Maple Syrup in March

We are so lucky to have Blandford Nature Center right down the road from our house. It is a great place to take the kids for a nature adventure and hike or to see some injured animals being cared for by the staff at the nature center. This time of year however is especially exciting as it is the time when sugar maple trees produce sap which can be turned into maple syrup. Blandford has an entire hiking patch well marked for visitors to see the process, tools and equipment used to harvest the sap, strain it, store it and boil it to turn into maple syrup. They even have a sugar house where you can watch volunteers/staff working to turn the sap into syrup. It smells amazing in the sugar house by the way!! The kids learned a lot, got to taste the syrup and eat some maple sugar candies. Overall it was a great way to spend an afternoon. Here are some pictures of our gang out on the trail.

Sheep Shearing

This past Saturday we enjoyed a field trip with our great friends, the Allen's at Shady Side Farm in West Olive. I heard about the shearing day via the West Michigan Etsy Team of which the owner of Shady Side Farm (Lona) belongs. This is just one of the great opportunities I have come across while becoming an active member of this team! The kids were encouraged to use all of their senses to learn about the process of shearing sheep, feeding sheep, observing new lambs and experiencing the barn as well as learning what people do with the fleece after it has been taken from the sheep and cleaned. They just loved squishing and smelling the freshly sheared fleece and watching the newly sheared sheep leap up and run down the length of the barn back to the herd. They had to pay attention so that they weren't knocked over by any of the sheep! The baby lambs were absolutely adorable! The girls begged to take one home as a pet which I said when they grow up they can live on a sheep farm and have as many baby lambs as they want - Rian has already named her future lamb "Flower".

After the girls had enough time in the barn we headed across the farm to another building where fiber artists were hard at work showing off their beautiful items crafted with wool. The kids saw socks being hand cranked on an antique sock knitting machine as well as wool being felted by Barb of Pit Bull Lady Designs. Barb was so patient as she was practically attacked by 5 super excited and curious little girls all wanting to watch/touch/see her in action as well as look at her finished products. (Thanks Barb!!). The balls of colored roving were amazing! We all enjoyed feeling the soft colorful texture of the roving and the yarn. The girls also had an opportunity to learn how the roving was turned into usable yarn by watching three women expertly spin the roving with a spinning wheel. They even got a chance to "help" spin a little yarn themselves.

Little Jenny the fairy

My fabric scrap pile has started to grow lately and even though I'd love to use the scraps to make a little quilt of some sort I opted for a quick new project resulting in little Jenny the fairy. She is a cute little gal who loves to play, snuggle or just hang around as a small companion. She is for sale in my Etsy shop http://www.sapucha.etsy.com/ and some of her friends will hopefully follow. I'm leaving the naming of these little ones up to my girls who love being included in this process.

Homemade Finger Paints

I realize I'm losing my mind since I already posted this fingerpainting activity....but hey maybe you didn't see the original posting or just wanted to see it again- SO consider this a re-run posting!! Sorry!

Looking for a quick and easy craft to do on a rainy or snowy or sick day? How about homemade finger paints! We painted with our finger paints on freezer paper since one side is coated in plastic and the other is paper plus you can tear off large sheets for them to use. Freezer paper is found by the tinfoil and saran wrap sections of your local grocery store. If you don't have freezer paper any paper will do. Here are some pictures of the kids and the recipe for finger paints that uses items you already have on hand in your own cupboards:



2 T. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
2 c. cold water
1/4c clear liquid dish soap (optional)
1 Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a small pan, then slowly add cold water.

2 Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture becomes a smooth; almost clear gel about 5 minutes.

3 When it's cool, stir in clear dish washing liquid.

4 Scoop equal amounts of the mixture into containers and stir in food coloring or, for even more vibrant colors, use food-coloring paste. (if you want to add "scent" add a little bit of powdered cool aid)

Gymnastics

The girls just completed a 5 week beginners gymnastics class that they took together. It was a great way for them to experience gymnastics without a lengthy commitment and have a whole lot of fun trying out the equipment! Here are some pictures from their class.

Heidi

The kids and I just recently finished reading the book Heidi which was part of Kami's school program. I promised them that once we finished we could watch the movie so they could really see the landscape of the Swiss Alps and mountain meadows. During our study of this book we discussed what the food must have been like for the characters in the book versus what they are used to. The kids asked if we could have a "Heidi" lunch on the day we watched the movie. Here is a picture of our homemade bread (ok - just half since it smelled so good we couldn't resist!). Heidi's grandfather served her melted cheese on thick slabs of bread with fresh milk. (Not sure if she had apples but we needed to add a little fruit to this lunch). Yummy!

Finger Painting Friday

I stumbled across a homemade recipe for finger paints and couldn't wait to try it with the kids. For those of you looking for a great rainy/snowy/sick day project this one is for you!! This is a super simple recipe and could be used for a variety of purposes - practicing cursive writing or printing letters, mixing primary colors to make endless other colors, opportunity for artistic expression (big title that means it is messy fun!). Here are some pictures of our finger paint Friday! (recipe for finger paint to follow pictures)

Finger Paint Recipe:
1/2 c. corn starch
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 c. water

pour all ingredients into medium size sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken (takes about 10-15 minutes so be patient). Remove from heat and separate into smaller containers. Add food coloring and any "scents" such as kool-aid or vanilla extract and stir. I opted not to add "scent" or flavor since Drew was going to join us and I didn't want him to eat it. I used freezer paper for the kids to paint on since the backside of the freezer paper has a thin plastic lining and would prevent the paper from becoming too soggy.

They Grow Up So Fast

Chip off the old block eh? True male bonding time. (I'm glad the reality of this won't actually begin for many many years....I just love having my little boy little right now).

Thanks for stopping by!

History

Can you guess what we are studying in History? Take a look at these pictures (above).....If you guesses ancient Egypt and mummies you guessed right! All you need are a few rolls of toilet paper and a willing "mummy model" and you've created your very own mummy. Can you guess who the last picture is? Yep - it is me! The girls giggled the entire time they wrapped me up and then enjoyed taking pictures of their mummy/mommy. Isn't school fun!

Etsy

Most of you know my favorite "hobby" over the past several years has become sewing. I started off teaching myself how to sew using the $10 1969 Singer sewing machine I picked up at a friend's garage sale. After the electrical cord was prepared and I thoroughly read the manual I just sat down, determined to learn how to get the heavy beast working (oh and by heavy I mean HEAVY!!!). After mastering the old 69'er I longed for lighter machine with an automatic buttonhole function. I was getting tired of the detachable quirky one the old Singer sported. So my awesome husband surprised me a few years back with a much lighter basic new Singer to keep me going on my hobby. What has kept me sewing as well as kept my attention is the huge variety of fabrics, projects, ideas, etc.....that can be accomplished by sewing. I just love it. I am by no means a master of this hobby but I can see that there has been some improvement over the years, especially after the first year. By the way, I originally picked up sewing while pregnant with Kami so I could learn how to make maternity pants to fit my quickly growing 3rd trimester belly. After a few attempts at making pants with one left leg and one right leg (I tossed out the two left legged pair!) I felt such a great sense of accomplishment and joy (tight pants put a squeeze on the ole joy factor) so I kept on sewing.

Moving on....

Years later the completed projects started piling up and I just kept making more things. What to do what to do?? So I decided to try the online route and set up an ETSY shop. For those who don't know what Etsy is it is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. These items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, quilts, nick-knacks and toys. .... I strongly recommend you spend a few minutes (or more) browsing the great handmade items on Etsy's website http://www.etsy.com/. Also, if you get a chance please visit my shop a http://www.sapucha.etsy.com/ and send me any feed back - good, bad or ugly! Oh and by the way the new thingy on the right side of this blog is a little widget showing some of the items in my shop. I just learned how to create this little widget guy and I kind of like it :)

One last tidbit....

Sapucha? you ask what is Sapucha? (pronounced: Sah-poo-cha.). Well, when Kami was a little toddler she used to come up with "make up words" and she would use her make up words to name toys, people, etc. I just loved this one the best and I thought what better use of a handmade name for a shop selling handmade item.