PRAIRIE PRIMER ~ SQUARE DANCING and HASTY PUDDING

I forgot to post this from our Prairie Primer studies.  This fall we read "Little House in the Big Woods".  We met with friends to do some fun, hands-on activities.  In this post we read about the dance at Grandpa and Grandma's house, learned to square dance, made hasty pudding and learned how real maple syrup is made.  It was a great day.

Reading about the dance.

Hasty pudding.

Square dancing!  Elvis joined us to help out.

Swing your partner!

Time to eat our hasty pudding.

It was unanimous.  It was good but even BETTER with real maple syrup.

Coloring as we learn about how maple syrup is made.

It was another great day.  Prairie Primer is our favorite subject this year.

Pancakes Galore!

I've been wanting to get back into cooking & freezing meals ahead of time. I used to do this years ago & it save a lot of time and money. Many refer to it as Once A Month Cooking. Coincidentally my friend Rhonda posted on her blog & Facebook page that she has been cooking up a storm of delicious meals & goodies. That inspired me even more especially after seeing the delicious things she was making!
I wanted to jump right in but soon realized we will have to wait for a shopping trip first. In the meantime I made a baby step in the right direction. I had ingredients for pancakes and spent yesterday making batch after batch of them.
We have 2 griddles & I soon had them busy at work.

Oh they smelled so good!

Another batch on & cooking!

Griddle #2

For the 2nd batch I tripled the recipe & added some wheat flour too.

Princess enjoyed a yummy lunch.

Trying to chew & smile at the same time is not an easy task. Lol!

All packaged up in freezer bags & ready for the freezer!

One tiny step towards easy meals!

Apples & More Apples!

We are having lots of fun making our apples into tasty treats. The first treat on the menu was applesauce. Elvis was eager to get started. He still talks about the time Grannie took them to an orchard with a friend of hers to pick. Afterward they made homemade applesauce together. That was 3 years ago.

We had to buy a new apple peeler corer as ours was worn out.

I think these things are fantastic.

Elvis took a turn at it.

Princess saw Boo & Elvis helping and didn't want to be left out. She pulled up a chair & got right to work.

She enjoyed handing me apples to peel & core.

She was very good at taste testing.

Boo got a kick out of the way Princess jumped in & took over.

She made an apple snowman by stacking them up. She was very proud of herself.

Two crock pots all filled & ready to cook.

Our house was filled with the heavenly scent of fall all night long.

It made a little dent in the bushel but not much.

Snowed In

A huge snowstorm hit us today. Well, huge for us Southerners anyway. The part that worried me was the ice. I begged Dave not to go into work & he finally relented. He was grateful for this decision a few hours later when he saw the condition of the roads & many wrecks on t.v. His office even sent everyone home at 10:30 a.m. That NEVER happens! He worked from home instead.
We had prepared for the storm ahead of time so we were all stocked up with milk, bread, eggs, canned goods (in case the electricity went out), & paper goods. I dropped by the library with the kids on Thursday and we all picked up books and a couple of movies. Dave stocked the last of our firewood inside and on the back patio. Let it snow!

I woke up early as I was worried about Dave. Though I was tired I got a lot done with my early start. After doing some laundry & cleaning I started some cooking. Bugs helped me make chicken vegetable soup for lunch.

Then I thawed a pork loin to put in the crockpot.

I couldn't resist showing my savings. Lol.

Chopping more veggies for our soup & onions for the pork dish.

Don't worry he only helped put them in the bowl.

While I took a break to nurse Princess the boys & Sweet Pea made blueberry muffins from scratch to go with our soup.

They love to stir & measure!

Outside the storm had arrived.

The snow came first which surprised us as the forecast was for ice first.

It's hard to see but it was coming down fast & the wind was blowing too. When Bugs & I went out to get the mail it stung us as it hit us in the face.

Lucy found a warm spot to play by the heating vent.

The boys wanted to go out and play. It took forever to find snow gear & get it on them. But we were successful thanks to Daddy helping.

Waiting for Boo to hurry up so they could go out.

And waiting.............

I finally just let them go & off they ran.

They made snow angels.

We 3 girls stayed inside.

Sweet Pea & Princess

Princess wanted Sweet Pea to play.

Snow fun!

Daddy was in the office working hard.

Lucy hung out with Romeo.

I think Bailey had the right idea.

Boo made it outside & they had fun playing together.

Sweet Pea couldn't resist & gave into some playtime.

After playtime we all had a yummy lunch of homemade soup & muffins. Our afternoon was nice & lazy with naps and some schoolwork. I love cozy days at home.