Weekly Wrap-Up ~ The Many Uses of Eggs

It has been a few weeks since I have posted an all around wrap-up. We just completed week 17 and have one more week to go until our winter break. We will be on break through Christmas. I am looking forward to a restful Advent season. We have never had a long winter break, and I hope it works well for us.

Here are the highlights from our week ~

We made sugar sculptures ~ Sugar sculptures were a popular centerpiece on noble medieval tables. I was surprised to discover how easy they are to make. We used 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon meringue powder, and two teaspoons water. It makes a sandy consistency. Then you press it into your mold and gently dump it out on a piece of cardboard. Allow it to dry for 24 hours before touching or decorating it. The meringue powder, which is mostly dry egg whites, makes an amazing binder. The sculptures are hard and can be easily handled after they are completely dry.

We prepared for our medieval meal and show and tell with friends ~ We will have friends over on Saturday night for our show and tell of the Middle Ages. We will have a lovely feast which I will share next week. We've already set the table -- here is what it looks like. You can see the sugar presents (sculptures) among the greenery.

We had a lovely time doing art with Grandma ~ We learned a bit about religious art during the Middle Ages and looked at lots of paintings. We then made our very own egg tempera paint. The directions were a little bit abstract, at least when it came to measurements. However, the paint came out great. For our pigment, we used about one inch of sidewalk chalk, a few drops of vinegar, a few drops of water and one very fresh egg yoke for each color. (We could have used chalk pastels, but sidewalk chalk is non-toxic.)

We then made our our own paintings. We picked the Nativity as our theme. Our paintings are simple and none of us is going to get a scholarship to college for art, but it was fun. The painting is naturally shiny when it dries, due to the egg yoke.

Computer Programming Club ~ We found a free computer programming club at a local private school. Dean loved the club and had a fun time with like minded kids. We will definitely be taking him back soon. We have to get him a stronger laptop which is an expense I didn't expect in the Advent season. However, it is well worth it to have him learning with an expert and gaining skills that will help him in adulthood. I am really struggling with getting enough STEM activities in the computer/technology and engineering fields. This resource will be very helpful.

We had a lovely time at our regional national park ~ You can read my post on our field trip here. We had a lovely time seeing elk, wandering through historic buildings and playing next to the creek.

We also ... finished studying zoology, which I will be posting about next week, made it to all of our out-of-the-home activities, did the 3 R's each day and got Grandma through a procedure at the hospital. She is doing well. Lastly, we completed our third nature study of our urban park. You can read about it here.

We have Nutcracker rehearsals on Saturday and Sunday so it is going to be a busy weekend.

Our prayers go out to the people of France and all people of the world who live in or experience terror.

Blessings, Dawn