Lionden Landing

  It finally snowed a decent amount.  The first time all winter.  It was probably on 4" or so but it was enough that Abba even got to stay home.  We all went sledding at our favorite sledding hill    And even with my hurt foot I went down too.  Part of what makes this hill great is that it has different paths of steepness depending on how brave you are.  Froggy finally worked up the courage to go down the fast hill. And no snow day would be complete without riding the plow hills

 Even Purim morning I was still putting the finishing touches on my part of the costumes for Froggy's Purim shpeil.  I made "Chip" and "Cogsworth". Our shul always picks a theme for the year.  This year it is the 60s in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding in 1964.  I went as Jane Goodall and Abba went as the Disney version of Pooh first pictured in 1962. That really was just an excuse because he always goes as Pooh Bear.  Froggy wanted to be Queen Esther regardless of the theme. Luckily Gramma keeps supplying Froggy with new dressup clothes so there is always queen clothes available. We made a ton of Mishlach Manot baskets.  The list of recipients is mostly done although I expect it will continue to grow right up until Purim.  The final total was 23.  We included 3 different foods  (although it ended up being only the requisite 2 brachot) Spiced almonds, clementines and 3 different kinds of Hamentaschen, funny ones, chocol...

We "officially" start our new school year with Rosh HaShana.  But since we obviously can't do our "first day" pictures or any school stuff that day it a soft start to the year.  This year it was apparently an even softer start since during Chol Hamoed, Froggy was still referring to herself and her friends as rising third graders.   After all, the chagim came the celebrated First Day of School when Froggy started back at Religious School. (Granted that was almost 2 weeks agon now, and I am behind in my posting) Froggy put on a show hamming it up for the camera.  She loves Religious school and is very proud this year to be working on Anim Zemirot with her Tefillah chavruta .  It is neat for her to see other kids learning the same stuff we are working on at home.  Here is a rough outline of our learning this year.  Limudei Kodesh Davening - This year in Religious School, the students receive their own grown up Shabbat siddur.I am working on sel...

We went apple picking.  Despite the holidays being early this year, the weather was perfect picking weather. We love going picking and it is even more fun when friends come.  Several varieties were not ripe yet but we managed to find plenty of good ones.  The children had a marvelous time comparing the taste and texture of the different varieties and deciding which ones were favorites.    Froggy did a good job picking even with the cast on.  She was very disappointed that she could not climb into the tree as she has other years.  Picking from Abba's shoulds helped but it just is not the same.    After a picnic lunch on the hillside it was time for some silliness. We threw fallen apples at dead tree targets and ran helter skelter down the hill.     After some more picking to round out our collection, we found a neat rock formation that needed exploring  Is that not an amazing view? This is a new orchard for...

I did not plan a menu for this week as I have been all by myself.  The family came back on yesterday so we are all here and ready for a joyous Shabbat filled complete with what I hope will be lots of good food.  There are lots of experiments this week including my first ever attempt at Cholent.  I am trying to follow a new guide for Shabbos food of having the following for Dinner Challah, 2 dips, 1 fish, 1 soup, 1 meat, 1 starch, 1 salad / vegetable side, 1dessert  For lunch it's challah, same 2 dips, cholent, 1 salad (can be the same as dinner unless there are guests) and 1 dessert. Challah - I have discovered that if I make the dough ahead of time and braid it without letting it rise, that I can freeze it after braiding and have it rise/thaw on Friday and get a consistent great texture and make Shabbat prep even easier.   Dips - Homemade hummus (old favorite) and a warm herb cheese dip (made with dip mix and parve cream cheese) Fish - Salmon Tartlets (...

We get family portraits done every year.  We try to do them around Froggy's birthday but are a bit late this year.  Here are a few of our favorites from the most recent session.

  We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We have taken Froggy there every year.  I loved seeing the changes in her from year to year.  Some years we bring friends or manage to go more than once.  With the way the holidays fell out this year and all the rain we have had, we barely made it once.  The place we go is not huge yet we managed to spend all day there and still need to drag Froggy out at the end.   She went on the "big kid swing"  for the first time.   Pet the baby cows  Milked a pretend cow.  She was too afraid to milk the real one.   Helped Abba feed the baby goats.  She had so much fun we had to make two passes by them.    Though I think her favorite part was going down all the slides.

Not too much cooking on the plan list this week.  Thank goodness. I am cooked out.   Sunday - Bring Green bean and buckwheat Salad to the Sukkot Potluck. Monday -Beef Barley Soup and homemade bread Tuesday - Kasha Varnishkes and salad Wednesday - Dinner - Salad, Sweet Salmon , Rice, keem, Peas and for dessert she picked Poppop's Birthday Cake (Chocolate Chip banana) Thursday - Froggy's Birthday (According to the Hebrew Calendar) - She gets to choose all food. (starting with Dinner since that is when the day begins.  Breakfast - Cinnamon Rolls and fruit Lunch - Macaroni and Cheese Thursday - Pizza Party at Shul before services.  Shabbat- Challah - not round this week.  Chicken soup with wontons, Cranberry chicken , acorn squash, broccoli, apple crisp with parve vanilla ice cream

We brought our Sukkah from the old house with its wonderful painted cloth walls.   The Daddyman built it and found a good home for it in the new yard.  Froggy and I made salt dough decorations.  We made them in brief sittings over several days.  Day one we rolled and cut them. Day two we dried them even baking them in the oven.  Day Three we painted them.  Paper chains are more traditional but I wanted at least some decorations that would last the whole holiday and not melt in the rain.  It rained all day Erev Sukkot so we did not get to hang the decorations.  We stayed in the sukkah just long enough to make kiddush and motzi then came inside to eat dinner.  So today we hung the decorations and add Froggy's new handprint

  One of our fall family traditions is the RennFaire.  With no religious school due to the Columbus Day Weekend, we were able to go out early and spend the whole day.    We all got dressed up in our garb.  Froggy's still needs some more tailoring but she would not hold still for it this week. The Daddyman went straight to the tavern to listen to the concerts.  Froggy and I toured the shops and visited the children's play area.   We joined Daddyman in the tavern for some of the more child-friendly music.  Froggy danced and sang and had a blast.  At one point she caught sight of the rock wall and it captured her attention.  She has never expressed any interest in it before.  We watched the people climb for about 15 minutes while I answered all her questions about how it worked and why they did this or that or the other. Then she decided she wanted to try it.  She was so excited she vibrated.  She made friends wi...

One of our favorite Autumn traditions is apple picking.  We try to go before Rosh Hashana and use the apples we pick to dip in honey as we greet the New Year.  Often we have other homeschool families join us.  This year, we had to reschedule at the last minute to avoid some nasty weather and ended up going alone. We also tried a new orchard, Hartland Orchard. The new orchard had lots of variety but the fruit was not as good although the trees seemed well cared for. With lots of variety also comes lots trees. The orchard was huge.   Froggy showed how much she has grown this year by carrying her own bag and picking her own fruit. She did not pick many apples (there were not many she could reach on her own.) But she was very focused on the task.  She had tons of fun reading the marks on the trees and looking for whichever variety we wanted at the moment. When we finished, she was proud of her haul and did not want it mixed in with the apples Mom and Dad had picked...

  Today is our first day of school.  Last night after Havdalah, Froggy wrote her letter to the Backpack Fairy.    We tucked it in her backpack, hung the pack on her door along with her first day of school outfit which she picked out all by herself.  Then we tucked her into bed and tried to get her to go to sleep.  She was so excited she bounced for ages. The backpack fairy did not get much sleep either and was lame on the job leaving the letter behind unopened and leaving the new supplies and presents on the sofa rather than getting them into the pack to welcome the new student who woke with eagerness far far too early.  It is a wonderful thing that little people have such vivid imaginations and are so forgiving because she just accepted all our excuses without letting it spoil her morning one bit.  The letter the backpack fairy left in return helped some I think. Since she was up so early she got to go through her backpack at home and col...