Virtuous Girlhood

My Grandma

You can learn a lot from the elderly! They are the people with the most wisdom! The next time you are with your grandparents, ask them questions! Ask them! I have filled pages, and pages upon pages with stories from my grandmother! She grew up in the Great Depression and was the second oldest so you can imagine what wisdom she gives us! She is the best grandmother in the world! Sometimes we young people think, oh, we’re smart; we do not need older people’s advice! Well, you know what happens? Right. We fall flat on our face! So, next time, not only ask your grandparents for stories but also for advice! I am blessed to have a grandmother who honors our parents’ decisions and encourages us to honor and respect my parents. Here is one of her stories:

The New Piano

“One day when I was coming home from school, I heard “You Are My Sunshine” coming from a piano in my house! Well, I walked into the house and there in the living room was Diane, my little sister, playing a piano! It had just been delivered to us and both of my sisters, Nancy and Diane, took lessons and were really good!”

Well, I hope you get lots of stories from your grandparents!

Blessing,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Great Sale At Jo-Anns!

If you are a seamstress, then you might want to take advantage of this great sale at Jo-Anns! They have Simplicity and Butterick patterns on sale for only 1.99 each - ones regularly priced at $6.95-$17.95 each! They have some other good sales on, as well! So head on their way! Oh, the Simplicity sale is from Sept.7- to today! Oh, and the Butterick sale is from Sept. 18-20th.

My mom and I will definitely be heading to Jo-Anns!

Have fun shopping!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Creation Museum

Two weeks ago we went to the Creation Museum! We had a fun time! Here are some of the things we liked about it:

• There was no evolution message in the posters and such! It was so nice not to see that! And we appreciate the biblical world view
• The children’s favorites were the children in the first part of the museum, the ark exhibits, and Adam and Eve exhibits.
• The cleanness of the museum! I loved it that the bathrooms, floor, and restaurants were SO clean!
• I liked the planetarium, which was SO neat. If you ever go to the Creation Museum, go to that as well! It was so cool to see the stars!
• We also liked their walking trails, which were so beautiful!
• The theaters were cool, as well! They had “Dragons” (which was good) andThe Last Adam (that one was good, as well)! Men In White was by far the funniest and was very good!. I cannot remember if there were any more.
• They had a really cool dinosaur stamp exhibit! Mr. Ken Ham collected one from every country around the world! How cool!
• Their friendly staff! The staff was so nice!
• Oh, and we also liked the dinosaur digsite, and dino exhibits! They made two really cool caves! It was a lot of fun!
• Thank you, Creation Museum, for two fun days! I highly recommend you going to this wonderful museum!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Recipe Of The Week # 12

Taco Salad

1 package ground beef or turkey

1/2 cup of water (more or less, depending how spicy your family likes your meat!)

1 package taco seasonings 1.25oz

1 bag of cheddar cheese

1 package of 13 oz. cream cheese

6 Tbsp. sour cream

1/2-1 cup Miracle Whip

1 bag of salad (you can mix it with any type of greens!)

1 bag of tortilla chips

First fry meat. Add salt, pepper, and onions or onion powder. Add taco seasoning, and water, and mix; then simmer for 10-15 minutes (if I am in a hurry, I do not simmer it and it turns out fine!) When cooked, put into a 9×13 pan. Then combine the sour cream, Miracle Whip and cream cheese. Beat till blended and pour over meat. Add salad. And cheese over top. Serve with chips and enjoy!!!!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Hope Chest

Do you have a hope chest? A hope chest can be something as simple as a Rubbermaid container or box. Or it can be as fancy as a beautiful carved REAL hope chest! Either way, you can have a hopechest. At the moment, I do not have a real hope chest! Here are some things that will make wonderful additions to your hope chest:

• Dishcloths
• Oven mitts
• Your family’s (and your own) favorite recipes
• Used books you might find at sales at the library and elsewhere - for books you could use for your homeschool library for your children.
• Tips that could be useful for your future home.
• (note: this idea was taken from Miss Amber Moeller’s book More Than a Hope Chest) Notebooks: One for Homemaking resources. Such as: Gardening, cooking, child care, cooking and baking, finances, health and nutrition, crafts, organization, and much more! You can get these things from websites, magazines and books. The second one is a wedding notebook. You can fill it with different wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, wedding invitation styles you like, decorating ideas, wedding cakes, bouquets and music, money saving tips, and different ring styles. You can use these later on when deciding with your fiance on how to plan your wedding! And the third one is: Home decorating styles. With a section for each room. With tips and ideas for making your future home beautiful inside and outside.
• Journals that you have written over the years - your children and grandchildren may find theses interesting, along with things from your child and young adulthood.

Tip from Miss Amber Moeller: “do not start collecting items such as kitchen ware and so on because your tastes as a girl might change when you are married!”

Here are some interesting websites and books about preparing yourself for marriage and even a couple about hope chests:

More Than A Hope Chest by Amber Moeller

Being Virtuous Women Amber Moeller’s website

Hope Chest Legacy

Maidens Of Virtue

Before You Meet Prince Charming By Sara Mally (one on my wish list!)

Vision Fourm’s Beautiful Girlhood Collection

Biblical Womanhood.com

I hope these help you build your hope chest!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Molly An American Girl

Well, on Monday we watched Molly. It was a good movie! Here is a little bit about it:

“Molly is a 10 year old girl growing up on the homefront in America…….along with Father, Mother, older siblings Jill (14) and “Ricky” (12). All was fun until…. Boom! Her dad has to go away to London to be a doctor in the war. Her mother takes a job as an airplane builder because the company needs workers and their family is short of cash. Then her father is reported “Missing in Action!” And that’s all I can tell you! Watch the movie to find out more!”

Here are some things you can learn from it: (Even though we do not agree with her mother working outside the home, still it was a wonderful movie!)

1. Perseverance. Molly uses it in school, and to get the act as Miss Victory in her tap dance lessons.
2. Compassion. Molly is compassionate towards Emily.
3. Kindness. You can learn to be kind, as well, from this movie.
4. Determination. Molly was the worst tap dancer and she still won because of her determination! 

Well, I would tell you more but I will let you watch this movie!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Recipe Of The Week #11

 Sloppy Joes

1 package ground beef or turkey

1 can tomato soup

a little bit of water

First fry meat, than add salt, pepper, and onions or onion powder, then add water and tomato soup. Stir. Serve over homemade rolls! And enjoy! I like this one because it’s very, very easy! You can serve it with frozen, canned, or fresh vegetables, if you like. Oh, and this one is easily doubled!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Oooppps!

Well, I made one mistake in my post Apron Contest. Actually, you should write a comment on Faith And Family Books Blog to get your name entered! I forgot to say that.

Oh, and one small thing, the deadline is: September 12th! So be sure to hurry up and enter before then! To win:

A Regency Apron

Or an Amish Apron Pattern

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.