Book Study: The Courage of Sarah Noble

Grades 1-4 Class

This year I've been blessed to teach a couple book study classes at a local homeschool organization.  One class is geared toward grades 1-4, the other grades 4-8.

In the younger class we've read:

Ox Cart Man
The Drinking Gourd
A New Coat for Anna
The Rag Coat
Miss Rumphius
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
The Courage of Sarah Noble

Easter Rice Krispies Nests

Despite the many cookie recipes I try, a favorite among the kids, and Hub especially, are Rice Krispies  treats.  I remember the early days in college when I first met my sweetheart and wanted to impress him with some good home cooking. Sadly, in my tiny dorm room I only had a microwave and a pot for boiling water. Sometimes you have to make due and in this mini-dorm room microwave I would whip up Rice Krispies treats for him and they stole his heart!

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Last week, our history study touched on the Potato Famine in Ireland during the mid 1800's.  During this time period nearly one million Irish died and another million left the country.  Approximately 800,000 of those who left, emigrated to the United States.

Today, my girlie made traditional Irish Soda Bread as a cooking activity wrapping up our Irish Potato Famine study.  This bread is SO TASTY!  It would be a great addition to a St. Patrick's Day meal also!  We'll remember this recipe next month as we plan our special Irish meal.

Civil War- Everywhere

It's funny how when you're pregnant suddenly everyone you see is pregnant, or when you get a new car suddenly everyone has the same type of car.  Maybe the occurrences aren't any greater, but the awareness is heightened.  The same has happened for me with our Civil War study. 

I went to our local garden store in search of lima beans for a science experiment and what did I find in the tomato seed section?  Tomato seeds called, "Abraham Lincoln!"  How cool is that?  So tomorrow on the school agenda we'll plant our Abraham Lincolns" and see what happens.

Sourdough Biscuits...The Results Are In

We made the biscuits as instructed.  If I were to do them again, we'd probably add a tad bit more salt.  They are good though, but better yet, I placed the leftovers biscuits in a gallon size bag and placed them in the freezer for later use.  When we want biscuits we pull them out of the freezer, place them on a cookie sheet and heat at 350 degrees until warm.  They are crispy and oh, so yummy!  The kids top them with butter and jam and they're a REAL treat!

Love the Sourdough

We go to Disneyland/California Adventure quite because my dad gifted us season passes for the second year in a row.  It's the gift that keeps on giving.  And each time we go, we head over to California Adventure's Fisherman's Wharf for our complimentary snacks...a free slice of sourdough bread from Boudin's Bakery and a Mission tortilla.  We listen to the history of sourdough starter and think about the 49er's who introduced the wonder to California.

I have a little girlie who LOVES her breads, especially sourdough.  We don't often buy it so the California Adventure is quite a treat. 

We've been studying pioneers, Westward Expansion, and The Mexican American War.  As a fun little treat, in honor of the California settlers, we are trying our hand at Sourdough Starter.  We actually got the recipe from a book about the Alaskan Gold Rush, but I figure they all must have shared the same information.

Today she mixed her starter.  She was so funny when I attempted to hand her a stainless spoon to stir her starter, she quickly corrected me and asked for a wooden spoon.  She said, "Mom, I think the wooden spoon is MUCH MORE PIONEERISH."

Our starter is now sitting on our kitchen counter.  It needs to sit there for about two days before we can tell if it's working.  We'll keep you posted.

Beginning...See the Cinnamon Swirl Bread, Oatmeal Bread and Chocolate Chip Cookies in the Background?  Could it be we're raising a little baker?

Doesn't she look so Pioneerish with her wooden spoon?

Love her little Dip-Level-Pour

Roll out & Cut out

This was on BIG ball of dough!

Sometimes we don't make the cutest biscuits, but they sure taste good!

The Dream is Becoming Reality

Last year in our homeschool studies, we've learned about Colonial America beginning with the Vikings up through the Revolutionary War.  It was my dream to take the kids to see history come to life by visiting the East Coast and the places we learned about. 

In order to make this dream happen, momma needed to raise some $$.  So how does a full-time wife, mom and homeschooler raise money to take five people to tour the East Coast.  Remember the ebay venture I wrote about earlier?  Well, it's going well and we've raised a good portion of the money.  I'll blog on some of the best sales later.  I definitely feel blessed!

Tonight was a BIG night!!  I was a bit nervous, but with the help of my hub we nailed down dates and booked our flight to Washington D.C.!  Whew!!  How wonderful!  Now we'll need to begin planning our agenda. 

I've been told we can catch trains from D.C. to just about anywhere on our list.  I'm so excited!

Back to the research...we'll keep you posted!

Learning Fair- Ben Franklin & Soccer



Ben Franklin








































This year for our co-op's Learning Fair the boys each chose a topic that was of interest to them. Our middle son chose to learn about Benjamin Franklin and our oldest researched the history of soccer.

Did you know that daylight savings time was Ben's idea? How about libraries, hospitals, sanitation companies, fire departments, and oh so much more! How about that he was one of 17 children. Actually he was number 15. What if his parents said we already have 14 children!! No more. Boy what we would have missed out on. His inventions were amazing! We learned so much and I'm thankful our little precious came home one day after studying Benjamin Franklin at Co-op and said, "Mom did you know lightning and electricity... SAME THING! SAME THING!" That led us on our journey to learn more. Wonderful!

Our oldest followed up his last year's research, The History of Skateboarding, with the History of Soccer. Any guess what activities interest him? We learned a lot about soccer. Did you know it's estimated to have been around since Roman times. And that football and rugby are both spin-offs from the original game of soccer? How about the fact that soccer is the MOST popular sport in the World?? Cool! We learned about field positions, skills, and so much more.

The Historians

I think I end up learning more than I ever dreamt I'd know. I'm thankful for these opportunities to fill in the gaps where maybe I missed something the first time around.