Home Schooling Summary for Last Week

 Time to start the tomato and pepper seeds in eggshells again! After weeks of cold and snow, the kids were almost as excited as I was to get their hands in some dirt.

The weather finally warmed up on Wednesday. We came home from a playdate and big sister A set up this picnic lunch on the front porch. As you can see the ground was way too snowy to spread the blanket on.

Notice that Big sister A also decided that it was too hot for anything other than shorts. You know the winter has been a cold one, when 55 degrees feels hot enough for shorts.

We had an indoor camping adventure at our favorite nature center.

They read Camping with the President and discussed Theodore Roosevelt. I was super proud of my kiddos that day. They were the only ones able to answer the history questions about who the current president is and whether they could name any other presidents (brother M said "George Washington!").

Then they made their own campfires out of toilet paper tubes and tissue paper.

And the part all the kiddos like the best? Making a huge blanket "tent", of course.

Here is Mr. Squirrel eating the bird treats that we made last week. Every time baby S sees him he squeals and points at the window. Already another little naturalist!

Herbal Remedies for Kids

Usually, I like to try out things for awhile before I start telling everyone about my experiences with them. But this information seems too good not to share! I cannot believe that it took me so long to discover these herbal alternatives.

Baby S has been struggling with an unidentified cold, feverish, teething something or other for the last 3 plus weeks. Perhaps partly a result of the shots he got at his annual exam a couple weeks ago?
Baby S has also already had 2 back-to-back ear infections this winter, the antibiotic treatments for which gave him diarrhea for about 3 weeks. Not pleasant. And yes, I was feeding him kefir and yogurt for probiotics that entire time. In any case, I decided to try to ride it out this time without going to the doctors for yet another antibiotic.

I referred to my favorite herablist, Rosemary Gladstar's book, and am really pleased with how well all of her suggestions worked. She has a whole chapter full of ideas for treating common children's illnesses.

1. Ear infection - For preventative and treatment, I used Garlic and Mullein Oil drops. Just drip 3 drops in each ear while they lay on each side for 5-10 minutes letting it work its way down.  Also RG suggests warming the oil a little is good too.
Their are so many cool things about these drops - first, they start working immediately! Mullein reduces the pain and garlic is anti-infection. They are available over the counter, have no ill side effects, and can be kept on hand for all those late night wake-up calls. Adults, children, and infants can use them. I have already had occasion to use them on all 3 of my kiddos (sad right?) and so far it's been amazing.

2. Cold/Sinus Infection - I made some Elderberry Syrup with Elderberry juice, honey, and echinacea & goldenseal extract.

Now that I know about their great medicinal properties, I will try to plant and gather my own Elderberries and Echinacea in future, but for now had to just buy some extracts at the Vitamin Shoppe. My recipe was a guess since I did not have the same exact ingredients as in the book.

My Rough Recipe:

•  1/2 a dropper of echinacea (which tastes terrible, but is well masked by the other ingredients)
• 2 tablespoons local honey
• 10 droppers of Elderberry extract
• Fill the rest of the jar with warm water
• Shake well at each use

I used my pipette to feed baby S as much as he would drink. For some reason he liked the pipette better than the spoon? and it was a bit tidier that way too. I tried to give him some 2-3 times a day for those days that his cold seemed the worst (3-4 days).  Maybe it was just the tail end of the cold, but his runny nose is gone and he seems to be back to his old self.

3. Teething and Colic - I know it seems weird to group these two things together! RG suggested that Hyland's Baby Herbal Colic Remedy works great for teething babies, perhaps even better than their teething specific remedy.  I found that the Vitamin Shoppe also carried these little tablets and so brought some home to try as well. I switched from giving baby S tylenol when he woke up screaming in the middle of the night and would not be soothed to giving him these. Wow! it was amazing. He calmed right down 2 nights in a row.  On the 3rd night I gave him some before he went to sleep and we both had our first night of uninterrupted sleep in over a week. Detractors might argue that his teething just got better on his own, but I am so happy to have these in my medicine cabinet!

Sew Special: Japanese Patterns - Dress E

Another dress/tunic for me! Daughter A took these pictures so the quality is a bit sketchy, but you get the idea anyway.

It is dress E from the cover of The Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori.  Sewing Japanese style clothes has been a big deal in the sewing blogosphere for at least the last 5 years. I was a little hesitant to try to sew something when all the directions were in Japanese. Luckily, I procrastinated long enough that now there are a fair amount of Japanese style pattern books in English.

This one includes 26 beautiful patterns. They have to be traced (see my previous post about that here) as the pieces are all outlined in different colors on a few large sheets, like this:

From Burda Instructions on Tracing a Pattern

Craziness right? Also you have to add your desired seam allowances. That was the hardest part of the whole process! The directions in the book are just broad strokes and don't give much information about seam allowances, finishing edges, how to gather, etc. although the illustrations help. I found them adequate but I would NOT recommend this book for a beginner. 

I made this pattern in what is fast becoming my signature patchwork style, with the extra bottom hem length, back yoke, and pockets in a contrasting navy blue fabric.

Home Schooling Summary for Last Week: Valentine's Activities

On Monday we had a little class about flowers and plants for Valentine's Day. The kiddos made flower arrangements in recycled tuna cans with oasis sponges as the base. It made a great center piece for our table at home!

They colored Valentine's pictures and played with the fruit/veggie stand.

The teacher read them The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Rose

Then we went to the conservatory to look for heart shaped leaves and different colored flowers. They had a chart and put stickers on the ones that they found.

Tuesday we had another Valentine's activity at the other Nature Center. The children made suet bird feeders molded in the shape of hearts. We put them right outside our dining room window, hoping that the birds will come and find it... though I think our squirrel buddies are more likely to benefit!

They had a fun time looking at the huge variety of birds feeding in front of the Nature Center's picture window.

Then we went on a walk through the woods to see what other birds and nests we could see that winter day. It was chilly, but the kids found lots of fun things to look at and explore.

Inside the Nature Center we visited some familiar faces. They have a large tank of turtles and also snakes, toads, and lizards.

The kids had more ice skating practice and the last class this week. Big sister A's teacher suggested that we skip the level 2 class for her and move her on to level 3! I guess she did well on the evaluation.

Thursday's gymnastics class was cancelled due to snow and we stayed home on Valentine's Day too. When the kiddos woke up in the morning they each had one small box of conversation hearts and one present (the wished for magnifying glass) for them to share. I was trying to make it less sugary this year.

Baby S ignored the conversation heart candies and went straight for my present - peppermint patties. I can't blame him.

Recommended Reading: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

It has taken me a few weeks to finish this short-ish (350 pages) children's book, not because I did not enjoy it though. On the contrary, I remained ever curious about what would befall this inquisitive little soul. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly was worth its "medal" as big sister A calls award winning books. It was introspective without being boring, feminist without being preachy, and insightful on both its setting and period (Texas at the turn of the century). I highly recommend it for all readers - especially girls interested in science! Probably best for ages 8-12, since Calpurnia is 12 in the story.

Reuse Recipe: Fat, Lard, Animal Grease

Photo from Here

At our local nature center this week I stumbled on another way to use fat scraps and grease -- Suet Bird Feeders. There are a lot of recipes for this online already -- here a few that look similar to what we made:

1. Thrifty Fun -- Making Homemade Suet
2. Mother Earth News -- How to Make Cakes for a Suet Bird Feeder
   
3. Inhabitat -- this is a fancier recipe but the photos are great
4. Food.com -- Suet Balls for Birds' Christmas
5. BirdNature.com -- several recipes and ideas for making and presentation to the birds I especially like the idea of putting them in a mesh (onion) bag and hanging them up some where rather than putting them up on a string. That might give the birds a chance to get it before the squirrels do. 
6. 5 Orange Potatoes - DIY Suet Feeders - this blog is AWESOME! lots of great natural projects and ideas.
   
   

Sew Special: Another Kelly skirt

I love Megan Nielsen's Kelly skirt pattern. It's becoming more obvious since I have already made it twice!  I keep coming back to it with new ideas. I cut out 3 more when I began my "Sew for Me" goal this year.  Here is the first one that I have photos of, since I wore it to church today. I made it 2 inches longer than the pattern calls for, plus and inch of eyelet lace at the bottom.  The fabric is upcycled from a denim curtain panel that I found at the thrift store.