Homemade Alphabet Book: L

 

L is for lavender, lemon yellow, lambs, ladybug, and Legos.

Baby Food Independence

When Baby Shortstop turned 6 months old in November, I started him on solid food- his first taste of food happened to also be his favorite- butternut squash.  I have a Baby Beaba- a little device for steaming food and pureeing it all in one little perfect sized spot- which I love.  So, that month, I got some green beans, some butternut squash, some peas, some apples, some sweet potatoes and such and I froze little ice cubes of pureed food.   He liked it, and it is such sweet, adorable fun to feed a baby at first.  But, after awhile- especially with baby #4- it becomes a chore and even at times, a battle.

By January, I ran out of those ice cubes.  I was just starting to think that I should probably have another baby food cook day when I ran across an article which led me (I often find myself getting lost wandering down the rabbit hole of clicks and links on the internet) to the website Baby Led Weaning.

The “essence of baby led weaning,”  is that starting at around 6 months, “You just hand them the food in a suitably-sized piece and if they like it they eat it and if they don’t they won’t.” 

I wasn’t too interested in any theory behind it or any study claiming this or that… but I was struck by the thought: My baby is ready to feed himself?  No more waving spoon airplanes in front of baby’s tightly closed mouth? Sweet! I don’t need to have a baby food cook day after all!  I get out of some work!  The lure of a life of ease- or at least a little bit of an easier life- hooked me.

Thus our fourth-baby self-feeding adventure began.  It has been wonderful.  I give him some of whatever is appropriate from the meal I am feeding everyone else.  And I just don’t worry about how much he eats- if he wants to eat it, great.  If he doesn’t, that’s alright too.  Though I don’t really have to worry at all because he is like a vacuum.  I plop some food on his tray, turn my attention to my other children for a minute or two and wow!  His tray is empty.  Thankfully, there were a few times I was able to get some pictures and boy is it cute!  Messy, but adorable!

I started pretty simple- banana, sliced cooked apple (steamed in that Baby Beaba), and cut up baked sweet potato.

I Like to Eat, Eat, Eat Apples and Bananas …and Sweet Potato

Then blueberry oatmeal, which is quick oatmeal I made for the older kids anyway, mixed with frozen blueberries- which cools the oatmeal off nicely- and a dash of cinnamon and sugar-

Little Boy Blue

Then I started feeding him from whatever we were eating- like chunks of baked potato-

Potato Smiles

A frequently requested lunch at my house is quesadillas and avocado and he managed pretty well with that.

Delighted to Munch his Lunch

Then he seriously inhaled the Shepherd’s Pie I made for dinner- browned ground beef, frozen mixed vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes and baked-

Messy Man

He also loved the mac n’ cheese mixed with the frozen veggies (I love these- I love that they are already chopped for me and that they cool off hot meals so quickly! I use them alot!)

Stuffin’ his face

One of his favorite foods is strawberries.  He also likes pancakes.

Breakfast time!

Other things he’s enjoyed- Santa Fe Chicken, spaghetti with mushrooms and sausage (all chopped up), steamed baby carrots and asparagus, chopped up cucumbers and pears, mandarin oranges, pita bread with hummus, toast.

One thing I did not expect- but should have- was that once he had his first taste of independence, that was it.  There was no going back.  He now must hold the metaphorical or literal utensil.  He waves his arms madly around trying to grab any utensil I might be holding- to say, attempt to feed him some of the oatmeal so as to avoid some of the mess.

In conclusion, on the one hand of this baby-led-weaning is mess.  On the other hand: freedom!  And I sure do enjoy the freedom.

I do have to add that I still use those little squeezy pouches of baby food when we go out.  Ah, they are just so easy and Shortstop likes them, as long as he is the one holding the pouch.

Memorable Moments: Weeks 23 & 24, Israel

Our study of Israel encompassed our 12 Days of Easter- we began our study of Israel and then folded in our Easter fun- thus we read several fun Passover books (mentioned in the Favorite Picture Books of Easter post), and then went back to focusing on the nation of Israel after Easter.

Here are the highlights from school the past two weeks-

Bible– We finished up the stories from the book of Joshua.  We learned the song, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, which we all love.  My son’s next Awana verse was Joshua 24:24, “And the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and obey Him.'”  This verse was present in our last story and X was so excited to recognize that as his verse!

“Trip Around the World”–

Count Your Way Through Israel- a fun way to learn about the nation of Israel.

It Could Always Be Worse A Yiddish Folk Tale- We all laughed our way through this very amusing folk tale about a man and his many children who live together in a small dwelling.  Somehow, it rang quite personally true and brought back memories of our last home.  It was quite a good reminder to be content.

Yuvi’s Candy Tree– We also really enjoyed this picture book based on the true story of a young girl who escaped from Ethiopia and made her way with her family to Israel.  It was powerful and uplifting- what a great ending!

First Rain- My kids really liked this story of a girl who moves away from her grandma with her family to Israel.  It was particularly emotionally significant to my children because their grandma (my mom) moved across the country last summer.  So they were able to easily relate to this story.

I plan to read the one last book we borrowed from the library: Never-Ending Greenness.

Phonics,Math, Copywork- We are still plugging away at our copywork through Delightful Handwriting.  My daughter absolutely loves copywork time.  In math, we’ve been focusing on coins, dozens, and working with tally marks.  In phonics, we’ve been continuing to work through the Victory Drill Book- the kids are having a lot of fun with it.

Adventure- My mom visited the week before Easter and as she has been missing California, we took her to the beach and to the redwoods.  We all had a great time!

A Walk in the Woods

These are the seeds that grow into that giant tree!

A rest in a huge tree stump

Playing in the sand

Eating the sand (Z must have passed the habit down to his little bro)

Kickin’ back

Sand and Surf

Our books for next week are ready and waiting!  We’ll be studying other countries of the Middle East.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Favorite Easter Picture Books

1.  Petook An Easter Story – We love this story!  A great tale of a rooster present at the first Easter Sunday.

2.  Jan Brett’s The Easter Egg– A sweet story with robins, eggs, and bunnies.  A beautiful tale of compassion.

3.  The Matzah Man A Passover Story- My children recognized this as a version of The Gingerbread Man and it was quite a fun read.

4.  The Matzah That Papa Brought Home– I really enjoyed the rhythm of this story and it told the traditions of the Passover well.

5.  The Parable of the Lily- A cute story about a little girl who gets an Easter lily bulb as a gift from her father.  We always read this the day of our Easter countdown that we get our Easter lily.

6.  Bunny’s Easter Egg- Fun story with really cute illustrations.  This is really a story for our younger children, but all of the kids really get into hunting for the Easter eggs in the pages.

7.  The Story of Easter by Christopher Doyle- Of all the picture books that relate the Easter story, I like this one the best.

And here is a question for any of you- did anyone of you ever read the story, Haffertee’s First Easter?  I remember reading this very fun and brief chapter book about a little stuffed hamster who learns the meaning of Easter when I was a child.  My mother and sister don’t remember it!  I think my grandma may have bought me the book.  Boy, that was a cute story.  It is part of a whole series about Haffertee.  If I can’t find it buried in some book box that arrived in my garage when my mom cleared out hers and gave me all of my old stuff, I might have to pick up a used copy on Amazon.

Homemade Alphabet Book: K

K is for our Princess K, kisses, Koalas, Kitties, and Koopa paratroopers.

The 12 Days of Easter

Every Christmas, I have an Advent House that we use to count down the days until Christmas.  Kids awake each morning to find nuts or treats and a little card that tells us what special activity we are going to do that day.  It is so much fun.  I feel strongly that since the story that started at Christmas comes to a spectacular and staggering climax at Easter, I want to emphasize this holiday just as much as I emphasize Christmas.  With that in mind, I started “The Twelve Days of Easter” two years ago.  The first year, we did all kinds of fun crafts.  This year, we did fewer crafts, but still managed to get the important parts in.  Here’s what we do for the 12 Days of Easter…

The 12th Day Before Easter

Creating a Countdown Chain

On the 12th Day Before Easter…

An Easter Basket was waiting on the kitchen table in the morning.  A card read, “12 pieces of chalk to draw and play remind us that Jesus is the way.”

Right before breakfast, when all the kids were awake, I sent them into the living room to find one Easter Egg each.  When they brought them to the table they found a leaf, a little donkey (from my nativity set), and a little coat (from K’s Calico Critters).  They were told to look for these things while I told the story.  I read them the story of the Triumphal Entry (using flannelgraph) while they ate breakfast.

That morning, they took the chalk outside to the patio and had fun drawing princesses and eggs and all sorts of pictures.  Later, they each made a countdown chain to hang in their rooms so they could count down the days until Easter.  Two years ago, we acted out the story and I’d like to do that again.

The 11th Day Before Easter

On the 11th Day Before Easter…

An Easter basket was waiting on the kitchen table in the morning.  A card read, “11 sticks all glowing and bright remind us that Jesus is the light.”  They immediately took these glow sticks into their closet.  It was amusing to hear them and see them when I peeked my head in the closet- all three stuffed in there, waving their glow sticks around.

We did not have a story this day because we were headed to Wednesday Morning Bible Study and didn’t have time.  I would have liked to have the kids paint or make a light catcher for the window, but I didn’t get that far this year.  Maybe next year.

The 10th Day Before Easter

On the 10th Day Before Easter…

An Easter basket was waiting on the kitchen table in the morning.  A card read, “10 Balloons that float like doves show us He is from above.”

They were again sent into the living room before breakfast to find one egg each.  In them, they found coins, feathers, a little sheep (again from the nativity set).  They looked for these things in the story of the Cleansing of the Temple I read to them while they ate breakfast.

They were so excited to play with their balloons that morning!  What fun we all had!

On the 9th Day Before Easter…

An Easter basket was waiting on the kitchen table with an Easter Lily plant inside.  “Beautiful blossoms, fragrant and white remind us that Jesus is the life.”

In their eggs, they found hair (a little pink braid that you can clip in your hair), a cotton ball of perfume, and a table (from the Calico Critter set- it fit in one of the jumbo sized eggs).  They looked for these as they ate their breakfast and listened to the story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet.

On the 8th Day Before Easter…

Honestly, we did not do anything on this day.  We were very busy getting ready for my mom’s arrival and did not manage to do anything but that.  However, the plan was to have an Easter basket waiting on the table with a card: “8 packets of wonderful seeds for you to plant in the ground.  Jesus is the resurrection.  In Him true life is found.”

Next year, I’d like to take this day to do Easter Egg spin art or make a paper mache tomb, or start our garden.

On the 7th Day Before Easter…

This is Palm Sunday, so our basket was presented at dinner time.  In it they found 7 baby animal stickers and an Easter egg for each kid with 7 little sweet tarts (baby chicks, bunnies, ducks) inside.  “7 baby animals having fun remind us that Jesus is God’s own Son.”

This is the day that we went to the “Journey to the Cross,” hosted by a nearby church (where we attend Awana).  We went last year and it was a wonderful experience.  It was a beautiful time that Scotty and I got to spend with our children, literally walking and talking them through the truths taught at Easter.

On the 6th Day Before Easter…

They found an Easter basket with little sheep snuggling 6 eggs with treats inside.  “Little sheep caring for 6 eggs. ‘I am the Good Shepherd,’ He said.”  They were delighted with their treats which they ate at once.

The story this morning was about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet, so the boys each found a washcloth inside the egg they found.  K found a little bowl and pitcher (from her Calico Critter set) in hers.

Later that day, I traced their feet and they sponge painted them, as we’ve done for the past two years.  Whenever I’m able to track the last feet down, it will be neat to see how they’ve grown.

On the 5th Day Before Easter…

An Easter basket was waiting on the table for them, with a card that read, “5 slices of bread, a tasty treat. ‘I am the bread of life,” said He.”  We then used them to make French Toast.

The story this morning was on the last supper, so each child found a cracker in the egg they found.

This wasn’t officially part of our Easter celebration, but we did attend a field trip with our homeschool group- we went to the Compassion International event that a local church was hosting- “Change the Story: The Compassion Experience.”  We support a little boy and a little girl through Compassion International and I thought it would be a good experience for my older two children to see what our support does.  This was truly an amazing event.  It brought tears in my eyes to hear the stories of these children whose lives were changed through the Compassion program.  It happened to fit with our day’s theme- Jesus really is the bread of life.  Even for children who do not have enough bread.

On the 4th Day Before Easter…

An Easter basket was waiting for them on the table.  “4 clusters of grapes on which to dine remind us that Jesus is the vine.”

We were off to the beach that day (for my mom who has missed the Pacific Ocean), so we didn’t have time for a story, but we did take those grapes to the beach with us!  They sure were tasty.  Until my kids took the box with them as they played.  Then they sure got sandy.  Ick.

On the 3rd Day Before Easter…

They found toothbrushes in their Easter basket this morning with a card that read, “Here are 3 brushes to clean your tooths and remind you that Jesus is the truth.”  I have never seen my kids brush their teeth more often than they did on this day.  I had to go kick them out of the bathroom at one point.  Apparently, a Darth Vader or Stormtrooper or Princess toothbrush is quite motivating for small children.

In their eggs this morning, they found a toy soldier, a little bear figure praying, and a little cup (from the Calico Critters).  They looked for these things in our story on the Garden of Gethsemane.

On the 2nd Day Before Easter…

They had to find two doors in our house behind which were marshmallow peeps.  This is to remind us that Jesus is the door.

Our story today was on Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.  I read the story from the Bible, but did not use flannelgraph or have them search for eggs this day as we had to get out that morning to get my mother to the airport.  Next year, though, I could use nails, a piece of a sponge, a bowl.

Last Day Before Easter

On the Last Day Before Easter…

I read them from the card, “For a splashing good time find a toy out of which water will burst. Jesus is the living water. Whoever finds Him will not thirst.”  They searched the living room and found a sprinkler.  They did have a great time that afternoon playing in the sprinkler!

We also watched the Veggie Tales movie Easter Carol, decorated eggs and cupcakes on this day and a great time with those activities as well.

Easter Egg Decorating

Delicious Bunny Cupcakes

On The Day of Easter…

We woke early that morning and went outside to sit under our canopy (it was sprinkling) on a blanket with cups of hot cocoa.  We sang songs and read the story of the Resurrection!  He is risen!

We went inside to discover our decorated Easter eggs missing!  The kids had fun searching for all 12 eggs around our house.

Then we sat down to a truly amazing breakfast of baked French Toast (soaked overnight- wow- it was really more like dessert!), Easter eggs, and strawberries.

We went to church and Princess K laid flowers at the cross on stage and bounced up and down over and over when she spotted us watching her from the pews.

After we got home, they found their hidden Easter baskets and had fun with those as I made our feast.  They received in their baskets: socks, a box of fun character bandaids, a lollypop (A princess one for K, Lightning McQueen for the boys), and a slinky.  Baby Shortstop received a little hungry caterpillar teether, which he really loves.  For our lunch feast, we had ham steaks, baked pineapple, asparagus, and rolls.  We talked about Jesus, Easter Sunday and how much fun we had with Grandma T this week.

Easter breakfast

Easter baskets

It was a wonderful holiday!