Adding another puzzle maker

Love this Peanuts puzzle of reading. All the puzzles in this post are 63 piece puzzles that were each completed in less than an hour (usually a lot less.) Eva has now joined us in completing puzzles. She did the reading puzzle and the baseball puzzle on her own.


Sarah completed the camp puzzle and the Snoopy "Joe Cool" puzzles below but the 63 piece puzzles were just too easy so she let Eva do two puzzles above. My parents had these in storage and we were looking for some easy puzzles to complete after the 750 piece lighthouse. These fit the bill well. Cute, easy and full of confidence building all in the short time frame of an afternoon.


It seems strange somehow that puzzles are really logical art. One takes the pieces and puts together a beautiful picture from what was just a concept in the artist's mind in the beginning. Making puzzles helps me to feel creative and I hope the girls sometimes feel that way also.

Fried Mushrooms and a joke

One day it started raining. And a squirrel found a mushroom to sit under. Then a frog hops along and asks, "Is there any more room under the mushroom?" And the squirrel says, "There's Mush Room!".


(Sarah came up with this joke on the way home one day.)

I thought it was clever and cute.


Jessica made fried mushrooms for her home cooking assignment this week. (Sorry for the blurry pictures-I was trying to get the pictures before the food was consumed.)


First you start with some Tempura batter mix that you just mix with water. We used Krusteaz brand since that's what we had in the cupboard. For more info, visit their website at: www.krusteaz.com

Wash and thoroughly dry some fresh mushrooms. Coat mushrooms and cook in hot corn oil until golden brown.


The first batch came out lightly golden brown and didn't get eaten quite as quickly. But then the second batch came out more golden and were all gone within a few minutes of frying them. I was lucky to get a picture of a few of the golden mushrooms.

It was also reassuring that Jessica was so careful around the hot oil.

Bubba's Back!

Sarah again got to bring home the classroom gerbil, Bubba. He’s a little, black, friendly, and very active gerbil who’s been with the class since November of 2007. (by the way, the dates on our pictures are not accurate-we keep meaning to update the date and usually forget.) He’s quite tame and Sarah got him out often just to hold him and let him run around a little.

He really uses his exercise ball and rolls all around the house.

Sarah willingly (if not excitedly) cleaned out his cage. Plus we got him a new piece of fresh pear wood for a chew toy.

It’s a fun diversion to have a classroom pet for the weekend. Just a little bit of responsibility without the long term commitment to actually owning the pet. It’s a bit of a sad commentary that most of the classroom pets have come from homes where they were not wanted anymore. I think more research and caution would have resulted in fewer unwanted pets.

We’ve still got our 11 ½ year old and 8 year old dogs, 11 ½ year old cat, 5 year old guinea pig, 2 ½ year old white cloud fish and ~ 6 month old Hissing Madagascar Cockroaches. I was taught that when you get a pet you have that animal (or fish or insect or whatever genus) for its natural lifespan and that’s what I believe and follow. It has resulted in a geriatric pet household for us. Even though some of our pets have exceeded a typical lifespan for their kind that’s okay because we’re willing to have pets and enjoy them at this stage of life for as long as they are here with us. [ I have drawn the line at hermit crabs, rats, rabbits and a few other pets even though the kids have suggested such creatures-one can only do so much. The cockroaches only passed muster because they only live 1-2 years (supposedly.)]

Pony prancing prettily

According to Crayola, their sidewalk chalk is made from Plaster of Paris and color pigments.
Amazing how a couple of simple ingredients result in a drawing medium of fun.
Along with friendly sayings and interesting spatial designs we've been seeing a lot of horse drawings thanks to Sarah.
After she drew this picture I knew I had to take a picture or it would be lost to water and/or wear.
Apparently chalk drawings can live on and still be rewarding even when the original is gone thanks to modern technology.
Although abstract expressionism sums up the majority of the sidewalk art at our home we have found that the art we make with chalk is a gift for young and old alike.
Allow yourself to enjoy some art this week-from the abstract to the detailed whether man-made or natural.