A Common Shepherdess

This past Tuesday at our homeschool group was Science Project Day. Here were our kids' projects. Our 5-year-old daughter studied whether or not the shape of a blower would affect the shape of the bubble. It doesn't. All bubbles are still round! Our 7-year-old son studied what dye combinations make which colors in Skittles and M&Ms. Our oldest son tested different types of wood and found which wood needed more force to drive a nail through it. He made a hammering device that ensured equal amounts of force was used to hit the nail each time. The nail went through redwood in 6 hits with the hammer. After 210 hits with the hammer, the nail had still only gone halfway through the oak piece of wood. They all love hands-on projects!

I love shortbread. I have Scottish ancestors. How can I not like it?! I came up with this tasty, gluten-free recipe. 10 Tbsp softened butter (1 1/4 sticks) 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup tapioca flour 1/4 cup brown rice flour 1 cup oat flour Beat the butter, sugar and salt on medium speed until very fluffy. Stir in the tapioca, rice and oat flours. Knead until well blended and smooth. Firmly press the dough into a 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, until pale gold. Remove pan and cut almost through the dough to form bars. If desired, sprinkle with 1 to 2 tsps sugar. Let stand until completely cool. Gently retrace cuts and separate into bars.

Cactus in bloom Grapefruit Orange blossoms Pomegranates Figs Grapes

We like to play with our food. This is what my 5-year-old daughter and I made to eat on April 1. For lunch we had hot dogs and fries. For supper we had cake and berry soda. Can you guess what the foods really are? The hot dogs were mini-bananas coated with peanut butter and topped with some strawberry jam. The fries were really apple slices coated with cinnamon sugar and baked for about 10 minutes. The cake is meatloaf and the frosting is mashed potatoes, tinted with some pureed beets, and topped with celery leaves and grape tomato roses. The berry soda is strawberry Jell-o with berries added. The kids loved it!

This is our nativity set. We made it last year. The kids love to play with it. I love it because the kids can handle it and I don't have to worry about it. I found the instructions on another blog but I can't remember it. I wish I could because I would link it! The kids and I had fun making it. The figures are made from wooden candle holders with wooden balls glued on top for the heads. We decorated them with felt and bits of ribbon. The three wise men are holding colored beads in their pipe cleaner arms. The baby Jesus is cream-colored pipe cleaner folded up and wrapped in white felt. Some time during the last year Mary misplaced her head covering. We will have to make her a new one.

My new favorite way to eat cucumbers. 2 English cucumbers (or regular), sliced thinly 1/4 onion, sliced thinly (or use dried onion) 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar Layer the cucumbers and onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Combine with vinegar and pour over cucumbers. Allow to marinate overnight.

The most exciting thing this past week is that our 7-year-old graduated from Year 1 of Ambleside to Year 2. One thing we have kept from Year 1 is reading a poem every morning. We like all the crazy, goofy poems we have read so far. Many winter people have now come into our RV park so my days are crazy busy. The boys aren't doing too well with staying on task with the distractions. The assignment books have helped some. For my oldest I have also started writing out his daily tasks. He needs the additional structure. Today the boys got to spend the morning outside painting their new clubhouse their dad finished on Thursday. The girls will get to use it too. Our oldest is already planning on how he wants to paint the interior.