This time, we made Plum Sour Cream Muffins and Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies. As usual, he loved his baking sessions from the start till the end – all the measuring, mixing, and seeing the result of his (fun) labor. This was the first time Alex tried his hands on cutout cookies and he enjoyed every […]
Fun with the Circuit Board
Alex got this super fun and educational toy – Snap Circuits SC-300 from Santa this past Christmas, and absolutely loves it. Although the manufacturer recommends this set for ages 8 and above, Alex is able to put together a lot of the basic projects by himself and the more complicated ones with help from us. […]
Watercolor Resist Snowflakes
Seeing how we almost broke the snowfall record in January, I guess this project was definitely theme-appropriate. Instead of drawing with a white crayon, Alex used a white oil pastel. I had to help him draw half the dots (as everything was white and it was difficult to see where to draw) and all the […]
Italian Plum Torte
This plum cake recipe comes from one of my favorite magazines – Chocolatier (which seems to be published under a new name now – Dessert Professional since its merge with Pastry Art Design and Frozen Desserts magazines). The two main reasons why I was first drawn to this recipe were how elegant the cake looks and […]
Honeybell Tangelos
We have been feasting on these wonderful Honeybell Tangelos over the past week, a gift from close friends of ours – Gregg and Bonnie. The tangelos are unbelievably sweet and juicy, without a doubt the best citrus we have eaten over the past years. They came from a seller in Florida – Countryside Citrus. […]
Gong Xi Fa Cai
To all our Families and Friends, May this New Year bring you Happiness and Good Fortune. Gong Xi Fa Cai! Love, Chris, Keith, Alex and Doggies (Max, Darwin, and Cyber)
Alex and his Lego Vehicles
Below are pictures of Alex putting together a Lego mini truck. After having done it a few times before with Keith’s help, he can do it by himself now by looking at the step-by-step picture instructions. We love this toy!
Kandinsky Colorweaver
I introduced Alex to oil pastels for the very first time through this fun and impressive project. He likes the oil pastels better than the crayons because they produce such bold colors. However, I think he still prefers watercolor over anything else right now; maybe because it’s a quicker way to color and also, he […]
Our Chinese New Year Eve Dinner
When I was growing up, Chinese New Year (CNY) Eve dinner was always an elaborate affair – whether it was a reunion dinner at my grandparents’ home with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins or just a dinner within my own family – there was always a wide selection of dishes in large quantities. So […]
Making Cookies
Last Thursday, I decided to take a break from our regular homeschooling lessons and had a “Home Economics” class instead. Alex was absolutely happy about this because he got to do one of his favorite things – baking, while learning at the same time. We managed to incorporate reading, measurement, and math in our baking […]