My Mother-in-law loves to play the Hay Day app so we threw her a surprise party. Here is the link to the Android Hay Day App and here is the link to the Apple Hay Day app. The truth is almost every adult in this family plays Hay Day… My in-laws, 3 of their sons, and 2 of their son’s wives.
I made tissue paper pom-pom farm animals and a birthday banner for decorations.
We grilled for dinner. I attempted to make deviled eggs that looked like chicks hatching. I also made carrots out of green silverware and orange napkins.
I printed out the images from the Hay Day wiki for the signs that are on the table.
Juice Press: apple juice, lemonade
BBQ Grill: hamburgers, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and pork steaks, cornbread
Salad Bar: lettuce, olives, cheese, bacon bits, carrots, tomatoes
She got a favorite book as a gift and read it to the grandkids.
Then we had dessert. I had cow pies (chocolate covered nuts), haystacks, and blackberry muffins.
Pie Oven: mini pie crust with pudding to put in them, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries
Ice Cream Maker: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream cones with blackberry jam as a topping
Last I made her favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting to look like a pig pen. I made the pigs with pink marshmallow fondant. I put KitKats all around the cake and made little flowers and grass around the outside with colored butter cream frosting. I made the ladder with tootsie rolls.
T turned 4 this year! He loves the minions on Despicable Me so we chose that as his birthday theme this year. I layered his cake with blueberry and yellow cakes then frosted it with butter cream before I added the fondant.
Marshmallow Fondant Recepie
Ingredients:
16 oz. Mini Marshmallows
3 TBSP water
2 lbs Powdered Sugar (4 cups)
Crisco
Directions:
Grease a large glass bowl with Crisco.
Pour in the marshmallows and water; then microwave at 30- second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.
Reserve about 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Place the red of the powdered sugar in a large bowl of a standing mixer.
Grease the paddle attachment with Crisco and pour in the melted marshmallows on top of the powdered sugar.
Beat until a dough form; there will be a lot of loose bits and sugar in the bottom of the bowl.
Grease a clean work surface with Crisco and dump out the fondant and all the loose bits. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and knead the mixture together, just like kneading bread, for about 5 minutes until smooth.
Grease hands again as needed. As the fondant becomes smoother, use the reserved powdered sugar to coat the surface to keep it from sticking.
Once smooth, you can divide and color the fondant. While working with one piece, cover the remaining fondant with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
When you have your colors finished coat the fondant in a light layer or Crisco; wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large baggie for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Store at room temperature for several months. To us it, dust the surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out to 1/8 of an inch.
We also had banana splits since the Minions seem to love bananas.
I made these marshmallow minions with yellow candy melts.
I cut up banana pieces and let the kids dip them in the chocolate fountain then dip them in a topping.
I used yellow cups, electrical tape, and googly eyes for these cute Minion cups.
We also had a pinyata.
For lunch we had stuffed crust pizza… “Oooo Stuffed Crust” (that’s one of the boys favorite lines in the movie.)We also had a pinyata.
I also found these Minion snacks.
I made Minions out of plastic Easter eggs and filled them with banana Runts.
Then I made these cute balloons too.
Time for presents! I used Minion Duct Tape around the bottom of a plastic blue table cloth for the tables.
My sister-in-law, Cloninger Photography, did a great job with his birthday pictures again this year.
T is already 3 and totally into firemen and firetrucks. He will constantly begin his stories with, “When I was on my firetruck…” So he got a fireman birthday party this year. I called the local fire department and got a tour of the fire house and firetrucks. We met at the fire house for the start of the party and then headed over to our house for dinner, games, and dessert.
One of his favorite things about firemen is that they work with hoses so he was excited to hold the fire hose.
Another one of his favorite things about firemen is that they get to climb up ladders so he was excited to climb on the ladder to the firetruck too.
I gave the kids water balloons to throw through a flaming ring (hola hoop covered with shredded plastic table cloth).
The also got to extinguish foam flames with a squirt gun fire extinguisher.
And he had fun climbing the ladder to rescue the cat.
I found a fire hydrant sprinkler for the kids to play in too.
I set out firetruck to play with.
We roasted hot dogs and hand watermelon and corn on the cob too. (I liked that the watermelon and corn matched the color theme I had going on.)
T got a new firetruck for a gift.
I made flaming cupcakes. I made yellow cake batter with red swirls in it, then I frosted it with orange flames. We also had a smores bar with 3 different kinds of chocolate, grahams, and marshmallows.
And of course I had fire hoses (licorice) for T.
And fireman ladders to eat. I melted chocolate and dipped pretzel rods in it and then pretzel sticks for the rungs of the ladder.
My sister-in-law, Cloninger Photography, did an awesome job with his photos again this year.
My husband turned 35 this year so I decided to throw him a surprise party. I decided on a Lord of the Rings theme for him and invited tons of family to surprise him! It was hard keeping it a surprise since he knew that his family was coming to town from all over, but we had fun with a full Lord of the Rings meal with dessert and decorations.
First we started off by shooting a few of his guns for fun!
I made myself an ivy headdress to look more Lord of the Rings festive.
As he entered the house he saw the sign that was on Baggin’s door in part of the movie.
I also made a birthday banner!
I printed out a map that I found on Google images of Middle earth onto tan paper. Then I crumpled it up a few times and then flattened it out and burnt the edges.
I thought it would be fun to have a list of Hobbit meals sitting on the table with the food.
For lunch I tried to make Lord of the Rings type food, although I’m not sure how accurate I was?
Here are some of the foods that I made for lunch…
Po Tay Toe Coney (Beef Stew)
1 lb cooked and diced beef
1 can beef broth
1/2 tbl minced onion
1 tsp garlic salt
3 stalks chopped celery
4 diced potatoes
4 diced carrots
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1 can tomato soup
I just mixed it all in a pot and let it simmer for about an hour. Don’t forget to take out the bay leave before you serve it.
Bread Bowls
I made the bread bowls to eat with the coney.
2 (.25 ounce) packs active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp salt
2 tbl vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbl cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and let it stand for about 10 minutes (should look creamy).
Add salt, oil and 4 cups of flour to the yeast and beat well; then stir in the remaining flour about 1/2 cup at a time (you can use an electric mixer for this part if you have one).
When the dough forms a ball, dump it onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes (until smooth).
Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Turn the bowl until the dough has been covered with oil.
Cover it with a damp cloth for about 40 minutes in a warm place. It should rise to about double it’ size.
Punch down the dough, and divide it into 8 equal parts.
Shape each part into a round ball about 4 inches in diameter.
Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.
Place the 8 dough balls on the sheet and cover again. Place in a warm place for about 35 minutes, should double in size again.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl beat egg white and 1 tbl water.
Lightly brush the dough with the egg wash.
Bake for 15 minutes then brush with more egg wash again.
Bake fore 10 more minutes and then let cool.
Cut about 1/2 inch in around the bowl. Cut with your knife straight down about 3/4 inch from the bottom.
Then scoop out the bread in the middle.
Corn Chowder (Corn Casserole)
1 can whole drained kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
2 tbl flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tbl melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 8×8 casserole dish.
Stir the corns, flour, salt, pepper, and sugar together.
Whisk the eggs and milk in a separate bowl.
Add the egg to the corn and stir.
Add the butter and stir.
Pour into casserole dish.
Bake for 45 minutes
Elven Bird Delight
I got a roasted herb chicken at a local super market for this.
Roasted Green Beans
1 can green beans
1 tbl oil
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss all ingredients and place them in a small dish.
Roast in oven for about 20 minutes stirring halfway through.
Honey Cakes
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease cupcake pan.
Stir together dry ingredients.
Use a different bowl to mix your wet ingredients.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix like batter.
Pour batter into cupcake pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
Check with a toothpick.
Let cool for about 5 minutes before you remove from the pan.
Platter
I put bread from inside the bread bowls, cheese slices with little sword sandwich picks, grapes, and pickles.
Rosie’s Bread
I just got Hawaiian King Honey Wheat Rolls for this.
Balin’s Spiced Beef (sirloin wrapped in bacon)
I just bought the prewrapped sirloin and sprinkled some season salt on. I broiled it for about 10-15 minutes on each side.
Elven Lembas
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbl baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tea lemon juice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Knead butter into mixture with your fingers (should look like a crumbly mixture).
Stir in sugar.
Add milk and lemon juice and stir until dough forms.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out about 1/2 inch thick.
Cut out 2 inch squares and place on a cookie sheet.
Criss-cross each square from corner to corner with a pizza cutter (don’t cut all the way though just the tops).
For the drink table I had Ginger Ale, Tea, and Apple Cider.
For the dessert table I had lots of little snacks.
I put out a few extra berries in a little bowl.
Orc Bolders
Donut holes.
Gollum’s Goodies
Gummy worms and Sweedish fish.
The Ring
Peachy O gummies.
Council of Elrond
Keebler Elf cookies.
Smaug’s Gems (Brigaderio)
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbl butter
3 Tbl nesquick
Chopped nuts, Mini chocolate chips, Coconut
In a saucepan heat sweetened condensed milk, butter and Nesquick on medium heat.
Stir continuously for about 10 minutes, until it’s thick enough to show the bottom of the pan.
Pour the mixture into a lightly greased dish and let it cool for about an hour.
Grease your hands and roll into 1 inch balls.
Roll the balls into the nuts, chocolate, or coconut.
Mrs. Cottons BerryPie (Cherry Cheese Pie)
This is more the type of dessert that my husband likes. One of his favorites is my mom’s recipe for Cherry Cheese Pie.
9 inch graham crust
8 oz. cream cheese
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling
Beat cream cheese until fluffy.
Beat in the milk until smooth.
Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
Pour into the crust.
Chill for 3 hours.
Top with cherries.
Refrigerate leftovers.
Goldberry’s Pie (Berry Short Cake)
I wanted a hobbit type looking cake but couldn’t find anything in my research that was good enough. I didn’t want to just have a decorated cake (because my husband hates cake). I decided to try to create something else based on a picture I saw somewhere. Even my husband ate this cake… I think it’s the best cake I have ever tasted and I will be making it again for sure!
Round Short Cake
1 jar Marshmallow Creme
8 oz. Cream Cheese
Strawberries
Blackberries
1 can Pirouette Wafers
Ribbon (I used gold to look like a golden ring)
Beat marshmallow cream and cream cheese together and spread around the outside of the cake. If you have extra add it to the top or middle of the cake.
Break off about 1/4 of the wafers and press them into the sides of the frosted cake.
Wash the fruit and arrange the berries on the top of the cake.
Refrigerate the leftovers.
I found a few Lord of the Rings gifts that I thought he would like.
J is 7 now… growing so fast! He has liked Batman since he was 3. When he was 3 he was asked by a teacher what he was going to be for Halloween (we had never dressed up for Halloween before and never talked about it before this). He responded like he knew what it was all about, “I’m going to be Batman”. I didn’t even know that he knew who Batman was, but we let him dress up anyway and he still likes Batman!
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
Ingredients:
16 oz. Mini Marshmallows
3 TBSP water
2 lbs Powdered Sugar (4 cups)
Crisco
Directions:
Grease a large glass bowl with Crisco.
Pour in the marshmallows and water; then microwave at 30- second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.
Reserve about 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Place the red of the powdered sugar in a large bowl of a standing mixer.
Grease the paddle attachment with Crisco and pour in the melted marshmallows on top of the powdered sugar.
Beat until a dough form; there will be a lot of loose bits and sugar in the bottom of the bowl.
Grease a clean work surface with Crisco and dump out the fondant and all the loose bits. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and knead the mixture together, just like kneading bread, for about 5 minutes until smooth.
Grease hands again as needed. As the fondant becomes smoother, use the reserved powdered sugar to coat the surface to keep it from sticking.
Once smooth, you can divide and color the fondant. While working with one piece, cover the remaining fondant with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
When you have your colors finished coat the fondant in a light layer or Crisco; wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large baggie for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Store at room temperature for several months. To us it, dust the surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out to 1/8 of an inch.
Birthday Gifts
I found him the Batman beach towel for a gift. He also got Legos and more Batman toys!
T is very excited about trains now days, so he got a Thomas the Tank Engine party. I had a lot of fun preparing for this party. It ended up being a lot of work, but turned out super cute! I found blue, green, yellow and red balloons that said “Happy 2nd Birthday”. I set up the party outside which wasn’t super smart since we are having a record high summer (over 100 degrees many days already.)
I made little engines for the kids to wear and drive around a track. The track is just card board strips taped together with black electrical tape. The signs are made on card board taped to a yard stick and stuck in a milk jug with rocks in the bottom for the weight. There is a balloon archway to the left of this photo that they could drive their trains under. I made Thomas, Percy, and James from card board boxes. I used a juice jug for the front round part of the engines, the top part of an egg carton for the front bumper area, and a paper towel tube for the smoke stack. I used spray paint to color them and colored electrical tape for the stripes, numbers and other decor. I printed off faces for the front of the engines and used small black paper plates for the tires. I placed white balloons coming out of the smoke stack too. They kids had fun with them.
For his cake I made the face the day before from gray colored marshmallow fondant. I got out one of his tiny trains and tried my best to pinch and poke the fondant until it looked just right. Then I baked two 9×11 cakes and cut them into the pieces that I needed to build a train. I held them together with butter cream frosting. Then I covered the cake with more butter cream frosting before I rolled out my blue fondant and covered the cake. I just looked at the toy train and added the right colors where they needed to be. I used pull-n-peel licorice for the red striping and Oreo’s for the smoke stack and wheels. I used butter cream for the wheels too. I know Thomas is the #1 train but T is turning two so I made Thomas the #2 train this time. He loved his cake! I did too!
Marshmallow Fondant Recepie
Ingredients:
16 oz. Mini Marshmallows
3 TBSP water
2 lbs Powdered Sugar (4 cups)
Crisco
Directions:
Grease a large glass bowl with Crisco.
Pour in the marshmallows and water; then microwave at 30- second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.
Reserve about 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Place the red of the powdered sugar in a large bowl of a standing mixer.
Grease the paddle attachment with Crisco and pour in the melted marshmallows on top of the powdered sugar.
Beat until a dough form; there will be a lot of loose bits and sugar in the bottom of the bowl.
Grease a clean work surface with Crisco and dump out the fondant and all the loose bits. Grease your hands liberally with Crisco and knead the mixture together, just like kneading bread, for about 5 minutes until smooth.
Grease hands again as needed. As the fondant becomes smoother, use the reserved powdered sugar to coat the surface to keep it from sticking.
Once smooth, you can divide and color the fondant. While working with one piece, cover the remaining fondant with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
When you have your colors finished coat the fondant in a light layer or Crisco; wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large baggie for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
Store at room temperature for several months. To us it, dust the surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out to 1/8 of an inch.
I used my Cricut and made a train banner that ran along the front of the food table. Each train car had a letter that said “Happy Birthday T”.
I set out the dinner and dessert food to look like they were being carried by a train. I made train tracks with electrical tape on a green table cloth for the rail road. I set the cake engine as the front of the dessert foods, and I put the dessert foods in bread loaf pans. I had animal crackers, berries, shortcake, and cool whip. I made a watermelon engine for the front of the dinner foods. I had baked beans, chips, mac-n-cheese, and fruit salad the food in bread loaf pans again. We grilled burgers and hot dogs.
His Aunt, Cloninger Photography, took his birthday pictures and they turned out super cute!
Today we talked about the science behind rainbows. We learned that all a rainbow needs is light and water so we went outside to try to create some or our own rainbows. Today we included more rainbow crafts, science, math, literature, and snacks.
What Makes a Rainbow
Discuss: A rainbow needs light and water for us to see it. Show a simple demonstration of how we bend light by using a straight straw and a clear cup that is half filled with water. Even though the straw is straight, it looks bent when we put it into the water. That is just the light bending. When we bend light, it is called “refraction.” Let’s bend some more light. Show the kids a prism, go outside and used a prism to create a rainbow on a piece of white paper. Why do we see rainbows when it rains? The raindrops are like a tiny prism, bending the light that comes from the sun. So we need both sun (light) and rain (prism) at the same time to make a rainbow in the sky. Let’s do a simple demonstration to see how the sun and water make a rainbow. We’ll use the hose in the backyard to make a rainbow. Make sure the sun is behind us and the water is in front of us.
Read: What Is a Rainbow? By Chris Arvetis and Carole Palmer
Comprehension Questions:
What makes a rainbow? Light and water
Fruit Loop Bagel Breakfast
Materials:
Plain Bagels
Cream Cheese
Fruit Loops
Directions:
spread cream cheese on the bagel
place the fruit loops in the shape of a rainbow
Tissue Paper Rainbow
Materials:
colors of tissue papers
pencil with a full eraser
school glue
white cardstock with an outline of a rainbow on it
markers or crayons
Directions:
Have the children use the markers or crayons to color in the colors they want their rainbow to look like.
Cut the tissue into 1 inch squares.
Pour some school glue onto a tray or plate.
Have your child take one piece of tissue, and show them how to center (approximately!) the eraser onto it.
Wrap the tissue up around the pencil.
Dip into the glue.
Hold onto the edges of the tissue, and press the glue tipped end onto the paper, matching up the color from your picture. Slide the pencil out.
Rainbow in a Box
Discuss: Like water drops in falling rain, the CD separates white light into all the colors that make up the rainbow. The colors you see reflecting from a CD are interference colors, like the shifting colors you see on a soap bubble or an oil spill. You can think of light as as being made up of waves-like the waves in the ocean. When light waves reflect off the ridges on your CD, they overlap and interfere with each other. Sometimes the waves add together to make a rainbow.
Materials:
CD
Box
Flashlight
Directions:
Shine a flashlight on an old CD in the bottom of a box turned on it’s side.
Turn off the lights, and move the flashlight across the CD to make the rainbows dance.
Rainbow Addition
Materials:
Paper
Pen
Construction paper
Directions:
Draw an outline of a rainbow on the paper.
Write addition combinations on the blank rainbow. (make sure they are spaced out quite a bit)
Cut the construction paper into rectangles small enough to cover one of the combinations.
Write the answers to the top row of combinations on the red rectangles.
Next row answers are on the orange rectangles. And so on.
Child will look at the combination and find the answer in the colored pieces and place it over the combination. At the end there should be a completed colored rainbow.
I modified the one for A. to counting dots on the white paper and finding the correct number on the colored pieces.
And I modified the tots to matching colors.
Eat the Rainbow
Discuss:
Talk about what different colors of the rainbow that we can eat to be healthy. Fruits and Vegies Then make a chart with the kids that have all of the foods that they suggested written on it.
Materials:
Posterboard
Markers of crayons
Strawberries
Cantaloupe
Banana
Pear
Blueberries
Red Grapes
Kabob Skewers
Directions:
Make a rainbow on a plate or platter with different fruits.
RED – Strawberries ORANGE – Cantaloupe YELLOW – Banana GREEN – Pear BLUE – Blueberries VIOLET – Red grapes
2. Let the children use the kabob sticks to make their rainbow fruit kabobs.
Read: I can eat a Rainbow by Annabel Karmel while they eat
Make a REAL Rainbow
Read: A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman
Discuss: Rainbows appear wherever sunlight falls on water or glass. We used the Rainbow Diagram here to help us with this experiment.
Materials:
Glass of water
Dark kitchen
White Paper
Masking Tape
Flashlight
Directions:
Fill a glass of water (almost to the top) and place it at the very edge of the counter in a VERY dark kitchen or bathroom.
Place a sheet of plain white paper on the floor a few inches away from the counter.
Put two pieces of masking tape over the front of a flashlight so that the light comes out of a slit about 1/8 inch wide.
Shine this light across and down into the water as shown in the figure. When a narrow beam of light is passed through a glass of water, a spectrum can be seen on a white sheet of paper.
Can you see a small rainbow on the white paper? If not, move the flashlight around a little until you achieve the best results.
Rainbow Symmetry
Discuss: A line of symmetry divides a shape into two identical parts. In some cases, as with a rainbow, you’ll find one line of symmetry down the middle. In other cases, there is more than one, like with eight sections of an orange. So if we paint a rainbow on one side of the paper and then fold it in half it should appear the same on both sides forming a symmetrical rainbow.
Materials:
Cardstock folded in half
Paint for all the colors of the rainbow
Directions:
Fold the paper in half and open.
Have the kids how to paint half a rainbow on one half of the paper in the right order.
Fold the paper over and press gently.
Open again to see your rainbow print.
IMG_0701
Rainbow Celebration Cake
Cake Materials:
White cake (2 boxes)
9 in. cake pan
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple GEL food coloring.
Cake Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9” cake pans. Make the 2 cakes according to the directions.
Divide the batter into 6 bowls (about 1 1/2 cups each.
Then whisk 2 drops of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Pour into the pans and bake for 12 minutes each.
When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then flip, cover, and stash them in the fridge to cool quickly.
Frosting Materials:
2 Cups shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup water
2 lbs. Powdered sugar
Frosting Directions:
In large bowl, cream shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add water and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
This icing can be stored 2 weeks. rewhip before using.
IMG_0680I added sugar sprinkles in the shape of a rainbow to it too.
Today we explored with Columbus farther South to Cuba and Haiti. We also learned about his return to Spain after his discovery of the New World and what a Coat of Arms is. We learned about another landform, mountains. The boys had fun making a mountain cake and eating it!
1. Review: read “A New World” on page 17 of Hands on History Christopher Columbus by Mary Tucker.
2. Read: pages 38-43 in Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire.
3. Map skills: Columbus sailed from San Salvador on to Cuba and then to Haiti. Find Cuba and Haiti on a map. What type of landform are Cuba and Haiti? mountain
4. Comprehension questions:
Can you remember which ship crashed? Santa Maria
What did the Indians call Columbus and his men? White Gods
Where did they finally find gold? Haiti
What ship did Columbus ride on back to Spain? The Nina
What were some of the things that Columbus brought home with him to show the King and Queen? Parrots, strange fruits, sweet-smelling herbs, small chest of gold ornaments, and some Indians
Was Columbus a hero now? Yes
5. Discuss: When Columbus returned from his voyage he met with the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the king and queen gave Columbus the right to have his own coat of arms. A coat of arms is the official symbols of a family, state, etc. A coat of arms is a form of identification that goes back to before Roman times. Back then the coat of arms was used to identify groups of fighting men within the Roman legion. In the Middle Ages the coat of arms was used to identify each noble family. Each item chosen to be in the design had a meaning. After a family decided on a coat of arms the design was placed on shields, embroidered on tapestries, and carved in stone throughout the house. It was also placed on swords and banners, and on special occasions the design was burnt into the top of breads. The coat of arms that Columbus was assigned had a castle and a lion on it. A few years later he added the island and anchors as a reminder of his adventures.
Columbus’ Coat of Arms
Discuss: What the children would want on their coat of arms, the symbols should be reminders of significant events in their lives or of personal characteristics (sports, music, art, lion= courage, lamb= peace). We used “Columbus’ Coat of Arms” on page 25 of Hands on History Christopher Columbus by Mary Tucker.
Sailing, Sailing
Review:What it would be like to sail on a ship for 2 months and why Columbus took a ship on his voyage rather that an automobile or airplane. We used the Sailing, Sailing color page to review this.
Mountain Cake
1. Columbus was looking for gold on the islands. The Indians told him there was gold in the mountains on Haiti. Mountains are another type of landform.
Define mountain-
Mountain: a high, raised part of the earth’s surface, higher than a hill
J is now 6 years old and getting into superheros and technology. He chose to have a Transformers cake this year. I made a 9×11 sheet cake and frosted it with gray street colored frosting. I added smaller squares of cake for the buildings and made windows by cutting mini marshmallows in half. I added green shrubs around the buildings with frosting too. I made a stop sign with lollipops and wrote “six” on them instead of “stop”. I placed a few of his mini Transformer toys on the graham cracker road and on the buildings. Here the “6” candle is backwards… I didn’t notice until I got the pictures back, but otherwise he loved it.
Buttercream Icing
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (if thick)
Directions:
Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.
He got the Dino Transformers and a set of Schleich dinos for his gifts and was so happy!
We had a bug themed party for T’s first birthday! I made bug balloons by filling latex balloons with helium and using rubber cement to hold them together. For the Bee Balloon I used 2 yellow balloons and wrapped some black electrical tape around for the bee’s stripes. Then I used tissue paper for the wings, black pipe cleaner for the antenna, and googly eyes for eyes. I added a mouth with black sharpie. For the Ladybug Balloon I found some red balloons with black spots. I glued a small black balloon for the head, used googly eyes for the eyes, and black pipe cleaner for the antenna again. For the Caterpillar Balloon glued together 4 green balloons and used green pipe cleaner for the legs and antenna. I used a sharpie for the mouth and added googly eyes to the caterpillar as well. I set them up outside and it was a bit too windy for the balloons, most of them ended up popping before the end of the party!
We grilled burgers and hot dogs for lunch. We also had ants on a lot and ladybug watermelon balls (I just put mini chocolate chips in the watermelon balls.) I taped black construction paper ants to my red and white checkered table cloth.
I filled red, green, and yellow water balloons for the kids to play with.
I got kind of carried away with the desserts and ended up making 3 sweets. We had gummy worms in chocolate pudding with crushed Oreo’s on top. We had a beehive cake with cream cheese frosting and bees made out of chocolate covered almonds and mini marshmallow wings. And we had caterpillar cupcakes with candy faces.
I had my sister-in-law, Cloninger Photography, take T’s 1 year old photos and they turned out great!
