Greek Feast

We had quite a houseful for the Greek Feast. There were 13 adults and 7 children. Last meal we all sat at one table and talked about the culture, what they ate, a typical day, and what my kids had learned. That may have been my favorite part of the whole dinner. This meal the kids came in ( we had two tables for adults and the kids ate in the other room) and stood in a line and we asked thm questions. They didn't do so well. It felt like we were baraging them with questions. They didn't quote their memory work from Psalms 139, and Robert had memorized all 24 verses. I also forgot to set out all of their projects. Before we sat down to eat, after appetizers, the kids performed their play. It was a big hit! I wanted them to have fun and not be nervous, so I didn't have them memorize the lines. One of the families we invited to the dinner also participated in the play and making masks for the play. We had to make a few last minute changes because Auggie was sick, so Robert ended up having more parts. He was the narrator, and to introduce the play, he froze. He didn't want to pop out on stage and start talking. All the kids got nervous, and froze a little. I thought that was really cute.

Here are the projects we did with this unit:
7 days of creation book
body/body organs picture
looked at cells in a microscope (Thanks, Jane!)
cells study
FREE elections lapbook
made clay Greek vases
wrote and acted out a play on a Greek Myth
made masks for the play

The food was great and we all had a lots of fun.
Here is the menu:
Appetizers
Hummus
Tiropites (cheese filled filo pastry)
Melitzanosalata (grilled eggplant dip)
Falafel
Tzaziki (yogurt and garlic dip)
Main Course
Greek Salad
Moussaka (Greek casserole layered with eggplant, ground beef, and cream sauce)
Pitas stuffed with meat and tzaziki
Desserts
Koulouria (Butter Cookies twisted into braids or figure 8's)
Baklava

Here is the website where I got many of my recipes.

Coooking for the Greek Feast

Today we had the Greek Feast. I know, I said we would be going out to a Greek restaurant for this one, no long hours in the kitchen cooking, and I was very excited about that! But, since I didn't have to cook a lot for Thanksgiving, and we were going to be able to invite family that usually wouldn't be able to come, I decided to go ahead and do it. This decision meant two things - we had to end the unit a few days early, and we really didn't wrap things up or spend a lot of time on review. I did make sure my kids finished their projects which we were going to display, but that was about it. I was also proud of myself. I'm the stereotypical "I can do it all myself" over committing type of person. I had other people contribute to the meal. I was going to have a scaled down Greek Feast, but as I was preparing for the meal, I replaced the easy stew with Moussaka, because what is a Greek Feast without Moussaka? I also made homemade baklava, because what is a Greek Feast without baklava? Then I saw this recipe for homemade pita bread, and I have never made pita bread before..... then I saw this recipe for an eggplant dip that sounded really easy, and I love eggplant.... so I over commited myself again.

Here's what happened with the pita bread. I had timed it out so that I would make the baklava while the dough was rising for the pita bread. All of this is time sensitive. You can't take too long on either one of them. Mark gets home from hunting and he's in a playful mood. I had made chili for dinner and he's munching in the kitchen and goofing off with the kids. I am the object of this loving goofing off. OK, he's flirting with me. I am a very task oriented person and if it weren't for his measure of silliness in our family, I think we would be a stick in the mud family. However, these are two very serious tasks, and I am quite enjoying myself. Baklava is easier to make than it looks, and it's fun. I usually don't have a large block of time to just cook uninterrupted. However, since Mark came home, I have been very interrupted. I was threatening him, and threatening to banish him out of the kitchen, yet he wasn't taking me seriously. So, done with baklava, on to pita bread. I blame Mark for the next set of events. Can you believe that I forgot to roll out the individual pitas? I just rolled them into balls and stuck them in the oven. When I realized what was happening, I pulled them out and Mark, Mitchell (Mark's dad) and I were squishing them down. I was yelling hurry! Squish! faster! keep squishing! I wouldn't let Mitchell stop. He is such a sweet man, and he would do anything for me. He kept squishing. Mark knew he was in trouble, so he kept squishing. Of course it didn't work. He concedes, I can blame the pitas on him. I had such a fun evening, I didn't mind. Everything else turned out great, though!

Good deals

While I have good deals on my mind, Here's another one. A few days after big holidays like Thanksgiving, check the grocery store for lots of goodies that are marked down. I almost got a turkey today. I saw them marked down, but didn't pick one up right away. Then, when I went back to get one, they were all gone! There was lots of meat marked down so I grabbed a few packs and already made up some hamburgers. I wonder if you can freeze pumpkin pie? I did splurge on donut holes.

Black Friday

I am one of those crazy people who thinks it is fun to wake up before the sun and stand in claustrophobic, unending lines to save a few bucks. Every year I drag my husband with me and he asks me the same questions. How much money are you spending? Is it really worth it? I got up yesturday and drug my husband and listened to his questions. I have fun doing it. So he dropped me off at WalMart and was off to McDonalds before coming back and secure our place in line. Then I saw the line. and I couldn't even walk around the store very quickly. The big ticket item I was after was already gone, and I decided the $4 jeans probably were, too. So I called Mark and had him leave his place in line at McDonalds to pick me up. I convinced him that my mental sanity trumped his hunger pains. So he dropped me off at Toys R Us and left to get back in line at McDonalds. Well, this place wasn't much better. I should have run out of the store flailing my arms and sat with him at McDonalds, enjoying the morning with my husband. But that would have been fanatsy, because reality was that I was determined to find some kind of great deal. Not only do I find bargain hunting fun, OK, addicting, but I had to redeem myself to my precious husband since he is such a good sport to suffer through the torture with me. Could you imaging hating the kind of black friday environment (which I cringe to think about because Toys R Us and Walmart were unbearable without the rush of really getting a good deal) and still doing it? What a great guy.

Back to Toys R Us - I should have known not to stay when there were no shopping carts! I grabbed a few of the items I wanted and decided to get in line until Mark came back since I couldn't carry anything else. I was waiting for 30 minutes to save $15. Seriously. And other deals were possibly being compromised, so I walked out.

On to JC Penny. I didn't get many Christmas presents there, but I did find clothes for my children that I got great deals on! I did get a few gifts, and I use the great deals at Christmas for birthday presents as well. I finally had to call Mark (he was standing in line at Best Buy) to help me because I was so tired from carrying the bags around! And I had a few more things to buy that I just couldn't carry. I did my damage there! I think I will stick to the mall in 2010 (I don't attempt Black Friday in Houston TX. Way too many people). This year some of the stores had a total discount over your entire purchase. Pretty cool.

Then we went back to WalMart and happened to get there as the clerks were restocking items around the store that were part of the specials yet were for some reason not bought. I ended up getting a few of the things I wanted (still saved less than $50) and there was no line. This was all by noon. Pretty productive day. I love good deals! My friend, Penny, has a website that is teaching me lots of great tips on getting good deals. http://tupelodeals.blogspot.com http://tupelodeals.info

Thankful

I am thankful for
The early winter rising sun,
A hot cup of coffee,
Snuggly hugs with early morning warmth,
And that's just my morning!

I am thankful for my family;
My attentive parents who made growning up so great,
My fun sisters who are just what sisters should be,
My sweet and thoughtful inlaw family and their families, too!
Blessed and cherished.

I am thankful for my husband who adds so much to my life.
He reminds me not to take myself so seriously and to laugh.
We are so great together, sweeter than pb and j,
More electrifying than Ben Franklin and his key, stronger than duct tape.
Wonderful and encompassing.

I am thankful for my children who are the sunshine in my day.
Their fun laughter makes my heart sing, their beautiful smiles warm my heart,
Their sparkling eyes bring tears of joy to mine.
Precious and sweet.

I am thankful for God's unfathomable love,
His irresistable grace, and His generous provisions for us.
I am thankful for my Lord, Jesus, and the Holy bible, my guide.
Adoration Abounding!

I am thankful for the autumn breeze, the colorful leaves,
A crackling fireplace and a glass of wine,
Fine foods, finer friends, and fabulous family.