Latin Class

Richelle is in her second year of taking Latin as a language.  She wasn't keen at first but when I offered her the choice between taking Latin and taking English, she happily chose Latin and cheerfully agreed to a second year.  There were fifteen in the beginning class last year but she has only three classmates this year.

The homeschooling mother who is teaching it added in a lot of culture studies this year.  They have a snack that is as close as a typical Roman food as she can find (lots of breads, cheeses, and fruits) and they study the duties of family members, geography, customs, money, dress, trade, etc.

Today, they learned about coming-of-age, marriage, and death customs.  Then they had a go at wrapping a deceased loved one using a doll and a roll of toilet paper.  That was quickly done and they turned their active imaginations to more challenging victims, er,  loved ones.

Their half-grown cat was handy and, surprisingly, willing.  Gales of laughter and a long length of toilet paper later, they had a very lively kitten wrapped for burial.

A Budding Pianist

One of Bradlee's favorite pastimes - playing Grandma's giant noisemaker.  He will amuse himself for quite a while making a 6-month-old's version of music.

Working on the treble notes...

Grand finale.

Four Generations

At Christmas, I realized I was looking across the table at four generations of Millers with Bradlee on Nick's lap, flanked by Mike and Mike's dad Ray.  So I demanded a photo.

They're going to get so tired of me lining them up whenever we all get together...

Fun With Family

     Last week, we had the privilege of hosting two of my cousins when they stayed in town for a short time.  Actually, to be strictly accurate, Chris and Robyn are my kids' third cousins, but who's strictly accurate except in my family?  Anyway, after supper, we pulled out the Trivial Pursuit game and had a hilarious time.  Robyn kept rolling sixes and got a tad disgruntled with her slow progress, especially when Chris habitually rolled twos and fours.

     Here, Robyn is reading Cameron's question while Chris tries to figure out the answer.  I knew a lot of the answers...unfortunately, they were to other players' questions.

I read Chris' card at this point and so missed his incredulous expression as the question unfolded.  It ran something like:  "What French president adopted a boat person refugee that he'd found crying in the Charles de Gaulle Airport?"
     "There's been so many French presidents, even the French wouldn't know this answer!" he exclaimed.
    
    

"The first name will be either Jacques or Pierre," Robyn suggested helpfully.  But after several minutes of agonizing thought, he decided he simply couldn't answer correctly and so gave in.  

     Although she didn't know the president's name, Robyn's guess was correct.  It was Jacques Chirac.  Chris groaned, shook his head, and passed the dice on.

We knew Chris and Robyn but not well, so it was a real treat to have them spend time with us and get to know them better.  

For Kimberly

Kimberly, Nick took these pictures just for you...

And for a closer look...

Christmas

Due to work schedules and extended families, we celebrated Christmas together on Christmas Eve morning.  Nick, Jenn, Bradlee, Cameron, and Serena gathered at our house around 8am and exchanged gifts.   

Bradlee gained experience opening presents thanks to Nick and Jenn wrapping several and putting them under their tree a few days before Christmas.  Their front room is small and Bradlee didn't have to squirm far to reach the pretty paper.

 A few years ago I started a tradition of finding some off-the-wall gift for the kids still at home, wrapping it up and giving it to them a week or so before Christmas.  They were allowed to handle it as much as they wanted and if they guessed it, they could open it on the spot.  Otherwise, they had to wait until Christmas.  The first couple of years, I fell into the 20 Questions trap and they had the gift in hand in a matter of minutes.  This year, I faithfully stuck to the "You must ask specifically" rule and Richelle couldn't guess it.  It was killing her with frustration after six days of wrong guesses so I let her open it with her other gifts Christmas Eve after everyone else made helpful suggestions.  Only Cameron knew what it was and he was giving broad hints.

 Richelle loves all things earth science and I'd gotten her a set of BuckyBalls.  There are 216 extremely strong magnets the size and shape of BBs.  As you can see, she was thrilled with the gift.  It's amazing what you can make with 216 magnetic BBs!  We first saw and played with BuckyBalls at my brother Steve's house last June.  Richelle wanted to go right out and get some immediately.

My favorite part of the entire day.  We all worked together to put on a breakfast feast:  Cameron made Belgian waffles, Serena manned the bacon, Jenn saw to the biscuits and gravy, I whipped the cream, sliced the strawberries and assisted with the scrambled eggs, Richelle arranged the table and ran errands, while Nick and Mike entertained Bradlee.

I think we're going to make it a tradition.  

Masala Chai

     I love masala chai.  It is, hands down, my favorite beverage.  Unfortunately, it is expensive to purchase, either as powdered instant, concentrate, or from Dutch Bros (I don't buy from Starbucks; they water down the concentrate and then add the milk.)
     So I went to my favorite source of recipes - the internet.  I found several and tried them.  Then I took the one I liked the best and tweaked it.  Hard.  In fact, what I ended up doing was create my own recipe.  For those who don't like masala chai, this recipe isn't even close to what you buy at Starbucks or Dutch Bros.  It's a lot less sweet and a lot more flavorful with a hint of heat from the peppercorns.
     Here's the recipe:

Masala Chai

6 cups water

36 peppercorns (I like the mixed variety)

12 cloves, whole

6" cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp ginger, ground

1/2 tsp cardamom, ground

1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

6 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

7 teabags

5-6 Tbsp vanilla syrup

Pour water into medium-sized kettle.  

Crush or grind the peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon bark and add them

 to the water along with the ginger and cardamom.  

Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar, nutmeg, and milk.  Bring to boil again.

Remove from heat, add teabags, cover and let steep for 15 minutes.

Remove teabags but only squeeze them enough to keep them from dripping.  If squeezed too hard, you'll get an undesirable 'stewed tea' flavor.

Strain into heat-proof container.  Add syrup, stir, and enjoy.

Makes about 7 cups

Approximate cost per cup:  40¢

     I'll make up a batch, store it in the fridge, and re-heat it as I want it.  I'm not going to post how quickly I can go through a batch but it will keep in the fridge for a few days.  I tried using vanilla extract but wasn't happy with the flavor.  I didn't try a vanilla bean...the price gave me a heart attack.

     I do wish to point out that if you intend to use your coffee grinder for the spices, make sure it's completely cleaned of the coffee oils.  I suggest you have one dedicated to coffee and another one for spices and whatever else you need to grind.  I use a mortar and pestle.  The cinnamon was a bit of a challenge for me at first.  It takes a lot to reduce six inches of cinnamon bark to splinters, let alone anything close to powder, in a mortar and pestle.  So I break it into fourths, fold the pieces into a paper towel and take the flat side of my meat tenderizer to it before finishing it off in the mortar and pestle.