Today Lizzie had her violin lesson with Mrs. V, who happens to be the best violin teacher ever (and no, we're not biased!). Mrs. V is sweet and smiles a lot. She definitely has the gift of teaching and encouraging. Lizzie has learned so much this year. We especially appreciate all we've learned about emphasizing relaxation techniques. Every Tuesday when we are driving home from lesson, Lizzie thanks me profusely for letting her take lessons.

The other nice thing about Tuesday is that while Lizzie and I are at violin lesson, Maggie is home cooking up a storm! Today she made several different kinds of candies and candy bars. They taste even better than they look! And for dinner she sauteed bok choy and made Party Mashed Potatoes, which are mashed potatoes with dairyfree cheese, bacon and onion. Not low cal! She even made a new version of her best dairyfree nacho cheese which is better than ever. Yummy.

The picture above shows the chocolates she made. The top left looks and tastes like a chocolate crunch bar. The other chocolates have caramel centers, nougat center and graham crackers centers. Normally these chocolates wouldn't be hard to make, but making them dairyfree is particularly tricky!

We bought the molds for Maggie's candy bars and chocolates from Cakes N' Things in Waldorf. They have a wonderful selection. You can also find them online but by the time you add shipping costs, you will pay double. The Waldorf store doesn't have an online website yet.

My Bible verse that I have been meditating on today comes from Psalm 19:14. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer." I wish everything I said were acceptable to God.

Years ago I used to read a magazine that was written by Quakers. The editor was describing a business meeting he had attended that day with his fellow Quakers. It was a very quiet meeting because the Quakers have a rule that they live by. "Never speak unless you can improve on silence." I was so impressed with that rule, so I googled it to see what I would come up with. I found, "old spanish proverb" "old irish proverb" "ancient chinese proverb" "old danish proverb" "life rule of buddhist monks" etc. It's like I always say, Biblical principles work no matter what culture you come from!

Hope your windows are open and you are enjoying the luscious breeze.

Many blessings ~ Kathie