Bake A Cake

Today is Ki's Birthday! He is 15.
YEAH!

He asked for tacos for dinner and eating out at Del Taco was decided.
YEAH! (for the no-cooking part)

In order to help Dashnyam with acquiring and comprehending the English language, I handed him the cake mix box and told him follow the directions and bake the cake and to ask me if he needed help or did not understand something.

This was proceeded by talk concerning his low grade in History class and his need to ASK for help, say when he does not understand, and not waste his time just staring at words or talking as if he does understand.

I showed him the list/picture of the needed ingredients and I showed him the 3 steps. He read. I had the cups and oil and egg box out.
STEP 1 was to heat the oven and grease the pan.

I asked him what he was to do for step 1. He picked pup the measuring cup.

I asked him again, what does STEP 1 say to do. I pointed to where STEP 1 was on the box. He read. He stood there. He stared at the box. Eventually I asked if he understood what we was to do. He said no. I asked him why he did not ask me for help. He of course said he didn't know. I reminded him that he is to ask when he needs help or let me know when there is something he does understand. I then explained what was meant by "Heat the oven to 350" and showed him how to do that.

I found the pans and told him to use the cooking spray (He and Ki used if yesterday for banana bread, so he was familiar with it). He sprayed the pans and then went on to step 2.

He did step 2 (mix all the ingredient.) He plugged int he beater and mixed the cake. After I explained to not turn them on before he put them into the batter and too hold them upright.

I asked him what was next. He read and asked me "Is this the pan?"- pointing to the cake pan.

He had never baked a cake so I asked him if he knew what cakes did in the oven when they cook. I asked him if they filled the bread pan to the top with batter. (no) and if the banana bread was up to the top of the pan when it was done cooking. (yes). I told him the cakes will get taller when cooked, so only fill the pans halfway.

We talked about how the round pan was less full and the square pan was more full, so the round pan would cook faster. We read the package about cook times. I pointed to the different times. I pointed to the 'cupcakes' and asked him if we made 'cupcakes'. He said "yes.". Me: Do you know what cupcakes are?
Dash: no
Me: if you don't know, then don't say yes. Ask what they are.

ME: I will ask you again. Did we make cupcakes?

Dash- Yes.

Me- If you do not know what cupcakes are, then when I ask if we made cupcakes you need to say to me that you don't know what cupcakes are. Let's try again.

Me- Did we make cupcakes, Dash?

Dash- I don't know what are cupcakes.

Me- I explained what they are and then asked him if that is what we made. He said no.
We found the cook time for the round pans and I told him to check sooner because our round pan was less full.



I told him when to check the cake and how to use a skewer to check if they are done.


He asked about turning off the oven. (He seemed concerned it was still hot, but figured it out. I can't imagine he really thought it would be cool right away, maybe he just didn't know how to know for sure it was off)

He inverted the pans and cut the bump of the bottom cake so he can stack them.

And he iced them.

He has started to ask me to explain how to do things and letting me know when he does not understand!
I think the cake making activity has been good for communication and comprehension!

Dashnyam's Very First Cake!

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2
DASH3
DASH4

DASH 5

DASH 6

DASH4? or is it DASH5?

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2
DASH3

Because I did not do a DASH entry yesterday (Thursday) on Day 4, do I call this entry DASH5, because it is Day 5 with Dash OR do I call it DASH4 because it is the 4th entry in the Dashnyam Chronicles?

Did that sentence really need to have the word 'because' three times??

Last back-track a bit to yesterday for a short overview of Day 4 with Dash. Yesterday I drove him to school, spent an hour talking to attendance officers and parent support people. They were all very kind and helpful. I was armed with phone numbers and a calendar with all the odd days that school starts/ends at different times that normal or there is no school. And there are LOTS of those days!!

I finally got my google calendar loaded up with all the new info and deleted all my old times and plans for our school. They will be re-planned this weekend.

Paul stopped by our house waiting for time to take the bus home (A friend from Grover Beach that takes classes down here and rides the bus). Gavin walked Dashnyam home. The boys relaxed, D did a little homework, we went to church, came home, Dash forgot to finish his homework until 10PM, so he was up kinda late.


NOW for DAY 5....
I guess I should call this entry DASH4&5. or DASH 4/5.

I woke, very unwillingly, at 7:14 and got to Dashnyam's room around 7:17. He was still sleep. I thought he didn't understand how to turn on his alarm clock, but Gavin to old me he did have it on, but when it went off at 7AM, Dashnyam turned it off and went back to bed. He was tired from staying up late to finish his homework. I'll have to give him more notice of when we have things planned in the evenings so he can get his homework done around our schedule..

I sent all 3 of my boys out to walk Dashnyam to school with giving Gavin specific instructions of timing how long it takes. They left the house at 8:10 and said it took 13 minutes to get Dashnyam to the corner. It's about a 3-4 minute walk for Dashnyam to get all the way to his class. So we'll plan on a 20 minute walk,to account for waiting on the light and cars to cross streets. Ki said they lucked out with the street crossing today and didn;t have to wait to cross any streets.

I made chai. I discovered that those bulk, Mexican, inexpensive cinnamon sticks are CHEAP for a reason.. they are cheap cinnamon! The whole entire bag has no cinnamon smell, the sticks broken have no yummy cinnamon scent and I licked one and it didn't taste like cinnamon at all. So I added extra clove and anise to my chai. but it's not as good as with the cinnamon. That'll teach me to buy cheap spices!

10:00 - Gavin is learning Japanese, Ki is doing laundry, and Connor is cooking a PVC pipe in the oven. The leather hardening didn't work well yesterday. They will try again after gathering more information.
They are working on weapons for Feast of Mars (Amtgard camp). Connor seems to have finished and socked his weapon today. i has something planned. I need to sew some sashes.


One of Dash's teachers emailed me today, in response to one I sent her, just checking on how he is understanding and going in the class, since he had told me he was a little confused. Sounds like things are going well. He took a reading placement test today to make sure he is in the class he needs to be or if he needs to be moved.

I wonder if I can get Brian to take the 4 boys to church tonight and leave me at home.

TRUTH IS THURSDAY

(Visit Julianna to link up or read more TRUTH IS ...Thursday posts)

Truth Is....... I am very glad my boys are NOT in the local public high school. Day 3 of dealing with the school system and I am ALREADY fed-up with it. And let's not EVEN get into me having to be on a Public School schedule.


Truth Is...... I fired my lazer.

Truth Is..... I don't know if I will make it to my next acupuncture appointment.

Truth Is.... I should have opted for a massage instead of acupunture, or maybe both.

Truth Is.... I enjoy this big, busy mess of hosting a foreign exchange student! And Dashnyam is a great kid! (read about Dashnyam HERE)

Truth Is... I need to stop hosting foreign kids because each time I do my list of "Countries I want to Visit" gets longer..... Or maybe just host from countries I have already visited.... but where's the fun in THAT?

Truth Is... it is time to color my hair; cover those greys again.


Truth Is.... the boys will have more school work/less unschool this year. Sort of. Though in high school, unschool often still looks a bit like 'curriculum/classes' in a way. They decided what they wanted to learn and now will have to follow the text book/course guide and do it. I got a Lapbook/ journal for Ki to do with his science. I am sure he will "Make it His Own" though.

~ His text book, journal, and audio CD arrived today, but they sent the wrong text book, so we have to wait a week to get that to use to plan his science days.


Truth Is..... I am tired and feel to brain-dead to think of anymore "Truths."

DASH3

After his classes, we took Dashnyam to the Farmer's Market . He was offered a piece of plum. The stand owner used a wooden skewer to hand them out. I held the skewer with the piece of plum out fr Dashnyam. He leaned forward and ate it off the skewer, much to the chagrin of the stand owner, who instantly felt bad for his reaction as it made Dashnyam feel bad.

We then walked to the Apple Guy. The apple guy is really nice. He always makes us smile for a free sample. He was handing a sample to Dashnyam then told him he has to smile first, it's their rule. Dashnyam didn't understand him at first, so I repeated it slowly. I told Apple Guy "this is our exchange student from Mongolia that I mentioned last week." (because I am SURE he remembers MY conversation from all the farmers markets he goes to almost daily.) He shook Dashnyams hand and introduced himself (and I STILL can not remember his name) and asked Daashnyam a few questions.

We then walked to the ice cream store (on the far side of the parking lot). I bought the boys cones, we walked back to the van, then had to buy crickets and bloodworms. We went to PetSmart. We walked around with Dashnyam looking at the fish, birds, cats, etc. Dashnyam said they only have dogs for pets in Mongolia. His family doesn't have a dog though. I wonder how accurate that is. I can't imagine a place without cats as pets, or frogs, or other 'non-dog' animals.

Once home, I realized I forgot to buy lasagna noodles, so I biked to Von's while D&G picked tomatoes and C&K brought the laundry in from the line. They played on the computer while I cooked stuff. I then had Dashnyam, Connor, and Ki assemble the 2 lasagnas. MMMMMmmmm, the lasagna was YUMMY!! Dashnyam loved it, too. Connor always loves lasagna.

Brian took G&D to buy wood for making a bunk bed, K&C stayed home. Me, too. So I could type this blog.

I got a recorded message from the school today, informing me Dashnyam was Absent for his first class today and it is unexcused and I need to turn in a note....... UM- He did not even get his class schedule until 9:30-- AFTER the first period class was over anyway!! The school is the one who decided to not givehim his schedule yesterday like was originally planned. and now I have to turn in a note for him unexcused absence.
DAY 1 and I am ALREADY SICK of dealing with the public school!

ug.

Oh, his schedule! He got English, US History, and PE:Aquatics. School is from 8:30-2:30. YEAH!!!! I am kinda glad he did not get the extra morning class or the extra evening class- as that would make the school day from 7:30-3:30. The morning would have been 'ok', but I am mostly glad he gets out at 2:30 so we have time for things like the beach and farmers markets and other fun activities! And he goes in ate enough we can eat breakfast with him!
And I'm sure he'll learn lots from us, probably more than if he had those extra classes. He'll be with us for reading Story of the World. I'll have him read part of it out aloud (my boys all do this) and I think I'll ask Brian to do a little math with maybe.

PREVIOUS DASHNYAM POSTS:
DASH1
DASH2

DASH2

I will start this entry off by answering a few questions:

(from Julianna-)
So, I'm facinated. Are you home schooling him as well, or is he going to HS and benifitting from your home school adventures?

Is he completely fluent in English? How long is he staying? Is there any culture shock?

Inquiring minds want to know. :)


He will be attending the local high school as soon as everyone gets their act together, gets a schedule, ect. He took a placement test on Monday and has a meeting Wed morning about his schedule. I have no idea if he will start classes Wed or later. I am not home schooling him, but I'm sure he will benefit from time to time, from what we have going on here plus he'll be able to understand me. Some of the teachers at the high school are native Spanish Speakers who speak English as a 2nd language and are often difficult to understand for a foreigner in a class room setting.

He is NOT fluent in English but speaks well enough for us to have conversations. I learned that McDonalds has not invaded Mongolia yet!

I am not sure about culture shock, but he is getting over Jet Lag finally.

He and his friends back home have Facebook accounts and he plays Call of Duty on the computer at home.

Now for Day 2 of the Dashnyam Chronicles:

I was very tired this morning and a tad headachey. and very hungry.
My morning shower didn't even help me feel more awake. No matter. There was work to be done. My boys were awake. (small repeat from previous post here->) I had Ki start making pancake batter while Gavin and I hung a load of laundry. Connor cooked the pig bacon and Gavin did one fast batch of turkey bacon. It gets cooked in the microwave and only takes 3.5 minutes. Dashnyam woke up in the middle of that time (thanks to a call from me) and he was assigned the task of cooking scrambled eggs. I got another load of laundry started, then we sat to our breakfast. Ki adds pecans to my pancakes!

While we were eating breakfast, I read the first section of our Story of the World (history) book.

After Breakfast Gavin and Connor did a little Japanese study (and science research). I looked up times for the farm, for pumpkin engraving, but they didn't open until 1 and Dashnyam had to be at school at 2, so we'll do that later. We all went to the park instead. We first stopped by Target to buy a soccer ball and an inexpensive Frisbee. The boys enjoyed kicking around the ball and throwing the Frisbee- at the same time. They did a little pond-rock-hopping, walked in the 'wooded area', and then we had lunch at Burger King.

At home Dashnyam got ready for his meeting at school while Connor and I hung clothes out to dry. then I took Ibuprofen and went to bed when Gina picked up Dashnyam for his meeting. I fell instantly asleep. It was one of those deep coma-like sleeps.
I woke up an hour later and found that Dashnyam had been home for a while due to the meeting being canceled. He has to be at school tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9AM for the meeting about his class schedule.

While I was checking my email and still feeling half asleep, Dashnyam came and asked if he could help clean anything. I pointed to the kitchen (where the dishwasher was open) I told him to get the other boys and put away the dishes from the dishwasher. He went in the kitchen and started washing dishes. I got Ki and Connor to help him with clearing the dishwasher, then had Gavin wash a couple dishes. I brought in the laundry and washed the rest of the dishes. If it weren't for the prompting of Dashnyam, I'd have just zoned out till time for Bible Study.

I had G&C check on that college class, which they were dropped from the list, but can sit in on and hope they can be accepted if there is room. Turns out the class was in Lompoc!
I am not driving an hour Tues and Thur for a class they are just sitting in on an off chance they MIGHT get to take it. I was pretty disappointed, but that's how the cookie crumbles, I guess.

All 4 boys were playing Halo when I got home from Bible Study. I never even asked what they ended up getting themselves for dinner.

(CLICK HERE to read DASH1 blog entry)

PICTURES from today-

DASH1

DAY 1 with our foreign exchange student from Mongolia. Slightly out of sequence.

KI, CONNOR, DASHNYAM, GAVIN - at Pismo Beach. It was Dashnyams first time to a beach. He and the other boys had a fun time wave jumping. Itt's too coold to swim and I am too fearful of sharks to want them out too far, The have fuun waavee jumping and if the waves are good enough, my boys will also body surf. I'm sure Dashnyam will get to enjoy larger waves some time whle he's here. Dashnyam slept on the way home. He slept on the way there, too. Jet Lag from a 15 hur time difference. Dinner was Lemon Pepper Chicken (crock pot) with bread & dipping sauce and asparagus. The asparagus had a delightful glaze of Balsamic Vinegar with a touch of soy sauce and brown sugar.

Connor & Gavin decided to make Spaghhetti Sauce Yesterday and had Dashnyam help. But Connor used too much much oregano. I told him tooo much, because I wasn't paying attention and forgot he also was using some Italian Seasoning. Dashnyam would have been better off eating the ham sandwich he packed for hiss lunch. He ended up only doing a placement test at school yesterday so he was home by noon and just ate lunch with us.

Dashnyam's family own a restaurant in Mongolia. I look forward to a Mongolian meal!

Below is Dashnyam on his first day at the high school, but iit was just testing, so not a full, real day.

And here are some pictures from the beach ....

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Yesterday, aftr the beach and while I was working on dinner, Gavin and Dashnyam went for a walk in the neighborhood. After dinner, they played on Xbox. I made banana bread. Dashnyam liked that a lot! with 6 of us eating, I need to make a double batch of banana bread next time! And I'lll have Dashnyam help. He says he likes cooking.

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This morning Dashnyam slept in till 9. He didn't have school in the morning. Gavin helped me hang a load of laundry ut to dry while Ki started making pancakes. Connor made the pork bacon and Gavin made a batch of turkey bacon (for Ki). Dashnyam set the table and made scrambled eggs. I supervised and started a load of laundry.

Laundry is Ki's morning job, but during the school year he has a deal where he makes breakfast a couple days a week instead of doing laundry. This school year he is doing breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While we ate breakfast, I read the first section in our Story of the World book to the boys. after a few weeks I'll have to ask Dashnyam how much he understands from my reading. Or maybe just have him take a quiz with the other boys.

The Mongols are coming!

WOW, I bet that was VERY VERY UN-P.C. of me. Very... UN.
on Sunday we will go to the local airport here in Santa Maria to welcome DASHNYAM to the States and to live in our home for 2-4 months. He is an Exchange student from Mongolia. He's 17.

I am googling and Wikipedia-ing all about mongolia. Becuase.. now this is where my ignorance REALLY starts to show... all I think of when I think of Mongolia are nomads dressed in layers of furry tunics with their mountain goats. and how can a family like that afford to send their kids to America for 10 months??

another very NOT P.C. thing to say or think I guess. But, how was I to know??

Wikipedia says that half the population in Mongolia is nomadic. It also says that Mongolia is a Parliamentary republics with a non-executive President. I am not fully sure what that means. I guess they are ruled by a prime minister that can not carry out the laws or make new ones??? one more thing to research....

But the house is pretty clean. This was all last minute. I got a phone call Monday- got the OK from Brian Tuesday, Gina told me we needed pictures of the bathroom, boys room, kitchen, etc- to put in our application. . . that night. So the boys and I cleaned like mad.


HERE is the online profile for Dashnyam, the student.



here are the pictures we posted on our application...

KITCHEN:

Why, yes, that is a stuffed turtle we rescured from a scummy pond hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen picture on our application... Every Well Decorated Kitchen has a pond rescue turtle hanging from the ceiling, don't you know...

Living Space:


after I uploaded our Living Rom picture to the application site, I noticed the picture of Gavin's eyeball in the table. That's just how we roll. I am just glad I removed the 2 skulls from the kitchen shelf before I took that picture.



Family Members:

The hot pink streaks in the hair don't send the wrong message do they??

this has me all choked up and teary..... from all the dust that was flying in the air from them moving junk off the floor and fromo under the desk....

and now, here are some random picture I took recently that make me smile:

oh, how'd this get here.. this is the boys' bathroom.