Things are gearing up for school year. The kids are doing some testing so I will have a better grip on things we need to work on this year. My youngest, J, is now 4 1/2 and wants to go to school like the boys this year so much that we have started her reading program. She is so excited. I don't think it will take her long to really get going. My oldest son was the same age when he started with the same zeal as she has.

For daycare, we lost a preschooler but he is being replaced by his baby brother. I am debating about having one additional child in daycare. My challenge is with the hours. The current infant comes every other weekend plus every Monday and Tuesday. If I take another during the week I would have very few days off. This may be too difficult because I am still in school also. I will be done in May but the courses are going to get more challenging now and I may need more personal time to study.

I hope things are well for all. God Bless and take care of yourselves!

http://countrylife.lehmans.com/category/baking-and-cooking/page/3/ This link discusses how to render lard. One suggestion was to buy lard directly from a butcher because they probably have a lot on hand. I would think it would be relatively inexpensive if purchased this way. This was an interesting subject and helpful now that I know how much butter comes from a half gallon of whole unhomogenized milk. It was not a lot but we do not drink a lot of white milk. We also don't eat a lot of toast for breakfast so I would like to save my butter for baking. I plan to make a little up each time we get milk and then store it up for future use.

I made sugar cookies last night. I have started using honey in place of sugar and am looking at other alternatives such as sucanat or rapadura in place of sugar. I am investigating the cost of this.The cookies turn out very nicely if they are chilled for a couple of hours before baking and have a beautiful color.