After lunch the girls and I set off their baking soda and vinegar volcano.  We got a kit (and a ton of other fun things, including dress-up clothes and books) from K.D. who was moving, and offering free books.  It was hilarious fun, and they learned that neither the bs or vinegar do anything (volcanic) alone, but together make a bubbly chemical ( Read more... )

Last Monday I gave blood.  It was a busy day, and took more than a little figuring to fit it in, but it puts me up to 23 donations, which is interesting to me.  I like knowing things like that ( Read more... )

I quit shampoo a little while ago.  Having tried it before with the unhappy result of not being happy, I hoped it would stick this time. (babyslime Shampoo-free follow upThis morning in the shower I smelled the most lovely thing, something like warm toast.  'What can that be?' I wondered, 'No one has had time to make breakfast.'  Then it hit me.  It was  my ( Read more... )

Yes, biking to church can be done with a toddler and a preschooler.  See?  We go to church about two miles away from where we live, which is highly unusual for the area in which we live.  We usually take the car, along with everyone else.  But one day the girls were ready to go early, and they also wanted a bike ride. Why not?

So here is one ( Read more... )

Something we've been doing this summer is volunteering at a historical center. What we do there is "interpret" the past. The girls and I go once a week. We dress as we would have at the beginning of World War I, and we do farm chores and demonstrate them to visitors. Some of our favorite chores include picking raspberries (which one calls " ( Read more... )

I have wanted to let the girls paint walls in the house.  Here, we approximated that by letting them paint walls in their own house.  I got my hands on some large slabs of insulation and the girls helped me build a house out of them.  First, wash,


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Earlier this year,  the older child got interested in "maze-games."  I think it started when I was looking through a Friend Magazine with her and traced a Hen & Chicks maze with my finger.  I tried all the wrong turns and said "Dead end! go back!" and she thought that was hysterical.  She began to see mazes everywhere ( Read more... )

Here's a messy activity that's based on a neat, clean Montessori activity. I let the girls play with lentils. Then of course their parents get to help them sweep up the lentils for play at a later date.
At the play stove:


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My 1.5 year old little one has a couple of pairs of pants made from adult sweater arms. In this shot, she's wearing one I especially like because I used the sweater's buttoned neckline for the waistband, so I do up her pants by buttoning and didn't have to add any elastic. Of course I only managed to get a rear shot though. poo. See the elbow ( Read more... )

I don't know where the recipe came from. I've been having it for breakfast since I was a kid.
2 cups water
1 tsp marjoram
2 bouillon cubes
boil
mix separately:
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 egg
add a few spoons of the hot water slowly to the flour & egg. Then pour egg mixture into the hot water mixture. Bring to a boil.

Makes this:


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