Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Funny Faces
My friend Amy's daughter Lily is hosting a photo contest on her blog for "Funny Faces." Here is my entry, a picture of my three boys (aka: servers on break) taken at their sister's Birthday ParTEA:
Monday, September 19, 2011
"Wisdom of the Saints" Journal
This year my Little Flowers Girls' Club will be moving on to Wreath IV and studying the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit! Our first meeting, which will be held next week, will be based on the gift of Wisdom and St. Teresa of Avila. Since one of the symbols for St. Teresa of Avila is a "Book," I came up with a "Wisdom of the Saints" Journal for the girls to make as our craft, in which they can record their favorite quotes from the saints!
This craft would also tie in nicely for the 6th meeting of Wreath II based on the virtue of Wisdom and St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), substituting the image of St. Teresa of Avila with a coloring page of St. Teresa Benedicta. It would also be a great craft for any children, not just Little Flowers, to make for the actual feast of St. Teresa of Avila, which is coming up next month on October 15th!
Craft: "Wisdom of the Saints" Journal
Supplies:
Blank Book (I purchased these from Rainbow Resource)
Coloring Page of St. Teresa of Avila from Waltzing Matilda
Colored Pencils, Crayons or Markers
Glue Stick
Self-Adhesive Laminating Sheets
Directions:
Re-Size Coloring Page to fit on the front of your blank book or notebook. Add "Wisdom of the Saints" to the top of the page and "By (little flower name)" to the bottom. (I will have these pre-printed for our meeting, with each of the girls names already printed on the bottom. I was able to make these quickly in Word.)
Have each girl color the image and glue to the front cover of their book. (My oldest daughter colored the sample page.)
Trim laminating sheet to 1/4-1/2" past each side of the book, cutting the two outside corners at an angle, so that you can wrap it around the edges to secure. (I was able to cut the 9x12 sheets in half, using one sheet for two books.)
Instruct the girls to fill the book with their favorite saint quotes, the "Wisdom of the Saints!"
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
P.S. Does anyone happen to have the pdf saved from the St. Teresa of Avila paper doll I have linked to in the past? We've made it a few times, but I can't seem to find the file on my computer (I think it might not have been transferred over from my old computer), nor have I been able to find it again online, and would like to print some out for our meeting. If so, could you please email me a copy?
A Red, White and Blue History Tour!
Last fall/winter we had a "Bear Attack" (I meant to post pictures and never did) in our little town... This summer the eagles landed, and we enjoyed "An Old Fashioned Celebration of America!" Placed along our main streets, and in the shopping center, were 23 shields featuring significant highlights of the first 23 decades of American history. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of all the monuments as I would have liked to, while they were still displayed, but here are a few pictures that I did take one afternoon while we were walking around town:
Each monument is comprised of two marble columns that hold a bronze shield that is between two U.S. flags, one with 13 stars for the original 13 colonies and the other with 50 stars representing the 50 states of the Union. On the top of each shield is the national bird, a Bald Eagle.
In addition to the monuments, several Bald Eagles swooped down and perched on the sidewalks!
Each monument is comprised of two marble columns that hold a bronze shield that is between two U.S. flags, one with 13 stars for the original 13 colonies and the other with 50 stars representing the 50 states of the Union. On the top of each shield is the national bird, a Bald Eagle.
Lewis and Clark Expedition 1796-1806
Star Spangled Banner 1806-1816 (L)
Completion of the Erie Canal 1816-1826 (R)
Emancipation Proclamation 1856-1866
Building of the Transcontinental Railroad 1866-76
Chief Joseph 1876-1886 (L)
Dedication of Crater Lake as a National Park 1896- 1906 (R)
Ellis Island becomes Chief Immigration Point 1886-1896
World War 1 1916-1926 (L)
World War II 1936-1946 (R)
Lindbergh Flies Solo Across Atlantic 1926-1936
Vietnam War 1956-1966
US Lands First Man on the Moon 1966-1976
In addition to the monuments, several Bald Eagles swooped down and perched on the sidewalks!
I couldn't have planned a better introduction to our American History studies this year!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Canning Peaches with my Girls
It has been over 8 years since the last time I attempted canning peaches... Or canning anything for that matter! It was the end of August in 2003... I had three full cases of ripe peaches to deal with as soon as possible... I was full term with Twinkle Toes (who was due on September 9th and born on August 30th)... I was working full time trying to transition my customers over to the new company that had recently purchased my business so that I could be a stay-at-home mom... I had only 3 coil burners that worked in my old tiny kithcen... And my only two "helpers" were barely 3 and 1 1/2 years old at the time! I said NEVER AGAIN!!
Well, on my way home from picking up those closet organizers, I stopped by the peach orchard to get some fresh peaches for my girls state study, and ended up purchasing two cases of peaches - a case of Sweet Sue Peaches to eat and a case of Elberta Peaches for canning. I'm not sure what made me make that decision, but it seemed like a good idea at the moment. I did save all those canning supplies, after all! :)
Elberta Peaches: Firm, yellow-fleshed freestone is ideal for canning and is equally tasty fresh. Plump rose-blushed fruits have fabulous aroma and honey-sweet taste—absolutely bursting with flavor.
By the way, they taste even better than they look!
Here are some pictures of the process, along with the steps we followed:
1. We started by putting our jars and rings into a dishwasher on the sterilize setting (last time I had to boil my jars... I LOVE having a dishwasher!!) and then left them in the dishwasher until we were ready to use them, so that they would stay hot.
2. Place the lids in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer, but don’t boil.
4. Place the peaches into a pot of boiling water and blanch for 30 to 60 seconds.
5. After blanching, place them into a ice water bath to keep them from cooking.
7. We decided to quarter our peaches. (At this point you can use lemon juice or fruit fresh to keep the peaches from turning brown, but since we didn't have either we just hurried!)
8. Make a syrup. We made a very light syrup by bringing 9 cups of water and 2 1/2 cups of sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Twinkle Toes requested this job.
9. Using the Cold Pack Method… Place peaches face (pit side) down in the hot and sterilized bottles, packing them fairly tightly, without squishing them, so they aren’t as likely to float.
10. Carefully pour the hot syrup into the bottles until the peaches are covered, leaving exactly 1/2 inch of space at the top of the bottle.
11. Using a small spatula or butter knife, slide it down each side of the bottle to remove any air bubbles.
12. Wipe rim and screw threads with a clean damp cloth. Add lid, screw band and tighten firmly and evenly. Do not over tighten.
13. Place the jars into the rack of the canner. (Remember to place every other bottle across from each other so you don’t tip the rack over.) The water in the canner can be pretty warm, but not at a boil when you put your jars in, or you’ll break a jar. The jars need to be covered with at least one inch of water. You want your jars covered with about an inch of water. Turn the heat to the highest setting, and set the timer once the water reaches a vigorous boil. Using the time table below we processed our peaches for 35 minutes.
14. Once the jars have processed, carefully lift them out of the water and place them on a towel to cool - without touching or bumping them - leaving about an inch in-between the jars. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed - verifying that the lid has been sucked down - by pressing gently in the center with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. (All but one of ours sealed... We'll eat that jar tomorrow with some cottage cheese, one of my children's favorite snacks.)
Notes: If fruit is not covered by liquid it may darken during storage (but does not necessarily mean it is spoiled, as all fruits will darken somewhat).
Friday, September 16, 2011
State-by-State Baking :: Delaware Peach Crumble
My boys have very slowly been scrapbooking their way through the 50 States. Since we are now focusing on American History I am hoping that they will be able to make much more progress this year, and perhaps finish the study. Now that the girls are a little older, they will also be joining the fun, and hopefully catching up to the boys soon, so we can study each state all together.
Like the boys, the girls will also be reading the Discover America State by State Books
and completing some of the Student Activities. Unlike the boys, the girls will be taking a slightly different approach, completing simple Notebook Pages for each state (after reading and studying the Alphabet Book) and then spending some time in the kitchen preparing a recipe (or two) that tie in to each particular state in some way. They are very excited and just completed their study of Delaware this week!
Delaware Notebooking Pages
by Twinkle Toes (L) and Chiquita (R)
by Twinkle Toes (L) and Chiquita (R)
"The Spanish brought the peach to the New World,
a very bountiful fruit tree.
The blooms became our state flower,
so Peach blossom is our P."
Delaware Peach Crumble
Ingredients:
½ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
5 peaches, or 2 16-oz. cans of peach halves, drained and sliced
Directions:
First, make the topping by combining flour, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
Cut in the butter and mix with your fingers until crumbly. Set aside.
Peel and slice peaches. Arrange the slices in a buttered 1-quart baking dish.
Cover with the crumble topping and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
The Peach Crumble sure didn't last long, but it was such a fun way to end our school week!
Resources we used for this State Study:
F is for First State Teacher's Guide (pdf)
State-by-State Scrapbook
State-by-State Scrapbook :: Delaware
P.S. Is there anyone out there from Delaware that would be willing to send my kiddos a Delaware postcard? If so please send an email to jessica.showerofroses(at)gmail(dot)com. If you have children studying the states, we'd gladly return the favor with a postcard from our state!
Nesting Project #2
I have been wanting to paint the toddler bed for years, and yesterday I somehow managed to get it done, in between assembling closet organizers!
I forgot to take a "before" picture, but here is one from last week, during nap time. Rose finally agreed to sleep in the toddler bed (we have been trying to move her since she recently climbed/fell out of the crib), as long as the bumper was on the toddler bed for some reason.
Since the crib is white, I decided to paint the toddler bed white to match. I also thought the white would look nice against the Buttercream walls.
I was so surprised at how easy it was to do, and I can't believe that I waited this long (6+ years) to paint that little bed!
(When rearranging the furniture, I didn't really have anywhere, but at the base of the bed, for the little kitchen. That doesn't look too bad, does it?)
Even Rose was excited to sleep in her "new bed." That is, just as long as we made sure to read/sing her latest favorite picture book!
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