Quick trip to Jacksonville

Wednesday, my sweet hubby was invited to speak during chapel at Jacksonville Baptist College here in East TX. The boys and I decided to keep him company on his 2 hr. trip. Ry (11) was excited to see a college campus and took several pictures, got a chance to speak with several of the professors, and brought home a t-shirt. On the way home, we pulled over at "Love's Lookout," a little overlook out at the hills in the area. It was really beautiful. Here are some pics!

Ry and B. at Love's Lookout

Ry took this pic of me at Love's Lookout.

I thought he did a great job!

We had a neat time and enjoyed the break from our regular school days.

Smelling the tomatoes

My darling hubby and I went out for dinner and a concert Saturday night with some good friends. While waiting for our friends to arrive at the restaurant, we noticed people coming out of the little door next to the restaurant with sacks of produce. It caught our attention because lately the produce at our local superstore is seriously unappealing! This stuff looked incredible... even in grocery sacks. We decided to take a peek inside and were rewarded for our curiousity. It was a small hispanic business selling various produce and spices. We bought 5 lbs. of tomatoes and several oranges and onions. When I got them home, I put the tomatoes in my produce basket and was surprised that I could actually smell the tomatoes. They have a lovely aroma that you just don't experience in produce from our regular grocery store. WOW!!! Look at those, aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to make salsa, have them on sandwiches, and if there are any left I will make some spaghetti sauce.

Markerboard Monday

We use the markerboard every school day for lessons and even on Saturdays to mark off chores or things we want to do that day. Because there are so many different lessons to teach daily, the board gets erased after teaching/learning a particular subject to make room for the next lesson.

Here is an example of how we use the markerboard to help us learn History and Geography.... We take turns reading from our book, then we write a basic outline on the board including key things to remember. This is our last subject of the day. When we're finished, I will write questions about this section on notecards to review, and we will go over them the next day (and each day after that, reviewing all of the cards until the end of the chapter).

Chocolate Pancakes!!! ~~ YUMMY

In honor of yesterday's National Pancake Day (You've gotta love holidays like that!), I present our absolute favorite Chocolate Pancake recipe. My mom found this recipe a couple of decades ago, and WOW these pancakes are scrumptious.

Chocolate Pancakes

1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

My mother puts all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed. I just put them in a bowl and use a hand mixer. Mix until well blended. Pour onto preheated griddle. Turn over when bubbled on top. Because the batter is dark and chocolatey, it may be challenging to see if it's "ready" to turn. Make sure the bottom of the pancake is firm and the edges slightly dry out before flipping it over. ENJOY!!!

These are great with just butter (my mom's favorite way to eat them), or with your favorite syrup.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Outlaws