I scream, You scream, We ALL scream for…

Graeter’s Ice Cream!

Ok, so I changed the words a little bit.  You caught me.  But right now my freezer has four pints of Graeter’s Ice Cream and it is absolutely fabulous.  And it is now available in MARYLAND at Weis, Mars, and Fresh Market!

I admit that ice cream is one of my guilty pleasures so when the folks at Graeter’s contacted me about reviewing their ice cream, I accepted the offer. 

While waiting for my ice cream to arrive, I had some time to look around their site and read about the French Pot process that makes their ice cream so creamy.  In order to use this process they make the ice cream only two gallons at a time!

Then the big day came and our ice cream samples arrived!  We received four of their “signature chip” flavors.  Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.

Just typing those names makes me want to get up and head to the freezer again.  But alas, I resist. 

First of all, they are not joking about how creamy this ice cream is.  AMAZING!  I can see why Oprah declared it her favorite.  Every single flavor was fabulously creamy.   I don’t know everything about their French Pot Process, but when they say they have perfected it, they have!  YUM!

The second thing we noticed about each “chip” flavor was the consistency of the chips.  They aren’t uniform in size or shape.  It is more like someone drizzled melted chocolate into a bar and then broke it into pieces and put the pieces in the ice cream.  My daughter was completely excited to get a 3 inch size chocolate “chip” in her scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip. 

(I looked it up on Wikipedia and that is close to what is done.  Chocolate is drizzled on top of the pot of ice cream so it forms a layer.  Once it hardens, the layer is broken up into pieces and mixed into the ice cream.)

Now for the flavors, in order of preference…

1.  Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.   Oh. My. Word.  This is good stuff.  I am not even sure how to describe how amazing this flavor is.  The raspberry isn’t too sweet, but sweet enough to provide a lovely contrast to the chocolate found throughout.  Hands down, I will be buying more of this flavor if I can find it at the Weis up the road.

2.  Chocolate Chip.  I am surprised I liked this one so much because vanilla isn’t my favorite flavor.  I am much more of a chocolate fan.  Something about this particular chocolate chip was delicious.  The vanilla ice cream was creamy and tasty in a way that vanilla ice cream usually isn’t for me.  And it was the perfect amount of chocolate throughout.

3.  Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  This was just as creamy and delicious as the rest!  For me, it was a bit too chocolate-y.  Surprisingly, for my husband, it was perfect yet he doesn’t normally like chocolate ice cream.  It was an interesting twist.  Again, the chips of chocolate are just fabulous!

4.  Mint Chocolate Chip.  Now, this is normally my favorite flavor but it didn’t pan out that way.  I am a green mint ice cream girl and the Graeter’s Mint Chocolate Chip is a white mint.  It tastes exactly like a peppermint patty.  Of course, that meant my daughter’s thought it was delicious because they like peppermint patties, but I don’t care for the candy and didn’t particularly like this flavor.

Overall, this is probably one of the smoothest, creamiest ice creams I have ever tasted.  You should truly do yourself a favor and get to Weis, Mars, or Fresh Market this weekend and pick up a flavor.

I am just informed my husband that we will be picking up a pint of their Peanut Butter  Chip as well as the limited edition Strawberry Chip.  They both sound delicious and I can’t wait to try them. 

How about you?  Are you a fan of Graeter’s?  Got a flavor you’d recommend?

School End-ish Year Update

This year is flying by.  It continues to be the best homeschool year we have had so far. 

Maybe we have found our groove.  Maybe I am getting more sleep (no pregnancy, no newborn)  Maybe our new curriculum choices are helping.  Maybe it is due to the design of our own co-op group.

Maybe it is all of it.

Either way, here is a little update on how the different subjects are moving along this year. 

Math – We use Singapore Math.  I LOVE this math program.  My kids are taught how to think mathematically and not just how to use algorithms.  There is a heavy focus on mental math, which can be tough, but we take it in doses.

I also like the variety of resources at my disposal for this curriculum.  We use the basic teacher’s guide, textbook (sometimes) and workbook.  When a topic is too easy, we use the intensive practice books.  These allow us to dig deeper into a math topic instead of just moving to the next topic.  I love the depth of understanding these books help us achieve.  I also have made use of the challenging word problem books that coordinate with each level.

We continue to supplement with flashcards and Minute Math for our fact practice. 

History.  This is the first time we tried Sonlight History for our main curriculum.  We choose to do US History I (level 3) for both girls.  It is exactly what K (age 9) is ready for.  Sonlight recommends this level for ages 8-12.  T is only 7 and aspects of it are definitely beyond her abilities right now.

As with everything, we have modified it for our own use.  I made the decision early on to do level 3 and level 4 over the course of 2.5 years.  There is a TON of excellent history and I want to take my time.  This plan also gives us some time for a MD state history study at the end of the third year.  Then when we begin Sonlight 5, K will be in 6th grade and T will be in 5th grade.  I think this will be a better match for their abilities.

The read-aloud books have been wonderful.  K has enjoyed the advanced readers.  I have chosen a few of the regular readers to read to T this year and we have loved them.

I am not a “workbook” person, but I have liked the Story of the USA reading comprehension book this year.  We complete one chapter every other week, so we have had to skip 2 in order to keep up the pace, but it has worked really well for K.  T is not ready for this part either, so we just pass on it for her at this point.

History has become a memorable and lively subject in this house and I think we’ll continue with this curriculum at our own pace for a long time.

English. Oh my. Grammar is probably the one subject that fell apart this year.  We started out the year trying to do grammar with both of the girls together.  This did not work out really well.  So I dropped back to some new workbooks for K.

After some various attempts, we settled into the Evan-Moore “Grammar and Punctuation” workbook for grade 4.  We are also using “English for the Thoughtful Child" vol. 2”.  I pick and choose from these workbooks because I like them both for different reasons.  We are doing grammar 4-5 days a week right now because of the disaster in the fall.

(Note, : but even with the disaster, I noticed that K had learned all of the grade 3 grammar and we had to get the grade 4, so we must be doing OK)

Our literature studies have been through our history curriculums, though I have added in some activities this year.  We spent the first half of the year working on character traits. 

T (age 7) is working through Veritas’ First Favorites Guide.  She and I are enjoying wonderful stories that she reads to me each week and completes comprehension activities.

Vocabulary.  This year K has been using Wordly Wise 3000.  This has been another great fit for our curriculum this year.  I think the vocabulary words are great and the tasks reinforce what you are learning. 

But, once again, I have made some modifications.  I don’t think you truly learn vocabulary with a bunch of worksheets.  You do get some great exposure, but I wanted us to try to incorporate the words into our daily vocabulary.  I decided to type up the words each week and hang them in the kitchen.  We try to use the words when we talk at mealtime and we keep tally marks to see which word we can use the most.  This has actually been fun for us!

Each week there is a comprehension passage that uses the vocabulary words.  Each passage has 10 questions that either use a vocabulary word or you have to use a vocabulary word in your answer.  These passages drive us crazy.  They seem quite contrived and K’s answers always seemed contrived when she tried to force a vocabulary word into the answer.

After a few weeks of this, we finally came up some other options.  Some weeks she uses the words in sentences.  Other times I have let her write a skit with the words.  This is SO much more enjoyable and it lets her use the words in her way.  

Science.  We have focused a lot of our time in co-op on Nature Study.  The kids love this.  We record signs of the seasons, bugs, birds, and all sorts of things that we explore.  I have purchased the Apologia Botany book for next year so that I can focus our nature studies each week.

We also used Real Science for Kids this year.  It went REALLY well.  We used the Pre-Level and Level One chemistry.  Each level comes with its own textbook and lab book.  Our family only used the Pre-Level chemistry, though I taught the Level One chemistry.  I have enjoyed it enough that we are going to do the Level One Biology next year.

Fine Arts.  The kids have studied a variety of artists at our co-op classes.   They have really enjoyed it and studied a variety of techniques as well.

On my own, I have attempted some drawing lessons with them using the guide, “Drawing with Children.”  I hope to do some more as the year ends.

We have bee VERY fortunate this year to have a friend in our co-op with a music degree.  She has done a wonderful job teaching folksongs, hymns, and music theory.  My girls have learned a ton. 

I had to smile when we were on a trip and K was walking down a path and humming, “Come O Thankful People, Come.”  (not your typical 9 year old tune)  YAAAY to the music teacher this year!

Wordless Wednesday: UPWARDS basketball

The Kids Camera gets off loaded

We have one of our older digital cameras that we let the kids play with when they ask.  K (age 9) in particular likes to take the camera for hours and take pictures.

Every now and then, I go through the photos.  I love what I find.

Here was the day that D (age 5) got a pair of roller skates for his birthday from Grandma.  He took to them right away and had a blast in the garage with the girls. 

K was behind the lens.

Uh…croquet mallets…

Another day in the back yard…

Posing silliness…

T (age 7) gets behind the lens.

Back to K’s shots…

It’s fun to see the world through their lens.

4H

This is our second year being involved with 4H.  The girls have really enjoyed learning new skills and getting to know some new friends.

One thing I have appreciated is the focus on leadership skills through involvement in 4H clubs.

For each of her projects, K is required to give a presentation of what she is learning.  This month it was a presentation on kitchen safety.

This year K also accepted a position as one of the club officers.  She is the corresponding secretary and enjoys sitting in the front.  This particular month she had to fill in for the recording secretary as well.

K is carrying Crafts, Photography, and Food & Nutrition projects this year.  I think she is most looking forward to her Photography projects!

T continues to participate in the Clovers club.  She has a great time making crafts and learning a variety of new things.

Not your normal way of doing things…

One of my children would drive a classroom teacher crazy.

Crazy.

Because she does not complete activities or assignments with recognition of any time constraints or typical directions.

And if I am honest, there are many time she drives this homeschool teacher crazy.

Let’s take a simple worksheet….open mouth = long vowel and straight line mouth = short vowel.  Easy activity that should take about 5 minutes.

Not so much with this little gal.  I mean, who wants to make the faces look so boring with a simple straight or circle mouth?

A closer look by the end…

Let me tell you that it takes some time to come up with the mouth you want for each person.  At least, it does for her.

And I guess the most frustrating part is that her mommy and teacher is the complete opposite.  I would just do what needed to be done.  Period.

How about another example?

Fill in the blank with a word…oh, and surely the teacher meant an illustration for each one as well…right?

Things like this turn a simple 10 minute activity into a 30 minute venture. 

I plan for this sort of craziness and it is fine most days, but there are some days that I am so ready for school to be done and this little gal is just smiling and drawing along.  Without an end in sight.

Sometimes it isn’t illustrations, but a unique way of writing the word that takes so long.

Oh, and there were some original illustrations at the top, having little to do with the worksheet.

Other times, she isn’t satisfied with the given sentences, so she creates her own.

Complete with illustration of course.

These samples were all taken from the same workbook.  I could take more from math and handwriting.

It truly is….

amazing?  creative?  disturbing?  hilarious?  frustrating?  sign of genius?

Honestly, I am not sure what it is.  But it is who she is and what makes her tick.  And it does drive me crazy sometimes, but mostly I try to appreciate her uniqueness.

I am thankful she is home with me for school.  I would honestly hate to see these quirks squashed out of her by some “by the book” teacher who forgets the point of the worksheet and gets all caught up in the normal way of doing things.

(the point of the worksheet by the way is to work on reading and spelling her words, which she is doing, in the midst of the other stuff)

I mean, who knows….when she is a famous illustrator, I can pull out these photos and sell them for big money.  Or at least have a good laugh about how her illustrations used to drive me crazy.

She is unique.

D’s Family Birthday Party

My very talented husband turned our Lightning McQueen cake pan into a Finn McMissle for D’s birthday.  D LOVED it!

After cake and presents, some of the party-goers took some time to play outside in the ONLY snowfall of the season.

Happy 5th Birthday D!

January 18, 2012: D turns 5

Birthday Eve has continued to be a traditional celebration in our house.  We took a photo with everyone holding up their age.  This was D’s last chance to hold up four fingers…

A little ice cream after dinner…

When we remember, the kids like us to take a photo of the last night they were their former age.  Of course, D was so excited about this that he couldn’t fall asleep…

But I got him later…

And, as per her request, a picture of T (age 7) on D’s birthday eve.  We honor the request since this whole idea of sleeping pictures on Birthday Eve was her idea.

We started off the day with a one-on-one birthday breakfast.  This year (2012), it is mommy’s turn to take out the birthday child.

Then it was back home for family presents.  The girls wrapped up something from around the house in scarves.  D was so excited about it.  Then he opened his gift from mom and dad…the Happy Feet penguin from Build-A-Bear.  We bought it a few weeks ago, but didn’t stuff it.

Clearly, our next move was a trip to Build-A-Bear so D could stuff his penguin!

Then we had a little birthday snack at Panera.  (T and D were showing their ages on the fingers again)

We were able to have D’s friends over for a little party in the afternoon.  We started with a coloring page.  D picked turtles.

Then we set up an obstacle course in the basement gym room.

Snack time for the party goers…

Yes, the birthday boy was excited.  (We let the kids decorate their own cupcakes)

Time for presents…

Then we still had some time to kill, so it was back to the basement.  We played musical chairs, but did not remove any chairs.  Sadly, I have learned that at these young ages the kids get really upset when they are “out”.  Instead, we walked around to the music in different ways each time – marching, tip toe, crab walk, hopping, running, jumping, etc.  The kids LOVE this.

What a great day for our birthday boy!