Pinned it and DID it - Apple Pie Bites

We've shared some pin-flops lately, so I wanted to share one of our successes!  

This was a simple idea:  Apples rolled in croissant dough.

We mixed cinnamon, sugar, and a hint of cardamom in a little bowl.

We sprinkled the sugar mixture on the inside of the dough, then rolled 1/8 of an apple into each one.

We sprinkled the extra sugar over the top of the rolled up "bites" and baked them.

Although they look like pigs in a blanket, they are a tasty dessert instead.  

Everyone liked them.

The only change I plan to make next time is to peel the apples before use.  

Notice the flexiclip my lovely assistant is wearing?  

These were a tasty autumn treat, and I'm glad we Pinned it and DID it!  

Thanks for clicking for us!

 

Adoption Fundraiser Blog Hop - The Rules

Okay, listen up!  The Adopting Families Fundraiser Blog Hop will start next week, so the time to get ready is NOW!

Please write a NEW POST on your blog, linking up using this button.  Don't hit publish yet!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://grtlyblesd.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-fundraising-families-adoption-blog.html" title="Greatly Blessed Adoption Fundraiser Blog Hop"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a113/grtlyblesd/cec9af48-2ff4-442b-ba15-2727c3fbca43_zps0ce68140.jpg" alt="Greatly Blessed Adoption Fundraiser Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Copy and paste the code in the box to the HTML in your blog post.  The link will appear broken until the blog hop post goes live on 10/17.  Your post should also go live on 10/17.  Your post must contain this link back to my blog.  You'll want to say something to the effect of, "Please visit other families' fundraisers at:  " and then the button.

This NEW POST is your way to promote your fundraiser(s).  You want to have a nice square photo in the post to use for your linkup picture.  Something like this:

You can create a simple one in PicMonkey.  You have a week to do it.  Give it a shot.  This took me less than 10 minutes, including interruptions.  If you're selling something that photographs well and it's very clear what the product is, you can use that.  Don't use a picture of the child you're adopting.  This is about the product you are selling.  You want people looking at the linkup to see exactly what you have for sale.  You can show your beautiful little one (or not, as you are able) in the blog post, but the linkup is for the fundraiser photo.

If you do not have a fundraiser, but would like to participate, I would be happy to host a Lilla Rose party for you.  Please contact me at grtlyblesd@aol.com with the subject Lilla Rose to set one up.

This is for any CURRENTLY ADOPTING family.  You must be in the process, not "thinking about adopting."

You must be selling something tangible.  Please do not link to "donate here" buttons.  People are coming here to do some shopping.  It can be t-shirts, coffee, jewelry, graphic design work, photography sessions, Christmas ornaments, artwork, whatever.  If you are doing more than one fundraiser, you may have multiple links in the same post.  ie T-shirts AND coffee AND blog design links all in ONE blog post that you link up here.

The hop will go live on 10/17.  Your post should also go live on 10/17.

Please do your part to promote the hop by sharing the main hop post (here on my blog) on Facebook and Twitter, and asking your friends and family to spread the word.  The more people who see the hop, the more potential shoppers you have, right?

Some visitors to your site will poke around and get to know you better.  Others will not.  Use this one post as your way of saying, "This is who WE are, this is who we are ADOPTING, and this is what we're SELLING."  Your story in a nutshell.  Something along the lines of, "We are Joe and Shmoe Random.  We have been married for 12 years and have one daughter and 3 lively boys.  We are adopting another daughter from China.  She has a heart condition that will require surgery when she comes home.  We hope to have her home before her 4th birthday in January.  We are having a Tupperware fundraiser that goes until 10/31.  Here is the link to shop.  Thank you for your purchase!"  Add pictures, talk a little about why you're adopting, what have you.  Please do not use the word "ransom" in this blog post.  You're raising money to pay fees.

Are you excited?  I am!  Now that our family is Complete (with a capital C!), I'm thrilled to be able to help other families who are in the grueling process of bring home their child.  The hop will remain open until 10/31, although you can certainly continue to promote it after that.  But new families will not be able to join after that point, so please tell everyone NOW to get their posts ready!  Thanks for participating!


Please click for us! Thank you!

Pretty things

We are off to the pumpkin patch today, but I couldn't leave without sharing some pretties with you.

This is what Hannah's hair looks like when I comb it out in the morning.

And this is Hannah's hair with the cutest, tiniest (size mini) flexiclip ever!  Adorable, is it not?  

This is the brand new, just released today Harvest Freestyle flexi of the month!  It comes in several sizes to fit your hair perfectly.

I'd like to share a few more pretty things with you, just in case you're getting a jump on Christmas shopping, or you need a little pick me up for yourself.

These would be lovely teacher gifts.  I'm so glad I won't have the mad December scramble this year.  Every year, I find myself trying to come up with a new, creative idea for teachers.  This is perfect.  Check that off my list.  

Brianna has been knitting up a storm, and one of the things she makes is scarves.  I'm a little afraid to let her see this, or I might lose my favorite flexiclips to her scarf wearing, but it's a neat idea.  

Finally, hair bands.  I haven't tried these yet, but they're awfully pretty!  This would be a good pretty option for someone whose hair isn't long enough for a flexiclip.  

I am a Lilla Rose consultant, and I would be happy to answer any questions for you about the products or the company.  Happy shopping!  

http://www.lillarose.biz/Grtlyblesd

  Have you clicked for us today? Thank you!

Homeschool Week Three

This week I got to draw on the wall.  (See the lovely Lilla Rose flexiclip in my hair?)  We did an exercise where I guided the children through a drawing with a story about a fisherman.  

And that picture turned into a lousy rendition of a MAP of a portion of the waterways of the middle east.  (Wow, how many times can you use the word OF in one sentence?)

This week we learned about Noah's descendants, the Tower of Babel, and early civilizations, such as the Sumarians.  

We also got a new Blender.  Our old one died a couple years ago, and we never replaced it.  Lately, I've heard more and more grumblings from the kids about wanting to make smoothies, so I used some Amazon credit and gift cards from a university adoption study we are participating in, and got us a free blender.  My favorite kind of shopping.  

The kids' math books arrived late last week, and we've been diving into those.  

Let's just say, they were way more excited about the blender than the math books.  

This was the week Katie went from this tentative taking of a few steps into someone's outstretched hands...

...to this walking all over the house (and now the park) on her own.  One little quirk I've noticed is that she doesn't yet stand up from the floor.  She crawls to a wall or piece of furniture and uses that to pull up on.  It's so fun to see the developmental stages in hyper-drive.  I'm sure she'll be standing from the floor soon enough.  

Playing at the park is thirsty work.

Poor Luke.  He does NOT want to hold his own cup.  And when he does hold the cup, he can't quite figure out that he needs to tip it to get the juice (a hugely rare treat for my little butterball, I assure you! I think this is his third time having it with us.) to come out of the spout.  

Okay, so a couple weeks ago, I saw this blog post.  And I thought to myself, that looks tasty!  Which is weird, because aside from the once every blue moon bag of battered fish fillets I get from the freezer section, we don't eat fish.  So I kept moving.  

Two things happened that sent me back to that post.  1) she posted about raspberry truffle mousse, and 2) I found out we had to eat fish for this week's homeschool lesson.  

Okay.  It's an omen.  I placed my first ever Wildtree order from her site, rationalizing that if I'm going to buy foo foo foods, at least it's helping to support another family's special needs adoption, obviously a cause near and dear to my heart.  

Last night was our Rosh Hashanah feast day.  Yeah, I know, the book suggests cooking a whole salmon with the head on.  Repeat after me:  Not. Gonna. Happen.  I made fish.  It's close enough.  

Our "feast" included glazed carrots (which weren't half bad!), the fish, round bread (we made challah last time, but this time we bought our round bread), grape juice and apple slices dipped in honey.  I was totally going to do the tomato/cucumber salad, because I love it with cilantro, but forgot.  Bah.  Not pictured would be our "new fruit" (we used nectarines).  

The feast went well.  We didn't do as many of the readings this time as we did when Daddy was home to participate with us last time, but it was still a pleasant, interesting, and educational meal.  We are using the book Celebrating Biblical Feasts as suggested by our curriculum.  It gives a lot of information and options, and we're able to pick a way to celebrate that suits our family.   

The book suggested using a globe with a crown on it as a centerpiece to symbolize God's kingship over the earth.  I remembered seeing a gold crown rattling around the back of the van (I think Hannah brought it home from school or Sunday school), and I'd been wanting an excuse to get this very cool Crocodile Creek World Playground Ball anyway, since the kids popped our last globe.  

So how was the fish?  It was good!  I liked it, Eli wants me to make it again, and all the other kids except Jack and Brianna seemed to like it.  Jack lives on peanut butter and quesadillas, so his opinion is taken with a grain of salt, and Brianna said, "It's still fish," so her objection may be more mental than taste related, since it didn't taste "fishy" with the lemon oil and seasonings.  Katie, Luke, and Hannah chowed it down without comment or complaint.  The teen boys both had more after their initial taste-sized servings.  I'm thinking I'll make it again on a night that Paul is home and see what he thinks.  

I'm really excited about starting to learn about EGYPT next week!  

Linking up with:
 

  Thanks for clicking for us!

Lilla Rose

Remember when I did a review for Flexiclips from Lilla Rose?  Well, funny story...

I saw the August Flexi of the Month, and thought it was really pretty, so I ordered it.  I figured it was the least I could do after Jennifer sent me a free one to review, right?

When the September Flexi of the Month came out, I asked my consultant over a game of Words With Friends, "How do you keep from ordering every single FOTM??"  It's lovely.

You can see how I'd be smitten, right?  She laughed and told me that one of the reasons she signed up to be a consultant was to get the discount.  And then I discovered that you get 5 Flexis in different sizes for only $50 when you sign up.  I had been wanting to try some different sizes anyway, and well...

http://www.lillarose.biz/Grtlyblesd  I'd be honored if you'd stop by my new site and see if there's anything that catches your fancy.


  While you're here, could you click for us?  Just one click helps keep our blog visible at TMB, a significant source of traffic for us.  Thank you!