Cooking With Madelynn

I am always super excited when I find a great recipe that is easy enough to have one of the kids help me make it. I like to get them involved with cooking when I can because I think it helps them realize what goes into making the meal and hopefully makes them more interested in trying new things. Homemade Chicken and Dumplings is definitely a winner in the kid department and we have had it quite a lot. Madelynn has helped me every time except the first. We followed the recipe on Tasty Kitchen Blog.

 Here she is cutting the dumplings into squares! Or.... rectangles. :)

 Placing them all on a plate and flouring them.

Stirring! So proud of herself for cooking dinner.

Both of the kids are taking a cooking class in co-op right now and are excited to try new recipes that they have learned at home. I am thinking of starting a little cookbook for Madelynn of the stuff she enjoys cooking AND eating.

Co-op & Crochet

Our homeschool group's co-op started last month. I had been preparing Madelynn for it for like two months. She was determined that she would not go and would not like it. I was pretty stressed about it. I was able to take her to her class and stay for a few minutes and she did fine! So, we are halfway through and she really does like it! Whew! I have noticed a lot of changes in her lately. She is definitely starting to be more obedient and is a lot more pleasant to be around! It was funny, after the first day of co-op, her behavior was so much better and I commented on it. She said, "I learned about obeying at co-op." I'm thinking, you have got to be kidding me! I'm sure she never learned anything about obedience at home. ;) Haha! I'm thinking that she was very stressed about co-op and was very happy that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

That is from the first day of co-op. Carson is taking gym, geology and medieval times. He is really enjoying all of his classes and has a ton of things to tell me about on the way home. I'm helping out in the nursery this time around since I have my little guy with me. This year of homeschooling so far has been going great, with the exception of our sick week last week. I think that the difference is that I am not an exhausted pregnant lady this year. Haha!

I started this owl bag for Madelynn before co-op last year and finished the whole thing with the exception of sewing the felt on and putting it all together. So, it kinda sat around as a ufo for a year and I pulled it out and finished it before her first day this time. It is from the Crochet Today magazine, which I really love.

I will have to post again soon about Madelynn's sewing progress. That little girl is doing great, I'm so proud of her!

A New Year of School!

We started school today! I must say, I was rather excited about this year. I set out all the school stuff last night so they would be excited to see their school 'room' this morning when they woke up to eat their back to school breakfast! :)

We tried something new this year. We don't have a lot of room to put workboxes or anything like that. This is what I did....

I put colorful envelopes on the back of our new cabinet doors on the peninsula (that my awesome hubby built :) ) and put an assignment or an activity in each envelope. This worked great! It has forced me to be more prepared and has enabled the kids to work more independently! They also enjoy finding out what their next 'assignment' is going to be and the visual reminder of what they have left has helped them to stay on task. :) I think this is going to be a winner and a great year. So excited!

Carson working on his copywork and Madelynn working on her cross stitch! :)

AND since I have the cutest little guy ever, I HAD to post a picture. :) He'll be six months old in two days.

Sewing with the Bitty

I got this book for the Itty Bitty awhile back at a library book sale and have been anxious to teach her to sew.

Of course, she was only two at the time. Now she is four. Still probably too early to use the book as intended, but I decided what they heck, we are going to tackle it! She is very excited, her sewing box is stocked and ready to go! She started off tracing her sewing card, working very hard. I tried really hard to keep my hands off and let it reflect her 4 year old abilities, but helped a little so that it would be functional to stitch on when it was finished.

So, here she is, displaying her running stitch! She does it most excellently too! Her first project is to start a bookmark which will display all the stitches that she learns. We have it cut out and ready to go, she can't wait! :)

A couple books I have my eye on for her are Made by Me and Sewing School.