Christmas Traditions: Gingerbread Houses

We have a few Christmas traditions in our home.  One of them is decorating gingerbread houses.  I usually buy the pre-made houses and some extra candies to go on them.  Sometimes the kids have decorated their houses at their grandparents' house in Louisiana.  This year they decorated them with friends.  I think this is their favorite way to hold the tradition.

I bought houses that were not only pre-made but also pre-assembled.  Easiest thing ever!  Just take off the cellophane wrapper and start decorating.  Several other kids had pre-made pieces but they were supposed to assemble them with icing.  Well, if you've ever done that then you know it is time consuming and tries your patience.  And then it all collapses in a mound of disappointment.  But my friends are so creative.  They took the kids' pieces and stuck them together with hot glue.  Not as edible as the traditional way but much more efficient!  You go, girls!

And these days, you don't have to just buy a gingerbread house.  No.  Now they have gingerbread barns, movie-themed gingerbread houses, gingerbread, Christmas trees, and even gingerbread trains!

They also had graham crackers and other cookies and candies in case friends wanted to just make their own crazy creations.

Nicholas assessed his house and the candy options and then decided on the best way to proceed.  He often takes his time with decorating gingerbread houses.  Last year, he enjoyed some crazy decorating for his house to make it look like a monster!

But this year he said he wasn't going to make a monster or anything crazy.  He just wanted to decorate it like a house.

While the boys were outside decorating their houses, the girls were inside decorating theirs.  

Gingerbread house decorating is serious business for these girls!

After decorating, everyone enjoyed pizza and fellowship with friends.

Finally, the kids had fun with an ornament exchange.  Everyone brings a wrapped Christmas ornament and they play a white elephant game to see which one each child gets to keep.

Nicholas ended up with a silly dog with a bow.  

Rachel was even less excited than Nicholas because her ornament was Superman.  And no, Nicholas did not want to trade with her.  He is a Batman fan all the way so he didn't want anything to do with Superman.  Silly kids!

What are some Christmas traditions in your family?

Poetry Tea Time: Easter and Daffodils

I want to be more intentional about including fine arts in our homeschool.  It's easy to let those things slide when the schedule gets busy.  But I've been working on integrating more famous composers, paintings and sculptures, and of course, poetry into our school week.

Poetry is so beautiful.  It speaks to the soul and can touch us in a way that regular prose and literature just can not do. 

We have started having Poetry Tea Time and so far the kids are loving it.  The idea is to have a special time each week to enjoy "the finer things".  We play some soft classical music in the background and have a nice snack with some hot herbal tea (or maybe lemonade).  We take turns reading poetry aloud or reciting poetry that we've memorized.  If there is a painting or art piece that corresponds with our poetry selection then we will talk about that as well.

Today we had an Easter and Daffodils themed tea setting. 

Rachel loves tea parties and snacks so she was giddy to get started!

Part of the reason for having a formal tea party setting is that it is also a good way to sneak in some lessons on manners and etiquette to my children.  I was proud to see Nicholas pouring Rachel's tea for her.  He's growing up to be a fine young gentleman. 

This tea was delicious!  It's called Honeybush tea from Mountain Rose Herbs.  It's organic and it contains berries, roses, and honey.  Yum!

We had our tea party close to lunch time so I made it a little heartier than usual.  Deviled eggs...because you must have eggs if you want an Easter-themed snack.  I also had some tortillas rolled up with ham or roast beef. The deli section at the grocery made this quick and easy for me but sometimes the kids like to take the time to bake cookies or get creative with their own snacks. 

Of course, hot cross buns are perfect for an Easter-themed tea party.

We enjoyed a few chocolate eggs for our dessert.

I usually don't add anything to my hot tea but I showed the kids how to add cream and sugar to theirs. 

To make it a little more fancy than usual I put cute little sugar cubes in the sugar bowl.  I took this random picture of the kids and then realized that Nicholas was sneaking a plain sugar cube!  Oh my!

I watched Nicholas drink his tea.  He picked it up just a little bit and then leaned his body over to drink it.  THIS is part of the etiquette training that my kids need!

I showed him how to drink tea while sitting up straight and bringing the cup to his mouth!  You can tell from his eyes that he appreciated this training....

Easter is just a few days away and one of the poems I wanted to read to the children was about daffodils so I found some beautiful daffodils for the table.  They bright color and soft petals just make me happy!

I read my poem aloud and I had them take turns narrating back to me what it was about.  We talked about some vocabulary words as well as rhyme, rhythm, and personification.

Then I talked about the author, William Wordsworth, and read a few more of his poems.

Then the kids picked out some poems to read aloud.  One of the poems Nicholas read was Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.

We ended our Poetry Tea Time with some recitation.  Nicholas learned Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost many years ago after his grandmother read it to him.  I asked him if I could make this video so she could see that he still knows the poem even after all these years.

We don't usually have such a formal tea time and we don't usually have a particular theme but this one was a little more formal because of Easter.  I think we all enjoyed the fancier setting so we just might continue to do it this way.  It's just a small way to make appreciating poetry a little more fun.

If you have talked to me much about homeschool and language arts, you know that I enjoy learning from Andrew Pudewa so I thought I'd share his most recent podcast which just happens to be all about poetry -

IEW Podcast 89: How to Enjoy Poetry: Listen, Speak, Read, Write!

Maybe grab a cup of tea to enjoy while you listen and learn.

2014 Pepsico Night at Six Flags

It's that special time of year.....the annual Pepsico employee appreciation night at Six Flags Over Texas!

Nicholas brought along a good friend and we all went to dinner before going to the park.  We went to Simply Burgers which was our favorite burger place when we lived in Arlington.  Good memories and good food.

The boys were enjoying time together just talking.  I think they could have stayed there another hour but we reminded them of all the fun that awaited and they quickly finished their food.

Rachel was ready to go from the moment we got there.  She just wanted to get to Six Flags!

We all stopped by the restrooms before we left.  There was a line for the men's bathroom so Stuart snuck into the women's bathroom.  Yep, he's a rebel like that.

Onward to the FUN!!!

Once we made it into the park, Stuart took the boys to ride the bigger rides while Rachel and I hung out in the little kid area.  Since the park is closed to the public so there are hardly any lines for the rides.  We rode the Merry-Go-Round six times in a row without ever having to get off!

There was a little haunted house set up in Looney Tunes land where Rachel was able to go trick-or-treating for candy!

The Looney Tunes area has been re-arranged since we were here last year.  There were some old familiar rides but also new ones like this updated version of the airplane ride that the kids have always enjoyed.

As always, there were stations of free Pepsico products scattered throughout the park.

 Yes, all the Frito Lay chips, Grandma's cookies, Pepsi, Gatorade, and Aquafina you could possibly want.

But no refreshments from "our friends in Atlanta" could be found.

It was fun having time with Rachel all to myself.  Usually I have both kids with me and Nicholas just naturally seems to take the lead.  But since he was off with Stuart, I was able to let Rachel choose the rides and let her take the lead for a change.  She even drove the antique cars herself using the foot pedals and steering at the same time.

Check out this cute video of Rachel below:

What happened to Rachel's feet?

Stuart sent me pictures throughout the night of the fun they were having.

We had a great time and stayed until they closed the park at midnight.  I thought for sure at least one of the kids would fall asleep on the ride back home but amazingly they all stayed awake talking about the exciting time they had.  

Muffin Tin Lunch {Summer Lunch for Kids}

Kids get tired of eating the same thing for lunch every day during the summer.  Is it always leftovers from the night before or do you just plop the same old turkey sandwich in front of them everyday?  Do you fight to get your kids to eat fruits and vegetables?

Solution?  Try a Muffin Tin Lunch.  Kids love little compartments and a muffin tin is the perfect way to present lots of little compartments of food.  They just can't keep their hands off all of the colorful items.

This isn't hard to make at all.  It's got some sliced turkey and sliced cheese but it isn't in the regular sandwich form so my kids eat it up.  I also threw in some leftover cheese pizza that I cut into fun little bite sized squares.  Again, a different presentation to an old leftover and suddenly it was fun to eat.  You'll also notice that there are plenty of other healthy choices as well: mini bell peppers, carrot sticks, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and figs.

My kids love these muffin tin lunches and I find that they eat a lot more of the healthier foods when I present their lunch in a fun way like this.

What kind of foods would you put in a muffin tin lunch for your kids?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Homemade Chocolate Raisin Oatmeal Bars

I'm trying to take baby steps in making our kitchen more healthy.  I try to buy more natural products and a lot less of the processed foods that I'm so used to cooking with.  

My kids are always ready for an afternoon snack so instead of buying oatmeal bars with ingredients I don't know, I'm going to start trying to have more homemade snacks for them.

Here is a yummy recipe for homemade oatmeal bars that I got from a friend.  I actually altered the recipe on accident (note to self: read all of the directions before you begin!) which made a completely different kind of oatmeal bar than what my friend makes but one that I love even more.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup honey 

1 cup natural peanut butter

2 Tb butter

2 cups crispy rice cereal (Rice Krispies, organic crispy rice cereal, or even crispy brown rice cereal)

2 cups Quaker oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup mini chocolate chips (ok so it isn't a sugar free recipe)

Directions:

1. Melt the honey, peanut butter, and butter over low heat.  For the honey, I buy local honey from my area anytime I can.  There is not a lot of research on it but some studies show that consuming honey made from pollen in your area may desensitize your body to some of those allergens.

2. While the liquids are melting, combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  This is so easy for kids to make since it is just measuring and combining ingredients!

Of course, when it came to the chocolate chips, there was much sampling required to be sure that we were using a quality ingredient in our recipe.

3. Pour the melted peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients and combine.  The chocolate chips will usually melt and blend throughout the oatmeal mixture making it all chocolatey and yummy.

4. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper (or wax paper).  You could probably just butter the dish if you don't have the paper but I haven't tried that.

5. Pour (dump!) the mixture into your baking dish and spread it out to all the corners.  If it gets too sticky to spread, use the back of a buttered spoon or a piece of wax paper to press it into the corners.

6. Let it cool on the counter (or in the refrigerator if you just can't wait).  It will firm up as it cools. 

7. Slice into bars and enjoy!

Marshmallow Shooters

How are these two pictures related???

Click over to Quirky Momma to find out about how to make your own Marshmallow Shooters!

Konos: Japanese Tea Ceremony

Unit: Honor
Theme: Japan

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is important in Japanese culture. There is a full ceremony of preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. Some tea gatherings may resemble English tea in that there are sometimes light snacks and sweets served along with the tea.

We had our own little Japanese Tea Ceremony. Although we decided to not make tatami mats that traditionally cover the floor of Japanese homes, we did find a tablecloth and pillows to sit on and made a low table by reusing a cardboard box covered with a tablecloth. The kids were excited to pull our their fans (only one of them has broken since we bought them!) We used our Japanese folding screens for decoration and the kids dressed in their finest "Japanese-like" costumes. Nicholas dressed as a Ninja and Rachel wore this beautiful oriental outfit that was in some clothes passed down to her from a dear friend.



For our light snacks we enjoyed our imported Japanese foods that we found at World Market. The kids have been bugging me every day to eat their Japanese food!



The pink "Hello Panda" cookies were really tasty. They are sweet little biscuits with a soft strawberry filling inside. The chips were very similar to Cheetos puffs so you know those were a big hit. We found a little red tin that looked like an Oriental food take-out box that had Hello Kitty on it. It was from Japan but the candy inside was just regular candy. The Yan Yan treat were sweet breadsticks with a cup of chocolate to dunk the sticks in. Fun and yummy!

We talked about growing tea, harvesting tea, different types of tea leaves and how they are steeped to make tea. I let Rachel smell the dried white tea leaves but she wasn't impressed and quickly handed them back to me.



In addition to the white tea, I also made an orange flavored herbal tea.



I personally love tea from The Republic of Tea. There are so many wonderful flavors and I love the selection of full loose tea. Loose tea is just as the name implies. It's loose in the tin, not in a tea bag. Loose tea is usually made of full whole leaves whereas tea bags are broken tea leaves or even the powdery, broken leaves left behind by full loose tea leaves. You can steep loose tea in a pot of hot water and then strain the leaves out as you pour your tea. However, if there is tea still in the pot then those leaves will continue to steep. Since some teas should only steep for 2-5 minutes, by leaving the leaves in the pot, your tea may end up being a bit bitter.

Instead I love to use these little teapots that have a filter cup that sits on the top. The loose tea goes in the filter cup then I pour the hot water over the leaves until the pot is full. Once it is finished steeping then I remove the filter cup and the tea can sit in the pot and it won't turn bitter.



Ok, enough of Tea Making 101.

We talked about the difference in color between the two teas and Rachel enjoyed stirring them.



I poured a small cup of each tea for the children to try. Nicholas drank both of his. The orange herbal tea was his favorite and he even asked for seconds as he continued to munch on his Japanese snacks.



Rachel tried one tea but ate all of the Hello Kitty candies and much of the Yan Yan chocolate sticks.



Then she decided that it would be more fun to just crawl around behind our Japanese folding screens.



Of course, Nicholas couldn't resist a little play time too and they chased each other around the screens.



Amazingly, we are still finding time to get our other subjects done like grammar, spelling, math, etc. But there is never as much excitement about doing that work as there is when we are working on Konos.