Home Schooling Summary for the Last Week

We have continued to focus on reading and math during our school time. We have been using this card game this week. Making "silly words" is especially popular -- like "wack". When we make a word, we all jump up and do a silly dance.

Science was fun this week. Big sister A led the activity and I arrived on the scene after she had already started photographing. She took the pictures below. She and M gathered the jar, paper, and leaves to make a home for the lady bug that they discovered in the bathroom. The kids really wants a magnifying glass like they have at the nature center. I found one on Amazon that I will probably order soon.

A's friend came over for a playdate this week. We had a fun art session while she was here. The Artist Loft brand watercolor pack that we got from Michael's has a good amount of pigment and they enjoy painting with it. The Ikea one that little brother M was using seemed dull in comparison.

The cousins came over on a cold snowy evening and we decided it was a perfect time to make iced pumpkin cookies (and a big mess in the kitchen). Note the fabulous cloth napkins!

The kids had their second ice skating practice session and their third lesson this week. A's teacher said that she has made a lot of improvement.  Little brother M still wants to hold my hand most of the time. After our lesson this week the "big kids" were in the other rink practicing spins and jumps. Both A and M were absorbed in watching them for a full 15 minutes and then we dragged them away. I think they were inspired and made a mental note to try to show them the Winter Olympics.
I enjoyed the cold and snowy weather that we have had all week. I love having a real winter and seeing the beautiful scenery outside.  I also keep hoping that the cold is going deep enough to kill the slugs, Japanese beetles, grubs etc etc that have been such a plague with our last couple years of mild winters.

The kids played in the snow and then "shoveled" the front walk outside with daddy.

Consumer Review: My Favorite DIY Organic Body and Household Recipes

It's been 2-3 years now since I shifted to using more organic options in my home and I have tried a wide variety of things and learned a lot. These are my absolute favorites. They are inexpensive and easy to make/use. I think it is time to share them.

Body Stuff:

1. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Make-up Remover and Facial Cleanser -- Lots of companies (see illustration above) have started selling this now. But plain old extra virgin olive oil from my kitchen works just as well. I have been using this for a couple years now. I keep it in a little plastic jar (recycled from some other lotion) in my medicine cabinet. I wet my hands and face squirt a little on my hands and rub my face with it. You can use a dark colored wash cloth with it or I just use my hands to keep splashing warm water on until the make-up is all off. This works better than any other store bought make-up remover that I have ever tried and it moisturizes your hands and face at the same time.

2. Vinegar Hair Rinse -- I was pretty skeptical about this at first, but it works great. My hair is very fine and when I used to use conditioner I always felt like it looked sort of limp. But now I use an herbal shampoo followed by this hair rinse and it has much more bounce to it.  There is a nice article and some recipes here and here.  I like to make mine with an extra large jar, about 1 liter size. I put in 1 cup chamomile for improving my blond highlights, 1 cup calendula petals, the peel from 1 orange, and then fill it with warm apple cider vinegar and let it steep in a cool dark place for a couple weeks, shaking every day or two.  Then I strain the herbs out and put it in an old Dr. Bronner's soap container in the shower. It will keep for a couple months at least. When I am about to use it I squirt what looks to me like 2 tablespoons into one of cups/pots/kid toys that are always in my bathtub and fill the rest with water then pour it on my head and rinse it a little bit.

3. Cradle Cap Oil Treatment -- For some reason all of my kids have had bad cases of cradle cap and it seems to flare up from time to time. I have a recipe that is from one of my herbal remedy books that I always use for this, and probably should not share that since it's copyrighted. But the basic elements are these - olive oil, comfrey root extract, chamomile, calendula petals, and tiny bit of tea tree oil, steeped together and strained. You could probably just use the olive oil with a few drops of tea tree oil (naturally anti-fungal) mixed in. The key it to put it on the troublesome spot and gently scrub them with a tooth brush.

One example of Baby Bum Cream Recipe (similar to the one I make)

4. Calendula Cream, Diaper Rash Cream, or Extra Healing Body Cream -- I have made cream using this recipe several times now for my babies, my husband's cracked hands, and baby shower gifts. It is a knock off version of the expensive Burt's Bees Calendula Cream. I love how it works and how nice it smells. Just be careful if you are using cloth diapers to put a cloth wipe between it and the inner lining of the dipe or it will make it less absorbant.


Household Stuff

 5. Homemade Laundry Soap -- I have used many variations of this over the last 3-4 years, both liquid and dry. The version that I have settled on is 1/2 C. Borax, 1/2 C Washing Soda, 1 C. grated Ivory soap or Oxyclean (cloth dipes and whites do better with the Oxyclean even though it's not organic) all mixed together. I make this in large batches and store it a recycled gallon size glass mason jar. It only takes about 2 Tablespoons per load of laundry. The biggest mistake that people make with homemade laundry soap I think, is using too much.  You can mix in essential oils to give your homemade laundry soap a clean smell (I love mint and lavender).  I also like to throw in some peroxide or some blue Dawn dish soap if the load is very soiled. Blue Dawn Dish Soap (yes, it has to be blue and Dawn brand) and peroxide I am convinced are the best stain remover known to man. I use an old bottle from Shout stain remover to scrub stains, but just keep refilling it with blue Dawn.

6. Baking Soda Pee Cleaner -- for potty training accidents on carpets or in shoes, this is my best friend. I sprinkle it on the carpet by the cup full until I have got it all absorbed. Then sweep it with a dustpan and brush, follow-up with another round if it still seems damp at all. It absorbs all the pee from the carpet while deodorizing at the same time and any residue comes up when you vacuum.

7. Tea Tree Oil Disinfectant Spray -- I love using this as well as all the other organic household cleaners, like baking soda and vinegar because I don't have to worry about my kids helping me with it.  I no longer keep any "fancy" cleaners at my house.  I have a bottle of bleach that I use as a diluted disinfectant for the worst germs (things like poo or puke on the floor) and also for the disinfectant cycle that I run in my washer after I finish a load of cloth diapers.
This is also SOO easy to make: fill an empty spray bottle with water add 20 drops of tea tree oil and it's done. If you want to be fancy you can add lavender or lemon essential oil to make it smell nice, but I kinda like the smell of tea tree oil.  We use it all the time.

8. Vinegar Mildew Remover - We live in a humid climate. I am constantly reminding myself and my husband of that when it comes to towels needing to be spread out to dry (not just hung on a hook) or the shower needing sunlight and air circulation to delay the inevitable mildew invasion on the ceiling and along the tiles. But when it does get bad, I use a spray bottle half full of white vinegar and half water and soak the whole shower tub area with it. I let it sit 15 minutes, scrub with a bristle brush, wipe it down repeat the spray of vinegar, and then scrub and rinse. It seems to work miracles against the mildew and also on the soap scum in the tub. Borax or baking soda also do a decent job cleaning the grout, but need to be followed up with a vinegar rinse otherwise it leaves a residue.

Sew Special: Experimenting with Fabric Printing

Block printing - India

In my travels over the years, I have often admired (and frequently purchased) hand-printed fabric creations. I thought it would be fun to try and make my own fabric designs. For Christmas, Dick Blick Art Supplies was having a big sale and I finally decided to treat myself to some supplies.

This book is full of beautifully illustrated and practical instructions on 4-5 different printing methods.  Since I already have some experience with stenciling I decided to try block printing.

Printing by Hand: A Modern Guide to Printing with Handmade Stamps, Stencils, and Silk Screens

I printed a star pattern from a quilt design online and then added the side squares to make it so that it could repeat the pattern evenly. I traced it on regular printer paper with a soft lead pencil and then rubbed it off with a bone folder onto a MooCarve block. Then I used a lino carving tool to carve around my design.

 I rolled paint on it with a rubber brayer.

This was my very first attempt and I learned a lot. Here are some key take-aways:

• the lino carving tool and moo carve block were super easy to use
• mixing paint colors in a cup works great, so buying just some basic primary colors of opaque fabric paint is a good idea
• this process takes a lot of paint -- my 6 little jars are going to run out after only a couple more practice sessions
• the inking plate is essential -- I need to order one! I thought I could get away with just using a plastic placemat or tray, but they were horrible and I could not get the roller to coat evenly with them
• I should not have cut those right angles into my stamp. They made it tidy for the roller and easy to align with the previous stamp, but created weak spots -- the stamp started to tear at the corners and I am going to have to add some kind of wood backing if I want to keep using it.  

 I tried a row of yellow first, and then added some red to make the peachy orange color above. I could not get enough paint on the roller with the placemat method. It was worse than the tray! Hopefully next time will be better.

Practicing Block Printing

Home Schooling Summary for Last Week

This week we did the usual reading and math practices in A's workbooks - long vowel sounds are high priority these days. Brother M has also started doing the old preschool workbook activities because he does not want to be left out. The exciting activity this week was our volcano -- another gift from our buddies who were visiting last week. I know, we're so spoiled!

The volcano kit was awesome. It included a mold and plaster to make the volcano shape as well as enough ingredients to "set it off" about 10 times. We did it on Monday night for FHE and then again on Thursday when the cousins were at our house. 

 We stayed WAAY back the first time we set it off...

And then got to look closer on subsequent eruptions... 

 We had a lesson at the nature center this week on conifers vs. deciduous trees.

We made necklaces with leaves of conifers, did crayon rubbings of them, and then went outside to collect more examples. This is a good time of year for an activity like this because it is very obvious which trees are evergreen -- since they are the only ones with leaves. 

Little brother S very kindly got absorbed looking out the windows while I helped big brother and sis with their projects.

Big sister A also had her art lesson this week and made clay whales based on what they learned about the different types of whales last week.  She also had gymnastics.   Wednesday we went to the Tot Ice Skate time for them to practice what they learned in their first lesson and then to another lesson Saturday morning. I think the practice session really helped them because they went into lesson 2 with a lot more confidence.  Ice skating might turn out to be a long term love for big sister A. She counts down the days and is always really excited to get out on the ice.

Reuse Recipe: Leftover Stuffing

We celebrated Thanksgiving with just the 5 of us this year and we had a lot of leftovers. We did not have any trouble gobbling them up with one notable exception -- the stuffing. I think the problem was that I made too much - some from scratch with stale bread for me and some of the StoveTop brand for Daddy. I put about 2-3 cups of it in the freezer thinking that an idea for how to use it would eventually come to me. This week I realized that it would probably be a good substitute for bread crumbs in my venison meatloaf.  Oh my, I am so glad that I tried it! it was delicious. Baby S and I were "testing" it before everyone sat down to dinner and I could not get him to stop eating it.

Venison Meatloaf Recipe for Leftover Stuffing

Here is the approximate recipe:
Mix 3/4 pound ground venison (or beef) with 2-3 cups leftover stuffing, 2 eggs, a generous sprinkling of dried minced onion, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of sage (not too much additional spice is needed because that comes with the stuffing), and moistened with milk. I probably used about 1/2 cup of milk, but just eyeballed it until it looked about as moist as usual.
Cook in a loaf pan at 350F for about an hour.

It turned out nice and moist even though the venison is very lean.  Also there was a tiny bit of sweetness from the few raisins that had been in the original stuffing.

Consumer Review: Organic Aluminum Free Deodorant Part 1

In the last decade debate has raged over the use of parabens and aluminum in body care products and the association of these two with breast cancer and alzheimer's disease. This National Cancer Institute review of relevant research studies is "inconclusive", but their is enough uncertainty that my inclination to switch to more natural options led me to try aluminum free deodorants. Here are the three types that I have used so far. I tested each of these for at least a month, even when I did not like the results, so as not to be biased in making my conclusions. Caveats: I do not have sensitive skin and I have previously always used scented deodorants - Dove or Secret.

1. Tom's Deodorant -- This is the best of the 3 for me. I like the lavender scent. I know that some people find it irritating. It is worth noting that Tom's also sells an antiperspirant, but that one contains Aluminum. These 3 are all just deodorants. They do not keep your armpits dry. I like this one because it covers the body odor and also smells nice. It seems to last longer than the other 2 - meeting its promised "24 hours of odor protection".  It is reasonably priced and is not too hard to find. I got mine at Target for about 5$.

 2. Thai Crystal Deodorant Stone -- I  wanted to try the crystal deodorant because it is supposed to be long lasting and all the reviews on Amazon were great. I heard that the salt layer has to build up and that it is best to put it on right out of the shower so the moisture helps it stick better and not get gritty. I tried all these things, but I still felt like it was not covering the body odors enough. I did not expect it to keep my armpits dry and it didn't. I felt like I was not wearing any deodorant.  The crystal does last a long time, but I had to order it on Amazon for about $7.50  It seems like a good option for people with very sensitive skin, allergies, and sensitivities to odors.

3. Trader Joe's Unscented with Cotton -- this was my least favorite of the 3 options. I really wanted to like it, but it did not prevent wetness and did not seem to prevent body odor. It was easy to find at the local TJ's and not too expensive - about 6$. 

Sew Special: Cloth Napkins

About a year ago, I found this fabric and put it in my Etsy shop. I mentioned that if it did not sell then I would like to make cloth napkins out of it.  My lovely friend remembered and asked me about it while she was visiting. They just went home about a week ago and this week I received these in a package! All serged and ready for use. Don't they look amazing?

 I am in love with cloth napkins -- they are so cheerful and colorful. They are reusable (a favorite trait of mine) and kind to trees and the environment.  My mom monogrammed a "T" on the 8 brown napkins that I had last year -- those are going to be our "company napkins" now that we have 50 more. We use them quickly with all these silly little eaters, probably about 6-8 a day.

Cloth napkins for every day

Home Schooling Summary for the Last Week

 Our friends' flight was delayed due to the weather and we disregarded the extreme cold in favor of as many exciting adventures as we could fit in.

We tried out the new Carousel at the National Zoo. It was 3 dollars a ride, but there were plenty of cool animals to choose from and big sister A had a great time.  After his bad experience at the county fair this summer, brother M did not ride and just wanted to "pet" the giraffe character.

Little brother S can't wait to be old enough to ride the Carousel too.

With the cold temperatures, there were very few other people at the zoo -- in other words plenty of time at each window. We had a good visit with the gorillas in the Ape House. They all (including the baby) came up to the glass to see us.

At twilight we saw and heard the wolves howling. It was the first time I have heard them in person. We also had an amazing encounter at the observation glass with a sea lion.  She was following the kids' mittens as they ran their hands along the glass! including loop de loops and everything. They had a wonderful time.

 We had a class scheduled at the Nature Center on the day that it was only 10 degrees. I thought it would be cancelled, but schools were open and so the class was open too.

We were the only visitors to the nature center that day and got special treatment. We saw the bald eagle flying over the misty water. Our guide showed us two special cold weather experiments.  She heated water and then threw it off the observation deck outside. It was so cold that the water changed from boiling directly to a huge cloud of ice crystals. Then our guide blew bubbles outside and set them on the metal trash can. We watched as they FROZE! from the bottom up. Then the kids popped them and they SHATTERED like glass.

 The nature center class was about one of our favorite books, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. They had a great craft for us to go with it. She had made white felt mittens and printed animal clip art from the story for the kids to color and put in their mittens as she read the story.

The Mitten -- Jan Brett clip art craft

Wednesday we went to a free kids concert at the local shopping center and hear Peter McCory's one man band. It was a lot of fun, even though the kids were too shy to participate much.

Saturday was our first day of ice skating lessons. The lessons are "Parent & Tot" so Daddy went out on the ice with them as they learned how to fall safely, get up, walk and bend down if they felt wobbly. Each lesson includes a free practice session during the week.

Needless to say, the formal schooling was limited. On Friday we did spelling and math. I thought this picture teaching kids about graphing was pretty fun and so did big sister A once she got the hang of it.

Teaching young kids math and graphing

Recommended Reading: The Best Book on Chicken Keeping

We are planning to get our chicks (finally!) in March. I have been studying up on taking care of the chickens and housing the chickens etc. So far I like Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens the best.

There are a lot of fun anecdotal guides to raising chickens online, but Storey's Guide gets into the nitty gritty of caring for the birds and gives technical information about feed ratios and coop space. On the negative side, like most technical books, it makes it seem as though your chickens will die if you do not follow these very specific directions. I understand from talking to my fellow chicken keepers that chickens are more flexible than this guide makes them seem. I still highly recommend this book to anyone else interested in raising chickens as a guide to best practices.

Sew Special: Quiet Book with Fabric Pictures

One last Christmas craft to show off -- Baby S's Quiet Book.  I got the idea for this from my favorite blogger, Amanda Soule's book: The Creative Family.

I ordered this fabric paper and it worked great.  I also used fusible web to stick all the fabric pics to the page before sewing around them, although that is not really necessary.  Each person in the family told me something to write in baby S's book and I printed those on the fabric pages along side the pictures.