Jamberry (and bonus bears)

Berry Month: Book 3

Jamberry

This is another book I've seen on a few lists. We didn't have very many activities specifically designed for the book, but I'm glad I picked it up from the library anyway. It's just a sweet, playful book, and that's just as worthwhile as a great plot or incredible illustrations! My train-loving Owen was especially delighted by the tender full of blackberries on the train-themed page. (The "tender," for those of you not up on your train lingo, is the car full of coal that follows the engine.)

Food
blueberry pie (using this whole wheat pie crust)
blueberry breakfast bars

Craft
Since all three books featured bears, we read a book about bears (this one, but any random book from the library would do!) and did a bear craft. I printed out this coloring page for the boys to spread glue and sprinkle coffee grounds on. Easy and effective!

Spreading glue with a popsicle stick.

Sprinkling coffee grounds. It's a really nice effect!

We went to the zoo to see the bears, but as usual, they were sleeping in hard-to-see places. No pictures. Also this week, the boys went with Isaac to pick produce from a friend's farm, and they happened upon some ripe raspberries! I forgot about them in the fridge, so now they're a little mushy to eat straight, so I'll probably make muffins this weekend. Maybe these or these?

Not terribly flattering for Levi, but proof that they picked raspberries.

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Vanilla and Snowflakes

You may remember from my Goin' Crunchy 2011 post that I started a batch of homemade vanilla back in May. It's all ready for use now, just in time for Christmas gifts! I bought these little bottles and a pack of winter-themed address labels on clearance at Target, dug through my craft boxes to find some old ribbon, and ended up with this: (You can't see it, but there is coordinating ribbon around the sugar jar, too.) As you can see, after I was done using my vanilla beans for extract, I cut them up into 2-inch pieces and covered them with white sugar in baby food jars: after about a week, the sugar is delightfully vanilla-flavored! I haven't used it yet, but hear it's great for sprinkling on baked goods or oatmeal, or stirring into coffee or tea. Packaged together in a little gift bag, they're making a nice small (and frugal!) gift for . . . those people who need nice, small, frugal gifts. :) In other news, I picked up a $1 sheet of snowfla...

More Pom-pom activities

That dollar or so I spent on a bag of fuzzy pom-poms might have been the most useful dollar ever. Both boys continue to be entertained by pushing them through the lid of an old peanut container , an activity I pull out whenever there is an emotional crisis mounting. I've been collecting toilet paper rolls in hopes of doing this stick-counting activity , but I have yet to gather enough suitable twigs. So I created my own conglomeration of several activities I've seen: Levi used small tongs to put the pom-poms in the tubes, counting to match the number on the tube. He recognizes the number words one, two, three, and six, so I opted to leave the numbers off and let him figure out which tube "said" which number. Like my lazy masking-tape construction? :) I belatedly remembered that we've done a similar activity before to practice colors: I've got a set of toilet paper tubes with colored paper around them! Not surprisingly -- that was six months ago -- ...

Homeschool Curriculum 2025-2026

Given the ages of my children, I will only have two years when I am actively homeschooling all six kids, and this is the first. I have more spreadsheets going than ever before, four student paper planners, one kid using Google Classroom for assignments again, and a giant schedule on butcher paper so that everyone knows whose turn it is in the living room (for instrument practice) or on the laptop. BRING IT ON. Pretty sure we've only gotten all six kids awake for family devotions once in 8 days of school. LEVI: 11th grade Math: linear algebra and multivariable calculus through PSEO at University of Minnesota (online) History: AP world history at Sartell High School, second semester Science: AP physics C (one each semester) online English: World Literature: LLATL gold , Advancing Through Grammar Language: self-study German, with plans to take the AP German test next year Bible: Dust to Glory (Ligonier online) New Testament Extracurricular: piano first semester, wind ensemble at Sarte...

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