ABC Stuff: BL Stuff

We've pretty much covered letter combinations that make unique sounds (like Sh, Ch, and Dr) so we're going to cover letter combinations that you often find together. For example, B and L Talmage could sound out on their own in the word black, but bl as one sound would make the process easier. I think we'll work through the alphabet this way, (using the examples on this website) before we start to tackle vowels.

Again, I'm making this up as I go along with no real trained method in mind.

Anyway, I had no idea back at B Stuff that I'd still be doing ABC Stuff come 2010 and past the end of the alphabet. So a couple of the activities from B Week will do for Bl week. Maybe when I do this with Asher I'll get more specific with a better variety of B activities.

FHE Blessings: Daddy got into BL Stuff, so when it was his turn to teach Family Home Evening he did a lesson on blessings. He taught Talmage that blessings are something Heavenly Father gives us to help us in life and then he and I listed the blessings we are grateful for. Each of us then drew pictures of our blessings.

Daddy is grateful for:

Talmage is grateful for:

That's a picture of Daddy. Daddy is 29 years old. Mommy is also 29 years old, but she's less of a blessing in Tal's life.

Picture Blocks:

I let Tal pick 12 pictures that he liked of our family (easily available here) and printed them out. We then bought two 2-inch blocks (I had hoped for 3 inch, but 2 inch is what Michael's had. Robert's had nothing.) I cut a 2 inch by 2 inch square out of a piece of paper and let Tal use it to frame his favorite part of the pictures. I outlined the frame and trimmed the pictures down.

We then mod-podged the square faces and attached pictures. I then added two more layers of mod-podge over the top of the pictures to seal and finish.

Blackberry and Blueberry crumble: This dessert was super simple and super fantastic. I mean really fantastic. Really, really. Fantastic.

It came in handy as Tyler NAILED his administrative interview today and so we had Blackberry and Blueberry Crumble to celebrate.

Black and Blueberry Crumble

1/2 c Blackberries; fresh or frozen
1 1/2 c Blueberries; fresh or frozen
2 tb Sugar
1 ds Nutmeg
1 c Oatmeal
1/2 c Flaked coconut
1/3 c Melted butter
Vanilla ice cream

In saucepan, combine blackberries, blueberries, sugar and nutmeg. Cook over low-heat. Set aside. In a measuring cup, pour oatmeal and toast in microwave, cooking on high heat and stirring once. Combine toasted oatmeal, coconut and melted butter. Set aside. In dessert bowls, spoon an ice cream mound. Pour toasted oatmeal mixture on top. Spoon fruit over all.

Approximately 15 minutes.

Black painting (crayon resist): This is a fun project and one I remember from my elementary school years. Talmage and I colored pictures on a white sheet of paper. (Light colored crayons work best for this step, but I didn't limit Talmage.) Once our pictures were done, we took watered-down black tempera paint and covered the entire sheet of paper. Crayons are waxed based, so they repel the water-based tempera paints. Once the black paint had dried, we scratched a design in the picture that removed the layer of black paint.