Clouds

This is what the view off our back porch looked like today. Our Nature Study lesson today was about Spring weather and more specifically Clouds. I follow this home school blog. Each study involves an Outdoor Hour Challenge. You can tailor the lesson to all age groups. Which is nice because we have multi-age classroom here! On the side bar she has notebook pages you can use. The pages to read before you start your hour outdoor are also posted. I had briefly mentioned before that we use The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock. I don't always read it out loud to the kids, but to myself, to gain knowledge on the subject at hand. The book also has questions for you to guide your student in learning. After our time outside, each 'student' had an activity based on their grade level.

Breanna drew a picture of an earthquake and clouds. Griffin drew our Willow tree swaying in the breeze with clouds. They also participated in the discussion. Will drew those pictures as well, but in better detail and he had this notebook page to complete. He and I went online and found a great chart that has the rising and setting times of the sun in Rochester, NY. He also had to figure out which type of cloud we were seeing today and found a nice website for kids weather.

He decided they were Cirrus clouds and that the wind direction was S. However we discovered we were wrong...The wind is moving NW. I guess we get a B instead of an A today.

My Favorite Things...

This is the first in a series of posts about my favorite things.
The latest- greatest thing at our house are these Freeze and Eat Fruit Chillers, that come in tubes. I found them in the grocery isle with the canned fruit, raisins, etc... I have been trying to phase out foods that have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them. Some of you are already aware of the dangers and are doing the same. I follow Dr Mercola's newsletters and he discusses the hidden dangers in foods.
I don't claim to be 'healthy' and 'organic' all the time. I don't want to give you that impression. We do enjoy a hot dog or bratwurst once in a while!
Getting back to the topic at hand...
I was looking for a healthy alternative to popsicles, one without HFCS. We have made our own popsicles out of 100% juice before in Tupperware frozen pop containers. Those are nice too, but tend to crystallize and 'cut' the kids tongues when they lick them. Fruit Chillers are a Frozen Fruit Sorbet. Ingredients are pear puree, pear juice, sugar, strawberry puree, natural flavor, ascorbic acid (vit C), dextrose (sugar), pectin, guar gum (thickener) and Red 40. Now I'm not quite sure about the Red #40 yet, need to research that a little more, but for now these chillers suit our purpose. They aren't exactly cheap, so I found coupons online. That makes them a little more reasonable for my budget. Try them! My kids can't get enough of them and are bummed that we are out! Time to get more...

Pajama Pants Conversion

What do you do when your favorite pajama pants rip???

Well you wear them for a few days with just the 'cuff' hanging down.

Then you wear them for a few weeks with the 'cuff' dragging on the floor, creating a loop that you constantly trip on.

After a few more weeks of that it rips up the side almost to your knee and you look really special now!!

When you can't take it anymore you cut them off at the rip, get your sewing machine out, and make capris!!!

Now that is being frugal.

Gluten free journey cont...

Ener-G.
My new favorite pizza dough! I found it at Lori's natural Foods.

A bag of 3 for $9.

It is dairy free as well. Made with rice flour. I have had frozen rice dough before, but it tasted like syrofoam!!

Before baking I spread oil on it and then topped it with large mushrooms and 3 cheese blend.

I was talking to Gary at church on Sunday about the pizza I make for the family, and It put me in the mood to post again on my gf journey.

Baby Leggs

This was my first attempt at sewing my own baby leg warmers. I'm addicted now. I can't wait for some close friend to have a baby so I can make these again. They are so simple and yet, satisfying.
I was first introduced to them a year or so ago by my friend Lauren. Her daughter was wearing some at church.

These are great for babies that wear cloth diapers- or nappies, as some call them. Cloth can be bulky and you change cloth more often than a disposable, so you need easy access. Also good for crawling little ones, as it protects their knees and keeps them cleaner.
How did you make them, you ask?

• They are made from ladies knee high socks or little girl knee high socks- depending on the length you want.
• Cut off the heel and toes- making the cuts straight across. Saving the 'foot' part to use as the 'cuff' for the leg warmer.
• Then you fold the 'foot' part in half, so that the nice fabric side is facing out.
• Pull the leg section thru the folded section so there are 3 edges at one end of the sock.
• Line up your edges and pin. That is where you will sew your 5/8 seam.
• Stich the edges together and turn the folded part back over - It is now the 'cuff'!

This website has a good tutorial with pictures. Why reinvent the wheel?

http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/01/21/make-your-own-baby-leg-warmers/

Normally baby leg warmers sell for $12 online. Even at Target they are $10-$12. I made all three for $5!!!

Sunny Spring Homeschool Day

I realize that not everyone knows what happens in a homeschool day, so I thought I'd share ours. I don't follow a curriculum- per say- rather a "method". The Charlotte Mason method. It incorporates dictation, narration, nature study, copywork, and "living" books. (Living books are those that are written by an author that are passionate about the subject.) That is just an overview, I will post about homeschool in bits and pieces. It's enough to get you started though...

We are doing a "signs of Spring "nature study this week. I use Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. Today we collected flower clusters that had fallen from the Maple tree. We discussed their various parts in detail and Will did a write up as well as a drawing. Earlier in the week we did a backyard nature walk, looking for "signs of Spring". We found half of a broken Robin's egg under a pine tree. Lots of pitch in that pine tree, too! Daffodils and another purple flower in bloom. Birds chirping and the trees have buds. I used that time to discuss all the five senses we were using.

Will took this picture with the feathers. He has been collecting feathers for a couple years now and wants to blog about it- so I won't steal his thunder.

It was a sunny warm day and the kids have taken to relaxing on the porch on these days. Soaking up all that vitamin D!! They actually have fallen asleep out there! So I took a picture of my sunbathers.

We did some math and grammar as well. I am using Singapore math this year. Emma Serl's Primary Language Lessons is our main grammar guide.

Later in the afternoon I had them read my sister Betsy's recent blog post. It was about a medieval castle with a tower and large walls. She had visited it near Montpelier, France- as she and her husband are in mission work there.

William and Griffin thought it was so neat that you could write a journal online with pictures and share it with people across the world! So I helped them start their own blogs. Will has been taking pictures of his collections, his creations, his nature study...and wanting to keep them in a "folder" in the computer. I am excited about their willingness to blog. I think it will help them with creative writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation, communication, and computer skills. If you have a moment to comment on their posts, It would be appreciated. Thanks for sharing our day with me.