United States--Connecticut

We moved to the East Coast last week to study Connecticut.  Connecticut is known as the Constitution State because the first settlers there in 1634 adopted the Fundamental Orders which many people consider the first written constitution.  Connecticut produces hardware, aircraft parts, and submarines.  A few famous people were from Connecticut:  Nathan Hale (the American spy who was hanged and said"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"), Benedict Arnold (the traitor), and Harriet Beecher Stowe (author or Uncle Tom's Cabin). 

I couldn't convince the kids to make clam chowder so we made submarines.  The girls and Ephram made a paper craft submarine while Corbin tried to make one out of an old water bottle. 

They traced a submarine shape onto construction paper and cut it out.  Then they cut out holes/windows and glued pieces of tissue paper to the back.   Corbin did his own thing, but unfortunately it sunk. 

The Band

While Corbin, Braedi and I were doing a project, Dyllan, Ephram and Faythe were in the girls' room listening to music.  After 20 minutes or so the came out and wanted to put on a show for us.  Each of them had picked an "air instrument" and pretended to be in the band.  It was cute.

The Band

The Piano player

The Drummer

The Guitarist



Halloween Witches

We made Halloween witches today for fun.  Actually the template I used was for witches, but the boys wanted to make pirates instead.  I like it how they all used their imaginations and made them how they wanted. 

United States--Colorado

On to Colorado.  This state was kind of special to the kids because we visited there last year and the memories were still fresh. 

Random things about Colorado: The view from Pikes Peak in Colorado inspired Kathrine Lee Bates to write the poem "America the Beautiful."  Colorado's nickname is The Centennial State because it became a state the same year America celebrated it's 100th birthday.  In Colorado you'll find the longest suspension bridge, a place where money is made, a city that is 1 mile above sea level and dinosaur bones. 

In honor of the dinosaur bones, Braedi and Corbin went on a dinosaur dig.  They buried toothpicks in dirt and used paint brushes to find them.  Then they glued them to an outline of a dinosaur. 

The Letter Ss

September brought a new school schedule to our house.  Part of it includes some one-on-one time with each kid learning about what interests them.  For Faythe it's her abc's and 123's.  Each week she is learning a new letter and number.  I am following the order given by the My Father's World curriculum, but using a lot of my own ideas and ideas from this site. 

For the letter S, we looked in the letter bucket for things that start with S.  (The letter bucket is something I created when I taught kindergarten.  Each letter has a bucket filled with things that start with that letter.)  We made an S headband and decorated it with star stickers.

We also made sand pictures.

Braedi helped Faythe make a spider using her hands.  (What a great opportunity for Braedi to tutor one of her siblings!)

My New Calling

A few Sundays ago our stake held a special "adults only" meeting to inform us of the changes in the ward boundaries.  Every ward had some changes and a new ward was made. We were put into the new ward.  I didn't know what to think about that at first.  I love our old ward, but sometimes change is good. 

The next night I came home from running to a message that the bishop wanted to meet with me.  I naturally assumed that it would be the president of an auxiliary.  There was no way that it could be anything else that quickly.  Jonathan tried to convince me otherwise, but it didn't work.  I was so scared to be called as a president.  I'm not a leader.  I don't deal well with other people and it would be more of a responsibility than I think I can handle.  I had a crazy dream that night--I was called as the Relief Society president and 3 names were given to me. 

All the next day I had a rotten stomach.  I can't believe how nervous I was.  Finally the bishop and one of his counselors came and extended the calling as the Primary President.  I was so relieved!  The day before I was saying how I didn't want to be the president of anything, but at least it wasn't the Relief Society President.  The bishop complimented me by telling me of how he came up with my name.  He asked himself, "If my wife and I died, who would I want teaching my kids?  Ashlee!" 

I'm nervous about the responsibility.  I'm also nervous about how I will look.  I know that's silly, but I want to be seen as a good president.  I'm also excited.  I have a great secretary and counselors--we'll work well together.  I'm looking forward to teaching the kids and inspiring them to want to grow stronger in the gospel. 

I also have a great example to follow.  A few years ago I served as the Primary Secretary with a great woman.  She loved the kids in Primary and had such a strong testimony.  I know that I have a lot to learn, but I'm grateful for the support I have. 

Night Fishing

A few weeks ago some new friends of ours invited us to go night fishing with them.  It was a new experience for the kids.  We had a good time fishing and visiting.  Unfortunatly the flash on the camera didn't work well for distance pictures so most of the pictures I took were too dark. 

What Would You Do If You Had No Arms?

Use your feet, of course!

Jonathan, Braedi and Dyllan were pretending that they lost their arms in a freak fly fishing accident. 

United States--California

We visited the Golden State of California this week. There are many climates there--desert (the lowest point in the US), beaches, and forests (the redwood trees and sequoia trees grow in California). The tallest waterfall in the United States is found in California.

We went "panning for gold" as our activity to mimic the gold rush in 1849. I hid gold safety pins in bowls of rice, the kids had to close their eyes and find the gold. It's a lot harder than you think. But, so was panning for gold.

Millions of Peaches

Jennie and I ordered 3 boxes of peaches and spent all day Saturday canning.  The kitchen was a huge, sticky mess by the time we were done, but we canned 42 jars and still had enough to make peach cobbler and keep some for eating.  I had 4 jars that didn't can so I'm looking for recipes that use canned peaches. 

 The recipe we used to make the cobbler was super yummy so I wanted to share.  I found it at allrecipes.com

Southern Peach Cobbler
8 fresh peaches--peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges (we left the skin on)
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 c. flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbl. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 c. boiling water

3 tbl white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients.  Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish.  Bake for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine next 5 ingredients.  Blend in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them.  Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Bake until topping is golden--about 30 minutes.