Week 13

* It was a big train day today! We have a large electric train set that goes around the tree and I asked D.F. to set it up thinking he would like that job. He spent hours setting up the track and troubleshooting the electrical difficulties! It was great!

* The little girls wanted to play with the train, too, so I brought out our big box of wooden train track and Thomas trains. They loved it and played for a long time.

* The other girls made Polly Pocket houses out of our big wooden blocks and set up Polly Land in the living room instead of the playroom.

*I put gingerbread house ornaments together with Popsicle sticks (I should own stock) and hot glue. I have a full arsenal of old decorating candies I keep adding to year after year and they glued those on to the houses after they painted them. They had a really good time doing the project, and I hope the candies held on!

*They took turns assembling the treat of the day~ A pretzel with a kiss on top goes into a 175 degree oven for about 6 minutes. When you take it out you push an M&M onto the soft kiss. Put it into the fridge to set and pop them in your mouth! YUM!~ The kids divided them up so each family took home 2 plates. Lots of math with that activity. :)

Merry Christmas!!

Week 12

Making Christmas star ornaments!

I had a few terra cotta ornaments for them to paint, too.

We walked to the park for a picnic~

And cut snowflakes on a park bench~

And jumped rope! A fun day!

I also read a book called The Magic Dreidel since it was the second day of Hanukkah. Alas, we didn't make the latkes, though...So sad.

Week 11

Tech Week made things a little interesting today! The kids were pretty tired and some were pretty sick! I didn't have much creativity in me, either!

Fort making in the backyard made up most of the afternoon after lunch.

The girls also spent a lot of time singing the entire score from Anne of Green Gables. It was a wonderful warm up for opening night!

Week 10

I found a great art project that combines cut out pictures from magazines and drawings. Some of the kids *really* got into it!

More building~

We played a great game called Monkey Memory~

Puzzles~

Dress ups!

We gobbled up our treat so fast I didn't get a picture, but we made apple cake today! (O.k., the truth is *I* made apple cake while the kids made forts outside.) Here is the recipe:

Creamy Apple Kuchen
3 cups apples, peeled, cores and thinly sliced
1 tbl lemon juice
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 egg

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9 by 13 inch pan with non stick spray.
In a medium bowl combine the apple slices, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and cinnamon, stirring to mix. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter and remaining cup of sugar. Add the 2 beaten eggs and the vanilla extract. Stir in the salt and baking powder, then add the flour. Spread the batter in the pan (it will be thick), then top it with the apple and lemon juice mixture.
Combine the sour cream and remaining egg in a small bowl, then pour the mixture over the apples (it won't fully cover them).
Bake for about 30-35 mins. or until the cake is lightly browned around the edges and the topping is set.
Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on top.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Serves 12

Week 9

Today was spent doing three things. Building with blocks, playing with the doll houses and READING!
I spent most of the time on the couch with a stream of kids gathering around me through out the day. D.F. really liked Millions of Cats and was working on memorizing the repetitive phrase, "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!" so I made him a little sheet to help him. The big girls really enjoyed the book The Princess and the Kiss. I recommend this book for a good discussion on virtue. (I left that discussion for you moms. :) ) Everyone really liked the true story of The Bear That Heard Crying. After quite a few books, Nut Nut konked out on the couch. Very sweet!

Week 8

Today was Field Trip day and the kids all loved seeing Cinderella at the performing arts center. After lunch at the park, we came back home and just played. The dollhouse room was the place to be. Looks cramped, but the kids don't seem to mind and spend hours in the imaginary world of dolls.

EJ likes to play with the dollhouses, too, but prefers to do art projects. I just happened to have a Cinderella coloring book that she liked!

When my MSA student gets home, he usually has a captive audience that listens with rapt attention to him explain that week's Lego creation. She's a very good listener to his technical building instructions!

Week 7

* Everyone really like the Blokus game I had on the table. It's another great game to develop spatial skills.

* I told the story of Pete's a Pizza by William Steig. It's a funny book about a grumpy little boy that feels better after his parents pretend he is a lump of dough and make a pizza out of him. Several of the kids were then transformed into pizzas (and burritos and egg rolls!) and loved it. Ask them to make you into a pizza! You will love it, too!

* We read How To Make an Apple Pie and See the World and talked about the different ingredients the girl went in search of. I had a basket with cinnamon sticks, wheat, sea salt and cream to look at and talk about. They loved to smell the cinnamon. We shook up some cream in a small jar and made butter, but forgot to eat it! Ha! If you wanted to extend what we talked about at home, dissolve 1/4 cup of salt in a glass of water and let it evaporate. The salt crystals are cool and get really big.

*I told the little ones (EJF, MH, MF) the story of the apple and the star. When I cut open the apple to reveal the star there was such a reverent awe in their sweet little faces. Breathtaking. I love to read books of course, but there is something so special about telling a story in the oral tradition. There is a reason they call it telling a story "by heart"; you are sharing your heart and their is a connection.
*The big girls, RF and SH, made us German Puffed Pancakes for our snack today. Such an easy recipe and it has such big results! SH asked for the recipe so she can make it for Activity Day sometime.

*The rest of the afternoon was spent in practicing and cooperation as everyone planned to put on a show for the MSA crowd when they came back. The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything was a big hit!

Puffed Oven Pancakes

2 Tbl butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1. Place butter in a 10 inch oven proof skillet (we used pie plates). Place in a 400 degree oven for 3-5 mins. or until butter melts. In a medium mixing bowl use a wire whisk to beat eggs until combined. Add flour, milk and salt. Beat mixture until smooth. Immediately pour into hot skillet. Bake about 25 mins. or until puffed and well browned.

2. Top with Nutella, powdered sugar, jam, or fruit and whipped cream. We like it with lemon curd at our house.

Week 6

* I put the game Set (click on the name for a link) out on the coffee table and didn't hear much from the kids for about 45 minutes!

*I read Caps For Sale to the two youngest and before I knew it I had almost everyone around me. A good book is a good book, no matter the age!

*We made African masks and everyone did a great job! Way better than mine! haha

*The kids were talking about ASL, so I put in Signing Time for them. I don't usually let them watch t.v., but this was relevant and educational. :)

*A very rousing game of cops and robbers commenced in the back yard.

* The boys made "decorate your own" cupcakes for everyone and even the MSA teens got a treat today.