Why I Love Homeschooling- Reason #3

Playing Hooky to Go Letterboxing

80 degrees in October is not common in New York. Unfortunatedly, Hubby could not take the day off from work even though the Adironack Mountains were calling us to visit.

Instead, we decided to go letterboxing at a beautiful nature walk at a nearby college. We had not been letterboxing in 3 years, so this gave us a great reason in spend the afternoon out. To find out more about letterboxing go to http://www.letterboxing.org/ to learn it's history and find out where boxes may be planted near you.

We followed the clues to the box......

The box contained a rubber stamp which we used to stamp the scrapbook we had brought along. We then stamped the little book that was in the box with our own stamp, and left a note stating when we had been there and city and state we are from. It is fun to look at the notes left by others who have visited the box.

We also take a picture for our own scrapbook to remember the day.

We then carefully returned the letterbox to its hiding place.

I think we've been bit again by the letterboxing bug. It is a frugal, family friendly activity that takes you places you would not have necessarily visited. You can also plant your own box.

Peek Week in NY

We have been basking in the glory of billiant colored trees and warm weather. It has been a nearly perfect two days in New York

Friday Dinner- Beef Tortellini Soup

We had Beef Tortellini Soup and Oat Bran Bread (made in the bread machine) for dinner Friday night

Soup Ingredients:

Stew beef browned and cut into small pieces

Beef broth and some vegetable broth that was in the refrigerator

Carrots

Celery

Onions

1 package of cheese tortellinis

Basil, thyme, salt, pepper

Here are the directions: Add the ingredients to the pot until it looks right and tastes good. :)

You Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Man

Today, in my homeschool co-op class, we did my favorite preschool activity. After reading the story The Gingerbread Man, our class ran all over the building following clues and trying to catch the gingerbread man. The final clue took us back to the classroom where gingerbread men cookies were waiting at the table. Five-year-olds are so much fun!

The house smells like Christmas. Carissa made dozens of gingerbread men. How did I get anything done before I had teenage girls?

Show and Tell Friday

It's Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's blog.



My show and tell is my special occasion silverware. Some friends bought 8 place settings at an auction and when they got home they realized it was monogrammed with a "P". They graciously gave it to us. But, we rarely used our "company" silverware because, with a family of 6, you usually don't invite just two more people over for dinner.



Then, one evening at the dinner table, one of the girls suggested we check ebay. There it was! It was reasonably priced and I had Christmas money burning in my pocket. It came with 8 more place settings, more serving pieces, and to our delight, little tiny tea spoons for tea parties. It is not monogrammed but we're not that particular.

The paperwork says it's from Oneida Silversmiths and was manufactured in 1948.



So there's my show and tell for the week!

Thursday Dinner- Fend for Yourself, It's Date Night

Hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and macaroni and cheese (at least it's homemade and not from a box)

I'm off with hubby!

A late addition while I was gone: Apple Raisin Salad