Welcome! I'm happy you stopped by. I hope that you find something useful here to aid you on your journey!
Every day for the next three weeks I am going to set a daily goal of activities to do with the kids. I'll post an update at the end of the day to let you know how it went!
August 13
Goals for the Day:
- Go to the Farmers' Market
- Play in the garden
- Paint with watercolors
- Have a campfire and make s'mores
That first item on the list ended up dominating our day.
Once upon a time, we were dedicated farmers' market vendors. We never missed a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday market. In fact, we used to go to two markets on Wednesdays. Our son spent his preschool summers at farmers' markets with us. Our daughter hears tales of "When we used to go to the Market..." and feels she is missing something, since we quit about the time she was born. She has been begging us to go to the Market and "sell stuff." Therefore, this was her request.
What many people don't realize is how much work it is for a market vendor to prepare for the market. You can't just throw it together. After deliberating about this last night, and attempting to get organized this morning, I declared that we would try again another day, when I could have more time to prepare. We did go to our local market as customers, and we are planning to sell at Saturday's Market, but we had to revise today's activity list a little.
All told, we didn't exactly play in the garden. We spent time there, but it didn't feel like "playing" so we might revisit this one later, too.
Strike Three: We did not do the watercolor activity. Try again later.
We did have a campfire on the patio, and we did make s'mores. We also spent more time tonight in sleeping bags on the trampoline, watching the stars. And during the day we did read books out loud, and we did make homemade spaghetti for dinner.
So we had some special times, just not what we had planned.
About me:
My name is Theresa, aka "Tree" to some longtime friends and a few relatives.
I'm a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom of two. My passions include my family, my faith, and living in a simple manner that respects the blessings we have been given.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Easy S'mores
While I love the activity of burning real marshmallows over a campfire, this one is easier when it's dark, and less likely to result in burned fingers. Also, tastes less like charcoal!
- Graham Crackers
- Marshmallow Creme
- Chocolate Frosting
Break a graham cracker in half. Spread one half with chocolate frosting and the other half with marshmallow creme. Put the two together and eat in front of the campfire. Enjoy!
Homemade Spaghetti
If you've never eaten fresh, homemade spaghetti, you've missed out. Store-bought, dried pasta just doesn't taste the same. The hard part is that you need a machine of some type to extrude the pasta. Unless you're making noodles, which don't need precision cutting, you need a pasta machine. As of tonight I have destroyed three Kitchen Aids in the process of spaghetti-making. My next pasta machine will be a real, dedicated pasta machine, rather than the Kitchen Aid with attachment.
- 3 1/2 cups flour (semolina flour is best, but regular flour works fine)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 T water
Combine ingredients in mixer bowl. Once blended, change to dough hook and knead for two or three minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 minutes.
Run through your pasta machine, following the directions for your machine. As pasta is cut/extruded, drop into a gallon of boiling, salted water, to which you have added a tablespoon of olive oil. It helps to have someone standing by to stir the pasta as you add it. By the time all pasta has been added, it will be ready to eat.
Serve with butter or your favorite pasta sauce!
August 14 Goals:
- Make a tire swing
- Paint pictures
- Do the plant and food coloring experiment
- Blow soap bubbles