Painted Sticker Canvas - Scripture Art

While reviewing our "perseverance" virtue card the yesterday, this scripture jumped out at me:"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." ~ Philippians 4:13

I thought it would be a great thought to hang in our school room, since often sometimes we run across new concepts that seem impossible.

I remembered seeing this project on Pinterest and made up my own version, using scrapbook letters and supplies that I had on hand. After linking back up to the original blog post, I realize now that the writer cut her letters out of contact paper, which is a better idea than using the wooden letters that I used for "things" (the paint slipped through underneath the edges). I ran out of stickers and tried to make do.

I actually could have left the canvas like this...it's so much cleaner than the way mine turned out! And the colors actually weren't too obnoxious together.

I painted over the letters with yellow, blue and gold. I would use all dark colors next time.

Then I peeled off the letters and realized the issue with the word "things"

I repainted the t-h-i-n-g-s letters pink (Kaylin's pick) and replaced them to see if it looked better than the white. 

Just to be real for a second, I was having a rough day yesterday (totally blaming it on PMS) and so were the kids. While I was pulling letters together and placing them on the canvas, the kids were having trouble focusing on their school work. At one point, I was so frustrated that I banged my hand on the table to get Ryan's attention (we currently use a folding table in the school room) and the whole thing shook, bouncing the not-yet-stuck-down letters all over the place. As I put them back carefully, my eyes focused on the words: "I can do all things through Christ..." and I was so incredibly convicted of my impatience. Oh, the irony...

Enough about that. I think I like the white "things" better. What do you think? I need some feedback, please...I'm being indecisive.

Skinny Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo

We tried this recipe before diving into our Gluten Free meal plan experiment and it was beyond delicious! It was hard to believe there was no butter or heavy cream. I might re-add it to a future meal plan and use GF pasta as a substitute. It's a must-try.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and cut into chunks (about 2 cups, if using leftovers)
2 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
8 ounces fettuccine (I used thin spaghetti)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pinch ground nutmeg
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions. I add in the broccoli to eliminate an extra dish to clean and cook it all at once, but that's just me. If you combine them in the same pot, fish out the broccoli when it's tender and place it into a bowl, then drain the pasta and set them both aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk in the flour until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, Greek yogurt, milk, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring gently, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce mixture, followed by the cooked chicken and broccoli. Toss to combine and serve with more Parmesan, if desired.

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4

{Practically Chipotle} Chicken Burrito Bowl

This recipe is so easy and so versital.  You can switch out all sorts of ingredients to suit your style. We tried this last week and when  Mike took his first bite, he said, "This tastes exactly like Chipotle!" Let me just tell you that this recipe will have a regular rotation in our meal plan - everyone loved it!

◦ 4 cups cooked brown rice (cooked with 1 tsp. salt, then stirred in 1/4 cup cilantro and the juice from a small lime)

◦ 2 cooked chicken breasts or other meat, cubed or shredded and heated (leftover grilled chicken worked great)

◦ 1 can sweet corn, drained

◦ 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

◦ 1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese

◦ 1 cup salsa or Pico de Gallo

◦ 1/3 cup shredded lettuce

◦ 1/2 cup sour cream

Heat the corn, black beans and chicken before serving. Layer each of the ingredients above starting with rice and then adding meat, corn, cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream. Serve warm.

(You can, of course, pile all of this into a warmed tortilla to create a burrito, but we prefer the bowls in our family.)

2012-2013 Homeschool Curriculum

I get a lot of questions about what resources I use to educate my kids. There are some great all-in-one programs out there, but I have a hodge-podge of curriculum that I've selected based on each child's learning style.

Back in November, a great book was recommended to me: 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. This book walks the reader through their four main learning styles, has you determine each of your children's learning style, then your own to determine what your teaching style will be.

I went through Ryan and Kaylin's learning styles and picked books based {mostly} off the Classical teaching method.  Here's what we'll be using for this school year...

Ryan - 3rd grade

Grammar: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, Level 1

History: Story of the World, Volume 1

Math: Math U See, Beta

P.E.: Football weekly practice/games

Science: Backyard Scientist, Series 1

Spanish: Speekee TV

Spelling: Spelling Workout, Level D

Typing: Typing Instructor

Writing: Create-A-Story Writing Adventures, Book 1

Kaylin - 1st Grade

Grammar: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, Level 1

History: Story of the World, Volume 1

Math: Math U See, Alpha

P.E.: Tumbling class

Science: Backyard Scientist, Series 1

Spanish: Speekee TV

Spelling: Spelling Workout, Level A

Writing: Create-A-Story Writing Adventures, Book 1

Jason - Early pre-school

ABCs: Letter of the Week

Spanish: Speekee TV

Developmental activities: Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready

Lots of fun, educational toys, puzzles, crafts and games

Gluten-Free Meal Plan 5/21/12

For a variety of reasons (that I will go into later), we are trying to have a gluten-free week. This is not something I'm excited about, but I'm desperately hoping for some positive results.  And a week might not be enough, but it's where we're starting for now. I'll let you know how it goes.

I found a great post on how to go gluten-free that has been extremely helpful. I got many of these recipes from the Once a Month Mom blog's gluten/dairy free monthly meal plan lists. All of these are new recipes, and, although I have a light week ahead, I may or may not feel ambitious enough to tackle a new recipe each night. The idea of all of these recipes is to make them ahead and freeze them, but I'm just thinking of this NOW, on Sunday night. Bummer! At least I have my standby flourless recipes for Chili and Chicken Stir Fry that I can go to, if needed. 

I have no idea what I'll pack for Mike's lunches (he has a sandwich every. single. day.) so anyone with a recommendation or two, please share!!! I like some of these Lettuce Wrap suggestions, but I'm not sure Mike will go for it. The poor guy is barely on board as it is.  :)

Monday - Minestrone Soup

Tuesday - Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Wednesday - Honey Chicken Kabobs with Quinoa Confetti Salad

Thursday - Chicken and Rice Casserole or Sweet Potato Chicken Casserole

Friday - Crock Pot Cube Steaks with potatoes and veggies

Saturday - Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Veggies

Sunday - Savory Marinaded Chicken on the grill with Santa Fe Style Quinoa Salad

Desserts (I might make one, I might make 'em all...because I'm giving up flour, not sugar!)

Chocolate Walnut Torte

Flourless Fudge Cookies

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Healthy Chocolate Muffins

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it comes from a 16 year old girl from the Netherlands. My picture isn't nearly as cool as hers (I made smaller muffins) but I'm not going to compare. I love that there's no flour, no butter or oil, and lots of good substitutions like oats, Greek yogurt, applesauce and egg whites. These are surprisingly awesome.

• 1 3/4 cup oats

• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.

Pour mixture into prepared muffin pans. Drop 6-8 chocolate chips onto each muffin. (the batter is so thin, they should sink a little)

Bake the muffins for 12-15 min. If you'd like to add chocolate chips to the top, remove after 8-9 minutes, place chocolate chips on each muffin and bake for 3-5 minutes longer, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool muffins slightly before removing from pan. ENJOY!!!

About blogging...

Have you noticed how inconsistently I've been blogging lately?  I feel like I have 10 things to blog about one week, then nothing for two weeks.  So annoying.  But hey - when I'm inspired to write, I go with it. If I'm uninspired, I don't want to waste your time.

I'm not the type of blogger who brainstorms ideas and pre-plans what I'm going to write about and when I'll post it. I write when I come up with something that I want to share and if I happen to spit out three blog posts in one day, I just post-date them to publish throughout the week. For instance, this post is being written on a Monday and will post on a Friday. I like to spread the love throughout the week. 

Recipes. Why don't I post recipes anymore?!?! Simple: I haven't been experimenting with new dishes lately.  BUT, that is changing.  I have tons of recipes clogging up my Pinterest account of things that I not only want to try, but I will try.  Soon.  And I will be reposting the delicious ones on my blog because I am seriously sick of linking back to other blogs only to find that the link is broken after a few months. So I'll be the cheesy blogger who changes 1/2 tsp salt to 1/4 tsp salt to "alter" the recipe enough to repost, but I will always link back to the website where the recipe originated.

POD. One complaint I keep hearing is that I don't keep my Picture of the Day blog updated anymore.  I know, I know.  Sorry, guys.  First of all, I completely fell out of the habit of taking pictures every day.  After three years of barely skipping a day, my camera doesn't come out very often anymore.  Secondly, by the time I got on the bandwagon and signed up to do Becky Higgins' new Shutterfly book, I noticed that it only comes with like 30 pages, not enough to make 52 week-long layouts.  I have to pay extra for the extra pages...so bummed!  Plus, the space for journaling isn't as handy to copy and paste from my POD blog. (*sigh*) I don't have the time to be creative anymore, so it hasn't been on my priority list.  When I update my POD blog, it tends to be a month at a time, which is how I might end up constructing my 2012 book at this point.

Homeschooling. Yes, I realize some of you are sick of hearing about our journey through homeschooling.  This will not turn into a homeschooling blog, but it's always been a place where I write about our life and right now, homeschooling is a huge chunk of our daily life.  When I had a new baby, I wrote about those struggles and victories. When we struggle with a parenting issue, I blog about it. When I began homeschooling, the same is true.

The good news is that most of my dear readers are moms of little ones. I will be posting about our many adventures with new craft ideas, easy homemade science experiments and kid-friendly kitchen creations that you can try with your own non-homeschooled kids throughout the long, hot summer.  So you'll benefit if you hang around.  :)

{Slow Cooker} Steal Cut Oatmeal with Bananas and Coconut Milk

I recently discovered this recipe on Pinterest and found myself with all of the ingredients to throw it in the crock pot last night. It was delicious!  Give it a try...

Ingredients

• 2 medium {very ripe} bananas, sliced
• 14 oz light coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into 5-6 pieces, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoon ground flax seed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Optional garnishes: blueberries, sliced bananas, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, butter

Directions

Coat inside of 3-1/2 quart (or larger) slow cooker with cooking spray. Add all ingredients (except optional toppings) to slow cooker. Stir, cover, and cook on low for 8-9 hours. Spoon oatmeal into bowls; add optional toppings, if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Freezes well.

To reheat single servings: Put 1-cup cooked oatmeal in microwave proof bowl. Add 1/3 cup milk or water. Microwave on high for 1 minute; stir. Continue cooking for another minute, or until hot.


Recipe can be doubled in 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Increase cooking time 1 hour.

8 Minute {Homemade} Ice Cream in a Bag

We made this recipe on Mother's Day as our first science experiment on family day. Mike was very leary as he watched us furiously shaking Ziplock baggies expecting ice cream. Then, as soon as he saw the results, he threw the kids in the car and went out to buy more half and half and a new bag of ice. We made it again when his family came over for dinner that night. 

Just so you don't throw all of the ingredients together, here is what you will need to make homemade ice cream in a baggie...

In the pint-sized Ziploc bag: 

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup half & half (or light cream)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In the gallon-sized Ziploc bag: 

1/2 cup coarse salt

ice

Mix the sugar, half & half and vanilla extract together. Pour into a pint-sized Ziploc baggie. Place the small bag inside the large bag, fill it half-way with ice and add the 1/2 cup salt. 

Make sure each bag is sealed tightly and start shaking. Shake for about 5 minutes (or 8 minutes if you use heavy cream.) Open the gallon-sized bag and check to see if the ice cream is hard, if not keep shaking. 

Quickly run the closed pint-sized baggie under cold water to clean the salt off the baggie. Enjoy!

This picture cracks me up because my face screams, "SEE?!?!? I told you so!" which is exactly what I was thinking after my skeptical husband finally tasted the end result. 

Helping Kids Memorize Scripture

I saw this idea at one of my parties recently and I have to share!  I went into the hall bathroom, which ended up being the kids bathroom, and I saw scripture memory verses on the mirror. Their mom had written them on there with dry erase marker and encouraged her kids to read and memorize their verse each time they brushed their teeth.

Genius, right?! I immediately stole the idea.  Love, love, love.

2012 Homeschool Goals

Every time I get a blog notification or jump on Pinterest, I feel like I learn something new about homeschooling. Well, maybe not every time, but it feels like I am constantly evolving in my knowledge of this little adventure of ours.

For instance, someone somewhere wrote a post about having goals for your kids. Each year, this mom picks a character trait to focus on for her kids, then makes a short list of educational goals for each child.  Simple, intentional, deliberate, focused. I liked it.

Here's my little list of how we will spend our time for the rest of 2012. I'm not even sure these are in line with their grade level, but it's what I foresee them learning over the next 6-10 months. These goals will act as our compass, pointing us toward North, when we get off course.  In addition to these things, we will continue to cook and do our History lessons, plus we'll begin learning basic Spanish and are excited to incorporate in Science for the first time, in a weekly co-op (to share the burden of planning experiments and buying supplies) with our favorite homeschooling friends.

Ryan - age 7 (almost 8)
- Reading: learn to read quickly and fluently, learn to enjoy reading, read a book aloud to Kaylin and Jason daily.
- Handwriting: improve printing, learn cursive.
- Writing: independent writing increases in creativity, consistently using proper punctuation and capitalizaion, focus on the six traits of writing - conventions, ideas, voice, word choice, organization and sentence fluency. (Thanks, Alison!)
- Spelling: better understanding of rules, decreased errors in writings.
- Grammar: able to easily narrate stories, comfortable with basic parts of speech.
- Math: faster with addition/subtraction facts, double/triple digit adding and subtracting, learn multiplication, begin managing money.
- Other: patience with siblings, better ability to mediate sibling conflict unemotionally, learn to cook meals independently, complete chores without reminders.

Kaylin - age 5 (almost 6)
- Reading: read level 1-2 books independently, learn rules of sounds.
- Writing: proper direction fo strokes, use continuous strokes to prepare for cursive later, focus on correct capitalization, begin independent writing.
- Math: basic addition and subtraction, telling time, basic money, skip count for 2s, 5s and 10s.
- Other: break competitive spirit with brothers, develop short periods where she works with/"teaches" Jason.

Jason - 2 1/2 years old
- Reading: letter recognition, sitting still during stories, beginning letter sounds.
- Writing: drawing pictures in counter-clockwise motion, write letters with his finger using different media. (sand, pudding, paint, etc)
- Math: color and shape recognition, count forward and backward.
- Other: sit still during school time, listening and obeying the first time, taking instruction from Ryan and Kaylin when they're "in charge" or with safety issues.

As for me, I am SO excited about the simplest little thing...I bought a $5 teacher's daily planner (week-at-a-glance) from the teaching store last week and it has serisously helped me corral everything that's swimming around in my head. Silly things like focusing one theme for each month to do seasonal crafts with a common thread for learning purposes.

The months with holidays are easy, but for months like May, instead of focusing on Mother's Day (like the schools usually do), we're going to do crafts that center around flowers, gardening, caterpillars and butterflies. I'm saving summer/beach stuff for June and fun apple crafts that I've found for September...you get the idea. It's not rocket science, but it makes sense why public school teachers organize it that way.  There are just SO many possibilities...it's overwhelming!

Dinner Dilemmas...SOLVED!

I would like to publicly thank Lara, who commented on my post back in March about Extreme Consequences.  Girlfriend, your idea transformed how I now approach breaking bad habits with my kids!!!

When venting about my frustrations that the kids take an eternity to finish meals and goof around the whole time, Lara had a great suggestion:

"Not sure how you feel about Love and Logic, but this is one of their common examples. Say "dinner is served until 6:00. You're welcome to stay at the table as long as you aren't goofing around." no nagging to finish food....when 6pm comes, just take away the plates without a word and announce the meal if over. If they goof around say "what a bummer. Mealtime is for eating. You may go sit in your room and come back when you are ready to eat.". Let them go away once and come back, and if they do it again, take their plate away and say "looks like you've made the choice that dinner is over for you. You'll need to stay in your room by yourself until the rest of us have finished eating. ". A least, this is how it works in theory..."

I've never read "Love and Logic," though I've heard great things about it. That night at dinner, I explained that the big kids would each get one warning to not be silly at the table. I'd establish when the meal was over (usually 30 minutes) and if anyone decided not to focus on eating after their warning (normal family conversations don't count toward the warning, intentionally making others giggle does), then dinner was over for them.

The first few meals were lovely. We talked about our day, the kids ate their food, it was heaven. Then one morning, Ryan couldn't stop being silly and he was asked to leave the table. He'd eaten two eggs and a smoothie, but on any given day, he'll also eat toast or cereal, too. (He's growing like a weed)

Ryan was shocked that I followed through. With a trembling lower lip, he said, "B...but I'm still hungry!!!" I reminded him of the new rule, my warning and the consequence and asked him to leave the table one final time. I explained that he could have a snack with the rest of us at 9:00. He ran up to his room and cried.

And it hasn't happened again since.

My newest issue is with Jason. He wants to sit at the table like a big boy during lunch, but doesn't respect the fact that I want him to SIT while he eats. He stands up in his chair, hops down and runs around, grabs his sandwich and eats in the family room...nothing could get him to consistently sit and STAY at the table.

Then it struck me: if he doesn't stay seated, he needs to sit back in his high chair. DUH!!! This just occurred to me this weekend, so he's still pushing the boundaries a little bit, but he's definitely getting the message.

This has also worked well with training him to stay in Ryan's bunk bed. He can sleep in a big boy bed IF he stays in the bed until I come get him, just like the crib. If he gets out before he falls asleep, he is put into the crib. If he gets out upon waking up, the next nap/bedtime is spent in his crib. I'm so glad we haven't taken that crib down yet because it's working beautifully!

 

Utilizing Pinterest for Homeschooling

I mentioned this before, but I fought Pinterest for more than a year. I knew friends who got sucked in and wasted countless hours looking at ideas of recipes, crafts, decorating ideas and other things they would never do themselves.

Now that I allow myself to peek around for 15 minutes a few times a week, it's really an amazing resource. Last week, I stumbled onto a friend's "learning" board.  She's a former early-Elementary teacher who has recently decided to homeschool and I hit the mother load when I saw her idea links!

Letter matching using plastic eggs

I've collected so many ideas that I began feeling overwhelmed. The kids and I have a pretty nice little daily routine in place, and I'm not yet into the habit of pre-planning hands-on activities each week. As much as I want to incorporate science experiments and messy craft fun into our lessons, by the time I'm ready to pull something together, it seems that I'm usually missing pieces, supplies or ingredients.

Last night, I explained my dilemma to Mike and had an epiphany: we can do all of our out-of-the-ordinary Pinterest ideas on family day. Mike's response was, "Then Dad can participate, too!" It's so refreshing that he's excited to be involved.

Love it.

Today, I had an activity that I wanted to present to keep Jason occupied while I taught the big kids. Unfortunately, all Ryan and Kaylin wanted to do was hop down onto the ground and see what the fun was all about!

I filled a veggie tray with different dried beans and pastas, put out some measuring spoons and chopsticks for Jason to use and let him go to town.

Jason wasn't captivated until he saw how Ryan and Kaylin played with the beans and pasta. Kaylin filled the letter-matching Easter eggs with various objects to create shakers, then spelled out words with them.

Ryan created patterns and played with the chopsticks (I snagged the kid-holder from the chopsticks the last time we ate at an Oriental restaurant - they were going to throw them away!)

Then Ryan sorted from largest to smallest

Jason played for a while, then moved on to cleaning off the dry-erase board...

...before asking to paint, which I've (brace yourself) never let him do.

Today was a productive, very hands-on homeschooling day. The kids loved the variety and I loved that I got to actually USE some of the ideas I've been storing up in my head. As I branch out and bring more ideas to life, I'll continue to share them with you!

My April Goal Didn't Go As Planned

My April goal on my monthly goals for 2012 didn't necessarily go as planned. With our trip in the middle of the month, I did my best to meal plan with a meatless meal and a new recipe each week, but I hardly stuck to the meal plan, so I really don't think that counts.  

Oh well, I'll try again for May. My May goal is to stop eating each meal when I'm satisfied, not when I'm "full."

We'll see how that works out for me. 

{More Natural} Cool Whip Substitute

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of processed foods. The problem is that some recipes call for convenience foods and the "real thing" is difficult to substitute.

Well.

Last week, a friend shared this recipe with me for homemade Cool Whip.  It doesn't come in the handy container, and I'm quite sure it expires quicker than the big blue tub, but give this healthier alternative a try!  And by healthier, I don't mean less fat or calories, I mean lessartery-clogging, probably cancer-causing, can't-pronounce-the-ingredients, God-never-intended-for-this-to-be-consumed garbage.

2 c. heavy cream
8 oz. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Whip together with a beater (or the whisk of an electric mixer) on low until stiff peaks are formed.

Is anyone else drooling?