Author: amanda

amanda

2021-22 School Year–Week Eight

I can’t believe we’ve already completed eight weeks of school!

Ladybug reviewed finding the perimeter of different shapes in geometry. She finished the chapter on ecology in science. In history, she read about the fall of Sumer. Our theme for recipes from The Little Women Cookbook this week was desserts…Parisian cream puffs, apple slump, and Meg’s “plum” pudding with a delightful orange caramel sauce:

Chickadee started solving equations with parentheses in math. She added direct objects to her sentence diagrams in grammar. We started reading about sea turtles in science. We visited Central and South American in Another Trip Around the World. We made both beef empanadas and dessert empanadas filled with blackberry preserves when we learned about Panama, and Pan de Jamón when we read about Venezuela.

It looks like next week we’re going to have some real fall weather, and I can’t wait!

Tasty Tuesday–Cooking with “A Trip Around the World”

As part of Chickadee’s geography lessons this year, we’ve added some cooking and baking to our school days. We just finished A Trip Around the World…Before we start Another Trip Around the World, here’s a look at the recipes we’ve made so far, either found in or inspired by the first book:

Here’s the full list:

  • Brigadeiro (chocolate truffles) from Brazil
  • Palace Bread from Egypt
  • Tapioca Pudding with Pineapple from Kenya
  • Dutch Egg and Cheese from The Netherlands
  • Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) from Germany
  • Cucumber Salad from China
  • Hummus from Saudi Arabia
  • Damper Bread from Australia
  • Meat Pie from Australia
  • Blueberry Crumble with “snowballs” (vanilla ice cream) from Canada

I can’t wait to start the next book and try even more new recipes!

The Top Five–Episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show

Last night marked exactly 60 years since the debut of The Dick Van Dyke Show. In honor of that milestone, let’s take a look at my favorite episodes!

  • “That’s My Boy?” (season three)–In this episode, Rob recalls worrying that he and Laura brought the wrong baby home from the hospital when Ritchie was born, only to discover that his concerns were beyond impossible.
  • “The Alan Brady Show Presents” (season three)–I mean, it’s a Christmas episode…do I really have to say more?
  • “The Ghost of A. Chantz” (season four)–Ghost stories and a hidden camera in a “haunted” cabin make this episode hilarious!
  • “Your Home Sweet Home is My Home Sweet Home” (season four)–I think this episode, which is a flashback to how Rob and Laura and Jerry and Millie ended up buying houses next door to each other, and explains why Rob writes an annual “friendship check” due to the giant rock in his basement, is my very favorite out of all five seasons.
  • “Never Bathe on Sunday” (season four)–If the above episode isn’t my very favorite, this episode, in which Rob and Laura attempt to have a romantic getaway, only to end up having a huge disaster in which Laura gets her toe stuck in the bathtub, is.

Season four is clearly my favorite (although they’re all good!)…which episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show are your favorite?

A Care Bears Collection

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the combined Erstwilder Care Bears collection that we have in our house!

The majority of the collection is mine, but each of my daughters has at least one item of her own. We have brooches, earrings, a pair of cardigan clips, and even two scarves. I was also lucky enough to pick up the two free-gift-with-purchase brooches, one from each collection Erstwilder has released. I’m curious to see if they will have another collection in the future, but the most recent one contained the two items I wanted the most (the Cloudmobile and Grams Bear), so I don’t even know what I’d be looking for if they did!

2021-22 School Year–Week Seven

This was a pretty fun week!

Ladybug learned about transversals and alternate exterior and interior angles in geometry (interestingly, Moose learned about the exact same thing at his school this week!). In grammar, she learned how to diagram adverbs, including prepositional phrases that act like adverbs. She continued learning about ecology in biology with a discussion on biomes and habitats. In history, she read about the first monotheistic religion with the call of Abram, so that was pretty much review. We talked about Mormonism in her study of comparative religions. We read about Meg’s wedding and the birth of the twins in Little Women, and made two new recipes from The Little Women Cookbook…Beef stew with molasses and apple cider vinegar, and chicken salad with grapes and almonds:

Chickadee continued to practice rounding money in math. She learned about walruses, manatees, and dugongs in science. She reviewed everything she’s learned so far this year in grammar. Her dictation assignments in writing have gotten much longer! We took a break from our trip around the world in geography to review the countries we’ve learned about so far and read about how maps and globes developed…next week, we’re going to begin our second loop around the world by visiting a whole new set of countries!

We also had a fun celebration for the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. We prepared a special dinner and dessert (Mediterranean angel hair pasta, and angel food cake with homemade strawberry sauce), and made hand and footprint angels…there’s now glitter everywhere!

We went on our first indoor field trip since before the pandemic began, to pretty much the only place I feel comfortable taking the yet-to-be-vaccinated Chickadee…our church! It is one of the charter congregations of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and we took a tour of the building, where we learned about not only the history of the structure, but also the congregation and the surrounding community. It was very informative, and even I learned a ton!

I’m not sure how we’ll top the fun we’ve had this week, but at least it’s October now, and we have all of our favorite fall activities to look forward to!