Co-op Day and a broken oven

We read Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi this month.

We had mixed feelings about this book. It was a good story but, for the girls and me, it seemed unnecessarily gory at times. I think that may have actually made the story more appealing to the boys of the group. ;-)



The kids all had to choose a scene from the story and illustrate it, using the medium of their choice. My girls both drew pictures but among the other kids, there were Lego models, cardboard models, and a diorama. I love the creativity of the kids when you just let them go.

They each made their own "cross of lead" using sculpey clay.

(Playing the new game show that everyone is talking about: "What do you know about Lent?")

One of the moms was sick so her husband took her place. He asked questions about Lent in a game format, with the girls pitted against the boys. The host family's dad, a pastor, was in and out throughout the day. He happened to be around for the game and offered a prize to the winning team. He "just happened" to have a CD of two of his sermons to give to the winners. He assured us they were extra-long sermons, too. He reconsidered and suggested that maybe his prize should go to the losing team. LOL

We learned some history about saints in the Catholic church, the kids did oral reports on a family member and the changes that have occurred during that family member's lifetime, we discussed jobs and life in the country vs. life in the city in medieval times.

I tried making barley bread for our snack. Unfortunately, my oven quit working. Of course, I already had the dough mixed up and rising before we discovered that. I refrigerated it overnight and formed it into rolls the next morning. When I got to our friend's house, I was able to use her oven to bake it.

Hopefully, the repairman will be coming on Thursday. I've survived without an oven in the past when we remodeled our kitchen (which was only about three years ago) but this stove was purchased as part of that remodel. I never dreamed I'd be without an oven again so soon. It's forcing me to be resourceful in meal planning, for sure.

A repair call will give me a chance to pick the repairman's brain about a couple things that have never seemed quite right to me-like having to evacuate due to gas fumes if I run the self-cleaning option. Are all gas ovens like that? My broiler seems to be involved in that problem, too, as the fumes are terrible if I use it. He suggested to Clarence that he might need only to adjust the broiler burner, so I'm hoping it will be a simple solution. Actually, I'm hoping that the oven problem will be a quick, simple fix, too, and I'll be back to baking by tomorrow.