Today no pictures of school happenings are as important as pausing for a moment to hold sweet Ella Farmer and her family in our hearts.

Ella's mom, Kari, was a PreK teacher at our school last year. Will and Ella, her twins, accompanied Kari to work/school. Yesterday, Ella was diagnosed with leukemia and is at Dell Children's Medical Center. Ella is four years old.

Ella, Will, Kari, and Chris,

We wish each of you comfort and peace as you begin Ella's journey to recovery. Your love is Ella's first and best medicine.

~Your Friends at GEDS

Menu, Week 10/25-10/29/10

Monday
AM: bananas
Lunch: wild salmon salad on crackers, organic baby carrots
PM: snack mix: dried blueberries, craisins, peanuts

Tuesday
AM: pumpkin spice bread
Lunch: roasted organic chicken thighs, organic quinoa with organic spinach and garlic
PM: homemade "Chex" Mix

Wednesday
AM: organic granola, organic milk
Lunch: kid-made cinnamon rolls, scrambled organic eggs
PM: string cheese, pita chips

Thursday
AM: blueberry corn muffins (organic blueberries)
Lunch: honey and almond butter sandwiches on multigrain bread, organic apple slices
PM: organic animal crackers, organic yogurt dip (yogurt, honey, cinnamon)

Friday
AM: sunrise bars
Lunch: kid-made cheese pizza, organic green beans
PM: crackers w/ organic strawberry jam

Monday, 10/18/10

Watering the garden...some squash and pumpkins are in bloom, and the kids have harvested several hand-fulls of green beans.

Cutting flowers for some small arrangements...

Using a screwdriver...

Spaghetti face!

The Transitional PreK group slops the pigs each afternoon... Sonny and Lucy are two happy pigs!

Hauling back the slop box...

Baby in a basket!

Brothers sharing big brother's dance hat...

Flashy for the farm!

Thanks, Sarah, for the great swinging/climbing rope!

Beef Jerky!

When all the grandchildren showed up for a date with grandma and grandpa this past weekend, my mom had made some beef jerky for snack. It was a huge hit, especially with one of my daughters who we believe is a bit sensitive to gluten. This can make snacking hard, since it's difficult sometimes to get her interested in protein or fruits/veggies for snacks. My parents follow a Paleo-type diet to manage diabetes, so this was a good snack choice for them, too.

My mom used Raising 5 Cattle Company's stir-fry beef for her jerky, and she made a pound. Knowing my family, I used 2 packages of Raising 5's grass fed stir fry beef. I am quite sure that using grass fed beef, in addition to the improved nutrients, made the jerky more tender than most I've had!

On a side note, Janie and I have long been fans of beef jerky, and I like venison jerky, too. Lots of folks in WV make their own, and our cousin used to let his air dry by stringing it on line in his ultra-warm basement close to the wood stove. We used to play and steal so much jerky that we couldn't get enough water! I was also fond of the shredded jerky sold in a "snuff" can back in the day, kind of like Big League Chew. Jerky and roller skating to Michael Jackson's Thriller album, now those were some good times...

2 lbs stir-fry beef or other lean cut, thinly sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce (you may want to chose one that is gluten-free, use Bragg's amino acids, or wheat-free tamari)
2 tsp garlic powder
black pepper to taste (go light for kids)
1 tsp sugar

Other marinade/flavor ideas: Tabasco, Liquid Smoke, Sriachi, ginger, lime juice

Combine beef and additional ingredients in a non-reactive bowl. Cover with foil and marinate for 12-24 hours.


Lay beef flat on trays (next time I'll use parchment).


Set oven to 170/175 degrees, and allow jerky to slow-roast for 5-6 hours, or until desired doneness. I set my electric oven to six hours and went to bed...we awoke to a delicious garlicy smell! The kids ate several pieces before breakfast (I told you they liked it)!
Remove from trays and store in an airtight container.

~Leslie

Weekly Menu, 1018-10/22/10

Monday
AM: organic raisin bran with organic milk
Lunch: spaghetti with meat sauce and Parmesan (organic spaghetti, grass fed beef)
PM: organic animal crackers, craisins

Tuesday
AM: orange slices, dry cereal
Lunch: picnic lunch to watch our sheep being sheared!!!!!!!!!! ham sandwiches on multigrain bread (nitrite/nitrate fee ham), organic apple slices
PM: organic whole milk yogurt and organic blueberries

Wednesday
AM: pineapple, sunrise bars
Lunch: chicken noodles, kid-made garlic breadsticks
PM: organic pears, cheddar cheese stick

Thursday
AM: organic oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, and organic milk
Lunch: Asian chicken and rice (pastured chicken, organic veggies, brown rice)
PM: organic carrots, organic hummus

Friday
AM: fruit salad (orange sections, organic blueberries, pineapple)
Lunch: enchilada casserole (homemade organic enchilada sauce, pinto beans, corn tortillas, cheeese)
PM: snack mix

Organizing Ideas from Magazines...(Clutter Buster!)

I don't currently receive any magazine subscriptions, but I have received several gift subscriptions over the last couple of years. Add these to the few magazines I can't resist at the check-out stand a few times a year and those passed on by friends and family members, and it could be over-load!

I should mention that I am a very visual--I would much rather work from pictures than words! I usually read articles and books quickly, but pictures or very short notes are what I would go back to time and again.

I am in the habit of keeping a a file folder titled "house ideas", for lack of a better category, on my desk. When I see a project or picture in a magazine (or online) that inspires me, I chuck it in this folder. Periodically, I add the contents of the folder to a 3 ring binder where the ideas wait for action. My loose categories in the binder are: outdoor projects, indoor projects, outdoor decorating, indoor decorating, and food (usually recipes).

So...I'm hanging on to two years of Mother Earth News and Natural Home, but otherwise, I'm clutter-free in the magazine department!

Today I condensed an entire box of magazines into a one-inch binder, with room to spare!

Category: Outdoor Projects...keep a permanent marker handy to mark the project you wanted to remember!

Category: Food

Category: Indoor Decorating

~Leslie

Thursday, 10/14/10

Little pudgy hands feeling a wooden cutting board during Community Time...

PreK kiddos had a great time this morning using sticks and small logs to break the thin shells of fresh pecans in the front yard! They ate and ate the pecans......little squirrels!
Mmmmm...

Harvesting green beans from the garden...

Stuffing and displaying the scarecrow... Step one was to haul hay in a wagon from the feed barn.

Using a hammer... how many times do we pause to let a 2, 3, or 4 year old do this?

Brothers... Children using screwdrivers and Allen wrenches...

Sanding...

Snack...

*Additional pictures courtesy of Barbra, Janie

Wednesday, 10/13/10

Peeling carrots and slicing celery to make chicken and rice soup for lunch.

On our morning route, paying the bunnies a visit.
We found a ladybug!
And a large caterpillar (moth?)...
As I wrote our daily notes, two of my friends asked for paper to write...this is how it should be. Time and space to experiment with "academic" skills when one is interested...

Construction...

Balance!

*Additional pictures courtesy of Christin