South America and the Rainforest

Last week we were learning about South America, so we gathered with friends at Pauline's house to share our knowledge.

It is safe to say that a fun time was had by all. Here are a few of the highlights.

Our host

Our model of a rain forest

Bathing Suit in November?

Apparently my youngest child did not get the bulletin that summer has come to an end. This afternoon she was appropriately dressed and playing on the swing set. A few minutes later, this is what she looked like.

Yes, it is the third day of November. Yes, the temperature is only 64 degrees and my child puts on her bathing suit, turns on the water and has a big time. So I did what any good momma would do, I took a picture (well, several pictures), wrapped her in a towel, took her inside to explain that summer is over. We both had a good cry that the days of bathing suits, splashing in the water, soaking up the sun, and wearing flip flops are over for now.

But these few minutes of playing in the water on a cool fall day are worth remembering forever.

Sunday Breakfast

Fall isn't my favorite time of year mostly because the arrival of fall means winter is coming and I am a spring/summer kind of chick. However, I do love the sights and smells of fall. I love the color of the leaves, mums and pumpkins, and the smell of apples baking and pumpkin desserts.

When I awoke this morning, the day was gray, the rain was falling and I thought about apple pie. Yes, apple pie. It is probably my favorite dessert. I remembered that I ran across a recipe for Mini Apple Pies on Marybeth's blog a couple of weeks ago, so I grabbed my laptop and headed off to the kitchen.

In just a bit, the house smelled like apple pie and Sunday breakfast was served!


Here's the recipe:


Mini Apple Pies

3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 can 8 refrigerated biscuits (I used Harris Teeter buttermilk)
1 can apple pie filling (again, I used Harris Teeter brand)

Mix flour, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together with pastry blender until crumbly and set aside.

Slice biscuits in half and press down into ungreased muffin pans.

Add a heaping tablespoon of apple pie filling on top of each biscuit. *I chopped the apples in the filling a bit before filling the biscuits. Add a heaping tablespoon of sugar cinnamon mixture on each mini pie.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 and enjoy.

C is for Clown

The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola is one of my favorite stories. This story of an old juggler who offers the only gift he has to the Christ child makes my eyes water every time. The illustrations are beautiful and the kids always want to paint heir faces like clowns and try to juggle.

So last week as I was trying to help Kelsey learn the letter C, I pulled out my favorite story and some face paint.

More Cool Webs

We ran across this garden spider at a friend's house recently.


Here's her web.



THE coolest web ever! The boys made this web with yarn, following the directions in Exploring Creation with Zoology 3.



The boys even put spiders made of marshmallows and Chinese noodles in their web.


Many thanks to Melanie for organizing a great lesson on spiders.

Cool Web

Look at the cool web we found on the patio yesterday.


So this web was hanging out over the patio. We had Alex (because he is tall) stand on a chair and hold a piece of cardboard behind the web. Then I had to stand in a chair to take the picture. We were amazed by the raindrops hanging on to the web.

Here it is in Black and white:

Rainy Days and Mondays

Yesterday was rainy and Monday, but we survived. Books about spiders, balloons to play with, and cartoons to draw helped make for a delightful day despite the dreary mood.

Thanks to ClickSchooling, we found this great website with free online videos that demonstrate how to draw cartoon type characters.

Jonathan's drawing

And yes, I even made an attempt.