Another Day at the Village

 Yes, I like to repeat field trips with the kids.  Even if the older kids have seen something, the younger ones still deserve a chance to see it as well.  We also love to get memberships to museums and zoos so we can make multiple trips and not feel the need to cram everything into one day to get the most out of the money spent.  One of the local sites that we love to visit frequently is Genesee Country Village. This living history museum is just 10 minutes from our home and frankly wonderful.  We usually manage to something new with each visit and love to spend time in the hands-on children's area.  Granted, I don't make the kids sit through each exhibit if they have heard the talks before because that would kind of ruin the experience for them and as long as they leave quietly the workers don't care if you leave.  Really they don't. They prefer having you leave part way through if you are bored than have young kids not really paying attention.  On our last trip we were able to visit both the brewery and the pottery studio while folks were working there. 

Walter Grieve's Brewery is the only working brewery housed in a living history museum in the US.  It shows how breweries were run in the early 1800's.  Although the beer made cannot legally be served due to current health regulations, the products produced in the brewery are used throughout the museum for feeding to the animals, fertilizer and compost.  A local brewery has been contracted to produce a beer that is similar in taste to the beer that would be produced by Grieve's Brewery instead.

The kids saw the hops growing outside, the large kettles filled with the ale, pumped water and worked with the grain. 

We also visited the pottery studio and watched the potter shape a jar.  He worked rather quickly and showed us how to keep the pottery wheel running with no electricity.  It's amazing to see the pottery still being hand made using wood fired kilns and such today.

I've wanted to get a picture of this war memorial in the village for a while.  I'm not sure how authentic it actually is.

No visit is complete without pictures of animals.

And the hands-on room. 

It was a super hot day on our visit but everyone had a great time.

Spring Recital

The older two boys had their spring recital last week.  Bryan memorized his piece and Sean actually played a song he wrote himself.  I've been told everyone did a great job. (The recital is held in the sanctuary at the church where the music school is located and there is a very high echo factor so I often stay home with the littlest ones so that other folks can hear and enjoy the music.)  The boys have done a great job with their music lessons this past year.  We are likely on the hunt for new instructors for next year because of some issues with one instructor and a scheduling issue with the other one.  And we have a few other kids who want to start taking lessons but, um, it is super expensive for 5 kids to take music lessons.  Must do more research this summer to find a way to afford it.  I must admit this is one thing I do wish we were allowed to use the schools for but NY state is frankly stupid with regard to their homeschooling laws.  May I say that again?  NY state has stupid homeschooling laws. 

Pat-A-Cake Nursery Rhymes

One of our favorite homeschool supply stores is Timberdoodle.  I tend to look to this company when I am wanting something less textbookish for the kids.  One of their recent additions to their catalog are their complete curriculum packages.  These packages start out with the baby and toddler stage and go right through high school.  They are perfect for giving you that right out of the box, ready to go set of books that many folks crave during their first few years of homeschooling. They also look great if you want one stop shopping while making sure you are still covering everything.

happy baby

I was recently given the opportunity to review the book Pat-A-Cake Nursery Rhymes which is part of their baby curriculum.  This book is generously sized so that little hands can easily hold it and help turn pages.  The heavy cardboard means it can withstand some of the inevitable chewing that tends to happen to any and all baby related items at one point or another.  This book combines short traditional nursery rhymes with a few modern ones.  Every page is filled with adorable looking kids acting out the nursery rhymes.

big brother really wanted to be included even though Ellie was not interested at the moment

I will admit that I am not really a fan of modern nursery rhymes.  For some reason they never seem to work for me.  The modern rhymes in this book were no exception.  I did enjoy the more traditional rhymes in the book.  There were several rhymes on each page with accompanying pictures so it seemed a tad cluttered to me but my 2-year-old seemed to love the picture layout.  I'm not sure what the baby really thought but she did enjoy having the book read to her by several of her siblings.

The baby curriculum package is absolutely worth looking into if you are interested in educational toys and activities for your little one.  It's high on motor skill building activities and low on noise making obnoxious toys.  Can we say a mother's dream?  No need for the battery fairy to visit you with these toys. It also comes with a planning folder which provides a way for you to keep track of the activities you are enjoying with your baby.  A perfect answer to that new mom question of "am I doing enough with my child" and "how should I be playing with my baby" that I often hear.

Just a note: I was given a free copy of the book Pat-A-Cake Nursery Rhymes in exchange for doing an honest review on the product.

Robert Watching the Cookies

Robert woke up from a nap to find cookies cooling on the counter.  He promptly stationed himself front and center so he could be the first to get one when they cooled.  Ok, he didn't wait that long.  Everyone needs a cookie tester, right?  And it's even more fun when you can sneak a cookie when no one is watching.

These no-bake cookies are one of my favorite pantry/stockpile recipes.  A well rounded pantry is a must for sticking to a frugal food budget and some comfort food type recipes that use the stored food are even better.  Nothing makes financially challenging times better than a bit of chocolate.

I'm Cooking

So said Gabe while he was stirring the beans for dinner the other night.

See that proud, happy face?  Don't worry, adequate supervision was provided by at least one parent at all times.

This kid is getting rather big on us.  Seems almost every other day he has to remind us that he is not a baby anymore.

Ellie's First Trip to the Zoo

I somehow don't think she was very impressed.

Yup, that is not the greatest of pictures but it is where she spent most of last week. Just hanging out on Mom's back taking in the view.

Our local zoo does not have too much to offer but is perfect for a short trip every now and again.

I think the children's favorite parts of the zoo are the playgrounds and the water area but the zoo was crowded with school field trips so we avoided both of those this time.  And the elephant area is being worked on so it was closed.

Alan was actually able to join us this time (first time he's been to the zoo in the more than 4 years we have lived here) and spent the time telling the kids about the zoo he visited in Uganda that had most of these same animals running free.  Apparently they believe in letting native animals roam unless they are dangerous so you'd find monkeys and such just wandering the zoo with you.

Somehow I think most animals would prefer the more relaxed approach to being stuck in cages. 

Be Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Sean's confirmation was on Wednesday night.  He looked rather grown up.  Something about seeing him in a suit and tie does that I suppose. We are very proud of his work this year and thrilled to see him growing into a wonderful young man.