Our Week in Photos

We've had a weird week. My middle girls came down with some kind of cold/sore throat/cough virus, the baby was just getting over a cold which now seems to be coming back (the snots flowing) and now my oldest has a sore throat and stuffy nose too. No one's been sleeping well this week and I'm feeling it. All that plus the freezing cold weather and lack of sunshine...well I've been a little grumpy and feeling blue. We're studying Philippians in our weekly bible study at church and I feel so convicted that Paul was content in any circumstance and I can't even be content at my (very) good circumstances. All it takes is reading Gods word to feel the weight of it and how much more of it I need in my life daily. So here's the verse I'm going to be meditating on and praying that I will think about these things! "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9
Here are some random photos from our week... My oldest took a few while I was reading to them, so you can see how I handle homeschooling with an active baby (haha!).

Learning Shakespeare

We use Ambleside Online as a guide for our curriculum. If you're a homeschooler who likes Charlotte Mason then you have probably heard of it. We started halfway through first grade and now we're halfway through third grade and I love it. It's a great fit for our family. If you don't know who Charlotte Mason is, do yourself a favor and google her. She had some radical ideas of how children should be taught and how they learn. One of the main points of her teaching is that children should learn from living books. "Living books" are books that make the subject "come alive".
One of the books on our list for the past few years is called, "Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children" (Edited by E. Nesbitt). I found it on Amazon for under $10. It has twenty adaptations from Shakespeare's plays.
My mom recently bought us another collection of condensed plays that are written specifically for children. They have a few direct quotes but it's written so that children can read them for themselves and really grasp what's going on.

Last week we decided to read about Hamlet. We first read the version from "Shakespeare Children's Story". It was about 60 pages and took about 20 minutes for me to read to them. They are short pages with black and white illustrations. After we read that one we read the version from "Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children" and while I read it the kids acted it out. They LOVED acting it out. They even went upstairs and dressed up for their parts and found props.

Later that afternoon, we found Denmark on the map (the oldest two are currently memorizing the European countries) and we copied a quote from Hamlet for some handwriting practice. 

I let the Kindergartner trace over my handwriting....and apparently she thought his name was "Hamtet". Haha. I love when our school days flow like this and the learning seems easy! 

Weekly Bread/Week 2: Basil Pesto Bread

I know I just blogged my first week of bread a few days ago, but we're in the third week of January and I actually have made 4 different types, so I'm going to go ahead and get caught up :) This bread is sooo good and it's pretty fancy looking too. Tastes great/looks great. Win/win.
This bread reminds me of a pizza that I used to get when we went to Atlanta Bread Company, back in the good ol' days when we still had one in the area! I ate that pizza on my first date with my husband, so the taste is a little nostalgic to me...and that's my reasoning for making it four times in the past 2 weeks. Hah.
Ingredients:

160 ml warm whole milk
7g yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar
300g flour
30ml oil (I've used canola and olive oil, the olive oil made it slightly more dense)
1 tsp. salt

filling: About 5 tbsp. of basil pesto
optional: mozzarella (I didn't use it this time but I have other times and I like it better with the cheese-of course)

Step 1: Measure your ingredients and mix the milk, yeast and sugar in a bowl and let the yeast bloom aka get fluffy and bubbly. (As you can see I went a little over on the flour and it was ok)

Step 2: add the rest of the ingredients, turn it into a dough and knead it for a few minutes either by hand or in your stand mixer with dough attachment.

(It may look like I kneaded it by hand...I didn't. Kitchen-Aid for the win!)
Step 3: Let is rise til it's doubled in size, about an hour or two.
Step 4: Roll out the dough into two long rectangles approx. 16x8 inches.

Step 5: Add the basil pesto being careful not to get too close to the edges. Not like I did, or else it will bust out...like mine did. It still turned out ok. I am no perfectionist.

Step 6: Roll up the dough! Then braid it and brush it with olive oil (I forgot to brush it with olive oil...I wasn't kidding when I said I'm no perfectionist!) Then cut some slits in the top so that the basil pesto can seep out and look beautiful.

 Step 7: Bake in a preheated oven at 360* for about 30 minutes. Wait at least 15 minutes to slice into it and enjoyyyy. And use mozzarella! You won't regret it.

Weekly Bread/Week 1: Asiago Cheese Bread

One thing I learned this week is that taking photos of food is not a strength of mine! haha. But seriously. Just use the pictures as a guide :) This bread is sooo yummy and so easy! I have a kitchen-aid and it makes life easier but if you don't, you can use a bread machine on the dough setting or just do it the old fashioned way and knead the dough with your hands (just be prepared for a workout).
THIS is where I got my recipe from, and every time I've made it has been a success.
Here are the ingredients to make two small loaves:

3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups of flour
2 1/4 tsp. yeast (I buy my yeast in bulk at Sam's Club and refrigerate it in a sealed glass jar. It's the way to go)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/4 cup warm milk (I heat mine in a glass cup in the microwave for 30 seconds)
2 tbsp. almost melted butter
1 1/2 cups asiago cheese (you'll be using 1 1/4 for the dough and 1/4 for the topping)
1 beaten egg

Here's where you'll use your stand mixer with dough attachment or bread machine, or bowl and wooden spoon if you want to burn some calories...

Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and pepper.

Melt the butter and milk and stir in slowly

Next you'll add the 1 1/4 cup of shredded Asiago Cheese. I also buy my Asiago Cheese from Sam's Club because you can get a big block for about $7-$10.

Mix it in until it's just combined. Then gradually add in 1 3/4 cup of flour and knead for about 5 minutes. If it's still too wet after 5 minutes you can add a tiny bit more of flour and if it's still too dry you can add a tsp of warm milk at a time until it's a good consistency. 

Now you want to spray a bowl with some cooking spray or butter and drop the dough in the bowl. Cover it with a dish towel and let it rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours. I think I waited 2 1/2 hours for this one.

Oooh, pretty. It should be nice and fluffy now. Yeast is so cool. So now you want to punch this down and form two loaves. I made one a longer shape and one more of a rectangle. Just to add a little variety into my life.

You can cut some lines into the top with a sharp knife. It'll make it look fancy. Place them on a greased baking sheet (please don't judge mine, I know it's a little beat up). Cover them again and wait til they've doubled. About another hour (sooo much waiting when making bread).  I like to preheat my oven during this time and leave the bread covered on the oven so it gets extra warm and puffs up quicker. Preheat it to 375. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle it with the leftover cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until it's a beautiful golden color. Pull it out and let it cool on a rack and after about 15 minutes you can cut into it and enjoy! It tastes a lot like Panera's Asiago Cheese bread or bagels! SO GOOD.

I'm going to blame the bad pictures on the fact that it was evening when I finally was able to bake it and so those are my beautiful fluorescent lights beaming down on it :)
I hope you make this bread and enjoy it! Let me know how it turns out for you!

Asiago Cheese Bread:
3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups of flour
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/4 cup warm milk
2 tbsp. almost melted butter
1 1/2 cups asiago cheese (you'll be using 1 1/4 for the dough and 1/4 for the topping)
1 beaten egg

Directions: In a stand mixer combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and pepper.
Melt butter and milk and stir in on low. Add in 1 1/4 cup of shredded asiago cheese and mix until just combined. Gradually add in 1 3/4 cup of flour and knead for 5 minutes. Spray a bowl and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours. Punch down into 2 loaves and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Cut the top of the loaves with a knife, brush on the egg and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. EAT IT ALL IN ONE SETTING. (optional)

8 Months

Our itty bitty baby is 8 months old! And not so itty bitty :)

Our Schoolroom

One of the main reasons that I wanted to buy the house we're currently living in was because it had a room that I pictured as the perfect school room. We bought our house two years ago and it had some of the worst decorating I've ever seen. Every room was wall papered (and had been in the early 90's), there were textured walls, an all pink sunroom...it was really bad. My husband and I could easily see past all of that though and we're slowly but surely getting it to what have imagined. Here's the "before" picture and some I just took of it after I reorganized the other day. We like to start every school day in here together for bible and our "morning work" and then they may end up doing the rest of their school all over the house. Ahh.. I do not miss those walls/carpet! By the way, our new flooring is just the peel and stick "hardwood floor". Super cheap and it matches our real hard wood floors well. The Bathroom/Laundry room is still on our to-do list and the door needs painted so I didn't show a picture of that ;)