Thanksgiving
I invited all of my family over for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful–all four of my grandparents came, along with all of siblings, spouses and their children. We had a full, happy house.
My brothers organized a Walker Family Decathlon. Joe won. (He is very athletic and doesn’t really try that much. Lucky.) I didn’t do too bad, at least beat out my sisters. We did a flexibility test and I was happy to see that years of yoga are paying off. I’m still not flexible, but I can touch a bit past my toes, which is far better than most of my life. We also did a limbo contest–the only one that the little kids won out.
Easy Crayon Craft
Take white crayon and draw some stuff you think the kids like.
Give them water-colors (in our case food coloring + water).
Let them paint and discover the hidden messages.
Panda
My sister is the owner of this fun collection, and the reason why all stuffed animals are pandas if you ask Mr. C.
Bread Dough
Basic Breadcraft
MATERIALS
4 cups (1 L) flour
11⁄2 cups (360 ml) warm water
1 cup (250 ml) salt
bowl
baking sheet
board
plastic wrap
foil
wax paper
PROCESS
1. combine flour and salt in bowl
2. make well in center
3. pour in 1 cup (250 ml) water, mixing with hands
4. add more water and continue mixing
note: not crumbly or sticky, but should form a ball
5. knead 5 minutes on floured board, until smooth
6. work with small portion of dough at a time
7. wrap remainder in plastic and put in refrigerator
hint: if dough dries out, add a few drops of water and knead
8. work on foil or wax paper (or just on the counter if you don’t mind a mess)
9. bake 1 hour or until hard at 325°F (160°C)
hint: dough should not “give” when tapped with knife
From Mudworks
Two Fridges
Joe and I have been working and working some more on our house. We are completely unpacked, most pressing fix-it problems are done, and all the awful meatball shrubs outside are gone. We like having projects to work on, it was one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and buy a house. I’m not as prone to boredom as I once was.
Thought I would share one project that we did together. We had an old fridge that we decided to keep. I wanted to paint it with chalkboard paint, something I’ve seen done many times online. Here’s the after picture. A before picture would be an old white fridge, and I’m pretty sure you’ve seen one before.
(And Christmas is coming! I didn’t realize just how close it was until I put this up.)
Many projects like this are a bit of a mystery as to how hard they are going to be. We painted our dining room table (twice) and it was pain and didn’t turn out as good as we hoped. But painting a fridge was easy. Easier than painting a room or a table.
First we sanded the fridge down with sandpaper we had on hand. Just enough to start to see the metal coming through. Now the hard part: while cleaning the fridge I discovered a bunch of sticky carmel/jam mess under a shelf in the freezer, and under the fridge. It was awful cleaning that up. But it was (I hope) abnormal to come across such a mess.
After cleaning, my Joe took the fridge apart (I wouldn’t have, but I think guys just like to take things apart sometime). We had leftover chalkboard paint from the previous owners we used on the doors. (Actually we have gallons and gallons of leftover paint. If you ever need spare paint I might have some.) It covered pretty well, and we did two coats on everything. We painted the body of the fridge with black high gloss paint, which was of course left over from the previous owner. It only takes less than a quart of paint for the whole fridge.
The handles were originally painted with normal paint. Not a good idea–I went and bought silver spray paint that was labeled to stick to plastic and it worked much better.
The total cost of the project was $5 for spray paint. And I like having two fridges. Big grocery trips don’t end with a impromptu game of tetris.
Kids
Preschool Resources
I made a list for a friend of many of the resources I use for at-home school with PB, who is currently 4 and two years away from kindergarten. Thought I would share.
Books:
Creative Resources for the Early Childhood Classroom
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Activity Blogs:
Fun at Home with Kids: This blog is very popular, and for good reason. Her kids are similar in age to my own, and she has a lot of fun activities and ideas.
Growing a Jewled Rose: More fun activities, and check out the baths too.
Play Create Explore: This one isn’t updated anymore, but has tons of fun ideas in the history:
No Time for Flashcards: This one had more traditional educational activities on it, along with book recommendations.
Other Websites:
Teacher Tom: I read this blog for a while. It has some preschool activities, lots of thoughts on preschool development and some political posts.
Printable Packs: I print out packs here. There is also a link to simpler tot books at the end of the page.
Here’s 71 Things Your Child Needs to Know Before Kindgarten
I also sometimes look up Montessori and like activities, although haven’t found a website or source that I always got back too.
I’ve never felt the need to buy a more formal curriculum (well except the book listed above). I try to keep a play-based environment, and lately we have room devoted to school activities. There are many more resources out there, but this is what I use and give anyone interested a place to start. Hope it helps!
Smiles
Sometimes I forget to look at my kids. When I do, their faces show annoyance, sadness, disappointment. C’s face often has me running for a tissue. But many times they are full of joy: unblemished smiles full of love. Being able to create these smiles as I play with them is the best feeling in the world.
Snow
It snowed. It was fun. 
Liz Braithwaite 