Thursday, November 14, 2013

Tuesday, October 29th

We really had an enjoyable time with school on Tuesday, in no small part due to a fun baking project and a set of gently used MagnaTiles that I had purchased over the weekend :-)


I had been eyeing a set of MagnaTiles for quite some time - over a year - but they are so expensive!  At more than $1/piece, it's hard to commit to buying a 100-piece set; and while they do come in smaller sets I also had to think realistically about two or three kids playing with them simultaneously and how they wouldn't be able to build much with only a few pieces each.


So imagine my delight when I found a gently used set at the new 2nd & Charles store in Kennesaw for less than 50% the price of a new set!  I was thrilled, and snatched it up quickly; I had been scouring Craigslist, Ebay and everywhere I could think for a deal this good and I couldn't let it pass.  I was so sure I was going to save it for Christmas, but I am just the worst about things like that and so I saved it aside for a whole two days before busting them out ;-)  Oh well, Linc loved them and it was a great independent activity for him to do while the girls were busy baking.


After their schoolwork, the girls were busy playing boos downstairs until it was time to start baking - I love all of the elaborate games they play and that they have names for certain games, i.e. there's the "Danger Game" and "Animal Shelter" and so forth and so on.


The girls had really loved a book I'd picked up from the library called "Cranberry Thanksgiving," which has the recipe for traditional cranberry bread in the back.  For as many things as I've baked in my life, I've never done much with cranberries but knew the girls would enjoy giving it a try!  First they had to chop a couple cups worth of cranberries in half.


Next it was time to mix the dry ingredients and then chop in the cold butter.


Soon it was time to go into the bread pan! What you can't see is the dining room chair in front of the oven, keeping it closed because the oven door is on the fritz and won't heat properly unless something is leaning against it (we're so fancy, lol).


Now that the bread had to bake for 30+ minutes, the girls were eager to try their hand at the MagnaTiles, too.


We had half a bag of cranberries left and I didn't want to just let them languish in the fridge until we threw them out, so I put them on to make cranberry sauce - yum!


The finished product with the inspiration book :-)  The girls gobbled it up, and Lincoln sort of picked at it and then ate his once I buttered it quite a bit.  Later they told me it just wasn't as sweet as they were anticipating, but I reminded them that the recipe in the book is an old New England staple and they wouldn't have made it in quite the dessert fashion we are used to.  After dinner I gave them each a slice warmed up with vanilla ice cream and cranberry sauce on top and they were huge fans! 


Random snapshot - Waverly was on the floor in the living room just watching Scarlett build with the tiles.  I stepped out of the room and came back in to Scarlett giggling away as she tiled the baby, haha 
:-)  Of course, Waverly loves almost anything the big kids do so long as they are paying her attention, and she was all smiles!  


When the kids were done with their cranberry bread a la mode dessert, I wiped off one of the spoons until there was only a faint residue and then gave it to Waverly.  She is so, so expressive and makes me laugh as you can see every thought/opinion clearly on her face!  When she first licked the spoon she was shocked, then a repeat taste test seemed to produce a sour result, but she stuck with it like a good little scientist and was soon like "YES!" 

1 comment:

  1. Magnatiles are the most used toy at our house. My parents have given us magnatiles two Christmases in a row and we still don't have enough according to the kids:) Great score on your part!

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