Wise Words

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.

image.jpeg

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}

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.

imageimageimage

Breakfast Pizza

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

image.jpeg

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

image.jpeg

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

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!

Jawbone and a Coupon

I had a Fitbit for a week before I returned it. I had lots of trouble with it. I then exchanged it for a Microsoft fit watch. I really liked this watch; but it mysteriously disappeared from my bag after our flight from Las Vegas. I searched high and low through every pocket of every bag, but it is gone. I miss not having something to keep me aware of my steps and calorie burn. I think it helps keep me motivated. The Microsoft was a little bulky and a little more expensive than I wanted to spend (again).

I just bought a Jawbone watch. I met a lady wearing one and she pretty much sold me on getting one a few months ago. Since we are already looking at fall break ideas, I decided I really need to whip myself into better shape and a watch will help keep me accountable. I signed up for their email and got $10% off my first purchase and it was free shipping as well. I bought the UP2 Lightweight Thin Strap for $89.

up2_thin_oat_spectrum

photo credit: www.jawbone.com

Once I completed my purchase it sent me a link (now expired)to let my friends get $15 off and they would give me $15 off any future purchase. I thought that was a nice little extra.

I hope you have a super day!!

Spider-Man party games

For our Spider-Man birthday party we had several games to play.

One was “Spin The Prey”. Groups of two would take a roll of toilet paper and spin their partner in it until the roll was empty. The fastest three teams went against one another until we had a winner.

Another game was “Web Blaster”.We took a box and marked it like a dart board and shot our “web blaster” aka silly string at it.

We had our unwrapping game. I take grocery bags and layer them around a little gift . The children sit in a circle and pass the wrapped item taking off one bag then passing it to the next child. For this party, I had gotten blue and red candies from The Fresh Market.

image.jpeg

We had a nice time at the Spider-Man birthday party and now it’s off to plan the next!

Vanilla Frappuccino Recipe {Low Carb}

imageMy children are big Starbucks fans. If calories and carbs were of no concern to me, I would love it too! One of the drinks I really enjoyed during my last pregnancy was the Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. It doesn’t have any coffee in it and is caffeine-free. Of course, that was probably a contributor to my big weight gain with my son. Every time we go to Starbucks, I think about how tasty that drink was and how I will probably never get one again. I decided to try my hand at making a low carb version of my favorite Starbucks cold drink.

It’s not a perfect copy, but it is cold, creamy, and has a great vanilla taste.

 

Loved in the South’s Low Carb Vanilla Frappuccino

1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbl.sugar free vanilla syrup

2 sugar substitute packets

ice

Put in all in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour in a glass and enjoy!

If calories were not a concern, I would have added 2 Tbl. of heavy whipping cream and a dollop of whipped cream on top. I believe that those additions would make it even more like that favorite coffee shop.

 

 

Good Morning

Most mornings I’m up and among non-family people before the sun comes up or at least very near that time. It always strikes me how people are so friendly in the mornings. Now, I know there are those people who detest mornings and they are not at all happy to chat it up with anybody; but I don’t usually encounter those people. Almost everyone who I see bright and early says, “Good morning.” We might even have a little chat as we walk along. It makes the day a little brighter when I meet up with nice people in those early hours of the day.

001 - Copy

I always say a sky like that is a reward for being up early.

I asked my husband why he thought people were much more likely to acknowledge and address one another in the morning. He believes that it’s because the stress of the day hasn’t worn people down yet and that the schedule seems a little more free to allow those extra few seconds or minutes of friendly chatter.

I think if people talked more, acknowledged one another more, and if we took a few seconds to greet one another and truly share more moments with each other, this world would be a better place. If I know someone else’s burdens or joys, even if I don’t know their last name, I’m more grateful and more caring for them and my own family than if I shut myself up in my own little world and only care about the things in my reach. I hope this morning is a good one for you and I hope that your day is a better one than yesterday!