Since my husband is at home looking for a job most of the time now, I do not have as much time on the computer as I used to. (We only have one. If he gets a job, we can get another, but then we won't need it. Oh, the irony.) While it's worth it to enjoy his presence at home, the competition for computer time is definitely reflected in this Wrap-Up.
We studied the French and Indian War, and so continued with our studies of Native Americans. This included making popcorn with maple syrup poured on top, as the Huron Indians did, and making shields.
Maple Popcorn Recipe:
12 cups popped/salted popcorn
2 c. real maple syrup
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat the syrup and butter in a saucepan at medium heat until boiling. Continue boiling/stirring until a the syrup reached 236 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Pour syrup over popcorn and stir to coat (I like to use two bowl so I have room to stir). Spread/arrange/dump popcorn onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for another 10-15 minutes in oven. Cool and eat!
Bearclaw is
reading The Sign of the Beaver, and we all read D'Aulaire's George Washington last week, too.
I'm speeding up Bearclaw's math lessons, because I want to progress to Level 3A in Singapore Math.
I also switched Shortbread from Shiller Math to Singapore, because the latter offers more opportunities for him to do some of the work on his own, which is helpful while I'm working with Bearclaw.
We've stalled out on our family read-alouds, so we need to get that going again.
As for
everything else, it
will have to wait. And it will.
I am not crafty, but I love the idea of homemade gifts at Christmas, so I turn (naturally) to cooking instead. Cookies are generally my favorite type of baked good, and Chirstmas cookies are my favorite of all.
I remember as a little girl, spending Christmas at my grandma's house in northwestern Ohio; she and everyone who came would stack tins of their homebaked specialties on the washer and dryer on the "back porch". The chill of the unheated room kept the cookies fresh, but it certainly didn't keep me out of the tins. I loved the variety and the either delicate beauty or homey slopiness of each one.
Now we have our own tins, and they are filled with the cookie selections of the year. Well, what's left of them (and it's plenty!). This year, as in past, I spent several weeks fitting in as much baking as I could. By December 18th, they were finished, and we plated them and wrapped them for our annual "cookie hand-out".
I tend to get bored with making the same cookies every year, so I choose about 7 or 8 from our traditional options. These years rotation included:
It takes quite a bit of time to bake in abundance, but I just can't think of a better way to say "I love you" or "Thank you for your friendship" (or in the case of the local volunteer firefighters -"thanks for keeping my house from burning down and blowing out all of the smoke when I left the chicken on the stove and left the house last January") than a tray of cookies. Perhaps granola could say it instead?
Since our academic weeks run from Thrusday to Wednesday (due to the schedule of our hybrid school), but I'm writing this on the Monday after Thankgiving, I'm covering about two weeks worth of happenings. The wonderful thing is this: I have very little to "wrap-up" from the past two weeks, because our school schedule was so slow. I'm so grateful to have had a break - we needed it!
We spent the evenings watching Desperate Crossing - a documentary about the Pilgrims and their voyage on the Mayflower. My friend Ellen recommended it, and we were glad she did.
Of course, the highlight of the week was Thanksgiving Day, which we spent at my parents' home in the next town. My dad's brother and his wife were passing through on their way home to Ohio from Florida, so they were able to join our celebration.
Each year, my mom makes the turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy. I bring the vegetables and desserts. This year, Bearclaw prepared the Corn Chive Pudding for us. He definitely has a gift for working in the kitchen.
As we went around the table to name 3 things we were thankful for this past year, I listed "that I have such a hard time limiting myself to 3 things" as one of my blessings. My family claimed this was a cop-out. Maybe, but it's so true!
I hope you have trouble limiting your list to just 3, too.
Since my husband is at home looking for a job most of the time now, I do not have as much time on the computer as I used to. (We only have one. If he gets a job, we can get another, but then we won't need it. Oh, the irony.) While it's worth it to enjoy his presence at home, the competition for computer time is definitely reflected in this Wrap-Up.
Maple Popcorn Recipe:
