Monthly Archives: August 2016

Antiquing

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My new favorite thing to do on the weekend is going to the local antique stores. I didn’t go this weekend and I felt like I was going through withdrawals. I have found so many wonderful items. I bought a bundle of letters from a couple during WWII.  I also found a picture of a baby that is likely to be a distant relative of my husband. I have a love of milk glass and hobnail glass. I’ve acquired some new pieces for my collection.

There is something wonderful about walking in to those stores and thinking of the days gone by. It makes me long for simpler times. The craftsmanship and attention to detail in those antiques is hard to come by in today’s instant gratification world.

My daughters have also found a new love in those old things. It is an activity that we can do together and that has sparked many conversations about many different topics.

Here are some of the items that we’ve come across on our outings.

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Mall Nuts: roasted brown sugar cinnamon pecans {recipe}

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You know when you go to the mall and you turn the corner and the sweet amazing aroma of roasted nuts hits you in the face and it is heavenly?! My girls love those little snacks. I wanted to make some of those sweet treats at home for an after-school snack. Here is how I did it.

I took one egg white. I added 2 tablespoons of water and whisked it until it was foamy. I then added 2/3 cups of brown sugar and 1/3 cup white sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. of salt. I then threw in a 10 ounce package of pecans. I stirred until every pecan was covered.

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I then coated my crock pot with cooking spray and poured them in. I cooked them on low for about 3 hours and stirred them every now and then.

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When they were about done, I put them on a parchment paper line cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about an hour at 250 degrees.

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The girls said they actually tasted like those nuts from the mall. Mission Accomplished!

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Wise Words

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One of the things I love about Ambleside online is the amazing books that we get to read. (Now, I will tell you that each year I have found at least one book on our list that I have decided to not read. We either tried it and disliked it so much that there was no point in continuing or we found a book that better fit our children’s and our tastes.)

Back to great books… I have had the pleasure of discovering some great books through homeschooling and I never like to keep good information to myself (that seems so selfish). One of the books we are currently reading is Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin. It is basically proverbs. Some you’ll recognize right away like “No Pain, No gain” or “Haste makes Waste”. There are so many other gems of wisdom in this little book. I have definitely had to explain most of these to my girls. The language is sometimes hard to understand; but there is so much wisdom in those words that once I explain it, they are eager to tell of examples where this makes sense.

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This is a very inexpensive book at only $2.50. It would make a great little gift for a graduate, someone getting a new job, or even a stocking stuffer.

Science Fun {experiment}

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Our elementary science this year covers a broad range of ideas. I decided to do at least one science experiment a week from a couple of Steve Spangler’s science experiment books. Last week, we did an experiment that demonstrated Bernoulli’s Principle. For this experiment you’ll need a hairdryer, toilet paper roll, and a ping pong ball. He performed this experiment on the Ellen Show. My children loved doing it over and over. I think it really did help them understand the idea of lift that makes an airplane able to fly.

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Breakfast Pizza

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image.jpegI’m really trying to do better at making a variety of breakfasts and lunches for my children this school year. A huge time stealer of our time is mealtime. I made a menu of our breakfast, lunch, after-school snack, and dinner plans for each day. I was able to stick to it and found that each meal took up less time because there were no negotiations. One of the breakfast items was breakfast pizza. Here’s the recipe.

Breakfast Pizza:

1 refrigerated pizza crust

6 eggs

6-8 slices of bacon

1 cup shredded cheese

Cook the bacon. Set aside and crumble. Bake the crust until lightly brown. Scramble the eggs. Once all the ingredients are cooked, take the crust and layer the eggs, bacon, and cheese. Put in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted.

This is a very hearty breakfast. It would make a great breakfast for test days. I hope you enjoy it if you try it!

 

 

Science Party Goody Bags

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We had a science themed birthday party for my two girls whose birthdays are a week apart. For the goody bags, I included Dum Dum lollipops (since we weren’t Dum Dums), a solar system pencil, syringe pens, safety goggles, nose pencil sharpener,  brain splat ball, brain eraser, magnifying glass, Bath and Bodyworks antibacterial hand sanitizer, and some eye ball candies. Everyone was so excited to see what they had to take home. I can’t wait to share all the details of our science party soon!

After school snacks

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Tuesdays are long days around here. I wanted to make the kiddos a snack that would be a treat and would give them energy and keep their bellies full until close to dinner time.

These are little Monster no-bake balls. They are quick and easy to put together.

No-bake Monster Balls:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup m&ms

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

mix it all together and form into balls.

Enjoy!

 

 

Imperfect

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I always love a good blooper reel. I like to see those moments that are imperfect, but in all reality, are the most real moments of all. I was listening to the radio one afternoon when the host said that to get the one postable picture of his 6 month old   son, it took about 100 shots of pictures that he couldn’t use. My hard drive on my main computer died and many pictures were lost. These are from my phone.  I just don’t want to lose them and forget those real, imperfect moments.

That’s real stuff and I love it!