thursday things - 4

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is it thursday already? is time set to fast mode? it does seem like the days have flown on by. how is it then, that the hours of those days drag on forever? it boggles the mind. well, my mind at any rate. i'm easily boggled these days.

this week's thursday things has to do with kids. life's master mind-bogglers! here are a few of the websites that have inspired many a homeschool adventure over the years:

* kids off the couch is great fun. i love their popcorn adventures. they find local goings-on, & pair them with family-friendly movies. even if you don't live here, you can use their pairings as inspiration for your own adventures.

*kids gardening - check out their teacher's room & family room for ideas & tips for gardening with children. if you too are homeschooling; or want to dig (ha!) more deeply into things, this site is a great resource.

* dad can do simply rocks. there are so many fantastic crafts, that i never leave the making section. it's no longer a totally free site, but the dues aren't high, & you'll really get your money's worth. we used them quite a lot when doing hogwarts homeschool. (which i shall be re-opening in the spring!! that's a chat for another day.)

that's all the things i have time for today. where, on the web, do you find inspiration for family adventures?

~peace.

you say potato, i say wow!

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this is a photo of poe tater. thehobbit & i began growing him eons ago, but never did we find the time to plant the poor thing. for awhile we worried the lack of soil would kill our beloved poe, but that was not what happened.


do you see all those tendrils? that's not hair, my friend. that would be freakylong (real word) roots! the cup filled with roots, & i suppose once there was nowhere else left to fit, the roots decided to grow out into the air. wild!

wilder still? do you see the teeny red dots at the ends of the roots? those would be...



baby potatoes!! yes way! who knew that they could grow out in the air like that? not just without soil, mind you, but literally hanging in the air. we watched them grow for a week, then planted poe in 1 of the extremely over-grown with weeds farm beds.

i recommend you give this a try. don't forget to keep replenishing the water in your cup, & keep it in a sunny window. other than that? ignore the crud out of it until you start seeing air taters. let me know how yours turns out!

~peace.

promised japanese goodies,

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with photos even! i hope you landed on something soft when you fainted just now. so what did i get? nothing for me; drat that tiff & her challenge. i did get lots of yummy party snacks, & ingredients for the actual meal - including sweet red bean paste. i find it too sweet, but thehobbit loves it. i plan on using it as frosting on the cupcakes.

another plan is to have them create their own obento. i couldn't afford a bento box for each child, so i bought a pack of disposable ones. i don't like the waste, but i haven't that many plates anyway.

the store has a whole obento section, so i was able to get lots of things to make the activity fun. if you enlarge the photo above you'll see the tools for cutting carrot slices into flowers, & teeny bottles for soy sauce. too darn cute. also, look at these:



on the right are cups that keep food separate. the other???? well that is simply the most fabulous thing ever - a hard boiled egg mold!!! i've seen molded eggs on obento sites, but could not figure out how they were created. here are the directions:



i hope to get to the japanese market today. there were a few things the dollar store didn't carry - including a newspaper. i need that to make bunting. they gave me a stack of ads to use, but i'll need more. plus they were mostly pink. thehobbit probably doesn't want an all-pink bunting strung everywhere ;)

that's all for today. i am off to look up how far ahead i can make a platter of inarizushi. au revoir! (still no energy to look up 'goodbye' in japanese.)


~peace.

be my valentine gnome

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i've been stocking theshop with a few valentiney things. the most recent are sweet, little craft kits. i got the idea (& the 'ok') from paper. may i introduce to you, from deep within the valentine forest, valentine gnome kits:

each muslin pouch contains: a blank peg doll, a real acorn hat, a swatch to complete the ensemble, 1 dinky wooden mushroom (hand-painted), & a packet of hearts.

i showed the 3 kits to a friend yesterday, & she promptly bought them. happily, i had enough to make 3 more, for theshop - yay & yay, again :)

tomorrow i'll share japanese dollar store goodness - with photos! see you then.

~peace.