Teaching our Children
My Little Chef: Making Blue Raspberry Cookies
Mixing up the cookie dough!
When I am in the kitchen and Brina is around she is always willing to pitch in and help. She is becoming more efficient cook as she gets older. Recently, she decided to whip up some blue raspberry sugar cookies as a “Welcome Home” goodie for Jake who was arriving home that day from a work trip.
When he is away on a work trip we always try to make or pick up something special for him to have when he comes home. It is important to us to make sure he knows how excited we are to have him back home again. It is always so much better when the whole family is home together!
I am so thankful for kids that enjoy helping out in the kitchen. The girls have fun helping out in the kitchen and learning some great lessons along the way too. Grateful for my girls!
A batch of blue raspberry cookies ready to go into the oven!
Cookie rolled is blue sprinkles!
She made the perfect cookies!
Ready to eat and delicious! Thanks B!
A Couch Full of Books
Karlie has all her library books spread out over the couch so she can choose which one to read first. Not sure if the line of books are placed in random or specific order. She is very thoroughly in picking out what book she wanted to read.
She has been reading through the South Carolina Children’s Book Award Nominee list. For her Gifted & Talent class she is suppose to read at least four of the SC Children’s Book Award and pass an Accelerated Reading on them. We pick up several of the books from our local library and she has been working her way through them. A couple of the books Jake and I decided we didn’t want her to read for various reasons, but otherwise we want to encourage her to read as much as she wants.
Karlie loves reading! She was finished reading her four required books within a week. Now she is continuing to read just for fun and taking the tests. It is wonderful seeing her read and it amazes how quickly she can get through a book, sometimes one that is several hundred pages! If she really likes the book finish it and read it again the next day! Her stack of library books has been higher than mine lately!
School Projects: Inside Your Feet Cookie Creation & Writing Assignment
A tray of “Inside Your Feet” Cookies ready to take to school
The girls recently had a writing assignment that they had to do for school. Karlie came up with an Inside Your Feet Cookie creation. For extra credit they could make their creations and share them with their classmates and teachers at school. We came up with a cookie creation using all the ingredients she mentioned in her writing assignment and they turned out fairly well. The cookies were a perfect treat to share with her classmates instead of cupcakes on Halloween. Brina also did a cookie creation and writing assignment called The Eye Ball.
A few days before the actual assignment due date we did a trial run and experimented to make sure we could make her “skin, blood, bones, and ankle joint” to reflect the Inside Your Feet cookie as accurately as possible. We tried white sparkle writing gel (bottom right) but is blended too much, we tried straight white sprinkles (bottom middle) it was a lot of work and hard to get straight, we tried round white sprinkles (bottom left) too difficult to get straight, we tried pearl balls (top left) wasn’t too bad and would have been a more do-able option, and the final attempt was our favorite and probably the easiest option too, we used white writing frosting.
We didn’t have any feet cookie cutters and the stores we checked didn’t carry any so Jake made a set we could use with his 3D printer. Once again it saves the day!
Up close of the Inside Your Feet Cookie
Inside Your Feet Items:
- Sugar Cookie Dough or Brownies(we did some of each)
- Red Frosting (or white frosting with red dye)
- White Writing Frosting
- Red and White Mint
Make your favorite sugar cookie dough or brownies (your can make from scratch or buy a mix). The sugar cookies seemed to look more like feet with toes, but the brown mix had less steps to put together. Make your sugar cookie dough, roll it out, cut out your feet, and bake. OR Make your brownies first and cut out your feet after they are baked and cooled.
Once the cookies are cooled you can decorate by putting red frosting on the cookie. We did not go to the edge of the cookie with the frosting because Karlie wanted to show the layers of the Inside Your Feet Cookie (bottom – skin, frosting – blood and muscles, white – bones, and mint – ankle joint). Next add your red and white mint. Draw your foot bones with the white writing frosting.
The cookies turned out well and were a big hit with Karlie’s class. It was a lot of fun putting together with her.
What the different parts of the cookies represent:
- Bottom Sugar Cookie or Brownies- skin
- Red Frosting – blood and muscles
- White Writing Frosting – bones
- Red & White Mint – ankle joint
School Projects: Southwest Region Native American Pueblo House
Southwestern Region Native American Pueblo House Project
Karlie recently did a Social Studies project for school. She was studying about the Native Americans and the different regions. Karlie picked the Southwest Region and the pueblo house for her project. She had to make a pueblo house and write a paragraph on how the lodging benefited them.
Even though the girls are both in the same grade and have similar projects they rarely chose do to the same thing with their projects! The great part about them being so different is we have more opportunities to learn while doing various school projects. For this particular Social Studies Project Brina did the Great Plains Region with Tepee housing and Karlie chose the Southwest Region with Pueblo housing.
Putting the final touches on the pueblo house!
Karlie‘s Southwest Region Pueblo Paragraph: Southwest Pueblo Native Americans used pueblo houses that were made of harden clay. They lived in a village and their houses resembled an apartment building on mesas. The pueblo housing was beneficial to their way of life because the mesas helped cool the houses and protect them from sand storms. You can fit a lot of families into a pueblo apartment building. It is easier to help each other out because they were all together during bad weather or other hard times. In their village they grew corn, beans, squash, and cotton to help feed their families. All the people in the village worked together hunting, farming, and raising their families.
Karlie putting her title and name on her project!
Jake and Karlie put together this neat Pueblo House with items we had in the garage!
Pueblo Construction:
- Flat Pieces of Scrap Wood
- Wood Glue
- Speckled Paint
- Wooden Dowels
- Cotton Balls
- Markers
They took flat pieces of scrap wood from various wood working projects and glued them together to create this Pueblo house. The house has three levels. Once all the pieces are glued together and the glue has dried they attached the house to a flat board with wood glue. After the structure was put together we sprayed the whole pueblo with speckled paint (you can get this at Home Depot or Lowe’s). It ended up taking two coats of spray paint in order to get it covered well. The ladders are made out of small wooden dowels. The top windows and doors are cut out, but the other ones are drawn on with marker. The cotton balls represent the cotton the Southwest Region Native Americans grew in their fields. Inside the house on the top level there is a fire and a mat for sleeping.
Pueblo house is finished and ready to go!
We didn’t paint the back of the Pueblo with two coats of paint, but this picture gives you a glimpse at the top inside which has the 3D fire and mat for sleeping. The little storage “cubby” (as Karlie called it) with the paper in it on the lower left is where Karlie stored her written paragraph and ladders during transport to and from school.
Karlie so proud of her project! It was a handful to carry into school!
School Projects: Great Plains Native American Tepee Home
Great Plains Tepee Project
Brina recently did a Social Studies project for school. She was studying about the Native Americans and the different regions. Brina picked the Great Plains Region and the tepee for her project. She had to make a tepee and write a paragraph on how the lodging benefited them. On this Social Studies project Brina did the Great Plains Region with Tepee housing and Karlie chose the Southwest Region with Pueblo housing.
Making her designs on the tepee!
She finished the Native American designs on her tepee! Looks good!
Tepee Construction:
- Cereal Box
- Old White T-Shirt
- Elmer’s Glue
- Wooden Dowels
- Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun
- Markers
Cut a cereal box into a semi-circle. Use Elmer’s Glue and attach the T-Shirt to the non-print side of the cardboard from the cereal box. Once the glue dries use the markers to create your own special Native American designs on your tepee. Cut out the door to your tepee. Hot glue the wooden dowels to the inside of the tepee. Once the glue dries stand the tepee up and hot glue it to the poster board. To help your tepee maintain its shape you can use rubber bands around it as it dries in place.
Brina’s Great Plains Paragraph: The Great Plains Native Americans used tepees because they were very transportable. They used the tepees so they could follow the buffalo and other animals while hunting them. Their main source of food was buffalo meat. The tepees were light weight, transportable, could be folded up, and carried to the next spot. they also used the tepee poles to carry buffalo meat. The tepees were shelter during the nights for the families and transportable when they were trying to find food. The tepees were a valuable tool used to help feed their families.
Brina’s social studies project ready to go!
She was so excited to hot glue her horse and a folded up tepee on her poster board!
Her tepee turned out well!
Brina was super excited about the fire because Jake used his 3D printer to make it for her project!
Awesome learning lesson about the Great Plains Native Americans and their transportable home – the tepee! It was a great project!
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
It was a crazy week. I spent some time in Kansas with my family helping Fall Harvest last week, however, I continued to have difficulties and pain with my back, neck, arm, and numbness in my hand so I came back home earlier than expected. Jake picked me up from the airport and took me directly to the doctor. After a couple more doctors visits they “think” it is a bulging, dislocated, or chipped disc in my neck along with strained/pulled muscles in my shoulder, and a pinched nerve. They are hoping I will feel better with the current treatment soon otherwise the next step is a MRI and possible surgery.
While away I did learn a lot. My time in the Midwest made me appreciate my parents and many of my extended family members who are in the farming industry even more for all the hard work they do on the farm. During Fall Harvest the days are long, very busy, and a lot of activities are going on simultaneously (harvest, drilling, hauling, prepping fields and meals, and so much more). It takes a lot of coordination, communication, and skill to keep everything and everybody moving forward smoothly. Plus, you have the weather that effects your days and activities too.
I am thankful that I was able to pitch in a small way and learn a few new things as well. I did manage to drive the tractor and grain cart a little bit and the track tractor for a few hours which is something I have never done before. Thankfully, I managed to make some progress forward and didn’t break anything (when operating such big equipment like the tractors, trucks, combines, vehicles, and equipment during harvest it is one of my fears that I will break something which could be costly in time and finances). I was super excited about helping my family with Fall Harvest, my biggest disappointment was that I had to come home early due to my health. For some reason God wants me home during this time, but I continue to pray for safety for all my family members still working the long hours out in the fields, prepping meals, and traveling to deliver the crops during this very busy time. I love my family dearly and truly wanted to be a blessing to them during this time.
Praying that I heal quickly because after over two weeks of sleeping restlessly in a recliner, being in pain, and having the side effects from the medicines I am ready to be myself again (I think my family would really like that too). With all that being said I have made adjustments with my schedule and hope to still accomplish many of my goals this week, but I want to be realistic as well with everything that is going on right now.
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
- Mail at least one note to Jake and the girls – I took cards and stamps, but with the busy days, pain, and coming home early it didn’t get done
Speak to my husband and kids at least once a daySend at least one Text, Picture, Instant Message, or Email a day to let them know I am thinking about them– my phone was not cooperating in KS, but I managed to IM at least once or twice a dayHave Hangout chat with the entire family at least once this week– I did do one short video hangout chat with Jake and the girls one eveningPrepare for Upcoming Fall Events & TripsSpend time with extended family– worked with them and went to the Country Harvest Pumpkin Patch with my parents, brother, and nephews on Sunday near Hastings, Nebraska
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – didn’t do so well keeping up with my water (one day I left my water in the pickup while I was in the tractor for several hours)
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)– I was ahead with my plan before heading to KS so I remained caught up- Exercise at least 5 times this week – ummmmm….no this one didn’t get done, I was moving around, but really only out of necessity not for exercise because moving was at times pretty painful
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
Keep up with my laundryUpdate Evernote with any home / yard / pets activities for Jake and the girls
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – there were some activities I let slide this past week, hoping to get caught back up soon
- Work completed for clients – still have a couple items that need my attention
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt (microwave and refrigerator) – working on it
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Pick another book to read to the kids (Jake is currently reading Last of the Mohicans to them)
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Prepare for Upcoming Fall Events & Trips
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Ride Bikes with the kids
- Go for a Walk with the Kids
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Attend School Board Meeting
- Start Organizing the Kids Scrapbook Items
- Plan Family Halloween Dinner & Celebration
- Orthodontic Appointment for Kids
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Exercise at least 5 times this week
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Do at least one “Make 1 & Freeze 1” Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat that day and one to freeze for later)
- Clean out & Organize Refrigerator & Freezer
- Clean House (Focus – Basement Floors)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Storage Room)
- Put Spring/Summer Clothes in the Attic
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Pool taken down and put away)
- Pet Care (Focus – Refill Goat Food Bin & Make Homemade Treats with the kids for Skipper)
- Make 1 – Freeze 1 Meal Prep (make a main dish to eat and one to freeze for later)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
- Prep for our Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child boxes
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Make an extra payment on Outstanding Debt
- Earn some Creative Cash
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
Charleston: The Charleston Explorer Program
Charleston Explorer Goodies
Since we go to Charleston a few times every year we signed the kids up for their Charleston Explorers Club a little over a year ago. It was a great way to explore the Charleston area, learn pieces of history or science and more plus earn a few prizes along the way. We have always enjoy our trips to Charleston and every time we try to go to a new place which made the Charleston Explorers a great program for our kids.
You could pick up a Charleston Explorer passport at any of the Charleston Area Visitors Centers. It was free for any kid under 18 to sign up for the club. When the kids enrolled they each received a passport, prize, a list of more than 30 participating locations, and information about how the program worked. Each time the kids visited one of the locations they would get a stamp specific to that location and enter the “stamp code” into their online profile and rate the place they visited. Every 5 stamps they would earn a prize that was mailed directly to our house. We never knew what the prizes would be and the kids were always very happy with the neat items that came in the mail.
Some of the places where you got the stamps were free while others required paid admission. Several of the places you could buy discounted tickets if you bundled them together. The program started back in April 2011 and recently ended. It is probably one of the best travel programs we have participated in, it was ran well, the prizes were amazing, and we had a blast doing the Charleston Explorers with the kids. We would love to see them do another program for the kids in the future!
I would encourage you to check out any of these types of explorers programs in your local area or another area where you visit frequently. These are programs can provide great learning opportunities for your kids. It was a wonderful experience for our whole family. I wish more places had kids programs like this one.
Some of the items we received:
- Charleston Explorers Water Bottles
- Charleston Explorers Magnetic Keychains with Flashlights
- Charleston Explorers Binoculars
- Charleston Explorers Pens
- Charleston Explorers Stickers
- Charleston Explorers Bag
- Charleston Explorers Clips
- $25 Wonder Works Toy Store Gift Cards
- iPod Touch
The highlighted places on our brochure are the ones we have visited since we started the Charleston Explorers program! Great places to visit and wonderful times exploring with the kids!
The girls passport books! Here is what two of their pages look like with the Fort Sumter, Patriots Point, Heyward Washington House, Nathaniel Russell House, Edmonston Alston House, and Aiken Rhett House stamps on these two pages. We filled their passport books up. The girls loved getting their stamps at the end of their tours.
One of the prizes they earned was a $25 Gift Card each from Wonder Works a Toy Store in Charleston. The girls can’t wait for our next trip to Charleston so they can use their gift cards!
The girls were so excited when FedEx dropped off a package at our “Google only” household! Guess, we now need to include another platform…. Their final Charleston Explorers prize was an iPod Touch! They were so very EXCITED to receive the iPod! Wow!!! Thanks Charleston for making our trips so enjoyable and for the amazing prizes! It has been a awesome exploring with the family and we look forward to our next visit! We still have several more locations we want to see on our list!
Can I Take Those Words Back?
A kid activity that teaches about how our words impact others.
We have been working through two devotional books with the girls lately. One of them goes through the Bible in a year and the other one is more of an hands on activity with a lesson called Object Talks for Any Day by Verna L. Kokmeyer. The kids like both of them, however, we only do the Object Talks devotional on days when we have a little more time because they require preparation, an activity, lesson, and conversation about the lesson taught.
This particular lesson was about our words and watching what we say to others. This was a great lesson for the beginning of the school year as well as a great reminder for all of us (both kids and parents) that our words have an impact on those around us.
Objects: A plate and tube of toothpaste.
Applicable Bible Verse: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14 (ESV)
Activity:
- Ask for a volunteer.
- Have the volunteer squeeze all the toothpaste out of the tube onto the plate.
- Ask for another volunteer.
- Have them try and put all the toothpaste from the plate back into the toothpaste tube.
Lesson to Talk About: Like the toothpaste our words can come out pretty quickly and easily, however, once our words are out we cannot take them back. We have all said something to someone and instantly or later realized it probably wasn’t the best thing to say. Our words can have a powerful impact on those around us. They can make people laugh, cry, hurt others feelings, and much more. Plus when we speak poorly to or about others it makes us look bad as well. It is important that we allow our thoughts and words to be good, encouraging, wholesome, and kind to those we encounter. What we fill our hearts and minds with will often come out our mouth and reveal what we are truly thinking. Much like the impossible task of getting toothpaste back into the tube we cannot take back the words we say to others. The toothpaste in this example was contained to the plate, however, our words can make a big mess and cause hurt to others for a very long time.
We all could spend a little more time focusing our hearts, minds, and thoughts on good things. Life is short and we want to spend our time being an encouragement and blessing to those around us. May we seek God’s wisdom regarding our thoughts and our speech.
We used a sample of Tom’s of Maine toothpaste I received in the mail for this activity. A sample size is big enough to get the point across!
Brina squeezing out all the toothpaste onto the plate! Like the toothpaste, it’s amazing how quickly our words can come out of our mouths.
The toothpaste is out!
Karlie attempting the impossible task of putting all the toothpaste back into the tube! Once our words our spoken we cannot take them back.
She tried a lot of different ways to get the toothpaste back into the tube – fingers, toothpaste cap, toothpick, and more yet it was a messy and impossible to get it all of the toothpaste back into the tube. The girls like these type of devotional lessons because they are interactive, have a creative and visual way to teach the lesson, and they tend to be more memorable for them. All of us could probably use a reminder regarding our words and the impact they have on others.
Order Will Be Restored in this House!
Either the girls forgot the house rules or got a little spoiled with all our traveling and busy summer! With everything going on this summer instead of waiting for them to pick up and turn their clothes right side out for laundry day I would just do it since I needed to repack the suitcase or wanted to get the house pick up. The beginning of the school year got off to a rough start in house department because they must of thought it was okay or normal to just throw their clothes on the bathroom floor before their showers, leave headbands on the sink, and other random items placed in odd spots through the house and their rooms.
After several days of being nice and reminding them to pick up after themselves I decided it was time to do something else to get their attention. On that particular night I had already wading through their piles of clothes on the bathroom floor, picked up pieces of confetti paper off the dining room floor, put away their library books, placed more items than their bar stools would hold to be put away, and more craziness. In my quest to pick of the house I found a piece of notebook paper on the kitchen floor and scribbled out my note. The deal was either you pick up your stuff or breakfast will not be served that morning (and yes it was a school morning). I let Jake read my note first just in case I was being too zealous with my request. My first comment to him was “Order will be restored in this house!” Jake thought it was hilarious!
Guess what!? IT WORKED!!! You should have seen the girls reactions when they came to breakfast and saw the note on the counter instead of their food. Too funny! The next few minutes were a whirlwind of them scurrying around the house to put all their stuff away. They got everything done and in record time too. They both even got to eat breakfast that morning! The biggest benefit though was that it reminded them of their responsibilities and while we to still have an off day once in a great while it has been MUCH better.
When everyone in the family works together to put away their items in the proper places the whole family can enjoy a much more livable house. I don’t mind cleaning, but really don’t want to be a full time personal maid when everyone is perfectly capable of helping out. No more wading through piles of clothes, tripping over shoes, washing my hands with headbands in the sink, or random items spread throughout the house!
Hopefully this will be the last time I have to remind them. It wasn’t a fancy note and it was done a little off the cuff, but hey the message got across and it served it’s purpose! I have debated back and forth whether or not to share this with you than decided that if I am going through this in my house it is probably happening in at least a couple other homes somewhere. Maybe?!
Kids Day at THE AG: Framers Who Were Farmers Constitution Day
The girls earned their Jr. Historian Badges for Framers Who Were Farmers – U.S. Constitution Event
On September 17th every year we celebrate Constitution Day! Back on September 17, 1787 a total of 42 of the 55 delegates held their final meeting at the Constitutional Convention. It was the day they signed the Constitution of the United States of America!
Shortly after Constitution Day we attended an event at the Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum. The event was called Kids Day at THE AG: Framers Who Were Farmers. It was for students in 4th to 7th grades. They had activities, role playing, field work, and discussions pertaining to the U. S. Constitution. They covered information such as:
- The Preamble
- Separation of Powers
- History, Framers, and Impact of the U.S. Constitution
- Declaration of Independence
- Articles of Confederation
- Bill of Rights
Staff dressed up as James Madison. Discussion on the U.S. Constitution.
The Founding Fathers used scientific inventions and various forms of farming techniques. Some of the men who signed the Constitution were farmers, a few of them were:
- George Washington
- James Madison
- Charles Pinckney
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
- Thomas Jefferson
- Benjamin Franklin
There were several things the farmers experienced such as depletion of soil nutrients, purchasing local produce and crops, local insects, trees, vegetation, and being self-supportive farms.
Some of the activities the kids did at the event were discussing the Constitution. Designing a poster. Experimenting with soil and the nutrients in it. Planting some seeds and recording their findings. The kids received a Jr. Historian Pin and a U.S. Constitution pocket guide. The girls had a lot of fun learning about the U.S. Constitution, activities, and experiments.
Timeline include French & Indian War, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, American Revolution, Constitutional Conventional, Bill of Rights, and more!
Brina’s poster!
The poster Karlie made at the event!
