Virtuous Girlhood

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.

It’s in a Couple of Days!

Just to let you know, if you have not entered for the Apron Contest Drawing yet, then hurry up and enter! To enter, just post a comment on Faith And Family Books Blog.

You could win:

A Regency Apron

or an Amish Apron Pattern!

Have fun!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Fall Reading

Here is some good fall reading:

Here are some good books for the whole family! They worked well for our family of older and smaller children. Here they are:

• The Moody Family Series: A 10 star rating! A good example about a christian (homeschooling) family.
• Kathleen McKenzie: A 10 star rating as well! A good family series.
• Making Brothers And Sisters Best Friends: A 10 star rating as well! This book is hilariously funny! (Oh, and by the way our copy is very well read. !) :O
• Ten Peas In A Pod: A 9 star rating; our family enjoyed this one, too.
• The Miller Family: A 10 star rating. They are such godly examples of a “larger” Mennonite family.
• Cabin In The North Woods: A 10 star rating! This book will keep you in suspense.
• Pollyanna: (an older edition) a 10 star rating! Pollyanna’s life is a wonderful example of someone who is deeply content even in the toughest situations.

Well, I think I have given you enough!

A fellow book lover and a daughter of a King,

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.

Good Magazines

Do you wonder what magazines to subscribe to for young girls? Well, here are some good e-zines and magazines!  ~Enjoy!

• The King’s Daughter
• The King’s Blooming Rose
• With All of Thy Heart
• Keepers at Home Magazine (please note: they do not have a web site so contact them via phone) Phone  #: 1-800-852-4482 
• Shining Stars
• His Wonders
• Hidden Wisdom
• Remembrance Press

I hope these links help you find some good magazines!

Please note that not all of these magazines have the same view as Virtuous Girlhood.

Have a blessed day!

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.

Dear Diary…….

(I have not been keeping up with my “real diary” but I did keep up on our vacation!)

Some people think of a diary as a waste of time…but I don’t! I have started a diary for my grandchildren and children to read about my life as a young lady/girl. Your entry does not have to be long, just simple and sweet or a blurb or two about your day. That’s about all I have time for! But I will be honest with you - I do not think I have written since late May. It is okay to be too busy to write often and just do an entry from time to time. I hope get at mine today!!!!!!!!!! I know it will be a good investment for the generations to come!

This is a quote Mom keeps reminding me to do: “Make time for what you want.”

Onward for him!

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Jonathan Park Is Out!

My family are Jonathan Park fans. And in case you did not know, Jonathan Park Goes To The Zoo is out! We LOVE Jonathan Park! The younger ones have been known to recognize several mountains and things that they are not expected to know because they learned about them in these audio CDs! We like several things about them:

• They are PERFECT for long car rides!
• They are educational.
• They are evolution-free!
• They are family friendly.
• And there is no need to skip to the next chapter or fast-forward because of little eyes!

We are looking forward to the 6th one!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Christmas Present Ideas

Even though Christmas is about 5 months away, here are some ideas for Christmas presents.

• Check garage sakes for books, toys, and other things for your family! You can find really GOOD buys there! We found an ENTIRE Hello Kitty play set at one for A’s Christmas gift! (although we did give it to her a little early for the use for trips.)
• Thrift stores are also good places to find clothing, games, and books!
• Cross stiching, quilting, sewing, and embroidery also provide ideas to make things.

Hope this gives you some good ideas!

Blessings,

R.J.