Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Jordan made her first cake and I am one proud Momma!

 

For the past few months, I have been taking the kids with me one at a time when I do the grocery shopping.  This eases my mommy guilt about not spending enough one-on-one time with my little ones and gives the kids and I some time to chat uninterrupted.  It's always fun, whether Megan tells me about the book she has been reading or Jordan and I are singing along to the radio.  Jackson usually just sits there looking at me expectantly.  He's just like his dad.  But I digress.

As an added bonus, each week the "kid of the week" gets to choose a recipe that they would like to make for the family and shop for the ingredients needed.  Sweet Jordan wanted to make a recipe that we've had a few times before: double layer pumpkin cheesecake.

I'm not crazy about pumpkin pie (unless it's smothered in whipped cream), so a few years ago I visited Allrecipes to find a holiday alternative. I found this AMAZING cheesecake! It's part cheesecake, part pumpkin pie, and a whole lotta' yummy!

I'm still learning how to put photos up in an organized fashion, so I apologize if these look like they were just thrown in here! I assure you that it took a lot of work!

You can get the recipe here

Lord bless you!

Sarah

Our homeschool: Colonial Days

What a fun week this has been!  The kids are really enjoying the colonial study that we are in the middle of.  The book that we are using the most is "Welcome to Felicity's World:  Growing up in Colonial America". 

This picture book is like a time capsule, similar to DK books except that it links everything back to the Felicity stories.  Earlier in the year, we read the Felicity books and watched the movie, and I think that has helped them to stay interested in this study. 

Also for our colonial study, we have been working our way through "A Sampler View of Colonial Life", and the girls have made several samplers of their own--sort of.  We are using plastic craft squares and thick craft needles, but they are at least getting the general idea of what a sampler is!  (I've really got to learn how to sew!)  We practiced the various stitches and then I let them loose to create their own samplers.  They've been "sewing" constantly for the past few days, bringing their work to me from time to time to admire.  It makes my heart happy to see them enjoying school so much!

Megan's first thought was to make a map of the 13 colonies, but after realizing how difficult it would be to connect them all and make them accurate, she decided to just place them around a big "M" and added a lake for good measure (because what's a map without a lake, really?).

 

Jordan followed suit and made a big "J" on hers, and then decided on flowers and shapes.  I was really impressed with her perserverence--she worked at it for over an hour!

Jackson made an attempt, but then practiced his scizzor skills all over it before I could get a picture.  Here are a few pics of him this month, just because he's so cute!

The one on the right is Jackson as I found him a few weeks ago when I went to check on him.  When he woke up I asked him why he had sister's headband on, and he said, "Because I'm excercise Jackson!"  I should have known.

Other books we're reading this week:

Lord bless you this weekend!

Our Family: A visit to Smith Rock

Okay, this one is kind of family life, kind of homeschooling.  Family life because it's hiking and homeschooling because we wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been for this book!  This month, we took part in The Homeschool Lounge's fall Flat Stanley project. The project is based on the book "Flat Stanley", by Jeff Brown, about a little boy who is flattened by a billboard and goes on to have great adventures! We made our own little "Stanley's" as well as a journal, and sent them across the country to other homeschooling families for a visit.  Megan's Stanley is visiting Florida, and Jordan's is in Pennsylvania. The girls are both very excited to see what their Stanley's did while they were away.

We have had a lot of fun thinking up places to take our little visitors.  We're new to the High Desert, so finding places that are unique to the area has been a bit of a challenge.  Yesterday we took them to Smith Rock for a little hiking. There were only a few rock climbers to watch, but it was a fun trip all the same. Here are a few pictures of the kids with their Stanley's. 

One more sign that my Megan is growing up:  Today while we were working on our journals, she said, "I can't write that Stanley had a great time yesterday, because he's just a piece of paper--it would be lying to say that!"  I asked her what she would like to write, and she said, "I can write that we took their piece of paper to Smith Rock."  Ha!  Suddenly, I've become the silly mommy who is making her spend time with a character from a book!  It seems like just yesterday that she was telling me that she was going to Alaska to live with wolves.  Oh wait...

Our Family: Thanksgiving '09