Spring Travels: Day 1

Our spring break trip officially started yesterday when we headed to West Texas. Our family headed out a day early so we could visit extended family in Lubbock. We had dinner with Aunt Kathy, my cousin Mike, and his daughter Elizabeth.

Today is Allen's birthday, so we had a few celebrations throughout the day. This morning, we got up and took our time getting ready, then we faced the wind and showed the kids the Ranching Heritage Center -- an outdoor museum that is focused on history in the Texas panhandle. All was fun on the INside of the museum. We all wandered and read the signs or the touch screens.

Outside was not quite as easy as the wind and dirt were really blowing. Allen and I were reminded of the years we lived in Lubbock, but the kids were amazed at the wind power... and that it just wouldn't stop! They learned to face out of the wind to keep from getting a mouthful of dirt, they figured out how to lean into the wind so they could walk, and the boys enjoyed "hunting tumbleweeds!"

Successful Tumbleweed Hunt

We wandered through the acres of old buildings and homes learning about the hidden doors to protect families from Indian attacks, about how life changed when fences were put up, and about the different styles of homes and how they worked well for the area. All was happy and the kids had fun until we got to the train ... then we lost Maddie. Allen and I didn't panic right away, we figured she just went around the corner. Nope. I'm not sure at which point we were fighting back the panic, but we soon moved into the "yelling her name till my throat hurt but acting calm so I didn't worry the boys." She was nowhere to be found, so I headed to the main entrance to find a guard to help. The museum staff searched high and low, near and far, and using all the cameras they could. Someone eventually found "the lost girl with a pink jacket" on the opposite side of the grounds from where we had been. Though I was so thankful to find her, I was mad and still shaking from the fear that had set in and couldn't really snap out of it. I think Allen was the same way, so we left.

We headed over to the campus and were amazed at the changes at Texas Tech. Thankfully, one of our favorite restaurants -- One Guy from Italy -- was still there, so we introduced our kids to the best calzones! Will was happy... well, they all loved lunch, but I only got one picture without chewed-up food. This was a great birthday lunch :)

After our lunch break, we headed north toward camp. We arrived at Caprock Canyons State Park just a little bit before the Browns and Brodys arrived. We set up camp and worked on dinner, but then the wind REALLY picked up. Dessert was a yummy flourless chocolate cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Allen, Barbie, and Chris who all had birthdays within days of each other. We rushed through dinner trying to keep our plates from blowing in our faces, then we all went to bed early -- just to avoid being in the wind!

February Art projects

We have been studying ocean life in science, and when I found instructions for these under-the-sea paintings, I was really excited about trying them. Most of our Friday artwork is done in one day, but these took some more time and planning. The first week, the kids each painted two sheets white tissue (art grade, not gift bag filler) paper. On one sheet they painted different shades and mixes of blues, and on the other, they painted sea life. The following week, they used black Sharpie to outline the fish. While the marker dried, they tore or cut the blues into chunks, strips, and blobs. I helped them use a clear varnish to attach the blues to paper canvas. They also used some pieces of turquoise tissue paper to fill in some of the holes. Since some of the blue paint they used was transparent and some was shimmery, the collage overlapped beautifully, with some colors peeking out from behind, but making the water seem that much prettier. The fish were cut out and decoupaged to the water, and a final layer of varnish sealed the "painting". The kids LOVED assembling them and they are SO proud of how their art turned out -- they are so pretty that I'm trying to figure out where I can permanently display them!

by Ben

by Jon

by Maddie

After the bar was set so high, it was tough to come up with art for the end of the month. I asked the kids what they wanted to do, and they all chose something different. The only common theme was paint, so I helped them choose something they could paint with oil pastels and watercolor. Jon and Ben each chose a landscape picture from a National Geographic magazine that they wanted to paint, and Maddie wanted to paint a bowl of fruit. The each pencil sketched parts of their designs, then used oil pastels to draw and color parts of their pictures. The boys chose really tough things to draw, but doing the snow with the oil made the resist-technique more effective. Each of them learned something a bit different. I dared Ben to make the night sky without using black paint, I showed him how to paint water horizontally instead of following the edges, and I worked with him to paint and draw the hills and mountains downhill. Jon learned to make all his browns with complementary colors rather than using the brown paint, he painted the shadows with cool colors since the mountains were mostly "warm", and he learned a lot about depth perception. Jon was especially amazed at all the different brown colors he could create. Maddie learned a lot about layering the objects and realizing that although part of the fruit might be like a circle, it looks different when something is in front of it. She learned to see other colors that she hadn't noticed before -- for example, the apple was mostly red, but had oranges, yellows, and even greens in parts of it. The kids were all really happy with their one-day art project, and they still continue to impress me with how they see things when they are being creative.

Ben's art with the NatGeo page that inspired his picture

by Ben

Jon's art and the NatGeo mountains photo

by Jon

by Maddie

We will be taking a break from Friday art at home for a couple weeks because of Spring Break and a Home Depot kids class that is coming up after that.

Odyssey of the Mind - Regional Competition

Will and six other students from his school have been working hard as a team to bring a project to the Odyssey of the Mind competition. Each team is required to have a parent be one of the competition judges, and that was what I got to do. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't get to actually watch my own child compete (I was not allowed to judge the set that he was competing in, and I was not able to line up my break with their performance time.) Allen, the three littles, and Allen's parents did get to see it all, though. The good news: they are moving on to the state competition in April! The bad news: I can't share details of what they did ... yet :)

I can tell you that these kids are in third, fourth, and fifth grades, and this is the problem they worked on:

Teams will design and build a structure made up of separate components stacked on top of one another. The structure components will be made of only balsa wood and glue, and will be tested by balancing and supporting weights after they are stacked. Teams will be scored for the number of components they use in their final structure. Before they are stacked, the separate components will be integrated into an artistic representation of Earth. The team will include the stacking of the components, placement of the weights, and Earth into the theme of its performance. Cost limit: $145 USD.

After talking with many other volunteer judges, it Will's team is the only one I heard of that had teachers participating as coaches -- usually, the teams are parent-coached and working in home garages. Will's team did have a parent coach, too, but two teachers coordinated a lot of it. These kids have had a lot of support from the school, and that makes it even more rewarding for the team. I will share more when it isn't top secret!

A Home of Lego

This week has been a bit of a tough one at home. I expected that we would get back into our school routine and be refreshed after a week off. Unfortunately, the week off was cold and rainy, and none of us saw much sun. We were cooped up and tired of being inside. This week was more cold, cranky weather, and it seemed to suck all the patience out of each of us. Wednesday, school was cancelled for Will because there was a lot of ice. Ben, Maddie, and Jon and I did a few lessons, but cut the school day short. Thursday, the weather started to warm up, and Friday was beautiful! I really wanted to send the kids outside to play, but the three younger ones started working together on building a big Lego home and I didn't want to interrupt the collaboration and teamwork, so I let them keep going. After about three hours of getting along perfectly, they asked me to take pictures of their giant creation. They took turns explaining the rooms to me as I snapped pictures.

Looking into the garage

This is the workbench in the garage. There are lots of tools and gems because the people who live here are miners.

This is the living room. Notice the sofas have cup holders with coffee mugs. There is also a TV remote on the TV stand.

This is the TV in the living room.

The Minecraft playroom for the kids.

This is the girl's room. Notice the teddy bear, pillow, purse on the nightstand, and the floor lamp.

This is the fireplace in the bedroom.

The vanity and swivel seat in the girl's room. Her purses are stored in the pink drawer, and the flowers add a nice touch.

The girl's room also has a built in mini-fridge and washing machine.

The kitchen table has food on it!

The view from above!

February 14th

 

Today, I celebrate the 20th Valentine's Day with this handsome guy!

Delivering Valentines

Last week, our American Heritage Girls troop made Valentine cards for hospitalized children and elderly adults in nursing homes. Since my kiddos weren't at the meeting, I took the supplies with me when I went to Waco. We stayed busy crafting cards one cold afternoon. Today, Ben, Maddie, Jon, and I took the ninety-five Valentine cards to the radio station that heads up the project. One of the employees at the station gave the kids a tour (and pencils and bracelets). The on-air host, Susan, even took a few minutes to show the kids the studio equipment and record the kids talking (though I don't think they played it on-air... let's just say they were not polished speakers.)

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This week, Will was off for Winter Break. Add to the week that I needed a break and had another appointment with the audiologist, and it seemed like a great time to call for help. Saturday, Allen and I took the kids and met my parents for the swap. The kiddos went to Gramma and Granddad's for a few days, while we came home for a bit of quiet. Allen and I went to the grocery store on the way home, then came home to a home {and I NEVER thought I'd say this} that was TOO quiet. We enjoyed a couple days "off" from our regular routine. I slept in each day (but only by about 15 minutes), I did my Bible study while I drank my morning coffee (instead of cramming it all into Sunday afternoon and Monday evening), and we had a few meals out.

One of the places we went had an AWESOME dessert, so I came home to search the internet for a recipe. The next  day, I picked up the ingredients to try it, and I made a few adjustments so I wouldn't get a tummy ache. I started with a recipe and tweaked it just a tad. The result was just as amazing as the one at the restaurant. It is now my favorite cake! {Note: I did make only 1/3 of the recipe and used a souffle dish instead of my springform pan -- the recipe divided quite well and gave us several days of rich chocolatey yumminess.}

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake

For the Cake:

• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (I used salted since that's all I had -- still delish!)
• 18 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 6 eggs

For the Ganache:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (Dairy foods don't like me, so I used coconut milk instead)
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 300° convection, 350° conventional.  Place shelf in middle of oven.
   
2. Butter a 10" springform pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper (it will stick on thanks to the butter).  Wrap pan in several layers of aluminum foil to keep out the water from the water bath in which the cake will be baked.
3. Fill a tea kettle and bring water to a boil.  If it boils before you're ready to stick your cake in the oven, just set the kettle aside.  The water will stay hot enough.  Locate a roasting pan that is wide and deep enough to accommodate your springform pan.
4. Combine the 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar in a small pan and bring to a boil over medium.  Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring until sugar dissolves.  This is really just a simple syrup with a little less sugar than the typical 1:1 ratio of water to sugar.  Remove from heat.
5. Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave in one-minute increments, stirring well after each minute and watching to avoid the chocolate burning.  We use chocolate discs which do not require any chopping before melting.  If you are starting with a block or bar, chop up before trying to melt in the micro.
6. Add simple syrup to chocolate mixture, whisk well, then allow to cool enough to add eggs.  Whisk in eggs and combine well.  Pour batter into springform pan.
7. Place cake pan in center of roasting pan, place in oven, then add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come up to the middle of the cake  pan.
8. Bake until cake is set in the center, about 40 minutes in our oven.  Remove from water bath and cool completely on a rack.

Ganache

1. Melt chocolate and cream together in the microwave in a glass dish.  Whisk until smooth, then pour over cooled cake (still in the springform) and distribute evenly.  
2. Refrigerate immediately, or once ganache is set. Allow ganache to set completely before removing from springform pan and cutting into cake.