Maple Tree "farm"

 We went with our co-op to Brenners Maple Tree farm.  It was a true Long Island experience.  What I had in my head, definitely did not meet reality.  We drove an hour out east to get to the "farm".  I put it in quotations because any place that has a little space on it is considered a farm here.  Sure, it had a barn and a few chickens and a cow, but while everyone else was wowed, we were not.

We listened to Bob give a powerpoint presentation on plant science in the barn.  I really took this picture to document the NY coats...all the moms wear long puffy coats with fur hoods, all.the.time.  This day was in the 50s and everyone was in giant puffy coats.

Then, we went outside and saw THE maple tree that they tap.  This was the moment when Alison leaned over and whispered to me, "Did you pay for this?"  Yes I did.  I paid money to look at single tree.  To be honest, maple tree farm in my head equaled a whole lot more trees and maple gathering.

But you can see Eli has his arm around Alison in this picture ;)

Then we watched him boil down the maple.  Again, I thought this would be a whole lot more interesting.

At the very end, they served pancakes with the maple syrup and fresh maple candies.

This trip goes in the category of "we tried".  We went, we saw, we experienced.

Annual snow day

Since moving here, we've been given one day a year of snow.  

 

DIL Wednesday-Saturday

 

Pictures to come...

Wednesdays:

Alison has piano lessons

Thursdays:

The boys have basketball

Friday:

Co-op

Saturday:

Boys play basketball and Ben and I go for a run

Valentine's Day

We had a little Valentine's "party", aka eat lots of candy after school.  Ben brought home flowers and chocolates and I made a fancy pasta dinner.

 

DIL..Tuesday

Science this year has meant more experiments and projects than before. It's a great part of higher grades! Colin is learning Earth Science this year and did a unit on volcanoes, so we made a volcano out of ice cream.

 

You never know what information is going to super stick in little brains.  Many moons ago, we got a book about Pompeii, the kids all LOVED it and remember every detail.  Colin decided that we needed to use skittles to represent Pompeii and one was even the dog that was buried.

 

 

He calls this his science spot...

 

 

Around lunch time, we turn on World Watch.  A friend of mine here recommended it...it's a news shows for kids with Christian reporters.  So they learn about the current events, but not in a terrifying way.  This week, Caleb Bailey jumped on our screen!  He was the piano player at our church in California!

 

 

 Alison works Tuesday thru Saturday and the best part is, she just walks across the street to get to work.

 

 

Most days, we do History up in the attic.

 

It's been sunny this week, so we are trying to soak it up as much as possible.

DIL...Monday

 Monday:

School days

I still get up at 6am, but it's no longer because little boys are up at 6:30.  The days of early morning snuggling are gone, which will forever make me sad, but it's still so good for me to keep this routine.  The Bible and coffee are the best way to start the day.  My spot doesn't have a light, so during the winter, I've resorted to turning on twinkle lights. 

Times have changed so much, that I can have my quiet time, breakfast and workout all before any kids are awake.  Colin will occasionally come out to the garage to say good morning, but most of the time they wait until I've showered ;)  I start in the garage, with some weights and then go for a run around our cute little village.  I never get tired of looking at the historic homes.

The boys unload the dishwasher and get breakfast.  Alison is almost always still sleeping, although she has several alarms set.  I take Maya to jump on her most mornings and that gets her up.  It's about this time that I mix up sourdough.

Our house has been too cold (drafty windows in an old house), so we've put a little heater in our closet and that has become my bread proofing room.

Colin usually starts math at the kitchen table while he eats breakfast and will head up to the attic after he's done eating.  His math is on the computer this year and we are loving the program!

Then we all meet at the table for Literature (Language Arts/English) and then it's already time for lunch.

I've been making sourdough buns that Colin and I have been loving for sandwiches.

This Monday we listened to a podcast on growth mindset while eating. 

Then we headed to the library to work on History and Science.  Alison doesn't work Monday's, so it's the perfect time to get to the library.   Alison finds a quiet corner to work and the boys and I camp out in the kids/teen section.  

When school is done, we take Maya for a walk.

In the evening, Colin has guitar lessons with Mr. Frank.  The best part is, he comes to our house!  

I love how he does lessons; they start with "jamming" together, work on a song Colin picks to learn and then work on music theory.  Colin is doing an amazing job!