Plum Jam

“When they came to a plum thicket they set down their big pails. They filled their little pails with plums and emptied them into the big pails till they were full.”

On the Banks of Plum Creek

While we do not have a plum thicket, we do have "wild plum" trees in our neighborhood. Trees planted MANY years ago by farmers, whose homes and farms are long gone. They produce tiny little plums, but Abigail and I filled a bucket and made some "wild plum jam".  

Snow Candy

"Grandma stood by the brass kettle and with the big wooden spoon she poured hot syrup on each plate of snow. It cooled into soft candy, and as fast as it cooled they ate it."
Little House in The Big Woods

Little House Meat Smoker

Abigail is reading the Little House series on her own for the first time.

  At the beginning of Little House in the Big Woods, the book describes Pa's meat smoker, used to preserve the venison for the winter.

Abigail had a blast making a smoker out of an Amazon box, and pretending to be Laura. 

We even had hickory chips, just like Laura! 

She used bamboo skewers as the long nails, and the air packets from the Amazon packaging to make her venison. 

 

Poor Jack can't get to the yummy smelling meat! 

Making Butter

The first time we read Little House in the Big Woods , we tried our hand at butter making. We didn't do it quite the same way as Ma, but it was fun and helped them "live" the story a little better.  It was so easy, they have asked often since then to do it again. 

 All you need is a mason jar with lid, cream (heavy or whipping both work) and a marble.

 Fill the jar about 2/3 full, then drop on the marble. Screw the lid on tightly and starting with the youngest, let child shake to heart's content.

 Once the little ones are tired, hand it to an older sibling or adult.

After shaking awhile, you will feel the consistency change, and usually  hear it too.
Abigail likes to spread it out and let it harden, then cut her butter  into shapes.

A Mary Dress

 

 

Abigail outgrew her "Laura dress", and she was a little worried about not being able to wear it. The Lord provided a  friend selling a similar dress, in a larger size  just in time. The day Abigail popped a button on her "Laura dress", the "Mary dress" arrived in the mail, and she LOVES it!  Of course neither were really the kind of dresses that would be worn back then, but they are close enough for her, and that is good enough for me!

Discovering Along Side

I have never enjoyed poetry. It was something I had to get through in school, and it was one of those things- when I discovered my oldest didn't like the either- I decided to skip, in homeschooling.

With my next child, I did a little mandatory poetry from First Language Lessons, but dropped it after we finished the book,  because he hated it.

But my next child was born loving poems. 

When she had the opportunity to have anything at all on her bedroom wall, she chose a poem that her brother had been forced to learn. 

In the last few weeks my daughter has been asking for poems. She wants me to read her poems, and is  asking me to copy down poems she had heard before, she is even copying them from books herself. 

And as I provide these poems for her, I am discovering a love for poetry that I never knew I could possess. 

Can you believe I had never read the Little House series as a child? It wasn't until my first child was thoroughly hooked that I discovered and fell in love the Ingalls and Wilder families. I also had never read Little Women until we read it together last month. I am now absolutely in love with all things Louisa May Alcott (including her poetry). We listened to the audiobook of Little Women, then I promptly went back and re-read it myself, so I could highlight the most lovely parts.

This is  one of the top reasons I love homeschooling. 

I get to learn things I missed out on, right along side my children. And sometimes, I even catch a little bit of their passion for something I had never enjoyed before.

It is such a beautiful thing.

Vinegar Pie just like Little House on the Prairie

I saw Vinegar Pie on Money Saving Mom and  was intrigued!
Simple, inexpensive ingredients, and  it was just like "Ma" used to make in Little House on the Prairie. My middle child  couldn't wait to try this recipe.

It turned out surprisingly well!

We took it a step farther, and also made a Vinegar Pie Crust. I used butter instead of shortening, and next time I will add some sugar to the crust,but I have never made a more successful pie crust,and it was so easy my 5 year old did most of it herself!

Vinegar and Egg Crust

Little House Paper Dolls

Abigail received this Little House on the Prairie paper doll set a couple of Christmases ago, and it has been well loved and used for HOURS of play! She also recently added a set of these  that she loves!

We have been reading the series, Little House on the Prairie for the last 18 months.  The boys have read them before, but this is Abigail's first time through  and I LOVE experiencing it through her eyes.

Farmer Boy

We are currently reading Farmer Boy,  and we got to the part where Almanzo's family settled in for the night with apple cider and popcorn. So we stopped reading and made some apple cider and popcorn.

Then we read where Almanzo said:

"You can fill a glass full to the brim with milk, and fill another glass of the same size brim full of popcorn, and then you can put all the popcorn kernel by kernel into the milk, and the milk will not run over. You cannot do this with bread. Popcorn and milk are the only two things that will go into the same place"

So the next day we made a new batch of popcorn and tried it with milk!

Each of my children has loved The Little House series, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing it with them.

Too Old To Be Read To?

 Occasionally when I mention that I still read aloud to all my children, I see raised eyebrows. Yes, it is true, my boys love reading and are fully capable of zipping through novels on their own.Yes, I could hand my boys their history or science books and tell them to handle the assignments alone. But....

I LOVE reading aloud with my children. I LOVE to curl up on the couch with them as they listen to me read. I LOVE experiencing wonderful stories together, and being able to discuss them as we go. Often we stop reading and end up down a rabbit trail that started from something we read, but it is through these rabbit trails I really learn my children's' hearts and am able to speak truth into their lives I may now have thought about mentioning otherwise.

Read aloud time is a time that we are all drawn together and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

My own little Laura

I have posted about how my sweet girl loves Little House on the Prairie above all else a couple times this summer.
A sweet friend made her month by sending her these beautiful bonnets.She was so blessed by them

My very own half-pint

Abigail loves nothing more than the Little House On The Prairie series right now. We've read through to On The Shores of Silver Lake so far and she just can't get enough!  She loves playing that she is out in the prairie, and playing with her Little House paper dolls. She was so excited to find this dress that she says is "just like Laura's". 

Green Pumpkin Pie

We really like the Little House on the Prairie series. 

In The Long Winter, Ma makes a green pumpkin pie, and this year my son was counting down until pumpkin season so he could try one too.

First I had to decide which green pumpkin to use. 

I chose the cuter one! 

We put it on the cutting board and.....

No! We chose this one.

 I admit I wasn't really looking forward to it, so our pumpkin started turning orange before we made it!

 I did some research online, and found out there were other people as crazy as us, who decided to copy Ma Ingalls and make a green pumpkin pie also. I read their tips and implemented them to end up with the best possible pie.

I also found the actual recipe that Laura Ingalls Wilder had published. 

It is definitely a pie you make for the experience,  not for the taste ;)
I could see how if you  had no food, this could be a great treat, but I much prefer typical pumpkin or apple pie!

Homemade Cheese

This winter my husband and I started experimenting with making homemade cheese. I've since become hooked!

It is so simple!

1 gallon whole milk
1/4 cup white vinegar

Heat milk to 180 F stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn the milk.While mixing with a whisk, slowly add the vinegar. You will notice the milk begins to curdle. Keep stirring for 10-15 minutes.Line a colander with a fine cheesecloth. Pour the curdled milk through the colander. Tie the four corners of the cheese cloth together and squeeze until it stops dripping. Stir in salt to taste.

If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it!