November Going Ons

We've been really busy this month. My camera cord has gone to camera heaven, so I'm without pictures. We're mainly working on Thanksgiving. We're doing math and science, but mostly it's Thanksgiving. We're hosting an Authentic Thanksgiving Dinner (lunch) at our house in a week. We've been making a lapbook about the historical aspects of Thanksgiving leading into more modern traditions. It's been really fun. I'll post pictures when my new cord comes in. 

The Samaritan's Purse

We are sponsoring a little boy through World Vision and we help out with Operation Christmas Child (also know as Operation Shoebox). This year The Samartian's Purse put out a list of gifts that you can buy and donate to people in need all around the world.

Well, I'm sure they do it every year, but this is the first year I've noticed. There are tons of gifts you can give from a $4 dollar Lamb toy to a $1000 well. I cut out the things that we can afford and then let the boys each pick a gift to give.





I went through the catalog and clipped out all the ones that we could afford to give and I spread them out for the boys to see. We talked about the Samaritan in the Bible and what the phrase "A Good Samaritan" means. I went through each item and why it would be important and then I let them each pick one to give.

Sam picked first and he chose to give one of the toy lambs that come with literature on Jesus.

Shane picked next. He chose a sports package and a leader to explain the game. This is no big surprise to me.

And Jackson really thought about his and finally chose to give the Mosquito Netting for a bed. I think since he has the hardest time falling asleep that the thought of bugs biting him all night long was particularly terrible.

I'm thankful for these sweet boys who wanted to really pick something thoughtful to give. And I only heard once "but do we get something" :)!

Corn Bread.

First, we do actually do school. But, seriously, school pictures are boring. Yesterday we made homemade corn bread. I'm beginning to think that Colonist were really skinny. I, personally, think all this food is gross and bland. They are eating it up like it's going out of style (which thankfully it did). In my opinion, nothing beats a box of Jimmy Corn Bread for .79$.

Ingredients.

Bob Jones University Heritage Studies.

Crazy mixers.

Added yeast, they wanted to see how high it would rise.

Risen and ready to bake...

Enjoying their work.

Doughnut Goodness.

Another cooking morning! Again from Cooking Up US History. We made doughnuts this morning. They were my favorite thing so far! The boys are really getting into this. We're running out of Colonial recipes though.

Turning this into doughnuts!

The dough ball.

This is what Little Miss did during our cooking exercise.

Helping roll out the dough.

The recipe.

Cooking, also I have a fear of frying, so this is a big deal.

Pardon that burnt one.

Not sure of the results by these faces.

Oh thumbs up, good!

The camera was on the on the counter, I just liked the angle of my kitchen!

Apple Brown Betty

We made another recipe out of Cooking Up US History. We made an Apple Brown Betty. The kids had a great time helping with this one. Lots of sugar and apples :) Helping cook a dessert also counting as achievements for each of them for Cub Scouts.

Getting ready.

Layering apples.

Before it's baked.

All done, it smelled really good.

And served with lunch.

Homemade Playdoh

The kids got a playdoh kit from my mom. It didn't come with playdoh. So we decided to make some. Our recipe was:

1 c. flour
1 c. boiling water
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
1/2 c. salt
1 tbsp. oil
Food coloring

 

Mixing Away

Kneading the dough smooth.

This is the best playdoh we've ever had. It worked really well and it really smooth. Give it a try.

 

 

 

Math U See

The boys have been asking to do their math, by themselves. So I decided to give them a chance. I let them watch their MUS videos downstairs and gave them their pages. It worked wonderfully. I did feel a little guilty sitting down for five minutes with my magazine. But they were learning. :)

Jackson listening to the Math U See man.

Sam playing math.

Shane listening.

Johnny Cakes or Journey Cakes.

We're studying the US colonies. I got this great book called Cooking Up US History. We made Johnny Cakes (aka Journey Cakes) tonight. It was a really simple recipe:
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1.5 Cups milk
2 Cups corn meal
Mix and fry up on a griddle.

The batter is just like pancake batter and cooks in about the same amount of time. It said to top with powdered sugar or butter. We chose the sugar. They were grainy, but the kids each ate 4.

Griddling the cakes.

Enjoying the sugar more than the cakes :)

Cub Scout Fridays.

I've been made the volunteer coordinator for our local Cub Scout Pack! Pack 175!!!! As I was doing my job yesterday and the day before, I realized that my own kids don't have that many achievements. I decided to make Fridays a partial school day and mostly a Cub Scout day. We're going to be working on belt loops and pins. A belt loop requires 3 things and a pin is 5. We're looking forward to it. Also a lot of the belt loops can be linked to school work. This week in History we're learning about family trees which works perfectly with the heritage belt loop. It should be fun. The boys are going to get a kick out of it!

Experiment Part 1

We are doing an experiment. Will a plant grow taller in the light or in the dark. We just finished photosynthesis so in reality they should know the answer. Jackson however, likes to be different. He looked at me and smiled and guessed "the dark room" He knows the right answer...sigh. We have to wait until the seed sprouts and then measure it for three days to see the results. Here's day one. Planting the seed.