Maple Memories

After a fun week learning about Canada, I think their national anthem has really grown on us. It’s actually quite a pretty song and, as we placed our Canadian dinner on the table last night, we listened to this beautiful anthem. Even Cardiff joined in the singing.  

Before our dinner, we decided to have fun with some maple leaves. While on a little nature walk, we found several maple leaves of all sizes and colors, or a few colors, anyway. We brought them home and did some leaf rubbings using crayons.  

  

  

  

Later, the kids helped me make Nanaimo bars, a popular Canadian no-bake cookie bar made famous by the town from which it derives its name. My wonderful Canadian friend Maria gave me this delicious recipe with a warning….”They’re dangerous”. She was right! With that much butter and goodness, they were bound to be good, and addictive.  

boys in the kitchen...love it!

 

Nanaimo Bars

 

The igloo is finished now, too, thanks to my remarkable husband and we decorated around it with cotton balls and plastic animals-some appropriate and some not so appropriate.  

a vision of the arctic

 

Tallinn's creative interpretation of the arctic

 

Good thing those Inuits are protected from the dinosaurs in their sturdy igloo!  

   

And our concluding dinner:  

Classic Tourtière with Red Mashed Potatoes  

Spinach Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette  

Pouding Chômeur (Maple Pudding Cake)  

Nanaimo Bars  

Tourtière-Canadian Meat Pie

 

  

Pouding Chômeur

 

I’m pretty sure we’ve hit the jackpot with these desserts! Every one has been amazing and all I would make again. The Maple Pudding Cake was a mix of sweet maple, balanced with sour cream, combining soft cake with maple gooeyness. We also enjoyed the tourtière, but it did remind me a bit of English cooking and I think next time I’ll add some flair. It definitely gives me a place to start and will make for a great winter recipe in the future.  The mashed potatoes mixed with the tourtière were best and the spinach salad was really just what I had in the refrigerator to add some green.  

Au revoir Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

Inuit Fashion Fun

  

In keeping with our learning on the Inuit people, we decided to make some Inuit Snow Goggles today. This was actually quite a funny craft and we got a lot of laughs out of it.  

I found the idea on Crayola.com and I particularly love that there are warnings from Crayola on the dangers of using scissors and bacteria in toilet paper rolls. Apparently, we picked a pretty risky craft.  

This  actually quite simple craft involved flattening a cardboard toilet paper roll, cutting slits for the eyes, an arch for the nose. Then, punching holes and using rubber bands to attach them around the ears. The kids colored them and voila! Their eyes will now be protected from the bright sun reflecting off of snow, just like the Inuits. Although they might not be able to see.  

  

we used hair bands instead of rubber bands

 

still working on the igloo, need a little of dad's engineering skills to finish the top

 

Car enjoyed eating the sugar cubes while waiting

 

the latest fashion trend

 

I'm pretty sure Addie's was the funniest!

More than Maple Leaves

Here are some interesting facts about Canada:

1/3 of the world’s fresh water is in its lakes

has more pine and spruce trees than any other place in the world

is home to the Inuit people who have lived in the Arctic for 1,000s of years

2nd largest country in the world….by land

And here I thought it was just a land of maple trees…..not really. We are really learning some fascinating things about this huge country filled with tundras, glaciers, rocky mountains and thriving cities.

Today, our activity centered around the Inuit peoples. These people live in one of the coldest places on earth and have so much to teach us about working hard and making the most of what we’ve been given. They dig through layers of ice in the winter just to find fresh water. They build igloos from ice to sleep in during long hunting trips and build towns on top of ice.   And I complain when its 50* outside. Wow!

 So, we decided to attempt making one of these chilly abodes. I found a sugar cube igloo craft from Familyfun.com and we gave it a try. Here’s our progress so far.  

step 1: the kids followed a pre-drawn circle with sugar cubes

 

step 2: using a powdered sugar/egg white paste, we layered the next row like bricks

 

spreading the paste-our friends Jack and Ben helped today

step 3: after laying five rows we let the igloo dry and went out to play

step 4: Brian helped the kids add the upper rows, bringing in the circumference a bit

oops, we ran out of sugar cubes!

Guess we’ll have to finish tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Today’s Canada facts were found in, A First Atlas and Scholastic Atlas of the World.

O Canada

After a fun President’s Day off yesterday, we left Asia and found ourselves in the heart of olympic fever. We’ve been traveling alphabetically on this journey, but I intentionally switched China and Canada so the kids could have a little intro into Canada first and we could celebrate Chinese New Year as it came.

It’s perfect! We got to hear “O Canada” sung at the opening ceremonies, we saw the native Canadians dance while red maple leaves flew reverently in the background. The kids are excited about Canada. So am I. Our northern neighbor that we seldom talk about or remember. This is a great opportunity and the timing couldn’t be better.

Because we’ve been watching the olympics, the kids already knew the Canadian flag and Tallinn quickly found it on the globe as I explained to him that it was north of the US. Maps were colored with a star placed on Vancouver and we said a prayer for all those in this year’s winter olympic games.

Our flag craft was done using a handprint instead of a maple leaf. Using a rectangular piece of red cardstock, We cut a white rectangle for the center, then traced hands on another piece of red paper and glued the hands onto the white rectangle.

This Week’s Verse

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

Acts 20:24