Lego Fish Gift

What do you get for someone who has everything?  We ask this every December and February about my grandmother - the kids great grandmother.  At 84 she has everything she needs and wants.  If she wants it and doesn't have it - she buys it.  Great place to be, but where does that leave us when it's time to give gifts?  Enter a child's imagination.

WARNING: this is a permanent project!!!!!!

A great present to give someone is a fish but if they can’t take care of an animal then this is a great alternative. Items you need are:

Hot glue

Hot glue gun

A bottle/vase/container with a lid

A toy fish (if you use LEGO’s to build a fish then your fish will float)

Pebbles

2 clear rods

A fake plant

A bow

Water

1.      First you will cut the rods to the correct size so the fish will appear to be floating in the water.  We used dowel rods at first, but then realized after the project was done - something clear would have worked much much better.  
  

2.       Then you will glue the rods to the fish. (I had to put one rod on the fish after he was in because he did not fit) 

3.       After that you will glue the other side of the rod to the bottom of the bottle/vase/container and let it dry for 5 min. 

4.       Now you will pour the rocks in and then the plant gets put in.

5.       Then fill the bottle/vase/container with water.  A month after we finished, we realized that double filtered water wasn't enough.  Splurge, and buy distilled water.  Otherwise you end up with funky, cloudy water with floaties. YUCK!

6.       Put the lid on and glue the bow on the lid.

7.       Now give it to someone.

(If you want to experiment and use glass pebbles then just glue 14 pebbles to your fish instead of using rods but don’t glue the rocks to the bottle/vase/container)  Gluing glass pebbles didn't work for us, because as soon as the hot glue hit the water, the rocks came apart, or there just weren't enough to make fishy sink.  The way we have the plant and rocks, really hids the dowel rods, and great grandma loved it!

Freezer Meals pt 2

I have found some great recipies.  Here are my favorite links.

http://www.pinterest.com/greenbeachsox/freezer-meals/

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/08/50-easy-freezer-meals.html

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/07/freezer-cooking/

For our first swap, I made Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.  I initally found it on the back of a soup can, but you can now find the recipe on the Campbells website.

Chicken Enchiladas

What you need:

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup Pace® Picante Sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

6 flour tortillas (6-inch), warmed

1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 green onion, sliced (about 2 tablespoons)

What to do

1 Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in a medium bowl.

2 Stir 1 cup soup mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl.

3 Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in an 11 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the filled tortillas. Cover the baking dish and freeze.

When you are ready to eat it:

Place in the fridge the night before to defrost.

Heat the oven to 350°F

Bake for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling. 

Top with the tomato and onion.

Freezer Meals pt 1

Life gets busy.  As a homeschool mom with 3 kids I don't always have time to think about what is for dinner.  I like to plan a weekly menu, but with boy scouts, Awana, church, Awana, Toastmasters, Banjo, Awana (yes 3x a week), co op, flute lessons, and social activities I have a hard time planning a week out.

I have frozen meals in the past, just not in large quantities.  Recently I have been reading blogs about freezing mass quantities of meals for super cheap.  I just want a few extra meals in the freezer for busy nights.

Double cooking is not always an option.  I like the idea of spending 1 day cooking a dozen meals or so, and being done with cooking for several days.  Sounds extreme, but  it's just so much easier for my schedule.  If I can buy 6 chickens and make a dozen casseroles, my kids are fed, and I am done cooking for 12 nights.

I will not be feeding my kids the same thing everynight for 2 weeks.  I'm not crazy.  I get a few friends - who are as crazy as I am - and we trade!  Just last night we did this.  There were only 4 of us, so we each traded 2 meals.  I had 4 of my enchiladas, 2 chicken pot pies, 2 gallons of chilli and 2 gallons of chicken soup.  LOVE IT!

If you have never done this before, check out this blog, or this one.  Lots of good info.  Most important, in my book, use ziplock freezer bags when possible and freeze them flat.  To make the bags flat, simply put them on a cookie sheet.  You will either need multiple cookie sheets, or put a towel/wash rag/parchment between the ziplock bags so they won't freeze together.  If your recipe simply cannot work in a ziplock, use a cheap-o dollar store foil tin.  I have found these things in sets of 3-4 for under $2.  With heavy duty foil, they are pretty freezer safe.

Weather you have a meal swap, or just stock your own freezer, make sure you put the NAME of the recipe, DATE, and INSTRUCTIONS on the meal (ie, how long to cook, cook from frozen or thawed, do you need anything extra?).

How do I keep up with what is in the freezer?  Like this. Such a simple idea, why didn't I think of it?! I use dry erase on everything!


How long will meals last?

Using raw meat -

• Chicken - 10 months
• Fish 2-3 months
• Ground beef - 3 months
• Pork Roast 4-6 months
• Beef roast -9 months
• Pork chops/ribs 2-3 months
• Steaks 7-9 months
• Whole chicken/turkey 6 months

Cooked meals - 

• Meat and poultry in sauce - 5-6 months
• Pasta dishes 2-3 months
• Sauces, soups, stews 5-6 months
• Egg dishes -3 months

Gift Giving

Another reason I love having fully prepared meals in my freezer is that any time I know someone is struggling (financially, just had a baby/ death in the family, medical emergency.....) I am prepared with a yummy dinner!  

This is also one of my favorite things to give my MIL.  2x for Christmas I have given her 8-10 frozen meals.  With only 3 in the house, this is a month or more of dinners and lunch for them.  She is disabled and loves not having to cook!

Next time I will post recipes!

Indoor hopscotch

Another game to prep for the upcoming indoor carnival (gotta love Houston weather - no one knows if the weekend is going to be sunny or rainy)

I really don't like carpet - this would work on carpet - but use a little more tape.  I put this down this morning - used painters tape - and the girls have had a blast with it all day.

Well, I say I put it down, I actually put the 1 and 3 down and my 9 yo daughter finished the rest in under 5 minutes.  This is going to stay down for a while.  Great for rainy days, or any time - our sidewalks are horrible for hopscotch.

Easiest Face paint Ever

I can't believe that I found these again!!  I used these when my son was small and LOVED them.  I have searched the internet and multiple stores for years looking for these.  I walked into walmart yesterday and found them on an endcap - like they had been there forever.

A simple box of water color pencils.  Being crayola they are safe and non-toxic.

Simply get the pencils wet

Then draw on your face, arm, leg......  It washes off easily with soap and water and is so much less messy than paint.  They don't melt and store easily.  If you dont need them for face paint, they are still map pencils and color (water color pencils!) on paper.

I cant say enough great stuff about these.  I never use them as intended, always as face paint.  We play dress up a lot and the kids thoughly enjoy them

Carnival Birthday Prep work

Birthday parties are supposed to be fun.  Enjoyable.  Memorable.  Not a ton of work.  So why do we, as moms, always go overboard when our children would be happy with a large cardboard box and a few friends?

This year I wanted to surprise my daughter for her "First Double Digit Birthday."  She was making a big deal about turning 'double digits' and my older daughter wanted to throw a surprise party.  This wouldnt be too hard.  Not a first for our crazy family.  

Here is what we did.  The party was so much fun, not incredibly expensive, and all the kids had a blast!

Tic tac toe - very traditional.  We made bean bags out of scrap material, two different colors.

Using old (clean) soup cans we made a can toss.  After super glueing the lids back on, the birthday girl painted the cans.  We used cheap acrylic paint that I knew would chip off. We can repaint them later.  Using a bean bag, we simply stacked them in a tripod and tossed bean bags at them.

An old, free bandana makes great bean bags (stuffed them with dried beans or rice).

Using a washer machine box, we cut one corner to open it up.  the flaps are down on the bottom for support.  After finding 3 photos online, we went to a copier and had them blown up for only $3 each!  They were printed in black and white so we could color them.  My boy scout cut out the face so the kids could stick their face through.  

The side you cannot see is simply decorated with green and purple crepe paper.

Behind the photo booth are props.  You can buy them at walmart for $6 or print them for a few pennies in black and white and attach a cheap straw or skewer.  We printed mustashes, top hats, beards, glasses...... and pulled out a few props from the dress up box.

Decorating the photo booth

Homeschooling and prepping for college - Part 2

I have no idea how many parts this is going to have.  I am learning a lot through this journey.

When I was in high school, I was not guided on what to do to prepare for 'real life', for college, or shown how to navigate scholarships, etc.  Unfortunately, I will make a lot of mistakes with my son.

Mistake #1 (I will start with 1, it makes me feel better) - Take the practice PSAT as a freshman.

• Freshmen are encouraged to take the practice PSAT for national merit scholarship purposes.  As a sophomore, you take the PSAT, and take it again as a junior.  As a senior, you take the SAT.

There are places to help you learn how to take the SAT/PSAT.  Kaplan is one of the better known and most trusted sources.

• Know how to read your SAT/PSAT results.  

http://sat.collegeboard.org/home  and http://www.majortests.com/sat/sat-scores.php  told me a lot without more confusion and without doing too much research.

As a freshman I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I grew up.  I didn't know where I wanted to go to college or anything.  My son knows that he wants to go to the Air Force Academy, be a pilot and fly missionaries all over the world.  This isn't something he came up with last week.  This is something he has talked about for 2 years now.  Ever since he first sat in a pilots seat.  My next step, after getting his PSAT score

• Look up what kind of score is required

Simply go to the website for the school of choice, and search for the SAT requirements.  This will give you an idea of how much improvement you need.

• Check for application fees

Just start now.  Fees have more than doubled since I applied for college.  Make sure that your college or savings account will not only cover books, tuition, room and board, and what ever else is needed, but also application fees.  I have heard of some being more than $50!

Differences in ability

How do you cope with differences in ability to memorize? 

With 3 children, they all learn differently. My 14 yo son just reads the verse over and over and over, has me quiz him, then goes back and reads it over and over and over.

My 11yo daughter lays upside down (usually on the stairs) with a white board. She writes the verse and reads it over and over. After a few times, she will erase a word, recite the verse, erase a word, recite the verse......  this goes on until she can do the entire thing from memory.

My youngest walks in circles around me while repeating what I say. It takes her  about 15 circles and repeating the passage 2x to have it down well.

Of course none of this starts until we know what the verses mean.

My children work through the Awana book, therefore they are always learning different passages than their siblings. In the summer we review the book or do extra credit. If you don't use the Awana curriculum, require certain basic passages. If you have never tried memorizing before, it's never too late to start for yourself.  God wants us to memorize His word.  Take baby steps so you don't overwhelm yourself and give up.

If your student is An overachiever, encourage her to learn more and not stop just because the 'requirement' was met. This could be a new passage or the passages surrounding the original.

Example:  you ask your 9 yo to memorize John 3:16. He gets it in a day. Instead of waiting a week to five him a new verse have him work on John 3:17. Then 3:18, And so on until you are ready for him to move on to another section.

Remember to be enthusiastic when encouraging anyone to memorize scripture. Your enthusiasm will help them to become enthusiastic themselves.

Curriculum review - Mystery of History Volume III

Mystery of History - Volume III

Kerr rating - **** (4 stars)


Although there are some spots that the girls didn't care for - a little too much fighting/blood - they love the Queens and Kings, travel, and exploration.  This volume covers the Renaissance in Europe, Asia, and Italy.  While the Renaissance and Reformation were taking shape in Europe, we’ll look at the rise of wealthy empires in West Africa; the Mogul dynasty of India; and the peaceful lives of the Aboriginals of Australia.  We will also visit Ivan the Terrible in Russia and the Tokugawa family in Japan. 

Week 1, Lesson 1 begins with the Wars of the Roses in 1455 and goes through lesson 84 talking about Isaac Watts in 1707.  We used a few Drive Thru History videos to 'see' that area of the world and what it looks like today, versus what is being described in the book.

Maps are always a necessary addition to any History curriculum.  We had those supplied by the co op, but often reprinted them from http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/

We also made a timeline for each event that we read about.  That is a lot to put on a timeline, but it helped us realize what was going on in the rest of the world while England was dealing with the War of the Roses

Folding laundry

My youngest daughter is very messy.  I don't mean just a little, I mean REALLY really messy.  I had to do something to 1) figure out which clothes on the floor were clean/dirty and 2) keep her dresser neater.

Then I found these wine bottle holder things.  I don't drink, but know many people who do.  I started collecting these things.  Apparently when you go to the liquor store and buy several glass bottles, these are wrapped around the bottle to keep them from hitting against each other.  Neat, but what do you do with them when you get home?

Fold laundry! 

After folding laundry for short stuff, I used that plastic thing to wrap up her clothes.  Now I know what is clean, what is dirty, and her drawer is much neater.  This works for all her shirts (sweaters are a bit bulky), pants, skirts and especially scarves (why does she have 9 scarves?  We live in south Texas!)

So, her pile of clean laundry now looks like this.

Topsy turvy cake and sugar sheets

I love to go all out for my kids birthdays.  I also like to keep some money in my pocket when possible.  One way to save money during birthday season is to make my own birthday cakes.  Instead of 30+ for a cake, I can get away with under 5.  

This year my daughter wanted a topsy turvey cake.  I have never made one before, and I will warn you - these are more for very large crowds than a small birthday party.

I don't think it came out too bad.  I saw a great toutorial at: http://www.mysweetandsaucy.com/2009/02/topsy-turvy-cake-tutorial/

The only problem we had was with the really nice looking sugar sheets.  They dont do so well on rounded surfaces.  These are great if you cut them and use them to decorate the tops of cupcakes, the top of a cake, cut them into shapes to decorate a cake....  Just not as the side of a topsy turvy cake.

Either way - my girl loved her birthday and did a great job decorating cake #12

Fruit dolphins

Another fun thing I saw on Pinterest.  I dont have the directions, and there were none on Pinterest.

What I did:  Take 2 bananas and cut them in half.  Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the 'beak' of the dolphin in half.  Using the tip of the knife, carve two small eyes on the dolphin.  Carefully put a grape in the 'mouth' of the dolphin (to hold it open)  Put the dolphins in a dish - I used a pie tin, and surround with fresh fruit.

It really is that easy.

Bottled water

I have never been a big fan of bottled water.  I think it is over priced and the bottles are a waste.  Unfortunately, there are times when I leave my bottle at home (I have GOT to find a good one), or they are passed out wherever I go.  I also keep a case in my truck - just in case. 

Since I first got pregnant I have been extra sensitive to the 'stuff' in tap water.  I can smell the chlorine.  It is not appealing.  I typically use filtered water - no biggie.

I do, however, keep a case in my truck, along with a gallon jug.  You never know when you are going to swallow a fly or stay out too long in the hot Texas summer.  Yesterday, while I was sitting at a stop light, I looked at the label of my bottle.  "Name brand" It said that the water source was "Public water supply from Pasadena, TX"

Yuck!  They have some of the worst water in the area!  

Wait!  so you are now telling me that I just paid $3 for a case of tap water!?!?

Not just any tap water, the stuff I usually can't stand to drink!

I couldn't believe my eyes!  I will definitely be paying a LOT more attention to where my water comes from.  Better idea:  get that whole house water softener I have been wanting on this new house (should have taken it from the old house - it was expensive) and bottle my own!

When I got home, I decided to do a (minuet) bit of digging.  I know how bad bottles are for the environment, and that the water is not as pure as advertised (esp now!).  I came across these two videos on YouTube.

The first one made me laugh.  The second one just reinforces the argument that the convenience is just not worth the cost.

I will continue to use my Dollar Store plastic cup, and refill it with the gallon jug of .30 cent water I keep.  No more bottles.  Besides, they always roll under the seat.....

Eggs from the waffle maker

I saw this terriffic idea on Pinterest and thought I would try it.  I will not buy something (esp for the kitchen) unless it has multiple uses.  This goes for cake pans, small appliances, even utensils.  So, you can imagine how excited I was when I found another use for my waffle maker (it was a gift - not something I would have bought).

Heat the waffle iron.

Crack your eggs, add milk and spices as you normally would.

Pour the egg mixture onto the hot waffle maker.  Close and let it cook.  I let it cook until the light said 'ready'

 

They look like yellow waffles, but the kids thought they were really cool.  My fave part - no added oil or butter.

Do not try with egg whites only.  That did not work out at all.  This is with 3 whites.

What passages should be memorized?

It doesn't matter where you begin.   God desires for us to HIDE his Word in our hearts.  Why? So we will not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11).  You can use the list I have provided, an Awana book, the list in your Bible (either in the front or back), or just pick one that means something to you.  

Establishing  schedule of memory passages for each grade, such as the sample listed below, has several advantages. 

A primary advantage is that material learned in previous years can be easily reviewed. A frequent failure in memorization is that what is learned  at one point is not retained. So, apart from good mental exercise, memorization was not too beneficial.

Memorization of entire books of the Bible is also valuable, in that it helps give some extra incentive over learning isolated passages. There is a since of accomplishment in having learned an entire book of the Bible. To avoid losing interest, you would be wise to begin with the shortest books.

Awana extra credit verses

Awana Truth Scripts

Matthew 6:9-15

Ephesians 6:13

Psalm 117

Matthew 2:18-20

Luke 2:8-16

Psalm 23

1 John 2:15-17

John 4:1-6

Galatians 5:22-26

Psalm 100

John 1:1-12

Hebrews 11:1-7

Matthew 7:13-20

Matthew 28:1-10

Psalm 121

Psalm 136:1-9

Genesis 1:1-5

Matthew 5:1-16

Matthew 6:24-34

Psalm 46

Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 96

Proverbs 4:1-13

1 Thessalonians 5:15-23

Psalm 19

Proverbs 4:14-27

John 14:1-21

1 Corinthians 13

Psalm 24

Ephesian 6:10-18

Psalm 8

Philippians 4:4-20

Psalm 107:23-31

Matthew 22:37-39

Psalm 119:1-16

Psalm 122

Hebrews 11:6-10

Psalm 27

Proverbs 3:1-16

More Resources:

www.MemorizeHisWord.com 

https://www.bible.com/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/422634746252175976/

http://www.pinterest.com/greenbeachsox/awanabible-study/

http://www.desirespiritualgrowth.com/resources/bible-memory-plans/

http://www.friendship-church.org/bibleread/

http://www.memverse.com/

http://www.fcaphx.com/files/Scripture%20Memory%20Plan%20with%20verses.pdf

Candy crafts

Today was hot.  Not just outside, but inside as well.  We all got a bit cranky and didn't want to work on school work.  

Great time for an art lesson!

After a trip to Walmart we made candy creations.

I made a simple sample for the kids so they had some sort of clue what I was talking about.

I made all the boxes face the same way simply for aesthetics.  I started by gluing 6 boxes of milk duds together.

6 for the base and 4 more (separate) for the next level.

Then I glued the 4 on top of the 6

2 small rolls of Rolos later - and I have a car.

Here is what my 11 yo daughter did:

She started with a Styrofoam ring.  Then laid the candy out to see if it would all fit.

After swiping some from brother, she started to carefully glue the first layer on.

I didn't get many photos of during - and missed the final product, but here is what was done the first day.  

This was made for her birthday party.  Everyone loved looking at it, then getting to destroy it.  Great thing is, the hot glue did not ruin the foam.  Now she gets to do another later.

The boy:

Again, started with just a plain block of foam.

He is so talented.