4 H Bread Workshop

One of the cooking contests the children can participate in fir 4 H is a bread and cookie contest.  There are several different categories: yeast breads, quick breads, muffins, specialty breads, drop cookies, bar cookies, shaped cookies, and more.  This contest is for ages 5-19.  Children under the age of 9 can use a mix, children 9 and over have to bake from scratch.  This is one of my children's favorite contests.

To prepare for it, every year there is a bread workshop.  in 2012 we made yeast dough that we could take home.  My boys turned it into pizza :).  In 2013 we made pretzels.  Last year we missed the workshop because we were in Florida.  This year we learned how to make the perfect muffin and made pineapple muffins and corn bread muffins.

Nick, Alex, Christian, and Lily participated in the workshop.  Anthony did not want to and Emmie is still too little.  They split the children up in groups of 3-4 and put a teen leader in charge of each group.  They did a really good job making sure all of the children had an opportunity to participate, and they did everything including washing the dishes and cleaning up their areas.

The muffins were delicious!  We had never had pineapple muffins before.

Here is the recipe they used:

Muffin Ingredients:

2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 oz can crushed pineapple
3/4 c milk
1/4 c melted butter
1 egg beaten

Topping Ingredients:

1/4 c melted butter
1/4 t cinnamon
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c flour

Instructions:

Stir together flour, sugar baking powder, and salt.  Drain pineapple reserving 1/4 c of the juice.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in reserved juice, eggs, milk, and butte.  Stir until just moistened.

In a separate bowl mix together topping ingredients.

Spoon batter into sprayed muffin cups filling 2/3 of the way full.  Spoon one heaping teaspoon crushed pineapple over top and sprinkle with topping mixture.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Makes 16 muffins.

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Review: Patriots Redcoats and Spies by Robert J. Skead

Book Description

"When Revolutionary War Patriot Lamberton Clark is shot by British soldiers while on a mission for the Continental Army, he has only two hopes of getting the secret message he’s carrying to General George Washington: his 14-year-old twin boys John and Ambrose. Upon discovering that their father is a spy in the Culper Spy Ring, the boys accept their mission without a clue about what they may be up against. They set off from Connecticut to New Jersey to find General Washington, but the road to the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army is full of obstacles; including the man who shot their father who is hot on their trail."

I am always looking for good historical adventure books to read aloud to the children and I was particularly interested in this book because we will be studying American History.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received the book that it was hardcover, not paperback like I was expecting.  It is a great adventure story that takes place just before the Revolutionary War broke out.  Putting a recommended age on it is a little hard.  I would be fine with reading it to my younger boys (almost 8 and 9) but for sure probably 10 and up would be a good recommendation.  There is a bit of violence. Nothing graphic, but a man gets shot, another man we know for sure is threatened and subjected to violence, and one of the twins is beaten up severely.  Also, a knife is thrown at a redcoat and another is shot in the knee.  It is mentioned more than once that horse thieves are hung.  But it was a great story that I enjoyed reading and know the boys will enjoy hearing it.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 21

Our homeschool day usually goes from 9:30-11:00 and then 12:30 -2:00.  From 11:00-12:30 is lunch and recess.  Well, recess for the children.  I'm usually making and cleaning up lunch cleaning the kitchen and starting another load of laundry.  But when 2:00 comes (or soon after on the few days we go over) it is time for my recess.  I take some time to relax, usually by reading for 30 minutes or so. Two days a week we have activities in the afternoon and I do not get an opportunity to have my rest time.  Not getting a break 2 days a week isn't so bad but for the last week, we have been so busy that we have had to be someplace every single day and I have not had much time to get a break in, and I am tired!!! Those rest times are important mamas!  We need to remember that!!  We don't do our children or husband any good if we are worn out and cranky.

Week 21 in Our Homeschool

Bible: This week we completed lessons 92 93 94 and 95 in Bible Study Guide For All Ages.

History: This week in History we completed lessons 52-54 in Vol III of Mystery of History on Don Quixote, Australian Aborigines, and The Founding of Jamestown.  We completed the corresponding time line figures and memory cards.

Science: We finished reading chapter 12 on electricity in Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics.  We have studied electricity and magnetism in depth when we did a unit on it from Moving Beyond the Page so it is a familiar topic. We are also working on a review of a website called Visual Learning Systems which is an online science website that has videos, worksheets, and activities and experiments on a number of different topics for primary, elementary, and middle and high school students.  I had the younger children watch a video on electricity and then had Nick and Alex watch the one for middle/high school age students.  Next week we will work on some of the worksheets and activities to go along with electricity.

Grammar/Writing/Literature: Christian completed his lesson in Lightning Lit on Mabela the Clever.  Anthony finished up Ramona and Her Father and started working on another poetry lesson. Nick and Alex finished Lesson 18 of Fix It! Grammar and the three of us finished up Lesson 14 of Medieval History lessons on Writing With Pictures.

Spelling/Reading: Alex finished Lesson 25 of Level 4 of AAS.  Christian and Anthony finished Lesson 6 of AAR Level 2.

Math: Nick finished Lesson 21 of Pre-Algebra.  Christian and Anthony finished lesson 20 of Beta and Gamma.  I worked with Alex all week on long division.  It just may do us both in!  After 3 weeks we still have mastered it so we will be working on it more this week.

Other: Christian and Anthony worked several days with the WeDo LEGO robotics set.  They built and programmed cheering fans at a soccer game,  a helicopter and a sleeping giant that woke up. Then they played around a little bit and built and programmed a few things that they made up.

My Father's World Creation From A to Z

We continued on our study of Insects.  Visual Learning Systems had an insect video for the primary ages, so we watched that video to go along with the rest of our studies.  We had talked about ants and ladybugs last week and moved on to bees this week.  We did a bee painting, drew hexagons, made homemade granola bars with honey, read the Bee Tree, and sang the Ants Go Marching In.  Lily also did a drawing page, cut and paste page, and a blend ladder page.  She was excited to find part of an old bee hive out in the yard.

We finished Insects on Wednesday so on Thursday we started on letter "g" for goat.

Other Activities This Week:

Monday was archery practice.  It was chilly but not as bad as last week!  Only 7 children showed up to practice so they got to shoot 5 rounds and we were done in 45 minutes.

Tuesday was gymnastics.  We also ran to the library.

Wednesday was a stay home day!!

Thursday was gymnastics again.  We had to make up for the day the teacher was out of town last week.  I dropped Lily off and ran across the street with Emmie to do our grocery shopping.  Some may think it's easier to only shop with one child.  That is not necessarily true!  With it being just me and her there is no one to watch her and having only an hour it was a challenge to get done.  Plus I had to put it all on the belt myself get it all in the buggy myself and load it all in the van myself. We made it back with 7 minutes to spare.

Friday was our Homeschool Valentine Party.  I also had to run into Walmart for the three things I had forgotten the day before :)

I hope you had a great week in your homeschool!

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A Homeschool Valentine's Day Party

Friday was the third year in a row that our local homeschool group has had a Valentine's Day party. Before that we spent a couple of years having a Valentine's Day celebration at an assisted living facility.  Valentine's Day is one of those celebrations that can be so much fun for children and do not have to take a lot of money or a huge effort.  You do not need to have a big group either.  If you have a small homeschool group, get together with one or two families, or just do something on your own, Valentine's Day can still be special for your children.

One of the things our group has done is to have each child bring a box for valentines.  Many of the children make a box, but others have bought them, or even brought just a pretty bag or decorated pencil box that they already have at home.  You can make some really cool boxes with little to no out of pocket expenses using supplies you have around the house.

These are the boxes my crew made this year.

Alex made an alien using a box, construction paper googly eyes, pom poms, and pipe cleaners. (Last year Alex didn't make a box because he thought he was too old for valentines, but then he didn't get any candy either, so he decided to make one this year. Nick (13) didn't make box.)

Anthony made a pirate ship using a box, construction paper, and brown paint (I spent $2.37 on the paint since we were almost out of brown)

Christian made The Flying Dutchman out of a box, paper towel roll, and construction paper.

Lily made a minion.  We used a shoe box, 2 rolls of gold duct tape ($4) (they didn't have yellow and she thought the gold was prettier than yellow anyway), painter's tape, electrical tape, pipe cleaner, and construction paper.

 Emelia wanted an ice castle.  Two years ago Lily made a regular castle so I had an idea of how to make a castle and we just decorated it with Frozen decor.  We used a cereal box, teddy graham box, wrapping paper roll, blue wrapping paper ($2), cardboard, foil, construction paper, foam snowflakes (I had these leftover from a Christmas craft), and some glittery shaving cream "paint."  We put some Frozen figures on top of the castle that we already had.

Valentines can be made or bought for as little as .98 a box.  If you buy them the day after Valentine's day for next year, you can get them half price :)  My children think it is so fun passing out their cards!

Our group has done potluck lunch, pizza lunch that everyone has chipped in for, or just had everyone bring a sack lunch from home.  I think the potluck is probably my favorite but this year they decided everyone should just bring a sack lunch.  I got the children Lunchables and Capri Suns, and made enough cupcakes for all of the children coming to the party.  I just did white cake mix and colored the icing pink, nothing fancy.

Some game ideas we have played in the past include Bingo and a cake walk.  This year we played a fun simple game called Cupid's Arrow.  A table was set up with a red table cloth.  Each child was given a straw and 3 q tips.  They put the q tip in the straw and tried to blow the q tip into a heart shaped cake pan.  They each got a Hershey Kiss for playing.  They loved the game!

Emmie didn't play but she liked helping to clean up the q tips that missed the pan.

The game was their favorite part of the party, besides of course looking at all of their cards and eating some candy!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Homemade Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I made these yesterday and they were quick easy and yummy.  They use brown sugar and honey so are also a little healthier than some.  I had two little girls helping me and they had a lot of fun making them!

Ingredients

2 cups rice crispy cereal (generic will work)
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup peanuts (I left these out but they were in the original recipe)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Process

Line an 8x8 or 11x9 in pan (smaller will give you thicker bars) with wax paper or foil.  Mix cereal, quick oats, and peanuts in a bowl.  In a saucepan combine honey, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Stir over medium heat until everything is smoothly combined and peanut butter is slightly melted.  Add in vanilla and stir well.  Add peanut butter mixture to dry mixture and stir well.  Pour into pan and press down.   Sprinkle chocolate chips over top and refrigerate 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve.

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Review: The Promise by Beth Wiseman

Book Description

 "Mallory's search for happiness leads her to faraway place. But there she finds heartache and betrayal. Can the only man she's ever loved rescue her before it's too late? Tate Webber has loved Mallory Hammond for years. He plans to marry her someday, but not until he has his career and life in order. Mallory is in love with Tate, but his unwillingness to commit has created a rift between them. So when Mallory's new boss introduces her to his cousin, she's surprised by his charming, exotic ways and delights in his attention. This exciting stranger begins to sway her thinking about her lifelong dreams and her religious beliefs. As their online relationship develops, he invites her to visit his homeland in the Middle East, promising her a traditional life based on commitment to family-something she's never had and always wanted. In a bold move-and with lots of resistance from Tate and those closest to her-Mallory decides to leave the only life she's ever known to meet this man on the other side of the world. Tate begs her not to go, but Mallory embarks on the dangerous journey anyway, only to discover how swiftly and easily promises can be broken. Her new friend is not who he says he is. Tate must risk his life to rescue the only woman he's ever loved. Can he reach Mallory . . . before it's too late?"

I chose The Promise to review because I have read several of Beth Wiseman's other books and have enjoyed reading them.  I honestly didn't even read the book description when I chose this book, seeing the author's name was enough of a recommendation for me.  The Promise was a book that kept me reading, because I really needed to know how it ended.  I was surprised to learn after I finished the book that it was in fact based on a true story that happened to a friend of the author.  That can make me understand why she felt it needed to be written.  But, I am not sure that The Promise should be considered a "Christian" book.  There is quite a bit about Islam which is understandable because of the setting of the book and some of the characters. But, the feeling that I got after reading this book was more of a whatever religion you are is ok and the book says over and over that we all pray to the same God.  The main character Mallory says at one point "Most Christians believe that you have to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to get to heaven.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross for us making a place for us in heaven , but I also think that God will take a good hard look at the lives we've lived here on earth."  Later it goes on to say that even though they don't believe that Jesus is the son of God it's ok because they do believe that he existed.  Tate does try to talk to Mallory a few times about the differences, but there never really was a revelation or a realization from Mallory that what the Bible and Christianity teaches is true.  So while The Promise may be a good story for some, and I give the author a lot of credit for writing her friend's story I found it disappointing.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.

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Homeschool Wrap Up Week 20

We only ended up with 3 days in our homeschool week.  We had an opportunity to have some friends over for a play date on Wednesday so we took off of school.  Love the flexibility of homeschooling!

Week 20 In Our Homeschool

Bible: We completed lessons 89,90, and 91 in Bible Study Guide For All Ages.

History: This week we completed lessons 49-51 on William Shakespeare, Tokugawa Japan, and Sir Francis Bacon and the Age of Reason.  We also completed the time line figures and memory cards to go along with these lessons.  I cannot believe how much history I have learned by reading aloud these lessons in MOH to my children.  I never knew before that there was a theory that William Shakespeare was not the real author of all of those plays and sonnets!  Did you know that?

Science: Last week in Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics we finished reading  chapter 11 on Thermal Energy.  This week we got to do some fun experiments to go along with the chapter, and we also completed the copy work and vocabulary notebooking assignments.

We talked about how heat goes from a warmer source to a colder source and demonstrated this by melting M&M's in our hands.

We did an experiment putting peanut butter on a plastic, metal, and wooden spoon and placing them in hot water to see which one was the best conductor of heat.

 We talked about the 3 things that fire needs and showed what happens when you take away the oxygen.

 We created did an experiment with vinegar, a lit candle, and baking soda.  The loved this one!

 And we built a solar oven and attempted to cook a tortilla.  Unfortunately our reflector got knocked over and by the time we fixed it the sun was much lower in the sky.  We may try it again on the next really sunny day.

Grammar/Writing/Literature: Christian's Lightning Lit book this week was Make Way For  Ducklings.  I love that book and others by Robert McCloskey.  Anthony is still reading Ramona and Her Father.  Nick and Alex did lesson 17 of Fix It! Grammar and started Lesson 14 of IEW Medieval Literature.  This lesson is on writing from pictures.  While my boys do very well with IEW when it comes to key word outlines, writing from pictures is a bit out of their comfort zone (their minds are a bit literal for creative writing), so we will work on this lesson again next week altogether.

Reading/Spelling-Anthony and Christian continued on with lesson 5 in AAR Level 2.  Alex completed Lesson 24 of Level 4 of AAS.

Math- Nick finished lesson 20 of Pre-Algebra.  Anthony and Christian finished lesson 19 of their books.  Alex struggled with lesson 19 of Delta, and actually he struggled with lesson 18 as well.  I have spent a lot of time with him on math the last couple of weeks, so rather than move on and continue struggling, him and I are going to spend next week working on the concepts of lesson 18 and 19, long division, and hope he grasps a better understanding this week, for both of our sakes ;)

My Father's World Creation From A to Z

We only did MFW 2 days this week, Monday and Tuesday.  As I said above we had friends over on Wednesday and we had to leave the house early on Thursday and never got to Lily's work.  So we are still working on insects.  Monday we learned about ants and Tuesday we learned about ladybugs. She did a handwriting page, sound discrimination page, math page, and cut and paste page.  She made an ant badge that says "I am a wise child, so I work hard."  We read the grouchy ladybug and also made a felt ladybug.

Lily made a happy ladybug and a grouchy ladybug out of paper plates to act out this story

Other Activities This Week

Archery was postponed on Monday and moved to Thursday.  Gymnastics was cancelled Tuesday and the class is supposed to be made up next week.

Wednesday we had a great play date at our house.

Thursday we had archery club.  I picked up a friend's little boy on our way and the girls got to stay at their house and play with their little girls.

We were planning on eating pizza at the park, but a cold front literally came blowing through during archery.  Instead we ate in the van.

After that we had a 4 H meeting on money.

Friday is our usual grocery day.  The little girls wanted to go with me, but the boys wanted to stay home. They can do that when Chelsea is home.  First we went to Brookshires to see what was left. It was sad.  The store is pretty much cleaned out.  Then we headed to Walmart.  We were about halfway done when Art called me to see if we wanted to go out to lunch.  We were quite excited to be invited to lunch!  I called Chelsea and told her and asked her to grab the boys something from Sonic.  We met daddy at La Villa.

Saturday we worked on Valentine boxes for our homeschool party that is on February 6th.  I am waiting until next week to post the pictures of those since a few of them are not finished.

I hope you had a great week in your homeschool!

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