Adventures in Gardening!

We check in with our heroine in the backyard of the family's new home, toasting under the July sun while working in her two 8X4 garden beds.
"Why are my strawberries rotting on the vine?" she ponders to no one it particular, seeing as everyone else is ensconced in the AC cooled house.
But, never fear lady hero! Google is on the case and revels that...wait for it...strawberries can't be left on the ground to ripen. They will rot. 
"Thank you Google!" Cries our relived, and somewhat embarrassed, heroine.
Tune in next time to see what other perils await our gardening maven!
*FADE TO BLACK*

Trash to Treasure

Lillian is into jewelry lately and is making all kinds of necklaces. So, during school work time today I got a excellent brainwave to make a necklace out of a TP roll and yarn!

 

I cut each roll into four pieces and let her watercolor paint and draw on them with markers. You could also add stickers and glitter.

 

Then once she had made her "beads" she strung them on the yarn.

 

Super easy, fun and a great way to entertain her during our lesson time.

 

Yippy for toilet paper rolls, they never let me down!

 

Huntsville Botanical Gardens

Trip to the botanical gardens in Huntsville.
James and Lillian when to a class about Dinos, then we walked the gardens.
They aren't the biggest botanical gardens I have been to, but the children's garden is the bomb! (Pardon my 90's expression)
It is fairy tale themed and super cute. It has lots of fun things like mazes, paths, a rainbow section, water play areas, and a butterfly garden.
I got in some trouble with the kids because I didn't know about the afore mentioned water play areas and didn't have our suits.
Next time!!

South Africa

We are having so much fun learning about different cultures!
Last week James and I spent probably 20 minutes on YouTube looking at Chinese dances, and he really enjoyed comparing a picture of a rooster and a picture of China and pointing out the similarities.

This week is South Africa!

South africa is located on the southern most tip of the continent of Africa. 

The largest city is Johannesburg which started as a gold rush tent city. Another famous city is Cape Town. It is known as the mother city and was the first western city in South Africa.

• South Africa has 11 official languages Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho), Setswana, Swati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga  
• English, afrikaans and Xhosa are the most widely used. 
• Here is some Afrikaans to try out!

• Good day - Goeie dag

• My name is ... - My naam is ( sounds like: may narm is...)


• Mom - ma


• Dad - pa


• Teacher - juffrou (yifrow)


• Food - kos


• I am hungry - ek is honger


• Thank you - dankie


• Yes - ja


• No - nee
• 
  

Chalk South African Map



















Fun African Folk Tales

 

 

South African Foods

 

Biltong - Jerky

Rusks - crisp type of convectionery often eaten with coffee and given to teething children

Bovril - beef extract spread for bread

Ptjiekos - a casserole prepared on a three-legged pot over an open fire

Braai - chops and sausage on an open fire

Melktert - milk tart

 

Easy Buttermilk Rusks (kids can help with this)

Ingredients
1,5kg self-raising flour
375ml sugar
a pinch of salt
500g margarine/butter
500ml sour milk*
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180oC.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together.
3. Rub in the margarine.
4. Add sour milk and mix thoroughly.
5. Roll into balls and place in greased bread pans.
6. Bake for about an hour. Remove from pan and break or cut into pieces.
7. Place on a rack to dry in a ‘cool’ oven.
*Add a table spoon of lemon juice or vinegar to fresh milk if it is not sour.

EXTERMINATE!! Dalek Bag

New at the My Crafty Momma Etsy store, Dalek extermination canvas bag!
Love, love, love this bag!

See this and more at My Crafty Momma

Around the World this Summer - Lesson One China

This summer we are going to be learning about a new country every week. This week we will be studying China!
Follow along and have fun with us.
Feel free to comment your ideas for learning about China!!

China

Find China on a mag or better yet a globe.
Notice how it looks like a rooter! The northeastern tip being the head and the western side being the tail feathers.

Google pictures and videos of elements of Chinese culture; Chinese New Year, dragons, The Great Wall, cultural dances and The Forbidden City.

Capital: Beijing
Fourth Largest country (after Russia, USA and Canada)
 

Flag craft!

 
 



Supplies:
-cardstock
-mod podge
-red tissue or construction paper (or both)
-gold paint


Yummy Chinese food!

Hit up your local Chinese restaurant or try your hand at a dish together!

Easy Chinese Moon Cakes Ingredients:  • 1/4 cup sugar  • 2 egg yolks  • 1/2 cup salted butter  • 1 cup all-purpose flour  • 1 cup strawberry (or your favorite) jam    (traditionally red bean paste is used so    if you want a more authentic version,    you can use a can of red bean paste    instead of the jam). Directions:  1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  2.  Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk      and stir.  3.  Mix in the flour.  4.  Form the dough into one large ball and      wrap it in plastic wrap.  5.  Refrigerate dough for half an hour.  6.  Unwrap the chilled dough and form small

balls in the palms of your hand.  7.  Make a hole with your thumb in the center of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam.  8.  Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet. (We didn't have a brush to      do this, so skipped the brushing step)  9.  Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown  10. Makes 24

Activities!

Make a Chinese Lantern

You will need

• A4 size card or paper
• pencil
• glue
• scissors
• sticky tape

Activity

• 1. Fold the card in half lengthwise.
• 2. Starting at the folded side, draw pencil lines across it, not all the way across, on which to cut. Make sure the lines are equal in length and evenly spaced.
• 3. Cut along the lines carefully.
• 4. Unfold the card.
• 5. Take the top and bottom ends of the card, overlap them and paste them together to make a cylinder.
• 6. Cut a strip of paper and attach it to make the handle.
• 7. If you make more than one lantern, hand them on a string across the room.

Variations

• 1. Decorate the card with crayons, glitter, sequins, etc before making the lantern.
• 2. Alternatively, paste cellophane paper onto the inside of the card after cutting the slits. This will create a colorful effect when the sun shines on the lanterns.

Write some Chinese characters
















Books to Check Out

My favorite part of learning is always reading, a new book can give great understanding into subject. Especially when you are learning about a new culture. Seeing pictures and your child seeing a country from the familiar perspective of a child can really cement his understanding of the place.

Here are some books worth a look...

 

 

Follow this link for even more books featuring Chinese culture. 

Amazon Books About China

Baby News!

We are expecting!
I am so excited that we are going to be welcoming another Baby Caldwell into our home.

First Building Project

My dad is a handy handy handy man and I like to build things here and there, so I am glad to get James into making things too!
I got this little building kit at Lowes and it is super cute and fun. He needed a little help getting the nails started but other than that he did it on his own.
Once he had it built he painted it and put the stickers on.
The best part (for me at least) was the fun track they drew!

Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

My garden grows in egg cartons,

Upcycled deck wood flower boxed,

My garden grows in my great grandfathers canisters,

And my garden has an 80 year olds love for garden gnomes....don't be a hater they are awesome!

Spring Wreaths

My parents just moved closer to us *insert happy dance* and I wanted to get my mom something fun for a house warming gift. After much consideration I landed on a fun spring wreath with navy blue, that is her favorite color.
After a search on old faithful Pinterest and a trip to The Mother Ship (hobby lobby), I came up with two wreaths for her to pick from.
What do you think? She chose the navy striped one and the other fab wreath is up in the etsy store!

Painting a dresser

I received a dresser from my in-laws after the passing of their great aunt. It is a beautiful piece, but is a little damaged from storage. I am working on giving it a new life, while honoring the old. I am an antique geek!!
Phase one: painting the top with a striped pattern to give it a fresh look and to hide some damage.
Phase two: some snappy new knobs! (thoughts??)

It's Grim Coffee and Tea over at Etsy

I am really enjoying making these Harry Potter coffee cups and the reception has been really great! I am also planning some Zombie coffee cups, so be looking out for those. I think that my Etsy store is going to be taking on a distinctly Geeky flavor, and I love it!

 



Check these out and more, at My Crafty Momma

Magnetic Paper Dolls

I have a great project for a rainy day. You and your little girl can have a blast making and playing with these magnetic paper dolls!

Supply list:
Betsy McCall Paper Dolls
Sticky backed magnetic sheet (any craft store)
Scissors
Printer
Paper (thick paper is best)

With the above Betsy McCall link you can download as many paper dolls and from whatever era of fashion you want! It is super fun to look at all of the funky paper dolls from the 50s and 60s.
I put mine into paint and cut and pasted them closer together and then printed the off on cardstock paper.
Once you have them printed off cut them out with a nice thick white boarder and stick them to your magnetic sheet.

Then, cut them out creating a thinner white boarder. It is alot easier to cut if you cut on both paper and magnetic sheet, and I think having a white boarder on the finished look looks the best.

You can use them on the fridge, an old mint canister or get creative on a thin sheet of metel. I am planning some kind of framed metal sheet so I can incorperate a bed and other household items.