The SG Notebook

Is the building of Christian character in children still desired in the parenting of today? Unfortunately, I think most of you would undoubtedly agree that instilling virtue in our young folks is a slowly dying American dream. We want to see gains in the area of education; that’s a big priority. We’re concerned about rights and choices. We’re very concerned about things such as equal pay and health care, etc. But what about character? Is that why we allow them to sit in front of the computer and tv for hours on end? Is that why we give them tons of secular books to read, but sometimes don’t get around to inspirational or spiritual literature? Just a few questions for us to think about, and please don’t think I’m being judgmental. I have and still do struggle with the very same issues that you do.

For the record, though, SG does care a lot about it. In fact, it’s our top priority when it comes to what we offer to children. It looms largest in any publication we offer to the young. Once again, I want to encourage you to go to our main Growing Children page and there you will find all the links to the pages on our site that we have in place for the purpose of helping parents in this important crucial aspect of preparing their children for the world they must deal with. We want to help; really we do.

Also, if you bookmark the following site, you may get a few helpful ideas, particularly if you’re homeschooling:

Christian Character Builders

Blessings to you as you raise your tender plants.

For His Glory,
Maxine

I thought you’d enjoy a few pictures from our apple pie making experience. I can now attest to the absolute deliciousness of this pie! This worked great for us because there isn’t any top crust, making this easier for little chefs!

We just polished off the last of our pie tonight. Enjoy it warm, with ice cream on top!

We hope you enjoy your first weekend of Fall!

For His Glory,
Beverly

Every day that I do preschool with my daughter, we say,

“Apples big, apples small, guess what? I like them all!”

I do love apples. I love them in all flavors and in all manner of tasty desserts. When I was pregnant, I was never without my jar of applesauce. I love the fragrance that comes from my apple candle melting on my stove. And fall is almost here! Time to break out all the baking stuff. Woot!

Because I’m teaching Selena about apples this month, we’ve been reading about about apple picking, types of apples, and baking with apples.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll be going apple picking, and Lena will get to experience all these things firsthand. And next week, I plan to make apple pie with her. Here’s the recipe:

“Sliced apples, raisins and walnuts are sugared, dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg, and piled into a pastry shell. A sweet crumbly topping is sprinkled over the top. The whole pie is then loosely covered with aluminum foil, and baked until golden and brown.”

Ingredients:
1 (9 inch) pie shell
6 cups thinly sliced apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Stir in raisins and walnuts if desired. Spoon mixture into pastry shell.
3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

This recipe was submitted by Jackie Smith to Allrecipes.com

In Him,
Beverly

This is just a quick note to let you know that our “Savior, Teach Me Day by Day” calendar is being revised and will be available for shipment after November 1, 2009. But you can pre-order! And if you do, you can get it at a reduced price! More information is available here. You can be sure that we’ll let folks know when the final product is ready.

Regards, Maxine

Did you receive our newsletter last week? We hope that you are enjoying meaningful mealtimes with your family. We had a lovely family dinner last week as my parents and sister joined us for my daughter Selena’s birthday. Talking, togetherness, and tasty food are all wonderful components to a successful meal!

Speaking of tasty food, here is a great resource for children’s recipes. I was excited to see that there are even recipes that preschoolers can participate in! The Happy Face Sandwich is something we might try soon. If your child enjoys pizza, the Breakfast Pizza will tickle their fancy!

What fun things have you eaten lately?

In Him,
Beverly

Free Original Clipart at Designed to a T

Happy to see September again? I am. I’ve always loved this month. We’re back to school in our house and we’re back to many other things at Speakable Gifts. While we start the Junior year of high school here and preschool at Bev’s house, we’ve also just published another edition of the newsletter. Somehow, we’re wading through the technical issues, partly due to the fact that Bev has agreed to do the bulk of the work. We’ve spent a lot of phone time trying to resolve our computer woes, but we’ve managed to persevere! You would not believe what yesterday was like, but we got it done and sent. If you haven’t subscribed yet, what are you waiting for? It’s as easy as one, two, three, so hop over and sign up! If so, you’ll get the current edition right away.

We’re also back with another writing contest for your children. As usual, we have the two categories utilizing two of our Speakables: Second to fourth graders on the Aesop fable and fifth to sixth graders on a very popular saying (proverb). Want more details? You can find them here.

And new products are about to emerge. We’re excited about them and are in the process of finding the best way to have them published here at Speakable Press. We’re hopeful (and prayerful) that God will see us through and we can offer them to you very soon. Of course, we’ll let it be known as soon as these publications are available.

God’s blessings to you and your household. Have a wonderful, wonderful fall of the year. Whatever your schooling situation, hope you get off to a good start.

For His glory,

Maxine