Posts filed under 'This N That'
The last two years we have picked up a butterfly rearing kit from the local butterfly conservatory. The activity is popular amongst local homeschoolers and classroom teachers.
Last year, all but one of our caterpillars died. The one that did survive fell as he came out of the chrysalis and had a crumpled wing since we were not home when this all happened. Fuss was devestated.
This year, we were pleased when we picked up our kit to find that they had provided us with four chrysalys in addition to the caterpillars. We were not the only ones who had a poor outcome last season. Here is our milkweed plant when we first brought it home.
We (read: I) had to pin the four chrysalis onto the top of the cage. I’m not a bug person, so this was a huge leap for me.
Fuss was so pleased when the first butterfly came out and was perfectly healthy and ready to go.
What was really nice was this one spent probably about 45 minutes hanging out on fuss’s hand.
He finally decided it needed a bit of a push to leave the nest, so he put it on one of the flowers in our butterfly garden.
You can see a tag on this one. The kits we pick up are part of Monarch Watch which is dedicated to the study of migratory Monarchs (early season Monarchs are non-migratory, late season are migratory). We tag them right before they are released. It’s actually not overly easy to do, so one didn’t get a tag since it was a bit too active. Hopefully this one gets to enjoy it’s journey!
We still have two chrysalis left and they are looking pretty healthy so fingers crossed they do just as well.
October 6th, 2011
Even Missy gets in on the school day with some suggestions from Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready.
The kids helped her build this, Missy’s specialty is knocking it down.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
October 4th, 2011
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from our week a la SouleMama.
September 30th, 2011
What a great start to the new year. We seem to have a handle on our rhythm and Missy just fits right in.
I’ve started using a block format to our day. We get up, have circle time, brekkie, language arts and then snack / free time. Then we have a science block followed by lunch and free time. Math is first up in the afternoon, again free time and snack and last we do social studies. It’s really working nicely for us and the kids have been so excited to start each day.
This is Bug’s first year of doing any formal schooling. She was beside herself she was so excited. She’s so happy to do any work. I’m going to take advantage of it as long as it lasts. I wonder if we could do two math lessons a day?????
We are using Oak Meadow again this year as it really lends structure to our day but it is on the gentle, nature focussed side. We use The Rhythm of Childhood for a wonderful circle time and to help organize our daily rhythm. It includes verses, menus with recipes, crafts, and more.
We do not do the Waldorf math anymore, however as I just don’t get it. I’ve read so many books on it and received a lot of advice on the various waldorf boards, but I’m still not feeling it. So, after a DISASTEROUS foray into Jump Math, we are absolutely loving Right Start Math. They both run to the table for math lessons. Phew.
Bug’s week started with the Tale of Peter Rabbit and the letter A. We read that for Monday morning. The next day we woke up to this going on at the bird feeder.
He was such a lovely guy and spent much of the morning hanging out in the backyard while the kids watched from the window. We finally figured out that the birds were being so incredibly messy because they were spilling feed down to him!
He did finally hop away and we carried on with circle time. Everyone was involved and really enjoyed it!
Lessons went well. Fuss is very excited about grade 3 and very focussed. He’s quite excited to learn cursive this year.
Sometimes Missy gets in the way, but that’s what baskets are for!!!!
She’ll last about 15 minutes in here, and then it’s back in arms. That’s just long enough to help with a stuck lesson, or get a meal started!
Hopefully the rest of the year goes as smoothly as our first week did.
And….now that I’ve figured out how to blog with my mac (soooo much easier), hopefully I’ll be able to keep up a bit.
Enjoying the journey! Amanda
September 28th, 2011
My daughter is not one to sit and listen to a book. My son, however, is. So, its a real push and pull. Ive finally just given in to the whole circus. I read to Fuss whilst Bug flings herself around the room at breakneck speed, careening off all the furniture. Slightly maddening for me who tends toward overstimulation in short order.
I have to hope that some of what Im reading gets in there, and this is just her. I strongly suspect this is the case.
The other day, I realised that Fuss and I had not finished (read: barely even started) The Seven Year Wonder book by Isabel Wyatt. I decided to have a go at it even though Bug was in the room. I would normally read something a bit more her speed, like the Magic Treehouse Series, saving the more mature books for when shes otherwise engaged or sleeping.
img class=alignnone size-full wp-image-526 title=wyatt src=http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/wyatt.jpg alt=wyatt width=115 height=115 /
I finished our selection and then noticed that the room was startlingly quiet. Thats certainly never status quo at our house. Never. I looked over at Bug who was sitting close to me, arms folded on the table, head resting on her arms. Not a peep the entire time I read. Its the first time Ive ever had her sit still for a non-picture book. Wow.
I went on to Amazon and ordered the rest of Wyatts books!!!!
The books are lovely for any type of reader. I could read them to myself, actually. They are captivating, wonderful, and adventurous. Each story is suited for both boys and girls. My seven year old loves it as much as my four year old.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 28th, 2011
A New Year’s or two ago, I posted on what I was doing. One of the items in the photo is a blanket I had started work on.
Well, this New Year I have a wee one to wrap in the (finished!) blanket.
She’s one sweet little bundle and I’m so thrilled she’s here.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 6th, 2011
Likely no one remembers, but I had a few cookbooks I was going to try to get through this year. One of them being Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home. It had 52 full meals in it, and I thought that was the perfect project to tackle in one year.
However, finding out in March that I would have an additional creative endeavour taking up my the majority of my creative energy, I felt I should fast-track the cooking one, and I actually finished a few weeks ago.
As far as the book goes, I will say that I really like the full-meal menu. That just so works for me. Usually in the magazines I read and the majority of cookbooks I have, the recipes are divided by course. That’s fine, but it leaves the work of assembling the meal up to me. And sometimes pulling all the recipes together just doesn’t happen and our only green on the table is a salad. ~sigh~ So, with this book, there was a green already for me to make, and I didn’t have to think. The less I had to think these past few months, the better. Ahem.
A few of the meals didn’t work, or I just plain didn’t like them. Dates or figs (they are the same thing to me and I don’t like them) stuffed with goat cheese. Not for me, thanks.
However, most of the meals turned out beautifully and Colin and the kids ate them happily. Well, Colin will eat anything I make so the kids are the true test. I can’t think of one meal they pushed away.
The other bonus for me is that the book is arranged seasonally. Great for those who live in a seasonal climate. Wouldn’t have mattered so much when I lived in Florida.
There were a few recipes that stand out and I would definitely make again. What’s funny is that they are not all from the same menu. It works okay for making the favourite items again because in the back, MS has the recipes indexed by season, making it easy to pull a meal together without being as obsessed about working through the book recipe by recipe in order.
One of my children’s favourites was the spicy stuffed celery sticks which is just cream cheese and horseradish together and spread onto celery. It’s now an afternoon snack staple.
The salmon with creamy leeks was so good, we made it up at the cottage for a large crowd who liked it equally well. The amount of butter the salmon is cooked in is fairly incredible, which is likely why it’s so good.
The prosciutto-wrapped pork cutlets was another standout. Totally yummy. For vegetarians, the broiled black-pepper tofu was so good my kids asked for seconds and then asked if they could have it again the next night.
The rosemary yorkshire puddings was one of my favourites and one of the first times my yorkshire puddings have come out so well!
The desserts were lovely for the most part (and for desserts that are supposed to come together with the rest of the meal in about an hour). There were some ices and granitas that I couldn’t get enough of, particularly the one made with cherries.
The cherry compote over chocolate ice cream was so lovely and used store bought ice cream, so you could really have it any time, although I shouldn’t.
I would definitely recommend this book for those who like to cook and have patience (they don’t all come out in 60 minutes). If you like to be told what to do, it’s the book for you. It’s all put together nicely, taking all the guesswork out of what’s for dinner - the entire meal.
Enjoying the journey! Amanda
November 30th, 2010
One of my best friend’s has moved her small family to the Brittany region of France. They are restoring an old manor home. As soon as she sets up a blog with their adventures, I’ll post it here (it’s actually quite an interesting project they are taking on).
As much as I miss her company at Starbucks, I have to say I do love the packages she sends back with people who visit her from here. The latest is this lovely bundle:
That’s a ball of mohair from a farm near her and it’s in my favourite colour. I’m trying to figure out what to make it into.
Then, the packages are “flan” or pudding. They are in rather interesting flavours. I’ve yet to try them, but once I do, she may have opened up a permanent request. The bottom two, raspberry and caramel are easy enough to make here. However, the top three are rose, bergamot (!) and lavender. I can’t wait to eat them! Yum. (I’m selfishly hoping the kids wont like them….)
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
November 14th, 2010
I don’t like workbooks and I don’t like desks.
However, it would seem that in the absence of a desk, my daughter will make her own:
Despite the fact that the kitchen table is right behind her and this step stool is never unfolded, the minute she saw it, she knew was it was for! I’ve never seen her work this intently!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
November 7th, 2010
So sorry for not posting anything lately. We got a late start homeschooling and ended up a bit behind. We are catching up, and should be by the end of this week, but I’ve not spent enough time on any one activity to take pictures.
We did a kind of cool, but messy, project where the kids made and decorated masks. They had so much fun and spent so much focused time on it. I took some photos, but then it came back to me that I find masks (of any kind including clown faces) super creepy and these were particularly that way. So, I erased the photos. With no regret.
However, I do have some great fall photos. Once I find the time to fire up the old dinosaur that is the computer holding all my photos, I’ll post a few. We were up north (AWAY~!) for the Thanksgiving weekend and it was really such a nice break to have someone else cook the turkey dinner for ME. Absolutely lovely. Looking forward to doing that again in the future.
Once we are caught up and homeschooling at a leisurely pace, I will post more frequently, I hope.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
October 13th, 2010
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