You Know You Are Friends With . . .

You know you are friends with a midwife when she loans you some wheat berries in a specimen bag. 

Elementary School Roundup

And the 2nd Elementary School Round Up is here.  None too soon, as I have a lot of pictures . . .

Our focus has mainly been to get a little bit of school in each day and give meaning to our recent and future celebrations.

First things first . . . big news!  Asher lost 2 teeth this week!

Thanksgiving

• creating ears of corn

Christmas preparations

• snowman coloring from 1+1+1=1 (there are tons of other great pintables on the page I linked to.)

• playing with beads

• Do-A-Dot Christmas Tree ABC’s . . . an Advent activity

. . . which leads me to Advent.  This is the first year we have really ever paid much attention to Advent.  I kind of always thought it was a denominational thing.  But then a bunch of ya’ll were doing all of these blog posts about Advent and I thought I would look into it.  HOURS later . . . and with a HUGE pile of pintables to prove it . . . we are doing Advent.  I am LOVING the concept of the Jesse Tree . . . as a family we are essentially going through the Bible (minus 90 days and thousands of words), learning about Jesus’ lineage.  Very cool.

My resources include: 

• Activity Advent Calendar by Activity Mom – tweaking it a bit to better suite us (like no Santa)
• God’s Berry Wreath

• Draw a Christmas Tree by Jolanthe

• taking Advent activity  bits and pieces from Confessions of a Homeschooler
• Jesus Advent Calendar from A Holy Experience (for the Hottie and I mainly – though the whole family listened the first night)

• Jotham’s Journey  by Arnold Ytreeide
• The Jesse Tree (amazing book) by Geraldine McCaughrean
• and a few other Jesse Tree resources that Prasti  from Here to There Adventures sent me! 

Life

• reading to brothers while Mom finishes the final preparations to leave for MIL’s house

• cuddling with Naomi

 

• Exercising on the rebounder

What has been going on in your school room – and if you don’t have a blog to link up with . . . leave a comment and tell me what your family did in the Learning Room!

Guidelines: 

1. Write a blog post about your elementary aged child(ren), first through fifth grade, comprising the activities you did the prior two weeks.  You can include pictures, bullet points, tools used, learning gained, God moments, etc.
2. Be sure to include a link back to my blog.  By doing so, other like-minded readers can hang out in a central location if they are looking for Elementary School ideas.   Publish your post and then head back to my site. 
3. Provide the exact link (URL) of the Elementary Round-UP blog post you wrote, not your blog’s home address, through the provided MckLinky.
4. Optional:  For now, I would love it if you grabbed my blog button over on the side.  At some point, I may get creative and create a button specific to this meme . . .
5. You can combine this with other meme’s if that helps you to save time (as long as it is OK with the other blog owner). 

BIG IMPORTANT HEART MOMENT:  This isn’t a blog post to WOW other moms . . . the point of this is to help YOU document on YOUR blog what you and your child(ren) are learning.  My link-up is only to provide some accountability.  I won’t come and leave nasty comments on your blog if you don’t link up. 

Overwhelmed at the Mall

I went to the mall yesterday.  My visit, which was necessary in order to make a return (something that I had bought on-line), made me feel like I had been stuffed into a very small briefcase.  

I don’t EVER want to go back.

This large building that houses stuff  SHOULD be spacious but instead, sounded like an orchestra tuning for a concert; looked like a carnival on steroids; felt like an over packed closet, and smelled like roses given too much manure.

I don’t know how people shop in public.

Me?  I like to shop from the comfort of my couch.

As I traipsed through this . . . . this . . . . this . . . .  stimulating structure, I searched for a spiritual lesson.  But to be honest, I was so overloaded with stimuli that I could not think for quite some time.

My only thought (I actually have two):

• for a celebration that is about a Savior bringing peace to our hearts – the mall lacks peace in its quest to fill people’s hearts with things rather than Christ.
• to keep the reason why you celebrate Christmas in perspective, order on-line (like at CSN)!  Remember, CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish furniture, to a leather briefcase, or great cookware!  (Yes, that was a plug for CSN that is alerting you to the fact that I have an upcoming CSN review . . . but it also is a helpful suggestion.)

Wordless Wednesday: First Time

This was Gabe’s inaugural holding of his baby sister.

I think he likes her.  Don’t you?

I’d love to bottle moments like this up. 

Tummy Time Tuesday: Brussel Sprouts

Your taste buds are supposed to change every seven years.   I’ve also heard that in order for a child to learn to like something unusual, you have to present the new food to them something like seven times. 

Seven is a good number. 

I should have cooked seven brussel sprouts last week.  Maybe more than the adults would have enjoyed dinner.  But I didn’t. 

However, I will continue to introduce my children’s taste buds to all varieties of God’s garden veggies and to see if my new taste buds like brussel sprouts as a grown-up (though I NEVER remember having them as a child).

Jodi liked it.  Brian liked it.  Mussie probably would have liked it.  But that is all.

I followed the directions.  I was worried that if I didn’t . . . they would become bitter.  That is what happens when these vegetables see too much heat.

(NOTE:  the below paragraphs really don’t relate to this blog post what-so-ever.  I have tried to delete this section several times . . . but each time my finger contacts the delete button . . . I feel like I am supposed to leave my grasping of straws to connect a biblical application to my parboiling of brussel sprouts.  So if you are confused by my short Bible lesson . . . so am I.  BUT it is supposed to be included in this post.  For whoever God wants to be reminded of this lesson . . . I pray it blesses you.  By the way, it comes from Beth Moore’s study, Living Beyond Yourself.)

Kind of reminds me what I read in my Bible study this morning.  It actually doesn’t totally relate, but nevertheless, here is some food for your soul, as well as your stomach.

Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always,  I will say it again:  Rejoice!”  So no matter what your circumstances . . . perhaps you are finding yourself in some hot water like my brussel sprouts (I’m reaching here), rejoice. 

Beth Moore eloquently expands on Philippians by saying, “Through his trials Paul learned something I believe God desires for all believers to learn:  the presence, purpose, and power of God is best discovered through difficulty.  How encouraging to recognize that Paul did not discover the strength to leave his circumstances (Acts 16:16-40); he discovered the strength to stay.  Because he did, places for a jailer and his entire family were reserved in the Lambs book of life!”

Truly something to rejoice about.  Look around you . . . look at the good and seemingly bad in your life.  Don’t let yourself be overcooked.  Choose to rejoice, instead of becoming bitter. 

Tasty Brussel Sprouts –

almost Sweet Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh brussels sprouts
• 4-6 Tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Directions

Remove any slightly mysterious looking leaves and send the stem of the brussel sprout to the gallows. 

Parboil the brussels sprouts (or steam them) for 3 minutes or until just tender. They should be almost cooked all the way through.  If your green ball is looking deflated . . . you boiled the little guy too long.

Drain the bobble-head-like brussel sprouts in a colander and run cold water to stop the sprout from cooking and allow them to keep their vibrant youthful green color. 

Cut the sprouts into halves (or quarters).

Heat 2-3 Tbsp of coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Add 2-3 Tbsp more of coconut oil  and the brussels sprout quarters. Increase the heat and cook for several more minutes. Remember an overcooked brussel sprout is a bitter brussel sprout!

Salt and pepper to taste, while the brussels sprouts are cooking.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and add the almonds.

Pairs perfectly with couscous . . . which we had leftover from an amazing Algerian meal that my friend, Sarah, had made earlier in the week. 

Serves 6-8.