Lazarus Saturday.

We are unfortunately all very sick and DH is recovering from surgery this week so we missed our first Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. The kids were very disappointed as were DH and I. It was mostly a crabby kid and laying in bed day but we did have some nice prayer time in our family Icon corner.

Iddy Biddy read the gospel and the Troparion that I printed out in "Evlogia Style".

Blue Eyes opened up the tomb and found Lazarus (an extra peg doll wrapped in dh's bandages). She did however keep trying to unwrap Lazarus.

Here are a few pic's of our day on Saturday.

We were inspired by Sylvia to try our hands at making gf Lazarakia we adapted a gluten free pretzel recipe and they turned out very tasty.

Ferdinand kept marching his bread across his plate saying "Arise" in a zombie voice.

hmmm...We will have to re-read the gospel !

Neolithic cookies...

After reading up on neolithic peoples and ancient Celts we decided to create our own neolithic structures. In order to avoid guilt when it
came time to decide what to do with said creations we borrowed an idea from The Juggling Paynes at Home Spun Juggling and went with edible models.








We used leftover b-day frosting and gf wafer cookies.

Spring Trays...

Jumped the gun a bit on our April work boxes for Blue Eyes but we have been under the weather literally and figuratively and she needed something new to work on.

I saw this post at My Montessori Journey and it reminded my of the little pastel chicks I had found. Just the right colors to match the plastic eggs that had been sitting on dh's car floor for the last 3!!! years. :)







Blue Eyes is by far our most "busy" child. She is so energetic and curious and we have no place inside or out where she can really play or explore with out close supervision. Although she gets a lot of time for creative play having some structured work boxes and trays for her helps her stay safe and out of trouble for short periods.

Many Years to Ferdinand!

My sweet meandering, moseying, always take your time boy (who was 2 weeks overdue!) turned six this week!

Mud...

Can you tell Valentine is the 4th baby? Iddy Biddy literally did not touch so much as grass until she was almost 2.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

A few snapshots of our day...

Shamrocks and the last of our dafodils from Saint David's day

Iddy Biddy's annual attempt to capture a leprechaun she tried to lure him using the gluten free beer I got for our soda bread but it didn't work.

He escaped leaving behind a messy trail of glitter and some green wrapped candies and a new book about Saint Patrick.

The mess is cleaned up and we are cleaning and cooking frantically to prepare for the family party. We are Irish on both sides and it is a big day for us plus it is one of Ferdinand's name days.

here is the recipe I used:

Gluten Free Irish Soda Beer Bread:

makes 2 round loaves

Dry ingredients: 4 and 1/2 cups gf flour ( i used 4 cps Jules & 1/2 cup mixed teff and cornmeal)

4 tablespoons sugar/xylitol

2 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut in 10 tablespoons Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening

Add Wet ingredients: 1 1/2 cups gf beer or use rice milk with dash of lemon juice

2 tablespoon Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer whisked with 1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon honey

mix until dough pulls into a ball -use extra flour to gently knead by hand into 2 balls

pat each ball into a greased round dish- i use glass pie pans

bake at preheated 350 for 30-35 min until a knife comes out clean cover with foil last 10 minutes if necessary.

cool before slicing and enjoy!

hope this recipe is correct -Ill proof it later Im off to make colcannon!

btw my Irish is limited to a few choice phrases- If anyone knows how to say "many years" in Irish Id love to be able to say it to Ferdinand today!

Hop to it!

We have been having problems with kids not following directions right away-some of the consequences have been messy but luckily not harmful.

Biddy was playing with her baby bunnies i.e. siblings in a newly discovered "tunnel" behind some bushes.
She was trying to herd her bunnies to safety away from a mama fox but they were not listening right away.

This led to some creative story telling on our walk home about obeying right away.



Biddy decided that what she needed was for her bunnies to HOP TO IT!

So that has been the Virtue or Character Trait if you will we have been working on this week.