Merry Christmas!

  Merry Christmas to all, And to all a…… Good Night! Sending Christmas blessings to you and yours, ~Love Dale, Tonya & the 4 little Fergusons Taking a break until after the New Year!  See you then…. ~T

Homeschool Tips & Tricks

  When I was first thinking about starting Homeschool my head was SPINNING!  Could I do it?  Would I go crazy? Would I know how to teach?    My sweet friend, Janice, sent me this great email with tips that …

Blocking Out The Schedule

I struggled all summer, and prayed and prayed, Lord please show me how this is supposed to work. I am homeschooling FOUR kids! FOUR!    Who does math first, when do I do spelling? Does Avery need to do kindergarten …

Our Kindergarten Curriculum

  Welcome back! We are covering the oh-so scary leap into homeschool curriculum!  I wasn’t sure how to handle this years Kindergarten curriculum.    Last year, Avery and I did Brain Games workbooks, and a Phonics program together, instead of …

Our Homeschool Curriculum

  If you have ever Googled the words: Homeschool Curriculum   You will be met with hundreds of thousands of suggestions, and strong opinions.  You Google, CHRISTIAN Homeschool Curriculum, and there are just a many if not more, fascinating and …

The Everlasting Kitchen Project

As you all know, we were without a kitchen from July to end of October, and didn’t have a fully working one until this past month. Yikes…..  I can tell you it was all worth it, but just barely.  Haha, not …

Christmas Favorites

  Hi there, come on in!  The house and porch are all decorated for Christmas…..   The fire is lit and warming our home night and day.  We are wrapping up our school work for a nice break, and baby, …

Slow Cooker Sierra Mist Ham

I love Coke Ham, it’s dark and rich, and caramelizes as it cooks.  But sometimes, you just need a lighter flavor, that is when my sister-in-law suggested I try Sierra Mist Ham.  YUM!

Sierra Mist will give your ham a light citrus flavor, but more importantly, make the most tender ham you have eaten.

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Description

This easy ham will make your holiday prep so much easier, just pour on the soda and walk away for the day.

Ingredients

• 12 pounds Bone In, Butt Cut Ham
• 8 cups, 7 tablespoons, ¾ teaspoons, ⅓ pinches Sierra Mist
  (haha, in other words, guess…but it’s about 1 cup of soda plus half the liter)
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• ¼ teaspoons Cloves

Preparation

Trim ham to fit in oversized slow cooker. Pour 1 cup of sierra mist into a measuring cup and add seasonings, pour over ham.

Turn crockpot on low and add remaining soda, until only half the 2 liter remains.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Slice and serve with extra soda drizzled over platter.

Enjoy!

~T

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Beef & Rice Enchilada Soup

  I made this delicious soup last Winter, when everyone was coming over all the time to be with Papa.  I knew I needed a big, hearty meal that could fill a lot of tummies.

  I saw a Pin from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice that looked great!  I knew I was going to have to use it only as a jumping off point, because I needed it to GROW to feed a crowd, so I started changing and adding and here is what we ended up with:

TOTAL TEX MEX DELICIOUSNESS!!!!!!!!!!

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Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Small White Onion, Finely Chopped
• 1 whole Bell Pepper, Any Color, Diced
• 6 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 1 pound Ground Beef, Cooked And Drained
• 1 can (11 Oz Size) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, Undrained
• 1 can (14 Oz Size) Creamed Corn, Undrained
• 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Corn, Drained
• 1 can (16 Oz. Size) Chili Beans With Sauce
• 1 can (14.5 Oz Size) Petite Diced Tomatoes, Drained
• 8 ounces, fluid Packet Of Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce
• 2 cups Cooked Brown Rice
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• ½ teaspoons Oregano
• Pinch Of Chili Powder
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 cups Shredded Colby-jack Cheese
• 2 cups Tortilla Chip Strips For Garnish
• Cilantro For Garnish

Preparation

Melt butter in a large skillet and saute onion, bell pepper and garlic for 2 minutes before adding beef, seasoning to taste, and cooking through. Drain and add to large slow cooker.

Add diced tomatoes and chilies, creamed corn, regular corn, chili beans with sauce, petite diced tomatoes and packet of Red Chili Enchilada Sauce.

Season with cumin, oregano, and a pinch of chili powder.

In a small sauce pan, cook brown rice according to package directions, subtracting 10 minutes from cook time. Add rice to slow cooker and let it continue to cook in there.

Cook ingredients on low for 5 hours. During the last 30 minutes, stir in sour cream and shredded cheese.

Serve with tortilla chip strips and a bit of cilantro.

Ole’!
~T

The 4 Seasons of Home

  Welcome back! Did you all have a nice Thanksgiving?  We did! We all have so much to be thankful for.

  So, a long, long time ago, I asked for your help on Facebook, to decide which 4 Canvases I should hang in my home to represent each of the 4 Seasons.

  This project has taken me over 2 years sadly, because the first year, I was almost done getting my images from each Season, when my computer crashed.  Then I was grumpy about it, and didn’t shoot the Seasons again for a few years.  This year, I got it done, AND ordered canvases. Woot woot!

I couldn’t just pick one, so some Seasons have two canvases to pick from, or maybe I could switch out half way through a season or something….

Hey, a girl has GOT to have OPTIONS! 🙂

I will try to show both the image on my wall, and the original image in the following photos.

Spring:

I chose this bench one for now, but here are a few others I am dying to get as I see good deals on canvases.

We live in a place that snow can most definitely represent Spring!

Summer:

 Fall:

I want this one too. I love our windmill! 

Some others I am considering….

Winter:

  I narrowed it down to just 2 images, this first one is what you see in the photo. 

The one of Dale, Pax and Bambi made the evening news last year!  It is the second canvas I have, and plan to switch it to this for January and February.

  The problem is, I love the next 3 images as well, but didn’t get canvases made. 

Maybe some day I will do a big canvas grid arrangement for winter?!?!?!  🙂

Apparently, it’s my favorite Season to photograph?!  I have a plethora of choices!

  This one of our ducks and chickens made the local newspaper.  Despite the snow in it, it lives on my mantel year around and is my favorite of all time.  

  That is the 4 Seasons of Home, from my house to yours.

~T

  For those asking, (thank you, I am so honored!) images are available for purchase at my photography website, or if you want a professional canvas made, I need to order it for you.