Sunday, August 11, 2013

Field trip tips everyone needs to know!

I just finished a new field trip article on the Lesson Plans Plus website.  This is a must-read for anyone who is thinking about planning a field trip.  Let me help take the stress out of planning by sharing my tricks and tips.  I even added a handy checklist to make your planning as easy as can be.   Check it out and tell me what you think.

How to plan a successful field trip.

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Sunday, August 4, 2013

Fun at the Airport

I had a spontaneous and fun evening with my family tonight.  We packed up dinner (my yummy chicken salad and fresh picked blueberries) and had a picnic at the airport viewing area.  At our local airport, there is a nice area with picnic tables where you can sit and watch the planes come in and also take off down the runway.   It was neat to watch the airplanes up close.  We also found a radio station where we could hear the air traffic controllers and pilots.  Pretty cool.  My kids did not want to leave.   I'm pretty sure we will do this again sometime.

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Tour and Breakfast on the Farm.

While shopping at a farmers market over the weekend, I noticed a poster at one of the tables that said "Breakfast on the Farm".  I talked to the farmer about it and she offered me free tickets to the event.   As it turns out, the breakfast on the farm event is a Michigan State University Extension.   Families get a tour of the farm, learn about milking cows, get to pet a calf, see the farm equipment, take wagon ride, learn where food comes from, eat ice cream and also eat a farm fresh breakfast.  I'm really excited to take my kids to this event.   It should be a really fun learning experience for our whole family.  Breakfast on the Farm is hosted at various farms in Michigan.    If you live too far to take advantage of one of these great events, you could do a search or ask around at farmers markets in your area to see if something similar is offered near you.  I love finding new, fun, educational activities for my family.  Breakfast on the Farm.

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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Getting Ready for Fourth of July! Baking Day with the Kids!

My kids and I have been busy in the kitchen today.  I let them create some fun designs in our cupcakes before baking.  They had so much fun with this and the cupcake batter turned out really cute.  I almost hate to decorate them and cover up their creativity.  I'm sure they will have fun with the frosting part too though. 




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Fourth of July Treats!

My sister's birthday is on July 4th and every year we have a family get together for a combined holiday / birthday celebration.  My girls and I are making cupcakes.  I was thinking of doing either red, white and blue cupcakes or a flag cake.   I did some searching and found the best of both worlds, a cupcake flag cake!  So easy and cute!   Cupcake Flag Cake.  

Another cute and easy idea that would be fun for little kitchen helpers is Red, White and Blue Strawberries.  Instead of using white chocolate, you could substitute yogurt instead.  Of course, the yogurt would not harden and you would need to keep it cold.

When I was growing up, my grandma used to make a fun flag cake each Fourth of July.  It was so easy and cute.   She made a white cake, frosted it with whipped cream and then used blueberries and strawberries to make it look like the USA flag.    I was always so impressed with that cake as a child :)  It looked a lot like this flag cake.

My kids and I went sweet cherry picking a couple of days ago and we are also making sweet cherry muffins today.  We'll eat them for breakfast Fourth of July morning.  I'm going to try this cherry muffin recipe.  We're not going to add blueberries this time but I was just thinking you could make them more festive by adding blueberries too.

For those of you celebrating America's birthday, have a fun and safe Independence Day! 

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Friday, June 7, 2013

Fun Themed Summer Schedule

Are you ready for summer?  I know I am.  It was a wonderful school year but we are all ready for a nice long break!  Of course, there will be plenty of learning opportunities and adventures but it will be fun!

I want to share a cute and fun themed summer schedule with you.  This is perfect for moms and kids who are home all summer.  Thanks goes to my friend Sarah for sharing this list on another site.

  • Make-it Monday (building projects with K’nex and Lego's or the wood we have in the backyard for the kids to use in building forts, craft projects, art projects, a visit to the library to learn about artists and inventors and engineering – art and building and invention are big things in our family)
  • Take a trip Tuesday (the park, a museum, a bike ride, a field trip to a historic place, a factory tour, a picnic, a friend’s house…We often invited other kids or other families along)
  • Wet Wednesday (swim/go to a splash pad/play in the sprinklers, often with friends and neighbors)
  • Thinking Thursday (research something from our “wondering list” – a list of things we’re wondering about. Last summer we had a great time finding out how to make yogurt, how cars are made, where baby carrots come from and how monster trucks work thanks to YouTube, Wikipedia and library trips)
  • Friend Friday (everyone can have a friend over – nice to do it all at once and protect our family time during most of the rest of the week. Plus we always have Family Movie Night on Fridays)

  • This list is from Power of Moms

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    Monday, April 29, 2013

    Hydrangea Cupcakes for May Day or Mother's Day!

    I was searching for a cute May Day treat and I came across these adorable Hydrangea Cupcakes!  They would be really cute for a Mother's Day dinner / lunch dessert too.  I love hydrangeas, especially the light blue and purple color!  I have three big hydrangea plants in my garden. They are so pretty.  I have several Wilton cake tips and I'm pretty sure I have the one used for these cupcakes.  I'm going to give it a try!  My kids love decorating cookies and cupcakes.  It's fun for them to take part in baking / decorating even if the end result doesn't always look exactly as we've envisioned.  Here is another link with a Duncan Hines hydrangea cupcake recipe. 

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    Monday, April 1, 2013

    Fun April Fools Day Prank!

    Since it's April 1st, I wanted to pull a fun prank on my family today.  My kids did a great job pranking me so I thought about what to do all day.  Inspiration finally hit a couple of hours before dinner.  I decided to make muffin tin meat loafs look like cupcakes.  For the frosting, I made mashed potatoes and dyed them blue.  It was a fun surprise.   My husband thought it was pretty awesome.  The kids thought it was funny but they were a little disappointed that we were not having real cupcakes.   They were really happy to find out that I also made real (not a prank) chocolate chip muffins for dessert .  They had to eat their cupcake before they could get a muffin though. :)


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    Saturday, March 23, 2013

    Free Homeschool Book on Kindle

    I just noticed a free book on Kindle today.  It's called "How To Teach Your Child".  I have not personally read this book so I can't give a review or recommendation but you can't beat free!   I hope someone finds this helpful!  
    How To Teach Your Child


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    Wednesday, February 13, 2013

    Snow Cups!

    Most kids love snow cones and Italian Ice treats in the summer.   For an easy winter treat give snow cups a try!   I scooped some fresh, clean snow off the deck and poured some cranberry juice over the top.    My kids thought it was the perfect afternoon treat.  They enjoyed eating their flavored snow cups outside where it would not melt.



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    Tuesday, February 12, 2013

    Outside Snow Art!

    Do you have snow where you live? We have snow and plenty of it. We had a snow storm a few days ago which gave us a snow day on Friday and plenty of snow for the weekend. I filled some plastic spray bottles (I bought new bottles from a dollar store) with water and food coloring. I gave the kids some rules such as no spraying people, clothing or anything other than the snow and the trees. Then I let them loose in the yard to go make some snow art! I helped them build a snow fort earlier in the day so that made for some extra special fun. They even painted a snow chair in the fort. My kids and several neighbor friends joined in the outdoor snow art fun and it kept them all busy for a long time! Easy art with no mess / clean-up and everyone was happy.



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    Wednesday, January 23, 2013

    Valentine BINGO

    Whether you're planning a classroom party, a small party at home or just want to have fun with your kids, BINGO is lots of fun.  The great thing about BINGO is that you can customize your cards to reflect the theme / holiday you are focusing on.  For Valentine's Day I like to replace the word BINGO at the top of the cards and write HEART instead.  For markers, I like to use conversation hearts.   I usually just make my own BINGO cards but I also found some printable cards over at DLTK.  If you don't want to make your own, this is a great and easy option.  They even offer customized cards.  You can print them in color or black and white (and color them yourself).  You can also choose from picture cards or cards with words, colors or ABC's.  Have fun!   DLTK's BINGO cards.

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    Monday, January 21, 2013

    Valentine Marshmallow Treat Pops!

    I was looking for an easy Valentine's Day treat for my kids to help make when I found these!  So cute and easy!  I'm sure they will be a hit.  Marshmallow Treat Pops.

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