A day at the Boonshoft

Learning about Bernoulli's principle...Hannah and Olivia got to see their first planetarium show, 500 Planets and counting...it cost $1 extra per person. Neptune is Hannah's favorite planet because it's a nice shade of blue.
Yesterday, we spent the day at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton. Since we have a Cincinnati Zoo membership, admission was 50% off. There are a bunch of places you can go and get in FREE or half price with your membership: http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/membership/reciprocityThere's a special exhibit there on electricity until May 8, 2011...I liked the activities, making a simple vinegar battery, connecting a circuit (making it longer using a fan and light bulb, that is dim, but light bulb alone is bright), using old electric parts to make sculpture, etc.
There is a small room with a mummy inside, I did not take a photo of her...and in this photo above, a beautiful Egyptian mask, along with the vases that would've contained the organs of the person who was mummified (gross, eh? just not what we're used to). I thought it was very interesting!

Making pottery...and socks...

My sister and her husband just arrived...pretty chandelier, huh? This place has all sorts of art classes and open studio FREE.
Juliana, my 5 year old niece, made a volcano!
Emma, my sister's 3 year old...painting her bowl.

Hannah took a picture of me working on the wheel.
A video of Olivia working on the wheel to make her bowl...
Heading home...what a pretty building Happen Inc has...Susanna bought the girls each a ceramic garden butterfly!
I finished my first sock...on Saturday!
Sunday after church, I worked on my 2nd sock...
I'm wore a necklace that used to be my grandmother's yesterday. I wish I knew where she got it...she passed away almost exactly 9 years ago. She was a knitter, too. She bought me and my sister yarn and knitting needles when she took us to Scotland.

First class of Irish dancing...

I purchased 4 weeks of classes for $20 from Groupon.com for Irish dancing...


Looking forward to the 2nd class!!!

Sunday afternoon...

Right after church, Hannah went to the tent...if you can see behind her, you'd notice the yarn and crochet hook, along with the book her Aunt Lucy gave her.Olivia running to the backyard, eager to play...
Saturday, I attended this great conference, Learning through Play. And I am looking forward to watching Waiting for Superman a movie that discusses the education, highlighting several successful charter schools (like the OHVA's www.k12.com that we are using) and upsetting many public school folks, but we've got to do what's best for the children!Later, we went to my parent's house...to celebrate my dad's namesday! We went for a walk together...nice weather.My sister, her husband and son came, after we played a game of Yahtzee with Dad...I love the expression on her face here, as she is talking to Mom. We got him some Justin's chocolate hazelnut "butter"...P.S. Did you see the moon Saturday night? Rob, Hannah, Olivia and I stood on our backporch and watched it rise, attempted at taking photos, but nothing could capture the beauty.

Wilted spinach orzo

Marianna made this for trapeza (dining hall where pilgrims gather for food and conversation) after church yesterday...It's a simple and really delicious recipe!
You'll need:

4 oz. fresh spinach, cleaned
1/2 c. pine nuts
1 red pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 c. orzo noodles (rice shaped pasta)
olive oil
about 7 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
salt and black pepper

Saute onions, red pepper and garlic in olive oil, while the orzo is cooking (according to package directions). Then add spinach and allow to wilt for ~1 minute. Add pine nuts. I like to add some freshly pressed garlic, too. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Namesday...

I took this photo when Olivia was 4 years old. She is standing on her bed. This is the icon of her patron saint, who is remembered on March 5 (which is March 18, new calendar...today). St. Oliva is an early Christian martyr whose relics are in Brescia, Italy in the church of St. Afra.

She chose a few girls from church to invite over later on today...we will have sorbet and these cookies together to celebrate.

Pineapple coconut drops

9 oz. crushed pineapple (and juice)
1 c. oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
1 c. coconut

Mix together the pineapple, oil and sugar, then add the dry ingredients (mixed together well first, no one wants a clump of baking soda! I've done it before in haste...ew!). Chill dough for 1 hour (I usually omit this part). Drop on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper for ease, if desired) and bake for 10 minutes at 400'F.

The typewriter

Rob found this last week at Valley Thrift on Reading Rd for just $3.99 and we're loving it. Hannah has been wanting one for a long time. We kept looking at thrift stores... Hard to be patient. We have all been excitedly typing away, I love listening the clicking and clacking... Hannah just wrote a letter to our dear friend, Joanna, in Vermont on this.

Just enough snow...

Yep. It was just enough to go sledding...but we had to go early...the sun was coming up (and it turned out to be a beautifully sunny day):Both Olivia and then, Hannah crashed into the swings...poor Hannah it looks like she was hurt, but she's really okay! I promise.

Did you notice our dog, Lusy, rolling around in the snow? She loved it.

Spiritual life...

My girls are happy to embark on Great Lent...they like reading the prayer of St. Ephraim in the mornings and evenings together!
This week, we read the beautiful repentant canon of St. Andrew of Crete (he is shown in the above icon with St. Mary, who was born in Egypt, living as a prostitute, but changed her life completely, abandoning worldly temptations by living in the desert, because she is a wonderful example of repentance) in the evenings. During Great Lent, as Orthodox Christians, we abstain from all animal products (meat, eggs, milk) as the Lord fasted for 40 days in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-2). I wonder if he fasted by foraging for foods, eating only plants? It's a time to spiritually cleanse or detox ourselves, our soul, like spring cleaning...and I always think I feel so much better (physically, too)!

The fast is 40 days, and then we have 7 more days, Holy Week. The raising of Lazarus from the dead, which prefigures the Lord's Resurrection, the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, The Last Supper, His Crucifixion and then in culmination, we celebrate his glorious Resurrection!

Tracking mud through the house...

Blue skies and tulips poking through the earth......our garden still has tomato stalks and some dried up yellow shells from tomatoes that were left when the first frost came from the fall. All the brown will be lush and green in 2 months! We plant lettuce seeds first: red-leaf lettuce, mustard, arugula, romaine, etc.For now, I got a Green B.E.A.N. Delivery box...comes every 2 weeks. Regular price is $35 for:

1	Each	Cauliflower
1	24 oz -	Potatoes, Klamath Pearl
1	Two Pounds	Carrots, Bulk
3	Each	Grapefruit, Pink Florida
1	One Pound -	Green Beans
4	Each	Tangelos, Minneola
5	Each	Kiwi
1	Each	Lettuce, Boston Bib
1	Each	Leeks
1	8 oz. -	Spinach, Baby
1	16 oz.	Strawberries

Use coupon code: 2010NTAW to get 50% off your first produce bin! Thanks to the March 2011 issue of natural awakenings! See page 9 and 11 in this issue...

Who knows what the next delivery will bring? Maybe some early asparagus?

Rob and I have been talking about getting some chickens for our backyard...real good eggs.