It's Fall!

For "art class" this week we did something not out of our art book.  We read a book about autumn and painted leaves. 

When I taught, I had a paper tree in my classroom that we changed with the seasons.  It was a simple way to talk about the seasons and surrounding holidays.  I wish I had the space (and know-how) to have a tree in our house. 

As my older kids get older, I realize how much my younger kids have missed.  What I mean is that I've taught mostly to Braedi and Corbin, but poor Dyllan and Ephram (and soon Faythe) weren't old enough to get anything out of those fun lessons.  Lesson like seasons, the human body, plants and animals and other fun subjects.  I need to do the fun learning activities again to them. 

I mentioned before that I want to do more with holidays and I thought painting leaves would get us started on fall and Halloween.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons (in places that have real seasons) and I was excited to share with the kids the beauty of the leaves changing color.  Maybe we'll be able to take a trip North to look at some of the changes. 

For now the leaves are hanging on the sliding glass door, but maybe I'll find a better place for them. 

Granola Balls

I tried a new recipe for granola bars.  I was concerned about the amount of sugar in my last recipe and wanted to find one with less.  I'm not sure where I got this recipe from (probably from a weight watchers cookbook), but I found it one day while going through a file of loose recipes.  I modified it a little bit and it was yummy.  All of the kids liked it, too.  My modifications are in parenthesis.

Granola Bars

3 c. oats (2 c. oats and 1 cup crushed corn chex)
1 c. raisins (next time I will use less)
1/2 c. chopped almonds (1/2 c. chopped cashews--because I didn't have any almonds)
1/2 tsp salt (I forgot this)
1 tsp cinnamon (I forgot this, too)
1/4 c. maple syrup (next time I'll try real maple syrup)
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. water
1 Tbl. brown sugar
(I added 1/4 c. natural peanut butter)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a cookie sheet.
2. Combine oats, raisins and almonds, cinnamon and salt (and chex).
3. Bring syrup, honey, water, sugar (and peanut butter) to a boil.  Pour over oat mixture, stirring to coat. 
4. With wet hands, shape mixture into 10 4 inch logs.  Place on cookie sheet and flatten.  (I shaped the mixture into balls and didn't flatten).
5. Bake for 30 minutes--until slightly firm to the touch.  (I only cooked them for 5-10 minutes).

United States--Arkansas

Arkansas is known as the Natural State because of all the forests, rivers and wildlife.  Its 1000 feet of topsoil (compared to the normal 7 inches) make it a great place to grow things--almost everything except for citrus.  Arkansas also has the only open-to-the-public diamond mine where if you find a diamond you get to keep it. 

In honor of the diamond mines we went digging for diamonds.  It didn't really work because I was supposed to use plaster of paris, but I used a homemade recipe (watered down glue) and it never hardened all the way.  Oh well, the kids enjoyed the mess and keeping the "diamonds".

Homemade Vinyl Letters

My friend and I tried to make our own vinyl letters.  We took scrapbook paper and cut out the letters with her cricket.  Next I mod-podged them to clear contact paper.  Then I had to cut them out with scissors.  Finally the letters were ready to attach to any surface.  I took of the backing on the contact paper and stuck them to our school drawers and over our art wall.  Too bad that I didn't take the time to measure and make things centered. 

Fall Garden 2011

I began planting my fall garden today.  I started by mixing compost into my boxes.  I had to use store bought because my compost wasn't ready yet.  (I haven't been good about mixing it.)  Next I added new twine to make my square foot boxes.  Then I had to make a plan of what I wanted where.  That is a hard part for me.  I don't know the best places for plants and what should be grown close to what.  Sometimes when things are full grown I wish I'd planted them differently (like too many tomato plants too close together isn't good) but I can never think about that stuff when I'm planning.  Then I planted what was ready to plant for now.  I planted broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes (just to try--I think I actually need to wait until December), beans (even though I should have planted them last month), some herbs, cabbage, and carrots.  And I had some pepper plants left over that I'm going to leave in to see how they do and a huge basil plant.  I also planted some pumpkin seeds last month, but they probably got in too late.  I have to wait until October to plant the rest of it--it's still too hot. 

I had some good helpers out there with me, too.  Corbin and Dyllan helped with the compost and the twine and Corbin and Ephram helped with the planting.  Faythe helped a little by spraying the bugs.  Braedi tried, but said it was too hot, so she played inside with Faythe. 

I love the way my garden looks right after I plant--so neat.

Artists Imagine

This year for art, I decided to forgo the co-op that we had been doing and do art on our own.  Last year I used a fantastic book that I found at the library called Making amazing art : 40 activities using the 7 elements of art design.   This year I found an art curriculum called ARTistic Pursuits.  Each lesson has a theme, a sample art work to study and an art activity.  So far the kids have liked it. 

This week we looked at how artists imagine and studied a painting by Marc Chagall.  The kids went on an imagination walk gathering images for their brains to work with.  Then they used water color crayons to make a picture of a time they enjoyed.  They were supposed to use their imaginations to add things to the picture, but I think they were too caught up in using new art supplies that they forgot that detail. 

The United States--Alaska

Over the summer, Braedi found a lift-the-lap book on our shelf that had all the states and their capitols.  I impressed her by naming the capitols of most of the states.  I shared about when I was her age I had to memorized all the capitols for school and I still remember them.  She showed an interest in learning about the states, so being the inspiring mom that I am I planned a unit around them. 

I joke when I say that I am inspiring.  That is what I'm striving to be.  I just listened to an audio download for the family builder class that I"m taking that was all about creating an inspiring environment and responding to the spark.  That is what I"m trying to do. 

We are taking it slow--1 state a week--and I hope that she won't lose interest, but there isn't any more time during the week to fit it in.  She chose to learn the states alphabetically.  All the kids are invited to learn with us, but it is geared more toward Braedi's level.  We are making a state book that contains interesting facts, making a map, optional workbook pages and flashcards, learning the song and doing activities for each state.  I've started making a list of activities to do for each state, but there are some blanks on my list.  Hopefully I can find something fun for each state.  Please share any ideas you have.  We are saving Arizona for next February when we celebrate our 100th birthday. 

Alabama was first and I didn't take any pictures or have anything fun prepared.  The kids colored a picture with the state bird and flower. 

Yesterday was Alaska.  Did you know that it was bought for about 2 cents an acre?  I also found it interesting that if placed on top of the continental US it would reach from California to Florida.  It's HUGE!  We made snow goggles (to protect ourselves from snow blindness) and played some Alaskan games. 

Book Discussion--The Hobbit

We held our first (of the school year) kids' book discussion on Thursday with our homeschool group.  All summer we have been reading The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and I know my kids were excited to discuss it with friends.

The discussion started out a bit rough--I yelled at a couple of moms to remind them that it was a "kids only" discussion--but it went uphill from there. The questions that the kids have been sharing have showed a lot of growth since we started this time last year and the discussions have been thoughtful.

My purpose for having a kids only discussion is to teach the kids how to have a discussion and how to participate in a group setting with peers. I know/hope that at home each of the moms is having a deep discussion with their families about the books; teaching and pointing out any important themes or ideas.

I look forward to more discussions.

Dinner--Chicken Pesto Flatbreads

The other day while I was waiting for Jonathan to get out of his appendix surgery, I found a yummy-looking recipe in the back of a magazine.  I ripped it out and brought it home to try.  Braedi and I really liked it and Jonathan gave it a 3/4 thumbs up. 

Chicken Pesto Flatbreads

4 flatbreads or pitas
1/4 c. prepared basil pesto sauce
2 c. shredded chicken
1 1/2 c. mixed cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 shallot, halved, cut into thin strips
4 oz fresh mozzarella, diced
1/2 c. ricotta cheese
2 Tbl fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/3 c. baby arugula

1. heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Place flatbreads on large baking sheet.  Spread with pesto and top with chicken, tomatoes, shallots, and mozzarella.  Spoon small dollops of ricotta over each and sprinkle with parmesan.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes or until crusts are golden and crisp and cheese is melted.
4. Top with arugula leaves. 

Another Camping Trip

Remember last week when I said that we didn't go camping enough?  Well we decided to take another camping trip over the weekend.  Jonathan's sister, Kosette, and her boyfriend, Matt, were in town and it was decided that a camping/fishing trip would be the best way to spend their time here.  And it was! 

Jonathan has been eyeballing Big Lake in the White Mountains since our last camping trip so we went there.  And because of the far distance and long drive I voted on staying for 2 nights instead of 1.  We left early Friday morning and spent the afternoon fishing.  It was a beautiful lake and surrounding area.  The pictures don't do it justice.  The campgrounds were nice and spacious. 

The men and boys wanted to spend a lot of time fishing so us womenfolk did most of the cooking and meal preparations.  Dinner the first night was yummy dutch oven enchiladas.  I've only watched Jonathan cook so I just guessed on what to do.  I was pretty close, but was grateful when he came back from fishing to help.  Saturday night the men were fishing again.  For our foil dinners we needed more wood so Kosette, Lola, Corbin and I had to chop wood.  It took me forever to get the hang of the swing and even then I could never hit the log in the same place twice.  It's a wonder we were able to get any pieces for the fire! 



Jonathan and Matt were able to catch and keep two fish

On Saturday we rented a boat and took turns fishing out on the lake.  Nobody took any pictures of the boating trips.  The rest of us hung out at the campsite.  We played and explored.  We had a huge rain storm that interrupted a big chunk of our afternoon.  Some people hung out in the vehicles, some in the tents and some under the canopy.  I was impressed at how well the kids handled not being able to run around.  

Ephram got a pocket knife and could often be found sawing at a piece of wood.
There was only one accident--he cut his thumb.

King of the hill and going on a walk with Vegas. 

We also had card games and horseshoes going on. 

Hanging out.

Sunday afternoon Kosette and Matt left to visit Jeremiah's family.  Lola, Jack and our family went on a slight detour on the way home to a look out tower.  (I can't remember the name of the place).  We were hoping to be able to climb the tower, but it was locked.  We walked around a bit and enjoyed the view, then headed home. 

It was a fun trip.  It's fun to go camping with other people!

Jonathan's Appendectomy

We came home from our camping trip on Sunday and the whole drive home Jonathan suffered from a stomach ache.  Then all day Monday the stomach ache continued.  He was nauseous, had heartburn and the pain kept getting worse.  He started suspecting his appendix.  We googled the symptoms and they were everything he was experiencing.  But we decided to go to bed and take care of it in the morning.  Only an hour later he was up saying that the pain was keeping him awake.  He went the emergency room (I stayed home with the kids and slept).  I got a phone call later from Jonathan saying that it was his appendix and that he had to have it removed. 

The surgery was Tuesday afternoon.  It was a 3 incision laparoscopomy (is that how you say it/spell it?).  He had to stay in the hospital for the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday and came home late Wednesday evening.  He is in a lot of pain and can't lift anything for 2 weeks, but should be back on his feet and moving around soon. 

The kids were able to visit Wednesday morning.

I feel blessed to live close to family.  My mother-in-law was able to take the kids so that I could spend time with Jonathan at the hospital on Tuesday.  My family has been available to help, too.  We also belong to a great ward.  I've gotten several calls from members of the ward checking on us and seeing how Jonathan is doing.  Another thing to be thankful for is that this didn't happen 4 weeks earlier when Jonathan was still in Uganda.  Jonathan also said that the hospital staff was great (except one of the doctors) and they took good care of him.  We are glad to have him home and on the road to recovery.