More Photos of Our Week

Yesterday's Fun Friday Dinner theme was Downton Abbey (it turns out we get it for free with Amazon Prime, which I have for the free two-day shipping, and now we're hopelessly addicted). I was pleased with my costume as Mr. Bates but Leah as Lady Mary won. Maybe if I had a cane to walk with instead of a yardstick I would have been more of a contender.

Today we are busy working around the house and I just came back from doing the weekly shop. Here are our upcoming recipes:

Crockpot Sausage and Sauerkraut Dinner, crusty bread

Venison Swedish Meatballs, rice, summer squash

Venison Stew, egg noodles

Maple Glazed Ham Steak, rice, veg

Ground Beef and Barley Soup

tomato soup, rolls

tuna fish salad, crackers

Rice-Stuffed Peppers   

Crockpot Yogurt

Frozen Banana, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Chip Milkshake

Tart Cherry Crisp

Rice Pudding with Golden Raisins

Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies

Here are some pictures from the rest of this week, our second week of Astronomy & Geology:

our paper map of This Dynamic Planet

my vintage Encyclopedia Brittanica World Atlas (1957)

drawing The Ring of Fire in her MLB

using the atlas to plot the location of major volcanoes

using dry erase markers and a laminated map of the U.S. to track some of the latitude/longitude coordinates of Lewis & Clark's journey

the finished tapestry of the magnolia tree behind our house, which my grandfather planted when they moved in (1960)

off the loom!  I started weaving this in December 2014 and finished in February 2017

happily working!

transfer map of the Louisiana Purchase

happily snacking!

supplies for the lemon volcanoes:  art tray, cutting board and knife, craft stick, spoon, citrus juicer, two lemons, food coloring, dish detergent, and baking soda

cut a bit off the base so it stands firmly

cut a little wedge shaped hat out of the top of one lemon

slice the second lemon and juice it

use a craft stick to mash the pulp in your first lemon so it is nice and juicy

add food coloring in a color of your choice (or liquid watercolors)

add a drizzle of dish detergent (for more bubbles)

add a spoonful of baking soda

continue the reaction by squeezing the lemon or adding some of the reserved juice from the second lemon, adding more detergent, adding more baking soda, or adding more food coloring

get your hands in there and give that lemon a good squeeze!

warming up beeswax for Candlemas candle making (NEVER heat beeswax over direct heat because it will catch on fire -- I use a few old Juicy Juice cans of beeswax pieces and fill my big silk-dyeing pot with plain water)

beeswax pellets

wick and holders for dipping candles - use masking tape and a Sharpie to label the wooden holder for each child to avoid confusion later

some striped candles made by using different colors of wax in our cans

beeswax sheets in plain, red, and blue

always have baking soda ready in the event of a fire

my demonstration and supplies, all laid out on the kitchen floor

for making poured candles

they tip over when the beeswax melts so I add more cans to stabilize things

showing off our candles to Zac, who very happily watched the parade - we say "dip it down, pull it up" and then stand over a towel until the candles stop dripping and then walk in a circle through the living room and back around into the kitchen so each layer has a chance to cool before dipping again - from Zac's point of view it was a parade of his very favorite people walking by him for an hour

taking out a can to set it on the counter for easier access - I've heard that you can float the beeswax pellets right in the water and dip the wick right into the water and the beeswax will stick but I haven't ever tried it - if you have and this method works, please add a comment!

tapping the base of the candles on my little wooden cutting board flattens them out a bit

changing from a can of red wax back to a golden one to make stripes

setting our cans aside to cool before being put back in the candlemaking bin - I just reuse the cans and add new wax each time - but I could use it up by making poured candles if I really wanted to

our poor candle-making floor towel - don't wash this because the wax can catch on fire in the dryer - I just fold mine up and keep it in my candlemaking bin and use it over and over

a sister-to-sister lesson on the three types of faults

Leah was SO proud to be featured in the blog that she neatly re-drew the illustrations for her lesson and then carefully photographed them for you!

thank you Leah for all your hard work - and there's nothing better to make sure you understand something than to have to explain it to someone else!  

This post contains affiliate links to the materials I actually use for homeschooling. I hope you find them helpful. Thank you for your support!