and there is not much to say because it was just sleeping, driving and reading.

Day 4- somewhere on the way home, Louisiana? Alambama?
More driving, sleeping and reading.

Day 5- Charlotte, NC
After picking up Jace from the airport we headed to Asheville, NC and spent the day resting and recovering at my grandparent’s house. My sister and I went shopping with my grandma but other than that we just hung out. We headed home that night and got to sleep in our own beds! Aaaah.

Well, that is the short journal entrie. If I see you in person I can tell you more but now I have to go.

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Family, homeschool, time

School 2015

Yes, today the new school year started for the Bowers, and quite honestly, I was excited to get back into a routine and work filled schedule. I like to stay busy. I thought I would give you a little peek into what we do here at Pilgrims Ford Academy (our homeschool name).

Our mornings before school starts involve devotions, breakfast together, our chores, getting ready for the day and family worship.

After that, we start our school work at the table, usually around 8:30. This school involves our math, grammer, writing, Spanish/language, Bible study and personal topics we would like to explore. Sometimes there are things like book reports and science reports that happen in the morning too.

We usually take a break at 11:00 or 11:30 and have free time until lunch, where we do a read aloud.

In the afternoon, we do our reading, history, science, geography and possibly more. It varies where we do this school. On the couch, in the clubhouse, on the trampoline, up a tree (my favorite), we have a lot of options.

Usually, we end our reading schoolwork somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00. The rest of our afternoon is usually free time, work on project time or pleasure reading time. We try to help Mom with dinner somewhere around 5:30.

Our evenings include, books read together, Bible studies, library nights, and card games.

Then we go to bed, somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00 depending on your age. This year will include special times with parents in the evenings before bed too!

Then we wake up and do it all over again! Only because we are homeschooled there are always differences every day!

Your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, Family, Fun Stuff, It makes me laugh, memorys

Loco…. muy loco

For all of you who do not speak Spanish the title of this post is “crazy, really crazy”. Yes, this post is going to give you a look into my families crazy side. Not the polite, public side or even the chilled, hangin-out-with-friends side. It is our crazy side.

Ok so back up a little, Celia, William and I were messing around with Jace in his room today. I melted into the closet hoping he wouldn’t notice me and I could surprise him. That doesn’t work when your other siblings (who adore their big sister so much they like to do everything she does) follow you into the closet, creating a surge of bodies inside the closet, which is already packed with a dresser and lots of hanging clothes!

With no place left to go I still try to pull together my “melting into the closet” act and slip between the dresser and the wall, underneath the hanging clothes into a small space which is perfect for hiding or reading a good book.

Thinking myself very clever, I get comfortable and stay quiet.

Until….

You guessed it. Little brother William (7) seeing me leave, climbs in after me. Ok, still not TOO bad, its a little smushed but more cozy than uncomfortable. And at least he isn’t sitting on me!

Well, not for long! Did I really think I could get away with this? Next time I think I will try to stick to the ceiling instead of melt into the closet. Food for thought.

Celia (12) looks around and not seeing her two partners in crime, finds them in my (what used to be) secret nook. What then evolves is a series of trying to fit my sister between the dresser with one hand and putting my little brother on my lap to make room for her with my other. (sigh) This isn’t a mansion or anything!

Ok, so we are all in. Why I don’t know because by now Jace is probably in the living room.

However, this adventure is not over yet! William is my nature rather…hmmm…how should I say it… squirmy?….active?…can’t keep still?….all of the above? Yeah thats the one, even in a closet space. Go figure.

Next there issues a stream of comments that would make anyone laugh (at least if you have a humor like me). Shall I give you a sampling?

Ok. Something like this.

“Ow.”
“Your head is soo hard.” (directed toward William)
“Why is your elbow in my ear?”
“This would make a great blog post” (I wonder who said that… 😉 )
“William!”
“Oh okay! That hurt.”
(insert random grunts)
“Is that your foot?”
“My leg is twisted in every direction.”
“I think I hit my funny bone.”
“My ankle is asleep!”
“Your head is in my mouth!” (also directed toward William, sensing a pattern…)

and on.

Please enjoy the mental picture of William thrashing around in this closet space on top of me (ahem ahem) and Celia.

Well, you might be wondering how this is going to end.

I will tell you.

This story ends with me stuffing Celia out of the closet and pushing William right behind her. Thats right folks.

Oh but I forgot to tell you.

The true end is me trying to get out without knocking all of Jace’s nice shirts off of the hangers. Its a skill. A skill I am blessed to have.

Boy, do I love my siblings.

Thank you for being crazy enough to listen and well enjoy the embellishes. 🙂

Your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, Bible characteristics, challenges, character, do hard things, faith, Family, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#34- Made a List of Requirements For My Future Spouse

I think it is important that we have a picture of what we want our future spouse to be like. They aren’t going to be perfect but if we know what we want them to be like we won’t settle with the first thing the world throws at us. We will only settle with God’s best for our lives and marriges. So here is the challenge. Make a list of requirements for your future husband/wife. Examples of requirements include: being a Christian, having a strong prayer life, comitted to no divorce, being a wise steward of what they are given and more. Then make a list of wants, things that are not necessarily needed but would be good to have. Examples include: coming from a Christian home, being bilingual, plays an instrument, has some of the same interests. My sister and I made a list as well as our Dad and Mom. You can then compare lists. Also, try to work on your list yourself so you can be that sort of person too.
We got the idea for the lists from the book: “Before You Meet Prince Charming” by Sarah Mally.

Thank you!

Priscilla