these are my days

Getting Ready for Baby

2012-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

I've been collecting baby stuff. Most of it has been free and I am so thankful for my generous friends. I wasn't expecting all these to come so quickly, and it has been a fun experience. Our guest bedroom has officially turned into the nursery:)

We bought this second hand and very nice car seat and stroller combo from someone in Durham when we traveled there to buy the minivan from our friends the Morrisons. (Pictures of that purchase later.)

This is the crib plus sheets, mattress, blankets that came from a friend near Charleston. Thanks Jen Kline for picking this up from a friend and driving 2 hours to our house!

Diapers from Lesley and Jason. Wow, this is hundreds of dollars of cloth diapers. I won't need to buy any for quite a while, if at all. There's a bumbo, baby seat and bjorn from the Morrisons in there too.

Here's a close up of the changing table and dresser from our neighbors. Thanks Jackie and Davie! Again delivered to our door--we are so thankful. Also pictured are some handmade diapers and wool pants from my friend Jen. They are so cute, thanks you!

And last but not least, here's baby and me. 24 weeks Pregnant.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

We are taking about a 3 week break from school to enjoy the holidays together. Daniel is home writing and the girls and I have filled our days with field trips, play dates, and projects. We had a lot of fun outings planned for the beginning of December. The following are pictures from a few.

Here's a picture from our homeschool group's Christmas party. The kids decorated ginger bread houses. A lot of people turned out for this event--probably at least 75 people. The parents did a cookie exchange and the kids also played a few games.

Here's a picture from one of our field trips this month to a nature program led by the rangers at the Columbia Canal. The kids learned about soil composition.

Here's one of the girls' ballet classes practicing their dance from the Nutcracker. We had a parents night out at the studio where the girls read the Nutcracker story, made crafts and played games. Their class did the spanish dance for the rest of the crowd.

This was my favorite thing--free kayaking with the rangers at the Columbia Canal. They taught us a few things about how to paddle and what to do if you fall in. The water was gentle and the weather turned out perfect at 60-65 degrees and sunny for both of our trips. We are scheduled to go out on the river in the spring. We loved being on the water. It's so relaxing and the perspective from down at the level of the ground is so interesting. Can't wait for the next trip.

Oh the joys of homeschooling! Long extended breaks and fun field trips with my kids. I love it.

Practicing Instruments

2011-11-30T18:54:00.000-08:00

The girls practice their instruments 30 minutes a day. Usually they take turns but not today. I started laughing when I walked in to the den to see them playing different songs at the same time. Watch this little video that Ellen and I put together this evening.

Congrats Daniel

2011-11-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Daniel was selected by his department chair at Midlands Tech to receive the Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year award. This is a great honor as he was one out of 12 of the 500 Adjunct faculty members at MTC to receive this award.

It is amazing that he is recognized for this award especially since he is juggling so many other jobs at the same time. He is teaching 5 classes at MTC and USC, writing a dissertation, and applying for jobs, in addition to being an amazing husband and father. He is working extremely hard right now trying to finish things up here at USC. Congratulations Daniel, the girls and I are so proud of you!

Napkin Pillows

2011-11-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

My mom gave us our beautiful red couch a couple of years ago. I had an idea to use napkins to recover the pillows that came with it since they didn't match the room. I love the fabrics at World Market so I bought 3 napkins @ $1.99 each. The first time I sewed the pillows about six months ago, I used the store bought napkins for the front with some antique napkins from my grandmother for the back. Her old napkins were so soft (and thin) that they wore out in only a few weeks! I guess there is a reason that people use upholstery fabric on upholstery:) This weekend I bought some scrap upholstery fabric from Hancocks for $2.50 and this afternoon I made the pillows again. This time I'm hoping they'll last a little longer.

Notice the $10 price tag on the top of the old Singer machine. Daniel bought this for us at a garage sale years ago. He keeps it working for me and it works like a charm.

I don't do much sewing--really just halloween costumes, hems, and these. I think the pillows turned out nice and it just took less than 2 hours. More importantly, it cost only about $2.75 a pillow.

Fall Break Beach Trip

2011-11-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

This was our 5th annual beach trip with friends from Virginia and North Carolina. This year their were 4 families (8 adults, 10 kids from 2-11). We found this beautiful house right on the beach in Emerald Isle. Besides the first day being a little windy the weather was gorgeous.

This year we gave the older kids (5+) had a lot of freedom and told them they could head out to the beach whenever they wanted. During this time of year the beaches are not very crowded so the kids had tons of space to play. As you can imagine, the big kids did not want to come inside.

Our house.

Scott and Daniel getting ready for a long day at the beach.

Ellen.

The kids spent a lot of time digging holes. Here's Daniel covering them up.

Brothers, Alder and Heath jamming to Dan Zanes.

Feeding the pigeons.

Kalen flying the kite.

Everyone in the water (except the moms).

Daniel and Arianna

Alder, Arianna, and Kalen inspecting the treasures.

The dads during the horse shoe marathon. That game is a lot harder than it looks. I can't even get the horseshoe anywhere near the other side!

Madelyn and Arianna. Notice the red streaks. Anna and Scott added henna coloring to all the girls' hair.

All of us.

Last walk on the beach.

Beautiful Boone

2011-10-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Boone was amazing. The fall colors were spectacular and the weather was just about perfect. We stayed with some good friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. It only took the girls a few minutes to get past their shyness and become good friends. I just love how even though years can pass without seeing each other, good friends can pick up right where they left off. The weekend was nothing but pleasurable and we are very thankful to our hosts. Thanks for sharing your home with us Matt and Ginger. We love you.The first few pictures are from a walk through their neighborhood. The last few are from our hike on the Parkway near Moses Cone.

A 10 year old and a baby!

2011-09-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

Our Ellen turned 10 last week. Wow, 10 years old. We are so proud of our smart, beautiful, and kind little girl.

And for the big surprising news...we are pregnant! Everyone's first response is "Are you serious? or Nuh--uh!" Yes it is true and we did plan it. We decided it was just too much fun to have these beauties around and we wanted more. The baby is due in May. Yay!

Apple Picking at Sky Top Orchard

2011-09-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Sky Top Orchard for apple picking with some friends last weekend. This is a great place to go with the family. The location is beautiful right on top of a mountain. There are acres and acres of all kinds of apples, peaches, and asian pears. We only picked apples and the kids had a blast climbing trees and running through the rows.

They also have farm animals to feed and see, hay ride, fresh apple cider and other apple treats.

Here they are playing in the bamboo maze.

Our Homeschool

2011-08-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Warning: This is a long post with details about the books we use and how we use them. Read on if you are interested. There are a few pictures of the girls on their horses from this week's lesson down at the bottom is you choose to skip down!

Assignment Journal

I write out the girls' assignments in a small journal I picked up from B&N. I put very basic information since they know what they have to do in all the subjects. This helps them keep track of what they've done and will also serve as an attendance book at the end of the year. At the bottom of the page I write in the activities for the day. We usually have at least one dance class, playgroup, coop, lessons, or something and so they can see what is scheduled for the day. This is the first year they've had their own little planners and it's been great so far.

I get most of my ideas for curriculum and schedule from a book called The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise. The mother, Jesse, homeschooled the daughter, Susan, who homeschools her children now. The book that they wrote together is a manual of detailed instructions on how to homeschool every subject from kindergarten through high school. I don't follow everything that they recommend but it has given me great ideas and helped me figure out what it is I do want to do.

Our homeschool focuses on math, reading, and musical instruments. We spend the most time during the day on these 3 things. For math, we use the curriculum Math U See. It is a program that comes with DVDs so the girls and I can watch the 5 minute teaching segments before each new lesson if needed. Ellen is finishing the 5th book, Epsilon, which is mainly fractions. Arianna is in the middle of the 4th book, Delta, division.

Reading consists of 30 minutes of structured reading out of a "chosen" book. I have a list of books that the girls can choose from for this portion of their school work. Daniel and I came up with the list together and they are mainly classics. Arianna is in the middle of the Chronicles of Narnia series. Ellen just finished Little Women. Other books Ellen has read include George MacDonald Fairy Tales, Tom Sawyer, and Huck Finn. Before Chronicles, Arianna was reading things to build her fluency so this is her first time reading classics by herself.

They also spend 30 minutes every morning practicing their chosen instrument. Ellen is still playing the piano and Arianna the violin.

We also spend about 3 days per week on grammar. I use First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind series by Susan Wise Bauer. We do the lessons all together and are on level 4.We work on diagramming sentences, memorizing definitions, lists, and poems and recognizing parts of speech, etc.

This year we are also using Bauer's writing textbooks. Arianna is on Writing with Ease level 3. Ellen is on Writing With Skill (Level 5). This text is not published yet but she offers a download of the the first 10 weeks on her blog. They do 4 lessons a week. These texts teach writing in a very structured system. For example, Ellen is learning how to outline passages and Arianna is working on finding the main idea from a passage (4-5 paragraphs long) and summarizing it into 2-3 sentences.

We've also added some logic into our days. We use Mind Benders workbooks. It is a small workbook with only about 50 pages. The girls had so much fun with the problems that we finished it in one week. Now I've got to order some more:)

For spelling the girls each do a couple of pages (10 mins) of Spelling Workout books 4 days a week.

They are also asked to do 30-60 minutes of extra "fun reading." They can choose whatever they want for this time (except comics). Ellen's reading the Warriors series and Arianna is on the Judy Moody series. They read in most of their free time so this is not a hard thing to check off the list.

We will be starting our coop in September. This year we have a lot of new families involved and we'll be doing History, Science and Art. For History we are using the Story of the World volume 3. Science is Zoology for the first semester and engineering for second. For art we are using Artistic Pursuits.

We are members of a homeschool support group called REACH. This year I'm on the administrative board and work as the webmaster. Check out the new website www.reachgroup.org. These new responsibilities are the main reason I haven't been blogging as much over the past few months. The blog may continue to suffer as I spend my computer time on REACH. I don't want to spend any extra time behind this screen than I have to.

The girls have been taking horse back riding lessons after getting a great deal from a Groupon over the summer. They will get a total of 10 lessons each. Today we had our 5th lesson and Ellen trotted off the lead rope with no hands on the saddle for the first time. Arianna got her hands off the saddle in a trot but the instructor is still leading the horse. The girls are learning how to be more assertive. It's hard to get "Big Ugly" (that's the name of that beautiful horse) to do what they want him to do. :)

Ellen off the lead

Arianna trotting

Our tour of the Southeast

2011-08-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

The girls and I took a road trip in mid-July. After spending the night in Montgomery, AL to break up the drive, our official first stop was my dad's house in Baton Rouge. We spent the night there and then packed up again the next morning to go out to dad's camp in the Atchafalaya Swamp. It was a 30 min drive from his house (the house I grew up in).

The camp is only accessible by boat, so we packed our stuff onto the boat and headed into the swamp.

Dad and I

Pure Beauty

Old oil rigs along the canals

This area is simply beautiful, and one of the best things about it is that there is no one around. There are a few other hunting camps scattered here and there, and a handful of fishing boats quietly strolling the water, but we hardly saw anyone on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. Dad took us on a long boat ride. Then my step brothers (Daniel and Chris) and dad helped the girls fish for the first time. Here's Ellen and Arianna with their first catches. They caught a few more right off the pier.

The alligators were not afraid to show their heads right around the pier also. These guys were all over the place and would swim straight towards us while we were out. Maybe they are used to being fed or catching leftovers from fishermen?

One of the best parts of our day/night in the swamp was my experience froggin. Daniel (brother not husband) had told me about how they go out at night with spot lights and catch bullfrogs with their hands. He, his wife, daughter, and Chris took me out at about 9:30pm in his mud boat to catch some frogs. We rode to the lake where they spotted and grabbed about 15 bullfrogs. We also saw tons and tons of baby alligators. They were everywhere! Daniel grabbed one and handed it to me. Can you tell I'm in shock but having a blast? These guys were great swamp tour guides. It was unforgettable.

The next morning they drove us out to the same spot so the girls could see this part of the swamp. It's an area that my dad's boat can't get to. There is shallow water with tons of lily pads and grass that has a small trail carved out. I'm not sure how they saw this trail in the middle of the night! I couldn't see it.

My camera lens was foggy because of the temperature change from the inside of the camp (very cold) to outside (very hot) not because of fog. I didn't get many pictures because of it. Below is the area where we were frogging. Again, very shallow lake with lots of wildlife.

We want to go back very soon. My Daniel (husband, not brother) wants to catch some frogs!

The next day we drove to Gulf Shores, AL and stayed a week at the beach with more family (mom's side this time). This resort had huge swimming pools with slides, a lazy river, and all kinds of family games. We rode to the beach on a trolly but couldn't stay out much because the jelly fish were everywhere. The cousins played sweetly the entire time. We had a wonderful time. It was so nice to be with family and especially since my grandmother had been very sick and actually passed away during our trip. She was 99 1/2 so we were prepared for it, but that doesn't make losing her any easier.

Othermommy and girls Christmas 2010

Cousins

We were all sad to leave but we went our separate ways on Sunday. The girls and I made the long trip home in one day. We arrived completely exhausted but we didn't have much time to relax because we had to use up our free tickets to Six Flags over Georgia that were going to expire the next weekend! (Tickets were won by the girls for a reading program that they participated in. I, as the teacher, also got a free ticket. Daniel's was half price.)

This past Sunday we took Daniel with us this time and drove to Atlanta for the day. We spent 7 hours walking around the park and rode 17 rides. The crowds were low so we hardly had any waiting. We spent half the day drenched from the river and splash rides, we were having a blast. The girls were thrilled to see so many huge rides. Daniel and I love them too, as long as they don't spin. We let the girls do those alone.

We returned home late Sunday night, exhausted again. Summers are full and so fun. Now back to real life. We have already returned to doing school work but I only have one more week off before my full teaching starts back. We will stay put for a while and it'll be so nice to be home!

Gulf Shores 2011

2011-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

First Pointe Shoes

2011-07-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

July Garden

2011-07-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

We started our summer plants a little later than normal since our spring veggies were so productive. Here's a picture of our garden this morning. We installed a pvc pipe irrigation system in the late spring. The pipes go down every row with 1/16 inch holes drilled every 12 inches. They are separated by shut off valves at the top of each row.

You can see the red knob under the zinnia plant. We usually run water on 2 sections at a time. This has been a huge time and water saver. It was very easy to install and cost around $100 for supplies.

Zinnia and tomato plants

lettuce leaf basil

Japanese eggplant

Started green beans, several squash, okra on June 6

Green Beans from the trays above.

trombone squash from trays above

green beans from trays

more squash--yellow, zucchini, butternut

First Favorite Summer Salad Recipes

2011-07-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

I don't like cooking in the summer. The house gets hot in the evening when I've got the oven on. There's only so much our A/C can do when it is 100+ degrees outside and our gas stove is pumping heat in the kitchen! Here are some of my favorite quick and easy cold salad favorites.

Chick Pea Salad (some people call it mock tuna but I like to call it what it is not what it's not)

2 cans chickpeas chopped in food processor
1/2-1 onion chopped
1-2 celery chopped
1-2 carrots chopped
1 cup mayo** or add amount you like according to your taste
Salt and Pepper (fresh cracked black is best)

Chop beans in food processor then add them to the rest of the ingredients.
**I like Veganaise brand vegan mayo. It is by far the best tasting eggless mayo.

Use this salad on sandwiches with fresh tomato and lettuce. Also can be served in a wrap with lettuce, sprouts, etc. Also can be served on crackers.

I'll post another later. Go here for pictures and variations.

Homeschooling article

2011-06-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun article by a public school teacher who encourages homeschooling. Her 3 children are in school but she lists 10 good reasons why homeschooling is better.

A Public School Teacher Talks Homeschooling

Many reasons to love summer

2011-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

We are taking a short summer break from school and dance until the week after July 4th. We have had the pleasure of seeing so many old friends and family over the past few weeks.

After the recital the girls and I took a trip to Isle of Palms, SC with my mom and cousin for the day. Then we were off to Boone and Mountain City where we got to hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway and bike on the Virginia Creeper trail as well as see grandparents, cousins and my close friends from when we lived there almost 10 years ago. Daniel is teaching summer classes while writing so he stayed home. As usual when I away, I missed him terribly:(

Hiking Rough Ridge Trail. Daniel and I used this trail often in college and we both have fond memories of taking the girls here in backpacks and carriers. They cruised right up this steep trail and we were all able to enjoy the beautiful views from the top.

Biking the Virginia Creeper Trail. We rented bikes in Damascus, VA and they shuttled us up the mountain where they dropped us off for a 17 mile bike ride down the mountain. The trail was so peaceful and pretty.

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Then I traveled by myself to Charlotte to spend the evening with my college roommates and best friends. I'm not sure how many years it's been, maybe 10, since we've all sat down together for more than a few minutes. It was a sweet time. I love how even after years apart we were still able to pick right back up where we left off. Good friends are always that way and I'm thankful for these ladies.

I got some QT with Daniel's family while in Charlotte--a special brunch with Anna and Gail (no pics). Mom met me in Charlotte with the kids and we drove back home and had a surprise visit from our dear friends Scott and Anna from NC.

We had a week before our next visitors so here's some photos of what we do with our time at home. Lots of reading--especially comics. The girls just love them. Even if they are reading other novels they will still take breaks and pick these up. Here's Ellen reading her favorite one, Tintin. Other favorites are Far Side, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Asteri.

Nature programs with our favorite instructor, Ms. Chanda every other week during the summer. Last week we talked about water quality and identified bugs from the pond. We have learned a ton from these but most importantly we have a great time with our good homeschool buddies. We always bring food and stay for a long time after so the kids can play around the pond, forest, and gardens.

More bike riding but this time with our friends and at Saluda Shoals in Irmo, SC. Great paved trails along the Saluda River. Lots of room to run, play and explore.

Most recently we had a wonderful visit from my Dad who came up from Baton Rouge to spend a few days at our house. This was a special time for us and I'm so thankful he made the trip. We had lots of time to hang out and it was around Father's Day too!

Daniel's dad also met up with us for the Holiday. Here are 3 amazing men that I am so blessed to have in my life. Handsome, loving, kind, generous, intelligent, funny...seriously, I'm a lucky woman.

Recital 2011 The Red Balloon

2011-06-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

Our studio had its recital last weekend. The theme was The Red Balloon taken from a French short film about a little boy and his adventures with a curious red balloon. Our red balloon took our dancers all over the world.

Ellen in her Spanish ballet costume. This costume was gorgeous. I think it is one of my favorites of all time.

Here are a few of the classes I teach waiting for the show to be over.

After the show with their contemporary costumes on. I had to watch youtube videos on how to apply makeup:) They look so old here.

We had a nice weekend with family in town for the show. Now we are taking a much needed but short break from school and dance for about a month. Quick trips to the beach and mountains planned for me and the girls. Daniel still teaching summer school.

Chimney Rock NC

2011-05-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

We needed to make a trip to Asheville to get some gardening supplies. I'll post more about that later. Friday was also our 11 year anniversary. So we turned the trip into a little sight-seeing vacation.

As you can see from the picture above, there was not much of a view when we first got to Chimney Rock. We posed on Vista Rock but we were laughing because it was literally surrounded by a cloud. There could have been anything (we were imagining a beach, aliens, big city) on the other side of the fence. We couldn't see anything.

We stopped for a rest in the Opera Box to get another view of the cloud.

We hiked our way up to the highest point and it was beginning to clear up. We posed for an anniversary picture:) Photo by Ellen.

On our way down the mountain we stopped at the Chimney again and we were excited to see the clouds had parted a bit and we could see Lake Lure and the village.

We hiked down another trail over to the waterfalls.

Arianna found a baby salamander. Ellen caught it and wanted a picture for our nature journal.

Looking up at the falls. They were so tall I couldn't get a good picture of it from the bottom.

They found a crawfish eating a dead snake.

They were on the edge of the falls. We had a great view from this point--huge waterfall on one side and the valley on the other.

Here's another view of the mountains on the other side of the valley from the trail on our way back.

Here is a view of Chimney Rock from the gift shop and parking lot.

The view of the lake from the same spot.

On our way home we made a wrong turn and instead of going back through Hendersonville we realized we were on the way to Black Mountain (which is the opposite direction). So to make the best of our mistake, we stopped in downtown Asheville to eat at one of our favorite restaurants The Laughing Seed.

I admit, I was wrong

2011-05-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

We can't eat all the greens that we are growing--at least not fresh. So, while still eating about a pound a day (and giving away several pounds) we were able to blanch and freeze 6 pounds (3 lbs collard, 3 lbs kale). Daniel and I spent the evening in an assembly line of washing, chopping, weighing, boiling and freezing all this.

From the picture below you can get an idea of how tall and big our onions have gotten. I was standing up while taking the picture. Some of them are as tall as I am! (I took this picture the same day we harvested a ton of greens) The biggest are multiplier onions that we planted last year, but instead of harvesting them all we left some in the ground. Daniel also planted some other onion sets and slips that I purchased at a local shop.

These beautiful blanket flowers came back from last year. We started them from seed a few years ago and they have really taken off. From now on I should be able to have fresh flowers inside for the rest of the summer.

New pet, planting tomatoes, imovie, Alegria

2011-05-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

I found this guy walking across the driveway on Friday and so we brought it in to study. While Daniel was holding it, a small egg came from the tiny white dot on the side of its neck. We found it a mate and made it a habitat so we can keep it inside for a little while. The girls have named them slowmo and slumzo.

Daniel and I planted all the tomatoes that we started from seed. We are growing several different kinds this year--Matt's wild (cherry), Golden, Abraham Lincoln (reg. sandwich variety) and one black cherry. I got a few other varieties from the store in case our heirlooms don't do well. We also planted our baby basil, peppers and eggplant that we started from seed.

Our homeschool coop has been doing a drama class all year. The students were asked to write skits. Then they each got to cast and direct them also. I made a movie out of the first one we filmed. I was using my little flip video camera and imovie. It's the first time I've used imovie and I had a lot of fun with it. You might be seeing more of these:)

To finish a wonderful weekend we got to see Cirque du Soleil Alegria. The girls have been waiting for weeks for the show. We were so amazed at every moment. Loved it! If it comes to your town you should definitely try to get tickets. If you look around you can get discounts. I got a great deal on ours through Groupon!

From Yard to Table

2011-05-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

Picking peas this morning. Eating them fresh all day...

May 6, 2011

If you know me you know that I LOVE kale. I use it all year around in about everything I can think of. It is super healthy, easy to eat raw or cooked, relatively easy to grow, and pretty too! The dark greenish, blue color is beautiful in the garden.

May 6, 2011

We have one whole row of kale this year--about 60 plants. People ask me, "What do you do with all that kale?" Although we give some away to neighbors and friends, the answer is we could eat all of it! (and the row of collards also but I'll save my I love collards post for later.) You can use kale in any dish that calls for spinach. I steam it to replace it for cooked spinach in lasagna, and add it raw to soups, Indian dishes, dips, etc.

My lunch today

One of my favorite ways to eat it is in a raw salad with oil and vinegar dressing. To get the best flavor you have to message (or rub) the leaves with the dressing for a few seconds. I like to chop it up, put it in a bowl and then drizzle a little balsamic vinegar, ume boshi plum vinegar, and canola oil on top. Rub the leaves with your hands--there's no way around it being messy. Recently I've been adding a few slivered almonds for fun. Let it sit for a little while (30 mins to a couple of hours) to absorb even more flavor. You can see the leaves turn dark green and look like they've been steamed. They taste tender and oh so good!

Happy Easter

2011-04-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few days late...

I thought the girls might be getting too old for an egg hunt but I was wrong. They were waiting for it all day long. Mimi prepared the eggs while we went to church. Thanks Mimi!

The joy of candy filled eggs!

Blue really wanted some candy but all he got was a kiss:)

The next day, these Lindt dark chocolate bunnies came in the mail. Thanks Liz and Grandmother Gail. Yum!

First Spring Harvest

2011-04-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

This is not exactly the first harvest. We've brought in a few other greens and things that grew over the winter. I've also used small batches of greens and lettuces from the garden for dinners all last week. This is the first big harvest of lacinato kale--1 pound 12 oz.

Here is how the garden is coming along. Remember those little seedlings we started inside back in January? (Here's the link to the post and pictures about how we got everything started.) The row to the far right of the picture is cabbage and Brussels Sprouts, the second from right is collards, the third is onions.

Here the far right row is red Russian kale and garlic, then lacinato kale, then peas, then broccoli, lettuce and garlic, the far left row is potatoes.

Daniel and the girls outside all weekend.

Still coming up with new ways to ride the zip line.

Homemade Jam: How to and Why I love it

2011-04-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have been making jam with fresh picked berries for several years. Each year I do it I make more because we love it so much. We go to u-pick farms for strawberries in the spring and then blueberries in mid summer. As I said in an earlier post this week we picked about 14 pounds of organic strawberries for $2.25/lb. I think we ate about 4 pounds fresh on pancakes and for snacks, so I had about 10 pounds for jam.

Benefits of making jam at home:

Control of amount of sugar and what is going into the jam
Supports local farms
Less waste--use same jars year after year
Cost: I spent about $1.50 per 8oz jar of jam

I've been buying conventional (not organic) all fruit preserves at Kroger for $1.79 for 8 oz. To get it homemade, local, and organic would be a whole lot more.
The only place you can get organic jam cheaper is in large quatities at Costco or maybe Trader Joe's and we don't have either.

This homemade (local and organic is even better!) jam makes great gifts for teachers, friends, neighbors, and families. Another thing I love about having jam around is that it is very satisfying to have the pretty red or blue jars of fruit in the pantry. It is very rewarding to pull a jar of my own jam out of the pantry and serve it to my family:)

What you need to make strawberry jam:

Berries. For the smallest batch you'll need about 2 quarts of berries which will yield 4-5 cups of jam. (If you want to make a bigger batch you can. I made 4 batches at once.)

Pomona's Fruit Pectin

This is an all natural pectin that can be found at your local natural food store like Earthfare, Wholefoods, etc. (or the amazon link provided) It is what makes the jam have the gel consistency without using gelatin or alternately using tons of sugar and cooking way down the old fashion way. It comes in a small box for somewhere around $3.00-$4.00. There are detailed instructions and recipes inside the box.

Jars. Jars come in cases at the grocery stores. You only need 4-5 cup or 2 pint jars but you have to buy them in a case. Consider this an investment as you'll be able to use the same jars for many years.

Lids and rims. The metal rims can be used many times but the flat lids have rubber seals and these need to be replaced every year. Get these near the jars at the grocery store.

Sugar. The amount depends on how much you want to use. I used 1 cup organic sugar per batch.

Water Bath Canner. Get from Target, Walmart or hardware stores.

Misc. Canning supplies optional but very helpful. The funnel and tongs are a must.

The Process:

1. Wash, trim, and mash about 2 quarts of berries. You'll need 4 cups of mashed berries for one batch.

2. Sterilize the jars. Do this by boiling them in water for 10 minutes or cleaning them in high heat dishwasher. Leave them in the water or washer until needed so they stay warm. Consider how much time this step is going to take because getting a large pot of water to boil or a cycle in the wash take different amounts of time. When you have about 20 minutes left start the rest of the process.

3. Sterilize the lids and rims. Put them in small pot covered with water and boil for 10 minutes. Leave them in the pot until needed.

4. Open box of pectin. Directions clearly explain the following. It comes with 2 small pouches. The large one is the pectin that you add to the sugar and the small one is calcium powder.

5. First add the 2 teasponns of calcium to 1/2 water and stir well. Keep in the refrigerator until needed.

6. Measure proper amount of sugar in a bowl. The amount varies depending on your taste.

7. Measure 2 teaspoons of the pectin (large pouch) and add to the sugar. Stir well.

8. Place berries in large pot and add calcium water. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

9. Use a ladle and funnel to scoop hot jam into hot jars. Leave a half inch of space at top of jar. Wipe rims with wet cloth. Place lids on top. Screw down rims tight but not too tight. Usually I tighten as much as I can then go back a bit.

10. Use tongs to place jars in boiling water. They need to be fully submerged with about an inch of water on top. Boil for 5 mins (check instructions because you may need to add time depending on altitude.)

11. Remove from water with tongs and let cool. After a few minutes check that jars have sealed. I love hearing the little clicks as the lids are sucked down:) It's a sign of success! If they do not seal the first, remove lid and check that there is nothing on the rim blocking the seal and reboil for 5 minutes.

Day trip: Strawberry Picking, Angel Oak, and Folly Beach

2011-04-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

We are actually on Spring Break this week so we decided to head over to the Charleston area with some friends for a quick day trip. Last year we visited Ambrose Farms to pick organic strawberries. The Farm is beautiful and full of veggies so I was in heaven. We picked 14 pounds of berries in about 30 minutes. I made jam out of them today!

While driving to the farm last year we drove right by the Angel Oak Tree but didn't have time to stop. So this year we took a picnic and ate lunch by this massive 400-500 year old Live Oak tree. To give you an idea of its size, the tree's circumference is 25 feet and its area of shade is 17,000 sq. feet.

The girls were not happy that they were in the presence of the best climbing tree ever but not allowed to climb it.

They didn't stay sad long.

We spent the last few hours of the day at the beach. It was extremely windy and a bit chilly but the kids never seem to mind.

A Wonderful Experience

2011-03-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, our studio performed an original ballet based on Dr. Seuss stories. Beginning in January, dancers auditioned and I and the five other teacher/choreographers began the process of turning the classic books into ballets. The costumes and props were hand made and specifically designed for the dancers and the pieces.

Ellen and Arianna got their parts and practiced once or twice a week for several months. These rehearsals were in addition to their regular ballet and contemporary classes that they take during the school year. These girls love to dance and they loved practicing and hanging out with their ballet buddies. Now that the show is over they are sad that they don't get to go to rehearsals anymore. We are all wondering what we are going to do with ourselves now that the show is over.

The fish at dress rehearsal

Before the show: Arianna a Sneetch and Ellen a Fish

Ellen in the center during the show with the Fish

Arianna pictured here with the fish

Truffula Trees and Dr. Seuss

I don't have pictures from the Sneetch dance that I choreographed but I should have some video soon. Here is the Star Machine that my friend Alyse and I decorated. It is huge as you can see and the Sneetches walked through it. Here is the front side.

Proud mom and dancers after the show.

Grandaddy William and Grandmother Gail came down from Charlotte to watch!

A special thanks for my love. You picked up the slack around the house while we were rehearsing. You also designed and planted our amazing vegetable garden this spring without any help from me. This ballet was a wonderful experience that couldn't have happened without your encouragement and support. Thank You Daniel.

You're Invited

2011-03-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Columbia Ballet School Company Dancers Present

The Wisdom of Dr. Seuss

Five original ballets

3 PM March 27 

Richland Northeast Auditorium

Columbia SC

Green Eggs and Ham

Choreography by Jhe Russell

Oh! The Places You Will Go

Choreography by McCree O'Kelley

The Sneetches

Choreography by Jen Kruidenier

The Cat in the Hat

Choreography by Joy Alexander

The Lorax

Choreography by Anita Ashley and Ann Kent

Contact me for ticket information.

Photoshop.com Album: Hunting Island 2011

2011-03-16T05:40:00.001-07:00

Beach camping with good friends.
Hiking to the lighthouse, A beautiful view from the top, Climbing on the playground of fallen trees, Tromping through the mud, Nature center, Walking the pier over the lagoon, Spotting the osprey on her nest. Walking on the rocks out over the waves, Flying the kite, Chasing the kite that got away. Warm fires, Dads playing guitar, Swinging on the hammock. Older kids playing late night yahtsee, an original play by the kids and sweet voices singing their made up songs. Last hike down the boardwalk trail. Always sad to leave.

I think we took about 1000 pictures on this trip! Everything was so beautiful. I narrowed it down to about 37 photos and you can see them in this album I've posted above. You can scroll through them individually or hit play and watch them as a slideshow.

Urban Garden Notes: Starting Spring Right

2011-03-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

The ole peach tree is blooming.

Spring is a busy and exciting time for the Southern urban gardener. It's not only a time for planting but a time to measure the readiness of the soil for the entire season. While the world is turning green we are following our now yearly ritual of strengthening the soil before everything really cranks up.

Onions planted during winter are now growing strong.

Garlic planted last Fall really responds to the warmer weather.

These cabbage grew uncared for and completely unattended all winter. They won't last long now!

It all starts with the soil. The soil community is the life of the garden. It must be put, with the limitations of time, money, and knowledge, in the best condition possible. Here are some of the products we use to increase the productivity and long-term health of the soil:

Compost-each Spring we borrow or rent a truck and drive to our friendly sanitation department where they load us up with compost produced from the city's yard and construction waste. This compost is not aerated and so is probably not as high in microbial content as would be actively aerated compost, but what it does do is add water retention capacity and nutrient to the soil. If you're growing in the south-east, and especially in the Sand Hills of South Carolina this cheap source is an excellent way to boost the soil's capacity to hold water. Better water retention means less watering, more stable growth for plants, and a better environment for the microbial life that makes healthy soil possible. Our composting facility sells compost for $30 a yard cubed. But they are very generous and always send us away with more than that. As you can see in the picture below the compost has been deposited on top of the beds and will be lightly mixed in the top several inches.

Here is a view of our main eight beds. The darkened rows are covered with rich compost. It will be integrated into the upper-layer of soil along with other amendments.

Sea Kelp-we purchase Thorvin Sea Kelp. This is a great source of nutrients containing over 70 different vitamins, minerals (major and micro), and other bioactive agents. A standard fertilizer focuses on the major essential nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, without which not. But these nutrients are not sufficient. Sea kelp is a great catch-all supplement for other necessary nutrients. We apply it broadly when conditioning the soil, put it in our seed-starting mix, and sprinkle it in with fertilizer as a side-dressing during the spring and summer seasons. As a side note sea kelp is also a great amendment to add to your compost, enriching it and giving the bacteria in the compost a chance to break down nutrients before the application of compost to the garden soil.

Espoma Fertilizer-we like Espoma because it is organic and it also includes microbial life. Microbes are crucial for any healthy soil. They break down nutrients, tie up nutrients so that they are not leached, and even form beneficial relationships with some plant roots. When applying Espoma Fertilizers we are able to provide a higher level of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and add the crucial mibrobial life that will help make those nutrients available to plant roots. Espoma makes a variety of fertilizers for different applications. We use Garden Tone.

We planted the majority of our Spring garden this past weekend. Below are two of the trays of seedlings. And, a reminder of our need to learn more and continue to experiment: In the top tray there are empty cells. We learned this year that onion seeds degenerate very quickly. Never use old seeds. Buy new seeds each year. Old seeds will not germinate. In the lower tray the spinach on the left is going to seed. Why? We have no clue. One friend suggested the length of time I was running my grow light may have stimulated flowering in the spinach. Who knows. More failure is sure to follow. But there will also be lots of good eating.

Here some strapping young kale are sprinkled with Biovam beneficial fungal spores (a bit of an experiment on our part) before being introduced to the garden soil. Kale is powerfully nutritious, grows well for us, and is extremely productive. We started a bunch this year.

We are harvesting turnips, cabbage, and collards (Arianna and Ellen hold a single turnip and single collard below) from our uncared for and unattended winter garden. The winter garden here was easy. We planted in the Fall and left these guys completely alone all winter. They grew slowly but surely and now we have an early harvest before the Spring garden gets kicking.

Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site

2011-03-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

As a part of our Colonial Period literature study and history coop we are reading the book Johnny Tremain. It takes place during the Revolutionary War in Boston. Today our group took a field trip to the Camden, SC Revolutionary War Site. There was a small fee but it was well worth it. The tour guide was very informative and engaging. She took us through the Kershaw Mansion (pictured below). She let us feel the clothing and touch the uniforms and weapons of the period. We walked all through the house and spent the afternoon picnicing and playing on the grounds.

The wealthy merchant who built this house helped establish Camden as the largest inland trading town in the Colony. He wasn't able to complete the house before Cornwallis' troops took it over in 1780. Then the house and town became the main British supply post in the Southern campaign. The Battle of Camden was the worst American defeat of the Revolution. The original house was burned after the Civil War but was reconstructed and furnished in the late 1970s. Very interesting stuff:)

There are also other original small houses set up as museums, reconstructed redoubts, a part of a blacksmith shop, and gardens all on the site.

I highly recommend this as a place to visit.

Spring Seed Starting Week by Week

2011-02-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

On January 23 we started 3 trays of seeds --36 collards, 36 kale, 24 cabbage, 24 spinach, 24 brussels sprouts, 18 lettuce mix, 18 broccoli, 18 onions, 18 chard.

We are using a new indoor lighting set up that will make starting seeds a lot easier. This powerful light stays on for 18 hours a day which has been enough to keep the seedlings healthy and strong so far. (We put paper bags on top of the trays in the beginning to help keep the seeds moist while germinating.)

The new tray allows for easy watering. Daniel fills it once a week with water, fish emulsion, and compost tea. He uses 5 gallon buckets to fill and drain.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Started another tray of 6 broccoli, 18 cabbage, 18 red Russian kale, 12 red lettuce, 18 buttercrunch lettuce

Week 4

Week 5

We plan to put these out and get summer seeds started within the next few weeks.

Zip Line Mania

2011-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

We installed Arianna's birthday zip line. Now I think we need them all over the city. We could zip everywhere! Set up was super easy and we're all enjoying the occasional ride.

Arianna takes the inaugural ride.

Ellen zooms along!

Even Dad rides the zip line. "C'mon Dad, it's not your birthday."

Arianna turning 8

2011-02-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

Arianna at about 1 in Indianapolis

Arianna now!

Our beautiful little girl is turning 8 on Wednesday.

Here's Daniel, the girls, and some good friends after a celebratory silly string war.

We got her a zip line for her birthday. It was a surprise and she was so excited.

Birthdays are so fun, a lot of work, but fun! Friends and family come together, we play games, laugh, and eat good food. It makes me stop and think about how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. I am so thankful.

Easy Tasty Veggie Soup

2011-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have to give credit to my friend Lesley for this meal idea. She wrote about this soup on her blog a few months ago and I've been making it about once a week all winter! It is easy to put together and cooks up in about 30 minutes. A lot of times (when I'm making any soup) I make it early in the day and let it sit on the stove for the afternoon. Chopping the veggies ahead of time will make it go even faster. The soup is very versatile, but the main ingredient is the bag of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix which contains split yellow, red and green peas, lentils, barley, and alphabet pasta. This meal is a huge hit with my kids and is something I serve to other kids and families who may not be used to eating our style of food.

Ingredients:
2 cups vegi soup mix
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
2 ribs celery finely chopped
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 cubes veggie bouillon plus 8 cups water (equivalent to 8 cups veggie broth plus extra water)
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes or until they get soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 20 mins.

Optional:
You can add a handful of chopped greens (kale, collards, spinach) the last few minutes of cooking. Potatoes are also good in this soup but you'll need to add extra water. Canned tomato paste goes well also. Daniel made it into a curried soup by adding Indian spices and you can also make it more Italian flavored by adding basil, oregano, rosemary, etc. The options of what you can do with this little bag of soup are endless.

The bag is on sale at Kroger right now. Usually it is around $4.50 but it was going for around $3 the last time I was in there so I bought all of them!

New Recipes

2011-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

I got this cookbook Appetite for Reduction

for Christmas. The author, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, has several other great vegan cookbooks but this one focused on dishes with healthier ingredients. She has cut out most oil, processed foods, and sugar. She uses whole fresh foods.

A lot of the recipes are spicy and a little too flavorful for my kids. The girls love bland food--plain sandwiches with no mustard or mayo and salad with no dressing! I might be making some of the recipes for just the grown ups because everything looks yummy to me.

The first thing I tried was this balsamic viniagrette recipe that I'll share. It is EXCELLENT. I love the use of cashews to make it creamy.

1/4 cup cashews (soaked in half cup water for at least an hour preferably overnight)
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon agave nectar
3/4 teaspoons salt
a few pinches of fresh pepper

Put cashews and shallots in food processor and pulse to chop. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 5 minutes scraping down the sides often. Transfer to sealable container and chill. Makes 1 cup dressing.

Sorry no pictures. We ate it too fast...

Snow Days

2011-01-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

We had about 3 inches of snow and lots of freezing rain. The whole town has shut down today and tomorrow so no teaching for Daniel or me!

Here's how my SC girls boogie board in the snow!

Easy Embroidery (how to)

2011-01-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

I made these shirts for the girls for Christmas. I came up with the idea while I was at Belk trying to spend enough money to use a $10 off coupon. These solid t-shirts were only $8 and the girls always need new t-shirts since that's all they ever wear. I got these but I thought they were too plain to give as Christmas presents so I figured I'd go to the hobby store and find something to put on them. These little embroidered iron-on letters were about a dollar and seemed perfect as I've noticed that E and A are always drawn to things with their name or initials.

I ironed them according to the directions, but figured they weren't going to stay since the material is so stretchy in these shirts. To keep them from falling off I just stitched them very quickly around the letters. The whole thing was less than $10 and the kids love them!

Finally some Christmas photos

2011-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a slide show of the best pictures from our trip. We started out with Christmas Eve and morning in Charlotte with the Kruideniers. Then drove to Baton Rouge to stay with the Ashbys. Then made our last stop in Jackson MS with more cousins and extended family.

Music Lessons

2010-12-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

Want to know how to save tons of money on beginning music lessons for your kids? Learn to play the instruments with your child. So far I have been able to stay about 1 or 2 steps ahead of the girls on piano and violin. I read books and watch videos then teach them what I know and encourage them to practice. Usually they get to know the pieces better than I do since they are practicing more (and focusing on one instrument). For a DIY family like us, this is the way to go.

Our kids are surrounded by music on a daily basis. Daniel plays the guitar every day and sometimes, in the evenings, I play with him. They were born in a musical family. My parents have always played instruments and are now in a band. Daniel's dad is also a musician, music lover, and instrument collector. All of these things have helped make them into the musicians that they are. Most importantly, they practice every day and they are proud of the sounds that they can make.

Daniel is learning a classical guitar accompaniment to go along with a duet that the girls know. The kids love when we all play together:)

Here's Arianna playing 3 songs from her Suzuki book. Ellen is playing Red River Valley. They've both been playing for almost a year. The sound that you here towards the end of Ellen's video is a helicopter.

Here are the books we are using for piano.
Alfred's Basic Piano Library. Started with level one. Now going on to level 3.

For violin I ordered this Suzuki book and CD from Amazon. I had to watch a lot of videos on youtube to learn how to hold the bow and play the violin. This is my favorite guy and he has a whole series of beginning violin tutorials.

One Giant Leaf Pile

2010-12-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Daniel and girls collected leaves from a nearby church. They brought them into our yard a made a huge pile which we will use for compost the whole year.

But first we must play in it!

Pretty girls.

Silly girls.

As always, Blue is keeping a close watch...

Thanksgiving Pictures

2010-11-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

We drove to Charlotte Thursday morning for a wonderful vegetarian Thanksgiving feast provided by Daniel's mom. We got to see visiting family members from Daniel's side including some of his brothers and sisters.

Thursday evening we drove up to Mountain City to Mimi and BB's house. My brother and his family were in town from Baton Rouge. The cousins just couldn't get enough of each other--they played inside and out, in the hot tub, in the music studio, at a few parks, watched movies and slept on the floor together since we didn't have a bed big enough for them all:) It's amazing how kids can literally make a game out of anything.

Fall Fun--Fair and Halloween

2010-11-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

A day at the State Fair. Five hours of pure fun!

The girls went trick or treating twice. The first time they went with Daniel to an event at USC while I was visiting family last week. They got such a load. We all decided that the candy is better off in the trash than in their bodies. They kept a few pieces but threw away 4 pounds of junk.

While in the mood of getting rid of things, Daniel helped them go through their room and get rid of a few bags of clothes and toys. They also cleaned out my car and cleaned the house while I was away.

They wanted to be Indians for Halloween so we sewed these costumes out of some fabric and extra pieces from the fabric store. They made belts out of gimp and beads. Daniel sewed the shoulder bag for them.

We carved some pumpkins and left a bowl of candy out for the trick-or-treaters while we walked around the neighborhood last night. We got another load of candy and sorted through most of it again tonight.

Loquats are blooming!

2010-10-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

After following the Clemson extension planting guidelines for Fall planting in the Sandhills of SC and watching the late heat and dry weather decimate our hopes for a Fall garden these Loquat blossoms are a real treat.

Loquats are from Asia (pretty general right?) but are well established in the Southern US. I see them all over town in Columbia, mostly single trees as ornamentals in yards. Loquats are evergreen, reach a modest height of 20-30 feet, have large shiny leaves with a gray hairy underside, and are both easy to care for and attractive as ornamentals. I picked up some Loquat saplings from the landscape department at the school I work at downtown. A landscaper had collected saplings and they were just living in pots in a corner with little attention. The plants reproduce readily from the seeds of fallen fruit.

I planted them in full sun and they shot off like rockets with little extra care. I maintain a heavy layer of mulch but they are rooted in a well-drained very sandy soil. This is the northern exremity of their range. We are zone eight. Some years the fruit is killed off by a run of very cold nights. However last year I ate lots of fruit off the trees on campus. I also had some interesting conversations with students who were unaware that food was available above their heads.

Loquats bloom in the Fall and then the clusters of orange fruit mature in the late winter or early Spring. I'm very excited to see healthy blooms on my young trees and hopefully we'll stay warm enough to harvest some good fruit.

If you are zone eight or hotter, and the hotter the better, consider the Loquat for its attractive shape and foliage, food provision, and odd fruiting time. The orange fruits will stand out when everything else is just waking up from winter sleep. If you want one try hunting down a mature tree in your area. Chances are there are saplings waiting to be dug up and planted in your yard for free.

Annual Carolina Coast Beach Bonanza

2010-10-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Our annual beach trip with friends on the Carolina coast was a resounding success. Each year is better than the last and this one was no different. The beach was beautiful, and while the temperature was cooler than last year, there was no shortage of boogie boarding, beach frisbee, beach football, beach horseshoe, beach bocce ball, hole digging, dead fish finding, dead fish dragging, jellyfish poking, racing, castle building, jogging, walking, guitar playing, body burying, sea shell collecting, beach food eating and drinking, book reading, sand eating, sand throwing, hole filling, beach talking, reading, and what am I forgetting? Oh, good ole beach staring. My favorite.

The food was wonderfully organized, filling, delicious, and lovingly home-made. Each family brought components of larger meals and lots of snacks for in-between. Not only was it yummy but the cooking was well distributed amongst everyone so that no one cooked all the time.

The group doubled in size. Dan and Janet Aardema came from Virginia with their two kids Sylvia and Joren. Scott and Anna Morrison came from North Carolina and brought their kids Julian, Madelyn, Kalen, and Brayden. Jason and Lesley Bulluck, who we've made the trip with three times before, came with Alder and Heath from Virginia. We totaled eight happy adults and ten happy kiddos.

When we started the beach trip tradition several years ago all the kids were itty-bitty and clung close to the parents. This trip I saw our girls for meals and before bed, and Alder ventured off everywhere and even fell asleep with the big kids. Watching the kids grow is sure cool.

We moved up to a house right on the beach. This was wonderful. What benefits. It made everything from transporting beach stuff to watching the kids easier. And back porches are much more interesting facing the ocean than facing hotels.

Some favorite moments: A strapping lad eats his weight in oatmeal. Sand fleas are inexpensive pets. Flying diapers attack unsuspecting parents from a loft above. Daringly, a fish carcass is dragged down the beach. Internet withdrawal syndrome strikes. Country accents don't automatically imply horseshoe skill. A rookie quarterback's career ends with a preseason jammed finger. Piers are dangerous places of flying hooks and fish guts. Sometimes oceans act like lakes. Sand is fun in large quantities. A guy treats the guitar like a third arm. The Nodo Chords rock!

The kids, especially the older ones who are old enough to experience leaving the beach and friends as a loss, were visibly down when we left. I was too. But that means it was good.

So many thanks to the Aardemas, Morrisons, and Bullucks for all the love they gave the trip.

Go Gamecocks!

2010-10-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

WE DON'T GET THIS PLEASURE MUCH. ALLOW US TO GLOAT.

Homeschooling and Socialization

2010-10-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

We attended two events last week that made me thankful for our friends and the town we live in. On Sunday we met up with 3 other families and went to Unearth at Saluda Shoals Park in Irmo. For this event, the park organized more than 20 artists, musicians, and drama teams who were all performing along the nature trails. (It was put on for the entire Columbia area not just homeschoolers.)

Some artists had hands-on demonstrations while others just talked about their work.

The day ended with the Lake Murray Symphony set up for a free concert right by the river.

On Wednesday, Harbison State Forest hosted our homeschool group for a Fall Field day. The 60 or more people in our group divided up according to the ages of their children and we split up for nature hikes and relay games.

When we first started homeschooling people would ask me if I was concerned about my kids having enough opportunity for socialization. I was pretty confident even then that finding friends would not be a problem. Now I find that it is hard to choose from all the field trips, clubs, classes, and events that Columbia has to offer for families and homeschoolers. The girls (and I) have amazing friendships and are thankful for the relationships, play times, learning opportunities and memories of these early elementary years.

Black Widow

2010-09-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Don't find these around the house very often!

Daniel found this one on some trash that he picked up from a neighbor's yard.

Free USC Equestrian Events

2010-09-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Daniel got a schedule of USC athletic events a few weeks ago and told us about a free equestrian event that was being held this weekend. Arianna has always loved horses and both of the girls have been asking for riding lessons. We thought this event would be a good chance to see horses up close and watch them perform and compete.

USC owns a farm called One Wood Farm out in Blythewood which is about 20 minutes from our house. We were there on Friday afternoon when mostly English riders were performing.

The grounds were beautiful and all the stables were open so we walked around and petted other horses while we were there.

Here's the link for directions, schedule, etc. for the USC equestrian team. All events are free!

Happy Birthday Ellen!

2010-09-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our little girl turned 9 yesterday. She wanted an ice cream cake so I made one with soy ice cream and whip cream. Mimi came down to celebrate with us.

She was so excited and surprised to open her new aquarium. We took her to the pet store to pick out all the decorations and live plants last night. We'll go get the fish later tonight. We've set it up in their room for enjoyment all night long.

Our Day

2010-09-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting to read about how other homeschool families spend their day. Here's a glimpse of what we are doing these school days.

Even though every day is a little different because of dance, coop, field trips, or errands, we keep the same routine. I think the pattern is important for our sanity. We keep all our school books together on the shelf in the dining room where we sit first thing in the morning. I write down a list of things they need to get done every day for a week and they keep it with their stack of stuff.

The girls usually wake up around 7-7:30. I like to get up before them so I can have coffee and read news and blogs while I wake up. Two mornings a week we have ballet classes that I teach so we try to get started with school work by 8:30. On the days we don't have dance we start at 9:00. I don't care what they do between breakfast and when we sit down for school work but they have to have done all their chores -- brush teeth, get dressed, straighten room -- by the time we get started.

We always begin with math.
I've found that since math takes so much concentration the girls do much better if they tackle it first. We use Math U See for our curriculum. Ellen is on Delta which is the 4th book and she is over half way through it. She is working on long division, finding the area of triangles and parallelograms, etc. Arianna is about 1/3 of the way through the 3rd book which is Gamma. She's memorizing multiplication facts and is just about to start all the hard ones--4s, 6s, 7s, 8s and 9s. I hear my inner cheerleader coming out a lot these days during math and especially with Ellen in division. I'm saying things like, "You can do it, I know the problem is long but isn't it cool how all these numbers fit together like a puzzle." I always liked math so I'm trying to pass on my enthusiasm.

Next is Language arts--Grammar, Spelling, cursive, copywork, writing.
We usually do 2-3 of those things listed above every day. We've been using the curriculum First Language Lessons for 4 years so we are beginning the 4th volume. The curriculum spends a lot of time memorizing parts of speech lists and definitions, memorizing classic poetry from authors such as Poe, Wordsworth, Stevenson, etc., and diagramming sentences. They both actually enjoy the structure and are very good at it. We chant the lists and poetry and seriously have fun saying them out loud together. It's very rewarding to be able to recite a list or classic poem.

They both do a page or two from their Spelling Workout books and cursive workbooks. Again they enjoy writing so this is a fun thing for them. Arianna asks to write in her cursive book even during her free time.

For copywork I keep a list of famous quotes that they can choose from to copy. This helps them learn the structure and sound of good sentences. It also increases their vocabulary and improves spelling.

On some days I ask them to summarize a part of something they are reading or something from our History reading for extra writing practice.

Reading and instrument practice is next.
We set the timer for 30 minutes and one reads while the other practices. For this read alone time they have to choose something that is of good quality and approved by me. Ellen, for example, read through the Chronicles of Narnia last year and is now on George MacDonald's fantasies. Arianna is still on beginning chapter books like the rainbow fairies or Magic Treehouse. No comics during this time. The girls read at other times of the day but this is the only required reading they do alone.

I'm still teaching Arianna violin and Ellen piano. I'm just one step ahead of them on these instruments so I'm working on finding someone to come to the house for lessons.

We do Latin at least 2 days a week. Ellen started last year using the book Latin for Children as our guide. Arianna is starting this year. We are moving pretty slow for now but I hope to pick back up with it over the next few weeks. They like learning another language.

History & Science
I don't have a specific curriculum for science yet. The girls get enough from nature studies, animal studies, baking, gardening, etc. that we encounter and experience in our daily lives.

I am very excited about history this year. We are learning about Colonial America through historical fiction literature studies. A few moms and I have collected book lists from libraries, textbooks and websites. We have pulled together a great stack of books and will be reading them at home and discussing them as a group during coop. We'll also be doing colonial crafts and other projects. I'm going to do a separate post with more information about this subject.

Kruidenier family beach trip

2010-08-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

This was our last trip of the summer. We spent the weekend at Carolina Beach hanging out with most of the Kruideniers. I know I've said this before, but I have the best in-laws!

9 people's stuff for a day at the beach packed in the back of the jeep. Anna--dropped your hat!

Anna and Arianna jumping the waves.

The day at the beach was so fun--everyone played in the water at some point.

Thanks to Tyler and Anna for hosting us in his parents' house where we played pool, basketball, and cruised the neighborhood on bicycles. The cousins had a great time together and played lots of games including spit and checkers

We also walked back behind the house to a pond where we ran into an alligator.

We missed you Dave, Liz and William, and thought of you often.

New York City

2010-08-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago Jennifer and I were married. This past week we celebrated with a special trip to NYC. NYC had much to offer. First, it has an incredible array of vegetarian friendly eating. We weren't quite sure just how good, but we were absolutely blown away. Second, NYC had the arts. We were able to view great quantities of fabulous architecture, musicians, a Broadway play, and the Metropolitan Museum itself. Third, NYC was quite a different kind of adventure than Jennifer and I were used to: the subway, the trash, the crowds, the size, many different faces and languages.

The trip was amazing. We ate vegan food galore of so many varieties and flavors. We visited many of the major tourist attractions. We also "discovered" beautiful sites we hadn't planned on visiting. By the next Tuesday afternoon we were partied out and ready to head home. What a homecoming we received. Thanks to Mimi for staying with the girls, my mom for getting us to and from the airport, and Dave for compiling such an incredible list of restaurants.

Following are some of our favorite experiences: it's already too long but just imagine I worked really hard to cut most of it out!
Jennifer chose our Broadway play. Getting to the show and walking through Time Square was an adventure in itself. I had no clue what to expect and willingly admit my skepticism, but my soul was stirred! The music was stunning and the phantom, played by John Cudia, had an incredible voice. The costumes were beautiful. It was well worth it.

Central Park was beautiful. There were acrobats, musicians, statues, fountains, tons of ornate stone and concrete work, lakes, bridges, tunnels, playgrounds, joggers, bikers...The walk to Central Park took us through Park, Fifth, and Madison Ave. Quite the shopping district we've heard.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was amazing. Here we stand before an ancient Egyptian temple. I won't bore you with all the great paintings, carvings, and other artifacts we saw. We spent six hours at the Museum and still didn't get through the entire collection. The Museum was a huge hit.

The closest I'll ever get to Socrates...

I spent most of our walking time with my head directed upwards. I took many photos of the buildings. The mix of old and new was really enjoyable, and again the amount of attention given to style and detail blew us away. This picture was taken from the US Custom office at Battery Park in the financial district. We did view the city from the Empire State Building which was quite exciting but a very long line.
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine was one of our surprise finds. We were gawking at Tom's Restaurant on the upper West Side when through the darkness we spied a magnificent edifice. Supposedly this is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. I include a picture below of Jennifer standing by one of a handful of central columns. The church was breath-taking inside and out.

There's probably no show Jennifer and I have watched more often together than Seinfeld. It was fun to make a special trip to the West Side to pay homage.And, since returning the background buildings, streetscapes, and characters appear very much more rooted in NY than we had imagined.

Here Jennifer and I share a late dinner at Prada, a wonderful pizza place in the East Village. There is no way we could pick a favorite restaurant. The other pizza place we ate at in Brooklyn called Vinnies was amazing, Candle Cafe near Central Park did things with seitan we didn't know were possible, and Franchia's Korean cuisine was zen-like.

Last, it wouldn't be fair to not include the subway itself. It was muggy-hot, crowded, dirty, and confusing. Here Professor Edwardo Alvarado played some lively music while keeping his booty shaking dolls doing their thing. We must say although New Yorkers seem to have largely dispensed with cordial salutations and niceties we found no shortage of kind and helpful folks when we were lost. Whether on a street corner, at a restaurant, or staring the wrong way at a subway map, often unasked, we were directed to our next location by a really cordial New Yorker. Thanks!

All around a spectacular trip. Made possible most essentially by such a wonderful marriage. Here's to looking forward to another ten years and many more adventures.

Tennessee Trip Part 1

2010-08-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Mountain City to see my nephew Will who was staying with my mom. While we were there Mom and I took the kids hiking and exploring in Johnson County at Backbone Rock. This beautiful area had hiking trails along the creek, up to backbone falls, and over the the rock tunnel. The kids spent hours playing in the water and exploring the area.

The sign says "Danger, Bears are active in this area."

Playing in BB's studio. We all had a chance to jam...

Lost a tooth

2010-07-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Her first one...

One happy girl!

Family visit and trip to Charleston

2010-07-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit with Daddy Bill and Nana last weekend. They drove in from Baton Rouge and spent the weekend with us here in Columbia. On Friday, Daniel took the day off and we all drove to Charleston for a boat ride and tour of Fort Sumter. The ferry boat was entertaining for the kids and provided a beautiful view of the harbor and the city of Charleston. While on the ride over to Fort Sumter, we listened to an extensive history lesson over the loud speakers about the area and the beginning of the Civil War. After the tour, we also went into downtown for lunch, browsed the French Market, and walked along the river. The adults rested in the shade while the girls played in the fountain. Thanks to Daddy Bill and Nana for a great idea and for treating us to a wonderful day trip! We miss you.

A whole new room

2010-07-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, we decided it was time to remove the old carpet from the playroom and replace it with tile. As with any remodel project, it is never as simple as you think it is going to be. We ended up replacing one whole side of wall board and most of the trim in the room, and re-painting the walls and trim.

Here is a before picture of the room on a regular day.

Here it is after cleaning most of the toys out.

Here we have pulled out the carpet and now in the middle of putting in the subfloor. Just in case you are wondering what is involved in the process of installing tile there is one layer of mortar, a layer of concrete backerboard (screwed in with 50 screws for each 3x5 piece), then mortar and tape over all the seams of the backerboard, then another layer of mortar, then the tile, and finally the grout and sealer.

Here the floor is done and we've installed the new wall board on that back wall. That wall had been bothering us since it looked like a previous owner had taken out a window unit (air conditioner) and put a piece of ply wood in the spot. It had been painted to match the rest of the walls but it never looked very good. Daniel tried to replace just that one section, but the big box stores don't carry the exact board that we needed so we had to replace the whole wall to make sure it all matched.

I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I painted the playroom that gold color a couple of years ago. I thought it was going to turn out a little more neutral but I never liked it and always felt like we were surrounded by school bus yellow. So I went back to a very safe color. The girls helped throughout the process. They learned how to rip up carpet, spread a few feet of mortar, and caulk. They also painted a few parts that they could reach.

I have a little experience tiling since I have done 2 small bathrooms, but I'd never attempted a job as big as the playroom (around 250 sq. ft.). Daniel and I spent several years remodeling, renting, and selling houses when we lived in NC so neither one of us are afraid to tackle renovation projects. This project did prove to be challenging in many ways as we ran into a few unexpected delays/problems. It was hard enough to fit all of that work in during our free time. Remember Daniel is still teaching 2 classes a semester during summer school and working on his dissertation, and the girls and I are still homeschooling and dancing--oh, and there's the garden too. Somehow, we managed to find the time to get it done. I am so pleased with the results. It is not complete as we will be adding some more furniture including a couch and tv area and a large desk for our homeschool corner.

As I said, we started the project a few months ago. Besides the fact that we worked on it only on weekends (when not traveling or celebrating a holiday) and in the evenings, Daniel also replaced a toilet in the bathroom and a drain pipe for the washing machine. So, a few plumbing emergencies over the past few months held up the tile process too. Isn't it beautiful now? It feels so fresh, clean, and indestructible.

Swimming

2010-07-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

This is a collection of pictures taken over a week or so. We have some very generous friends who allow us to use their pool anytime and so we have been over there a lot. We spent July 4th there with our good friends and ended the night with a wonderful vegetarian feast followed by the traditional Kruidenier fireworks spectacular.

Daniel played many games with the kids in the pool. Most of the time it was Marco Polo with Arianna on his back.

We've also had playgroup at the public beach area at nearby Lake Murray. A great group of friends!

Queen for a day

2010-06-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

We have been meeting once a week with two other families for a History Coop this year. The curriculum that we are using is called The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 2: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance, Revised Edition by Susan Wise Bauer. She has written the history of the world in a 4 volume set and we are at the end of the 2nd one. An activity book for the text has been giving us ideas for projects, games, and crafts throughout the year. I really like these books, mainly because they are a good outline for studying history. We do a lot of extra reading to go along with the chapters and the parents rotate teaching each week.

This week we studied Queen Elizabeth. After teaching a lesson, reviewing the chapter, and looking at lots of portraits of the queen, we took pictures of the girls dressed and posed like her.

Here are Ellen and Arianna and our other two friends. Beautiful!

The kids in the group (2 are not pictured) love going to "history" every week. They enjoy listening to and talking about stories from the past. They especially like doing crafts and dressing up. This year we have had them dress up like celtic warriors, samurai, knights, and ladies to name a few. They've also made all kinds of weapons including cannons, axes, swords, shields, etc. mostly out of cardboard tubes, paint sticks, and duck tape. In addition, they've done all sorts of crafts like mosaics, Japanese carp kites, illuminated letters, pysanky eggs, glue batik, etc. We've also tasted traditional foods from the Native Americans and the Moors.

I'm thankful to be involved in this group. We have developed some great friendships. Learning with friends can be a lot of fun! Besides having fun together it can also serve as an accountability group. Without them I might not push through the chapters and have the energy to do the activities. I know I've learned a ton about the middle ages from this coop!

Here's the link for the rest of the pictures I took today.

Surprised by squash

2010-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a few squash recipes this week. I am amazed at how much you can do with squash! It can be put in almost any thing -- stir fry, pizza, soup, and my two new favorites, bread and pot pie.

I have adapted my old zucchini bread recipe and I now call it squash bread. The last batch I made actually had 3 kinds of squash mixed together since I had half a zucchini left from the day before, then I added a medium yellow squash, then half a trombone squash.

First I will share the basic recipe that I have adapted from several different cookbooks. You can modify the recipe several ways without changing the flavor very much. To reduce the sugar just leave out half. You can use 1/2 wheat flour and 1/2 white flour and substitute coco powder for 1/2 cup flour to give it a chocolate flavor. Add a handful of chocolate chips for more of a treat. You can leave out a 1/2 cup of oil without substituting the applesauce and it still comes out great although a little dry. We put earth balance (margarine) on it anyway so I like to decrease the oil. I made the muffins above with 2/3 the sugar and 1/2 the oil last night. I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top and brought them to share with some friends and they were a hit.

3 tablespoons of ground flax seeds
1/2 cup water
1 cup canola oil or half cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Mix the flax seeds and water and whisk for a minute then set aside. Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla, then add flax mix, and squash.

Mix dry ingredients together then add to the wet ingredients. Add nuts, raisins, etc. last.

Bake at 350. This makes 2 loaves or 2 muffin tins or one 9x13 pan.The recipe doubles easily.

Next, I adapted this pot pie recipe from Joy of Cooking. I was excited because the original recipe included winter squash and did not involve mixing flour into the base. You simply saute the veggies of your choice individually. Then mix them together with salt and pepper and pour into baking dish. Then cover the veggies with broth. While that is baking, mix drop biscuit recipe to spread on top. Easiest pot pie I've found and it tastes fantastic. Here's the link for a simple biscuit recipe that I love. If you want more details about the pot pie recipe just let me know. I don't want to type it up unless I know someone will want it:)

I was able to use up a lot of squash this week with those two recipes and also summer squash soup. The girls are not big fans of squash although Arianna doesn't mind it as much. Everyone loves it in the bread, though. Have I said enough about squash bread to make you want to try it:)

Squash

2010-06-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

Check out my gardening blog for a new idea for cooking butternut squash. I'm also looking for new ways to cook and serve summer and winter squash so please respond with your favorite recipe or idea.

Ahhh, Summer!

2010-06-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

The girls and I have taken a break from school work for few weeks. We home school year-round but take several weeks off during summer and around the holidays. Lately we've been enjoying sleeping in, staying in our pjs, long sessions of reading aloud and to ourselves. I've had extra time to work on organizing our schedule for the next year and order new books for the year. The girls have been reading a lot but they are experiencing some summertime boredom. I think it's good for them to figure out what to do with themselves at those times. Since we don't have a tv and I won't let them watch many movies (usually 2 a week) they've got to be creative. We have tons of toys so I keep reminding them about all the stuff that's in the playroom and their bedroom -- hundreds of playmobil guys and littlest pet shop, a closet full of stuffed animals, an unreasonable amount of dress up costumes, etc.

So the funniest thing they said to me the other day was that they didn't want to play with all their toys because they knew they were going to have to clean them all up later in the day! It's true, when they are really into something they will spread out in every room of the house and have little homes or shops that they visit with their toys. It's great fun and imaginative for a little/long while. They are starting to think about whether or not it is worth getting it all out if they are going to have to turn around and clean it all up! I wanted to say, "Well now you know how I feel every day with cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc." Don't worry I didn't say it exactly like that:)

They had a sleep-over last night so I've had about 24 hours without them. I really don't know what to do with myself when they are not around. Isn't it true that we get so much more accomplished when we have a deadline or a short amount of time to do it? Well, I could be planning the school year, preparing food, cleaning, bills, working on my dance classes, weeding, but...I think I'll work on the blog. I'll get to that other stuff later:)

Daniel and I had a nice quiet evening alone. We enjoyed a home-cooked meal from the garden and he played the guitar while I worked on the computer for a little while. I love it. I feel like I'm being serenaded. Ended the evening with a movie from the library.

For the latest garden news...this is what we've harvested since June 1st (the last post about the garden).

18 pounds of onions (almost all of the onions we grew this year)

4 pounds of garlic (most of the garlic also)

6 pounds of potatoes

10 ounces of beets

3 1/2 pounds of collards

3 1/2 pounds of kale

1 pound yellow squash (2 medium)

2 pounds zucchini (3 medium/large)

10 ounces basil

Recital photos

2010-06-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the recital.

After the show. Girls in their contemporary costume. Mom and Devon in first photo and Daniel in second. Thanks for the pictures Grandaddy William!

Graduation and Dance Recital

2010-06-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

We have had such a busy weekend that I'm actually glad it's Monday! Our homeschool group has a graduation ceremony at the end of every school year to showcase the students' work and award certificates of achievement. Here is a link to what Daniel wrote about the event last year. This year's graduation just happened to fall on the same weekend as our dance recital so we had two long rehearsals and 2 beautiful shows to attend!

For the homeschool graduation Ellen and Arianna were in a writing class which wrote and performed 2 skits for the crowd. They were also in the recorder class and performed a solo, a duet, and another song with the whole class. All of the students set up their science projects and artwork so that the family and friends could browse around look at their work. The event also included dinner and other performances by the preschool group and the highschoolers. Here they are all together.

Here are the girls playing the recorder. This is their second year playing.

Sunday afternoon was the dance recital. Ellen and Arianna are in different ballet classes but take a contemporary class together so they each performed 2 dances on stage. They were also on stage as assistants for one of my preschool classes. They have been helping me with 2 classes this year and so I needed them onstage to help the little ones. Ellen and Arianna both are very graceful and confident on stage. They absolutely love it all and danced like stars this weekend.

I had 6 classes in the recital this year so every few minutes I was ushering another group of little ones on and off the stage. I was so proud of all my classes and really had fun being a part of their lives this year. For most of them it was their first ballet class and recital. I hope they'll have fond memories of me and that whole experience. I wasn't in the dressing room with Ellen and Arianna since they were in the "older girls" room. I didn't take any pictures of them but William came to the recital will be posting some soon, right? :) Here is a picture of one of my cute classes. They were spring fairies.

The studio that I work for and we all take classes with is called Columbia Ballet School. It celebrated its 30th year anniversary this year. The recital was excellent and the older ballerinas who are really, really talented were a pleasure to watch.

We have a break from dance for a few weeks until we start back up with camp and summer classes in July. I'll be teaching ballet, tap and the mommy and me class while the girls take ballet and contemporary.

A week of cousins

2010-06-03T06:47:00.000-07:00

My mom and cousin are in town for the week. The girls are having so much fun together. We went to the Edventure Children's Museum on Tuesday and Lake Murray on Wednesday. On Saturday, Ellen and Arianna have their graduation ceremony for the homeschool coop where they will be performing several songs on the recorder, 2 skits, and showing their art and science projects. Sunday is their dance recital. We are happy to have family in town to get to see these events.

Saturday Harvest with Beets and Onions

2010-06-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

3 pounds collards
3.5 pounds kale
11 pounds potatoes
4 pounds bok choi
14 ounces chard
1.5 pounds beets

We ordered all of our seeds including the multiplier onions pictured below from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. We are very excited about the success of these onions. We have harvested a portion of the bed and now they are curing (drying) in the shed for a few weeks. Most of the bulbs are a nice size and much bigger than anything we've ever grown. We also harvested garlic this week but did not weigh them (or the onions) yet. We've decided to wait until they dry. We noticed that the local organic garlic was selling for $2 a bulb at the farmer's market! I look forward to doing a cost analysis to see how much money we are saving with growing the food in our garden.

Beets! This is another crop that we are successfully growing for the first time this year. We don't have very many but the ones we have are beautiful! I love the deep red color. I'd love for a suggestion on how to cook these. I'm going to try roasting them tomorrow. I don't usually buy beets so I'm going to have to experiment with some new recipes:)

Celebrating 10 Years Together!

2010-05-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate out 10 year anniversary.

We are still so in love. When you are first engaged and dreaming of your life together you really don't know how your love could grow. Ours sure has.

We are best friends. We love working together and playing together. We have 2 amazing children and a wonderful life. I look forward to many more beautiful years together.

A Leafy Green Meal Plan

2010-05-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a fun challenge to figure out how to fit all these greens that we have been growing into our meals. To begin with, I wash and rinse greens every day and that is quite a process. I've learned that taking the rib out of collards, kale and turnips make them a lot easier to eat--especially for the girls. Another thing I've figured out is that it is more efficient to go ahead and prepare all of the greens at once. For example, in the past I would only wash the kale that I would be using for the specific meal. Now if I wash and trim all 2 pounds at once then dinner prep is quick and we have left over greens that we can eat the next day.

So this is how I do it now. First I cut out the rib if necessary. Then I let them soak in a sink of cold water for about 10 minutes. Then depending how dirty the leaves are I might do that again. I then take them out (inspecting for bugs on each leaf since I am neurotic about not eating bugs) and dry them in the salad spinner. Then I bag them in a clean bag so they are ready for the meal.

I've never really cooked with Bok Choi before this year. I've found that the stalks can be used just like celery. I chop them up and add them to salads, sandwiches and cold salads like potato salad and chick pea salad. If you are going to cook them with the leaves then they need to cook about twice as long (cook ribs 3 mins then add leaves for another 3).

Here's a meal plan for a typical weak during this season:

Sunday--Spicy Chick Pea dish and salad
Monday--Tofu and sauted kale lasagna and salad
Tuesday--Burritos with black beans, rice, collards, olives, avocados, salsa and vegan sour cream on top
Wednesday--Harvest bowl with cornbread, leftover black beans, mashed potatoes and turnips, and avocado.
Thursday--coconut milk and curry stir fry with tofu, bok choi, mushrooms and salad
Friday--Cashew cheese macaroni with sauted swish chard
Saturday--Cold chick pea salad sandwiches

Two new blogs

2010-05-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

I started this blog almost 4 years ago. I created it after hearing from my friend Shael that blogging was a great way to keep in touch with friends and family all over the country. Since we had moved to 3 states in 3 years and all our family was out of town I figured I'd go ahead and give it a try. I was surprised at how easy blogger was to use. I also found that it was a great way to record our pictures and stories without getting all my scrapbooking stuff out!

Blogging keeps getting more popular and there are blogs for everything! Blogger now lets you monetize (place ads on) your pages but I want my personal blog to be a space were people are not bombarded with more advertisements.

I've started 2 new blogs. The first one is a gardening blog. It has the same gardening posts that I create for this blog but I modify them just a little so they are not quite so personal. Click on Southern Organic Gardening to check out the page. One reason I chose to name it Southern Organic Gardening is that we've found that a lot of the information on the web and in books about organic gardening is focused on gardening in the Northeast or West (California). Not much is out there on organic solutions for the South and as you know our climate is very different. Especially here in Columbia and in our sand for a back yard. I hope to expand the Southerrn Organic Gardening blog to include pages on our favorite products, local and national links, and answers to frequently asked questions about gardening in the South. I've also put ads and linked it to other gardening blogs hoping to cash in on all this information we are sharing :) I'm still adding lots of new stuff and since it is a blog I'll keep updating it on a regular basis so bookmark it or become a follower to help me spread the blog and the ads!

The second blog is for the new dance classes that I'm starting--Mommy and Me Ballet The class is held at the same studio where I teach other dance classes, but it is separate in that I'm doing all the marketing, class design, and billing. I started the Mommy and Me Ballet blog because I wanted a place for parents to go to get information since I was doing a lot of emailing and answering the same questions over and over again. I'm working on a website but that is taking me a while to create since I've never done one before. So the blog is the place to go for now. I've had one class so far and it has gotten great feedback. I taught this same class in Indianapolis and it was very popular and I'm hoping the moms here will spread the word and I'll be able to open up another class.

Don't worry my faithful readers, I'm not changing or deleting this blog! I'll be updating it again very soon with a week's meal plan based on greens, dance recital pictures, more recipes, etc.

Friday harvest and recipe

2010-05-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

3 lbs potatoes
2.5 lbs collards
3 lbs bok choi
.75 lb turnips
1.5 lbs turnip greens
.75 lb radish
1.25 lb swiss chard
1 lb kale
.75 lb little bok choi
14 oz lettuce
1.75 lb bunching onions

Here is a recipe for a Greens, Tomatoes, and chick peas dish I pulled and modified from Joy of Cooking (my all time favorite cook book.) Rachel Ray also has a similar recipe. It is quick (30 mins) and easy. Spinach is probably the best--you can even use frozen. I use whatever greens we have available. The spices may be unfamiliar but we use them a lot for Indian dishes. You can get them at an Indian grocery or on Amazon.

1 onion
1 can crushed tomatoes (can used diced also)
3 tsp. coriander
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp. Garam Masala 7oz
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1 tsp of salt (or to taste)
1 bunch of greens rinsed and chopped or 1 pack of frozen spinach

Heat onion in oil or water until soft. Stir in tomatoes, coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and salt. Cook for 3 mins. Stir in Chickpeas and greens and cook 10 minutes or until the greens are as soft as you like!

Serve over any grain like rice, basmati or jasmine is perfect but we just use brown most of the time. I've also served this with quinoa. I usually double the recipe also.

Mother's Day Harvest

2010-05-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

This was a wonderful and relaxing Mother's Day. I slept in and rested on the porch with a good book (Middlemarch by George Eliot) while Daniel made all the meals, cleaned inside and worked outside. I also wandered through the garden picking these beautiful spring veggies and taking pictures of flowers and bugs. We also planted most of the summer veggies that we started from seed including zuchinni, yellow squash, trombone squash, cucumber, pole beans, cantelope, eggplant, basil, more swiss chard and bok choi. I re-potted the tomatoes since we have to wait for garden space to come available. Okra, bush beans, sweet potatoes, and watermelon are still waiting to be planted.

As I mentioned in an earlier post we are keeping track of all the produce we harvest by weighing it and charting it on a clip board in the kitchen. Here is the harvest amounts from Sunday.

1.5 lbs collards
1 lb 4 oz kale (lacinato)
2.5 lbs lettuce (butter crunch and green leaf)
10 oz spinach
4 oz peas
1 lb 4 oz radish (or about 10)

Now you might be wondering what we do with all these greens! Stay tuned for recipes and ideas. Believe it or not by Wednesday night we have already gone through everything but a few ounces of lettuce and collards.

Science and art presentations

2010-05-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last week the girls had to give presentations on their science and art projects for our homeschool coop. For science, we worked together to build a cardboard box solar cooker. Here are the directions for the cooker that we built. We took pictures as we assembled it and tested it out on a sunny day on our back deck.

Gluing foil to the inside of 2 boxes.

Here's a picture of the big box with a whole cut into the top and crumpled newspaper in the bottom.

This is the oven all assembled and cooking on the deck. Just as the oven got up to 200 degrees we put a pot of chocolate, peanuts, and raisins inside. The hottest it got was 215 degrees.

We checked on it in an hour and it was nice and soft.

The girls wanted to be able to serve their chocolate treats to the class so they spooned it out on wax paper, put sprinkles on top and let them cool.

As you know you can melt chocolate outside on most sunny days in Columbia. I used this recipe because it was quick and easy and fun for the kids. I did some research and found that a typical slow cooker cooks at 200 degrees on its lowest setting. Later in the week I put a pot of lentils out in the oven and left them there all day. Yes, the lentils were cooked when I got them out in the evening!

In addition to the science presentation, the girls also had to choose 2 pieces of art that they worked on during the year and present them to the class.

Here is Ellen showing her acrylic sunflowers painting she made after studying Van Gogh.

Here is Arianna showing off her tree that she painted using textured paints.

This shows another student giving her presentation. You can see that the group is a variety of ages from preschool to high school--about 20 students in all.

Greens and daisies

2010-04-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. We are bringing in tons of greens. For example, today I went out at about 11:00 am and picked a handful of lettuce, baby bok choi, sweet peas, radishes, and green onions and mixed it all together for a salad.

We ordered a scale to keep track of the amount of veggies we bring in. We are keeping record of it all on a clip board for now but I plan on charting it as we get in more food. For the first week we brought in 11.5 oz of spinach, 26 oz of sweet peas, 9 radishes, 22 oz lettuce, 15 oz baby bok choi, 1.5 lbs of bigger bak choi, 1 lb young turnip greens. And our spinach is huge.

We loved looking at it so much we just had to take a picture! Is it because of the compost tea?

This is the bak choi bed. This is an asian green that we use just like the other greens--in stir fries, steamed or chopped really thin in salads. We like it because it is a more heat tolerant than salad greens and more tender than traditional southern greens.

Here's the lettuce bed.

So I also had a birthday last weekend--yes I am 32 years old now. Thanks to all my friends and family who contributed to a wonderful weekend. I took a road trip to Nashville to meet up with my best friends from Indy. We all have soar jaws from talking and laughing so much! I got home in perfect time to receive hugs and kisses from my wonderful family, lots of birthday cards and a package with a new zoom lens! I tested it out on the daisies that are blooming in the back garden. What do you think? The pictures really don't do justice to the beautiful flowers. I really do love having flowers all over the yard.

Malaguena

2010-04-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ellen and I have been working through a piano lesson book called Alfred's Basic Piano Library-- Level 2. She started learning the Malaguena on Monday and we took this video on Friday. She is so proud at the end of her song and so am I.

twinkle twinkle

2010-04-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

Arianna got a violin for Christmas and has been practicing during the day. We do not have a teacher so we bought a Suzuki method lesson book and CD and have been learning by ourselves. She plays 6 different variations of Twinkle Twinkle and also 2 other songs along with the CD for practice (that is what you hear in the background.) I've got more videos on my youtube page if you are interested in hearing her other 2 songs. The violin is a hard instrument to learn and I am so proud of what she has accomplished.

Ambrose Farms and Capers Island

2010-04-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

Friday we took a field trip to the Charleston area. Our first stop was an organic farm where they offered u pick strawberries. It took us about 30 minutes to pick about 30 pounds. The farm was amazing. The plants looked so healthy and the farmer was very friendly. He explained how the main things he uses on his plants are compost and fish emulsion. The plants were so healthy and the berries were huge.

The main reason for the trip was a tour of Capers Island. The island is a barrier island that was bought by the state in the 50s. It is protected and very primitive with no water or electricity. They do allow primitive camping but it is only accessible by boat.

The tour guide was very enthusiastic and started sharing interesting facts about the fish right at the marina. He really never stopped talking and answering questions. He started out explaining these stone crab and blue crabs that he had in the tank on the boat. We stopped and looked at some traps in the water.

He used his "overhead projector" to show us exactly where we were on the coast--the inlet between Dewees Island and Bull Island.

We floated around in this section of the inlet for a little while waiting for the dolphins to surface. We saw several all around the boat. They were so fun to spot and of course Arianna was excited to see her favorite animal in the wild.

It took us about an hour to slowly cruise over to the Island from Isle of Palms Marina. Once we got to the shore, the guide walked with us and stopped every so often to name and explain all the different shells and marine creatures that we are all so familiar with. He also talked about how and why the trees are fallen and how to tell the difference between pine and oak skeletons.

I loved learning all those little facts. Here's Ellen showing off the welk shells she found.

I think that lots of schools take this trip but it is open to the public. For more information on Barrier Island Eco Tours check out there website here.

Around here

2010-04-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Finally got our tomato seeds to sprout. We are growing abraham lincoln and matt's wild cherry tomatoes.

Watering with compost tea.

Observing creatures in the garden. All kinds of bugs and reptiles are coming out in the warm weather. We've seen at least 3 of these broad headed skinks living in the rocks.

Fascinated by the huge snail.

Loving Spring in the South. Azaleas, bridal vale bushes, dogwoods, etc.

Proud of all the dianthus flowers and gerbera daisies that came back from last year.

Oh, and we are tiling the playroom floor. We are right in the middle of it which is why I haven't posted much lately. We've ripped up the carpet, prepared the sub-floor and placed half of the tiles. I'll post before and after pictures when we are done.

Transplanting seedlings--Successes and Failures

2010-04-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (the one before Easter) we finally got the seedlings that we started back in January (here the link to that post)in the ground.

A lot of those seeds that we started were a great success and we were very pleased with the health of the kale, collards, lettuce and spinach seedlings.

BUT almost a whole tray of summer seedlings that I started turned out to be a disaster. Hardly any of the seeds even germinated. I don't really know what happened but some reasons for the germination failure could be that the soil was not warm enough, not wet enough or maybe too wet since we noticed that the soil mix we created was a little to dense. Here's a picture of the sad tray.

I've got one tomato out of 30 that I started, no peppers, and about half of the basil and eggplants! We've learned that it's all about experimenting and trying things over and over again. So, I've started new trays of these kinds of plants and hopefully I'll correct whatever went wrong.

Another canoe trip on Cedar Creek at Congaree National Park

2010-03-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we took a break from gardening and spent the morning on a canoe trip at Congaree National Park. The Park is an amazing place just a few miles out of Columbia. They offer free guided canoe trips on the weekends. All you have to do is call 2 weeks in advance (right when they open at 8:30) to reserve your spot. We took this same trip last year and posted more details about the park and the creek here

On this trip we saw a pileated woodpecker, barred owl, lots of sparrows, great blue heron, and a baby box turtle.

It is always so refreshing to be out in the middle of the forest away from all the city noises and technology toys.

Safe and sound after the 2 hour trip (with no stops or breaks). No one fell in the water this time--that's a first!

Spring days in the garden

2010-03-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

These photos have been taken over about a week. We spent all of last Saturday digging in the garden and getting 2 new rows ready. Daniel trimmed the lupine cover crop that had been growing all winter. We added our compost and then tilled it under and mixed it all in with shovels. Even though you don't see me in these pictures I was out there for most of the time. Daniel does way more of the work in the garden than I do but I really do enjoy being out there working along side of him.

The area that we were working in had potatoes and beans in it last year. The rows were shaped differently and we wanted them to look like the rest of the garden. The second picture is the finished product--2 more long rows.

(potatoes are planted in the 3rd row on the left. We planted those in late February)

We are excited about 2 new crops that we are trying out this year. Pictured below the top bed has jerusalem artichoke and the bottom has taro. Both of these plants are perennial and you harvest and eat the root or tuber. They are also beautiful plants while they are growing. The jerusalem artichoke grows tall and have big yellow flowers and the taro have elephant ear stalks and leaves.

We started summer seeds (flowers, veggies, herbs) last week also.

In another part of the yard we have had this cabbage (along with several others) growing all winter and it is big and beautiful now. We have a new found love of cabbage and I can't wait to harvest this one this weekend and enjoy it with friends.

We have lot's of sugar peas coming up on these two rows.

We have garlic and onions here with lettuce seeds scattered and beginning to sprout all over. Some other things we started as seeds in a few rows are carrots, radishes, turnips, bok choy. We will be transplanting our broccoli, kale, lettuce, and cabbage seedlings this weekend.

We ended one day last week hanging out by a fire.

Another night Daniel took E and A to see a local theater's production of The Sound of Music. We had friends that were acting in it and that musical is one of our favorites.

Hunting Island wildlife

2010-03-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

I want to add a few more pictures of some of the wildlife we were surrounded by over the weekend. The kids named 2 of the raccoons that visited us at the campsite. They also named the little black throated green warbler that came close a few times. I do not have a good zoom on my camera so I had to get very close and he didn't seem to mind. The other pictures are of the sea cucumber and the egret. In the first slideshow I posted a picture of the forest and if you look closely you can see 2 deer that came up to our site as well. Enjoy!

Spring Break Hunting Island 2010

2010-03-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

We were so happy to return to Hunting Island State Park. This year we asked our good friends the Morrisons from Durham, NC to meet us there. It was cold and sunny so we just bundled up and played all day. The mornings and evenings we huddled around the campfire and enjoyed wonderful meals including oatmeal, pancakes, toasted burritos, roasted veggies--yum! The kids had so much fun playing on the natural playground of fallen trees along the beach on our hike to the light house. We also explored the marsh boardwalk, pier over the lagoon, and the nature center. It is a fabulous place to visit and one of our favorite spots in SC.

A great show

2010-03-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

The dress rehearsals and show went by really quick and all the practicing definitely paid off. Everything went very smooth. The girls I taught danced beautifully and had a blast the entire time. Everyone I talked to about the show really enjoyed it and everyone is asking about when we will be doing another one! Daniel and I had fun on stage together too.

Here are the fairies backstage during the performance.

Although E and A wish their orchid practices could go on year around, I'm glad it's all over. We had a great time but it is very nice to have our lives back to normal.

There are a few more pictures of the show on our website at Columbiaballetschool.com.

Peter Pan Preview

2010-02-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

In celebration of its 30th year anniversary, our ballet company is putting on a production of the Peter Pan Ballet this weekend. The girls are orchids in the lagoon scene and Daniel and I are Mr. and Mrs. Darling. I also choreographed 2 of the dances--the fairies and the orchids. The girls and I have been rehearsing since November. In the month of February and especially these last 2 weeks (4 days a week) my family has been totally absorbed in rehearsals, music, costumes, and a lot of standing around for Daniel. I will post more after this weekend but here are a few pictures that one of the moms took last night at our dress rehearsal. It is going to be a wonderful performance. It's being held at Richland Northeast Highschool in Columbia at 3pm on Sunday.

The big snow

2010-02-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

The girls had a slumber party to go to on Friday night but before we all went over to the party it started snowing. See if you can find anything unusual in the picture below.

Daniel ran out in the small snow we had last year. This year there was more snow and the girls and I were laughing hysterically when we saw him running through the yard in his shorts again this year! We ended up getting around 5 inches. I couldn't believe it snowed that much in Columbia. I took the picture below on Saturday morning.

The kids and Daniel had a great time Saturday building 2 enormous snow men.

Celebrating Arianna

2010-02-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2003

Betwixt Howard’s Knob and King Street,

Nestled amongst thick bramble, wild apple, black cherry,

From reservoirs of Arcadian rain,

A new spring burst forth sweet and pure.

Sympathy is her sense,
Attuned to the heart
as water the form filled.

Grace is her mark,
Her mode of communication dance,

The outward expression of her inner life.

The abundance of her strength,
Hidden in its depth,
And manifest only through the tenderness of her touch,
Is our constant treasure.

She is our coolest summer rain,

And our softest fall breeze,

We celebrate her life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIANNA

Happy Birthday Arianna

2010-02-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

Arianna turns 7 next week. We had her birthday party sleep over last night. The kids all had a great time and they are still playing hard this morning.

Above, Arianna and one of her best friend's Ayla admire the beautiful cake last night. Ellen and Arianna decorated the top. Didn't it turn out nice?

There's our home-made pinata. Arianna decided she wanted a simple round one this time. The last few birthdays we all felt bad beating down the elaborate dolphin and dog pinatas.

Our girls. How and when did they get so big?!

ski 2010

2010-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

The girls and I took a trip to visit mom and BB in Mountain City. Mom met us at Appalachian Ski Mountain on the way. We spent half the day yesterday skiing. The girls have skied twice before but it has been 2 years. We spent about 30 minutes on the bunny slope reminding ourselves how to do it. The rest of the afternoon we went up and down the same slope and the girls had a blast. It started snowing towards the end of the afternoon and has been snowing off and on ever since. We woke up to about 6 inches of snow. We plan on sledding the rest of the weekend.

It turned out to be a beautiful weekend for playing in the snow. We miss you Daniel! Enjoy the slide show. I think that if you click on it you will go directly to the picasa album and might be able to see the pictures better.

It felt like spring

2010-01-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

We had already planned to get our spring seedlings started last weekend but it was a special treat to have the weather turn perfectly warm for us. Daniel and I had spent several weeks thinking and planning this year's garden and browsing through our favorite seed catalogs. We sat down together to get the final count of our seed inventory and organize our first seed order of the year. We had also searched the web and our library at home for the best seed starting mix recipe. This is the first year we have attempted to make our own soil mix.

We are still harvesting winter crops including bok choi, cabbage, kale, and broccoli. No brussel sprouts yet, but they are still growing.

Here's the greens and cabbage we brought in this week.

Mixing the ingredients for our soil mix which included peat moss, composted manure, lime, kelp, and topsoil.

Taking a break for the water slide. The girls had the idea to pour bottles of water that they got from the rain barrel on the slide. Too bad it's blurry--you can tell they are having a blast.

Here's the final product. Three trays of spring veggies and one of flowers. Each tray has 72 plants. We've stacked them with the plastic tray on top to try to hold in as much moisture as possible. Our first sprouts should be coming any day.

Playing around

2010-01-20T16:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post some pictures of us playing with some of the new Christmas toys. We have gotten the Duo Scope out a few times and looked at all of the slides that it came with. Then they made their own with some water and dirt from a plant. We actually spotted a tiny single celled organism in the plant water. The microscope is a "Duo Scope" which means it can be used to look at microscopic things on slides as well as bigger objects like bugs, dirt, and other small objects. Here's the link if you are interested.

Here's a picture of Arianna using her new digital camera. You can see the face paint on her cheek also. I got them a pack of face paints and they have already used almost all of it. I've been impressed with all the designs they have come up with and drawn on each other's faces. This was a great gift idea (they had been asking for it) so here's the link if you are looking for something creative to get for a child.

cousins

2010-01-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins the entire week we were in Baton Rouge and Jackson. Here's a few pictures from the day we spent at my dad's house. The girls opened a few presents then spent the rest of the time playing outside.

Here's dad and their cute little dog Gadget. He's so silly and loves playing with my dad's hair when he sits down in his chair. They say he can spell since he gets so excited when they say, "Gadget, you want a T... R...E...A...T?" It's hilarious.

Here we are in Jackson visiting more cousins, opening more presents, and having a good time.

I got to spend some time with my grandmother who is healthy and happy and will be 98 years old next month.

Christmas Morning

2010-01-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning seems so long ago. Here are a few photos from the busy day.

We opened presents to and from each other first thing. It was still dark outside. The girls actually woke up at 2am trying to come out and start their day but I heard them talking and told them to go back to sleep. They were very disappointed. I can remember it being very hard to go to sleep on Christmas Eve when I was their age.

We took a short break and enjoyed some homemade monkey bread. This is what Daniel's family had every year and we are continuing the tradition.

Here they are in their new feetsie pjs enjoying some candy from the stockings.

Daniel's family from came down from Charlotte bringing more gifts and food. We shared a wonderful feast. It's always a pleasure having them here. We missed Stephen and Liz who couldn't make it down this year.

The Kruideniers left late in the afternoon and after a few rounds of the game Catch Phrase. Next, Mimi and BB came in from Tennessee. They gave Arianna this beautiful violin that she has been asking for since the fall. They gave Ellen a microscope which we have been figuring out these past few days. More pictures of that to come.

The day after Christmas we drove down to Baton Rouge and Jackson, MS for Christmas part 3 and 4. Stay tuned for more photos of that trip in the next post:)

Christmas Eve

2010-01-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Grandaddy William came over and gave us all Cashmere scarves for Christmas.

We shared a meal together before Grandaddy drove back to Charlotte. Thanks grandaddy!

We read the Christmas Story and the girls went to bed early since they were so excited about Christmas morning and all the family that they were about to see.