A Common Shepherdess

This week the girls have been studying things that begin with the letter C. Since today is Fat Tuesday (the last day of Carnival), it worked out perfectly. We read about C arnival and made Mardi Gras masks. The girls chose a butterfly template we found online. For supper the girls helped me make c reole pork chops and a king c ake .

A few months ago I started our oldest daughter in Year 1 of Ambleside. It proved too much for her. She just wasn't ready yet. Last week we switched to Letter of the Week . Big improvement! One thing I like about the switch is that our 3-year-old can sit in on the lessons as well. It has been easy to adapt the lessons to each girls' ability. Math for the week was addition. We used animal crackers as manipulatives. Our 3-year-old did some simple problems orally while my older daughter wrote out problems using mathematical notation. When we are done with Letter of the Week, we will move on to Sound of the Week . I have chosen books with a little more depth than picture books. For the letter A we read a short chapter book that was a biography of Johnny Appleseed. We read two chapters a day. I am also able to use some of the material from Year 1 Ambleside where I can. For the letter B we will be learning about bluebirds from the Burgess Bird Book. We will also read ...

Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches Dutch spiced cucumbers Dutch red cabbage Milk (official state beverage) with Hershey's chocolate syrup Shoofly pie

Peach and Bourbon Glazed Roast Chicken Pumpkin bread Succotash Milk (official state beverage) Peach pie (official state dessert) The blue hen chicken is the official state bird of Delaware and the peach blossom is the official state flower. Delaware is also a leading producer of broiler chickens. Pumpkins, corn and lima beans were new foods discovered in the New World. The kids absolutely loved the pumpkin bread. I'm glad the recipe made two loaves.

Submarine sandwiches Marinated tomatoes and red onion Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist Saltwater taffy Hoagies, or submarines, are a popular food in all the mid-Atlantic states. The fresh tomatoes and onions (plus the veggies on the sandwich) are representative of the nickname The Garden State. I would have added cucumbers but forgot to pick some up at the store. I simply tossed the vegetables with Italian dressing. Saltwater taffy originated in a candy shop on the Jersey Shore. I chose Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist because it seemed like a summertime, seaside treat. Cranberries are grown in the northeast.

Road trips are so fun! We recently returned after a 5552-mile journey across 13 states. When my sister told us of her wedding on September 12, I started checking prices for airline tickets. It's expensive to fly six people halfway across the country! We decided to take our Nissan van with over 200,000 miles. We have a motorhome but gas alone would set us back about $3000. We decided to tent camp our way to Minnesota, over to California and back to Arizona. The night before we left we saw an ad for a tent trailer on Craigslist. Early the next morning we took a look at it and bought it. I'm so glad we did! It gave us extra room for storage as well as a comfortable place to sleep. It was an adventure! Arizona New Mexico Santa Fe Trail Museum in Springer Kansas Front Street in Dodge City Iowa Minnesota South Dakota Wyoming Utah Nevada California Back to Arizona