Today was the first University of Michigan football game of the season. New coach, new players, new moves... new clothes!!!
I spent the day sewing twirl skirts for the girls, using the tutorial at Kuky Ideas. Actually, I cut the fabric for these before the Olympics began but we were pretty busy during the games and I didn't get much sewing done. Once the skirts were done, I put together a couple of headbands following the pattern at Old Red Barn. I also made a ribbon t-shirt for Boo to go with her skirt. It makes a nice little outfit.
I also used some leftover ribbon to make a ribbon headband (pattern here).
The girls are now officially ready for U of M to win next weekend, since they didn't this week... It must be because the girls outfits weren't done.
So Bug likes the Backyardigans. My mom and I made a nice little jumper for her out of Backyardigans fabric but she doesn't really like to wear it much! She wanted something more casual I guess. When my friend J found some Backyardigans ribbon at JoAnn's, I decided to pick some up and make an outfit for Bug.
The skirt is made out of a pair of jeans that had holes in the knees. Then, since I couldn't quite figure out how to hem it evenly, I decided to put ric-rac around the bottom. Bug wanted all the colors from the ribbon so I tried to do it in a way that wasn't too gaudy. You be the judge.
The t-shirt is a Walmart special. I added the ribbon and ric-rac. Then I used a tutorial from Altered Cloth to make the headband. It was so easy but I never would have thought to do it on my own!
Anyway, Bug is very pleased. It's a busy outfit but it's pretty fun looking and perfect for the 1st day of preschool!
The skirt is made out of a pair of jeans that had holes in the knees. Then, since I couldn't quite figure out how to hem it evenly, I decided to put ric-rac around the bottom. Bug wanted all the colors from the ribbon so I tried to do it in a way that wasn't too gaudy. You be the judge.The t-shirt is a Walmart special. I added the ribbon and ric-rac. Then I used a tutorial from Altered Cloth to make the headband. It was so easy but I never would have thought to do it on my own!
Anyway, Bug is very pleased. It's a busy outfit but it's pretty fun looking and perfect for the 1st day of preschool!
I'll admit it, I have a dried mango addiction. They are so good and tasty and really, really irresistible. It's also very expensive! So, I thought I'd try my hand at drying my own fruit.
When my parents were here to visit, they brought me their food dehydrator. They had read about my fruit roll-up misadventure and thought perhaps the dehydrator would help. I've had it for a week or so now and decided to try it out yesterday.
I got out the mangos and cut them into strips. That in itself is hard work! Anyway, I laid them all out on the trays and got ready to preheat the machine. It wouldn't work. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then I realized it was unplugged. After plugging it in, I tried again. It still didn't work. I made sure the outlet worked by plugging in the toaster. Yep, it worked. I tried a few more times. Then I scoured the internet looking for a troubleshooting guide. Nothing... how frustrating. When Chip got home he immediately said, "I smell burnt resistor. What happened?"
He tore the thing apart and realized that the heater was working but the fan was not. After about 5 minutes of fiddling, it was working fine. So, I started my mangos. The manual said that mangos should "cook" for about 16-18 hours. When I got up this morning, it was only about 14 hours and they were more than done.
Most of them taste just fine although I tend to like them more like beef jerky consistency than potato chip consistency. I think I need to slice them a more uniform thickness next time. And get a morning start so I can monitor them during the day.
Hola!
Today was our final Olympic day. Boo located Spain on the map this morning before church and let us know Madrid was the capital. She was very excited to inform me that Madrid is where the parents in Spy Kids met. She and Bug have both watched Dora the Explorer for so long that counting to 10 in Spanish was a piece of cake!
Since school starts tomorrow for Boo, we spent most of the afternoon relaxing (Chip took Boo & Bug to the pool) and making sure we had all the school supplies we needed. We didn't even get around to the pinata craft I'd hoped we would be able to do. Maybe next time.
Today was our final Olympic day. Boo located Spain on the map this morning before church and let us know Madrid was the capital. She was very excited to inform me that Madrid is where the parents in Spy Kids met. She and Bug have both watched Dora the Explorer for so long that counting to 10 in Spanish was a piece of cake!
Since school starts tomorrow for Boo, we spent most of the afternoon relaxing (Chip took Boo & Bug to the pool) and making sure we had all the school supplies we needed. We didn't even get around to the pinata craft I'd hoped we would be able to do. Maybe next time.
For dinner we had Couscous Chicken Paella
The recipe came from Good Housekeeping Magazine
You need:
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 package (10-ounce or 1 1/2 cups) couscous
1 package (10-ounce) frozen peas
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 green pepper, diced
2 ounces low-fat kielbasa thinly sliced
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed with garlic press
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, each cut in half
Directions:
In a saucepan, heat chicken broth and 1/4 cup water to boiling over high heat. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in couscous and frozen peas. Cover saucepan and let stand 5 minutes or until ready to use.
Meanwhile, in nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add red or green pepper and kielbasa and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken, garlic, salt, thyme, and black pepper, and cook until chicken loses its pink color throughout, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove skillet from heat, and stir in cherry-tomato halves. Fluff couscous with fork; add to chicken mixture in skillet, and toss gently until combined.
I thought this was pretty good, although I am not a big couscous fan. Boo didn't like anything but the kielbasa. Bug liked everything but the green peppers. Ebabe only ate the couscous. I will admit that I accidentally left the sauce pan on heat the entire time I was cooking, even after I added the couscous and peas. Oops. The edges were a bit brown but it was salvageable.
In closing, it has been a lot of fun learning about these different places and trying out their foods. I'm a bit sad that it is ending. I'm already thinking of what countries to study during the 2010 Winter Olympics. If you have suggestions or recipes, please let me know in the comment section below.
Sa-wat dee!
Today we learned a little about Thailand. Boo found it on the map and let us know that Bankok is the capital city. We listened to the national anthem and tried to count to 10 in Thai.
For dinner, we had pork satay with peanut sauce. I thought it was pretty good. Boo liked the satay without the peanut sauce. Bug liked it with the peanut sauce. Ebabe liked to make a mess with the peanut sauce!
Satay Recipe:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb pork
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
Soak bamboo skewers at least half an hour so that the ends do not burn on the grill. While they are soaking, slice the pork into thin strips that will fit onto the skewers. Mix curry powder, sugar, coconut milk and salt. Marinate the pork for 30 minutes, then put it on to the skewers.
Grill for 10 to 15 minutes. Best served with peanut sauce and cucumbers in vinegar.
Peanut Sauce Recipe:
2 tablespoons peanut butter - we used crunchy
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Put all ingredients in a small microwave-safe mixing bowl. Put in microwave for 15 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Pour over satay and/or noodles.
Today we learned a little about Thailand. Boo found it on the map and let us know that Bankok is the capital city. We listened to the national anthem and tried to count to 10 in Thai.
For dinner, we had pork satay with peanut sauce. I thought it was pretty good. Boo liked the satay without the peanut sauce. Bug liked it with the peanut sauce. Ebabe liked to make a mess with the peanut sauce!
Satay Recipe:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb pork
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
Soak bamboo skewers at least half an hour so that the ends do not burn on the grill. While they are soaking, slice the pork into thin strips that will fit onto the skewers. Mix curry powder, sugar, coconut milk and salt. Marinate the pork for 30 minutes, then put it on to the skewers.
Grill for 10 to 15 minutes. Best served with peanut sauce and cucumbers in vinegar.
Peanut Sauce Recipe:
2 tablespoons peanut butter - we used crunchy
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Put all ingredients in a small microwave-safe mixing bowl. Put in microwave for 15 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Pour over satay and/or noodles.
We've been talking throughout the Olympic Games about China, learning quite a bit from the opening ceremonies and various "highlight" videos that air during the games. Today I designated as China day as I have a scrapbooking night tonight and will not be home for dinner. Since we eat Chinese food about twice a month, it seemed as if this was the day to not have the meal fit with the country.
Our craft today was to make handprint Chinese dragons. We read the Legend of the Chinese Dragon by Marie Sellier, Wang Fei, and Catherine Louis. It is a great story written in English and Chinese that outlines the legend of the creation of the dragon by children to unite their warring clans. The Chinese dragon simply stands for unity & peace. We decided to create a dragon using our handprints. We followed (well, mostly) the directions from the Activity Village website.
Our craft today was to make handprint Chinese dragons. We read the Legend of the Chinese Dragon by Marie Sellier, Wang Fei, and Catherine Louis. It is a great story written in English and Chinese that outlines the legend of the creation of the dragon by children to unite their warring clans. The Chinese dragon simply stands for unity & peace. We decided to create a dragon using our handprints. We followed (well, mostly) the directions from the Activity Village website.
Bug's
Boo's
If you are interested, here are a few other ways we learned about China and the Olympics in general.
- Created a memory/matching game using the Olympic pictograms
- An Olympic coloring book for Bug
- A 22 page unit about the Beijing and the games from the Australian Georgraphy Teachers' Assoc.
- A worksheet to review the symbolism and colors of the Olympic rings
- An exercise in alphabetizing the events of the 2008 Olympic Games
- A wordsearch about the Olympics
- The Fuwa (mascots of the Beijing Olympics) and what they stand for
Mongolia day today. We had a bunch of errands to do so didn't spend a lot of time learning about Mongolia. We did attempt to pronounce the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. We listened to the national anthem, which is quite pretty. You can read the lyrics here. Bug liked the flag with the extra decorations on the side! We also counted from 1 to 10. Here's a picture of the Cyrillic symbols and pronunciations.
We spent quite a bit of time catching up on watching the Olympics. We've been Tivo-ing parts the kids might like since it comes on so late.For dinner we had Mongolian Beef. I followed the recipe on A Year of Crockpotting. Easy!
I thought the meat was pretty good but there was a lot of sauce and it had a little too much kick to it. The kids didn't really care for it either, although they liked the sauce more than the meat.
So our garden has been pretty disappointing this year. I planted in peat pots in May as the garden was under reconstruction to make it bigger. When I transplanted in early June, many of the plants had a good start. Then those pesky rabbits ate all the cantelope plants and green peppers. The corn was planted late as were the carrots but I expected a bit more from the rest of the plants!
Here is our first harvest. Not bad but not great.
Here is the one who ate our entire first harvest as a snack while I was helping her sisters.
She fussed when I told her there weren't any more!
Bongiorno!
Today we studied a little bit about Italy. We read the book "Gaspard on Vacation" by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben. We learned that streets in Venice are canals, the capital of Italy is Rome, and the language is Italian. We listened to the national anthem and counted to 10 in Italian (sound familiar?).
For our craft today, we dyed pasta (you know, since we were talking about Italy and Italians eat a lot of pasta...) and created family crests.
To dye pasta is very simple. You need vinegar, food coloring and pasta. Put 1/2 - 3/4 cup of vinegar in a bowl. Add 10 drops of food coloring. Put dried pasta in and stir for a short time.
Remove pasta and let dry completely. The colors will get more vivid as they dry. We used red, green, yellow and blue and then created other colors by mixing the left over dye.
Here are their crests (Boo's first, then Bug's).
We also completed the project we've been working on for the past few days. We've been talking about castles and what life in a castle was like the past few days - since we have been focusing on Europe. We used the pattern on this site to create a castle out of cardboard and paper. Then we painted it.
I carved a potato into a brick pattern to stamp on for depth. We also tore construction paper to create a moat. It ended up looking very cool.
We read about castles and did castle puzzles with the Usbourne Castle JigSaw Puzzle book.
You get quite a bit of your rainbow of goodness right in this recipe!
In a large sauté pan, add ¼ cup olive oil and sauté chicken until golden brown then add the steak and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same sauté pan, add another ¼ cup olive oil, cook peppers until tender; season with salt and pepper. Add the onions, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the meats to the sauté pan, mix all the ingredients together, cook for 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
(I found the recipe on the internet but can't remember where so if it's yours, let me know and I'll make sure to credit you!)
I found this to be incredibly delicious! The kids verdict was not quite as good but they ate it anyway. This made a lot of food so I'll have plenty of leftovers to keep me happy for a few days!
Today we studied a little bit about Italy. We read the book "Gaspard on Vacation" by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben. We learned that streets in Venice are canals, the capital of Italy is Rome, and the language is Italian. We listened to the national anthem and counted to 10 in Italian (sound familiar?).
For our craft today, we dyed pasta (you know, since we were talking about Italy and Italians eat a lot of pasta...) and created family crests.
To dye pasta is very simple. You need vinegar, food coloring and pasta. Put 1/2 - 3/4 cup of vinegar in a bowl. Add 10 drops of food coloring. Put dried pasta in and stir for a short time.
Remove pasta and let dry completely. The colors will get more vivid as they dry. We used red, green, yellow and blue and then created other colors by mixing the left over dye. Here are their crests (Boo's first, then Bug's).We also completed the project we've been working on for the past few days. We've been talking about castles and what life in a castle was like the past few days - since we have been focusing on Europe. We used the pattern on this site to create a castle out of cardboard and paper. Then we painted it.I carved a potato into a brick pattern to stamp on for depth. We also tore construction paper to create a moat. It ended up looking very cool.We read about castles and did castle puzzles with the Usbourne Castle JigSaw Puzzle book.
For dinner, we had Italian Country Style Steak and Chicken
INGREDIENTS
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 8 ounces sirloin steak, cut into cubes
• 1 large red pepper, sliced thin
• 1 large green pepper, sliced thin
• 1 large yellow pepper, sliced thin
• 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
You get quite a bit of your rainbow of goodness right in this recipe!
In a large sauté pan, add ¼ cup olive oil and sauté chicken until golden brown then add the steak and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same sauté pan, add another ¼ cup olive oil, cook peppers until tender; season with salt and pepper. Add the onions, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the meats to the sauté pan, mix all the ingredients together, cook for 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
(I found the recipe on the internet but can't remember where so if it's yours, let me know and I'll make sure to credit you!)I found this to be incredibly delicious! The kids verdict was not quite as good but they ate it anyway. This made a lot of food so I'll have plenty of leftovers to keep me happy for a few days!
Ciao!
Today was our day to learn about the United Kingdom - focusing mostly on England. We didn't have to do too much to learn to count to 10 today! Boo had a good time reading about the words we use that are different in England -- like soccer:football or pram:baby buggy. We listened to the national anthem, recognizing the melody as the same "My Country 'Tis of Thee." We continued to work on our European art project. The kids were excited to hear that England still has a queen. They were quite curious about the number of princes and princesses that live there as well.
For dinner, I used a recipe that my friend Lynne (who was born and raised in England) emailed me. By the way, Lynne works for the Body Shop, a company which supports community trade, does not use animals for testing and works to make their products as "green" as possible, as an independent consultant. So if you need anything bath or beauty oriented, check out her site! Anyway, here is Lynne's recipe for Cottage (some call it Shepherd's, although I'm told that recipe uses Lamb) Pie.
You need:
1 lb ground beef 1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
sliced carrots
sliced celery
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can beef broth
mixed herbs
Beef Bistro (a beef flavored thickening agent)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
instant mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef. Once a bit of grease has been drained, add the onion, carrots & celery. Cook on medium until vegetables are softened a little. Add kidney beans, broth, herbs & Beef Bistro. Let simmer about 15 minutes. Prepare mashed potatoes according to box directions. I used the amount for 12 servings.
Pour mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread out across pan. Add mashed potatoes on top and spread evenly. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and bake for 1/2 hour or until the top is brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes before eating.
For dinner, I used a recipe that my friend Lynne (who was born and raised in England) emailed me. By the way, Lynne works for the Body Shop, a company which supports community trade, does not use animals for testing and works to make their products as "green" as possible, as an independent consultant. So if you need anything bath or beauty oriented, check out her site! Anyway, here is Lynne's recipe for Cottage (some call it Shepherd's, although I'm told that recipe uses Lamb) Pie.
You need:
1 lb ground beef 1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
sliced carrots
sliced celery
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can beef broth
mixed herbs
Beef Bistro (a beef flavored thickening agent)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
instant mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef. Once a bit of grease has been drained, add the onion, carrots & celery. Cook on medium until vegetables are softened a little. Add kidney beans, broth, herbs & Beef Bistro. Let simmer about 15 minutes. Prepare mashed potatoes according to box directions. I used the amount for 12 servings.
Pour mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread out across pan. Add mashed potatoes on top and spread evenly. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and bake for 1/2 hour or until the top is brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes before eating.
Guten Tag!
Here's the quick version. It was busy, we did all the "normal" Olympic day activities, started a larger European project (you'll see it later this week) and had Bratwurst & German egg noodles for dinner.
Goede dag! (Good day)
We did not have a lot of time to learn about the Netherlands today as we generally spend most of Sunday morning at church. Today was no exception. We did learn Dutch is the national language, how to count from 1 to 10 in Dutch, Amsterdam is the capital city and The Hague is the center of government. We listened to the national anthem of the Netherlands and located the Netherlands on the map.
When we colored the flag, we noticed that it is similar to the French flag - one red, white & blue stripe - just going in opposite directions. At bedtime we read about the life of a child in the Netherlands.
For craft time today, the girls colored a picture of tulips. Boo's is on the left and Bug's on the right.
For dinner we had Runderlapjes or seasoned steaks. The recipe came from The Dutch Market. I didn't cook the steaks quite as long as the recipe stated (2 hours) and they came out just fine. Served over mashed potatoes with homemade beef gravy. (It's not the most appetizing photo but it's better than it looks!)
Dessert was Dutch Almond Boterkoek (recipe is here). Boo helped make this and it was tasty but a bit too dry for my taste.
Kids verdict: Loved the gravy and mashed potatoes. Boo liked the steak with gravy & Bug ate it without ketchup!!! Chip found the gravy a little too tangy for his taste. I thought it was good but in moderation. The kids loved the butter cake - very sweet and crumbly.
We did not have a lot of time to learn about the Netherlands today as we generally spend most of Sunday morning at church. Today was no exception. We did learn Dutch is the national language, how to count from 1 to 10 in Dutch, Amsterdam is the capital city and The Hague is the center of government. We listened to the national anthem of the Netherlands and located the Netherlands on the map.
When we colored the flag, we noticed that it is similar to the French flag - one red, white & blue stripe - just going in opposite directions. At bedtime we read about the life of a child in the Netherlands.
For craft time today, the girls colored a picture of tulips. Boo's is on the left and Bug's on the right.
For dinner we had Runderlapjes or seasoned steaks. The recipe came from The Dutch Market. I didn't cook the steaks quite as long as the recipe stated (2 hours) and they came out just fine. Served over mashed potatoes with homemade beef gravy. (It's not the most appetizing photo but it's better than it looks!)
Dessert was Dutch Almond Boterkoek (recipe is here). Boo helped make this and it was tasty but a bit too dry for my taste.
Kids verdict: Loved the gravy and mashed potatoes. Boo liked the steak with gravy & Bug ate it without ketchup!!! Chip found the gravy a little too tangy for his taste. I thought it was good but in moderation. The kids loved the butter cake - very sweet and crumbly.
Powitanie przyjaciele! (Greetings friends!)
Poland was our country of the day. We listened to the national anthem of Poland, found Poland on the map, learned that the capital city is Warsaw & the language is Polish, colored the flag picture, counted from 1 to 10 in Polish, talked about & tried our hand at Wycinanki (vy-chee-nan-kee) paper cutting, and read a few legends from Poland.
Here is Boo's Wycinanki work
Here is Bug's Wycinanki work
For dinner we had Polish Kielbasa & potatoes. It was delicious. We certainly aren't strangers to either of those things but mixed together with some green peppers and garlic... very tasty!
Kids verdict: Loved the kielbasa and the potatoes, not loving the green peppers but eating a few of them anyway.
Bonjour! Bienvenue au jour français. (welcome to French day)
Put this mixture into the freezer for about 2 hours, move to fridge about 15 minutes before eating. You can use different fruits and juices to make the mix you like the most. You need about 4 cups of frozen fruit total.
Today we learned about fashion and how Paris, France is the place where fashion begins. We listened to the French national anthem, counted from 1 to 20 in French, sang Frere Jacques in French and English to compare the words, and made homemade sorbet.
Strawberry Banana Sorbet Recipe:
Freeze 2 bananas (sliced - freeze overnight) and 1 quart of strawberries (cut into small pieces - freeze about 3 hours). Blend the frozen fruit together in the blender. We added about 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 3 TBSP of splenda. (I think it could have used a bit more splenda).
Put this mixture into the freezer for about 2 hours, move to fridge about 15 minutes before eating. You can use different fruits and juices to make the mix you like the most. You need about 4 cups of frozen fruit total.Dinner, on the other hand, was not so great. I made spinach quiche. I'm pretty sure the recipe was not so good. It called for a large container of sour cream, a box of frozen spinach, 2 eggs, 2 cups of cheddar cheese, 1 cup of french onions, and a frozen pie shell. The final product was a bit runny. I didn't think it tasted too bad but the kids refused to eat more than the bites required to get dessert. I think I'll try this recipe next time (yes children, there will be a next time!). Pretty similar but enough different that I think it will be better. The kids disappointment may have been partially because we didn't have French Fries for dinner!
Oh, the flag coloring pages we've been using are from Crayola and can be found on their website.
Konnichiha! Today was filled with Sudoku, Flags, Haiku, songs, origami & Teriyaki chicken. Can you tell it was Japan day?
We began our day by waking up our brains with age appropriate Sudoku puzzles. Boo has done some 4x4 squares before so I gave her some 6x6 to do. Bug had never done them before but picked it up pretty quickly. Both girls needed a bit of assistance to remind them to check rows, columns and boxes every time!
Next we listened to the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo. It is definitely a slow and almost sad sounding song. It wouldn't get me hyped up about my country that is for sure! We learned about the flag, the capital and the nickname of Japan. Bug learned the words to "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" in Japanese (I had learned them years ago during Vacation Church School!). She had a good time trying to pronounce all the words. Boo tried counting to 10 with similar results!
After a break to go to the pool, Chip worked on teaching them some origami, traditional Japanese paper folding. They made dogs, a butterfly, a flower and a swan. The kids decorated the swan and butterfly with markers and crayons.
After dinner, Boo & Bug painted their names in Japanese characters. I found this website that translates and then copied their names into the characters. They practiced writing them a few times and then used black tempra paint to "write them like the Japanese would." I think they look pretty good!
We began our day by waking up our brains with age appropriate Sudoku puzzles. Boo has done some 4x4 squares before so I gave her some 6x6 to do. Bug had never done them before but picked it up pretty quickly. Both girls needed a bit of assistance to remind them to check rows, columns and boxes every time!
Next we listened to the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo. It is definitely a slow and almost sad sounding song. It wouldn't get me hyped up about my country that is for sure! We learned about the flag, the capital and the nickname of Japan. Bug learned the words to "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" in Japanese (I had learned them years ago during Vacation Church School!). She had a good time trying to pronounce all the words. Boo tried counting to 10 with similar results!
After a break to go to the pool, Chip worked on teaching them some origami, traditional Japanese paper folding. They made dogs, a butterfly, a flower and a swan. The kids decorated the swan and butterfly with markers and crayons.
The dog
Chip doing origami
Bug decorating her dog
Looking at the origami pattern book
The final products
A flower from my husband!
For dinner, I prepared Teriyaki Chicken, wide noodles and peas. The recipe is pretty simple.
You need:
3 chicken breasts, cut into about 4 pieces each
1 cup Soy Sauce
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp ground Ginger
2/3 cup Splenda
1/4 cup of a fruity white wine
Mix all ingredients add chicken to marinate. You only need to marinate about 20 minutes. Place marinated chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet and broil for 8 minutes on each side. Check chicken, if not done, cook in oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Kid's Verdict: All three kids had seconds! Boo said it was delicious and although Bug ate some with ketchup, she ate most without. I thought it was quite flavorful!
During dinner, we talked a little bit about Haiku poems. The meter is 5-7-5 syllables. We explained syllables to Bug and then brainstormed what we could write about. Here is what we wrote:
Silly Things by Bug
nose, feet, knock-knock jokes
silliness and goofy stuff
how you make me laugh
Clouds by Boo
white fluffy pillow
softly floating through the sky
shade from the sunshine
Japan by all of us
Tokyo, haikus
the land of the rising sun
origami - - fun!
After dinner, Boo & Bug painted their names in Japanese characters. I found this website that translates and then copied their names into the characters. They practiced writing them a few times and then used black tempra paint to "write them like the Japanese would." I think they look pretty good!
Boo working on her name
Bug working on her name
Boo's name
Bug's name
