Lunch Ladies

We had an unusual homeschool day last week. Some of Antonella’s friends came over for the day and completed their lessons with us. They are a sweet group of girls and I am so thankful for the friends that she has.

For lunch, the girls requested “crazy kabobs”. We got creative and they had a great time preparing, and eating, their lunch!

They made mini meatballs…

Peeled and sliced hardboiled eggs…

Chopped and selected cheese, fruit, and veggies…

Cooked up the meat…

And got to work on their kabobs! Blueberry, mozzarella, green pepper, meatball, egg, tomato, avocado, grape, repeat!

So what if lunch took up most of the afternoon?

They were developing fine motor skills and self-awareness, practicing sharing and taking turns, learning kitchen safety, mathematical concepts of fractions and division, patterns, along with the intense scholarly discussion on the combination of fruits and vegetables… I’d say it was a successful homeschool day!

Breakfast Guests

Word got out that we were having chocolate Bumpers for breakfast, and we had some guests on Saturday morning…

A pirate,

Spiderman,

And a Chinese princess.

But this guy…

He’s a regular.

Working…

I can’t wait to show you our latest little project!

Silly Trends

For better or worse, and mostly because we don’t own a television, our kids are somewhat sheltered from a lot of the trends that come and go. I became aware of silly bands long before they did. After we went to the train museum, I saw train-themed silly bands at the gas station so I picked some up. I hyped up my surprise before handing them out in the car. Their reaction was… well, probably not what the silly band makers are hoping for. The silly bands did not last long- lost, dropped or forgotten over the next few days.

Since then, they have clued in and caught on to how you’re supposed to collect them and trade them and whatnot. So when Neil’s grandma bought them some, they were thrilled. Treasures! My kids, participating in mainstream childhood, yey!

A week and an afternoon with their uncle later, this is what became of the trendy, so silly bands…

Meet Flipper, the homemade pinball-ish game, played with a marble that you launch off the black silly band and try to land it in the highest scoring compartment. One more reason to love silly bands!

Cooking with Fire

Some traditions, especially ones within families, develop and take shape over the years without any one ever calling them a tradition. Cooking with fire is one of those in my family. From the typical asado to outdoor ovens, these things have been part of my life since I was little and I never realized how “traditional” they are for us. My family also has a particular tradition that has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but no one ever calls it a tradition and it is never planned.

Picture eight adults and seven children around the table sharing a meal. Turn up the volume… that’s my family. It happens every Sunday afternoon, on birthdays, and often unplanned dates. Most families do this, but once everyone settles in to eat at our table, someone always says, “A round of applause for the cook!”

And ever one claps. Really.

My brother had us over for pizza the other night. He designed and built an outdoor brick oven and put it to the test.

The oven heats up to 1000 degrees and the pizza takes just a few minutes to cook. Not only is the oven itself beautiful, the pizza was amazing. It tasted nothing like the pizza I am used to and it’s hard to believe what a short time in the intensity of that fire can do to the flavor.

We all loved the pizza. The kids kept asking for more. We all joked about never ordering pizza over the phone again, much less buying it frozen. And as soon as our mouths were full and the conversation paused… we clapped for the cook.

Fun Friday

We have four day school weeks, so Fridays are reserved for field trips, the library, and fun!

This week : Library and snow cone picnic with favorite friends

Best snow cones in… the world.

The heat index dropped below 100 for the first time in months. Even if our snow cones still melted fast, it was nice enough to play behind the stand for a while.