Lionden Landing

Everyone else is getting ready for Thanksgiving.  While we do celebrate Thanksgiving, my big focus right now is Hanukkah. Sunday - Tacos, rice and beans Monday - Anniversary dinner out Tuesday - TofuCurry , rice and peas Wednesday - First Candle - Dill Salmon, this new latke recipe, broccoli and sufganyiot . Thursday - Thanksgiving at Aunt Petal's - I am bringing pecan pie and making latkes there. Friday - Thanksgivukah Shabbos - Challah, gefilte fish , tomato spinach soup, mixed greens salad, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, stuffing, and Hanukkah surprise cake for dessert.

We took a break from board games as our family fun time.  Instead we worked on one of the puzzles from my youth.  It took us quite a while but we finally finished it. 

We took a field trip to the Natural History Museum with another homeschooling family.  Since we were with friends, we visited rooms we would not have otherwise namely the rock and mineral collection.  Our two little princesses were immediately captivated by the tiaras.  The other jewelry was intriguing as well.  The girls took pictures on their own in additions to the ones by the grown ups.   They even chose to stand in line to view the Hope diamond.  Eventually we made it through the gems to minerals.  This fuzzy one was a favorite with the little people  Personally my favorite was the rainbow of minerals.  I love how it shows the beautiful variety of HaShem's creation.  Purple is a favorite color with both girls and they asked for this picture especially.  There were even a few specimens that the kids could touch.     And then we moved into plate tectonics.  We looked at the Ring of Fire.    And the best part was they got to make their own earthqua

This is my last busy week until the middle of January.  I only work three more night before the winter break and then nothing again until mid-January. And with winter break, my class is over freeing up yet another night. Sunday -  Pasta, salad and garlic bread Monday - Pulled Chicken, tator tots, peas Tuesday - red beans and rice Wednesday - Fish ala jenn rice and broccoli Thursday - Pizza and salad Shabbat - Out!!!

Our narrations got off to a real rough start this year.  Froggy took a huge leap backwards in her willingness / ability to narrate.  Schooling became a nightmare and each day a battle.  Our grand conversations completely disappeared.  Our books this year are harder particularly Marco Polo which I believe is the root of all the problems.  The initial book was written in a style so different from the other books we have used.  Froggy could not keep all the information from even a short section in her head.  It shook her confidence in all her narrations. We finally switched Marco Polo books.  I modeled narrations from this new book.  We took our readings down to sections smaller than when we were in Year 1.  And we started over.  We provided a carrot and a stick not for the quality of the narration but for the effort and willingness to narrate.  And we moved forward.  Froggy is narrating again.  The battle is over with most books now.  And we finally are having the grand conversat

Hannukah is coming soon.  Yes everyone around is talking about Thanksgivukkah but I am not mixing the two anymore than circumstances dictate.  We are not putting out lots of Thanksgiving decorations like we normally do.  Instead we are surplanting those with our Hannukah decorations and preparing for our Hanukkah party.  Playing on Pinterest, I found this lovely recipe I am thinking of serving as a "grownup" beverage We are making these this week to give to Froggy's teachers and other special people in her life.  I am not sure we are going to go with traditional cocoa or fill it with this instead. I want to make these just because they sound so yummy.  But I cannot think of a way to make them and change it to fit Hanukkah.  This post was written and posted motzi Shabbos.

I am still trying to figure out cooking and dinners when I am not home in the evening.  This past week I had evening events every night expect Shabbos.  That does not make for easy meal planning Sunday - Pizza (sauce is already made) and salad Monday - Shepards Pie and salad Tuesday - leftovers Wednesday - fish ala jenn rice and peas Thursday- Gumbo and bread Shabbat - Challah, gefilte fish loaf, tomato spinach soup, pot roast, root vegetable au gratin , green beans, mocha almond torte or chocolate peppermint brownies I am also adding more packable lunches to our menu since I basically have to pack two meals for myself on days that I work.  bean and cheese burritos

It took us a while this year but we finally got in the spirit and decorated for Halloween.   We used the placecard pumpkins from our Sukkot celebration  to make bat-o-lanterns.  Froggy painted all the pumpkins while Abba and I cut out the wings and eyes.  We hung them all over the yard.   And Abba decorated our family of pumpkins so we could all "Hop on Pop"     And the crowning glory in the decoration as far as I am concerned was the simplest of all    We made four lanterns out of recycled milk jugs.   We drew Sharpie faces on them and put in battery operated lanterns to light them up.   They got lots of compliments from our visiting ghosts and goblins.    Froggy was Merida for Halloween and she used her new quiver as her trick or treat bag.   She had fun pretending to shoot Abba before they headed out.  Abba agreed and it is the only time she is ever allowed to point her bow at anyone.