Home Schooling Summary for the Last Week

Another fabulous week of homeschooling! We had a class at what is fast becoming our favorite (of several) local nature center with our favorite teacher -- Miss Katrina.  Baby S was stunned by how much warmer it was to get inside. 

Button Lovers Sweater Pattern

 In honor of Ground Hog Day, she read us this funny book called Groundhog Weather School.

Then all the kids colored little ground hogs and attached them to popsicle sticks.

We went outside to see whether our ground hogs would see their shadows or not. No shadows!

Then we went inside to play with the "shadow maker" and all the kids held up their puppets and a variety of other animal puppets from the box to see their shadows.

 The weather outside was slippery freezing rain, but we made it there and back okay.

I thought of writing a funny letter to Amazon this week. It would have read something like this:
Dear Amazon,
I am returning the other size of the boots I ordered in new condition, just as I received them.  I cannot say the same for the shipping box however. During the 24 hours that it spent at our home it has been used by my imaginative children as a table, a boat, a large birthday surprise, and a burrow. They were sorry to part with it. Please excuse its used condition.
Sincerely,
A Mother of Preschoolers

It has been a cold winter and putting out (hickory) nuts for the squirrels has become a favorite weekly activity. They usually come around lunch time and we watch them out the dining room window.

Ice skating is still A's favorite activity -- they had race this week and she was by far the fastest skater. Her teacher told daddy that she is ready to move on the next level.  Here they are practicing picking up toys and putting them into the bucket.

 Big sister A finished another module of "drawing and clay" class this week. This time they talked about the various types of whales. She painted the picture and molded the sculpture below. I think this class has been really good for her socialization. She is less shy and better at listening to the teacher.

At home this week we focused a lot on learning to tell time. Our old dining room clock petered out so I bought a larger one that shows the minutes more clearly.

For the most part, we used the M&D clock that the kids got for Christmas. Big sister A can tell me all the hour and the half hour times now, but we are still practicing the quarter hours and minutes.  This clock puzzle is great because it actually shows the minute numbers (5-10-15-20 etc) on the inner circle all the way around the clock.

We also did some more exercises in this cool vintage spelling book that we found at the thrift store while our buddies were visiting over the holidays.

Reuse Recipe: Ideas for Dough that did not rise

My friends gave us some "natural" sourdough starter. I tried to make two different bread recipes with it and both times the dough did not rise. Not wanting to throw it all away I let it rest on the counter overnight hoping that maybe the natural just rising takes longer, but still not much happened. I finally gave up and decided to try making other things out of it.  

Here are what we found to be the most crowd pleasing ways to use our non-rising dough:

1. Naan - Divide it into clementine sized balls, roll out "flat breads" and fry in coconut oil to eat with indian food.

2. Pizza Dough - Roll it out in a big rectangle and use it as pizza crust

3. Chewy crackers - Roll out a large rectangle and coat with butter or coconut oil and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar; bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or a higher temp for a crispier version.

A Funny Story

I have been debating whether or not to include this story on the blog, but I think all of my few readers know me well enough to get a kick out of this.

It was last Sunday at church. We are in the third block this year (afternoon time). Baby S was a little sick and fell asleep in my arms. Little brother M was nodding (falling asleep) and so I scooted down the bench and he laid his head in my lap. About 20 minutes later the husband of the young couple behind us (innocent with no kids as yet) says to me in a whisper,

"There is something leaking from your pew."

I glanced over at my husband on the other side of the pew by little brother M's feet. I was HOPING it was not what I already knew it must be. One glance from hubby under sleeping brother M confirmed it though. Pee was pooling on the polyester cushion under M and dripping down through the crack at the back of the pew.

We tried so hard not to disturb the meeting. Unobtrusively, smuggling in paper towels under suit coats and soaking the mess up. But while hubby was out getting some spare clothes from the car, big sister A started dancing, "Mommy, I need to go potty!" she whispered. So I asked the young couple to keep an eye on the still sleeping brother M, while I quietly hefted the sleeping baby S in my arms and followed big sister A out of the chapel to the potty.

Minimal disturbance to the meeting so far right?

As we re entered the chapel a friend whispered to me, " I think your phone rang."  I glanced ahead and saw that hubby was sitting on the bench and my embarrassment dropped a couple notches because I figured he took care of it quickly... Nope, he shook his head, he had just returned to the bench. It rang all the way through without anyone turning it off. Great. So much for not disturbing the meeting. And as a bonus brother M got to wear his bright orange sweatpants for the rest of church. Cool.

Sew Special: New Wardrobe for Me - 2 Tova Tops

After Christmas I decided that it was time to be a bit selfish. I had ordered some lovely patterns for my birthday LAST Spring. A year later I figure it's about time to make some things for myself with them, right? Right.

I have been following Jenny Gordy's blog for about 4 years now. Her designs are beautiful. When she published a pdf pattern for the Tova Top I was ecstatic and treated myself to it as a birthday gift.  The directions were excellent it came together neatly. It is a flexible pattern as you can see by my two variations. I took it in a little bit on the first one and a bit too much on the second one.

 Variation #1: Blue linen and red checked shirting. Dress length (according to the pattern) a bit too short for me -- I will probably try wearing this one with leggings and boots, but I have not settled on an outfit that I love yet. Any suggestions?  I am hoping to wear it in early/late summer too -since it is linen.

Tova Tunic-- Linen with buttons 

  Variation #2: Wool flannel and sleeves recycled from an old sweater. I took this one in a bit too much and it is a little tight across the back. I also added pockets! I love them. I might need to go back and do that to version 1 too...  I have already worn this one more than 5 times with my grey leggings/yoga pants and boots. It is like wearing a warm sweater dress.  It seems to look good with more things than the first version.

Tova Tunic Dress with pockets -- wool flannel for winter

Home Schooling Summary for Last Week

For some reason big sister A likes writing better than reading beginner books. So this week I dictated a short story to her instead of using our ordinary word lists. She loved it. And it was easy for me too since I could dictate it while rolling out dough for homemade noodles (a new project - more on this later). She is such a good student, she just pulls out her school stuff and gets to work without too much persuasion from me.

In case it is too hard for you to read, it says, " The fat dog ran so slow. The fat cat ran slow too. The girl walks fast. The girl grabs the dog. the cat gets away. The dog feels sad."

I finally took some pictures of the kiddos practicing ice skating during the tot skate time this week. Big sister A is really getting the hang of it and still LOVES it. Little brother M always has fun, but likes to use the walker (that blue frame he is holding on to). His teacher told me that his balance is fine and I should encourage him to skate just holding hands or with his arms held out in front of him. Those two guys in these pics are our buddies from church. They come to skate with the kids while I hold baby S on the sidelines. Their whole family has taken turns coming with me to help out -- it's been so awesome of them.

One more funny picture that I almost forgot -- these kids all love to help with the baking. I announced my intentions to try to bake a knock-off version of thin mint cookies -- I turned to gather supplies and then here is what I found:

 They had all clamored to the baking corner. The older two brought over the high chair to climb up on the counter with, while baby S brought up the rear, taking advantage of the open high chair. Aaaaaaa! We need some new solutions to help keep this from becoming hazardous... Although perhaps 6 dozen thin mint cookies are equally hazardous... hmm.

Reuse Recipe: Butter Wrappers

My friend taught me to reuse butter wrappers in middle school. It was perhaps the first "reuse recipe" I ever learned. I remember preparing to throw the wrapper in the trash and her reproving me for almost wasting it. "We need that to grease the cake pan!" she said. Ahh. Of course, it's just that no one had ever mentioned that possibility to me before.  Since then I've tried to reuse the wrappers from butter when I make cakes - it works great and that way no cooking spray is required.

Just for kicks, I googled butter wrappers to see how many other smarties do this. Oooh I am not as special as I thought. Here is a cool post from the Kitchn that suggests 2 more ideas - saving them in a ziploc for future need and using them to separate homemade hamburger patties. And here is another post from Tip Garden suggesting that butter wrappers be used for wrapping and cooking potatoes in the microwave, lightly buttering toast (though I don't think there is enough on there usually to do this justice), and CORN on the cob! that is a truly brilliant idea that I must try this summer.

Sew Special: a mommy-size baby cardigan

Another project from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson -- an enlarged version of the baby cardigan made with Paton's bulky Colorwul in Creek coloring. 

 

Paton's Colorwul Creek 

I intended this to be for big sister A, but as I knitted it I started to get a wee bit jealous of the lovely rainbow nordic feel. I think my subconscious mind influenced the knitting somehow. When A tried the sweater on it was pretty gigantic on her. Well too bad, I better try it on and see whether it might fit me. 

Perfect! A little short and bulky with nice pouf to the sleeves. I love this yarn.