We are enjoying our Spring book basket so much, everything bunnies and birds and growth and newness. Wanted to share some of our favorites with you, old and new, in case you are making a trip to the library soon or looking to add a few seasonal books to your collection. If you click on "Our Amazon Bookshop" on the right side of the blog and then click on Spring books, you will find links to all of these. I need to update the other categories also...one day!:)
Friday, March 23, 2012
Spring time reading...
We are enjoying our Spring book basket so much, everything bunnies and birds and growth and newness. Wanted to share some of our favorites with you, old and new, in case you are making a trip to the library soon or looking to add a few seasonal books to your collection. If you click on "Our Amazon Bookshop" on the right side of the blog and then click on Spring books, you will find links to all of these. I need to update the other categories also...one day!:)
Monday, March 19, 2012
Six months old.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Favorite moment of today:
Monday, March 12, 2012
Nature study: A Robin.



The kids woke up from a late nap today and we headed out to the front yard to soak up the last bits of sunshine. I grabbed the basket of Spring books I just just switched over from winter, and we settled in on our blanket. Then Sammy noticed a bird on top of our next door neighbor's house. "I think it's a Robin! It's a Robin!" He exclaimed and he was right! I told him to run get his binoculars and (I just couldn't help myself), I ran to get the little nature study on robins that I had just printed out! I grabbed some colored pencils on my way out the door and we all sat and watched him for the longest time! We each sketched him (ahem, sooooo embarrassing, my drawing skills, but the kids were both mad that mine was "better", so at least they don't know-yet:), and talked about his features and then tonight before bed we read in our Burgess bird book the chapter about Robins. Oh my. It was fabulous.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Moon shadow, moon shadow...

Every full moon, Sam and Amelia have a date night with their Mam. Last night Mam went all out! I have been gearing up for doing nature studies with them in Kindergarten, and I wanted to "practice" by doing a little study of the moon. I am getting a lot of my ideas from here. I mentioned this to mom and that the full moon was on Thursday and she went into action! She found ideas on making galaxy play doh, painting a neat textured moon, and then I found a few moon books we had ( Goodnight moon, a non fiction book about planets and moons, and Mooncake) and she sat up a beautiful table for them to have their time together (see the big white moon?:). That Mam, she's pretty amazing! We were a bit disappointed because none of us could actually see the moon and it was almost bed time, but then we got a text from a friend saying it was supposed to be visible shortly so we ran up to Sammy's room to look out his window. Oh. My. Gosh. We saw it rise up from behind the capitol, starting as a shimmer of gold and ending in its full moon glory. It was spectacular and we were all squealing and oohing and ahhing!
As a side note, I had never myself learned the moon phases and so one night I studied around using my Handbook of Nature Study, the website I mentioned, and online quizzes and learned them! So fun to be able to see the moon and say to myself, "Oh, look at that waxing Gibbous moon:)". We also learned that March's full moon is called the Full Worm Moon (among other things). Here is an explanation why, from the online Farmers Almanac:
• Full Worm Moon – March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

All for now! Jen
First food!
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
A few recipes...

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sucanat
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or butter)
2-3 apples, chopped (save 1 to slice across the top if you like)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Topping:
1 tablespoon sucanat 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions:
preheat oven to 325° F lightly grease an 8x8 glass pan
1. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. 2. In a mixer combine until creamy, coconut oil, honey, sucanat, vanilla, and milk. Add
eggs, mix for another 30 seconds or so. 3. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet, mix just until combined with each addition. 4. Next, add the chopped apples and walnuts, mix well. Pour into prepared pan. 5. If you chose to reserve one apple slice and arrange over the top. Sprinkle with a bit of
cinnamon and sucanat. 6. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Cool completely, then serve.
Tasty Rice and Beans from the online workshop Whole Food Kitchen by Heather Bruggeman
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 medium onion, diced fine (or shallots)
1/2 of a green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup long-grain brown rice, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups cooked pinto beans
Directions:
1. Heat coconut oil in a medium sized pot. Add cumin and chili and sauté for a few seconds (not too long!). Add onion, green pepper, salt and black pepper, cook until veggies are soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
2. Add rice and stir well to coat. Next,add the water and tomato paste, bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat until all of the water is absorbed (40-50 minutes).
3. Once cooked, add cooked pinto beans and stir gently to combine, with a fork.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)
Food coloring, as desired
Directions:
1. In a 2-quart sauce pan, whisk together the flour, salt and cream of tarter. Add the water and oil and whisk until smooth. Add desired food coloring. (Keep in mind that the color will get slightly darker after it's heated.)
2. Place pan over low heat and cook and stir until it thickens and forms a ball (about 5 minutes for a single recipe). When it's impossible to stir and looks like a bug sticky lump, it's done! :)
3. Turn out onto the counter or a mat, scraping pan clean with a spatula. Knead the warm dough a couple times, and place in a loosely-covered container to cool. (Or, let the kids play with it right away!) Store in a sealed container or ziplock bag when not in use.
Jen
Monday, March 05, 2012
Lately...








