Summertime fun!

What we've been up to lately:

1. Baking and cooking - always, always, always baking and cooking.

We bake bread about 3-4 days per week. Just a day ago A helped me make a chicken soup. I like to teahc her about making things all the way from scratch. So she knows you can make a good chicken broth/stock from bones alone.

We bake cookies every week for Daddy's lunchtime snacks. We made fudge twice.

She helps me to measure all the ingredients and read the recipes. And she get's to see all the different reactions certain ingredients have. Like yeast rising with the addition of sugar and water, or how sugar takes on different consistencies when you cook it for longer and shorter periods of time. We use the "soft ball" test for making fudge so you can see hoe it gets just a liiiiittle bit more stiff as the minutes roll by.


2. Creating with clay.

A flourishes in creativity. She made all sorts of critters with play dough and lets them all dry. We ran out of play dough so she helped me make more. We then played around with mixing different colors in to get the colored dough she wanted.


3. Photoshop digital art.

A is still learning and practicing with digital art. She is getting better! She is learning how to use the program better, and also how to use layers.
She has discovered that she really likes to watch videos about other people making digital paintings so she can learn different techniques and see how it is done.


4. Weeding and harvesting the garden.

A has been out in the garden with me picking peas and raspberries. She hangs out while I weed but doesn't like to pull the plants. We talk about different "weeds" and how some are beneficial and why some should be pulled. We talk about the plants I grow and which parts of the plants become food and how to later save seeds.
We have plans of building a drying rack so that we can dry seeds, herbs and flowers.


5. Fairy garden!

More fairy garden planning. This is a project that's been months in preparing. We scouted a spot but there was a lot of things growing so we decided to let it grow out a bit to see if it were wild flowers or any plants that we may want to keep. Turns out it wasn't. So I cut down all the weeds for her and we dumped a whole new fresh batch of soil on top. We are choosing new plants and adding more soil and starting to gather things to make it "fairy friendly".


6. Fun with water!

We've been filling up a small pool, and playing with a slip and slide. We've used water guns, sprayed with the house, and filled water balloons.
We visited Lake George which the kids LOVED so we will be visiting there often.

We visited Smalls Falls, did a little bit of hiking up and down the trails. We explored the rocks and the water and all of the different falls. We did some wading and throwing rocks in the water.



7. New Games.

A is a big time gamer. She loves it! She discovered Animal Jam through a friend so she has been playing that quite a lot lately. She is also playing Club Penguin and Fantage. All of these she spends most of her time writing and reading messages with her friends. This has really helped with her writing and reading comprehension.
On Xbox she plays the Sims, and Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare.


8. Youtube.

Youtube research is becoming THE thing around here. Both of my kids use Youtube as a tool on a daily basis. They are really honing in on their researching skills.


9. We finished making a coop and new pen for the chickens.

A is enjoying watching our chickens grow. We acquired a new pair of silkies (rooster and hen) but the rooster is awful mean. A whole new learning experience there!


10. Learning to milk a goat.

A is learning about milking our goat, the how to's, and what to do with the milk and it's uses. We've been collecting lots of milk for soap making and will make ice cream today.
Homemade ice cream with eggs form our silkies! How great is that?!


11. Visiting the Library

For a while the kiddos had no interest in visiting the Library. We had been going weekly during the winter but once the weather lightened up we stopped going as much. Just last week we revisited the idea and the kids were into it. Perfect for a day so hot that outdoor activity wasn't so fun.
Since the winter A's reading skills have really progressed so this was like a brand new adventure.
She learned how to use the computer to look up books about subjects she was interested in. I showed her how to take down catalog numbers and book info and go find the book herself.
She chose a book about foxes and we stayed while she read the whole book.


12. Skyping

A's new fun thing to do. She has a penpal in Georgia who she skypes with. They play UNO by skype. :-)
She's always on the lookout for more people to skype with.


13. Sewing

A likes to periodically raid my fabric stash and make little frocks for her stuffed animals. She is learning to hand stitch but when she is confident she will learn machine sewing.

More stuff...

Feeding and playing with baby goats
exploring and playing in our yard and fields
watching Netflix shows and Youtube videos
taking care of our cats and dogs
arts and crafts with paper and paints/markers
problem solving/making compromises with her brother
visiting the farmer's markets, grocery store, feed store, etc