Happy 3 Kings Day!!

Epiphany is when we have a special breakfast, open our stockings, and pack up all of our Christmas decorations.  I'm still pulling pine needles out of my socks!  Our tree went through 2 families and served its purpose well.  We (almost) always get trees that would otherwise be thrown away so I don't feel too guilty using real trees :).  I'm always so grateful for the gift of a tree each year in very unexpected circumstances.  The living room looks so bare - but nice at the same time.

For breakfast I made this French Crown Cake.  Let's just say that mine looked NOTHING like the one in the photo at this site!  Thanks, D., for letting me bake it at your house the day before.
http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2009/01/galette-des-rois.html

At dinner on Three Kings Day we always exchange love letters with each other and read them aloud.  Earlier in the day dd asked me to please not cry this year :).  I tried to explain that they are happy tears - I just have so much emotion that it pours out of my eyes!  I always get so touched.  Needless to say, I didn't make it through this year's love letter reading session without crying either.  Dh had to go get the kleenex box, lol.  It is probably my most treasured family tradition.

We ended it with organic Pure Fun candy canes and Rudolf. Sigh - closure. 

What's Schoolin'?

At some point I guess we'll get back in full swing.  This week we basically just did an hour of Math most days and an hour of catch-up work.  Next week will be tough as we tighten up and follow the schedule.  I'm sure it'll be tough for the kids, too!  I sure wish we could take another week off and get some projects done around the house.  No, better not!  I actually planned to take this week off before the school year even started.  I did teach my Spanish and Writing Workshop classes at the enrichment but we went easy at home.

The olders and I finished the unabridged version of Around the World in 80 Days by J. Verne.  Next we'll read the Illustrated Classics version for fun and watch the old movie.  I'm checking out the video tomorrow.  We'll watch it without youngest so I can preview it.

Youngest dd has been zipping through the beginning lessons of Excel Math 3 with quick reviews and then taking the test for each week.  Sometimes several weeks in a day.  That's because of the overlap that I described in my glowing post here.  Plus, some of the things are already covered through the montessori materials that she is using.

Oldest dd is starting her Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 on Monday (ugh!).

Middle dd is plugging along with Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1.

What's Cookin'?

January 2nd we ate pesto to commemorate St. Basil the Great.  I didn't think the dc would like it much on noodles so I also made mini pesto pizzas using the yogurt dough in Nourishing Traditions with just pesto and shredded cheese on it (I only had cheddar!).  That was much more successful than the pesto on noodles :).  This is the first thing I made with the new food processor my mom gave me for Christmas.  I really like my new toy!

We made pretzels to shape Chi Rho symbols for the Most Holy Name of Jesus on Jan. 3rd.  I started getting tired of making 'snakes' and rolled one small handful of dough out and scored it to make crackers.  It worked!  Today we had some with some homemade almond butter at lunch (the store was out of organic peanut butter so we just made up some almond butter).  The pretzel dough crackers poofed a little.  They looked like mini-sopapillas.  They ended up a little soft after storage but the dc like them.  Me not so much; but they look nice :).

I used Kelly's idea for Kale chips to help me low carb it for a bit.  Okay, for one day!  Today was sort of a free for all for 3 Kings Day and I ate too many potato chips (I don't have a sweet tooth so that was my indulgence today).  Basically I washed and patted dry some kale leaves (and left them wrapped in a towel in the fridge since I didn't get back to them right away).  Then I tore in huge pieces and put them in a bowl with olive oil, stirring it well.  Then I salted generously and stirred it well again.  I used the dehydrator and it worked fine.  Kale is one of those foods you need to eat cooked or it is high in goitrogens. I'm wondering if my 145F dehydrator was high enough.  They are okay but my brain knows they aren't potato chips.  We're working on that!