When Irish (Buck) Eyes are Smilin' {Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls}

It's almost time for my favorite holiday, St. Patrick's Day!  A couple weeks ago, I showed you how to make my yummy Chocolate Vanilla-Mint Fudge. Today I'm showing off Irish Buckeyes!

Like the fudge, this one is super easy too!  See this pretty green sherbet cup?  My mom used to serve my brother and I Jell-O and pudding in these.  I love green and pink Depression glass!

Feel free to pin it so you'll have the recipe handy when you're ready to try it out.

Irish Buckeyes

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 bag white chocolate chips

green food coloring

(mini chocolate chips are optional)

Mix the peanut butter and butter until creamy, then mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. You can also add mini chocolate chips here too, if you've got to have that chocolate fix!  Roll into balls and place on a sheet covered with wax paper.  Melt white chips and stir in desired amount of food coloring.  Using a toothpick, dip balls in melted mixture and let harden on wax paper.  You can use almond bark for this too, if you'd like, but something funky always happens to my almond bark when I add food coloring and they just don't turn out as nice. 

Thanks to Lisa Lynn at The Self-Sufficient HomeAcre for featuring this recipe!

Thanks, also, to Renea at Cupcake-n-Bake for the feature!

A Titanic Tea Party with Homeschool Lesson Plan Ideas

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we have all the time in the world to do fun things at the drop of a hat.

We're all history buffs around here so I try and find creative ways to fit a history lesson into whatever other things we're working on.  I love to incorporate historical facts with Bible truths for fun devotionals for my kids.

A few days ago, we had a Titanic Tea Party.  I made them an invitation and had them dress up in their fanciest costumes.  They all came upstairs and sat around the tea table and I handed them each a character card. 

 I put a picture of an actual Titanic passenger on one side and a short biography on the other.

Avalon was the nurse and stewardess, Violet Jessop.  Lynzie got her all fixed up in her nurse's apron and cap.  By the way, Avalon will be 4 this Friday, March 1st!

Selah portrayed Mrs. Sylvia Caldwell, a missionary who claimed to have heard a crew member say, "God himself could not sink this ship", upon boarding the Titanic.

Elisha was American businessman, Benjamin Guggenheim.  We all agreed that Guggenheim acted most heroically by refusing to take a place on the ship that could be given to a woman.  He went down bravely and in his best clothing.

Michael was Captain Smith.  While the Captain made some bad choices that might have led to the Titanic's demise, he ultimately did the right thing by staying with his ship and taking responsibility for the disaster.

Cainan thought it was pretty awesome to be John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the world at the time---until he found out that Astor, like the other men at the table, did not survive the sinking.

Lynzie had studied the Titanic's history previously so she was familiar with her favorite character, the "unsinkable" Molly Brown and her bravery in trying to convince those on her lifeboat to go back and look for survivors.  Isn't her dress perfect for the occasion?  We found it at a yard sale last summer---love it!

They took turns "introducing themselves" and then I gave a lesson linking up the prominent passengers' actions or attitudes with Biblical truths.  It was a lot of fun and I think it got them thinking about issues like pride, duty, and priorities.

We used this set of Abingdon china that my mom gave me.  I believe it was put out in the 1960s.  

We love to use it for Lynzie's birthday tea parties, as well as whenever we have special guests.  I figured the Titanic passengers would enjoy a little "Grape Kool-Aid Tea" and banana bread.

It was a great party and a fun learning experience.  See the pretty doily under the bread plate?  Elisha made that for me last weekend.  I love it!


Thanks to the girls at NextGen Homeschool for featuring this post

This post was also published in The Christian Home magazine, Issue #118.

I hope you'll join me for this week's Homemaking Linkup.  I love to feature some of the neat posts that are linked up so please make sure and put my button or a text link on your blog so you'll be eligible to be featured!




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Here are a couple of my favorites from last week's linkup:

Melody at Countrified Hicks shared her easy recipe for Pumpkin Muffins using a Spice Cake mix.  I can't wait to try it out!

This article on The Benefits of Fresh Air got me craving a brisk walk outside!  Visit Healthy Body Equals Healthy Mind for inspiration. 

Thanks to everyone for the great posts!  

Now for the linkup.  Please remember to return the favor by adding my button or a text link to your post.  Have a great weekend!



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Hope In Every Season is on Facebook!  If you like what you've read here, please follow me and keep up with the latest posts.

  

Teach Us to Number Our Days

"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it's own things.  Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble."  ~Matthew 6:34

This morning I woke up, stretched, and did what hundreds of thousands of other Americans also did this morning...

Checked the IRS website for my tax refund.

With sleepy eyes and arthritic fingers I clumsily Googled search terms like:

• Where's my 2013 refund?
• What day does IRS direct deposit refunds?
• What time of day does IRS direct deposit refunds?
• Why do I not have my 2013 direct deposited refund yet?

Let me stop right here and acknowledge my mother who is thinking, "Sarah, you just need to be patient.  God will work it out and everything happens for a reason.  It will come when it's supposed to come."

But I've got things that need taken care of!  Oh, and by the way, I need them taken care of now.

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1  (There's another shout-out to Mom...Beatles' #1 fan!)

Isn't that the way we all think at times?  How quickly we forget that no matter how much money we have in the bank---or supposedly on it's way to the bank---God is still, and always will be, our provider.

Instead of counting the days, I need to make the days count.

It's not just the anticipation of tax refunds that cause me to pace the floor and foam at the mouth.  I am an equal-opportunity worrier.  In addition to my lack of patience in this area, let me point out some other things that I don't like waiting on:

• My husband's job applications to be reviewed and employers to call
• The final days of a pregnancy that seems will never end
• The beginning of a pregnancy that seems will never come
• My kids to go to bed so I can do something alone

Did I just write that last one?  Yep...I'm nothing if not real.

Wow! What time is being wasted!
So much interaction that's not really happening.
So many distracted responses that have no meaning.
So little engaging.
So much missed.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."  ~Psalm 90:12

This article was published in Issue #103 of The Christian Home Magazine.

  Hope In Every Season is on Facebook!  If you like what you've read here, please follow me and keep up with the latest posts.

Linking with:

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Legacy Leaver Thursday @ Leaving a Legacy
Thriving Thursday @ Serving Joyfully
Desire to Inspire @ A Royal Daughter
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home
Open House @ Bernideen's
Thoughtful Thursday @ Found the Marbles
Essential Friday @ Essential Things Devotions 
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal
Or So She Says...
Show and Tell Saturday @ Sassy Little Lady 
Modest Monday @ The Modest Mom
Teach Me Tuesday @ Growing Home
Courtship Connection
Women Helping Women @ Teaching What Is Good 
Domestically Divine @ Far Above Rubies
(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife
Tending the Home Tuesday
The Bliss Project Linkup @ Grace-Full Intentions
Wisdom Wednesdays @Simply Helping Him
Winsome Wednesday @ My Daily Walk in His Grace
Whole-Hearted Home Wednesdays 
Encourage One Another @ Deep Roots at Home
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers