Chinese New Year Party

It's been awhile since we have had a party. What better reason to celebrate than Chinese New Year. 

This works even better for us, because Chinese New Year begins on the first New Moon of the Year and lasts for a week. We got to choose what day worked best for all our schedules. 

Chinese Dragon Crafts ~ Year of the Dragon

Syndi is amazing at prep work. She planned the crafts and pre-cut all the materials! One of my biggest pitfalls in homeschooling is the failure to prep prior to needing the materials.

We began by reading about how the Chinese Celebrate. We figured out that we had a Dog, Rat, Pig, Dragon, Monkey, Sheep, Chicken and Tiger in our mix! Talk about a variety of personalities. We did read them what the beliefs were but were sure to discuss the fact that we didn't believe in horoscopes. 

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Calendar. It is a type of huge birthday celebration as well, because custom has it that you don't turn a year older until the New Year    Celebration. So even if your birthday is in May you don't officially turn a year older until the New Year  Festivities~ That would give me an extra 6 months!

The Chinese also decorate windows and doors with red lanterns for wealth, good fortune, happiness and longevity. I still have the lanterns strung in the dining room because they make me happy! 

It is Chinese tradition to cleanse the entire house to sweep away ill fortune and make room for good luck. I am so thankful that I have hope in Jesus Christ and don't have to depend on luck. 

Although I felt quite lucky to be treated to Chinese Food. 

 One of the best parts of our Chinese New Year Celebration involved eating Chinese Food! Shockingly, my children did not like sweet and sour! Jess and I are shameless, we put our favorites to the back and served the children more of the foods we don't care for as much.

 My mother in law always says, "With rank comes privilege." I'm just going to go with that! 

I must admit that Justice has me totally wrapped around his finger. Look at those cheeks and the concentration.

I love that all our celebrations involve such a huge variety of ages. I made Red and Gold play dough for the children and Liberty so incredibly excited to play with it, she could hardly wait. I also appreciate the fact that the older children are able and willing to help the youngers and more importantly help clean up after them. 

Justice, Jess and Ian

Syndi brought a variety of pictures to color, some ribbon dragons for each family, the lanterns, and researched several games for the children to play. 

Paisley and Abigail are the only ones  missing from this photo! 

Jake playing a number game. 

A game involving picking up beans with chopsticks. You would have been amazed at the level of competition involved on this one! 

In the morning, children greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Much to their disappointment, we opted not to give our children money in red envelopes. 

Isobel and Ruby 

Liberty and Justice

Savannah 

We had fun eating and reading fortune cookies. I think we can easily say that we are blessed, have prosperity, happiness, health and joy in our lives. It is always fun to turn a learning opportunity into a party with friends.

Third Annual Historical Harvest Party

 Sunday evening brought our much anticipated Historical Harvest Party. In years past we have included a  larger audience. This year however, was much more intimate. We had just 4 families and were treated to amazing hospitality by Ben's grandparents. They welcomed us with this amazing banner that included all the children's names.

 It was amazing how much better the presentations were this year. Is it because the children are older, or was the home setting more comfortable for them?
Jake did a super job informing all of us about George Washington.

 Ben and Aaron stuck with our Civil War history theme and were opposing Generals, with Ben on the Union side representing Ulysses S. Grant and Aaron with Virginian blood in his veins, General Robert E. Lee. I think Ben really liked it when Aaron had to surrender.

 All three boys were proud of their dress swords. Ben scrimped and saved and purchased his own sword, Aaron's was a treasure from my father, and Jake borrowed his dad's NRA sword.

 Savannah did a super job informing us about Katherina Von Bora, who was an amazing help meet for Martin Luther. Savannah's presentation showed how much she has matured over the last year. This year she was articulate and made eye contact and was engaging.

 When Taylor found this dress at Goodwill she knew exactly who she wanted to be for the Harvest Party ~ Martha Washington. I learned that Martha did not support George in is Candidacy for President of the newly formed United States, but she played the role of First Lady with dignity and honor. She served her country in the trenches (literally) and raised two of her grandchildren. Also, Aaron's character, Robert E. Lee married the granddaughter of Martha Washington.

Martha and George Washington

 Jake and Taylor discovered each other's characters shortly before the party and were surprised. I think most 10 year old boys would be horrified, but Jake humored us and even posed for a picture with his 'wife'.

 Everett did a Karate demonstration complete with the history and meaning of Karate! Have I ever told you how amazing  Everett's mom is? I told her I think I need to call her Saint Tami. She not only found the jacket I was looking for for Aaron's costume but made it as well! Yes, in all her free time homeschooling, being an amazing wife and mother (training a puppy) and serving wherever needs served she took a HUGE serving off my plate and made Aaron's costume! Thank you doesn't seem sufficient.

 We were also treated to glimpses in the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Ruby, and Egyptian Princess by Isobel, and Daniel Boon by Erik. Probably my favorite was Ian's presentation of George Mueller. George was a 'naughty boy' when he was young and most people were unfamiliar with his life, so they were entertained by Ian's little voice telling about this swindler who later grew up to be The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans. If you have not read his story get this book.

 As parents of homeschoolers we don't have many opportunities to see our children perform. We were all proud of our children and their hard work getting ready. Thank you so much to Syndi for planning this annual event, and for Ray and Peggy for sharing your beautiful home with us!

 After the presentations we enjoyed way too many delicious desserts. My mom and Kimberly even brought a special gluten, dairy and egg free dessert for Taylor and Erik. Their gift and their presence were a blessing.

Of course, no event could be complete without the clashing of swords, at least not for these boys.

Happy Birthday Mom!

5 years ago began a wonderful tradition of celebrating my mom with her closest friends. I am honored to be included among these beautiful women. Kelly is the best hostess. She always has a theme and everything is centered around that. I never knew that dandelions could be beautiful, but Kelly makes them beautiful.

Not only does she have the knack for decorating but her culinary skills are amazing! We had turkey rice soup, cantaloupe, strawberries, and chicken salad. She also had these cute little veggie cups! Notice the flower salt and pepper shakers too! each place setting had it's own little set.

Among the group several have special dietary needs and Kelly always takes those into consideration and provides foods that everyone can eat!

Of course food is a central part of the day, however the main focus it to celebrate who my mom is. This year she gave each and every one of us a special blessing by telling us how we are a blessing to her. We also shared our triumphs and struggles in this past year.

We celebrated Sarah's birthday on Saturday, then Sean took the children home and Taylor and I stayed. We enjoyed a pedicure, and shopping, then stayed up way too late talking. Sunday morning we went to church and out to an amazing breakfast. Taylor and Kimberly went to my God-mother's and got a taste of Greenlake and mom and I went to Kelly's! After the party we all went to see Weston Fields (a classmate of my mom's) speak about his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was amazing.

Naturally no get together with 8 women (2 of the original 10 were not able to make it this year~we missed you terribly Hazel and Celinda) is complete without chocolate. I enjoy baking and trying new recipes. This year's Chocolate Molten Cake is probably one of the easiest (don't tell) and was among the top favorites!

Chocolate Molten Cake

10 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate

1/2 Cup Butter

Melt together in a double boiler and cool slightly

whisk:

6 egg yolks

6 whole eggs

3 cups powdered sugar

whisk into chocolate mixture then add:

1 Cup flour

Grease Ramekins really well and bake at 450 For 6-8 minutes

Turn onto a dessert plate and garnish with vanilla whip cream and chocolate shavings

When you take a bite of the cake the center will flow out like molten lava, hence the name.

The key to a great tasting cake is the quality of the chocolate, I used 70% bittersweet chocolate found at Chocolate Necessities, it is $9 a pound and worth every penny!

Green Eggs and Ham

In an effort to expose the children to great literary works we threw together an impromptu celebration of the life of Theodore Geisel, also know as Dr. Seuss!

What better way to start the day than with children reading to other children.

I said to Syndi, "Dr. Seuss' Birthday is March 13th, we should do something." She said it sounded like a wonderful idea! Then, yesterday she called and said, "Actually Dr. Seuss' birthday was March 2, should we go ahead with the plan to have a party?"

I agreed and Syndi and Ben came over for Green Eggs and Ham breakfast, I think it would have been easier to make green scrambled eggs, but I really do not like scrambled eggs so I faked it!

Ian was shocked that I would make him eat that! He really thought that it was for decoration and that I would make him 'real' food.

Nope, only green eggs this morning!

I love the way Ruby is watching Ben read to her. She really likes, "Oh The Places You'll Go"

The Cat in the Hat Hats were one of the highlights of the day, and it was really difficult for the children to move on to another activity until every single had was eaten! I gave away the top part of mine but the brim was delicious.



We played a Cat in the Hat game. Seeing who could balance the most plates on cups and walk back and forth to get more. Syndi was the winner with 6 plates and 6 cups!
Taylor held the record at 5 each until she was bested by Synid, so she had to try again! You could almost see the thoughts in her brain (If she can do it, so can I)! Alas, she was only able to get 5 again, but she did make it further than the first time.

This game required quite a bit of concentration for the boys. The girls had the unfair advantage of patience and grace!

We made my absolute favorite craft after reading The Lorax. Ruby wanted her Truffula Trees to all be purple!

We read and read and read some more! We observed the drawings, discussed the words, tried some tongue twisters and rhyming.

We read Horton Hears a Who and made some adorable clovers with a speck of dust on them.

Of course, we could not forget Batholomew and the Oobleck! I think the Oobleck was Erik's favorite! He stayed at it long after everyone else lost interest.

When Sean and Aaron got home from Scouts tonight Sean asked me, "Why are Aaron's hands green?"

Trappers and Traders

This week was Project Week for History! Have you ever seen a more eager group of children celebrate history? Syndi planned a wonderful Rendez-Vous Party! She even went to the pond and collected sticks for the tent! We were afraid the tent was going to fall down because my cats loved it! We 'jokingly' said that we could skin the cats, and use their furs to trade with. Erik took it quite literally and kept telling Jess that he likes the cats and would be really sad if we did that.
She assured him that PETA would be all over it and we would not be allowed to do it. He was relieved.

The day started with the children finding cards that had beavers on it and going to the scout (Syndi) to trade for items that they would need.

Savannah drives a hard bargain and got the most for her fur!

The best looking Scout in camp!

It was a tough choice to pick the most useful and cool items. The scout had bear claws, corn husk dolls, beaded necklaces and bracelets, beads, feathers, and real antler buttons!

On a side note, I put Ruby down for a rest before the party (at 10:30am) and she fell asleep! She must have really needed it, I woke her up at 2:00 so she would not miss the whole party. I guess I now know why the morning was so tough.

Jake demonstrates some Indian Sign used in story telling. All the children shared stories, we began in the tent but moved inside due to inclement weather.

The Trappers and Traders had to endure some of the harsh conditions in order to practice throwing tomahawks and knives in the camp.

The children even got to try to start fires without the use of matches! This was one of the most exciting parts of the day! Probably because they are not usually allowed to play with fire.

The children were all eager to answer questions related to what they have learned so far! It makes all the effort worth it when you see how much they know and have retained and how excited they all are about history.

Liberty discovered that Syndi was handing out M&M's for correct answers. It was pretty cute to watch the boys share their hard earned and coveted candy with the baby. Libby quickly learned that she could plow though and sign please and would be rewarded!

We finished off the party by heading to the pond and letting the children shoot their BB Guns and Slingshots!

Another side note: recently, Sean took Erik to the local sporting store so Erik could buy his own Slingshot. Erik said to Sean, "Thank you so much for taking me Papa! This slingshot is going to change my life!"

Jess and I were feeling quite guilty sitting in the nice warm truck with the little boys and Libby while Syndi and Jason took all the children out in the rain to practice their hunting skills. We were soon joined by Ruby, Taylor, Savannah and Ian.