Grow Roots Where Planted

iPhone as teaching aid

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Sara

The middle kiddo was learning about weighing objects using nonstandard units (fancy words for “using the bucket balance”).

Her assignment was to find objects around the house and to see how many tiles would make the balance level. When we came to the iPhone (her choice) we were both blown away about how many tiles were needed. Her estimate was 19 and I guessed even less.

It turns out it took 55 tiles to level it out. It may have something to do with the freakin’ heavy Otter Box case that keeps my phone from being abused when I drop it.

The iPhone can also become a teaching assistant…probably an app for that too.

Posted in Home Education | Leave a comment

Sea of Galilee

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Sara

Sea of Galilee topographical map. I’m a new fan of salt dough.

Activity from Telling God’s Story.

Posted in Book-ish, Creative Process, Home Education, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Cave Paintings

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Sara

Our family is beginning the homeschool journey this year. We have chosen The Story of the World: Ancient Times for our history lessons. We will spend the school year studying everything from early nomads to the end of Ancient Rome.

Along with reading and mapwork the curriculum comes with a activity book that contains ideas for games and craft projects. We chose cave paintings for our first project.

We recently finished studying early nomads. The ancient nomads did not have access to pen & paper . Stories were told on cave walls.

All of our extra paper grocery bags came in handy that day.

Posted in Artful Life, Book-ish, Home Education | Leave a comment

On the bookshelf

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Sara

My Amazon book order arrived a few days ago. Happy dance!

My current reading list:

Teach Your Own by John Holt- Apparently this book has been around forever. I just recent stumbled across it while blog reading. We are beginning our first year of homeschool. It’s been an encouraging book for me.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton- I’ve had this novel in my cart for quite sometime. I’m looking forward to reading it. Mystery, Love, England, Castles….sounds a little Bronte.

Anyone have book recommendations?? I’m always ready to add to my what-to-read-next list.

Posted in Book-ish, Home Education | 1 Comment

Recent Flowers

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Sara

Trying my hand at gardening again. Hopefully this time I won’t kill any flowers. I have not been successful at keeping my plants alive for a full year.

I bought this pretty arrangement at Lowes for $10. It’s a mix of calibrachoas, petunias, & verbena.

More petunias hanging in a basket.

I almost lost this one. I left it in the sun for too long. Oops. The name of the flower escapes my mind. Honeysuckle maybe? It does attract hummingbirds. I moved it to the back deck where there is more shade.

I might get adventurous and try planting some herbs next. We eat alot of basil and chives in the summer…..so tasty on pasta’s and potatoes.

Posted in Gardening, Seasons | 2 Comments

Trial and error with chocolate

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Sara

My Christmas present was a Cuisinart Fondue Pot. Our family is a big fan of this restaurant . We’d love to go more, but it’s a little pricey for a family of five. It’s been nice having our own. We’ve had fondue at home many times in the last three months. It’s fun for the kids. Plus it gets them to try different foods…veggies dipped in cheese is way more yummy for a four year old.

A few weeks ago I tried using it to make some chocolate covered goodies to bring to a friends house.

I melted the chocolate in the pot with a little bit of heavy cream started coating.

Rice Krispie treats dip in chocolate was a winner. The strawberries were not so successful.

I think they were a little too ripe and I didn’t let them dry off after rinsing. I placed the krispies and berries in the fridge for a few hours to set that seemed to help with the strawberries.

They were still tasty, but I felt like there wasn’t enough chocolate on the berries. I will be trying it again. I will definitely be getting not-so-ripe strawberries & let them dry completely before dipping.

Posted in Cooking Endevours, Food | 2 Comments

Things are a bloomin’

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Sara

I took some pictures of our trees about three weeks ago. This is what they look like now.

While I was taking pictures alot of bees were buzzing by doing their part for spring. It’s been a very long and cold winter here in Virginia. I’m looking forward to the smell of flowers and the sun.

Posted in Photography, Seasons | 1 Comment

Cupcakes

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Sara

Our daughter celebrated the big 7 a couple weeks ago. I’m not a baking sort of girl….yet. I practice once and a while. The end results of my cookies and cakes are never successful. I am more than happy to eat baked goods. Especially if it involves frosting.

Almond Flavored Cupcake…my favorite.

Peanut butter and chocolate cupcake. The peanut butter frosting is some of the BEST frosting I’ve ever tasted. Not too sweet and very creamy.

I bought them locally here. All of them were quite tasty. I had no complaints from the family. We have another birthday coming up in a few weeks. Our little guy turns 4. We all agreed these cupcakes are the way to go.

Posted in Food, Local Fun, Photography | 2 Comments