Help is on the Way!!

I have always known how important prayer is, but sometimes it seems that I forget how much we really need Him. Over the past weekend, I'm starting to realize that we never know what is on the horizon. We never know what is about to be. But He does!! Prayer serves as a reminder that we never know when we will need Him to help us out a little more than usual.

Today, I'm thankful for having the support I need in this homeschooling journey. Through ups and downs, we always need to have someone to help us muddle through the tough spots. But before anything, there is God. As I encounter more and more challenges, I realize that it's because of Him that I have a great support system...and for that I am truly thankful!!

Preschool Activities.

I have let my preschool bin go un-updated (is that a word?). This has recently caused me a lot of problems with Anthony wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do. Today I decided it was time to rotate and replenish my preschool bin and I spent the morning busy buying supplies and raiding my craft bins. I'm hoping these activities will last me a bit. I became rather lazy over the holidays, but have now come to realize just how important the preschool bin is in our daily life. It keeps little kids busy, while giving me time to teach the older kids. Here is a list of what I have added today. Perhaps I'll add more later, once my resources are dwindling again.




Correspondence Bag
-Contains envelopes, labels, paper, and stickers.

Pom-Poms
-Contains varied colored pom-poms to sort out into colored cups with a small spoon.

Pasting
-Contains both glue stick and white glue, scissors, construction paper and paper scraps.

Matching Designs
-Contains some homemade cards to match.

Number Matching
-Contains Unifix cubes and numbers printed on cardstock. Helps with number recognition and 1:1 correspondence.

Ladybug Number Matching
-A file folder game in which you need to match numbers.

Lacing Beads
-Contains colorful bead and a shoelace.

Pouring Beads
-Contains a small tray and 3 different containers and a spoon used to pour small beads.

Paper Punch
-Contains scraps of paper and different paper punches.

Memory Game
-Contains homemade cards about the seasons to play as a memory game or in any other creative way.

Snow Day!!!

Today was a very special day. After living in North Carolina for almost 5 years....it snowed!!! Coming from Illinois, I am not a stranger to snow. But the kids have only had a chance to play with the white stuff on our trips to the mountains. Although we had to mismatch snow pants, gloves, mittens, and jackets, everyone had a fabulous time outside!

Homemade Bread.

I like to make homemade bread. The smell your home fills up with, the anticipation of a warm slice of bread with honey. It's all worth the amount of time you need to invest to make a loaf. I don't use a bread machine and like to watch the bread baking in the oven. Unfortunately, I was finding myself making a loaf of bread only about once a week. I was sticking to usual store bought brands. Lately, however, I've been making a loaf from every day to every other day. I've been spoiling not only my taste buds, but those of the kids.

Yesterday, we ran out of homemade bread. I had to substitute with our usual store bought replacement. As we sat down to lunch and I took a bite out of my turkey sandwich, I almost threw my sandwich in the trash. I could taste the preservatives or at least what seemed to be something most unnatural. Needless to say, I force fed myself what was supposed to be a yummy sandwich...good mustard and all!

I immediately cleared the table and set out to make a loaf of bread. After about 2 or so hours, it was done! Piping hot from the oven, we gathered around and had a delicious slice of heavenly homemade bread. Is it possible that I may never again enjoy store bought bread?? I never thought I would turn into a bread snob!

I usually follow a couple of recipes for oatmeal bread, white sandwich bread, and Italian loaves. Here is my most used recipe...good for making sandwiches or just enjoying with a bit of butter. It is one of the very few recipes I have memorized!! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!!!

White Sandwich Bread

3 1/2 cups flour (I am partial to King Arthur or Gold Medal)
2 tsp. salt
1 cup warm whole mile (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 packet fast acting yeast

*I use my Kitchen Aide mixer with the dough hook attachment.

1. Mix flour and salt in mixer.
2. Combine milk, water, honey, butter, and yeast. It's important that your liquids aren't too hot, otherwise you might kill your yeast and your bread won't rise. I always use a thermometer and get great results!
3. Slowly pour liquid mixture into bowl with flour.
4. Mix on low until well combine. If your dough is too sticky, you can add more flour...about 1 tbsp. at a time, but no more than 1/4 cup.
5. Once combined, mix dough on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
6. Take out dough and knead into a smooth ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
7. Place dough in a warm place to rise. My house is always cold so I like to warm the oven to about 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. I then turn off the oven and place my dough in the warm oven.
8. Wait for the dough to rise and double in size; about 45 minutes.
9. On a lightly floured surface, shape your dough into a rectangle and roll. Pinch the seams and ends together and place in an oiled loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap.
10. Let dough rise again until it doubles in size...about 20 minutes.
11. Bake in 350 degrees oven for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature is 195 degrees.
    
12. Let your bread cool a bit and then enjoy!!!
    

Science Kits and Preparing for a Rainy Day.

Sometimes, we just need a day off of regular studies and a day full of fun experiments. For those kind of days I like to raid our science box that I keep in our playroom. I usually buy science kits from places like TJ Maxx. Since I don't go there very often, I usually buy whatever kits that I don't have if I come across them. They also aren't very expensive, costing anywhere from $8.99 to $12.99 a kit. This is great saving given that many of these kits retail for $20 or more. You can find all these kit online as well, but the prices will be higher! Here are some of the science kits in our collection.

• Space Travel
  
• Magnetism (we have 2 different ones)
• Vehicles
• Electricity
• Dino excavation

I also have some science activity bags that I made for those rainy days. These activity bags include a print out of directions and all the supplies needed for the experiment. I provided links to some of the activities. They are very easy and can usually be made with things found around the house.

• Balloon Retrorocket
• Balloon Hover Craft

I also have these books that always provide fun and easy experiments that tend to keep the kids busy and free from boredom!

• The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions
• Mudpies to Magnets
• More Mudpies to Magnets
  

If you want a great resource for science fun, you can also check out this awesome website from PBS. ZoomSci. This website features experiments from the PBS show "Zoom," which we loved until they stopped airing it in our area.

It's always handy to keep things easily accessible. I find that I'm constantly raiding our preschool bins, science bins, and arts & crafts bin. Luckily, I tend to keep them well stocked! But having them there avoids a LOT of the "I'm bored" syndrome. Hope you get some good ideas!

Ash Wednesday.

This morning was a rush. A rush in that I had to get everyone ready, out the door, and at church by 9am. We attended morning Mass for Ash Wednesday and so began our Lenten journey. I love car rides with the kids, as it is a time where we always have great conversations and so much teaching takes place. Today's car ride to church and then back home was no different. We talked about Ash Wednesday, Lent, and what things we could do as a family together to prepare for Easter. Here were some ideas.

"I think we should not eat. What is that called again?" -Marco

"Let's go visit some poor people and feed them." -Anthony

"Maybe we can go and feed some animals. They get hungry too." -Isabella

"Let's give our money to other people." -Marco

Although so simple, I think the kids came up with terrific ideas!! Of course, after each suggestion we talked about how we could implement the idea and I explained why there are certain things we do during Lent (like fasting and abstaining from meat).

As for what we are giving up...that is the ultimate question that seems to drive me crazy every year. Not because I don't know what I'm going to "give up," but because I take that as a very personal thing between myself and God. I always do come up with something simple to share...like "I'm giving up TV...or chocolate." But the real thing, the hard thing, is always kept between me and God.

So...what are you giving up for Lent?? :)

For Today.

Today I focused our morning with reading. Marco read Frog and Toad are Friends, along with some books from the SSRW curriculum. Isabella worked on her Explode the Code book and also read some books from SSRW. We celebrated our reading morning by taking a trip to Barnes & Noble. The kids were allowed to pick out whatever books they wanted and I was happy that they stuck to readers and some puzzle books.

For the afternoon, we concentrated on reviewing math facts, completing some religion work, and ended our day with some fun science. I received the newsletter from Tobin's Lab and was happy to find some fun and easy experiments to do with the kids.

We prepared some icy boat floats for a quick and easy science experiment about density. The kids prepared the floats according to the directions. Later, we tested them out in the bathtub and talked about density. After the ice boats all melted, Marco and Isabella drew a picture of the experiment and each made a little presentation about what happened. Marco, of course, had a few sentences to write about it...mostly dictation. Here are our results.

Preparing our boats for the freezer.

Making sails for the boats.

Watching the color dissolve into the water as the ice boat floats.

Comparing which boat is less dense.

Having fun with the ice boats.

In looking back at the pictures...I just realized that I still have our Advent calendar hanging on the kitchen wall!! Go figure! I guess I have more important things to notice than what's on our walls!!