We’ve had a few April showers, but are also enjoying spring flowers — daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, forsythia. Here are some other favourite things from the past month.
Read
For my “Books of Centuries” reading challenge I read Erasmus’s Praise of Folly (1509) this month; it was pretty short and definitely amusing. (My Classical Inklings book club at the library discussed “A Scandal in Bohemia,” but next month it should be an entire book.)
A Visitor for Bear and Stick are two fun picture books we got from the library and Baby Love is one we picked up for free at a spring festival booth and were pleasantly surprised by the sweet illustrations.
Do
- As mentioned earlier this month, we hosted an Eclipse Party on April 8th.
- The weekend after that we participated in a longstanding church tradition: “The Men Serve the Ladies” dinner. The food was amazing (more on that below), the decor was fancy, and there was even an Italian themed “20 Questions” style game and a draw with fun prizes (fancy pasta shapes and a five pound can of tomatoes!).
- Last week the kids transplanted some vegetable and flower seedlings with a lady from church. Now they have their own plants in our school room and hopefully we’ll get them outside when it’s warm enough.
- At art class we made plaster casts of our hands (the kids paired up but there was an odd number so I partnered with Ralph); they’ll get painted next time.
- Tomorrow we have a homeschool field trip to a courthouse (I suppose if we don’t like it I’ll have to come back and edit this post!). [Update: The field trip turned out to be at the county corrections facility for Law Enforcement Day and the kids had a good time watching a drone, playing fetch with a police dog, climbing into sheriff vehicles, and trying on state trooper equipment. We even made it onto the news!]
Eat
Some new-to-us highlights of the month were salmon salad from Dinner: A Love Story and a French onion beef pot pie that I cobbled together after seeing a similar recipe in Taste of Home (I simmered stew beef with carrots, celery, and thyme, then stirred in four caramelized onions and topped the filling with swiss cheese and pie pastry from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook).
[Another update: I made carrot cupcakes for a baby shower, using the recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book and it’s a keeper.]
For “The Men Serve the Ladies” dinner Andrew spent hours making Italian rainbow cookies, which were both beautiful and delicious. He also cooked thick peppered bacon, made cheese crisps from pecorino romano, and cut bell peppers into hearts for the salad.
Listen
I listened to two episodes of The Literary Life Podcast on the art of writing that I found enlightening, full of ideas I will have to revisit. If you are at all interested in classical education don’t miss episodes 40 and 41.
I love this version of our school folk song: “A Man’s A Man for A’ That”
And how fun is this song?
Meditate
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled”
– Hebrews 12:12-15