The SG Notebook

We have a couple of winners in our writing contest! You can get to the winning entries from the contest page, so hop over and view them if you get a chance

I told you it was coming! Our newsletter subscribers got first dibs, but now our Christmas list is available for everyone to view and enjoy. Click on the picture above to see what we recommend for children of all ages. We’ve even included links to reviews of some of the books! Consider a meaningful gift for a child you know this year.

Here are a few facts about the little country of Vietnam. Perhaps you could talk about it for a geography lesson, but mostly you may want to use this information to talk about one more place which desperately needs the gospel. I hope you are guiding your children into a greater awareness of and concern for the needy children in restricted and hostile nations. I sincerely hope your young ones will not be caught up in the trap of this society’s obsession with me-ism. I bring these articles and situations to your attention as a source of encouragement for you to touch their tender hearts. I hope it helps. More information is at the Kids of Courage site. (Note: If you come across this post at a later time, the article at KOC may be different than the one for this date. You will still find an article that will give you information on some country where children live in a persecuted situation.)

Capital
Hanoi

Size
In area, the U.S. is about 30 times bigger than Vietnam. Almost 30 Vietnams would fit inside the U.S.

Time
At 6:00 a.m. U.S. Central Standard Time, it is 7:00 p.m. in Vietnam.

Religion
Many in Vietnam are Buddhists, many are spirit worshippers, and some follow no religion at all. The government controls religious activities. If churches do not register with the government, the members of the churches can be arrested and fined. Christians from minority tribes are treated unfairly. Some tribal Christians hide their Bibles and read them in secret. Some also worship or baptize new Christians in secret.

Pray for Vietnam!

For His Glory,
Maxine

Just wanted to make a quick reminder that we have a writing contest going on! Entries have started coming in, but there is still plenty of time for your children to get their thinking caps on and come up with a thoughtful, and even fun, submission. Kids have had a lot of fun doing our writing contest in the past and I know yours would too. And remember, if they participated before, they still can again, as long as they are in the right grade.

We LOVE hearing from the children and are waiting to hear from yours!

Blessings, Maxine

Sooooooo, it’s a fall morning and your house is in perfect order. Your children are bathed, brushed, and fed, sitting like little china dolls in a row. Right?

I’ll tell you honestly that this isn’t true of my house. The beds are made, but the kitchen is still showing the flurry of breakfast. One of my children is dressed and fed, but the other is still wandering around in her jammies!

We are moms just like you, and we have the same struggles, trials and anxieties that you do. But we have another thing in common with you! We want the best for our children, and we are concerned about raising them as little beacons of light in an otherwise dark world.

I’d like to encourage you to consider giving your child, grandchild, friend, niece or nephew a spiritually based gift amid all the other things you’ll place under the tree.

I’ll be popping in to suggest products to you every now and again.

The first product I’d like to suggest is our Stepping Heavenward Gift Set. It is only $10.00, and what an encouragement you’ll be to a young lady.

I’ll be stopping in with more suggestions. We’ll also be recommending a few books to you as well.

God Bless Friends,
Beverly

You still have time! We are currently accepting submissions for our third writing contest and wanted to encourage you to have your children join in. Hope some of your children are already thinking about, and working on, their entries. You didn’t know about it? Well, hop on over to our contest page and get all the info! We LOVE reading the creative work that children send in. It’s always a delight to hear what they have to say.

I thought I should mention one area where there sometimes is some confusion: When sending in your entries by email, please copy the child’s original writing within the body of the email. Sorry, but we cannot accept attachments. Thanks for understanding!

Hope you’re having a great fall so far.

Maxine

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