This cool cat is a JUNIOR

This cool cat is a Junior this school year. High school has really been flying by. This past year, he took it upon himself that he desired to dual enroll. So he called the local university of his choice with questions about how to dual enroll, and we started the ball rolling. So in just a few weeks, the week of the wedding in fact he will attend Universtiy classes for dual credit. Because we have decided to go the dual enrollment route, his hybrid school will no longer host him as an associate student due to their new rules.  He assured us that he would rather have the dual credits than graduate with his class. We are proud of his stewardship, an drive and responsibility.

Since he will be attending classes 4 days a week, he needed a "new to him" ride. So his dad found him this cute ride...

and the good news is that even though he will be dual enrolling, he can still play tennis with NCCA, the other local hybrid school. I know this will be a fun and exciting school year for Shek.

National Cheesecake Day

Today is National Cheesecake Day. I heard about it on the news this morning. Who Knew? Of course, it's a ploy to make you want cheesecake and go buy some. But what if you are eating keto? I have the perfect answer, you make cheesecake and eat it too.

My family and I have been checking out all the keto recipe books, websites, pages, and blogs for the best recipes. We have not been disappointed with any of the recipes from Aaron Day at  fatforweightloss . My National Cheesecake Day recipe comes from Aaron's website.

New York Baked Cheesecake
ingredients
BASE
1/2cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 cup butter
FILLING
2 cups cream cheese
3/4 c sour cream
1/4 stevia (PYURE)
3 large eggs
1 T vanilla
1 t lemon juice

Directions
Add all the base ingredients into a bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds and mix together in a bowl. In a cake tin, line the inside with parchment paper and press the base mixture into the bottom of the of the tin. Press on the bottom only because the side will become too thin.
place the tin in the fridge and continue with the following steps. Preheat oven 320F. In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and sour cream together along with the vanilla and the lemon juice. add 1 egg to the bowl and begin to mix together with an electric mixer. as the mixture begins to mix slightly, add another egg and continue to mix, add the last egg and continue to mix. Take the base out of the fridge and fill the tin with the cheese mixture. put into the oven and bake 45-50 mins. Check the cheesecake by placing a knife in the middle. If it comes out clean it's done.  turn oven off and Leave the oven slightly open and leave the cake in the oven for another 30 mins to cool slowly. put in fridge for another 60 mins. enjoy.

Nutritional Info
10 slices
305 calories
5g carbs
27g fat
8g Protein

In less than a month...

In less than a month, we will be going to the chapel! That's right! Zach and Bre will be getting married.   You can read  their story on The Knot of how they met, as well as engagement photos and wedding details.

Zach has been praying for a wife for a long time, for THE wife God has for him. BUT I've been praying even longer! I've been praying for my children's spouses since before they were born, while they were in the womb, and all the time in between. There are many decisions that we must make this side of heaven but the two top ones are 1. Your relationship with JESUS, and 2. Who you will spend the rest of your life with. I thank God for hearing my prayers.

Late last year, I had been praying and I write a lot of my prayers in a prayer journal because  I love to write, writing the prayers keeps me focused. I remember praying that GOD would help Zach find the one that HE had picked especially for Zach. AND then I had this revelation, I prayed GOD, YOU know where she is, can you please bring her around? Simple as that. That's what I prayed. The. Very. Next. Day. He popped in the study on his way to work, and showed me a photo of this beautiful girl on Instagram and asked what I thought of her. I said she is beautiful, why? AND he said, she's been asking about me, saw me on the livestream of the church service and thought I was probably a nice guy. SO she asked her cousin about him (who turned out to be Zach's boss at the time)....he messaged her through social media and they planned their first date. Like I said earlier you can read their stories on how they met at The KNOT.  I prayed...Lord if this is the one, open the doors and if not shut them tight, and let them both know on this very first date if they are a match for each other....well the rest is history. She is the answer to all the prayers I've been praying for, and I thank GOD. He is awesome, He is on Time. He never Fails and He answers prayers... He accomplishes what concerns His children.

Zach and Bre at Church

Back in April, he proposed 

and she said yes.

We look forward to seeing them get married in just a few short weeks. I  can't wait to see what God has planned for them as they start their new life together.

That Keto life...

If you've know me, you know that throughout my entire life I have struggled with being overweight. I've tried everything over the years. I have had success, but I've also as the word struggle suggests, gained weight back. The constant battle, a thorn in the side, fighting that number on the scale has made me feel like a failure.


Recently, I heard on the radio about KETO and decided to give it a whirl. So I researched it and even bought the book that was suggested on the radio.  I bought Simply Keto and follow her Facebook page and checked out her website  ketokarma . She has a lot of wonderful recipes that are easy to make with easy to find ingredients. So I tried it and had some success, but kept following off the low carb wagon.

Then a friend of mine posted on Facebook that a group in town had been doing a low carb lifestyle with intermittent fasting and taking MCT oil. I had left those two pieces of the puzzle out and since adding those I've finally watched the scales move in the right direction. AND believe it or not, I've not been hungry, not always hearing the pantry call my name. It's been an answer to prayer. The entire family is enjoying my new recipes and my hubby, my mom and I have lost weight. Of course, we still take our AdvoCare supplements (Spark, clear mood, Oasis, Catalyst, Omega plex are some of our favorite go-tos, while enjoying this awesome new to us way of eating.

Looking back, in High School, I prayed that God would help me lose weight. And during that time, I at a high-fat breakfast, you know bacon and eggs, I skipped lunch because  I just didn't like the school cafeteria, went to after school band practice and then ate supper and drank about a gallon of tea when I got home, I guess I was dehydrated. I lost weight. Many people asked me then what I was doing, and I simply said I prayed it off. So God put me on a keto diet back then....over the years, the world tells you to eat low fat and no-calorie processed stuff and that just doesn't work. Yes, there is life without carbs, or at least low carbs. ;)


Some helpful websites and cookbooks that we have enjoyed are fatforweightloss ,ketodaily ,alldayidreamaboutfood

One of my favorite recipes is Lemon Cake from Fatforweightloss.

Keto lemon cake with cream cheese icing... this recipe is a keeper😋

Lemon coconut cake with cream cheese icing (recipe from Aaron Day of Fatforweightloss)
1/2 cup coconut flour
5 eggs
1/4 cup erythritol or pyre blend
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 lemon juiced
1/2 t lemon zest
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/2 t salt
Icing
1 cup cream cheese
3 T erythritol or pyure blend
1t vanilla
1/2 t lemon zest

Separate the egg whites and yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form white peaks. Into the same bowl, place the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. Mix until combined. Pour into a parchment paper lined loaf tin 9 x 5... make icing while cake bakes. Beat the cream cheese, erythritol and vanilla extract and lemon zest together with an electric beater. Bake at 350 until a knife comes out clean. When cake is cooled, Frost it... nutritional info 10 slices, 145 calories a slice, 1 gram carb, 12 g fat 4 G protein.

Karlie graduates...

Over the past year, Karlie has been working hard at esthetician school. She has learned all kinds of beauty treatments and is super awesome at giving facials. 

She tends to put her clients to sleep because she has the touch that really relaxes her clients during her facials and other beauty treatments.

At Christmas, she was chosen to be Cindy Lou Who for her school's Christmas Float. It was a great day to showcase the school's talent for hair and makeup.

 At GCI, the students learned lots of vital information about skin care and skin treatments. 

She received her elite purple apron for being an exceptional student earlier this year.

And today after 1000 hours,  Karlie graduated from the esthetician program at  GCI.

The graduates sign the wall.

 Karlie wit her grandparents.

We are very proud of your accomplishments, Karlie.

 We look forward to seeing you go forward to the next step.

 We are thankful for this opportunity and

for your great teachers who have helped you succeed.

Surgery number 6 but who's counting?

Since Jolie's been home, she has had several surgeries for cleft palate. In fact, I had lost count, but she asked the other day and we tried to remember them all and we think she has had a total of 6. With the sixth one being last week. 

Awaiting the "loopy" drugs prior to surgery at CHOA

We have had the bone graft surgery on the calendar for a while now, and last week she had that surgery with a little nose revision and previous scar clean up. She knew that she was having the nose and scar revision but didn't realize that she would wake up with visible stitches and swelling and such. I thought she realized that, but she was shocked when she woke up to see the stitches in the mirror. 

She did great though, and even learned to swallow pills after this surgery which is an awesome accomplishment!! It has been a week and most of the swelling is gone, but the stitches are still visible so she won't allow any photos. We look forward to the stitches going away because in one month she will be a flower girl in her big brother's and soon to be sister in love's  wedding. 

It has been seven years

It's hard to believe that it has been seven years today, that our youngest was placed in our arms. We have all been changed for the better through adoption. I can't believe it's been seven years, time really flies.

This was us, eight years ago. Jolie had cried out all her tears at the point the photo was made. As you can see her back was to me and she decided Karl was A-Ok.

And by the next day, she had decided I was ok. We bonded over chocolate, chicken nuggets, toys and clothes!

Our family in 2011...

Our family now....this was taken at our domestication. We kept putting off this step, but finally completed it recently.

our first glance at Jolie was this photo....

This is Jolie now. What an awesome blessing she is to us.  Read more about our journey here.

Back to school

Today was our official day for back to school. Actually, we have been schooling for the past two weeks. Shek received his assignments at orientation two weeks ago so he has already been back to the grind. Since he was back at it, I started Jolie as well.

 He was headed to Konos this morning when I made him pose for this photo. He will attend Konos classes for instruction one day a week. We will follow up for the remainder of the week with a get r done work ethic before next  Wednesday.

 Jolie wanted her first day of 2nd grade photo taken in front of the horses that live next door. The horses are not ours but Jolie likes to have them in her photos.

This year we are trying to hit the park in the mornings for a 3 -5 mile walk or jog, I am out of O2Gold   which makes running easier so until I get my order of it in, the jogging will have to wait. . We plan to go at least 3 times a week maybe 4. It's important to get out in the fresh air and exercise.

 Shek may also start practicing tennis with his dad in the early morning hours too, so that the evenings can be devoted to math.

 Jolie is loving her new cursive handwriting book, and enjoying a unit study on the American girls. Right now, we are reading Kaya. She is also reading Rod and Staff Bible readers.  We are also studying the Prayer of Jabez for Children. She really wants to play the piano and/or violin, but her oldest brother needs to help her with that. lol On Thursdays, she goes to Gam's for art lessons and projects and I volunteer/doorhold at church, and sometimes I take one of the older kids with me. I think it's important to instill a love for serving, especially at church. We look forward to a fun-filled school year chock full of learning, growing and serving.

School in Session...well almost

IT's almost time for school to start. We start after labor day. Shek will attend Konos Academy one day a week. We will tackle his math and science at home. Jolie longs to go to Konos too, but she's not old enough. I can't take the kids to two co-op/hybrids so I will do ALL of her school here at home.

I've dusted off all my old Hands of a Child lapbook/unit studies as well as the Konos Curriculum and I have a plan for the whole year. This year we will be doing the American Girls unit study from Hands of a child, we will do a unit on bees, kings and queens, light from Konos as well as a Christmas and Thanksgiving unit study, I'll end the year with a Ocean Unit study, Blueberry sal and probably Bees with a trip to Strawberry patch which also has a bee hive.

We will also use rod and staff Math and Bible Readers.

Looking forward to getting started....after Labor Day

teacher treasures

This past week, I tackled a closet that I have been ignoring for  a while. It was the hall closet and had seemed to become a catch all for everything. I kept the door closed, what is out of sight was out of mind, well sort of ....I knew it was there and needed to quit dreading it and just clean it out. The thing about cleaning out something means there's probably going to be a larger mess before we get to the clean and orderly. AND so it was, it's hard to believe that such a small closet could hold that much stuff. 

I found a lot of junk that needed to go away, but I found an odd little treasure as well. In the bottom of the closet under some boxes and stuff I found  a file folder. I thought that it was something I had used when I sold Southern Living at Home, but I opened it and realized it was my file folder that I used the last year I taught High School Literature. I opened it, to see students' names for each of the files. My oldest, Zach, was one of those students that year. In each folder there was one lone assigment that had not been picked up by the students. It was dated January of '09, so why I still had it was amazing to me. The assignment was called Perfect mate. IT was as assignment given to the students when we were studying Romeo and Juliet. On one side the students described physical and personality traits that they desired in a future mate, They also had a space provided to guess what qualities they thought their parents would desire for them. On the back side, of the page, the parents were asked to do the same. 

This was the last year that I taught high school Literature, so still having these was a treat to find. Many of the students have already found their mate, or they are engaged, and some have children. It was neat to see what they wrote and what their parents wrote all those years ago.
When I read Zach's, I still have the same desires in a mate for him, and he still agrees with what he wrote on his paper back when he was in the 11th grade. 

One of my students said she desired to marry a cowboy, with a job and a truck. I am friends with this former student on facebook, and from what I can tell...she did marry someone with those qualifications. Reading all the qualifications from students and parents alike was so thrilling all these years later.

I am glad that I cleaned out the closet, not only did I clear out some trash, make a garage sale pile, organize my closet, but I was rewarded with this little treasure from my former students. I had the best students of all time back then.

Hitting the trail

This summer has been a very HOT, so we did not hit the trail walking or jogging as much as we should have. Recently, my parents found another local park with the best walking trail around. Most of it is shaded, and there's lots of nature to explore. There is even a babbling brook. It is next door to a small airport, so we see small planes take off and circle the area a lot. Once there were helicopter that seemed to hoover over the trail. I was concerned that possibly they were looking for someone. EEK! They moved on so no bad guys were lurking about.

The Wilderness

Last weekend, my family and I went to Lydia's cd release party. She grew up in the youth group with my oldest kids and has always been singing. Last week she released her awesome cd, The Wilderness, which was produced by Riverstone Music group. My oldest, Zach  and his college roomate Eric, formed Riverstone and produced her cd. She has an inspiring backstory. Check her music out on itunes  purchase it, roll down your car windows, sun roof and turn up the tunes.

stylin'

Karlie has been growing her hair out for years only getting a trim every five weeks and a little hair dye every 10 weeks. Recently, she decided to go for a new look. She had tried layers with out really touching the length, but decided to go for it and cut off about 6 inches. It's still long enough for a pony tail or a braid if she wants one. Cutting off that much hair can make one nervous, but she was excited to see the final look.

Peachtree Road Race

Back on July 4th we participated in the Peachtree Road Race. The largest 10k in the world, I think. It's a big deal. This is the 3rd one that I have had the privledge of participating in. It was also the absolute hottest one I have ever been in. It was EXTREMELY hot. People were dropping like flies. Do flies drop? Maybe people were dropping like raindrops...it was crazy. We stopped for a few minutes ourselves for a break, but we did finish and we have the Tee shirt to prove it.

 I wore my favorite Auburn shirt, even though I went to Mississippi State. Karl wore his Auburn Cap. Auburn peeps are the friendliest, we heard many War Eagle greetings through out the race. 

 Gam and Pop joined us. This was Pop's first road race and Gam's second one. 

 This was Karl's first peachtree as well.

 Shek's second!

 We finished and snapped a photo at the finsh line.Shek had left us in the dust and was waiting on us at park.

 I"m praying for cooler temps next year.

And the shirt was worth it..don't you think.

Tennis

Tennis is a year round thing with Shek. He plays when its cold when it's hot when it's just right and when it's not. During tennis team season it's especially busy for the family. We love to see him play the game. We enjoy his passion for the sport. We admire his champion attitude to improve daily.

Tennis Team Brothers

good music doesn't have an expiration date

Zach is working toward ordination as a worship pastor. He also continues writing music and has recently put on the producer hat as he and his friend have joined forces and are using their God gifted talents and passion for music.

Zach doing what he loves!

  

 Zach with his Pastor

 2nd year ordination certificate

Zach and Eric producing Music...good music doesn't have an expiration date.