Lionden Landing

Froggy kept with her new love of archery and chose Brave as the theme for her brithday this year. We had tons of fun planning it and getting ready.  I made her a Merida dress and hair extensions.  Since we have a tiny house, the party was held in the field across the street.  We made wisps for the guests to follow to our field  The grandparents brought a pavilion that turned into Merida's castle We made blue wisps to mark the path to the 'castle' As the guests arrived, they got to choose their family tartan and make their own coat of arms.   Our first game gave the girls an opportunity to feed the bear. Teams were created by the tartans the guests had chosen. They then moved on to catapult.  It was hysterical watching them try to throw the "log". Even with repeated demonstrations, the girls were determined to do it their own (nonfunctional) way. The final and most popular game was archery.  We made pvc bows as part...

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...

Sunday - out - soak beans Monday - Tacos with rice, black beans and salad - make bread dough Tuesday - Quinoa Corn Chowder and Bread Wednesday - left overs - make pie crust Thursday -Grandparents arrive - Coconut CrockPot Tofu , Rice, salad, pumpkin pop tarts Shabbat - Challah, gefilte fish,  tomato and spinach soup, orange chicken, green beans, honey roasted potatoes, chocolate pear crisp

Our Girl Scout Troop and their families spent the day making scarecrows.   We started the day by visiting the mill.  The mill was actually up and running and we got to see it in action.  The favorite part of the farm tour for the girls though was the blacksmith. He was so engaging that the girls did not want to leave the demonstartion.  Then came the scarecrow making.  Each family brought the old clothes of their choice and the farm provided the stuffing.  The structure came from a pair of pantyhose inside the clothes.    It was much more challenging than it sounded. The girls were full of determination though and overcame the challenge in very creative ways.   Once the hose were stuffed and the shirt on, it was time to add the pants.  Many of the girls brought their clothes so we had girl sized scarecrows.   Some families brought Dad's clothes and made a big scarecrow a  Froggy's scarecrow provided ...

For his birthday, Abba chose to go to RennFaire as his special day activity.  I helped them get all dressed up and sent them on their way.  They had a great day and then came home and we had cake and presents. 

Our household is split in the opinion of how a birthday should be counted.  Abba thinks the family should use only the Gregorian calendar so that is when we celebrate his birthday.  I think the family should the Hebrew calendar so that is when we celebrate my birthday.  Froggy rather than suffering from her parental lack of consensus gets two birthday celebrations.  Her Hebrew birthday is Shemini Atzertz which means that her birthday dinner is in the Sukkah every year weather permitting. This year we had friends join us. It was nice to have more children around the table.  It was a squeeze to fit that many people in my little sukkah but it was fun and the temperature was just right.  Froggy surprised us all by inviting her friend to help her blow out the candles.  The choices she makes never cease to amaze me.

Handwork (which includes the sewing machine) is a big part of life around here.  We put it aside some while Froggy was in her cast but here are some of our latest success. .  I usually make Froggy a beautiful new something for Rosh Hashana.  This year, I indulged and made something for me instead.  I have a very unusual body shape and have a hard time finding store bought tops that really fit me nice.  It is a joy to wear something where all  the seams sit where they are supposed to. I made a muslin just like a real seamstress and tailored to be be just right.    Froggy was not totally left out.  I made her a new carry all for her treasures from an old t-shirt.  I want a new bag for my sewing and this was a great way to test if I like the pattern/structure.  Answer is I do not. I want something more structured so I am still looking.   Froggy is working hard as well.  She is doing her very first ever embroide...

Schedule chaos has officially begun.  Cheshvan is going to be the hardest month schedule wise of the entire year.  Most weeks I am not home 6:30 or later by which time Abba is already working.  In addition, at least one night each week I work and do not get home until after Froggy is asleep. This makes cooking let alone eating as a family challenging. It makes the crockpot my new best friend.  Luckily the cooler weather makes us want eat more of the things that work well in the crockpot. Monday - Coconut Ginger Tofu and Rice - the recipe actually calls for chicken but we use tofu instead Tuesday - Pasta, salad and garlic bread Wednesday - Fish ala Jenn, rice and broccoli Thursday - Tomato spinach soup and bread Erev Shabbat -the menu was completely chosen by Abba in honor of his birthday so if the menu looks a little bipolar that is why. Challah Gefilte Fish, Matza ball soup, pulkogi, rice, asparagus, angel food cake with chocolate marshallow frosting...

This is the first year ever we have had no paper decorations in our Sukkah.  We try every year to have new decorations for the Sukkah.  (These photos were all taken after the holiday since I ran out of time before.  The table really did look more festive during the holiday.)   Our walls are fabric.  Every year we add a new handprint.  Typically it is is Froggy's right hand but this year the cast made it be her left. It will make for a helpful reminder years from now about exactly which year she broke her arm.  We also try to add more stamped fruit each year to fill it in.      We added a chandelier thanks to Design Megillah   We made polymer clay apple to welcome the Ushpizin .  One side is painted with the male guests and one with the female guests.    We also made little pumpkins and stars.  You can get an idea of the relative size in the picture below. I want to find a better way to han...

Today is our son, Orin's first yahrzeit.  He should be 1 today, blowing out candles and getting his first taste of cake.  He should be having his dol and choosing his future. He should be here in my arms snuggling and snoozing, giggling and making us giggle. Instead he is with HaShem and we are left here feeling his absence and crying.  Last night, we as a family went to minyan and said Kaddish then came home and lit a candle for him and a few special words to him.  While it burned we opened the box that came home from the hospital in his place for the first time.  We touched his tiny little hand print and foot print. We held the cap he wore.  And finally we looked at his picture and his beautiful sleeping face.  I wanted so much just to reach out and kiss him.  My heart aches with missing him.  Later today, we will go to the cemetery and put stones on his grave.  It will be our first time back since the funeral.  Due more of...

While we are still using Ambleside for the majority of our secular subjects, we chose Human Anatomy over their science this year.  We purchased the accompanying notebook and Froggy is using that for guide for her narrations.  Our first topic was cellular anatomy.  Froggy illustrated the structure of the cell as we read about it. She is so thrilled with the science that we actually struggle to contain the excitement enough that I can read the information to her.  The best part in her opinion is the projects that are included in the book.  This week's project was making an edible cell to demonstrate cellular anatomy.  Yellow jello formed the cytoplasm    Froggy added all of the organelles following the key I provided.  She had a blast deciding how many of each organelle and where they should be placed.     This is what it looked like when she finished adding the organelles  . And here is the unmo...

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...

Narrating is a challenge in our school year.  So this year, I decided to try some new things to help.  For several of our books , Froggy has been an alternate method of telling back to make it more interesting.  For one of our history books, we created puppets representing the historical figures.   I printed them out from here and covered them with contact paper. Then Froggy cut them out.  She insisted even with the cast on her dominate hand. Here is a finished sample  It is still very early in our school year, but so far they are a wonderful addition and make narrating this book more fun for both of us.

As we prepare to usher in 5774, we wanted to share some new tunes as well as some old favorites with you.   This is a new one shared from our Youth Director And this is still our favorite even after several years. This is not my style of apple dipping but you might like it

We love going to Asseteague.  Whether we stay in a hotel or camp right by the beach, it is an important tradition for our family.    After last year's comedy of errors, it was nice to have a trip that actually worked.  The weather was magnificent.  We did not have a single rain storm.  The weather was cooler than usual so we actually daylight hours out of the water.    After burying Froggy, it was Abba's turn.  The horses are wild but some of them are very friendly.   This one decided Abba needed kisses  While it was fun watching a mom and baby , it is even more cool watching the horses play in the surf.  With Abba's help, Froggy was actually able to fly the kite.     After many years of talking about it, we finally made it down to Chincoteague. It was not Auction weekend so there were no crowds but also no swimming foals.  The first stop was the visitor's center so Froggy could be ...