Daddy Days

As I said in a previous post Daniel is done teaching summer school and has a short break before beginning another round of classes in late August. Congrats should go out to him as he has done an amazing job teaching so many different and new classes at once. He taught contemporary moral issues and 2 logic classes which were all new to him. He also taught Intro to Philosophy again. He worked very hard this summer and it is such a relief when he is not teaching. We have extra time with him as he can be more flexible and not have to stay up late preparing and grading for the next day's classes.

When he came home today at 3 we were beginning to make play dough. He helped the
girls mix the colors in. I want to share this recipe here so that if you are interested in making it you'll know how. It is very easy to do and has just a few ingredients. It is a great one for the kids because they can really get their hands messy during the process. I let them do pretty much everything and try not to freak out as flour goes everywhere. After all, flour is fairly easy to clean up as long as it doesn't get wet:)

Playdough Recipe
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tarter (I don't really know what this is but it's sold in the spices section)
1 tablespoon oil (any kind)
4 cups water
food coloring
I've seen this one with add cinnamon or lemon extract for smell

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large pan. Then add the water and oil. If the dough is to be one color, add the food coloring to the water. Mix well. Then cook over a medium to low burner, stirring constantly, until the mixture changes texture and forms into a ball. This will take up to 15 minutes. Turn out and allow to cool. May divide and knead in colors now if desired. It will keep for several weeks if stored in an air-tight container.





By the way, I told the girls to put on old clothes since the food coloring will stain and they thought it was just as good to just not wear a shirt. Just thought I should explain the outfits:)

For a quick garden update, here Arianna shows off our first watermelon. Ellen is holding the squash and eggplant which we have had tons of. We did finally take up some plants this weekend that were looking sad because of the heat and started some fall greens inside.