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!