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!