Lionden Landing

Sunday - Orange Chicken, quinoa and peas Monday - fish ala jenn rice and broccoli Tuesday - leftovers Wednesday - Tacos, rice and beans Thursday -Enchilada bake Shabbos Dinner challah mandu miso soup salmon rice green beans asian slaw and mishkan cake for dessert Shabbos Day rasberry rolls  mac and cheese aspargus quiche lemon bars

This is yet another busy week with more snow possible in the forecast. We are right in that area where even an inch of snow disrupts everything but where an inch is not frequently not unlikely. Monday - arrive home late. Dinner will likely be cheese and crackers in the car unless we are much earlier than anticipated. Tuesday - fish ala jenn rice and carrot sticks Wednesday - Tacos, black beans and rice. Thursday - Orange Chicken, quinoa and broccoli Shabbos - It is just our small family for Shabbos this week.  We are having what is fast becoming the safe default menu. Challah - We are back to my old basic recipe.  The experiments were fun and different but everyone agreed that they much prefer my traditional recipe.  Gefilte Fish Loaf - I am so tired of this but I cannot find anything else that others like to serve for a fish course.  Suggestions? Matzah Ball Soup - per Froggy's request. Herb Roasted Chicken Sauteed Green beans Roasted Root Veg...

We are getting close to the end of our anatomy study.  We have been examining the skin in detail.  Today we took the opportunity to play forensics and examine our fingerprints in depth. We left latent fingerprints on a couple of surfaces.  First we tried our plexiglass tabletopper but it was too large and cumbersome to "dust" well so we switched to a small piece of glass.     We "dusted" for prints using flour and my small sifter.   We lifted the prints using packing tape and kept them for prosperity by placing them on piece of dark construction paper.  This made it much easier to compare prints. 

It seems every recent visit to the zoo, we get to meet a new baby.  This time it was the baby panda, Bao Bao.     He was really cute and tons of fun to watch even if we did not get very good pictures.  He is about 4 months old here but brand new to walking.  He is actually trying to eat

We are heading out of town for a long weekend on Thursday so we have packing to add to an already crazy week.  To that end I am trying to keep the food simple.  I am finally getting around to trying the Chana Dal I keep saying I am going to make.   Sunday - Pasta, homemade sauce, salad and garlic bread Monday - Chana Dal , Naan and green beans Tuesday -Pizza and salad Wednesday - fish a la jenn, peas and rice Thursday - head out of town Baking - valentines cut out cookies Chocolate chip cookies Pumpkin bread

Yesterday marked a very special Shabbos for Froggy. After months of studying, she got her first opportunity to lead the congregation in Anim Zemirot .  She did an amazing job finding her voice after only the first couplet.  I know she was nervous but it did not show one bit.  Several people commented that she was one of the best of the gang in her pronunciation.  I was so proud of her I thought I was going to explode. If you are not familiar with this particular psalm, it is one of only two that pre-bnai mitzvah children are permitted to lead and the only one which is almost exclusively led by these special youngsters. I found this fun link of a Shabbaton choir leading it.

Review - I made chocolate caramel tart for dessert last week.  the caramel was much better than in the banana cake.   it softened outside of the fridge so we were able to cut the tart despite my fear.  it was yummy in the moment but the leftovers did not hold up.  On the other hand the blueberry coffee cake was so amazing that by Sunday evening it was gone and people were missing it.  Sunday -  Black Bean Enchilada Bake Monday -Out with Friends Tuesday - Pulled Chicken, Corn and Carrot Sitcks Wednesday - leftovers (make brisket) Thursday - orange chicken, quinoa and broccoli  (make gefilte fish loaf) Friday - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Tomato Spinach Soup , Wednesday Brisket, smashed potatoes, green beans, Fudge Pie, coffee cake, raspberry swirl rolls Froggy is going through a super picky phase and very sensitive to textures.  She is down to basically three things she will eat for breakfast and three for lunch.  So I a...

I tried this new recipe for Shabbat this past week.  It was a long process because I needed to make the caramel sauce from scratch tso it would be parve. There may be a commerical parve caramel sauce but if so I have never found it.   I use this recipe for the sauce.  I have used it before and love it. Unfortunately this time I cooked it a bit too long this time which made it hard to swirl through batter.  You can see where the caramel stuck to the bottom of the pan where I baked it because it was not swirled well. The finished product turned out pretty well.  I loved it and even went back for seconds which is very rare or me.  Abba liked it as well and has been munching the leftovers all week.

We are working on senses this week for science.  Froggy is used to all sorts of the standard vision games and activities due to the problems with her eyes.  So we wanted to do experiment with color vision.  We had a friend over and we all took turns trying to distinguish colors in a dimly lit room.     We used just a standard box of colored pencils and wrote with that pencil the color we thought it was.   These are our results.

Monday - Orange Chicken, Rice and broccoli Tuesday - Pizza and salad Wednesday - out with friends Thursday - Chana Dal, Naan and broccoli Shabbat Dinner is extra fancy this week because we are having special guests Sangria ,  Challah,  gefilte fish loaf,  matza ball soup,  yummy store bought salad mix,  apricot chicken,   roasted root veggies,   borekahs,  chocolate caramel tart blueberry coffee cake Shabbat luncheon -at shul Dinner after havdalah - Stuffed peppers

This will forever forward be a special parsha for me.  I read the first aliyah at Mincha this past Shabbat. This was a terrifying, yet very awe-inspiring moment.  I know several of my friends feel that it is inappropriate for women to participate in services.  I disagree. This past April, a good friend of mine asked me to read at the Bar Mitzvah of her oldest.  I had to decline due to a lack of skill.  It was sad not to be able to share in the joy and specialness of the day like that.  I made a promise to myself never to be in that position again.  Studying parsha is good and interesting.  Listening to being read on Shabbos morning is special. But actually being up there reading it myself from the sacred parchment was so much more spiritual. To me it marked a change in my relationship to HaShem in a similar manner as becoming Bat Mitzvah did.

We had three snow days this past week.  We used that time to start working on Froggy's valentines for her friends.  We got the design from here To start the adventure, we made homemade glitter glue.   It was super easy  and made tons as you can see. Then we added the glitter.  Froggy picked the colors from the wonderful stash Grandma gave her.  While the glue cooled, Froggy cut out all the hearts,  We used cardstock but construction paper would also work. Then she used one of our tiny cookie cutters to dip in the glue and stamp on the hearts

With the introduction of OT twice a week, we have been forced to change up our schedule.  I am using this opportunity to try to create a new rhythm to our days and our week.  Froggy needs time to practice the skills she working on in OT as well as work on some other very important non-academic learning. Daily Rhythm Wake Up (roughly 8am) Get Dressed Morning Prayers Breakfast, Parsha Time and Telling Back OT break - play one or more (time depending) of the games assigned Major Outing  (Starts roughly 10am - ends by dinner if we are lucky) School part 2 in the car Lunch is a picnic Dinner OT break - play a different OT Game Grace and Courtesy excersize Bedtime Weekly Rhythm Sunday - We don't get to follow our regular daily rhythm as religous school starts at 9.  We are lucky if we are home by 6:30pm. Monday - 4H - one of our easier days of the week - introduce our new grace and courtesy topic for the week Tuesday - OT / Ice Skating / Religiou...

 Last week, I over planned our food and we ended up eating many leftovers and not cooking as much as I had thought.  The stuffed squash was a lose and will not be repeated.  The peppermint patties were fun to make and delicious to eat.  We did not get to the sesame chicken so it is on our menu again.  It is a short week for us as we head out of town early Thursday morning.  Sunday -  Tacos, yellow rice and beans and carrot sticks. Monday - Pizza and salad (sauce is already in the fridge) Tuesday - Honey Sesame Chicken, Rice and Broccoli Wednesday - leftovers (clean out the fridge) Food for the road- Cinnamon Rolls Truffles Chocolate Chip Cookies Cheese and crackers pretzels trail mix (need to make more)

We played a new game, Last Night on Earth ,  this past Shabbos.  It was recommended by a friend with a great track record for picking good games.  Based soley off of her description of the game, I ordered it.  It is a team-based strategy game. In that respect it is different than any other game we own.  From the manufacturer, "Last Night on Earth The Zombie Game is a fast-paced game of brain-eating zombies, small town heroes and horror movie action. Players take on the role of either the heroes, working together to make it through the night or the zombies, unending waves of undead spreading over the town like a plague. Featuring a modular board, eight heroes to choose from and several different scenarios to play that drastically change the game. Last Night on Earth is designed to create a cinematic feel as the story and game unfolds." We played the three girls against Abba.  The girls played the humans while Abba controlled the zombies.  I...

It has been a delightful break but it is time to get back to work.  Froggy and I both kick the schedule back into high gear this week.  Her new term of extracurriculars starts this week as well we have added Occupational Therapy twice a week.  And I start back to work.  Luckily my evening class is over leaving me gone during dinner only twice a week. Monday- Stuffed Acorn Squash and Salad Tuesday -  Soup and Fresh bread Wednesday - Honey Sesame Chicken, Rice, peas Thursday -Tacos, rice, beans, carrot sticks Shabbat - Challah (using a new recipe from Artisan Breads - the same basic dough I will use for the sticky buns) Gefilte Fish Loaf (already in the freezer), Tomato Spinach Soup, Apricot Chicken, Broccoli, Wild Rice Pilaf, Peppermint Patties , molasses cookies and pecan sticky rolls . * People have asked what kind of salad we have and why we eat salad so often.  The answer is very simple.  It is just a basic chopped salad of mixed veget...

Each term, we choose a person from our focus time period to study further.  Froggy loves delving further into one of people in our history books.  She feels it really brings them to life.  One of our favorite biographical author is Diane Stanley .  Right now we are reading, The Good Queen Bess.  We have also read Joan of Arc and Michelangelo .  Later this year we will also read The Bard of  Avon.  We have read biographies by other authors and they just do not have the long term impact as Ms. Stanley's books.  I believe the key to the enjoyment of these books is the glorious illustrations.  They make the story more alive and captivating.  But beautiful illustrations would not compensate for a poor story.  These books have both.  I strongly recommend these books over other biographies whenever possible.  My only complaint is that there are too few to choose from.

After learning about the composition of the blood, Froggy followed it on its path through the heart.  She investigated the valves and looked at the differences in the muscles. 

As we continued our anatomy study, we moved from breathing to blood.  Froggy built this model of blood as a method of telling back but also an opportunity for Froggy to teach her friend J.(roughly the same age) in a way both of them enjoyed. Our model only had four ingredients like blood only has four main components.  The plasma is made from corn syrup.  We used about a cup.  The color is similar to plasma.  It took some convincing before J would believe that the majority of blood is really that color. We used red hots for the red blood cells.  As you can see in the picture they share their color with the entire mixture as real red blood cells do. White jelly beans represented the white blood cells and gave the children a chance to see the relative proportions.  Sprinkles were added for the platelets.  Ours were bigger than they really should have been but close enough.  Froggy even demonstrated how they work by mashing t...

Sunday - Pasta, Salad, Garlic Bread Monday - Pulled Chicken, Peas,potato wedges Tuesday - NYE - out with friends Wednesday -fish ala jenn, broccoli and rice and ginger pears cookies for Rosh Chodesh Thursday -leftovers Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Matza ball soup, Apricot chicken, green beans, a bagged salad mix, roasted root veggies, and moo-less chocolate cream pie