Inspired Mom

No More Girl Scouts

2012-01-22T13:18:00.003-07:00

You know that thing when God starts bringing things to your attention, over and over... Until you figure out you need to research and pay attention? Yea, that.

It's happened for a couple of big things in our lives. Things like vaccinations and homeschooling. Things that you just have to listen to, you know you have to do it, it's not going away. I know that I am called to homeschool and if I put my kids into school it just wouldn't go well. So even on those days I am slightly jealous of other mom's,(who have lots of daytime, alone time, to clean their homes and run errands and plan meals....), I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.

It seems that I keep seeing posts about the Girl Scouts and what they stand for, who they are supporting with their income. There are video's about lifetime Girl Scouts who have started speaking out about what they are doing. After a lot of reading and searching and discussion with the hubby, I decided that we were probably not to be there any longer. I explained to Meghan some of what they are doing. That was not super fun. It's hard to imagine my little girl is getting to the age where we have to talk about these types of things. She was shocked and appalled, of course.

So we decided together to leave the troop. Not that our troop is teaching anything bad at all. We were in a Christian, Homeschool troop. It's just the fact that the money we spend on uniforms, badges and t-shirts and the money made from cookie sales is going to support things completely ungodly and not really supporting girls at all.

Meghan is sad that she won't get to go to regular meetings and have fun activities with the girls but we are looking into Keepers of the Faith clubs. We may try and start our own group. There is also Contenders for the Faith with is for boys. I think they might be able to work together somewhat but I need to research more.

I am still going with it's not always fun to be an adult. Sometimes I want to throw a tantrum myself and ask why I have to do things no one else has to do, but I know better. ;) I have always been a good girl, no matter what anyone says.

If you are interested in more information on what the Girl Scouts are doing, here are some links to get you started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnRiM84MWUI
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/17/no-girl-scout-cookies-group-has-ties-to-planned-parenthood/
http://www.100questionsforthegirlscouts.org/100/

Week in Review 1/16/12-1/20/12

2012-01-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

Oh it was great to be all well, nearly. :D

Last weekend was great. Meghan and I had a mother/daughter day on Sunday. Sometimes it is nice to just take out one kid. You remember how easy it was back when there was one. ;) First we went to church and then she chose where we had lunch. She chose Olive Garden, can't argue with that one. We then went to see Chipwrecked, Meghan has really been wanting to see it and she hasn't been to the theater in years, really.

We also wondered around the Chandler mall. I haven't been in there in forever. It was fun to see what new stores there were and what stores were gone. I actually saw the Origami Owl kiosk. I knew they were in there but hadn't been to see it, although I have looked online lots, picking out the charms I would like. They also had a booth at our church boutique but again since I had a booth and was working it I didn't get to shop and see it. (If you have time go read Isabella's story on the site. I am just amazed at how big her business has gotten and she is about 16, she started it at 14. Amazing!)

I was excited to be able to look at everything in person. The girl working informed me that it was their last day at the mall. I knew they said they were going to stop having the spot there. So I decided to go ahead and start my locket. They are so pretty! Here is a picture of mine although I am not sure you can see the charms really well.

The charms I picked are

a wing, (for loved ones who have passed and my baby angels)

a pink sparkly heart, (love and family and my love of all things pink)

a vintage cross, (Jesus love)

a cupcake, (hello)

and a vintage cameo, (my "grandma" gave me one before she passed)

I love it! I do plan to add a pair of flip flops and an Eiffel tower though. :) They were out of those.

I was able to scrap a little bit last weekend too. I have pictures ordered and on the way so I can do some more. Here is a page I did.

So onto this week in school and other stuff.

Kaden and Ellie learned about the letter B. Kaden already knew what it was and the sound. Ellie was just interested in coloring it mostly. They also did some pages from a Kumon book we have. It's a cut and paste book but the first few pages are stickers. So they both did a couple.

I added this picture of one of Kaden's pages. He looks at the little picture up in the corner and copies it exactly. Ellie just stuck them where ever she felt like. She's cool like that.

The old laptop the kids use was having some sort of off week so here is Meghan using mine. She is laying on the floor learning about Benjamin Franklin. I guess she was comfortable. We are using a unit study from Amanda Bennett. It's a lot of fun and Meghan loves it. It is supposed to be a one week study but there is a lot there so we are going to use it for two weeks at least.

On Wednesday Meghan had her online American Girl Club meeting. She really likes them a lot! They are free club meetings with a teacher. The only bummer is I haven't found the American Girl books they are reading right now. They are reading the Felicity books. She has really liked listening in to the discussions though and answering some of the questions. They usually have some video's and a craft to do as well. The meeting is once a month. This one they learned about having tea and also how to make butter. Kaden came in to help make the butter, (Ellie was napping).

Watching the teacher and listening.

Shaking the cream and listening.

More shaking...

Kaden taking a turn with shaking the cream.

The finishing butter... yum!

We brought out the activity bags I made for Kaden a while back. Well some of them were done in a swap with other moms. Ellie joined in on some of the activities this time. Kaden did a bunch of them.

Thursday was the National Popcorn Day. I bet a lot of you didn't know we had one of those. :)

We made popcorn in a paper bag which I didn't know you could do until I saw another homeschooling mom post about it. We put some of our homemade butter on it. :)

I also bought Amanda Bennett's Popcorn Unit. That will be a fun one to do! It's has been on sale this week too but the sale ends tonight.

They watched a movie and had popcorn in the living room. So after they were done we needed to vacuum and Kaden wanted to do it. He did a really good job and I hardly had to do anything... bonus!

We still didn't get as much done as I would have liked but it went really well. We learned a lot about Ben Franklin and Meghan is ready for more. Kaden doesn't feel done when he finishes what I have for him so I need to give him a little more. We are working in a few things this weekend too that is learning and fun in one and still in the themes of the week. I'll share those next week. :)

Have a great Sunday!

You Must to Watch This Video!

2012-01-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this. The story of how this woman basically saved herself by knowing what to eat. She is sharing it so that we all learn how to eat better and become healthier.
http://wimp.com/mindingmitochondria/

Fun With Pictures

2012-01-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Kaden humming into the Wii microphone.

My cute Ellie Belly

A very grown up looking Meghan.

Ellie wanted red toes. Such cute baby toes. She surprises me every time she asks for a "red M&M" or wants to find the R's on the page I am reading.

Meghan made bubble wands from pipe cleaners.

Over December when the kids colored or drew pictures I hung them up. I took pictures before taking them down so I can see and remember them but but not have to save every project. :)

Nathan has been collecting state quarters for a while. I found him the collecting board to put them in. He was very happy about that and got it out for him and the kids to add the quarters. :)

This post proves that learning and fun can happen even when everyone is sick and I did no school with them for 2 weeks. :) Carry on!

Yes, It's A New Year!

2012-01-14T23:20:00.001-07:00

I know I am a little late! We have all been a little under the weather. Actually a lot under the weather. We are finally getting over it and Meghan and I are actually going to church tomorrow. We haven't been able to go for about 3 weeks, I think. I've really been bummed about being sick because with it being a new year I was ready to get back to school. We had one day of school before everyone started dropping like flies. I am excited that this coming week we can get back to it!

I really like when New Year's rolls around. I don't know why because you can reevaluate and change things whenever you want but something about a new year makes it easier. Either way I have been reflecting on how 2011 went and what I wanted to change. Most of my focus for this is on my business and on how our homeschooling is going. These two things are a huge part of what I do daily and are related as well.

My business hasn't been earning me a great amount especially for the amount of time I have been putting into it. I pushed myself all year to do as much as I could and get my name out as much as possible. I also took every order that came my way except maybe a couple. God has been working on me with this. I have been worried about our income and worried about having a plan. I need to trust that God knows what is going to happen and will take care of us. I am going to stress less about the business and do more with the kids. I feel big relief now that I have allowed myself to relax about it.

There are a couple of charities that I have been donating cakes to over the past couple years as well. It was really getting hard because of how busy I was and also because the cakes they needed kept getting larger, but I wasn't going to stop. Well He has seen fit that those groups are no longer having those events because they had just gotten so big. I loved doing it but I see this as a sign also that He wants me to slow down a bit and not be spread so thin. They will have a few events throughout the year I can help with but it will not be a regular occurrence.

All of this is of course related to the kids and homeschooling. I know for sure I was called to homeschool them. So that needs to be my first priority. When my business is too busy then the kids don't get as much of my time as they need. I have decided to not answer the phone in the mornings at all, and if I do lose orders because of it I am going to be ok with it. I will check email once in the morning and then return phone calls and emails in the afternoon. I am also going to be more selective about the orders I take. I will raise my minimum order as well. The orders I take need to be worth my time.

To be honest sometimes I wish that I didn't have a business. It's a lot to keep up with and a lot of work. While I love doing it, all the little things, (taxes, paperwork, returning calls, etc) are hard to keep up with and take so much time away from my family. When I stopped doing it 4 or so years ago it was because I was burned out. I try to tell myself that it would be the same as having a job only I get to do it on my time and at home, but I do miss just homeschooling and taking care of the kids only. Of course, when I wasn't running my business I missed creating the cakes too. I am striving with God's help to strike a balance this year and I feel good about it. We never know exactly what the future holds and I trust The God has a plan for us!

Chex Winner!

2012-01-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry I am late posting the winner. My entire family has been sick, including me. So I have gotten a little behind.

So without further delay... the winner of the Chex Party giveaway is ...

The Zookeeper! Congrats! I will email you shortly. Thank you to everyone that entered!

Pen Pals

2012-01-02T01:46:00.000-07:00

We have had a bit of a rough weekend here. Luckily Nathan gets an extra day off this week because he came home sick on Friday. He is going to live but the extra day will be good for him, since he has just rested all week. Ellie and Meghan have a touch of it too but not too bad. Tomorrow I will be putting away all the Christmas decorations and getting all the school stuff out and ready for Tuesday. I decided to get started tonight and made this.

I found this idea at Mama Jenn's and thought it would be a great thing for Meghan and I to do. She copied it from someone else and so on. I am not sure where it originated. ;) I will be putting it in one of her workboxes on Tuesday when we get back to school.

It is just a journal, (notebook) that I covered in pretty paper. We will write letters to each other back and forth.

I copied the letter she used as well for the first entry.

Dear Meghan,
Would you like to be my pen pal? Instead of mailing letters to each other, we can keep them here in this notebook. Does that sound like fun?
I will write to you and then leave the notebook on your bed. Then, when you want to write me back you can begin writing on the next page and leave the notebook on my bed when you are done.
You can write about anything! It can be funny or serious! Just write about whatever is on your mind!
I am so excited and I hope that you are excited too!
Love,
Mom
P.S. Write back soon! :-)

I think that Meghan will have a good time with this. I can not wait to see what she wants to talk about and love the idea of writing practice too. :)

Foodie Trends

2012-01-01T14:50:00.001-07:00

You know by now I am a huge baker. :) I love trying out new recipes when I have time too. I was sent some cool information from Betty Crocker through My Blog Spark I wanted to share. These are baking and food trends. You can find all the red hot trends on Betty Crocker but I wanted to share my personal favorites here as well.

Trend: Double Desserts

Taking two desserts and mixing and mashing them together is one of our favorite trends. Things like pie shakes, cookie stuffed cookies, and pie-filled cupcakes deliver a whole new kind of delicious. It’s a 1+1=3 kind of thing.

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Pie, meet cookie. Cookie, say hello to pie. When two all-time favorites come together, you get Pumpkin Pie Cookies, the star at your next holiday cookie exchange.

Trend: Boozy Baking

From booze cakes to cocktail pies, bakers everywhere are bringing
the bar into the kitchen. A titch of tequila or a skosh of scotch whiskey
adds a serious shot of fun and flavor for the over 21 crowd.
We’re loving these boozy baked goods!

Recipe: Boozy Bourbon Chocolate Cupcakes

Taste for yourself what the buzz is all about! A bit of bourbon,
a hit of coffee liqueur and some vanilla vodka-spiked frosting make
these sophisticated chocolate cupcakes the ultimate “holiday helpers.”

Trend: Food Craft

The kitchen is the new craft room. With food as their medium,
clever cooks are making amazing edible food crafts that are as
good to look at as they are to eat.

Recipe: Chocolate Coal Lumps

Naughty or nice, everyone will love these easy cho-coal-late
treats. Cocoa Puffs® cereal dipped in melted chocolate and
marshmallows create these tasty stocking stuffers.

Check out all the fun trends in food!

“Update the Traditional Cookie Exchange: Host a Chex Party Mix-Change!” (Plus Win it!)

2012-01-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

What is the one thing you for sure have on New Years Eve? Snacks! Thanks to My Blog Spark and Chex we had a Chex Party for New Years Eve! It was lots of fun and so easy. There are so many recipes using Chex for lots of fun snacks! The favorite was the Chex Muddy Buddies, of course. The kids love it!

Here are some more recipes though and all of them are yummy!
The Original Chex Party Mix
Chex PB and Chocolate Blast
Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch
Hot Buttered Rum Chex Mix
Chex Caramel Chocolate Drizzles
There are MANY more recipes here.

What is great about these recipes and most of the Chex recipes is that they take about 15 minutes using the microwave. Since I have been so busy with baking for my business and then Christmas baking I really didn't want to do a lot of involved snacks. These were perfect!

The prize pack provided by Chex and My Blog Spark included these cute Chinese take out containers for sorting and taking home the mixes. Fun!

Now for the fun part! You could win a prize package and host your own Chex Party Mix-Change!

Your prize package will contain:

2 boxes of Chex cereal to create Chex Party Mix recipes

5 featured Chex Party Mix recipes

10 takeout containers so your guests can take their Chex Party Mix to-go

$20 gift card to purchase recipe ingredients and decorating supplies

There are three ways to enter.

#1 Leave a comment and let me know what event you will host your Party using the Prize package.

#2 "Like" Chex Mix on Facebook. Leave a 2nd comment letting me know you did.

#3 Share this giveaway! On your Facebook or Blog. Leave a comment for each place you shared.

Winner will be chosen via Random.org on January 8th, (2012 yes it really is!!).

Thanks and good luck!

Christmas Photos

2011-12-31T00:32:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas in photos.

Decorating cookies at Girl Scouts.

Edible playdough

Christmas Eve with the Adams'

Christmas Eve gift, slippers!

Tree ready for Christmas morning.

Christmas with my side.

My new chair covers.

Crayola Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Crayola Giveaway chosen via random.org is comment number 2, Mr. Write!!

Congratulations to you! Thank you to everyone that entered!

Adobe Mountain RailRoad Field Trip

2011-12-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

My son loves trains so when this field trip came up again I decided we should go. We haven't gone on a lot of field trips this year. There has been less cash and for several months we let my brother and his family use one of our cars, which means we didn't have one all the time. I hope that in 2012 we will be able to go on more. We will also be starting a park day for the new homeschool group so we should be busier with school stuff. hmm I think we were already busy. haha

Anyway, on Monday we went to the Adobe Mountain Railroad. It was so cool and the kids loved it. The trains are 1/8th the size of a regular train, built to scale. Everything works just like a big train would. It is on a huge area of land with tracks all over and the people who volunteer there have made little towns and different tiny sites along the tracks. It was fun to watch for all those things too. We rode the train, stopping halfway through to look at the museum and huge model train set up. Then we rode back to the station. We were lucky enough that they took us on a second ride, we switched trains and went on different tracks that time. It was a lot of fun. I think Nate would have enjoyed it too. Hopefully we will be able to go again when he can go too.

In the station waiting to start the ride. See my friend Tina behind Kaden. :)

A picture from our train of another one. There were three trains and our group had them all going. Only 21 people were aloud on each train.

One of the old fashioned looking towns along the track.

The train model inside one of the buildings on our stop.

Meghan was sooo happy to get to see her friend Miqa! Miqa's brother Dante is in this photo too.

Did I mention it was cold? We drove an hour and 20 minutes for this one, going through patches of rain the whole way. It was in the low 40's, but at least the sun came out.

Miniature airport along the track.

They have a big wooden train the kids can play on. I believe they said it was built by an Eagle Scout.

A great time! They had inflatable Christmas Decorations, (not inflated when we went through) and lights strung all over. They mentioned having nighttime tours this holiday season. You can find more information on their website.

Pillsbury Potluck Party

2011-12-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

Sunday was my Pillsbury Potluck Party! It was a lot of fun and we tried lots of great recipes. If you are looking for quick and easy recipes to help make it through the busy holiday season Pillsbury.com would be a great place to start. Many of the recipes take about 30 minutes to cook and less than 5 ingredients. I have to admit I would have never thought about things you could make with ready made Pillsbury items, like Crescent Rolls. I thought a roll was a roll was a roll. ;)

Here is our potluck yummies. I made it a holiday theme with the decor'. haha

I decided to make the Cranberry Cresent Wreaths since it was mentioned in my last post about the party. They were super quick to make and they were yummy. My girls loved them!

Here are the other dishes we had.

Pepperoni'n Cheese Crescents

These were good! The kids in particular loved them.

Leftover Turkey Crescent Bake

This recipe looks awesome for using up leftovers from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

It was really yummy too!

There were a couple different types of cookies.

Chocolate Chip

These peppermint ones were yummy. I have seen these in the store for the holidays. These were dressed up with white chocolate drizzle and crushed candy cane.

So we took a vote and the favorite dish of the night was the Pepperoni'n Cheese Crescents. They were really fun and easy to grab and eat. It was like a little pizza with no mess. With so few things needed to make them I can see myself making them often for a quick lunch. Of course everything was well received and enjoyed.

Check out the link for more quick and easy dish ideas. Like the Pillsbury Facebook page to keep up with the new stuff. You can print a coupon for Pillsbury products Here. Maybe plan your own potluck party or make one of these dishes to take to your holiday party's. It was a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the Christmas season! Plus we tried so many things we had never thought of before. Making crescent rolls into a dish? Craziness! ;)

If you try any of the recipes or host your own party please come back and let me know!

Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark provided me with product coupons and recipe cards to hand out to all of my party guests. We were able to use the cards to write down each others recipes. Here is my little "favor" station.

“Disclosure: The Pillsbury product, information, food ideas, online coupon link, and prize pack have been provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.”

We Love Arts and Crafts! (Crayola Giveaway!)

2011-12-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

I think that you can tell from my blog that we like arts and crafts. My kids are always making, coloring, drawing or painting something. They love it. (Actually I do too, very big into the creative stuff. ) Meghan uses her own money to buy clay and loops for her pot holder making. She has been trying to find something to make and sell and is now painting wood pieces that I will help her make into home decor signs.

Christmas time is the perfect time to talk about Crayola art products too. I always love to give gifts that inspire creativity.

So when I was asked if I wanted to talk about Crayola products of course I said yes! We were sent this lovely package of items. We love Crayola here! (Have you ever tried another brand of, say crayons, for example? The colors are always too light.)

Here is a little information about each item.

You can see it in action here, it looks so cool! Meghan will have a blast with this!

Crayola Jewelry Boutique
With the new Crayola Jewelry Boutique, kids can become their own jewelry designers! Crayola put a unique “spin” on jewelry making with a special “jewelry spinner” that creates multi-colored beads using Crayola Model Magic. As kids spin their beads into shapes, they can string them together to create original bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and pendants that reflect their own personal style. Let the designing begin!

By combining eye-popping colors to create unique beads with the Jewelry Boutique “spinner,” the amount of fun and creativity is endless because no two beads turn out exactly the same!
For a dazzling finish, coat designs with bead glaze. For even more sparkle and pizzazz, add gems, and interchangeable pendant and bracelet charms!

Recommended for children ages 6+, each Jewelry Boutique kit includes 8 packs of Crayola Model Magic to mold 160 beads, 5 bracelet charms, 3 pendant charms, 2 shape cutters, a bead dryer rack, 5 toggle sets, 4 earring posts and ear wires, a bead punch, 18 gems, 2 necklace cords, 1 elastic cord, bead glaze, and the Jewelry Boutique Spinner with storage areas and retails for $24.99.

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The Glow Book video is here. Again super cool and so fun!

Crayola Glow Book
Let your kids’ imaginations run free this holiday season while creating glowing, moving art with the Crayola Glow Book. Turn the lights out and watch their artwork come alive on each page and appear as if it is actually moving!

Using special glowing-ink markers to draw on each of the four clear pages, kids can choose one of the four tracing guides to create original scenes, signs and messages, and arrange them in their desired order. Then, just hit the lights and allow your kids to wow you with wildly colorful, glowing animated scenes. Variable light settings create colorful, multi-layered effects. The Crayola Glow Book wipes off easily so kids can use their imaginations to create endless glowing artwork! A simple wet cloth will do.

Recommended for children ages 6+, the kit includes one Glow Book with 4 clear pages, 4 animation tracing guides and 6 glow markers and retails for $24.99.

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Video! We need some huge boxes for sure!

Crayola’s Telescoping Crayon Tower and Ultimate Art Supply Case
For everyday inspiration and creativity, be sure to keep Crayola’s Telescoping Crayon Tower and all-inclusive Ultimate Art Supplies case handy, so they’re can always be prepared to create! Filled with crayons and all of the classic art tools for drawing and painting, kids can share their creativity through colorful works of art! The Telescoping Crayon Tower and Ultimate Art Supplies case make great gifts every child can use to jump start their creativity.

The Telescoping Crayon Tower puts limitless color at kids' fingertips and compacts neatly for storage with 150 Crayola Crayons and a built-in sharpener for extra convenience.
There are no limits to a child's imagination with the all-in-one, portable Ultimate Art Supply Kit.

Recommended for children 4+, the Ultimate Art Supply Kit contains 24 crayons, 8 washable broad line markers, 12 colored pencils, 8 washable watercolors, 1 paint brush, school glue, scissors, and colored paper and retails for $16.99. The Crayon Tower retails for $17.99.

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You can find many more awesome products at www.Crayola.com

We have never bought a Crayola product that we didn't love!

I think the crayon maker looks really cool too!

I am very excited because Crayola through MyBlogSpark is allowing me to give one of these gift sets away! So fun. You will receive

(1) Jewelry Boutique

(1) Glow Book

(1) 150-ct Crayon Tower

(1) Ultimate Art Supplies case

Here is how to enter! For each item you complete you get one entry, so you can enter 5 times. You HAVE to write a separate comment for each entry or it will not count. :)

#1. Follow Inspired Mom with Google Friend Connect. If you area already a follower just leave a comment letting me know. (This is the required one.)

#2. "Like" Crayola on Facebook. Do not post there but come pack here and let me know you liked their page for another entry.

#3. "Like" Inspired Mom on Facebook- comment here for a 3rd entry.

#4. Leave me a comment letting me know which of these products from Crayola would you most like to give as a gift to a special child in your life to inspire creativity, and why?

#5. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page and come back and leave a final comment letting me know you shared.

I will be drawing a winner for this giveaway on Wednesday December 7th via Random.org.
Good Luck everyone!!

“Disclosure: The Crayola Innovative Holiday prize pack, product information and prize pack for giveaway have been provided by Crayola through MyBlogSpark.”

Starting the Countdown to Christmas!

2011-12-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we started our countdown activities. I made an Advent Calendar using my friend Shannon's idea. You can see it here at Nouveau Soccer Mom. I thought it was a cute idea and we have been saving the paper rolls for a while. Here is mine. :) Not perfect but I was up until 2 am doing it the night before the 1st so.... yea.

(I really need to get some curtains)

The kids love doing this! Something else we are doing is RACK (random acts of Christmas kindness). I saw this idea on another blog. We are going to do something everyday. Love this idea and the kids will love helping to think of things to do.

I am excited for Christmas. We have pulled out the Christmas decorations, although they aren't all up yet. We did do the outside stuff though. The kids were sick over the long Thanksgiving weekend, which meant we got to stay home and not go to our family dinner, not super fun. Then as they started to get better I got it. So I have been dealing with a stuffy head and being extra tired. Thankfully I think we're going to be ok soon. :) It does explain why our Christmas stuff isn't out yet though.

I uploaded all my pictures from my camera a couple days ago and realized I didn't do it all of November! Ooops! Of course I haven't been keeping up here either. November was very busy. So here are a few highlights!

Meghan participated in the Veteran's Day Parade with her Girl Scout troop. I watched with the little ones and chased and walked and all that fun stuff.

I really have to get her uniform soon!

Meghan designing potholders. We are doing a boutique on the 10th so she is making things to sell.

We participated at the boutique my church puts on every year. I used to help plan the boutique a long time ago. It is sooo huge now. We did great and I hope to do it again next year. Meghan liked the mustache cookies. :)

Ellie trying to peel potatoes.

Kaden and Ellie watching a movie.

Christmas Shopping

2011-12-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

We are currently having a discussion on my homeschool board about what Christmas gifts people are thinking about and what some of the favorite things have been. We might be in a little different category than most people since we homeschool. We just think a little differently about things and what we want our kids to be playing with and doing some times.

What is really cool about these discussions though is that I always learn about new things. Like these Keva Planks for example. There are sooo cool!

I have never seen them or heard of them before today. I watched the video on the homepage and then started going through the photo lists. All the different things they have made with them is just amazing. I think this is something we will keep in mind for the future. I can see us all playing with these!

My kiddo's are really getting into Lego which is nice to see. Meghan asked for some a couple years ago and Kaden has started using them with her. Meghan follows the directions to make the little sets and Kaden just starts stacking. He may be getting a set of his own this Christmas. They are playing with Lego's right now and its so quiet...

Meghan is probably getting a Next Generation Doll. They are similar to the American Girl Dolls. I would love to get her one of those but they are much more pricey. I think the Next Generation Doll will work out well. They can wear all the same clothing and they have cool accessories also. She learned about the American Girl Dolls when we were at the boutique in November. There was a lady there that made clothes for them. They also have matching clothing for dolls and girls. Cute! This seems like something she will use for a long time.

I think books are always great gifts too. We like to read here and the kids love looking at their books. Plus we use books all the time for our unit studies. I also like memberships to places like zoo's, the science center, children's museum, even water parks. I think we are just getting to where we want the things we spend money on to matter and enrich our lives and not just be another fad toy with no imagination required.

This post is mostly my rambling but I really thought the Keva Planks were cool and maybe some of my other homeschool (or not) friends hadn't heard of them either. :)

It's Time for a Party!

2011-11-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

I am excited! I have been asked to host a Pillsbury Potluck Party. I am going to invite my friends and family over and we are all going to make a dish using Pillsbury products. It is really a great time to share this because we all need some easy dishes to prepare during this busy holiday season. I was provided with a package by MyBlogSpark which includes coupons for my attendees. It should be a lot of fun!

The part I need your help with is this....
What should I make for my dish!?? There are sooo many choices here.
Some of the recipes I am contemplating are
Chocolate chip cookie stuffed pies
Tomato pesto appetizers
Cranberry Crescent Wreaths
Italian Crescent Casserole
So-easy Chicken pot pie
Spicy Chipotle Twists

There are lots more recipes on Pillsbury.com

Weigh in and let me know what you think I should try. If you have made any recipes from the site that you liked let me know that too. I have to decide very soon what to make.

Thanks!!

Myths about MegaChurches

2011-11-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

I just have to share this blog post my friend Jennifer posted today. She doesn't go to the same church we do but they are very, very similiar. I love this article and I love my church!
Megachurch Myths

Halloween Fun

2011-11-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

This is a quick run by posting. I'm late, I'm late for an important date... err something.

Monday was Halloween as we all know. ;) It was also Muffin Tin Monday. I made a tin that I decided to call "The Eye's Have It". Cute right? I've never named a muffin tin meal before. hehe

Apple with marshmallow eyes, more marshmallow eyes, chocolate zucchini muffin with cheerio eyes

More apples with eyes, pumpkin shaped homemade bread with choc. chip eyes and yellow tomatoes, that I used edible marker on for more eyes. ;)

The kids had a great Halloween! My brother and sister in law brought their two little ones to trick or treat with us.

Can you tell what Meghan was? lol Meghan was a cheerleader, Ellie was a cupcake and Kaden decided to be Wow Wow Wubbzy again. He was going to be Luigi and changed his mind. Then he told everyone that he wasn't Kaden anymore but call him Wow Wow Wubbzy. He also told this to everyone as we trick or treated. :)

My nieces were both princesses and this one didn't want to get in the group shot.

Got my brother to smile for a picture. He tries to avoid the camera.. hahahaaa (evil laugh)

My sister in-law took pictures too. She probably has the ones I am in.

After trick or treating the kids dumped out candy and ate some and traded and made a general mess! Then they watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and played some more.

Most of the time the adults were in the kitchen. We all stayed up later talking and laughing and had a great time!

I hope your holiday was fabulous! Be Blessed!

A Fall Break

2011-10-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

In my life this week…

I have been trying to get back into the habit of working out. It's really hard to fit everything in running a business and homeschooling the kids. I am trying to find a time each day that works the best but so far it has been just whenever I fit it in. :) On Thursday though I hurt myself somehow. I am not sure if I just over did it or if my back is out of place but it hurts. I haven't been able to do anything since that day. Counterproductive! Hopefully it will be all better soon!

In our homeschool this week…

This week we had a fall break. On Monday Daddy took the day off to go to the pumpkin patch/farm with us.

The kids had a lot of fun and yes it was still warm out there! The kids always love the animals. They were selling baby chicks here and they wanted one so bad! They also had other animals they could pet.

This is on the hay ride.

I know they say it is fall, next week will finally be in the 80's so we will think it's cool. :) The rest of the week we just relaxed. The kids watched movies and played games. Friday we went to Girl Scouts. We had a good week!

Things I’m working on…

In less than two weeks I will be participating in a boutique at my church. I am trying to get things done ahead, such as table decor' and signs. I am also making some Christmas gifts to have available for pre-order and trying to find time to remake some of my cake dummy's. I am going to be pretty busy trying to get ready for this. There are hundreds of women that go to this boutique and I am hoping it will go well for me.

My favorite thing this week was…

Kaden loves to take pictures with my camera. It makes uploading from the camera take forever because he takes so many. At least I can delete them right. Meghan thinks he is going to be a photographer. I usually let him take pictures for a while as long as he is being careful with the camera. You never know what you are going to find. :) I thought this one was cool.

Box Tops for Education Winner!

2011-10-19T10:59:00.002-07:00

Our winner chosen via random.org is Crystal! Congrats! Please email me.

Box Tops for Education (Giveaway!)

2011-10-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

It's time for another giveaway. This one is brought to you by Betty Crocker and My Blog Spark.
I love Betty Crocker. I search the website often for fun recipes and Betty Crocker made the first cookbook I had. Just some trivia for you! :)

Remember to save those box tops for your local schools.

Now, you can find Box Tops for Education on all Betty Crocker baking mixes*, including new Fun da-middles™, individual cupcakes with a fun, creamy center.

This back-to-school season, look for double Box Tops on specially marked packages of Betty Crocker baking mixes.

Look at all the cuteness!
Your prize pack will contain:

Cupcake iclips

Cupcake bag

Cupcake notepads

Box Tops for Education pencils

Neoprene Lunch Sack

We were provided with a package also. We used the brownie mix to make these fabulous cookies! Seriously, cookies from a brownie mix and they were sooo good! You must try them!

If you would like to enter to win this prize package please leave a comment. Let me know if you child's school or someone you know is collecting box tops! The winner will be drawn on the 18th. Good luck!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Columbus Day! Nate's off work and we are just relaxing. It's a good day! I didn't have to worry about our menu today. Nate wanted hot dogs. Um ok. So my plan for the week beyond Monday...

Breakfast are easy and always about the same.

Eggs and toast
boiled eggs and fruit
oatmeal
muffins
I would like to try homemade pop tarts.

Lunch... again easy.

Peanut butter and honey sandwiches
ham and crackers and fruit
corn dog muffins
leftovers

Now for the part I actually try to plan. :)
Supper!

Tuesday- potato soup and corn muffins
Wednesday- spaghetti and broccoli
Thursday-crock pot stew
Friday-navy bean and ham soup (from the freezer), salad and bread
Saturday- Steak and veggies

baking list includes banana bread, muffins and rolls
I think the kids and I will make some peanut butter cookies too. :)

Thankful

2011-10-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Jennifer at The Path Less Taken has decided that she will blog on Sunday's about what she is thankful for from the week. A marvelous idea! She said we should join in so I am going to, right now. :)

Here are my top 5 thing I am thankful for this week.

#1 Cooler weather. I am so happy that fall has finally decided to grace us with it's presence. I lloooove fall! I love the weather and the holidays. I like that the kids have wanting to be outside playing more. I like that we haven't felt like melting getting into the car and we shouldn't have to worry about AC in the car messing up until next year. :)

#2 I am thankful for perfectly precious headbands. Love this one from Linny Jane Vintage. Her stuff is sooo pretty and she is such a sweet lady too. Of course the cute kid modeling it really helps. ;)

#3 I am thankful that it was a slow week. We had time to just hang out and play. I had time to decorate some cookies just for fun and make lists.

#4 My wonderful friends, who are so nice when I have to change plans. Sorry Em!

#5 My kids who are just so fun and getting so big. I love hearing the stuff they come up with. I really need to write that stuff down.

Here they are creating camp fires with candy at Girl Scouts this week.

Well this one is just eating the supplies.

He was great and very into it. I thought he'd just want to eat it too. He wanted it perfect.

The actual girl scout!

I am linking up at The Path Less Taken. Check it out!

Muffin Tin Monday and a Quick Update

2011-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

This week went by so fast. I had a pretty cool cake to work on which I will share soon. We started a unit study on the book Mr Poppers Penguins. Such a cute book and the kids are really enjoying learning about penguins. We are reading the book and watched a couple movies about penguins, including March of the Penguins. A penguins life is really kind of hard isn't it? Anyways, so that was the theme of the week and we will be working on the same theme this week. This is a longer unit study.

This week will be kind of busy too. Tomorrow we have our first event for the new homeschool group I am starting. We will be going to Skateland for a couple hours. The guy at Skateland is so nice. He is a believer in Jesus and was super nice to meet with. He is not requiring a minimum of people for our events, knowing it could take some time to build up. Our first event is tomorrow, we will have another in October with a Halloween theme and then we have one planned for Valentines Day. I think there will be some in between October and February too but these are the dates so far.

AND I want to show our muffin tin breakfast. My kids eat so well with a muffin tin meal, its craziness. So I made one up for breakfast. They don't eat a lot at breakfast time so I kept it simple.

Here we have some boiled eggs, cut in half (both my young ones will not eat the yolk). Some banana bread cubed and some apple slices.

I am joining in Muffin Tin Mondays, check it out to see more cool muffin tin meals!

Giveaway Winner

2011-09-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Big G Cereal giveaway is Julie! Congrats Julie, I will send you an email.
Thanks for playing!

Blogs to Share

2011-09-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have a couple blog articles I want to share. Just a quick post from me. :) It's a busy week but I will update soon. Please visit the blogs though.

Children Keeping You Out Of Ministry?

Do Homeschoolers Spend Enough Time With Their Children?

Big G Cereal Giveaway!~

2011-09-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

It's time for another giveaway! This one will help you have happy kiddo's in the morning. I know mine love cereal. As soon as we get it they want to eat it. All. Immediately. ;) I like having some around for those rushed mornings.

Big G has a fabulous promotion going on. In specially marked boxes of Big G cereal you can find $5 worth of coupons on brands including Betty Crocker^®, Nature Valley^®, Pillsbury^®, Big G, and Maxwell House. You can find more cereal information at Cereal Benefits.

Now for the giveaway! The winner will receive 6 boxes of Big G cereal,

Cheerios^®

Chocolate Cheerios^®

Cookie Crisp^®

Golden Grahams^®

MultiGrain Cheerios^®

Total^®

Here us how you enter!

#1 You can become a follower of this blog or if you are already a follower you can "like" the Facebook page. Please leave a comment letting me know that you did.

#2 For a second entry you can let me know your favorite cereal.

#3 For another entry you can share the giveaway on your Facebook wall or on your blog. Please leave a link. (My ulterior motive, I love reading blogs!)

The winner will be chosen on Sunday the 25th via random.org. Thanks for playing!

"Disclosure: The cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

Win a Kitchenaid!

2011-09-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

Ok I had to share this giveaway. Mostly because I hope to win but wouldn't it be awesome if I helped someone else win too???? Say yes!
If you go to Sweet Indulgence and follow the rules for entering, mentioning that I sent you to enter, we could both win that beautiful raspberry kitchenaid, if they choose your comment!! Good luck!

Apple Chips

2011-09-14T23:39:00.002-07:00

We made apple chips last week as an activity to go along with our unit on The Giving Tree. I found the recipe on Babble so you can check that out if you want to see what they did. :)

We had kind of small apples so I used three. We didn't need to peel them just wash and core. I actually bought this apple corer to use on cupcakes but it worked perfectly for this recipe since I wanted slices.

The mandolin made slicing quick and easy since you will want them thin.

We then laid the slices out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. They aren't really supposed to touch each other but I didn't want to have to use another cookie sheet. I will tell you why in a minute. ;)

We mixed 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. I put it into a sprinkle container I had saved and let Meghan sprinkle it on. Well she didn't realize how quickly it could come out so it got used up on about 10 or so slices. ;) So I mixed up some more and we did the rest. While we were doing this we preheated the oven to 200. After they are all sprinkled with cinnamon sugar in they go. They bake at 200 for 2 hours. This is why I didn't want to use another cookie sheet, I didn't have space for two in the oven and it takes a while for them to bake.

Here they are all dried and ready. They aren't burnt, those are those ones that got the heavy sprinkling.

Loosen from the parchment paper after they are cooled. You can store them in an air tight container for up to three days. Ours didn't last that long. They were sooo good. A nice healthy snack and so crunchy. I recommend this recipe and now I want to see if I can dry (dehydrate?) other fruits in the oven. :)

First Week Review- The Giving Tree

2011-09-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great first week back to school! Our first unit study of the year was on the book The Giving Tree, from Homeschool Share. Have I mentioned I love that site? I do! There are so many units and we are constantly adding new stuff.
The unit had a lot of great information in it. The first thing we did was make a mobile of the Fruits of the Spirit and read Galatians 5:22-23. The mobile has one Fruit listed on each apple. We talked about how the tree exhibits all of the Fruits.

Meghan used a map to find our state and major apple producing states. She colored the states and we talked about why apples grow well in those states.

We found out apples are a member of the rose family.

We talked about the different uses for trees.

Kaden and Ellie learned about the letter A and it's sound. They had coloring and tracing sheets to play with. Kaden used his maze book.

Ellie was covering each A with a crayon or pencil. haha

Meghan made a list of things you can make using apples. She also graphed a list of apples I gave her and helped Kaden sequence the story with story strips.

We discussed fractions using an apple and we made apple chips.

For art the kids all made a tree using their arm and hand. We traced them and then they painted their trees.

Some other things we did this week...

Baking cookies. This is the first time I have had her follow the recipe and pretty much do it herself. I was there just to answer questions.

We started calendar time.

Ellie's pretend time with Barbie.

Kaden using the counting beads.

They also went outside a lot more this week than in weeks past. I guess they can feel the little bit of cool down. :)

Here they are opening their back to school gifts. They got new art supplies.

Over all a great week back!

First Day of School Pictures

2011-09-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

September 6th was our first day and I always try to take some school pictures. :)

Kaden- Age 4, Preschool

Ellie- Age 2- Tot School

Meghan- Age 9, 4th grade

Then the class pictures. :D

A first day of school breakfast picture. :) They had chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup.

Just Some Fun Stuff

2011-09-06T23:56:00.000-07:00

I have some pictures I wanted to share from last week. First off... A little horsing around. ;)

These two are very close in height and weight so this was just funny. I didn't get a picture of when she made him top heavy and they both fell over.

Daddy is a good one to ride, he's got room for two.

Too cute!

I asked Meghan to get the clothes out of the dryer for me. After a couple minutes I went to put the next load in and this is what I found. haha Of course, I told them to stay put so I could take pictures.

One of Meghan's favorite breakfasts, Egg in a Hole, or whatever your family calls it.

Crafting (they made puppets)

and computer time.

Menu Plan... Not Monday

2011-09-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

We made this yesterday for Labor Day if you want the recipe. Doesn't it look yummy?

Yea, it's Tuesday so? ;) Since it was a holiday yesterday I didn't get a menu plan done. It's going to be a busy week so I am glad it's a short one. :) Our meals this week will include...

Beef pot pie (I made a beef stew for Sunday after church so the leftovers plus more veggies make the pie, I thought it was a fabulous idea. I will let you know how it turns out.).
Spaghetti (always have lots of leftover so this will probably be two meals)
Homemade pizza

I worry about the weekends on the weekend. :)
I am also going to work on making a Bone Broth this week. Read more about it here if you are interested. I feel like it's something we need to be doing.

Other things I will be making...
bread
banana bread
scones (I hope)

Labor Day 2011

2011-09-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! I love long weekends with nothing special to do. We just hung out and relaxed. The kids played in their little pool and played games outside. We made cheeseburgers and sides, and homemade Honey Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Sauce. YUM
Later the kids went out to ride on their bikes and then they watched a movie. My brother came and had lunch and hung out with us a while too. A nice day was had by all. NOW we are ready to start school!

Yes I took these pictures when it was starting to get dark. I should have gotten some earlier.

Oh well... ;)

Back to School

2011-09-05T22:52:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow, Monday the 6th, is our official back to school day. We have already been doing some things but we'll add in the rest. I like to give little gifts and do some fun things the first day back. I am excited about this school year and hopefully that feeling keeps on going through out the year. :)

Last week my business was slow so I used my free time to prepare for this week. I found the books from our shelves that fit our theme, printed out the unit study and any other pices we needed and I found crafts and recipes to add to the fun. (Meghan has been keeping up with her personal reading and she started her Math program, she tested out at 4.5 level, which is about where she is with reading too.)

This year we are going to continue with our Unit Studies, I just like teaching that way. It's a gentle way to teach and really keeps it fun and interesting. Meghan chooses a lot of the subjects we study. She will also be getting a journal to write in daily and she will have reading and math with the computer program. She loves to use the computer and loves doing those subjects on there. I don't think we will have any resistance with math this year. She has a list of extra's she would like to do also. At the top of her list is singing lessons so I am searching for someone that can help with that. She would also like any and all of the following; horse riding, ballet, volleyball. haha We also found a homeschool Girl Scout troop late in the summer and she has started attending the meetings and our church has a youth program for her age on Tuesday nights that she is going to as well. She loves being busy and hates to miss anything. She will often ask me the night before if we have anywhere to go the next day. I need to add activities to her personal calendar.

Kaden and Ellie will follow along with some of the subjects Meghan does. Kaden will do some normal preschool-ish activities and they will both have lots of play time. Kaden knows how to count some, lots of letters and sounds and all his colors and shapes and I didn't even do anything! Ellie pointed out three colors and knows her upper case R, she is constantly finding them on everything! Again, I did nothing. So I am not too worried about them at all. ;)

This week we are starting out with an apple themed unit, The Giving Tree. The little ones will do what they can too and they will focus on the A sound too. I have crafts, recipes, books and more for us. It's going to be a good and busy week!

Monster Mash!

2011-08-17T00:32:00.000-07:00

Kaden has been doing this super cute Kindergarten Kit from HomeschoolShare called Monster Mash. If you have not checked out HomeschoolShare yet you really should. It is my favorite website for our unit studies. These are created by homeschooling mom's and shared for free on this site. Ami, the woman who started it all, is a wonderful, Jesus loving woman who home schools her two boys and still finds time to come up with new, fun things to do with her kids and then of course share on the site. :)

Kaden loved this kit right away! I showed it to him on the computer before printing it out. He wanted to scroll through all the monsters, telling me their colors and just looking at them. So he was an easy sell on this one. :)

This is a page to cut following the lines. He wanted to trace it first.

Then he cut it. He seems to be more comfortable cutting with his right hand. I recently read, (because National Left Handers Day just passed) that lefties often use the other hand for various things while a right handed person usually always uses their right. :)

This is a game where you draw your own monster and everyone played. :)

Kaden really liked the activity where he sorted the b's and the d's. He enjoys many of the activities and likes to do them repeatedly. There is a list of books for read alouds too. My kids like "The Monster at the End of This Book". He isn't really writing a lot yet so we did skip a part where he needed to write names for the monsters. I think most of this can be used for preschool or kindergarten age and just adapted as you need to. Over all a very fun little packet!

These Kindergarten Kits will be added to the website very soon. I am excited to see the rest of them. I think Kaden is really going to like them.

Live Cake Challenge

2011-08-01T10:27:00.002-07:00

Here are pictures from the live cake challenge that me and two of my friends teamed up for. We placed 2nd, out of 3 teams. We learned later that the judging wasn't completely fair, which we kind of assumed anyways. The winning team were employees of the head judge and the other two judges were a couple and also own a local cake business together. Lesson learned! Either way we had a great time and were so proud we were able to create this cake. It was over six and a half feet tall, luckily we didn't have to pick it up!

The theme for the event was Arizona's Centennial.

Here I am with the cake. Don't look too close. I was so tired! We spent 16 hours over 2 days working on the cake and this was of course when it was over. ;)

Our theme was the 5 C's of Arizona. Cattle, Climate, Cotton, Citrus and Copper

It's hard to see and I don't have a close up of that one but on top is the copper. It's a pile of copper with a little spinning pick ax coming out of the top. Our original plan was to have the Arizona Centennial Logo Spin but when we put it up it was too heavy to spin and kept falling to one side. Because it was so high it was hard to get up there and find a way to fix it and we ran out of time. So the little pick ax was spinning. haha

The cattle and cactus tiers.

The citrus, cotton (gin) and sun (climate).

To see more pictures you can look on my friends Shutterfly page. She has a picture of our whole team with the cake there. :)

Here are the pictures I have for the first place winner.

And the pictures of the 3rd place cake.

It's going to be a great week!

2011-08-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

My AC in the car is working (for now) and hopefully stays that way! I have a couple orders to get out, some school things to finish up and I am unpacking our books. I have been missing the books. :) We are going to do a few light things this week. Kaden is going to do a Monster themed unit, that I am reviewing for Homeschool Share. If you haven't been there yet, go! Now. Most of our unit studies have come from there and they are free.

I think too that we will have water/Summer themed week of fun stuff! I am going to go in search of some things to do with all the kids; crafts, water activities, and snacks. Should be a fun and busy week!

If I Was Brave

2011-07-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

I would totally be an unschooler. I read so many blogs about unschooling and I like it! I think we are kind of unschoolish. I am not super strict with what has to be done all of the time and sometimes we do just let go of things depending on life circumstances and whether it's working or not. When Meghan was first starting the school years I did unschool. She wasn't really ready for a lot of things so we read a lot and played games... There wasn't a lot of actual school. This is really the first year that she will have more to do and a list of what I would like done each day. Of course we will still have things we do together and hopefully the littles will join in some of that.

I think unschooling is just living. Maybe with more focus on having learning tools available and asking and encouraging questions. Kaden hasn't done any "school" really. He has watched Leap Frog video's and Magic School Bus cartoons and he plays the Wii and the computer like he's 10 instead of 4. He knows lots of letters, lots of letter sounds and can count to 13, as I mentioned the other day. He also knows all the shapes and colors and just where his socks should go in his drawer. ;) I am excited to give him some writing tools this school year and see where he goes with it. (I also found some left handed scissors for him.)

So although I want to do more history with Meghan this year, I think we have been doing just great with our relaxed approach to schooling. She reads at somewhere around half way through 5th grade level, knows all her basic math, enjoys watching history documentaries with Daddy, and has decided to learn Spanish all on her own.

So if I was brave I would just unschool... but I am not. ;) What I have decided we are for now is relaxed, delight directed homeschoolers. You know what, that's ok too!

Homeschool Mother's Journal 7/25-7/29

2011-07-29T09:22:00.001-07:00

In my life this week…
The AC went out in my car again which means we found ways to stay home. It's hot out there! Thankfully the Girl Scout meeting for this week was cancelled. We did go early one morning, (early being about 9) to get milk at the farm which is only 7 miles from us now. Other than that we have worked things so that if I need something Nathan has taken care of it on his way home. One day he delivered cake pops for me on his lunch break. He rocks! He will be working on the AC this weekend and hopefully he can fix it.

In our homeschool this week…
We are still on break so nothing official yet. I have been working on some of the school plans for the next school year. I need to print out my new planner still and start filling it in. Kaden did find a set of alphabet cards and has been playing with those on his own, either telling me what the letters are or asking me what they are. He also has been counting on his own sometimes. He counted to 13 yesterday! Since I haven't done much with him I think that is amazing!

My favorite thing this week was…
I have had some orders come in this week when last week I was feeling down about it. Sometimes I work at getting my business out there and nothing happens and I think that maybe I need to quit and focus on the kids only. God gave me this business though and the talent to do it and He seems to always come through with something that lets me know I am doing what I need to be doing. I am waiting to hear back from a catering company that wants a new baker. If I get the gig I will be kept busy. I know that with God's help I can keep up with both the business and homeschooling.

I’m cooking…
I have been doing a lot of baking to help save money. So lots of bread and things. We are also now stocked up on the grass fed, organic beef and pork so I have been looking for different recipes sometimes.

I’m grateful for…
My husband for being so helpful this week. My brother and his family because now I have a babysitter when I need one occasionally and they don't live far from us.

I’m praying for…
My brother and his job search.

I Need a Sign....

2011-07-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

So since we have moved we have had people come to the door twice. The first time is was an older man and he was telling me that my kids were going to learn about evolution in school. I interrupted to let him no that they are home schooled and they wouldn't learn anything at school. I also informed him that I was Christian (it's just easier to say) and he asked if I was LDS. I said no and wrapped up the conversation. He left a pamphlet about creation, which I happen to believe in.

Yesterday two women came to the door. They said George, (the first guy) told them I was interested in more information and that I was LDS. Um no... They have a new book to give me. I tell the woman I am really not interested. She keeps talking. My little ones like to go to the door with me. They try and talk constantly to whoever is there. They are pushing past me to get outside and we also have mosquito issues so those are coming inside. After a minute I tell her I really don't have time and she finally gets the hint. She leaves her book and says they will try another time. How about no?

I don't plan on answering the door anymore. I guess they can hear my kids if they happen to be making noise but I don't have time to discuss anything with two little kids chatting and hanging on me. I mean I didn't even know what religion they were until this time and they are not LDS which is what I thought after the first visit. They are Jehovah's Witness. I don't know exactly what they believe but I know they don't celebrate birthday's or Christmas and those are VERY important to me. :D

So I am thinking I should paint a decorative sign. You know people have all kinds of yard and door signs. Mine will say something clever if I can think of what it should be.

"Jesus Follower. Period."
"Jesus isn't about religion"
"I'm going to heaven, not sure where your religion is taking you."

haha

I am also thinking I don't want to say I am Christian anymore. It can be confused with "other religions" and it has also in a lot of ways become just another religion. It's not about all the stuff, it's about Jesus. Period!

Monday, Monday....

2011-07-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

It's Monday, Monday.....
I had the most fun weekend. My friend and I drove to Cake Camp in Henderson, Nevada, which is very close to Las Vegas. We could see the strip as we got off the freeway to go to our hotel. We stayed at the Green Valley Ranch Resort, which is where Cake Camp was held. We got there on Thursday evening and didn't leave at all until Sunday! There is so much to do in there and restaurants and things we didn't need to leave. I had a lot of great classes and loved my teachers. Many of the teachers are cake designers that have been on Food Network or won the Oklahoma Sugar Arts Show. Some I have met before like Michelle Bommarito, who has more energy than just about anyone I know, or Colette Peters. Others I met for the first time like Ruth Rickey. She taught my favorite class of the weekend which was techniques for painting on cakes, which I love anyways. She taught techniques for charcoal or ink drawings, watercolor and oil painting, all with edible sugar mediums.

my watercolor

My "pen and ink"

my oil painting

Some of the other classes I took were about stenciling, a gluten free baking lecture, a fudge making demo, designer cupcakes, and a few more. I had a great time and enjoyed meeting and chatting with everyone from all over the country. I can't wait for the next one which isn't for two years. I think it would be nice if the whole family went to the next one too. We get a great room rate because of having Cake Camp there and we could take the kids and see some fun stuff. I had never been to Vegas before so Nate thought we should have at least driven down the strip. Oh well, next time. :)

The kids did great while I was gone and Nathan did a great job taking care of them. He took Meghan to Girl Scouts on Friday which was a roller skating day. Then that evening he had to go and pick up our grass fed, organic beef way up in Phoenix. You have to order it months ahead and when it's ready they let you know so I didn't know what date we would have to pick it up until the week before. They had Walmart trips, went to pick up milk from the farm, had my brother and his family over and they are still healthy and happy. ;)

Plans for this week are to keep getting things unpacked. I need to reorganize my cake stuff too. I also want to do some baking and cooking for us and hopefully finish up my school planning for the coming school year. I am also going to make my niece a birthday cake and maybe help plan a party. :) Always busy here! Have a great week!!

You can still enter my Cupcake warmer giveaway too! I draw the winner on Friday!

Kung Fu Panda Winner!!

2011-07-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Kung Fu Panda Giveaway is Jami!

Jami said...

Oh, we love Po in our household!!! He's the best!!!

Congrats Jami!

My Little Cows

2011-07-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post. We are still here just super busy... still. We are slowly getting things unpacked. Ellie was sick this past week so I didn't get much done as I was caring for her. She wasn't sleeping well (even for her) so I wasn't sleeping well and we didn't get much done. Thank God she is better now and we are working on unpacking again.

Now onto the cows. :) Yesterday was Chik-fil-a's customer appreciation day. If you dress like a cow from head to toe they give you a free meal. They have a template on their site with ears and spots etc that you can use. They love Chik-fil-a, (so do Nate and I!) so we dressed them up and went. It was fun, there were lots of people there dressed up and they were much more creative about it than me. They must have planned it more than an hour before they went. ha So here are my little cows. (we added the other parts on their clothing after we got there)

Scentsy Cupcake Warmer Giveaway!

2011-07-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is hosted on my cake blog but I thought you might be interested! It is an awesome giveaway! Head on over and check it out! Inspired Occasions Giveaway

Here is the prize... just to tease ya! ;)

It's a Kung Fu Panda Giveaway!!!

2011-07-07T11:10:00.001-07:00

General Mills has teamed up Kung Fu Panda to promote the new movie Kung Fu Panda 2!

My Blog Spark sent us this cool prize package. It includes one box of participating General Mills cereal, (each box contains a Kung Fu Panda spin fighter toy) and the original Kung Fu Panda movie.

Look for the spin fighter toys in participating General Mills cereal boxes. My kids loved the movie and so did I!

If you would like to enter to win your own prize package..... Please leave a comment letting me know who is your favorite character in the movie. This is going to be a quick one so get those entries in fast! I will draw and post the winner on Monday the 11th. Good luck!

Just One of Those Days

2011-07-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ever have days where you have plans and things laid out; lists of things you need/want to get done... and it just doesn't happen? Today is one of those days. We got so much done this weekend I thought I would just keep it up. I was sure I would get some things in Ellie's room unpacked and finish up my kitchen. However, it didn't happen. Ellie started to feel warm to me last night, Nate thought she was fine, normal is what he said. Before she went to bed I decided to give her some medicine anyways, (hey I am the mom I know what I am doing). Then I stayed up late working on things. I get to bed about 1 and as I start to doze off I hear Ellie crying. She was HOT. So I got a wet washcloth, gave her some more medicine and something to drink. She went back to sleep but every little bit would cry so I would check on her. So then I couldn't sleep because I was checking on her so much and because I just couldn't sleep. Needless to say I am so tired today. Ellie is still running a low fever, it doesn't seem to be as high and I haven't given her anything for it since 8 am. She has been laying around, being held and falling asleep at random times. I think she will be ok tomorrow. I have been too tired to do anything other than take care of the kids basic needs and answer some emails. I am getting ready to muster the strength and go to our once a month cake club meeting now.

We did get a lot done this weekend though. We, of course, have a ton more to do. Moving is a lot of work! I even cooked and baked this weekend. We were out of bread so I made some. I also made patriotic popcorn for the kids, banana bread, and a pork roast which we are finishing today as pulled pork sandwiches. I am glad I got those things done so that we have things to eat and I am not having to cook today. ;)

We love the house though and it's starting to come together! I will hopefully be posting more updates and pictures soon!

Busy Busy This Week!

2011-06-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of posting this week because I am so busy. We are moving so I am packing everything and at the same time preparing for a big cake competition. I also made a cake for the general judged cake show. Crazy is what I am! My team and I are creating a 5 foot cake, LIVE! I might be a little nervous but our team and our design is awesome! Next week after this is done and the move is done I might be able to post some updates and let you know how we did. :)

Muddy Buddies- Winner!

2011-06-23T14:40:00.002-07:00

Katrina you are the winner of the Muddy Buddies Giveaway! Congrats! Please email me at Bonnie.l.adams at gmail dot com.
Thanks!

Muddy Buddies- Giveaway!

2011-06-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

MyBlogSpark and Chex sent me a sample of the new Muddy Buddies snack. You might know it as puppy chow or reindeer poo. ;) We make this sometimes as you may have seen on my blog, and always at Christmas time. Well now if you don't feel like making it but you feel like eating it... you can just go get some at the store!
Our fun little package included a cool bowl, a magnetic logo clip, an air tight container to store it and of course the snack!

My kids love this stuff! Look at the yumminess!

And because of these three there was nothing left to test out the storage container. :D

Kaden says "Puppy Chow is my fadorite!"

Now for your chance to win! If you would like to win this cool little gift pack and try out the New Muddy Buddies post a comment. Let me know if you have made this before and for what occasions. (Have you maybe tried Chex Muddy Buddies before? I didn't know but it has been out during the holiday.)

If you would like an extra entry post about this giveaway on your own blog or Facebook page. Leave another comment for that entry please!

I will draw a winner (via random.org) next Wednesday, the 22nd. Good luck!!

Winner of The Whole Family Cookbook!!!!

2011-06-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

The winner of this amazing cookbook is ..... LISA!

Please send me your address and contact information please. (bonnie.l.adams at gmail dot com)

Thank you all for entering. I will have a new giveaway soon!

Mission of the Month- June 2011

2011-06-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Oh man a month is over already! I am sure from my response you can tell I didn't finish all of my goals. :)

-I did organize my scrap area.

-I did decide on the next school years curriculum. I have some of it already and have to get the rest, hopefully at some used curriculum sales coming up.

-I believe that we have decided on activities and groups for Meghan and maybe something for the little ones too.

Now for what I didn't get done....

- I didn't get to do a craft with the kids each week. This I really have to get better at! They love to do crafts and things. I did let them paint, draw and color a lot, so that is something but I want to be putting together an actual craft. Meghan did get to do one at Girl Scouts, (we just found a home school girl scout troop, finally!)

- I didn't practice any of my cake things. I also have not finished any cakes for the competition. :) That stuff will get done this month either way since the show is this month.

So my goals for June....

I am going to work on that craft thing again! That is all I am going to try to do. We have a very busy month, this month. We are moving, so lots of packing and organizing and the cake show will be at the end of the month too. I am in the live competition, supposed to enter cakes in the regular show and I will be doing a demo and anything else they need. Plus my regular orders and homeschooling the kids. :) Yea... we'll work on the crafts!

I am also going to make a summer bucket list with the kids. I think it will be fun to write out some things we'd like to do and mark them off as we do.

If you want to join in this Mission of the Month check it out here!

Muffin Tin Monday! 6-6-11

2011-06-06T15:37:00.000-07:00

I am sharing a breakfast muffin tin today. I don't think we have done it for breakfast before but I could be wrong. :)

Cinnamon roll pieces, pancake squares, sliced banana

maple syrup, more pancake squares and applesauce

They really enjoyed having it for breakfast this time. Kaden my picky guy likes to eat with fun tools so he even ate his banana slices since we used a pick. :)

Now go and check out the rest of today's participants. I love MTM's post today. My kids would love to do that one!

Cooking With Kids (Book Review and Giveaway!)

2011-06-06T14:42:00.002-07:00

I was recently asked to review a cookbook just for kids and families that love to cook together. Right up my alley, of course I will! The book came and I have been reading it like a well... book. LOL There are so many tips, hints and just great information. So while it's a great cookbook full of yummy looking recipes it also has lots of great information. This is a perfect book for us right now because Meghan has asked me to do a unit study of healthy foods. We will be using it as one of our resources.

The Whole Family Cookbook.
As a working mom, I can relate to the challenges of feeding a busy family. The Whole Family Cookbook offers time-saving strategies for shopping and cooking, along with the resources you need to cook healthy, local food in any season. Our delicious recipes will please discriminating adults and will tickle the taste buds of your children, getting them excited to eat healthy meals – for their bodies and for the benefit of the planet.

We decided to start by making the Apple Puff.

Meghan and Kaden made it with me and they had a blast! My kids all like to help in the kitchen so I was not surprised.

The instructions for the recipes are very easy for kids to understand and they are simple things to make. Meghan can understand the instructions by herself.

Here the kids are taking turns mixing the batter.

(You have cooked in a bathing suit before right?)

Meghan peeled the apples and they both helped to brown them on the stove.

I didn't have an oven safe skillet, well I wasn't sure if it was or not, so we poured the apples into this corningware bowl/pan? and finished the recipe.

I think I let it bake a little too long so it's a little browner than I think it's probably supposed to be. They both loved it though! Both of them asked for more. Kaden didn't eat his apples and Meghan wanted more apples so that worked out. Even Nathan liked it. He got home later from work and there was some left so he tried it when I wasn't in the room. When I came back he asked me what it was and told me it was good. :) Score! The kidlets are excited to make that one again and try some more recipes from the book. I have found that Kaden, my little Mr. Picky Picky will try things that he helps to make and he loves to help.
All in all this is a great book! I love how simple it is to understand. The recipes are things kids will like and try. I am very blessed to have gotten to try it out and share with you all! If you want more information please check out Michelle's website at What's Cooking with Kids.

Now if you'd like to win one.... YAY!
Leave a comment telling me about your favorite thing to make with your kids.
For another entry go to What's Cooking on Facebook and "like" Michelle's page.
Please leave a seperate comment for each entry. I will choose a winner on June 13.
Good Luck!

Even if you don't win, you should check this book out! You won't be sorry!

Planner Giveaway on Aussie Pumpkin Patch

2011-06-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Kendra from Aussie Pumpkin Patch is having a giveaway. She makes an awesome homeschool planner and is going to give the winner a choice of her combined planner or homeschool journal. If you don't win or are too impatient to wait :) she is having a sale too. You can get either one for 25% off! Go and enter and let her know I sent ya!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2011-06-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about respect. Why is it that people will show respect to an adult, at least to a point... in front of them, but not to a child? What makes an adult someone so special that they get treated better than a child? Children deserve at least the same amount of respect that an adult does. Children are little people, they are learning from us and we are here to care for them and show them how to behave. Plus if we don't respect them are we also teaching them how to be disrespectful and uncaring toward others?

Last week at the gym where I work out we had an issue. I didn't know about it until we were on the way home from my class. Meghan told me that the 17 year old girl that has been watching them took a toy from Kaden to get him to go to the area she wanted him in.

I have to give a little background. We've been going there about 2 months and there is no child care person, just an area where the kids have toys to play with. They assured me that it was fine to bring the kids. However, the kids do run around instead of staying in that little area, sometimes they come and watch through the glass doors. Sometimes they have had issues, usually Kaden, when one of the other women working out brings her boys. I have had to go in and out to check on them and don't really get a good workout that way. So they asked this girl if she would like to watch them. I'd be paying extra but not have to come out and check on them or stop issues etc. Sounds good to me, she's been watching them 2 weeks now.

So back to last week. Kaden fell asleep in the car on the way to the gym. He is trying to cut out his naps but really he still needs them. He woke up when we got there and we went in. He got right in the door and laid his head on one of the chairs. The girls went to the toy area and I went into the class to wait for it to start. I could see him laying his head on the chair and thought he would be fine. He would either lay there the whole hour or he would wake up more and go play in a bit. Well the babysitter decided he should be with the others in the toy area. She went twice over to him to tell him to come. (I am watching from inside class not really sure whats going on, I assume she is just checking on him.) I see her go back to the toy area and then a few seconds later he goes running in there. For the rest of class they are in the toy area so I think everything is fine, no reason to think otherwise. When I ask her how they are doing she says "Oh they are fine, Kaden was kinda fussy at first." So we leave and Meghan tells me in the car that she took away his penguin he had taken to play with. She took it from him when he was laying his head on the chair and that's why he ran after her. He tried to take it back and she wouldn't give it back until he said please. He of course didn't want to say it and I am sure was pretty unhappy. Meghan asked her for it and then gave it back to Kaden. (I bet that went over well! ha) That really made me upset! How mean is that? I am wondering how she would feel if I took her cell phone or ipod and made her beg to get it back. There was no reason for her to do it and no reason for her to make him go to the play area. She also likes to roll her eyes constantly, mostly at the kids of course. She clearly doesn't like nor want to babysit.

So fun for me, I get to have a talk with her. I hate confrontation! She'll think I am one of "those parents" that thinks their kids are perfect. I don't of course, I know they do things they aren't supposed to, but I do believe they deserve respect too. This girl doesn't have to watch the kids if she doesn't want to and I honestly don't have to let her watch them. I know she is a teenager and needs understanding too but if she doesn't change her attitude I won't have her watch them anymore.

What's funny is that not too long ago I probably wouldn't have said anything. My mindset was probably about the same as everyone else in thinking kids should just listen to those over them and not cause problems. Not that I would have agreed with it but I would have thought "this is just how it is".

Not now, I know better, God has been teaching me so many things lately and this is just one. I will speak with the girl and try to get her to understand why it was not the correct way to handle it. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully, she will understand and maybe she just did not realize what she was doing.
Wish me luck! I am praying I say it the right way.

Just Another Manic Monday!

2011-05-23T13:51:00.001-07:00

You know you wanted that song in your head! ;)

We had a great weekend! Although our plans did get changed, it was still good. On Saturday we were planning to go to the Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms. My brother, sister in law and nieces were going to come also. However, Kaden didn't seem to sleep well and when he got up in the morning he went into the bathroom and threw up. A little bit later after having something to drink he did it again so I called and let my brother know. We have to reschedule. That was the last time he was sick though and he said he felt fine afterwards, so I don't know what was up. I did a little shopping on Saturday anyway, CVS had some deals for me to pick up. :)

On Sunday we went to church. I really love our church! We are in the 4th week of our End of Days series and it has been Awesome! For the first time in my life I have heard teaching about it the way I have always felt it was stated in the Bible. Every other church I have been to, when talking about the end times, has taught things that I felt did not correlate to what the Bible teaches. I really dislike when a preacher will tell his interpretation of it when it CLEARLY says something else completely. Our first day of the series we were also reminded about false prophets and what makes someone a false prophet. These are things we know but just don't think about all the time. If a person predicts something or tells you this is going to happen and it doesn't, he is a false prophet, that means ONE TIME. He could be right 9 times and wrong once and he is still a false prophet. We should always check someones word against the Bible. ALWAYS. I may be writing more about all this later.

After church we had lunch and came home to relax. Not a lot going on but enough and we also had some time to just rest and relax which we don't always get to do.

So Monday plans! We are already part through the day here! We went to pick up some raw honey I ordered. The kids have played together with balloons for a bit and had lunch. Now Kaden and Meghan are working on puzzles and Ellie is taking a nap. In a bit I will read to them and Meghan will finish her school work for the day. I have to get paperwork filled out for the cake show I am entering. Meghan is going to enter too. The forms are due tomorrow, nothing like waiting until the last minute. I am really good at that lately! I also have some cakes to bake today and then I will see what else on the list we can tackle!

I have a quick menu plan to post too.

Monday- chef salad
Tuesday- lasagna
Wednesday- homemade pizza
Thursday-chicken pot pie
Friday-leftovers
Saturday-beef roast, potatoes and salad
Sunday- left overs or something simple

I am linking my post up at orgjunkie.

What My child is Reading- May 7, 2011

2011-05-07T09:53:00.001-07:00

I have decided to join in What My Child Is Reading this week and let you know some of the books we are reading here. I love to see what others are reading and it helps me find new books. :) Right now I have a trip to our local used bookstore planned so I can look for some of those new books.

So here is what we are working on this week!

We have started the Mandie Series. I read these when I was a kid. I don't know where my set went but I have started collecting the books as I see them and we have books one,two and three right now. They are about a Christian girl (almost a teen) set at the turn of the Century. Her father passes away and she has a lot of challenges to face but there is also a lot of mystery involves and she is always getting into some sort of "situation". I believe there are a lot more books in the series than I have read so I look forward to getting through the one I have read and reading the others too. I think Meghan will enjoy them. Right now we are reading book one Mandie and the Secret Tunnel.

We are also starting to read American Girl's Meet Rebecca. I have never read any American Girl books but I know they are popular. Meghan got this one for her birthday. We are going to read this one and if she likes it I will get her some more. I know there are unit studies based on some of the American Girl books too so if she likes the books we might try one.

Kaden and Ellie are enjoying this one. :) Biscuits Day at the Beach. We have a couple biscuit books which are a big hit with Ellie in particular since she loves everything puppy right now. I would personally like to share some time at the beach! ;)

We also read these Sesame Street ABC board books a lot. The little one choose which ones they want to read each day. These are also puzzle books so they fit into each other. Sometimes I find them making a "track" across the room. We have had these since Meghan was a baby and she loved them when she was little too.

Giveaway: Little House Cookbook- WINNER!!

2011-05-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

The WINNER of the Little House Cookbook is..... drum roll please! Yes just do it....

Kayla!!! Congrats Kayla!! Please email me your mailing address.

Thank you to everyone that entered and all of the great book suggestions. I did not know there were other books related to this series. I can't wait to look them up! Have a great weekend!

My Cupcakes Were On Sonoran Living!!

2011-05-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

Sonoran Living is a mid-day show here in Arizona, for those of you not in Arizona. Jami, owner and fabulous friend, from The Savvy Socialista asked me if I could make some cupcakes for her, to show off some cute cupcake wrappers. I was very excited to be asked and of course said yes! She went on the show to share how to get great deals ad showcase some great products. She blogged today about her experience and shared a bit about the cupcakes too. :) Check out the blog post here and let her know I sent you over. You will love her site!

Here are some photo's I took of the cupcakes before they had their tv debut. :)

Mission of the Month- May 2011

2011-05-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

Do you have lots of goals and many things on your to-do lists? I do! I make lots of lists to try and stay organized and remember the things I need to get done. Daily things get added to my lists so writing them down is really important. Just yesterday I received a jury registration form in the mail. That has to be back in 10 days. I will forget if I don't just do it or at least write it down to remember in the next few days. So when Jenn over at Mama Jenn decided to have a monthly mission to help herself meet some goals I decided to join in. You can check it out and join in yourself if you are interested! I really hope that telling you all what I need to do will help me get it done!

So here are my goals for May.
-Organize my scrap area! I have gone through things so much it is a mess and there is no way I can scrap even if I wanted to. Must organize that area.

-I want to do one arts and craft project with the kids each week and share it here. I don't keep up with those fun things sometimes and so I will start small and say we are going to do one a week.

-Decide on curriculum changes for the next school year. I want to look at what we have been doing and what I would like to change or add. Hopefully, I can get that decided and then next month start looking for the supplies.

-Adding onto the last one I want to decide what activities and homeschooling groups we will participate in next school season. Meghan keeps telling me about activities she wants to do and I think the little ones need something too. Plus we need to find a group closer to us for weekly activities like park days. The ones we are in now are kind of too far away to go regularly.

-I am going to be participating in a cake show and a cake challenge within the show. I want to practice some of the things I will be doing for the challenge and get the cakes done that i will be entering in the show.

OK that seems like a lot to me. I will be very happy if I get all that done.

All About Milk

2011-05-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today we went for our weekly trip to our local farm. It is a raw, organic milk producing dairy farm. Love it! It's not super close so it takes about an hour round trip. We could just find a drop point closer but I haven't had time to look for one. The way they do it is various people around the state offer their homes as a drop point and then everyone around their home can go there to pay and pick up since it is closer. Like I said I have been too busy to find one but I also like going to the farm itself. They have a few people that bring in farm fresh, free range eggs as well. So I normally get eggs too. Plus I just like to go there. The people are really trusting so if someone can't be in the office they tell you to just drop your money in the box and take your milk. I guess that's working for them and they have had no issues. We have been getting milk there about 4 years, I think, and they still do it. If your aren't going to be able to make it before they close (which I think it 2 in the afternoon) then you can call ahead and they will put what you want out in the outside cooler. Again you pick it up and leave your money. It nice to see something working like that still in this day and age.

Today I drove the kids through Chick-fil-a for some lunch on the way home. They were waiting on something to finish so the server was chatting with me a little and asked if we were doing anything fun. So I let her know we had just come from getting our milk. She looked like she wanted to make a face,(although she didn't :)) and then asked me if it tasted different. I told her it didn't. I think told her that Kaden was sensitive to milk and that he has no issues with the raw milk. I told her that most people (which I believe is all but I say most because I don't know for sure, this is just from my own research) who are allergic to milk can have raw milk because the lactose is created in the processing. She was really surprised at that and said she would be passing on the information as she knows a lot of people with milk allergies.

There are so many reasons to seek out raw milk and healthy grown foods. Usually it's one reason that gets you started in researching and then you find out all the other benefits too. Kaden's milk sensitivity started my milk research long ago but now I know that it is so much better for us in many ways. Hopefully, I helped to get someone else started on their journey!

Muffin Tin Monday!

2011-05-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Oh it's been a looooong time friends! My kids have missed their muffin tins too. I asked them in the car this morning if they would like a muffin tin lunch and there was many happy screams and rejoicing. ;)

So I didn't get too creative about it. I am out of practice anyway but here is what we had.

PB and J crackers, sliced strawberries, bunny crackers,

a mini red velvet cupcake with some chocolate panda cookies and cheese circles.

Here they are eating it up! They all ate really good. I gave them each and little fish pick and that cause Kaden to eat cheese which he normally doesn't.

And fun was had by all!

(PS if you haven'ty already don't forget to enter my Little House Cookbook Giveaway!)

Mother's Day/Teacher Appreciation Week

2011-04-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's a stretch but I think a homeschooling mom should take a week off. This coming week teacher Appreciation day is on the 3rd and then Mother's Day is next weekend on the 8th. It's like Spring Break right? I need to do this! So next week we are taking off from our regular programming. Meghan is going to be excited! I want to read lots and cook with the kids. We have a review project we need to do and then I can get to my review. :) I want a hand print art project from my kids and I want to organize and declutter my house a little. I got a new laptop too and I need to go through everything on my old one and organize and delete. The kids have some new Wii games that I am sure they would like to wear out. ;) I might even get organized for school the next week but let's not push it!

I am making a list of the things I would like for us to do next week but it's going to be relaxed too. If you have seen any cool art projects or know of a nice hand print craft please post! I want to frame or save them somehow, so something that can be saved. Oh! That reminds me! I really hope to make a silhouette of each kids face too! Yea I am excited too!

Giveaway: Little House Cookbook

2011-04-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid my mom read us the Little House series. At least once. I loved it! I read them myself as I got older and I have now started reading them to my kids. When I learned about the cookbook I had to get it! I actually wound up with two, which is where you come in. If you love Little House books you will love this cookbook. There are snippets of really great information, things maybe you were confused about in the books. There are also recipes for tons of things "Ma" made. Such fun!

I will draw a winner on Friday, May 6th. To enter you just need to be a follower and tell me if you enjoyed the Little House series, or if you have never read it, or maybe what your favorite books were as a kid. I am always looking for more books. Homeschoolers love books!

I will give extra entries is you want to blog about the giveaway or if you share it on Facebook. Comment for each entry and leave a link. (Three chances to enter!)

I can't wait to read your comments!

Our Easter

2011-04-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying seeing all the Easter photos my friends have posted so I am going to share some too. :) We spent the day at my parents house and my grandpa came. We have not seen him in a long time. My brother Matt, sister in law Glenda and their two girls were there too. They moved here not too long ago and I am so happy to have them around! We had a relaxed day. My dad and brother grilled and we just ate and hung out. The kids had an egg hunt, blew bubbles and played with a ball and each other. They had a blast!

How to Survive a Layoff

2011-04-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

There have been and are so many people going through layoffs. As many know we went through one that lasted from December of 2008 to August or September 2010. It's hard and not something many of us are prepared for.

Today Connie from Smockity Frocks blogged about her husband getting laid off last week. They have some great plans and ways to cut back that I thought might help a lot of people. She has a great blog anyway, lots of homeschool resources and things to do with the kids. Please check it out and let her know I sent ya over! I am sure she will be happy for the support!

The Importance of a Good Word

2011-04-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

Ever have someone act some weird way and wonder what made them that way? Well I do. Maybe because I know things that have affected me in my life so I always wonder what made someone do or act the way they do, especially if it’s out of the ordinary.

So I have to say… I am not the most confident person. I am very critical of myself and my work. My business is probably one of the things I am the hardest on myself about. I am always worried the client won’t like their cake for whatever reason. Of course they usually love them and tell me so but there are some people that aren’t as animated or excitable, (kind of like me), and I always wonder if they really liked it. I remind myself that there are lots of personalities out there and not everyone is going to go crazy about a cake. :)

Anyway, I have the perfect example of why I am the way I am. Yesterday was Easter. We had plans to spend it at my parents’ house. They had actually moved a few months ago and we hadn’t seen their new house yet and my Grandpa was coming too. My brother Matthew and his wife Glenda and their two girls were to be there too. So I make cakes and sweets all the time so I thought I would offer to make the desserts. Seems logical right? My mom said that sounded good which surprised me. For this occasion though she said that was fine and I planned on what to make. I made a small carrot cake, shaped like a carrot of course, chocolate truffles because Nathan asked for them, chocolate and vanilla cake pops for the kids, a lemon sour cream pie and at the last minute I made some m&m cherry chip cookies.

When we arrived at my parents’ house we just put it all away for after lunch. A couple hours after lunch we start setting everything out and I learn that my dad made a boxed cheesecake and a jello cake. Of course they made desserts too! I was a tad surprised for a minute but then I got over it, because I wasn’t that surprised. Remember I was more surprised that they allowed me to bring desserts in the first place?

As we are taking out the desserts my mom asks “so what did you bring?” She doesn’t sound like she really wants to know. Later I found out all she had was a cookie which was about the size of a quarter. I let her know what everything was, she says nothing except, “that doesn’t sound good”, after I told her what flavor the pie was. My dad had carrot cake and he said “it wasn’t too sweet” which I took as a good thing.

It’s not that I expect everyone to go crazy with compliments or anything, really. Just a normal amount of common kindness is all. Something like “oh that looks good”, or “those are pretty”. Between the looks they made and what they said I didn’t think they really liked what I brought. Of course they didn’t try much. That’s not the point though.

This is the reason I believe I am so critical of myself and not so confident in general. My parents weren’t those people that encouraged their kids or gave compliments. I remember a time that I won an award at school. I think I was in 2nd grade and our entire school had an essay contest. I think it was k-3rd grades but I am not positive. I won 2nd place in the contest and there was an assembly that we invited our parents to. During the assembly they called us up on the stage and gave us a ribbon. It wasn’t a huge thing, looking back at it, but for an 8-9 year old girl it was a big deal. After the assembly was over my mom read the essay and got really upset. We were supposed to write an essay about our mom or another “mom” in our life. I wrote about my mom of course and how she had raised animals and had a garden; things like that. My mom thought I had written about my grandma and was not happy about it. I felt horrible. She later said she was sorry for getting upset but the damage was done. I don’t ever remember trying to do anything else like that and I have no idea what happened to that ribbon or essay. I probably threw it away. I still have a hard time trying new things or doing something where I might fail.

Now, I know my parents love me and did the best they knew to do when we were kids. Do I think they are proud of the person I am now or do I think they were when I was a kid, no, not really. I am not trying to put my parents down at all but I have learned that God is proud of me and my husband is proud of me and that is enough. This is just something to think about and share with others. Easter was a reminder to me as well. I know that sometimes we are so busy and get stressed and caught up in life that we might not take the time to do those little things that mean so much.

I try to make sure that I do those things with my kids. I don’t want them to be overly confident and full of themselves but I want them to be self-assured and not second guess everything they think or do. My kids get daily encouragement and are praised often. I make sure and tell them they are doing a good job, even when they can do better. I mean if I put down their efforts or don’t encourage them I am going to crush their spirit and they won’t care to try. I am pretty sure we will still screw our kids up someway but hopefully this won’t be the way. ;)

I want to inspire you today. Make sure and encourage and compliment your children. They really are fragile little people and what we do now will affect them their whole life in one way or another. Not that we can’t work through things and come out stronger on the other side but how amazing is it that God has entrusted us with these little people in the first place. I definitely want to do the best I can and give them the tools they need as adults and when they have families of their own someday.

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-24T01:42:00.000-07:00

We have been busy as usual. There is always something going on, or lots of somethings. :) Even on weeks I think we will be able to relax something happens and we are running running running. We had a great spring break but it wound up being pretty busy after all.

We have had a good time getting ready for Easter this week. We will be spending it with my parents, my brother and his family and my grandpa. I already have the Easter baskets ready and set up downstairs. We hid some eggs so those are done and I made desserts for tomorrow. The one thing we didn't get to do was color eggs this week. I believe that we will still do that because it would just be weird not to color eggs at Easter time right?

Tomorrow as you are cooking and visiting remember Jesus is the reason for THIS season as well! May you all have a blessed Easter!

Spring Break Day One!

2011-04-05T01:48:00.000-07:00

We had a good day for our first day of spring break! In the morning we all went outside and played. The kids rode their bikes/trikes around for a while. We then went and walked around our complex to find some spots to take some pictures. Later in the morning they sat out on the patio and painted. When Ellie decided to start eating the paint she came in to wash up.

We then had lunch and watched Tangled. We have seen it several times already but it's such a cute movie. I keep finding myself humming the songs. haha Ellie had her nap and Kaden and Meghan played together. After Ellie's nap we went to the gym, (the Jazzercise center, I love Jazzercise!) so I could work out. The kids played with the toys there and did a great job of keeping happy and busy while I worked out.

By the time we get back from the gym Nate is home. So we made dinner and the kiddo's played outside some more. All in all a great, relaxing day. I am loving spring break!

So excited!!

2011-04-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

So are the kiddo's! I have declared this week Spring Break! We have been kind of tired and burned out lately. The kids had a little cold, Nate and I got a little cold, now Ellie has a runny nose again. We haven't had a spring break yet so on Thursday I decided we needed a break. We are going to spend the week with some reading, cooking and baking, Easter crafts and just have some non-planned relaxing fun!

Nate also has an interview and Meghan and I have a field trip. I want to get some more posts up on the blog too. I have things planned I haven't had time to get done. This IS going to be a great week!

Winner!!

2011-04-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Yoplait gift package is........ Astewa !

Another FUN Giveaway!

2011-03-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

I know you like giveaways! I know I do. :) This one is brought to you by Yoplait and My Blog Spark. They have provided me with this fun gift and a coupon for free yogurt!

The spoons are so cute and Ellie has claimed the pink ball. :) There are alphabet shaped silly bands and a fun scavenger hunt game. My girls love yogurt and they all love popsicles made with fruit and yogurt. We have just recently started making these to find a healthy snack that my little man will eat. What are some ways that you have used yogurt for your kids snacks?

Please head over to Yoplait on Facebook and like their page. Here is a coupon as well for .50 off Yoplait as well!

Now for your chance to win! You will get the gift package and a coupon for free Yoplait Kids. Just leave a comment here telling me how you use yogurt in your kids meals and snacks. Recipes are always welcome of course. :) If you would like more entries, share this giveaway on your blog and post the link in another comment.

Good luck! I will draw a winner on April 1st!

Homeschooling for Free or Nearly Free

2011-03-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this article on Heart of the Matter. There is lots of information. When I very first started getting into homeschooling I thought I didn't have to worry about a curriculum too much because the kids were little. I found websites where people shared free curriculum and off we went. I assumed as they got older I would have to find something else. There are some things that I would like to buy and sometimes I will but for the most part, even as they get older you just don't have to buy much. If you have been trying to cut back spending on homeschool supplies or if you have thought you couldn't do it because of the cost please check out the article here.

I plan to start listing free currciculum that I have found online soon as well.

My Last Baby...

2011-03-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

Just turned two!!

This is her 'just woke up' look. ;) Still cute!

I have heard people talk about their last baby and how sad they are to reach their milestones. I can't say that I am all that sad but I still get surprised at how fast it goes. It might because I am so busy and have other children now. I remember it being a bigger deal when Meghan hit those milestones and her at 9, sometimes I still miss her baby stages, especially when I look at pictures and video's. With Ellie we are just having fun. I am sure it's partly because we have done it before. I didn't stress about taking her bottle away right as she turned one, it was a little after and it was no big deal. She still has her Binky right now and I am not stressing about that either. We took Meghan's away at 18 months and she started sucking her thumb. So we are fine with waiting it out.

Ellie is such a fun little girl. She is animated and loves to play. One of her favorite things right now is to play with bubbles. She loves to play with her big sister and brother. Kaden likes to help her with things and is trying to look out for her more recently. He will tell me if she has something she shouldn't have and then will try to take it away.

Ellie is also talking a lot more recently. She has started dancing and it is so cute! She is my first one to dance with her shoulders. I have to get it on video and I will share here! She likes books too just like her older siblings. She also loves to color and ride on Kaden's little bikes. She LOVES puppies. We have various movies about dogs for her. She likes to pretend she is a puppy. She will pant like a dog and a couple times I have picked her up and she licked me. ;)

She is our biggest fan. When Nathan or I come home she calls us and comes running to get "up". She is also the one that loves to snuggle the most. She likes to lay her head on my shoulder and just stay there. AND we are her biggest fan as well. She is the most fabulous little girl and I thank God for her daily!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Party Time!

2011-02-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

Meghan had a great party! The "best party ever" just like last years. ;) hehe This is the dessert table. The banner was created by A to Zebra Celebrations. I made all the goodies except the brownies which are from Bite Me Brownies and are amazing!

We started the day by Meghan's friend Miqa coming over to play early. She loved that! Miqa came around 10 and the girls spent the morning playing. A couple of Meghan's friends from the complex came over to play too. We got them pizza for lunch and they played while we got everything ready for the party.

What is the perfect activity for a Hannah Montana Rock Star Party??? Making your own silver jewelry, of course!! Meghan was so excited about that! As her friends would get there she would tell them all about it. "We get to make REAL jewelry!" Uncle John, (a fabulous jeweler!) brought all the stuff for them. They used a silver clay to make a charm. When the clay is fired and shined up it is a perfect piece of real silver jewelry! They loved it and each got to make one to take home.

Choosing a charm design.

Kaden waiting to help me make one.

Meghan got to make hers first.

Getting some help from cousin Lauren!

Kaden is really studying how to do this.

Miqa making her charm.

Hannah making hers.

Friends from our complex Alyssa and Natalie.

Meghan's finished charm.

This is the one I made. Well I started it and then John finished it for me. :) Thanks Uncle John! I love it! If you would like more information check out the website for Impression Silver! This is just the most amazing thing. They have classes at our local Hobby Lobby and book parties at their office.

Then Meghan said she wanted to do the pinata next. She has been wanting to have a pinata for a while so this is the year we got one! A Hannah Montana Guitar of course!

After that we sang Happy Birthday and Meghan blew out the candles.

Then she opened her gifts.

What a fun party. She had just the right amount of people and was able to play lots, which she loved too.

Thank you friends!! <3

What a day!

2011-02-27T01:26:00.001-07:00

Today was my oldest daughter’s birthday party. She had a good time. One of her friends was able to come early; they had several hours before the party to play. A couple friends that live in the complex came early to play too.

We live in a townhome community. Which means we have other townhomes around us, a parking lot etc. We have a gated patio area but the kids were playing in the grassy area between our group of homes. Ellie and Kaden were out playing with the girls and it was just a few minutes before everyone was to get there. Nathan and I were doing last minute things inside when I asked Nate to check on the kids. I go check on them often when Ellie is playing with them. She had earlier in the day tried to run into the parking lot because she was being chased and doesn’t really know better. So I tell Nate to check on her that I am not sure if she is in or out. I start calling out for her in the house and he is looking outside. I realize that no one sees her so I go out and start looking. I tell all the girls that I don’t know where she is and everyone runs off looking. I double check the house again and then I run out and start walking up the parking lot toward the entrance of the complex and see a woman all the way at the end of the turn walking back holding Ellie’s hand. So I quickly walk up to her, she lets Ellie go and she runs the last couple steps to me and wants up. She doesn’t seem concerned at all. I said something to the woman about I can’t believe she was way over here and she tells me “Yea she almost made it to the entrance”, (I hope she was exaggerating), which is where the cars come in from the main road. I said “Oh my gosh, really” and then I say “thank you” (embarrassed and ashamed) and walk away holding my baby. I know I looked like the moron mom that can’t keep track of her kids today. The lady just kind of looked at me. I guess it’s never happened to her. It’s never happen to me either… before today. I feel awful about it. I think earlier today I still had the party to get through and lots going on. Ellie came in and fell asleep right after that so she slept through most of the party and I kept busy. Now that it’s all over though and it’s time to go to sleep I am just sick thinking about what could have happened. I can’t believe I am “that mom”. I mean we have all heard stories of kids being found out by roads or getting hit by cars. I am that overly cautious type. I always stay with my kids on playgrounds and on field trips. I hold their hands at events and through parking lots. My kids stay right in front of the house so I can see who they are with and what they are doing. I get grief for being too protective. I can’t believe I let this happen!

I feel bad for Meghan too. She always begs for Ellie to go out so I tell her ok but you need to watch her and let me know if I need to get her. I also, like I said check on her every few minutes and leave the door open so I can hear what’s going on. Meghan is usually great about it but today she had too many people around and was distracted, like me. I really didn’t expect her to have to do anything today but I didn’t know Ellie would take off either. I assumed that Ellie would want to be with everyone else. Plus she had never left before. Meghan felt really bad and was crying. I had to comfort her and let her know it was NOT her fault. Luckily she calmed down before the party began and she didn’t seem to be upset or thinking about it at all during the party. She hasn’t brought it up again so I think she is fine. Kids are so resilient.

I know that Ellie won’t be going outside of the gate anymore. I am thankful that someone found her before she got any further and came back our direction. (Maybe she saw the balloons and assumed that’s where she came from?). I, Thank God, that He was watching out for her today when I so horribly failed.

Sigh…

My Baby Is Nine!

2011-02-22T02:03:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it. Meghan, my first born, the one that was an only for the first 5 years of her life.... turned 9 years old today. Amazing. Next year she will be in the double digits!

She told me she wanted a mother daughter night. So we went out to eat. She chose the place, Sweet Tomatoes.

She wanted me to tell the wait staff it was her birthday. I know she wanted them to sing to her. That would embarrass me and she said it would her as well but she wanted it anyway.

Well there was no singing but our waiter brought out three balloons and a big cookie in the shape of a 9. :) That was very cute and she was happy and felt special.

We also did a little shopping. We went to a couple stores and just wandered around looking at things. We did order balloons and get a few things for her birthday party next weekend. She is having a few friends over for a couple hours, just a small party. She loves to decorate and everything though so we'll be working on that. All in all I think we had a good day! We love a little girl time alone every once in a while. :)

Happy Birthday Meghan. I love you my sweet girl!

(PS I was informed she is not a little girl twice today when I called her "little girl". She also insisted on the adult cup and not the kids cup with a lid... so it begins.)

Giveaway to Share!

2011-02-21T17:01:00.002-07:00

I am having a giveaway for a super cute cupcake purse on my cake blog. Go check it out and enter!

Big G and Hot Wheels Giveaway winner!

2011-02-16T15:11:00.002-07:00

Our number chosen by Random.org is number 2...
Shannon you are the winner of the Big G Prize package!! Congrats!
I will email for your address!

Thanks everyone who entered!

It's a Giveaway!

2011-02-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's time for another fun giveaway! This one is sponsored by Hot Wheels and Big G cereals. Fun! Starting January 26th every participating box of cereal contains one of four custom designed collectible pull back racers! Each car also comes with a code to unlock an online racing game! Here are the participating cereals.

My kids love cereal and were more than happy to review these products. ;) General Mills and Hot Wheels through MyBlogSparkvb provided us with one box of each of these cereals. My kids like to have cereals for breakfast and snacks. I like for them to have them for snacks the most. I am having some Cookie Crisp snack as I write this. YUM! They are also loving these Hot Wheels! Kaden, of course, loves cars but the girls are having a great time playing with them too. There are enough for races!

So now for the good news! You, yes you! Can win your very own prize pack. You will get one box of each; Cheerios^® 14 oz, Cinnamon Toast Crunch^® 17 oz, Lucky Charms^® 16 oz, Reese’s Puffs^® 18 oz, and Cookie Crisp^® 15.6 oz. This will be sent to you directly from MyBlogSpark.

To enter!
#1 Follow my blog and leave a comment. (If you are already a follower just leave a comment letting me know).
#2 Leave a comment telling me your favorite Big G cereal.

I will draw a winner on Wednesday the 16th. Make sure to leave your email address in your comments so I can contact you and good luck!!

My Rut...

2011-02-12T23:06:00.001-07:00

I have been in a rut lately. Kind of. I haven't been posting much because I have these periods of time where I am worried, for lack of a better word, about being judged. No matter how much we don't want to let other people affect us, they do. If you hear enough negativity or someone acts mean toward you often enough, it's going to have an influence. Of course it is the same way if you are around positivity also. So it makes sense to be around people who lift you up and genuinely care about you. Often times it's the people who are suppose to care about you that bring us down. There is a lesson to learn. Treat those closest to you just as nice as you would a stranger.

I have reminded myself that I started the blog as a record for MYSELF and to share. I have already enjoyed going back through old posts to see what we were doing when Kaden was Ellie's age. I love that part. I think without a record of some sort, IE. a journal, we forget a lot of little things. I want to remember those little details from when the kids were young.

I also love to share. I like posting what my kids are learning and how. I know I enjoy reading about my homeschooling friends and how their days are going and what they are learning. I also like to share recipes. Again I read a lot of blogs and sites about cooking, baking and getting kids to eat different foods. I have found and tried so many recipes. I like to share what I have learned and the recipes we try and enjoy.

So all that to say I am going to post more. If someone has a problem with what I am doing, I guess they have a problem. My children were given to me and my husband, not anyone else, by God and we will raise them the way we feel He has guided us to do. Until He shows us differently we will keep going the way we are, seeking guidance from Him every step of the way. We aren't perfect by any means and never claim to be but we do the best we can. I won't let someone else tell me how to raise my children or what I am doing wrong.

And now! My new favorite song! Pretty much sums up my feeling here and just makes me happy. LOVE this song! This phrase is also something my mom used to say to my dad when she was teasing him. I had forgotten about it until I heard the song.

Until later!

Free Reading Curriculum!

2011-01-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to The Frugal Homeschooling Mom for sharing this information! Funnix is offering their entire reading program for free! There are six days left to take advantage of this. Just go to the site and sign up for the information. They email you and let you know how to download the program. Easy! This program was create by the same man that wrote Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. I know a LOT of people that liked that program so I will for sure check this one out. :) Enjoy!

A Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie

2011-01-20T18:22:00.001-07:00

I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I have had it a long time and never tried it. I think it's a recipe from my mom's collection of recipes. Before I moved out of my parents house I copied all the recipes I liked and some that I wanted to try. So I wanted to make some cookies but I like to make them healthier and change them up a bit. I really like this recipe because it's not a huge batch of cookies. You can make them often and have fresh cookies if you want.

So here is my new recipe after changing a few things up. I'll add my notes too. :) These were originally called Chocolate Chip and Peanut Cookies. I like oatmeal in my cookies instead.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degree F

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar ( I used rapadura sugar and then I ran out so I used a natural cane sugar for the rest)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (I used my fresh ground whole wheat which is a light colored wheat)
1/2 cup oats (I used quick cook because that is what I had but I have used rolled and they were fine. I like oats in these cookies because it is yummy but I also like it because cookies with all butter spread. a lot. With the oats in there it doesn't spread)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 6oz chocolate chips (mini or regular sized)

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla; and beat until fluffy. Mix together flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Stir into creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips by hand. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 for about 10 mins. Remove from sheet immediately

I have also added a couple tablespoons ground flax seed to the mix. You do need to watch these closely, because an over done cookie is not yummy. Since they are brown already you want to be sure not to over bake. Enjoy! If you make these let me know how you like them :)

Family Movies

2011-01-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

This information was passed on to me through a local homeschool group. I just want to copy it here and share a good movie with everyone. If we aren't able to watch when it airs I will DVR it and see how it is too. :)

For years, Americans have been aching for entertainment appropriate for

families. In April 2010, two of America's biggest advertisers -- Procter &

Gamble and Wal-Mart -- decided to do something about it! And so was born

Family Movie Night.a series of evenings on which movies perfect for the

entire family are shown.

The newest made-for-TV movie on Family Movie Night airs this Saturday,

January 8th, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 pm Central on Fox. Change of Plans is a

delightful movie of the kind "they don't make anymore." It's a touching

drama about the importance of family - and about being open to seeing a

"change of plans" not as a disaster, but as an opportunity. Best of all,

it's completely free of offensive content.

Change of Plans was financed by Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart. These

companies have put their own money on the line to create programming

appropriate for families and children. And now, restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A

has joined with them in sponsoring and promoting family programming.

We all should applaud these sponsors for doing what the networks aren't

willing to do. But more than that, it is vital that we support them!

Please watch Change of Plans with your family Saturday night -- and

encourage your friends and family members to do the same. Don't miss this

chance to show your support for clean family programming!

Change of Plans airs on Fox Saturday, January 8 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central)

Taco Night Winner!

2011-01-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

The winner of our Taco Night Giveaway, as chosen with random.org is Mami2jcn! Congratulations to you!
Thanks everyone who played!

A New Year!

2011-01-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

To say I am excited about 2011 is an understatement. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see the old year pass. I believe 2011 will be a good year!
We had a great Christmas and New Years too. Here are some pictures from our Christmas season...

Christmas Caroling at a nursing home in Scottsdale.

Kaden took all of these, he is my budding photographer. :)

He took some at the mall...

Making Cookies

Not a fan of the flour. haha

Decorating the cookies

Our tree

Christmas day

We took our tree down this weekend and started school back up today. We are doing a unit study on horses right now. Meghan loves horses so she is thrilled!

Family Taco Night (Giveaway)

2010-12-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know about everyone but in our family we have a lot of taco's. I am not sure if it is the area we live in, the southwest, or if it's just because it is an easy meal. It's just one of those things that are easy and fast to throw together and always yummy. I love to get a lot of toppings together too. It's more fun to build your own food for kids. :)

To encourage "Family Taco Nights" Old El Paso (and MyBlogSpark) is giving away a lovely little prize package! Should you win, your package includes these two plastic serving containers, a package of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix AND a $10.00 gift card to buy the rest of your taco fixings!

They graciously provided one for my family as well! Here is the taco seasoning at work. It has all the seasoning you need right in the package and makes taco nights even faster! (Yes, I made it in a wok. Shhh it's ok) :)

Here are a couple fun recipes to try with your Old El Paso products.

Double Layer Taco's

Chicken Ranch Taco's I love chicken taco's!

You could really go crazy with this. Here is a fun game to play that goes along with the theme.

El Tacodor

Depending on your kids ages you could do a craft. I know mine love crafts.

Crafts

What about dessert??? Mexican Wedding Cookies

Okay now for your chance to win this prize from Old El Paso and MyBlogSpark.

You have two options to enter. Do one or do both.

#1 Become a follower of this blog. Post a comment letting me know you are a follower.

#2 Let me know what your favorite taco recipe or other Mexican food recipe is, or your favorite taco topping, maybe share the recipe or a link to it? :)

Now go! and Good Luck!

Mixing Bowl Academy

2010-12-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

My friend Ami over at Walking By The Way is having a giveaway. Actually two. You can enter to win one class with Mixing Bowl Academy and you can also enter to win a month of classes! These look like so much fun. I know Meghan would love them as she loves to cook anyways. Head on over and check it out and enter to win!

Apple Pie Giveaway Winner!

2010-12-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Pillsbury Love the Pie Giveaway is ...... Katie Hagopian! Congrats to you, I will email you.

Thank you to everyone that entered. A new giveaway will be posted soon!

Christmas; A Time to Give Back

2010-12-08T16:33:00.003-07:00

Christmas is a great time to give back and a great time to teach our kids about helping others. I believe that if we all helped each other more we wouldn't have so many issues. There are so many charities and causes; these are just a few that I like.

Something we have always done is the Christmas Angel Tree. These are set up everywhere, the mall, grocery stores and we have them at our church.

Operation Christmas Child is another I like. This is something you can plan for all year as well. Back to school time is a great time to get a lot of the items for the boxes and of course save those boxes all year. :)

Now this one is one that has really been on my heart this year, Hope Kids. They are local, in Arizona. I donate cakes to their special occasions when they need one. They plan and create events and parties for the kids and families of kids with major illness. When children are that sick it is really hard for their parents to plan outings just for fun. They spend a lot of time at the hospital or doctors offices having tests and treatments and just don't have the time and I would assume the energy for those things. There are also often other children in the family too and they all need that time to just try to relax and have a good time. That is where Hope Kids comes in and they do an amazing job. I love working with them. You can donate on the website.

Another awesome cause is http://reecesrainbow.org/. They are there to help children who need to be adopted. Most are from other countries and are in orphanages and institutions. The children need homes! So they get the word out and if you aren't called to adopt you can donate towards a child's adoption fees. It is so expensive to take all the trips there and then going through the process. Everything helps.

What is your favorite charity this year? What other things are you doing with your kids?

Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Working Mommy Wednesday- Top Ten

2010-12-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

Joining in for Working Mommy Wednesday over at Work, Wife Mom...Life! with my friend Julia! So today I list my TOP TEN Christmas LOVES.

1 I love THE Reason for the Season! Without Him... well why celebrate?

2. I love the baking. Those things that only get made at this time of year, that you wonder why don't I make this some other time, but never do.

3. Decorating! I love decorating my house and hassling my husband to do the outside stuff. :)

4. Movies! My secret, I watch them whenever I feel like it throughout the year. At this time of year though no one is teasing me about it.

5. Caroling! When I was a kid we went with our Christian School and we caroled at night, stopping at a predetermined house for hot chocolate and candy canes. Loved it! I have been able to take the kids a few times to carol at a local nursing home with our homeschoool group.

6. Traditions; all those little things that each family has. I know we all do some of the same things and I am sure we all have little things that are all our own too. We get new pajama's on Christmas Eve, lots of people do that. We have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning, drive around at least one evening looking at pretty decorated houses and do lots of holiday crafts; just to name a few.

7. Music! I start listening to it as soon as they start playing it on the radio, which is usually the day after Thanksgiving although it has been earlier.

8. Shopping... I don't always do a ton of shopping but I do like to. I almost always go out on Black Friday. I am not crazy about it or anything. I don't get up super early, or wait in lines over night, but I do go out for a couple hours and just shop around. if there is something I need great; if not that's fine too. I just really like the whole "holiday spirit" of being out there.

9. Crafting, I love to make my own gifts. I usually make edible gifts as well but I also love to scrapbook and craft. So when I get to make gifts I have a blast.

10. My Kids! Kids are just so innocent and happy. I love to watch them have Christmas and the excitement and wonder.

So much fun! Let me know what your favorite thing about Christmas is and join in on WMW. :)

Apple Pie and a Giveaway!

2010-12-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows I LOVE to bake. It's my favorite, my "thing", my job, my gift... One of my favorite things about the holidays are all the pies, (baking them and eating them)! It seems like that is really the only time we have pie except maybe an occasional one through out the year. Why is that anyway? We need pie more often!
There are so many different types we have this time of year too but one of my favorites, and I think a favorite of many people, is the apple pie. So when Pillsbury (through MyBlogSpark) offered me a chance to blog about their pie crusts I was excited!

They sent me this "Love the Pie" kit. Love it! It came with a pie plate, set of measuring cups, apple shaped timer, trivet, potholder, apple corer and of course, a coupon for free pie crusts!

Now I normally make all my pie crusts from scratch so I was very interested to see how the store bought ones work and taste.
Meghan wanted to help me make the pie. She loves to help me cook and bake. So she washed the apples and helped to peel them.

I had the crust sitting out so it could warm up to room temperature. It is in a roll and all you have to do is unroll it and stick it in the pie pan! So easy. No flour or trying to roll a circle. It is very easy to work with.

Pretty!

And here is the finished pie! YUM!

It was actually very good! I love how easy the crust is to work with. It will definitely help me throw together a quick pie in the future. I might even make pies more often! I highly recommend trying it out for yourself and you can! Pillsbury is letting me give away a Love the Pie kit to one lucky reader!!

Please leave a comment telling me what your favorite pie is and how often you make pies.

For a 2nd entry you can blog about this giveaway and your own pie baking experiences. Leave another comment here with a link to your blog post.

The winner will be chosen randomly and posted on December 10th. Good luck and enjoy some pie!

The Birth of Jesus

2010-11-29T22:47:00.001-07:00

Today we started our Christmas Unit Study. I looked up a quick site to read the Christmas story to the kids real quick and found this site. There is another story at the top. I just skipped that part. There are also some coloring pages, crafts and activities at the bottom. It's a cute little site to add to our study.

Merry Christmas!

It's the Holiday Season!

2010-11-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the year! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Uncle John and Aunt Leslie's! They always do a great job and we have a good time. The kids love to play there with their girls and their cousin. We have a lot to be thankful for and we are.

Meghan and I went out Black Friday shopping a little bit. I was mainly wanting to get a vacuum cleaner that was on sale because we need one and an Advent calendar. I will be filling the calendar with things for us to do each day, (an idea I got from 24/7 moms last week where I also won a pair of shoes!!)

Now we can get ready for Christmas. We are getting out the Christmas decorations as we unpack all our stuff and get settled. We really have done a lot. Still plenty to do but I can see the end. I hope to get most of it done (other than books because I have to get a shelf first) and be ready to do other things next week. We will be starting our Christmas unit study on Monday so that should be a lot of fun. We need to find the closest library and sign up quick.

I also have a list of things I want to make. This week I hope to make different kinds of breads as we need them. I have pumpkin bread, cranberry bread and monkey bread on the list. I also want to make puppy chow and maybe some sort of popcorn.

What are you doing this week that is Christmas related?

Christmas Gifts

2010-11-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since we just moved again I have been thinking about the toy situation. I have slowly been weeding out some toys that either the kids are too old for or things they don't play with. I also like the idea of rotating toys so they get "new" things to play with every so often as well. My thoughts though have been turning to things that aren't toys. I don't think they need a million new toys for Christmas, because then not long after that they each have a birthday. So some gift ideas I am contemplating for my kiddo's...

Board games- we have a lot of games but I like games. They have to play together and think about how to play and win. I also like the Wii games and there are learning type games for that too.

Memberships- We have a couple zoo's close and the Science Center. I might look into those. This would provide year long fun and learning! (With the added bonus of taking up no space. :))

Movie tickets or memberships- I don't know if they have any sort of membership but I would love to take the kids to a movie once in a while. I will be looking into that. This could be extended to trips to the bounce house places like Bounce U and to roller skating or ice skating.

Classes- Meghan has been asking for a lot of different classes. I haven't had time to find any close yet but I will look into it. She has most recently asked about ballet and acting classes. Kaden would probably love a gymnastics class.

Hmmm I am still thinking about this but I am really interested in things that we won't accumulate more "stuff". Since we home school also I love ideas that give us things to do all year long.

Do you have any ideas for gifts that are not toys? Please share!

Finally... our Halloween pictures

2010-11-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

I never seem to get things up right away! BUT better late than never right. :)

I had a Hannah Montana (people asked if she was Lady Gaga a lot and she didn't care for that! I guess her wig was too blond), a Wow Wow Wubbzy and a Monkey. First thing we did was go to the mall.

Then we went to our church festival where Kaden played games,

and Meghan played games,

and Kaden and Ellie pet the animals.

Ellie loved the animals! She stayed there the longest.

Meghan got her face painted.

They all did crafts.

After the festival we took them trick or treating. They had a blast and it was fun because the neighborhood really participated and there were lots of kids out. It was cool to see groups of neighbors out in front of a house with a fire, chatting and having fun.

Of course they got plenty of candy which is now being rationed out. :)

A New Home

2010-11-22T22:41:00.001-07:00

So we finally moved into our own home again. (For those that don't know we have been living with my in laws for the last 8 months while my hubby found work and we figured everything out) My in laws made it possible for us to quickly come back to AZ. As much as we appreciate being able to come back "home", we are so happy to have our own place again. Right now everything is a mess of course. There are boxes being sorted and put away everywhere and from the looks of it I need a bookshelf STAT, but it feels good! Everyone seems to be happy about the arrangement as well. Ellie and Meghan are sharing a room and Ellie hasn't been fussy at bedtime at all. She goes to sleep pretty easily and I have to think that is because Meghan is in there with her. A bonus to that is Meghan has decided she likes to change diapers so when they wake up in the morning she just changes her, doesn't even tell me. Yesterday she changed a poopy one too! Ellie has also only been waking up once at night so that is a huge improvement. Hopefully she continues and maybe she might stop waking at all... I can hope. I was concerned also that Kaden wouldn't like having his own room because he had been sharing with Meghan and he isn't always the best at accepting change. He has gone to bed pretty easily and fell asleep quickly as well.
So all in all a great week here and then we get Thanksgiving dinner too. YAY We are blessed!

$100 giveaway

2010-11-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

My friend Shannon over at Bento Lunch is having a great giveaway for a $100 visa gift card. Check it out and enter! You will love her blog if you haven't seen it before!