Ahh, nothing like a baby bath picture to soothe the savage beast... Okay, now for some of my projects. I will start with health and wellness... I am on a quest to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet. Mostly for my dear father-in-law (FIL). I like to be able to say, "Yeah, I already do that," to anyone who likes to tell me how to better feed my family, especially my FIL. He is on the cutting edge of health news, and knew all about the benefits of Vitamin D and our special problem with sun exposure, way before my peditrician did. High fructose corn syrup is in my favorite affordable whole wheat bread. And in my favorite affordable pancake syrup. I'm not interested in paying $20 per bottle for the real maple syrup (or $4.99 for a loaf of bread), especially when all kids want is something sweet on their pancakes. So I whipped up a giant batch of vanilla/molasses syrup over the weekend, tested it on my toughest customer, and canned enough to last us the rest of winter. For just a few pennies. Actually, with the canning lids it was probably a buck.Who is my toughest customer? The one that won't eat her veggies unless I make it a point to ask her if she has had any veggies with her dinner. The one who begrudgingly takes a small spoonful and chokes them down with milk. At eighteen years of age. Although last night she actually asked for seconds of one of my smoothie concoctions...
Sorry about this picture being dark. You can see My Pathetic Doberman licking her chops in anticipation of that mushy banana on the high chair tray. So, smoothies. Yeah... I'm still making them every day. Last night's smoothie was half of an old avocado, a canister packed full of spinach, some orange juice (to keep the blades from sticking), a handful of frozen strawberries (eveything tastes better cool), and a bit of cranberry applesauce that I made from some old, wrinkled apples. And A came upstairs on her own for more! The avocado made the smoothie so... smooth.Another smoothie flavorite (get it?) is pumpkin banana.
Next project: Knitting! I've been knitting wool pants for cloth diapering for a long time. I can't help it. They are addictive. One basic pattern, endless opportunities for color and patterns! And they are usefull! And people pay $80 a pair online for these babies! But last night, I finished the gusset on a pair of pants, held them up, and realized they are so huge they would fit IJ! I swear I measured my gague before starting! I rarely do, because if pants are too big now they won't be later. But these were huge! I threw my knitting on the floor, stomped downstairs, and exclaimed to A, "I'm done with knitting! I will never knit again!" and stomped back upstairs. I looked at my yarn stash. I hated everything I had. I couldn't stand thinking about all my projects I had lined up that seemed so exciting over the weekend. I was ready to sell the whole thing and reclaim my two closet shelves for something else (bulk grain perhaps?). And then Dearest M came home from the library, toting a knitting book that I have been waiting for for years, that just came out and is in High Demand at the library. Mason-Dixon Knitting. The funniest knitting books ever written. My heart nearly stopped when I read the tip to turn Fair Isle in the round inside out while you knit so the stranding doesn't bunch. My stranding is always too tight! I can't wait to start F's Christmas stocking!
Yeah, so I changed my mind about knitting. I'm done knitting wool pants (for a while). I'm back to cotton dishrags (and Christmas stockings). Specifcally, cotton dishrags that have buttoned tabs to wrap around mops (instead of those nasty smelling throw away swiffers).
Speaking of books... Go, S, Go! Look at that boy go! M has been listening to his children read him this book for fifteen years now. And he read it to his parents long before that. Go, Dog, Go! by P. D. Eastman is one of the best sight-word readers for kids ever written. S, my unschooled self-starter, cruised through his Fun Tales, his Bob books, and is now tackling our I Can Read It! series along with Dr. Suess on his own. He is reading like he is doing math. He is forcing me, once again, to redo my curriculum. It won't be long before I can just combine S and IJ into one study-buddy group. Even though he prefers to color and play with his little buddy, E.For the next two weeks, we (and every other homeschooler in this country) will be taking a special trip back in time to learn about the first Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims and all that stuff. We are reading The Magic Treehouse book Thanksgiving on Thursday along with the research guide. Plus some other fun stuff.
