First Snow Day

Wow, the snow has piled high today!  We have decided to enjoy it, a luxury that we are taking advantage of today as a homeschool family.  We might do a little tomorrow to keep on schedule, or maybe we won't...  

The kids and I took some time this morning to do our Friday chore and then scrounged around for all our winter gear.  We found almost everything we needed.  We found non-overall nearly too small snowpants for Mn and the boots from last year worked for the girls.  We geared up and headed out.  Snowshoeing, shoveling, sledding, snow angels, clearing off fences...  we tried it all.  By the time we went inside, the snow had covered the driveway again, and it is still falling.

I was also going to head to the library today, but - nope - those plans also changed!  I'm not going out in this!  I guess we get to go tomorrow with daddy!!  (which is much nicer anyways, because we have a wanderer)

For now, Mn is napping and the girls are sorting K'nex in the basement.  Off to some nice cozy reading or crafting! 

 

Oatmeal Pumpkin Breakfast Bars

• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1T flaxmeal/2T water (as an egg substitute) let stand for 2 minutes
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (oops, forgot)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup sugar (decreased amount, original recipe had maple syrup, but I didn't have that yet)
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup flaxmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup raisins/dried cranberries

Bake in pan 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  I made a double batch and used a bar pan and a 9x9 pan.  They turned out well!

**for cookies:  Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about an inch between cookies. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and solid. Let cool for five minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.

Original recipe for Oatmeal Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies.

Occupying the Toddler

Mn has come to a point in his life where morning naps are not a guarantee.  This is a bit problematic for me as a homeschool mom.  We often start school on the living room floor or on the couch, reading and discussing History, Poetry and Bible.  We then head off to subjects that generally need less movement and more table space.

I'm not sure what to do with him during school.  He likes to sit on the books in my lap, mostly.  If I move the book before he sits down he looks around at me, "What did you do that for, Mom?"  I know that eventually he will get into the routine and it will all work out a little better, but for now, I need some useful occupation for him.  I had visited a friend a couple weeks ago and she had a rice bin for her boys to play with (much like a sandbox, but indoors).  She used spoons, cups and funnels to let them play in there.  So, I decided I might try that.  I have some of the pieces but not all, and the borrowed funnel has been useful in the sink with a few dishes.

Pumpkin Jam - For My Brother

(and the rest of us too)

Pumpkin Jam

5 lbs. pumpkin
1 lb. dried apricots (cut into 8ths, about the size of raisens)
1 lb. raisens
2 lbs. sugar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. pumpkin pie spice (1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. cloves)
1 T. ground ginger

Bake pumpkin, puree, add sugar, let set for 12 hours.

Add remaining ingredients, cooking slowly until thickened.

Seal in jars and process for 10 minutes.

I am not sure if this is the recipe that I made a few years ago, but I've used it a couple times this fall. 
Recipe from:  Food.com

Kids in the Kitchen

The girls, Kj especially have been asking to bake recently.  I have been on a kick of trying to make sourdough bread "right" and so I have been kind of selfish and have been doing it by myself.  So, this particular Friday afternoon, the time was right.  I called the girls downstairs from their "rest time" and asked if they wanted to bake some cookies.  They looked through a couple cookbooks and found a recipe that we had all the ingredients and had no need for "wait time" (refrigeration...).  They set out to make them all by themselves.  Meanwhile, on another counter of the kitchen Mn and I made peanut butter, and sesame seed butters.  He learned out to start and stop the food processor. 

All in all, my job was to get the cookie sheets in and out of the oven and give them some small tips on previously unknown areas of the kitchen.  I would say that is the best way to make cookies!!  I may have to try it again!  ;) 

P.S. For those of you who don't know...I (nearly) never make cookies.  Maybe, once every 10 years or so.

Learning with Joy

I read a quote the other day in an article about Finish kindergarteners.  It was so interesting to me that I have been considering it ever since, and am very inclined to agree.  It was:  “Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily.” 

Here are a few non-curriculum items that the girls are enjoying...

While at a second-hand children's store, the girls spend my browsing time looking at books.  I saw one that had different braiding and such for girls to learn.  So, she spent a 10-15 minutes pouring over the book and came home.  The next day she did this to my hair!  She was also the photographer here.

This is one of the many batches of sourdough that I have messed up, but this mess up included doubling (or more) the rest of the dough, so the girls made some buns.  One batch in muffin cups and one just on a flat pan.  Very hard, but they enjoyed doing it and consuming them.  (My portion was hard too, but L wouldn't eat that.)

Kj just started piano lessons from one of her favorite crafters.  She actually asked if she could have crocheting lessons instead of piano lessons.  Miss M. is willing to crochet with her too.  Miss M.'s reservation to giving lessons was childcare.  I had a solution!!  L gets to play with little A. and Mn with Baby I.   It is a great half our all around!

Grandma Meta's Fishing Story

Uncle Alan, took the girls fishing this weekend.  He had done that a couple years ago and knew that it was memorable for the girls, so he asked if they wanted to go again.  Of course!  Grandma Meta decided to stay in the car and out of the breeze for the duration of the fishing trip.  So, every now and then I'd head over to spend some time chatting with her.  I asked her if Grandpa (my grandpa) ever went fishing.  She answered with a story of her dad and mom (my great-grandparents).

On Sundays after lunch Grandma's mom, Emma, would tell her kids, "If you want fish for supper, you had better get going."  So, Grandma and a few of her siblings would head over to Toad Lake to catch some fish.  They would return later in the afternoon with a pail full of fish.  Then, Mama Emma, would say, "Well, if you want to eat, you had better get those fish cleaned."  The kids would clean the fish and they'd all have fresh fish for supper.  

Grandma's comment about fish in the lakes...  There must have been more fish then, if we could get a pail full in an afternoon.  ...and/or less people fishing...or less people in general!  :)  Making memories!!  Love it!

"You never read, Mama."

This is what my daughter told me one day.  I failed to ask her what her definition of "never" and "read" were.  Do recipes count?  Recipe magazines?  Recipe blogs?  How about school books, read-aloud books, picture books, board books?  How about the Bible and my Bible study?  How about street signs and directions?  Does my book have to look like a novel?  Does it have to look like it is for an adult?

Well, today I reserved, for my reading pleasure 3 cookbooks from the library.  Maybe that will do the trick.  Maybe I will have to read it on the couch instead of at the kitchen island... 

Domestic School Day

Ahh, what a day we had together.  Right now as 2 are in bed and Kevin and Kj are still out at a Bible study, I am smelling the final product of a days long work.  Mmm, the sourdough bread is in it's last stage--the oven!

The kids and I had a very domestic school day today.  The girls had been gone for the weekend, the second in a row without parents and without a lot of free time at home.  So, we took a day to read, play, craft and cook.  Last week, I began a fresh sourdough starter.  This one is water and flour alone, no yeast, no sugar.  Today, was the day that I could finally bake some bread.  It is far more work than my last bread machine version of sourdough.  I fed the starter this morning and removed a bit for the bread sponge.  I then added water and flour, let rise, added more flour, let rise, divided it in 2, let rise, and put it in the oven.  It was an all day affair!

In between all of that, we:  read books, made twice baked potatoes and meatloaf, ate a leftover lunch, ran an errand, filled friendship bags (to hand out the night of October 31st--haven't settled on a name yet), played, read books, packaged individual portions of the food items for Grandma's birthday gift, vacuumed, biked to a friends house to make a delivery, read books, played...  I'd say that was a successful school day for all of us! 

P.S. Hope you don't mind, but I refrained from taking pictures of the girls working with the raw hamburger for meatloaf.

A Good Day

In the background, the girls are sorting clothes.  Mn is enjoying one of my long sleeved shirts.  He has it wrapped around his shoulders and is running through the house playing peek-a-boo with whomever will react.  I am cooking a new soup recipe, snitching brownie bites and typing about the day.

Today, L and I got kindergarten done before I finished breakfast.  The activity of the day was to make turtles out of our fruit at snack time.  T is the letter of the week.  Second grade is scattered in between our chore of the day (laundry) and meals.  In history they are learning about the Pilgrims.  They are currently in Holland seeking religious freedom and work to sustain them at a time when King James was forcing the people to attend the church of England or not worship at all.  The Hollanders had a "scrubbing day" and so the teacher's guide suggested we pick something to scrub today.  So, a few more windows got washed before winter.  Kj wanted to go next door and help them with their windows, but we have a whole floor left to do here...

It has been a good day.  Mid-morning I found myself singing, "Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true, change my heart oh God, may I be like you."  I was not in this current "good day" disposition.  God really did answer my prayer, thank you!!

The turtles:  L upside down, holding the legs up, Kj right side up.  L was smiling right before I snapped the picture.  
 

A New Year!

I have arrived at a fresh year of life.  I am halfway to 70!!  I have decided not to grieve my age as some do, but to enjoy it!  Honestly, if you ask me anytime after this week how old I am, I will probably have to think and calculate for a while.  Maybe, just maybe, with the halfway to 70 comment, I will remember my age this year??  

Last week, Kevin's dad had an anniversary at the farm he has been working at and his mom decided to hire a photographer for some extended family pictures.  The timing was right and so were the backdrops!!  We haven't done it since L was just a bump! 

Here is me and my sweets on a combine that I mislabeled as a tractor.  I just thought all the big green vehicles on the farm were tractors...  I guess I am neither a city nor a country girl!  Since I have never ridden in a tractor (or a combine), Kevin's dad said that we could come up one day this fall to ride in one.  I'm excited for that, now I just have to follow through!  There are so many experiences available if you just have the follow-through!  I'll be working on that this coming year.  I don't know how long I'll be homeschooling or how long this flexibility will be in our lives, but for now, I want to do what I can. 

Also, happy 9th anniversary to us!!

L was reminiscing about my last birthday.  She reminded me that I had been sick and daddy had stayed home from work and made macaroni and cheese for lunch.  That was fun!  ...for her...

Lunch Game and Mn Science

No, we don't play games all day.  I am just realizing that games and puzzles are important and can teach things.  For instance, in the game of Sorry, 7 can be split between two game pieces.  So, we reviewed the addition sentences for 7. 

We played during lunch because Mn was occupied and L had an additional reason to stick to the game (she had to be at the table for lunch anyways).  L appeared to be winning midway through the game, but as the game progressed, the rest of us did some catching up.  L, with some firm coaching (No, you may not quit now!), persevered to the end and did win the game.  

When Mn was done eating, I gave him some magnets to play with.  They stuck to his chair and the cover of the game container and so he continued to test to see if they stuck other places.  He tried his eye (closed) and his forehead.  Nope, they didn't stick there, oh, well, back to the chair.

School Extras

We went outside for math today, working with chalk and rocks.  Adding without thinking and subracting and writing out the "sentences".  Then a bit of biking and back in for some puzzle time.  I turned on a cd and they went to work.  

L voiced her uncertainty about being able to do such a difficult puzzle (25 piece for Kindergartener - was just a guess).  But, after telling her that I would gladly switch washing dishes for her puzzle, she decided that it would be ok.  I told her that I was taught to find the edge pieces, put those together first and then work inward, she proceeded to do it her way...from the inside out!  Why did I not expect her to do the opposite?  ;) 

I tested Kj out on a little bit more difficult puzzle (100 piece for a 2nd grader).  She started at it as she was taught, edges first and inside afterwards. 

They both conquered their puzzles and went on to other puzzles that had been stowed away for a while.  I am hoping to have more such afternoons with the girls. 

Flash Flood

We "enjoyed" a little flash flood adventure on the way home from the library tonight. Before we left to go to the library, Kevin said, "20% chance of rain." L didn't want to wear her rain jacket and I told her she'd get soaked, but it was up to her. Kevin said, "Not soaked!" We all got a bit wet on the way into the library and the rains came down harder and harder.  By the time we were heading out the door it was pouring, flash flood sort of pouring.  Oh, yes, she and we all got soaked even with the jacket.  

We prayed our way home!  I was the voice wanting to say, "Turn back.  The library is safe."  But then kept reminding myself that I trusted my husband!!  I did, and he got us here.  We wondered if this was similar a hurricane (only of course without so much wind).

Kj takes these things as sort of adventure.  "Can I check the basement?"  L on the other hand gets a bit "freaked out".  "I'm not getting out of the van until the garage door is closed."  Mn just falls asleep, it was bedtime.  

I was getting the kids in bed, and sopping up the water that had come in their windows while we were gone and Kevin inspected the basement further.  In the laundry room, we had a nice little "fountain*" coming in the window and some constant dripping coming around and out of the electrical box.  Kevin and I did some investigating and deduced the probable cause of the trickle: 
full rain barrel and in general too much water, so it started coming in where the communication line comes in.  We disconnected the rain barrel and made a plug for it.

Well, the "rush" is over.  Our emergency candles and flashlights are gathered to be put away, the power is on.  Here I am trying to remember all the details. 

*fountain - think nice little fountain that you find at a florist shop.  Just a nice flow of water over bricks...so mesmerizing...

P.S.  We just found out that we were in the middle of the flood zone!!  I hope the librarians are safe where they are!  

Illustrator: Ted Rand

My mom's cousin recommended Ted Rand books.  I didn't realize that he was the illustrator until I got all my reserves from the library.  

Mailing May
Written by:  Michael O. Tunnell
Set in 1914, it is too expensive for May to take the train to visit her grandmother.  Her parents find another way to keep their promise to send May to visit.  They send her by U.S. Mail!

Anna the Bookbinder
Written by:  Andrea Cheng
Anna observes her father in his bookbinding shop.  Her father gets a very important order just before her mama is about to have her baby.  While her father and mother are busy with the new arrival, she goes down to the shop to finish her father's job on time.

Mama and Me and the Model T
Written by:  Faye Gibbons
Mama teachers herself to drive the Model T when Mr. Long says that the new motorcar is for the boys. 

Quinoa Enchilada Bake

Original recipe from:  Two Peas and Their Pod

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed,diced
1 red pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 orange pepper, seeds removed, diced
1 cup corn frozen kernels
Juice of 1 small lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
Toppings: Sliced green onions, avocado slices, sour cream, optional

My version (changed due to supply in our kitchen)

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
Boil for 5 minutes, cook on low, covered 15 minutes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
equiv. of 2 colored peppers, seeds removed, diced
1 cup corn frozen kernels
Juice of 1 small lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can vegetarian refried beans
leftover hamburger (1/2 lb...)
1 small can crushed tomatoes
1 cup medium salsa
1-2 cups shredded cheese (part mixed in and part on top)
Toppings: Sliced green onions, avocado slices, sour cream, optional

Saute veggies with oil and spices.  Mix together all ingredients, leaving some cheese out.  Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese, bake 10 more minutes.  Let set 10 minutes then serve with optional toppings.  Tortillas are nice as well if you want to make it into a burrito sort of thing. 

It will feed our family of 5 3 meals!  You could spice it up with additional salsa or switching the crushed tomatoes with salsa.  I have found though that the milder I make things the more kids take to it.  So, I have decided that we can add spice on the side!

Ladies' Night

My friend, April, has started to coordinate a ladies night with some church ladies. This last time she suggested that we do a craft project. There were a few different ideas, but we decided to paint. I took a canvas that I already owned, and painted all the color on the canvas at the gathering.  Then, not knowing what to do after that, I took it home to think and wait.  Got back from traveling with little Mn and decided to finish it off with a design.  Some of the others had chosen to apply letter stickers, paint over and remove the stickers to reveal a saying.

I used my typical random way of being creative instead of a chevron pattern that I had seen on someone else's post. 

The girls and I were out shopping for spray paint and other art supplies and Kj pointed out the glow in the dark spray paint.  I thought that would be interesting, as I wanted white and had decided that this would be the first and only decor for the kids' bathroom.  Well, it turns out that it doesn't actually spray out white spray paint as the label implies.  Therefore, I had to find some white semi-gloss paint that we had leftover from bathrooms and closets and sponge that on.  Then, spray some more. 

Took off all the tape strips and here is the final outcome.  Next time:  don't rush so much you can't go out and buy white spray paint...lines will be cleaner!

Playhouse - Repurposed Fence

We were having a great time this evening working on a playhouse for the kids.  Kevin had dismantled a section of old fence that ran alongside a chain-linked fence.  Instead of scrapping the whole lot of old boards we made a playhouse.  We have a natural playground in the backyard with lots of sticks, logs, flowers, buckets, etc.  And thought this would be a fun addition.  It is on an area of the yard that has yet to be grass seeded, so no harm to our green progress.

We bought Mn some grungy pants for crawling around in our yard, and they served him well today!  We started this endeavor while it was misting, we came in for supper while it was raining and we headed back out in the mud!  

Kj helped with planning and implementing and L was helping in a non-dirty capacity as she desired...she got nails out of the bucket, then told us to get our own. 

Those pants started the day light blue with a couple white paint spots on them...

After bedtime, Kevin and I played with the house.  We rotated it so it would sit diagonally to the yard and then layed the floor...more fence boards.  We're thinking of a fabric top, but aren't sure.  A door will be added as time allows. 

Unending Projects!

We have been in a rush of spring projects lately.  March all but disappeared with birthdays on the weekends, and April had other occasions to be away.  So, May is the time for rain barrels, rock sifter/cleaners, and gardens.  We also got in our next cabinet set in our kitchen remodel and realized that we had a few steps to finish before installing them.  So, despite the weather and with the help of Bumpa and Curl Grandma, we got a lot accomplished this week/weekend! 

"Barn" Quilt

It took me a while but I finally found a meaningful quilt block called the bright and morning star.   I do have a second square picked out in case I do one in the backyard.  It is called crazy house.  ;) 

Here is my process in pictures:

I still do not have it mounted, but this is where it will be on our house.  Originally, I was going to center it between the windows.  With the columns, I decided to offset it so that you can see it best from both sidewalk angles, despite the fact that it might be divided straight on. 

Here is the picture that my mom took of me beside it.