[email protected]

We've had a great few days and I wanted to share this.

Yesterday, I began to make a dish that had vinegar in it, and as usual, I
asked the kids if they wanted to help. They usually do, of course! So we were
getting out the ingredients, and since the chicken had to soak in the
buttermilk for a bit, we had some time for expirimenting :)

We got all the different vinegars out of the pantry and tasted each one. We
have:

apple cider vinegar
red wine
white (regular)
balsamic
white balsamic

We talked about how they taste different and what they are used for and all
of that. It was great! This lead to smelling the different spices and stuff in
there, too - vanilla, pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, oregano, cloves, alspice,
nutmeg...Great fun and hilarious to watch Julian smell the pepper just to make
himself sneeze, lol!

This lead to taking the larger container with lesser seasonsings ion them
and shake them...which became an instant "Maracca Time" as Julia called it. They
marched upstairs and held a party with the bigger kids. :) Very fun.

Then, as Julia would tell you, "we tooked!" (cooked)

During this time, Julian decided not too cook too much (it was a messy thing
and he was struggling with that - he hates mess on his hands) and was busy
doing Solitaire on the computer. He moved on to Halo just a bit later.

Today, Julian has been enmeshed in a Baby Story of all things - he watched a
few in a row, lol, telling me bits and peices as the show went on. Julia and
I cooked some Mexican rice, some chicken and some amazing potatoes, that both
kids washed previously. Julia then decided it was a good day to paint, so
she made 3 painting, one red, two all blue. She says she wants to dye her hair
blue, so now I'm wondering about temporary blue for her :)

Julian has been really interested in reading and it's fascinating to see him
learn how to read. He is doing the same as I did - on his own. It's so cool
to see him progress. Kids read at all different ages, from 3 to 8 seems to be
the average, with variences on boith sides, but its really cool with NO
school and no "instruction" to see it happen in front of my very eyes. It's
helping when I freak out and decide on workbooks, lol ;) He also has been seeing
division and multiplication and is grasping that faster than addition and
subtraction. He has a feel for numbers, and all of this in context, which of
course makes learning it as easy as pie.

Julia is thrilled silly with counting and is begining to give value to
numbers. She also wants to be a mama and have a baby soon so she can feed it and
nurse it. "Newis" is how she says it, lol.

We've also been freezing small toys in plastic containers and playing with
the melting ice in the bathtub at night. Science at it's best, lol.

No rules. Principles, yes. Funny how I don't need to punish or reward.

Just been lovin' our days.

Karen



**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Claudia

Great, Karen
How old are you kids? And were are you from?
I loved reading you post.


Claudia, from Romania
mom to Eliza(22 months) and Stefan (6 weeks)

--- In [email protected], Kidgie@... wrote:
>
> We've had a great few days and I wanted to share this.
>
> Yesterday, I began to make a dish that had vinegar in it, and as
usual, I
> asked the kids if they wanted to help. They usually do, of course!
So we were
> getting out the ingredients, and since the chicken had to soak in
the
> buttermilk for a bit, we had some time for expirimenting :)
>
> We got all the different vinegars out of the pantry and tasted
each one. We
> have:
>
> apple cider vinegar
> red wine
> white (regular)
> balsamic
> white balsamic
>
> We talked about how they taste different and what they are used
for and all
> of that. It was great! This lead to smelling the different spices
and stuff in
> there, too - vanilla, pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, oregano, cloves,
alspice,
> nutmeg...Great fun and hilarious to watch Julian smell the pepper
just to make
> himself sneeze, lol!
>
> This lead to taking the larger container with lesser seasonsings
ion them
> and shake them...which became an instant "Maracca Time" as Julia
called it. They
> marched upstairs and held a party with the bigger kids. :) Very
fun.
>
> Then, as Julia would tell you, "we tooked!" (cooked)
>
> During this time, Julian decided not too cook too much (it was a
messy thing
> and he was struggling with that - he hates mess on his hands) and
was busy
> doing Solitaire on the computer. He moved on to Halo just a bit
later.
>
> Today, Julian has been enmeshed in a Baby Story of all things - he
watched a
> few in a row, lol, telling me bits and peices as the show went on.
Julia and
> I cooked some Mexican rice, some chicken and some amazing
potatoes, that both
> kids washed previously. Julia then decided it was a good day to
paint, so
> she made 3 painting, one red, two all blue. She says she wants to
dye her hair
> blue, so now I'm wondering about temporary blue for her :)
>
> Julian has been really interested in reading and it's fascinating
to see him
> learn how to read. He is doing the same as I did - on his own.
It's so cool
> to see him progress. Kids read at all different ages, from 3 to 8
seems to be
> the average, with variences on boith sides, but its really cool
with NO
> school and no "instruction" to see it happen in front of my very
eyes. It's
> helping when I freak out and decide on workbooks, lol ;) He also
has been seeing
> division and multiplication and is grasping that faster than
addition and
> subtraction. He has a feel for numbers, and all of this in
context, which of
> course makes learning it as easy as pie.
>
> Julia is thrilled silly with counting and is begining to give
value to
> numbers. She also wants to be a mama and have a baby soon so she
can feed it and
> nurse it. "Newis" is how she says it, lol.
>
> We've also been freezing small toys in plastic containers and
playing with
> the melting ice in the bathtub at night. Science at it's best,
lol.
>
> No rules. Principles, yes. Funny how I don't need to punish or
reward.
>
> Just been lovin' our days.
>
> Karen
>
>
>
> **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in
shape.
> http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?
NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/13/2008 7:11:04 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
neacsu_ac@... writes:

Great, Karen
How old are you kids? And were are you from?
I loved reading you post.


My two littles are 5 and 2. I also Mama a 20, 18 and 15 year old. The 15
just began deschooling, the 18 a year+ ago, and the 20 is out of the house,
always schooled. ugh.

its been a few amazing days in a row and i just love it!

Karen (and I'm in southern ca, the easternmost la county, lol)



**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]