Who doesn’t enjoy being told that they are appreciated, that their life has influenced another? We all enjoy that but how often do we express to others what they have meant to us? I know I’m certainly remiss in this but since November’s monthly challenge for our Castle Keeper girls was appreciation, I have been considering it quite a bit. What if, for no reason at all, we blessed others with small food items (especially the elderly), gave cards to people expressing to them how they have blessed you, or just did random acts of kindness for others? Not only would they be blessed but I’m sure we would be,…

This month was my time to teach the Castle Keepers class. (If you’re wondering what that is – read here.) For some time I have had it on my heart (before Castle Keepers began) to talk to the girls about Friendship.  So that’s what we did. The class was called: The Gift of Friendship Several weeks before the class, I had everyone answer questions.  Some, I told them, would be kept private and were for my planning purposes only.  Others were to be read in the class. Here were the questions I asked them. Do you have insecurities? Do you sometimes feel like nobody likes you? Do you ever feel…

While the Castle Defenders were battling the wind and sun, the Castle Keepers were indoors making tamales.  But before they started their cooking class, we paused for a sampling of the many salsas that had been prepared for our monthly challenge. There were 9 different salsas to try.Made by these 8 future homemakers. (1 girl was unable to make it, but we made her salsa so everyone could try it) Some of the aprons that were made in the month prior. After the tasting, the girls then got busy learning how to make tamales. Plenty of tamales to last each family a couple of meals.  The girls were given these…