Our Homeschool Meme

I'll just sit here and drink my coffee

A lot of the boards and groups I frequent online are full of hate this time of year. Apparently, you can't be happy to send your child off to school (public or private). The nerve of some people!
I am not one of those homeschool moms. I love the back to school photos.

25 Quick and Easy Homeschool Lunch Ideas

A few months back, we started making freezer meals, meal planning, and meal prepping. It has been a huge help. Especially, when we are rushed for time, and I have 4 kids ( and a grumpy husband) starving and whining about being star-ving. 

My number 1 secret weapon, PB&Js in the freezer. I buy 2 extra loaves of bread and make them into sandwiches and pop those bad boys in the freezer. They are a lot cheaper to make, than to buy at the grocery store. According to my children, they are delicious even if still frozen. Just put the sandwiches in the fridge or on the counter to thaw. I just put them in my husbands lunchbox and they are thawed by the time he has lunch. 

We had enchiladas for dinner one night and I didn't use tortillas (it was a low carb/no carb recipe). Afterwards, I wrapped the left overs up in tortillas and, individually, in tin foil and froze them. Weeks later I was able to pop them in the oven for about 25 mins and we had a quick and easy lunch.

My kids love to eat pepperoni tacos, as they call them. Its shredded cheese and pepperoni on a tortilla and microwaved for about 35-40 seconds. Its something they can make by themselves and quickly get back to school work.

I try to always have fresh fruit and veggies available for them to munch on. My children could eat an entire watermelon in a single day. I like to split the melons and pineapples in half and serve one half one day and the other half the following day, that doesn't happen often. Now that we have chickens and its hot, I do give them a few slices and the scoops of seeds.

Getting the kids to eat most leftovers, or as I like to call them Whinese, is a struggle. I have the perfect example going on right now in our house. My son begged, like with praying hands- BEGGED for me to buy ribs. I saw some on sale, brought them home, and cooked them. He was surprised and happy. I had a little less than half the slab left over that night. I put them in the fridge. Set them out for lunch the next day, no interest. Dinner time last night, I brought them out again and made a box of noodles and added cheese and milk. When I called the kids to get their plates, I heard a lot of, "I'm vegetarian" and "this again".. but they ate the ribs and the cheesy noodles.

   Here are a few quick and easy lunches we like

1.  Boil a pound of noodles. Leave them plain and in the fridge. The kids can add whatever toppings they want.
2. Frozen sandwiches -PB&J, turkey and cheese, ham and mustard
3. Salad available for eating
4. Tuna fish available (melt cheese on a sandwich)
5. Grape tomatoes and cheese cut into cubes
6. Crackers and peanut butter with raisins
7. Tortilla with apples and peanut butter
8. Slice of bread with spaghetti sauce, cheese, and pepperoni
9. Quinoa and frozen fruit
10. Cottage cheese and fruit
11. Baked Grapefruit
12. Sweet potato with cinnamon and butter
13. Baked potato with salsa
14. Bagel Bar -add whatever topping they want
15. Cheese Wedge with crackers and cucumbers
16. Yogurt with nuts and fruit
17. Hard-boiled eggs with celery and hummus
18. Eggs with cheese and diced lunchmeat or veggies you can make in the microwave
19. Nachos - chips, cheese, salsa, sour cream, meat.. 
20. Toast .. Cinnamon and sugar is the current favorite in our house. Avocado is a close second.
21. Pancakes - make a whole box at a time. What isn't eaten that day gets put in the freezer. 
22. Muffins - make a few different kinds of batches and freeze what isn't eaten that day
23. Soups - if I make a crockpot of chili or french onion soup whats leftover that night gets split into two meals, a freezer bag and a fridge container. Frozen leftover chili will be used on nachos and hotdogs in the future. 
24. Rice - cooked and available in the fridge
25. Meatballs -possibilities are endless .. subs, sliders, with pastas, with sauce

We usually have carrots, apples, bananas, oranges, and frozen fruits and veggies on hand. My kids are online and they come to us with food ideas. Some foods are bizarre and some look totally delicious. We like to have them cook and help with meals. I try my best to incorporate their food ideas into our weekly meal plans.  

3 All About Me Activities

ALL ABOUT ME ACTIVITIES

We made some beginning of the year activities 

These were a lot of fun to complete 

We thought, we'd share them with everyone

Spirit Week and Weekly Themes for our Homeschool (Brainstorm Activity)

I just made this form and printed it out. We're going to brainstorm some ideas for weekly themes this school year. I don't mind if we only have one week of the month dedicated to a theme, the idea is to have us work together and think of something we can look forward to and plan for together. 
I want to propose a spirit week in September or October. I like the idea of having the kids feel proud of what we're accomplishing as homeschoolers. I don't know of a better way to create a visual than have a crazy hair day or pajama day, of course! 
I want the kids to be excited, all year long, for what's to come for our homeschool journey. We're stuck with each other, we should have fun! 

Some ideas I've come across are:

Pajama Day
Crazy Hair Day
Scrabble Day 
Future Day
Cartoon Day
Comic Book Day
Patriotic Day
School Colors Day (we don't have any atm)
Movie Day
Nerd Day
Twin Day
Maryland Day
Team Spirit Day
Baltimore Day
Tacky Day
Book Day
Crazy Sock Day
)yaD sdrawkcaB( Backwards Day
Beach Day
Rainbow Day
Time Travel Day
Camo Day
Mismatched Day
Toy Day
Zombie Day
Whiteout/Blackout Day
History Day
Ugly Shirt Day
Celebrity Day
Sunglasses Day
Country Day
Fake An Injury Day
Super Hero Day
Garbage Day
Recycling Day
Tacky Tourist
Hat Day
Tie Dye Day
Olympics Day
Blast From The Past
Formal Day
Crazy Tie Day
Deck The Halls
Unbirthday Day
Nursery Rhyme Day
Game Show Day
Luau Day
Homeschool Wars Day
Go Green Day
Photo Booth Day
Mustache Day
Giraffe Day
Ninja Warrior Day
Dog Day
Show-N-Tell Day
Rockstar Day
Spy Day
Grandparents Day
Pirate Day
Guess Who Day
Dr. Who Day
Imaginary Friend Day
Denim Day
Witch Day
Nightmare Before School Day
Dream Day
Friendship Day
Cheer Day
Board Game Day
Video Game Day
Rainbow Day
Candy Day
Outta This World Day

20 Giraffe Facts

Our homeschool mascot is the giraffe.

I'm looking up interesting facts with Lillian.
We're going to list our favorite facts.

1. They live up to 25 years in the wild.
2. Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day.
3. They carry a baby for 15 months.
4. Both sexes have skin-covered knobs, called ossicones, on the top of their heads.
5. Giraffes live mostly in savanna areas in the sub-Saharan region of Africa.
6. Their long tongues are helpful in helpful with pulling leaves from the trees.
7. People long ago thought, the giraffe was a cross between a leopard and a camel, which is reflected in its scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis.
8. With an average height of around 17 feet, the giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world.
9. A giraffe's neck alone is 6 feet long and weighs about 600 lbs. The animal's legs are also 6 feet long.
10. Their tongues are about 21 inches long, and their feet are 12 inches across. 
11. Their lungs can hold 12 gallons of air, while human lungs hold 1.5 gallon.
12.  A group of giraffes is called a tower.
13. Giraffes are herbivores, which means they eat only plants.
14. Giraffes can go without drinking for weeks at a time, staying hydrated through the vegetation it consumes.
15. Female giraffes are called cows, while the males are called bulls, just like cattle.
16. At 3 to 6 years old, calves are fully mature. 
17. According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), it is generally accepted that there is one species of giraffe, which has nine subspecies. a) Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis (Nubian giraffe) b) Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa (South African giraffe or cape giraffe) c) Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata (reticulated giraffe) d) Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi (Ugandan giraffe or Rothschild's giraffe) e) Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti (Thornicroft's giraffe) f) Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi (Masai giraffe) g) Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis (Angolan giraffe or smokey giraffe) h) Giraffa camelopardalis  antiquorum (Kordofan giraffe) i) Giraffa camelopardalis peralta (Niger giraffe, Nigerian giraffe or West African giraffe).
18. Giraffes as a whole are not on any endangered list.
19. Poaching is a problen, the animals' tails are made into good-luck bracelets.
20. Just like human fingerprints and zebra stripes, the pattern of a giraffe's coat is unique to that animal.

1 week down 35 to go

We started our 2016-2017 Homeschool year on Monday. We had an easy breezy first week. We got a few things accomplished and hopefully, what we did accomplish won't be forgotten this weekend.

Henry is still working through his 4th grade textbooks. He's got some things he never completed and I don't think its fair for the girls to have had to finish their last little bit last year while Henry was outside playing with his friends. 

Lillian says in the video she likes the rainbow words. I'm going to bust out the alphabet stamps next week. I bought them from Michaels earlier this summer. Stamping your words, is one of the choices on our 20 Spelling Ideas chart.

1st Homeschool Field Trip of 2016-2017

We had a wonderful afternoon! We took a trip up to Harford County to visit the Broom's Bloom Dairy. They have a cute little cafe and a sunflower field you can frolic in. Our trip up last year was in September. the sunflowers were already wilting and the line to enter the cafe was extended all the way to the parking lot! Today, we had only one person ahead of us in line and we were in and out in no time.
I had the kids pick out a sunflower to stand next to and snapped a photo before they could complain or argue with me. School pictures -DONE!
Today is day 4 of our school year and honestly, so far so good. Henry is a lot more independent this year and I'm super proud of him for that. I still have to go over everything - EVERY LITTLE THING- before and after the assignment, but I wouldn't want it any other way.
Isabelle has a little desk area she made in her room. She gets her work done and she has plenty of free time the rest of the day. She really loves taking care of the little garden she and Chris made me. She even researched an environmentally friendly way to control the bugs eating her veggies and strawberries -soapy water. I'm so proud of her, that is what Unschooling is all about, IMO.
Lillian is coming around. She's still sad that she's not in Kindergarten, but the work she's doing is a lot of review, so, she's not overwhelmed at all.
Juliana has been slacking this week. Her friend is still on summer vacation and she's been hanging out with Juliana this week. She's been able to get some school work accomplished before her friends dropped off in the afternoon. Next week will be a whole different story.

Of course, we made a video of our trip

The Hip or The Tragically Hip set list from Man Machine Poem tour

Gord Downie lead singer of the Tragically Hip, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer last December. The band has been touring Canada this summer- as a final good-bye to all of his fans. Last night, he played his last show. It was also in his hometown, Kingston. At a venue that holds 2,700 people. How intimate and how profoundly sad. The show was broadcast around the world last night.

We know two little fellas who, sadly, lost their lives to brain cancer. It's a scary wake up call to how fragile life really is. The parents, siblings, cousins, aunts & uncles, and close family friends are all left with a hole in their hearts. I hope this spotlight on brain cancer will help the next generation have it a little easier.
There are many types of cancers and tumors, each type is as unique as the person effected by it.
No matter what happens in this world, cherish your family. We're all fighting for something and we all want to be heard and understood. There are people out there in this world who feel they don't have options or a support system. Sharing our stories and struggles will make us more human to one another.

Brain Freeze Ahead

Today is Bring Your Own Cup to 7-11 and fill it up for only $1.50.

We found some big cups and headed over.

Time Capsule

We made a two time capsules yesterday. I used two empty crystal light containers and had the kids decorate them. We still have magazines from the dream boards activity, but they wanted to use markers.

The kids were allowed to put anything they wanted -that would fit- into the time capsules. I added an angel, that's been on my counter for three days and an inspirational quote that sums up our life these days. In the other container I added a photo of an egg, we are anxiously awaiting 4 girls to start laying, and a paint swatch, I've been trying to decide what color to paint my house and I hope that when we look into the time capsule again, my house will be painted!!

Dream board / vision boards

We're still counting down the last few days of summer vacation. Today we made Dream boards or Vision Boards.. which ever you'd like to call it is fine, just start!

The kids were given a stack of magazines to look through. I think they chose some really neat photos to represent their ideas. Juliana had a blast making hers. I hope she explores her artsy side a lot more this upcoming homeschool year.




Materials needed:
construction paper
glue stick
scissors
magazines


It's that easy!

9 Days until school starts Dashboard Cookies

Today we made dashboard cookies. It was hot one today, folks! We went  up to my Mom's house. She was having a yard sale so we were outside in the heat all day. the van was LITERALLY, an oven today!

Isabelle mixed up the cookies and they lasted (baked) in the van about 4 hours. If left longer .. like 8 hours ( a whole work day), I could see them getting crispy. This was an awesome idea! We will definitely try this again. I think, we'll even add the cook an egg on the asphalt to our list of things to try out.

Our plan is to post a challenge everyday in September. If you have any ideas comment on our video ;)

8 days remain ... our countdown continues

We are dealing with a few real world/life happens things. Sorry, to the three of you who read my blog. I have had a heck of a time uploading this video. Four times its failed to upload through imovie to youtube. Three times it had failed to upload directly from phone memory to youtube... What a pain in the butt!

The snowball fight, trust challenge, and dream/vision board videos will be uploaded as soon, as I get a free moment.

I hope you are all getting excited for the start of the new homeschool year. We are just about ready. I am looking forward to all of your youtube videos of the first day.

10 days of summer vacation left.. Day three of our countdown

Today, we're three days into our countdown at 10 days left of our 12 ending days of summer. It's paper airplane battle time. Isabelle is fighting off a cough, so she's playing the role of camera lady.

We have a paper airplane book with 100 pages of designs. It was great seeing all of the kids help each other. We have had this book for two years and Henry forgot about it, until I mention it yesterday. I hope we can continue having fun days this home school year.

It was a hot day. We stayed indoors in the air conditioning all day. Once the sun started setting, the kids headed out back and ran off lots of energy. Lillian won the battle today. Seeing her run towards Henry with such determination, was a riot.

Tomorrows day 9, we're baking cookies on the car dashboard!!!

11 days of summer left

Today we are counting down to number 11. We made countdown links and stapled them to a coloring picture we printed off the internet.

We each cut a piece of construction paper into 10 strips. Then, stapled them together forming a chain. Stapled the chain to the animal.


Tomorrow for our 10 days left of summer, we're having a paper airplane battle!

TV settings: Captians or No captians

Today we became a captian family. From now until, not sure yet, the TV will be helping the kids read and spell. I noticed, Henry is a t2t (talk to text) typer and that's going to be my reasoning.

On the 12th day left of 2016 summer vacation we.....

On the 12th day left of summer 2016 we made melty crayon crafts. Talk about a mess; a hot, fingertip burning mess!

I found tiny canvases at Ross a few months back and today they came in handy. I used painters tape to tape a number (whatever grade) and hot glued a crayon on top of the canvas. I'm thinking after we pull off the tape, we'll glue a new crayon on top.

We have a fun activity planned for each day leading up to August 22, 2016. That's when we are starting our 2016-2017 homeschool year.

The 12 days left of Summer 2016 activities are:

12 Melty crayon grade art
11 Make a 10 days left of summer paper link countdown
10 Paper airplane battle
9 Bake cookies on the dashboard of the van
8 Back to school edition of the (EIOWI) Eat it or wear it challenge
7 Snowball fight
6 Trust games
5 Dreamboards
4 Time Capsule/ Note to self notes
3 Kissing hand cookies and story
2 Boo Hoo Back to Homeschool Brunch
1 Swimming at the farm

How To Tell Fortunes

www.gutenberg.org
Project Gutenberg-tm

CONTENTS

HOW TO TELL FORTUNES BY CARDS.
GOOD AND BAD OMENS.
WEATHER OMENS.
HYMEN’S LOTTERY.
LIST OF UNLUCKY DAYS (Males)
LIST OF UNLUCKY DAYS (Females)
LIST OF DAYS USUALLY CONSIDERED FORTUNATE.
ST. AGNES’ DAY
NAPOLEON’S ORACULUM; OR, BOOK OF FATE.
ORACULUM.

SIGNIFICATION OF THE CARDS.

The individual meaning attached to the thirty-two cards employed is as follows:—

THE EIGHT CLUBS.

Ace of Clubs.—Signifies joy, money, or good news; if reversed, the joy will be of brief duration.

King of Clubs.—A frank, liberal man, fond of serving his friends; if reversed, he will meet with a disappointment.

Queen of Clubs.—An affectionate woman, but quick-tempered and touchy; if reversed, jealous and malicious.

Knave of Clubs.—A clever and enterprising young man; reversed, a harmless flirt and flatterer.

Ten of Clubs.—Fortune, success, or grandeur; reversed, want of success in some small matter.

[4]

Nine of Clubs.—Unexpected gain, or a legacy; reversed, some trifling present.

Eight of Clubs.—A dark person’s affections, which, if returned, will be the cause of great prosperity; reversed, those of a fool, and attendant unhappiness, if reciprocated.

Seven of Clubs.—A small sum of money, or unexpectedly recovered debt; reversed, a yet smaller amount.

THE EIGHT HEARTS.

Ace of Hearts.—A love-letter, or some pleasant news; reversed, a friend’s visit.

King of Hearts.—A fair, liberal man; reversed, will meet with disappointment.

Queen of Hearts.—A mild, amiable woman; reversed, has been crossed in love.

Knave of Hearts.—A gay young bachelor, who dreams only of pleasure; reversed, a discontented military man.

Ten of Hearts.—Happiness, triumph; if reversed, some slight anxiety.

Nine of Hearts.—Joy, satisfaction, success; reversed, a passing chagrin.

Eight of Hearts.—A fair person’s affections; reversed, indifference on his or her part.

Seven of Hearts.—Pleasant thoughts, tranquility; reversed, ennui, weariness.

THE EIGHT DIAMONDS.

Ace of Diamonds.—A letter, soon to be received; and, if the card be reversed, containing bad news.

King of Diamonds.—A fair man—generally in the army—but both cunning and dangerous; if reversed, a threatened danger, caused by machinations on his part.

Queen of Diamonds.—An ill-bred, scandal-loving woman; if reversed, she is to be greatly feared.

Knave of Diamonds.—A tale-bearing servant, or unfaithful friend; if reversed, will be the cause of mischief.

Ten of Diamonds.—Journey, or change of residence; if reversed, it will not prove fortunate.

Nine of Diamonds.—Annoyance, delay; if reversed, either a family or a love quarrel.

Eight of Diamonds.—Love-making; if reversed, unsuccessful.

Seven of Diamonds.—Satire, mockery; reversed, a foolish scandal.

N. B.—In order to know whether the Ace, Ten, Nine, Eight and Seven of Diamonds are reversed, it is better to make a small pencil-mark on each, to show which is the top of the card.

THE EIGHT SPADES.

Ace of Spades.—Pleasure; reversed, grief, bad news.

King of Spades.—The envious man, an enemy, or a dishonest lawyer, who is to be feared; reversed, impotent malice.

[5]

Queen of Spades.—A widow; reversed, a dangerous and malicious woman.

Knave of Spades.—A dark, ill-bred young man; reversed, he is plotting some mischief.

Ten of Spades.—Tears, a prison; reversed, brief affliction.

Nine of Spades.—Tidings of a death; reversed, it will be some near relative.

Eight of Spades.—Approaching illness; reversed, a marriage broken off, or offer refused.

Seven of Spades.—Slight annoyances; reversed, a foolish intrigue.

The Court cards of Hearts and Diamonds usually represent persons of fair complexion; Clubs and Spades, the opposite.

Signification of Different Cards of the Same Denomination.

Four Aces, coming together, or following each other, announce danger, failure in business, and sometimes imprisonment. If one or more of them be reversed, the danger will be lessened, but that is all.

Three Aces, coming in the same manner.—Good tidings; if reversed, folly.

Two Aces.—A plot; if reversed, will not succeed.

Four Kings.—Rewards, dignities, honors; reversed, they will be less, but sooner received.

Three Kings.—A consultation on important business, the result of which will be highly satisfactory; if reversed, success will be doubtful.

Two Kings.—A partnership in business; if reversed, a dissolution of the same. Sometimes this only denotes friendly projects.

Four Queens.—Company, society; one or more reversed, denotes that the entertainment will not go off well.

Three Queens.—Friendly calls; reversed, chattering and scandal or deceit.

Two Queens.—A meeting between friends; reversed, poverty, troubles, in which one will involve the other.

Four Knaves.—A noisy party—mostly young people; reversed, a drinking bout.

Three Knaves.—False friends; reversed, a quarrel with some low person.

Two Knaves.—Evil intentions; reversed, danger.

Four tens.—Great success in projected enterprises; reversed, the success will not be so brilliant, but still it will be sure.

Three tens.—Improper conduct; reversed, failure.

Two tens.—Change of trade or profession; reversed, denotes that the prospect is only a distant one.

Four nines.—A great surprise; reversed, a public dinner.

Three nines.—Joy, fortune, health; reversed, wealth lost by imprudence.

Two nines.—A little gain; reversed, trifling losses at cards.

Four eights.—A short journey; reversed, the return of a friend or relative.

[6]

Three eights.—Thoughts of marriage; reversed, folly, flirtation.

Two eights.—A brief love-dream; reversed, small pleasures and trifling pains.

Four Sevens.—Intrigues among servants or low people, threats, snares, and disputes; reversed, that their malice will be impotent to harm, and that the punishment will fall on themselves.

Three sevens.—Sickness, premature old age; reversed, slight and brief indisposition.

Two sevens.—Levity; reversed, regret.

Any picture-card between two others of equal value—as two tens, two Aces, etc.—denotes that the person represented by that card runs the risk of a prison.

It requires no great efforts to commit these significations to memory, but it must be remembered that they are but what the alphabet is to the printed book: a little attention and practice, however, will soon enable the learner to form these mystic letters into words, and words into phrases; in other language, to assemble these cards together, and read the events, past and to come, their pictured faces pretend to reveal.

There are several ways of doing this; but we will give them all, one after another, so as to afford our readers an ample choice of methods of prying into futurity.

Produced by Craig Kirkwood, Demian Katz and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images
courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University
(http://digital.library.villanova.edu/))

  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
  are located before using this ebook.

20 EGG SUBSTITUTES

We have committed to not purchasing store bought eggs. We're only getting 2 eggs most days and we have other breakfast options besides eggs, so they are adding up. I searched around online and found many.

#twobusyhens #readytomakebread #backyardchickens #backyardbarnyard

A photo posted by Raine Ader ️️️️💄 (@maaaamiraine) on Jul 28, 2016 at 6:34am PDT

Just an FYI, if a recipe calls for 3 eggs, these substitutes most likely won't work. Eggs are used in one of two roles: binder (to hold the recipe together) or leavening agent (to help it rise). Sometimes eggs play both roles at once. Pound cakes, sponge cakes, angel food cakes, and other desserts with relatively high egg content will not turn out well in egg free cooking.


1. You can make it egg free using flax seed. 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of water to replace 1 egg.

2. You can even use applesauce to replace the eggs.  1/4 cup of applesauce is equal to one egg and 1/2 cup for two eggs.

3. I've seen a few vegan pie recipes that call for Silken Tofu.  1/4 cup of pureed tofu for 1 egg.

4. Some recipes call for baking soda and apple cider vinegar, this helps when you make your baked goods. 1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for 1 egg.

5. Chia seeds soaked in water. No need to grind them. 1 tablespoon of chia and 2 tablespoons of water for one egg.

6. Banana mashed, or even half a banana, equals one egg.

7. One whole avocado mashed

8. Aquafaba aka chickpea liquid from the can. Place it in a bowl and whip it for about 14-15 minutes. 3 tablespoons drained chickpea liquid (each can yields about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) is the equivalent of about 1 egg,

9. Yogurt (if you're not dairy free) 3/4 cup of yogurt is equal to two eggs

10. Mayonnaise can be used in place of the eggs and oil.

11. Unflavored gelatin. 1 cup boiling water and 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin, mixed and then use 3-1/2 tablespoons of that mixture per egg

12. Xanthan gum. 1 teaspoon per recipe.

13. Vegetable oil. 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil mixed with 1-1/2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon baking powder per egg.

14. Diet soda, yes 1/2 a can of diet soda is equal to one egg.

15. Agar-agar egg substitute recipe is 1 tablespoon of agar-agar to 4 tablespoons of water.

16. Arrowroot powder is great as an egg substitute in stir fries, 2 tablespoons is all you'll need.

17. Sweet potatoes mashed or white potatoes. Just use 2 tablespoons for every egg. Using 2 tablespoons of instant potato flakes works the same.

18. Canned Pumpkin works well in muffins and breads. 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin

19. Tomato paste would be a great egg substitute in meatballs or meatloaf. 2 tablespoons of tomato paste should be fine for the meat mixture.

20. Carbonated water. Just replace 1/4 of the recipe's liquid with carbonated water. Be sure not to over mix the batter.

Our Homeschool Job Chart

TpT Job-Chart-Pirate-Sailing-Nautical-or-Explorer-Theme-

I found a simple job chart that I was able to modify for our homeschool needs.

Ferris Wheel Accident in Tennesee

3 children fall 35-45 ft from Ferris wheel in Tennessee




abcnews.go.com/


Very Scary!! The three girls were in the red cab. As the wheel turned, their cab got caught on the green cab, essentially tipping the red cab at a 90 degree angle, which ultimately caused the three girls to spill out of the cab and fall to the ground.

On ferris wheel rides we're usually told: no rocking. I can't imagine the horror these girls felt, they had no control over this situation.

Exploring Life Science [Print Replica] FREE DOWNLOAD Kindle Edition

A 30-week home school curriculum with 60 reading lessons and 60 engaging activities dealing with life science. Designed for the upper elementary and early middle school student with an interest in life science.

                DOWNLOAD FOR FREE

*using my Amazon Affiliate Link

Freezer Meals

   

This summer I started making freezer meals. First, we started with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Chris likes to take 3 pb&j sandwiches to work every day, I made a bunch and put them in the refrigerator, only to find out the next day, the kids ate them. Now, I put them in the freezer and I hear, they are even better frozen.

I always freeze leftover soups and chili. Last week, we made burritos from the left over enchiladas and wrapped them in tinfoil to store in the freezer (ran out of cling wrap) Last night we just popped them into the toaster oven and 25 mins later yummy!!! Making french toast sticks or pancakes in bulk and freezing is an idea I've tried. Also, english muffins with sausage patties is a good one.

Walking down the frozen foods isle you can see chicken nuggets, meatballs, fish sticks, mozzarella sticks, mini tacos, pb&js, mac and cheese.. all frozen, all unhealthy, and full of junk! Our goal this month is to make homemade home cooked meals and stock up so that when the, "I'm hungry", starts I'm not going to be annoyed.

On Pinterest you can find numerous boards dedicated to freezer meals. I have one too! Usually, its chicken this or pork that. I have limited freezer space and tons of ideas. Buying family packs of meat and breaking them down into smaller portions and adding seasonings and a few onions or veggies is a start. Premixing meatloaf is a great time saver, as well.

I've always bought 5 or 6 loaves of bread at at time. Especially, if rolls are on sale I'll bring them home and freeze them. Buying bread from the bakery's day old section is cheaper option. Just remember that when you freeze something, that's how it thaws. So don't wait until its hard and moldy to freeze.

How can we make Moms day better? That's what my brainstorming goal was all weekend. I have a list of things that I need organized, moved around, and tossed out of sight. That will be what my focus is this week. First up, the refrigerator. We have to get these condiment shelves under control.

I, pledge allegiance

My wonderful 7th grader attended public school for grades K-4. Last spring, at a rooted class, she was asked to recite The Pledge of Allegiance. She is a very shy introvert tween. This was 1. embarrassing -to be singled out and 2. "Mom, we don't say it anymore and I forgot it!!"

At cub scouts and girl scouts, the kids say the pledge and then they go on to say the scout laws and such. All of which my children know. I was wrongly accused and blamed that day! To be sure she is prepared in the future, we are spending our first homeschool week going over the history of Old Glory. 

I found this page on the History of the USflag


I found this page on the history of the Pledge of Allegiance