Month: November 2020

Aunt Peggy & Uncle Steve

Dear Sis,

Aunt Peggy and Uncle Steve arrived yesterday evening to visit with us. They had originally planned to come in November, closer to the kids birthdays, but William and I got sick and we had to reschedule. Our visit went quickly, so I didn’t get many pictures:)

Uncle Steve tried to give William instructions for how to better manage the ping pong ball. William mostly just ricocheted the ball off him:)

We were sure to get a least one good picture to share with all the Tennessee family who wanted pictures of the kiddos:)

Love,

b

Homemade Bread Bowls

Dear Sis,

William has been asking about getting broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl from Panera. We made it at home, since it’s so much trouble to go out at the moment.

Homemade Bread Bowls

Print Recipe
Servings 8 bowls

Ingredients
  

  • 3 c warm water
  • 1 1/2 T dry active yeast
  • 2 T sugar
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/4 c butter melted
  • 7-9 c bread flour
  • 1 T milk
  • 1 egg white

Instructions
 

  • Combine water, yeast, and 1/2 t sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissovle yeast. Cover and stand until foamy.
  • In large bowl combine, salt, 2 t sugar, butter, yeast mixture, and 4 c flour. Mix, adding additional flour 1/2 c at a time until dough pulls away from the bowl.
  • Knead until smooth. Oil bowl and dough. Cover and rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.
  • Divide dough into 8 pieces. Form balls. Place on parchment lined sheet. Cut an X into the top of each ball. Cover with plastic and rise 30-40 minutes more.
  • Make egg wash with milk and egg white and brush over dough. Bake 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
  • Remove bread from loaf center to create bowls. Ladle in soup and serve.
  • Freeze loaves wrapped in pastic and inside a freezer bag. Thaw on counter and warm in over before using.

Enjoy!

Love,

b

Thanksgiving Book Club

Dear Sis,

Today we enjoyed a Thanksgiving themed book club. One of our childhood favorites, Cranberry Thanksgiving, has become a household holiday reading sensation, that now we’ve shared with our friends.

Book

Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin

Craft

We found a craft kit at Michaels that contained 6 boy and 6 girl scarecrows. Foam sticker crafts are an affordable kid friendly craft, I oven resort to for parties and book club meetings.

Game

Free Thanksgiving Bingo by Homegrown Learners

Snack

We recreated the meal from the book. It included: Turkey, Corn Pudding, Peas, Turnips, (which none in our group had tried before, but many discovered they enjoyed), Cranberry Jelly, Pumpkin Pie, and of course Grandmother’s famous Cranberry Bread. The recipe is in the back of the book. I substituted dry cranberries for fresh, so that it would be more child friendly. 

Song

This is the original 1857 lyrics, written by James Lord Pierpont. Although Thanksgiving was not nationalized as a holiday until 1863, it was widely celebrated, and this song was written as part of the festivity of the season. 

The moms sang the verses, the kids chimed in for the chorus and manned the bells. We found hand bell straps at Menards for $1.00 each.

Printable Jingle Bells Lyrics

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

b

 

Thanksgiving Treats

Dear Sis, 

Today was a baking day. William baked cookies for his classmates and I made cranberry bread for story time and to give to his teacher and classroom aid. 

Free Printable Thanksgiving Favor Tags

The printable includes small tags as pictured for topping 3×5 inch bags, which can be purchased at any craft store. It also includes larger tags for topping bread loaves, not pictured, because I gave them away before I remembered to take a picture:)

The brown card stock is 3×4 inches and scored in the center.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

b

Out of this World Space Party

Dear Sis,

I can hardly believe William is 4! He has been fascinated by all things space for the better part of six months, so our party theme fell in place very naturally.

We found the solar system banner on Amazon, and plan to put it in William’s room after the party, to go with his new space bedding.

Book

The Story of Space: A first book about our universe by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams William wanted his party to be like book club:)




Cake

I baked the cake in a bowl to get the half sphere shape. I used a heating core to create a more even baking atmosphere. We tinted the tinted the frosting with black Wilton food coloring paste to make it gray and pressed black candy melts into it to create the look of craters. We topped it off with an astronaut figurine and 4 sparkler candles. It was one of the easiest themed cakes I’ve ever made!

We served it with cookies and cream ice cream and vanilla astronaut ice cream. The kids enjoyed trying it, but preferred the real ice cream:)

Crafts

We painted rocket ship picture frames. Before party day, I asked all the moms for photos of their kids, so I could have them ready to go.

I found these cute guys at Michaels and got one for each kid.




Favor

Free Printable: Over the Moon Party Favor Tags

Lunch

Cheese, Sausage, and Veggie Platter

Green Beans (for Charlotte, who is obsessed with canned green beans)

 Mini Chocolate Doughnuts (Black Holes)

Lemonade & Water

Sloppy Joe Sliders (Planets)

Tater Tots (Asteroids)

Montessori Birthday Celebration

  1. Ask kids to sit in a circle.
  2. Place a candle in the center and explain that it represents the sun.
  3. Give the child you are celebrating a ball that looks like earth.
  4. Explain that each time the child circles the sun a year passes. 
  5. Light the candle, and count each circle the celebrated child makes until you reach their new age.
  6. Allow them to blow out the candle. 

This concept is described more thoroughly in How to Raise and Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin, the president of the Montessori Foundation. This is more favorite application book for practicing Montessori at home with my kids! I’m reading some books on theory too, but we’ll get into that another day:)




Song

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

If you want to take a trip

Climb aboard my rocket ship

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’re going to the moon

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF! 

We learned this song at library story time last year with, Miss Sarah.

I wish I had more pictures of the occasion, but Josh was working, so I was too busy hosting, to have more “mom” time at the party.

Love,

b

 

2020 Class Pictures

Dear Sis,

William class pictures were takes about a month ago, but we just got access to them:)

He’s so big!

Love,

b

2020 Family Photos

Dear Sis,

We have two kids, 4 and 1, and this was our first family photos. Did we go to JCPenny? No, our neighbor Nina quit her job in social work, to take on part time work as a therapist, stay at home more with her 7 month old, and start a photography business. When she told us, we instantly volunteered:) …and we suggested it to Mama Jenn too! (Once Nina finishes the Facebook page for her new business, I’ll link it.)

The colors on this one turned our strange, but I love it in black and white!

I can’t wait to make holiday cards!

Love,

b