Friday, July 6, 2012

Camping Vacation

Our camping trip in May was so fun.  It ended early because of a forecast of constant rain, but it was filled with with fun and good memories with good friends!

Ready to go!


First stop on the way to camping...here is where we dropped keys out in the water and sliced a finger building a rock path.

Treasured friends!





Exhausted!

Making music!



Rain!

Fantastic soup cooked over the fire.

Vegan marshmallows and carob s'mores!  They were amazingly good!



Great nature program at Wilderness State Park.

Hiding from the rain again!

Awesome fires!!

Fuzzy sleeping picture. :)


Worship lesson.

Constant rain sent us home early.






Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam with an Orange Twist

I am pretty sure that this is undeniably the best jam that I have ever made...in my opinion, of course!  It is yummy!  So before I forget what I did, I need to write it down for safe-keeping.  One day, when I write a cookbook, this recipe will go in it!  :)


Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
(with an orange twist)

Bring to a rolling boil in 8 quart pot:
6 C crushed strawberries
4 C chopped rhubarb
3/4 - 1 C orange pineapple concentrate
1 tsp orange extract
3 packages no-sugar pectin

Once it has boiled add:
3/4 - 1 C honey
3 C cane juice crystals

Return to a boil and boil hard for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  If canning, fill and seal the jars.

Oh. So. Good.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Park and Beach Run

Memorial Day Fun

We had friends come up for the holiday....and it was just the beginning of our vacation with them.  We stuck around home because we didn't want to meet the camping crowds over the holiday weekend.  The park and beach were one of the things we did to have some fun!













Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Math Project

This is Chaeli's last math project for this school year -- Gabby the Gallon Girl!



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Author Night

Last night was Author Night at our local Adventist school and Chaeli was invited to participate.  She chose two of her writings from this year to read during the evening.  We also prepared a display board that showed some of what she has done this year in Language Arts.  This first picture is of her right before she is to read the first time.  She read a story she wrote called My First Day of School.  


In the story she describes what the little girl named Aileana was wearing as her school uniform:  a tan skirt, a light blue shirt, a dark blue sweater, and brown shoes.


Chaeli in front of her display board. 


One of the paragraphs she wrote this year. 

Her dreams.  To go along with Martin Luther, Chaeli came up with dreams of her own this year. 

Her adjective May Day basket of flowers.  She also has a set of flowers with verbs on them. 

Animals clues

Animal answers 

She did a timeline report on Eleanor Roosevelt. She decided to ring them together so that it was easy to display.  We learned so much about this fascinating lady. 

Her acrostic with picture was in the center of her display. 

Similes 

The fantastic teacher at our local Adventist elementary school. 

There was also a spaghetti dinner fundraiser.  Elijah got my money's worth and loved every bite! It's written all over his face! :) 

Since January some of the church ladies have been working with the students (and Chaeli got in on this too!) on learning to make quilts.  They made lap quilts and did it all themselves with the expert guidance of the church ladies.  They all did so well and were so proud of their quilts. If the person they made it for was there, they presented the quilt to that person. Then they students also presented flowers and cards of thanks to the lady who helped them with their quilt.



She lost a tooth in the middle of the night.  Thanks, caramel apple, for doing the job!! 


The kids from the school and Chaeli! They all did a fantastic job! 

Following is the acrostic poem that Chaeli wrote about being a Christian.  This was the second piece of writing that she read for Author Night.

Christ in my heart
Having a cheerful smile
Ready to share Jesus, like giving tracts away
I really love to sing
Sharing I should be
To read the Bible and to pray
Is what I do each day
Always sharing my light
Never giving up because I love Jesus

Really proud of my second grader!  She's done a great job this year!

Computers

The boys.  Homemade computers.  They love it. :)  And these one crash much less often too!