This little piggy went to the butcher.....

One BIG piggy wrecked havoc upon our yard last night!

Last night, Mike went out to burn garbage and saw our neighbors HUGE pig in our yard. So we all went out to see it. At the time the beast was only eating the grass around the porch which sounded so disgusting. Mike called the neighbor and they came down to get the pig but the pig ran off into the woods and since it was dark, Mike told them not to worry about it.

"We don't want it rootin' up your yard" says the neighbor.

"Don't worry about it," says my city-raised husband.

"Pigs can rip up the yard pretty good," I tell him.

This morning, we all left while it was still dark. I came home after a relaxing swim and a physical therapy appointment.

TO THIS!!!

I wish I had a picture of the ugly hog that destroyed our yard. Alas, much to my pleasure, said hog is being butchered today.

One day too late, if you ask me!

Autumn Leaf Sun Catchers

Busy, being artistic!

The kids at the Lighthouse Academy enjoyed making their Autumn Leaf suncatchers this past week. They all worked so hard and the suncatchers are beautiful.

Sandile and Annalynn working quietly

Each child had a piece of clear contact paper on which they arranged the pieces of precut tissue
paper. When all the sticky spots were covered, they used watered down glue to "decoupage" the tissue paper.

I try to come up with projects that will interest the broad age range in our class. The older kids seemed to enjoy making the suncatchers as much as the little ones.

I showed the kids an example of my own. I used black construction paper to create a leaf-shaped "frame". The frame is glued down over the tissue paper and cut around when dry.

Malachi and Carol

Each child could make any kind of "frame" they wanted. So we have some Autumn Hearts and an Autumn Flower.

Taryn and Leslie did an awesome job filling up all the sticky spots!

When they were all finished, we punched holes and strung ribbon through them to hang in the window.

Mimi hard at work

I didn't get any pictures of the finished projects but IF I actually remember to bring my camera next week I will take a picture of the suncatchers they have hung up at their home.

Next project: Foamies Shape Pictures

What Will Happen With a Gluten-Free Diet....

If you're truly gluten-intolerant it will make you feel 100% better!

I've recently began to eliminate gluten from my diet. This is my 2nd go-round. Back in January I'd been suffering with pain in my stomach, bathroom issues, bloating..... and I could not figure it out. Not until I friend with gluten-intolerance began to tell me about her symptoms. So I cut gluten from my diet. Within a week my symptoms began to clear up. I stayed off gluten for over a month and it made a HUGE difference.

It will make you hungry!

When I first started cutting the gluten from my diet, I was so stinkin' hungry. Do you realize what all has gluten in it? Everything good! Not really...but so many foods are made from grass grains like wheat and rye. Flour is used in most food items that need thickener...like cream soups. And cream soups are a staple of my home....I use them in EVERYTHING--almost.

It took a little while to figure out what I could and couldn't eat and to find substitutes. Gluten-free breads, crackers and bakery items are EXPENSIVE! But if you're the only one eating them, take the splurge....or you'll starve!

You'll be reminded that there is a reason you are on this diet.

Then this past spring I started to have lots of joint pain. Now remember, I started incorporating gluten into my diet again.... I didn't have the initial symptoms so I figured I was okay. Then a friend looked up info about joint pain and saw that many gluten-intolerant people have issues with their joints. So guess what.....I've once again cut gluten from my diet. And I'm hungry again. Because to tell the truth, when I open the fridge, nothing looks better than that gluten-filled brownie or the left over spaghetti.... Or I go to the cupboard and graham crackers are calling my name.

You will become culinarily creative (is culinarily a word?)

I told you all the above just to tell you about my new recipe! And to be honest, it didn't strike me as sounding too appetizing to begin with. I don't even know what to call it....ummmm, hamburger rice casserole or something similarly unoriginal.

3 cups rice, uncooked
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 med onion, chopped
salt, pepper, garlic to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
3 cubes beef bouillon
8 oz shredded cheddar or cojack cheese

Cook rice until just UNDER done. Spread in large casserole dish. Meanwhile, brown beef , onion, and seasonings. Add tomatoes and bouillon to to browned beef and cook until hot. Pour over rice in casserole and mix. Top with shredded cheese and bake in 350* oven 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

My son, Samuel, likes it with Red Hot sauce. And it is quite good that way. He enjoyed the casserole so much, he took leftovers to school today. My husband liked it too. And that made me feel real good!

Notice: I have not had gluten-intolerance confirmed by a doctor and I do not claim to know much at all about it....just that eliminating it from my diet made ME feel much better.

Enjoy the recipe!

Welcome to Art 2010!

Wow! A whole new school year. That means a whole new year of ART! Woot!

So to start off this year with kids at the Lighthouse Academy we did self-portraits. I didn't put any restrictions on what they could or couldn't do. I just asked them to draw a picture of themselves and to pay close attention to details.

What kind of details?

Well, how about eyelashes, eyebrows and even noses? Those are a few things often forgotten on childrens' drawings of themselves. A few more are necks (yes, we all have a neck. Our head does not just sit on top our shoulders. Who knew?), freckles and eyewear.

So here is a collection of the kids' art work from September 13, 2010.

It will be fun to see how the kids grow in their artistic capabilities and creativity.

Follow along with us over the course of this new school year and let us know what you think.

Coming up next week in art: Fall Leaf Suncatchers