Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Snack ideas for kids

I printed a list of snack ideas a while back, and Ive been wanting to post it on my blog, and I'm finally just now getting around to it! These ideas are from the Living on A Dime blog and newsletter that I receive, it has lots of great frugal tips and ideas!

Kids may come home from school being hungry and have a way of digging through the kitchen pantry looking for something for themselves, and messing up your neat, organized pantry. It can be the perfect time to sit with your child/ children and visit with them about their day.
Found this cute idea on Pinterest-- my girls loved it!

To discourage bad snack habits, don't buy unhealthy snack or keep them in the house.

Present your snacks on a plate, place mat, napkin or even a flower from the garden to help them look inviting. (We like to use coffee filters to contain our snacks, so we keep the bowls clean!)

Have jars of the counter with sunflower seeds, raisins, granola, prunes or peanuts for the children. If they see healthy snacks, they're more likely to want them.

Try these snacks on your kids:

-Fresh fruit
-Hard-boiled eggs
-Apples, cut into sections with core removed
-Popcorn balls
-Popcorn
-Bagels
-Muffins
-Dried apples or bananas
-Breadsticks
-Oranges, peeled and quartered
-Pumpkin bread
-Banana bread
-Zucchini bread
-Bananas
-Crackers and cheese
-Frozen grapes (my kids love these in the summer!)
-Veggies with ranch dressing
-Celery sticks with peanut butter
-Cherry tomatoes
-Cheese or string cheese
-Strawberry leather
-Cookies (you can make healthy ones!)
-Puddings
-Yogurt popsicles
-Homemade granola bars
-Beef jerky
-Pretzels
-Tortillas with cream cheese
-Peanut butter snacks
-Yogurt with fruit or wheat germ added
-Milk/ soy milk
-Chocolate milk
-Cocoa
-Milk shake
-Fruit smoothies
-Apples cut with peanut butter and raisins
-Bananas sliced in half and read with PB
-Bread or toast cut into quarters, spread with jam, jelly, PB, honey or honey butter
-Crackers with PB, jelly or jam
-Pancakes with PB and honey, rolled up-- great for leftover pancakes!

We like to have some of these as sides at lunch-time during homeschool too. It is always nice to have a variety!



Hosea 11:4
I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.


Luke 11:10-13
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Monday, November 24, 2014

Chocolate brownie recipe

For Caleb's recent birthday party, he wanted brownies for a cake. It worked well with our football theme, and I'm always saving money so... I found this recipe that I found a while back. I like it because it is very chocolatey and sweet. It only takes a few minutes to mix up, and it tastes as good or better than brownie mix from the store! You can find on the original blog here.



Our Favorite Fudgey Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
3/4 c cocoa
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Directions:
Combine melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.   Stir in the eggs and vanilla making sure the eggs are thoroughly mixed in.  Fold in flour, salt and baking powder.  If you are picky you can sift your flour, salt and baking powder together before you add them to the batter, but I never do and my brownies always come out perfect.  Just dump in the flour first; then put the salt and baking powder on top of the flour.  They'll all stir in just fine.   When the flour is mixed in, pour the batter out into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before you attempt to cut.


I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! Don't make the same mistake I did though, and add a TBSP of extra flour and an extra five degrees temp for HIGH altitude. 

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your review!


Psalm 119:103
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 24:13
[ Saying 26 ] Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.

Friday, November 21, 2014

American Girl class: Kirsten week 6 (Time #2)

We have had a busy week here, so I am posting this late... Sorry! 


This week in class we discussed book six of the series, Changes for Kirsten. This was our last class of the semester--already! I've had two great classes of girls this semester that I have enjoyed so much. I had two girls "graduate" from my classes this week too. They have completed SIX semesters of my classes and there are no more for them to take, unless they take them again! I will miss them, I have grown rather attached to both girls!

Craft this week was a woven heart decoration. You can find a pattern for them here. A lot of info on the internet says they are Danish, but my friend who has grandparents in Sweden says they are Swedish. I was amazed how long this weaving project took the girls! It was harder for them than I thought it would be, even with construction paper this time instead. I gave each girl two red pieces and two white pieces of cut construction paper (5 1/2 X 8 1/2"). They folded them, traced the template and cut. They got to weaving, and I explained it as clearly as I could. I gave each girl the directions of how to make them, and felt to take home so they could make more. Once they got the hang of it, it was easier!
 The 2:00 class tracing and cutting their hearts...
 We worked on their ongoing craft of braided rugs, but we did not finish them.  I explained to the girls how to finish them, but will email them these directions too. I told them to roll the rug into a circle on a table, like a big spiral. Then I said to take a needle and thread, and begin on the edge, and go  all the way through the layers to the other side. Then move over and inch to the left, and go through the layers again. Repeat that step until you have sewn through all of the layers in a circle. You could finish on a dewing machine too. I felt bad that we ran out of time to complete them in class.

 My graduate....

 The 1:00 class tracing and cutting...

 ALL DONE! Great job!

 Love this girl and her creation too!
 My daughter's heart...
 For snack this week, we had Pepparkor Cookies. You can find the recipe online here. They are kind of like gingersnaps. My friend used some DARK molasses for these!
 My other graduate... love these girls! It has been fun to watch them grow the past two + years!

It was a great semester, and I can't believe it is already over! Looking forward to studying Addy and Samantha in the Spring semester!


Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Psalm 7:10
My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Kindergarten-L week

This past week in homeschool kindergarten, we talked about L things-- ladybugs, lions, lambs, longitude/ latitude, languages, lightning, light/ lamps, library, love, laundry, Left & right, little & big, did lacing cards, and more! My girl love art & crafts, and that is fun for me too, since I love crafts! I like working on cutting and tracing with her, it is good to help her small motor skills too! 
Bethany showing her lion that she made from circles...Directions found here.
 We painted ladybug rocks this week too. You can find my directions about them here. We discussed the ladybug life cycle, read books about ladybugs, and stamped them on paper too!
She made a lamb from an egg carton with cotton balls, and construction paper eyes/ eyes. Cute! Would have been better with a white egg carton, but gray was all we had!  Directions found here. We did a Daniel & the lions den activity from an ABEKA book that I had too. We read about the Lion and the Mouse fable and Chicken Little. (aka Henny Penny, which we read during H week!)

She is an eager learner, it is fun to be home with her to watch her grow and learn!
Next week we will have our Thanksgiving week, and then have a week off for Thanksgiving and family time! One more week until break... we are ready!



Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

Daniel 6:16
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Daniel 6:27
He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

1 Peter 5:8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

American Girls: Kirsten Week 5 (Time #2)

We had another wonderful class this week of American Girls! We discussed the book, Kirsten Saves the Day!, which is book 5 in the series. We talked about bees and honey, 

The sample potholder that I made...
For craft, we made Quilted Potholders. One of the amazing moms volunteered to make all 18 potholders! I enjoy sewing, but it was SO nice to not need to stress over that big project! The potholders were blank in the middle, so the girls sewed a design in the middle of the potholder. I found flower, heart and star templates to trace from the internet, herehere and here. A few girls made their own designs, but I warned them not to be too complicated!

The 1:00 class working on their potholders...

 The wonderful mom helpers...



  The 2:00 class working on their potholders...




We had potato soup for snack. Most of the girls liked it a lot! The recipe can be found here.

We did not work on our braided rugs... I accidentally left all of the supplies at home... OOPS! We will be working on them and sewing them together next week in class. I can hardly believe the semester is almost over!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Caleb's 12th birthday!

We had a festive weekend in our house, celebrating our son Caleb's 12th birthday! We had a party with friends on Friday, and family/a few other friends on Saturday. Our local university was playing a home game on Saturday night, and we went to that game after the party. Even though they lost and it was cold, we had a great time!
 Blowing out the 12 candles on his brownies...
 The pumpkin pancakes in the shape of 12...
 We got these cool plates and napkins for the party...
 Our family showered him with great gifts... nice shirt...
 TWO Rockies jerseys-- one youth L with his name & current favorite #), and one youth XL... he can grow into it! He also got a hat, and other nice clothes.
 An itunes gift card from his good buddies!
 A nice sweatshirt from Grandma and Grandpa-- his yellow one from last year has been well worn!
 His 'football' brownie cake!
We loved the half-time show with the marching band and flag team (My favorite since I was on the flag team in HS!) They got stomped on, losing like 56-3 or something huge! The weather was lovely in the beginning, but got colder... winter is coming!?!

We love our boy and are proud of him! We praise God for his life!


Numbers 14:24
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

1 Samuel 2:26
And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and infavor with the Lord and with people.

Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Kindergarten- K week

We had another enjoyable week in kindergarten homeschool last week. We discussed lots of K things-- keys (counting & sorting), kids, kiwis, K states, kangaroos, koalas, kookaburra, kings, kites, made Kindergarten Kapers (a small scrapbook of school so far). We discovered there are LOTS of K names, and looked at K states on the map. We made a crown when talking about kings, but she doesn't want me to take a picture of her in it!

 Here she is sorting the keys on a file folder game by shape. I went to a key shop years ago and asked if I could have their extra keys for homeschool. They gave me a box of about thirty keys, and we have been playing with them ever since! The man at the key shop wanted to ensure that the kids would NOT put them into outlets, stressing the safety factor to us. They are only out if I am watching and guiding them with the keys.
 We made this in art-- Koala Tp tube craft and we found the directions online here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mkoala2.htm I think it is so cute!
Here is the kite we made in art. She traced and cut out the orange pieces and Mommy helped with the black pieces. Her tracing, writing and cutting are getting so much better after 12 weeks of school!
I love to see her work and grow a little more each week. She did "fly" her kite around the house a lot after we made it. : - D


Genesis 17:6
I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. (blessing to Abraham)

Isaiah 22:22
I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

Isaiah 33:6
He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

American Girl class: Kirsten Week 4 (Time #2)

We had another great class this week. We discussed the Springtime story, Happy Birthday, Kirsten! We talked about all of the work that even children did on the farms of the 1850's. They did a lot of sewing by hand, probably around the fire at night.

Our craft was hand-sewing a stuffed pillow. I gave each of the girls two squares that measured 9", a needle and thread. They sewed around the edges of the fabric using a whip-stitch. Then they took some cotton batting and stuffed the pillow. They closed up the final edge. Most of them were delighted with their little pillow that they made! (Some girls had more help than others!)


For snack we had Rye bread and made our own butter with cream and shaking the jars. Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Butter-2/
The girls had fun shaking the pint-size jars and discovering there was whipped butter at the end! It tasted delicious! Most of the girls liked the rye bread too, I was surprised!
 The 2:00 class working on their hand-sewing...

 So thankful for the moms that helped in my class this week!


Love hearing the girls chatting with each other and the mom helpers while they are working. The girls can be humorous sometimes!

We worked again on our braided rugs, but not many of the girls had much time. We will be doing a little more hand-sewing next week! I forgot the buttons, but they could sew one on at home if they wanted.

 Only two more weeks left of Kirsten! In the Spring we will study Addy and Samantha!


Genesis 28:11
When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

1 Kings 19:5-7
Then he (Elijah) lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”

Luke 9:58
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Halloween fun 2014!

We had a very enjoyable Halloween this year! Our family had a great time dressing up and attending our church's Fall Festival again...
 Any guesses? This is my oldest daughter dressed up as Katniss from the Hunger Games...

 Our very own Superman-- a fine young man! 
Wonder Woman was here to save the day!
 Captain America brings good to the land!
 Our two friends dressed as Hulk and Iron Patriot with Bethany as Captain America-- what a trio!
 Watching the games together...
 Shooting the frogs!
 Guessing the spy code...
 Mallory blowing up a balloon as Rebekah and her friend help in the booth...
 Throwing darts at balloons...
The Halloween costume collage!

What did you do for Halloween? We enjoyed seeing friends and being safe, warm and dry! We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood too, and trick-or-treated a little bit there. 


Psalm 18:28
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.


Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?


Isaiah 50:10
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.
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