Roger & Rosaleen's Overseas Adventure

Archive for August 2012

Play Dough

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tuesday next week my little body of students resume their education, which involves my presence! I spent all last weekend tucked away in the schoolroom loft, busily preparing the school year ahead. I have decided to break our school day into two parts. In the morning I will have the little boys with us in the school room, we will tackle subjects that can be taught around distractions, such as printing, read alouds, art. Then in the afternoon when the boys are napping I will teach electives and arithmetic. Part of my school planning was thinking of ideas to occupy my toddler for the morning teaching time.

One winning play time is play-dough

Reserved for one morning a week

I am sure will do the trick!

Do you brilliant Mama’s have any toddler occupying tricks you could share with me?

Easy Play-Dough

3 Cups Flour

¾ Cup Cornstarch

1 ½ TBSP Cream of Tarter

1 ½ Cup Salt

1 ½ TBSP Oil

Mix together in large cooking pot, and then stir in 3 cups water. Place on medium heat stirring constantly until solid ball forms and the ‘wet’ dough disappears.

Place on parchment paper on the counter top. Divide into how many colours you want (I made four).

Add your food colouring.

Let cool on the counter, kneading occasionally to let the heat out. Once cool put in air tight containers.

I find my play-dough lasts a few months at least.

Ten Days

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ten days of family

Trips and tales to be told

Taking in love and laughter

Treasuring these times of being together

This is Canada

Monday, August 27, 2012

Through a long stretch of freedom that traces the curves of the Rockies

We ended our trip on a majestic note of high peaks.

This is

Canada

This is

Glory

We hauled our babes one encouraging step after another into the heights

Where heaven can be touched

Can be

Heard

We held our breaths

Leaned our ears and lifted our hearts to the holiness that all creation affirms.

Bedroom Blessing

Thursday, August 23, 2012

I am a older sister to five girls…

I am also a sister to five brothers…

That makes eleven of us!

Wonderful

Crazy

Only at times.

I find it interesting how free flowing people’s comments are when it comes to big families.

People’s questions and comments offer a great source of humour to us as a family and by far some of our favorite common ones are…

#1) If we can keep track of everyone? In which our response is usually “oh well… I… ahh… hope so… now wait… umm… let’s do a head count… opps… I think we forgot a few” drawled out with long uncertain pauses for dramatic effect.

#2) If there is enough love to go around? I have no doubt! For when you have five sisters and five brothers and two parents, why you get triple if not more love then the average family!

And in the case of our latest family get together I think it worked very much in the benefit if a younger sibling to have a dozen or so siblings and in-laws!

It all starts with the only blued eyed one out of the sea of brown eyed kids. She melts hearts with her eyes, her sweetness, generosity and carefree laugh. There is something extraordinary about Bethany. We all know it, you just know she has a wildly grand life to live and as a sibling you’re just so humbled and grateful to be part of her life in some small way!

When we were all together this summer at my parents resort… I mean home, us older sibs decided to partner with my parents on an ‘Extreme Bedroom Makeover’ for Bethany. She now the dignified age of ten and has never had her own room. Well we all set about the task of providing her, her heart’s desire. We divided the large room into two making the smaller one Bethany’s room. Putting up new walls and painted of course, putting in a window, electrical, decorating and fussing over the details. We kept it a surprise, which added to the excitement and thrill.

The neatest part of it was watching us all work together, parents, adult sisters and sister in-laws younger sisters, adult brothers and brother-in-laws, nieces and nephews. Each one of us played a part offering our gifting to fulfill a desire for Bethany. When I stepped back and looked at the finished project I not only saw a beautiful room I saw love poured into every corner. Her room only took two days to complete because of the many hands that work hard to bless her.

Seeing the joy in a sister’s face is worth the world to me and made me so very grateful that I was chosen to be part of this

Wonderful

Large family!