Art Portfolios

We have so many pieces of art around and with each Season and each Holiday we add more. The other day we went to the store early in the morning and bought two pieces of poster board. We folded each one in half and decorated them.

I had a leather strap that I picked up awhile ago at the resource center, We made handles with that and used duck tape to hold them on.  They came our great and now we have a great place for all the extra art work.

Field trips

A friend has a beautiful pond, it is a wonderful place to find signs of Spring. It is still March but it was a hot 80 degrees that day. CG wanted the air conditioner on in the car and SA wanted to go IN the pond. We saw a pair of Mallards and a pair of Canadian Geese. Surprisingly we also found large tadpoles, I thought too early for them but they were there.  SA couldn't stop watching the water skippers (that's what he calls them)

On another visit recently we decided to drive an hour to the ocean at sunrise to see low tide. I am so glad we did, and we will do it again I am sure of it.  What a great time to go. We saw people digging for clam. We found rocks, driftwood, a starfish, and lots of sand dollars. We kept a few that were dead. However we learned exactly what to look for to find the live ones.  A small circle of sand and under a sand dollar. We saw them all the way down the beach, and we had fun running from one to another. 

These trips cost nothing except the gas to drive there, and what fun we have!

Coffee Cake with Strawberries

We had some leftover strawberries and didn't want them to go to waste. We love coffee cake in this house so we made that with strawberries.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1T baking powder
1/2t salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup milk (we used almond milk)
1cup strawberries

Topping
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
2t cinnamon

Mix eggs until foamy add milk and applesauce, set aside. In another bowl add together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet then fold in strawberries.  Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle on top bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 min.





Children Making Maple Syrup.

We have 8 maple trees on our small property, so we decided to tap them for maple syrup this year. A dear friend showed us last year how it is done. While Adventure Academy Dad was at work CG and SA and I raided his tool room at the back of the barn for a drill and bit.

 He had purchased some buckets and taps a few days earlier for us. We began to drill and tap the trees 4 1/2 feet above the ground perfect for a child to view. We did three and it was a beatutiful sunny day. The sap began dripping as soon as the taps were in. CG checked them each hour that first day.

The next morning we checked our buckets and emptied them into a large pot. We filtered the sap with a coffee filter and food mesh strainer. We set up a spot on our porch and bought an electric double burner. We were all excited that we had a place to cook our sap.

We had to watch it very carefully (I burnt the first batch :( ) When it started to darken we would taste it, Yummmm!. When it tasted sweet we filtered it again into a metal bowl. After it cooled we poured it into a sterile mason jar.  I have to say this was and is fun to do with the kids.

Eyes on the wall!

We were experimenting with oil pastels and began drawing eyes. We decided to cut the different eyes up, and do the nose and the mouth. Then we taped them up on the wall. I  was trying for a pleasant fairy face but mine ended up looking very creepy.

face parts all cut un seperate pieces

what it looked like on paper

what it looks like on the wall





Creepy face on door! This one would be great for Halloween

Snow Car

Adventure Academy Dad had some fun in the snow with CG and SA.  I have been wanting to post about snow and it has been quite difficult becaause we have not had much of it.  The snow that we have had has been fluffy and we can't make snowmen with it. Snow has to me sticky which means that it has to be wet enough or we just get fluff. Fluff is fun to look at on a black jacket or black construction paper because you can see the flakes.

CG and SA wanted sticky snow. Finally we got some and they went out with bottles of water and food coloring to make a car.

The beginning.... the wheel

Making the shape.

Adding all the color



Adding more color



One of my favorite sites ever.

The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project
I love reading and so do my children. We have been reading for a few years now from a site that I want to share. It has many wonderful books. All are free. You can even print them.

On the left side of the site is a link specific to Waldorf. If you have not looked at this site I strongly encourage you to. Some of my favorites to read to CG and SA are from Clara Dillingham Pierson  ENJOY!

Pineapple Banana Bread

I hope to get back in the swing of things with my blogging. Sometimes life gets so busy.  Today I am posting about a wonderful bread recipe that we made. It is one that we had never tried before but it was delicious. This recipe makes 2 loaves. We made one with walnuts on top and one without, your choice.

Ingredients
3C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2C sugar
1 C oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 bananas mashed = 2 cups
1 C crushed and drained pineapple
1/2 C walnuts

In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
In another bowl beat eggs and sugar.  Add oil, vanilla, banana, and pineapple beat until well mixed.
Stir wet ingredients into bowl of dry. Pour into loaf pans and sprinkle the walnuts on top then bake for 60 minutes.   ENJOY!