**WARNING** Viewer Discretion is advised…..
We had a visitor to our house for a few days. Her name was Squashie….she liked to pal around with our daughter, 9yr old Abby. They had so much fun together.
Squashie loved to hang out with Abby. They loved to make faces together, and even made some for me!
However…..today….Squashie ended up meeting a terrible end. Please, view with caution…could be graphic!
I warned you…..
Poor Squashie!
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So this morning I was talking to my son and we thought taking the tube of crescent rolls and make them into cinnamon rolls sounded pretty cool!
We rolled them out of the tube and spread melted butter
on them and make a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon and the kids had a blast spreading it all over with their hands!
Then we rolled it all up and cut it into pieces
then I took the left over sugar mixture and put it all over the top…because let’s be honest…you can’t have enough sugar!
Then as you can see from the 3rd image in the story board….we made frosting for them and my daughter had to add blue food coloring!! LOL!
They turned out pretty good too! I love that the kids used their imaginations and helped with the cooking process.
Well, I took Abby outside yesterday and we did a Back To School themed Mini-Session. You can see the full post here: http://www.AmyBarkerPhotography.com/
I love it when the kids have FUN in science!! Today we had our first experiment in Science…and the kids loved it. I loved it when Ryan looked at me and said “I love this Science Curriculum!”!!
They are learning about air pressure and how it applies to birds’ wings to help them fly. So they took straws, cut a 1/2 inch off one end. Holding the short end in a full glass of water, they used the long end of the straw to blow upwards at an angle. The air pressure was stronger than the water and caused the water to spray out the top of the straw in the glass.
The kids had a blast and got the kitchen all wet as you can imagine!!! We have to show dad this one when he comes home!! What a great way to finish up our first week of HSing!
This morning we made the most AMAZING oatmeal muffins…..they were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!! My husband suggested we made oatmeal muffins (he’s always hungry in the truck and calling me with ideas for food LOL!
Anyway, I went searching online and found this site, Hillbilly Housewife LOL! It’s got great ideas all over the site tho, like saving money and recipes! Here’s a photo of our finished product followed by the recipe.
Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup dry oatmeal
1 cup sour milk or yogurt or buttermilk (powdered buttermilk is fine)
1 medium egg
1/2 cup brown or white sugar
1/3 cup oil
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon each baking soda & salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
In a large bowl combine the oatmeal and buttermilk or sour milk. If you have the chance, let it stand for a few minutes, for the oatmeal to absorb some of the buttermilk. Add the egg, sugar and oil. Beat very well with a wire whisk. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix again, until all of the dry particles are moistened. Do not over beat. It should only take about a 20 or 30 strokes by hand to mix it up enough. Spoon the batter into a dozen well oiled muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.
This recipe is one of the first I ever made on my own, while babysitting at a neighbors house. After I got home, I remembered it and wrote it down the next day. The original copy of this recipe survives, in my childish handwriting among my file of favorite recipes. If you like, you may add 1/2-cup of raisins or a cup of chopped apple to the batter, right after mixing in the flour. I really like it with the raisins, but the kids don’t, so I don’t add them as often as I’d like. This is a very good breakfast muffin and also nice in lunch boxes, especially with the apple added.
Sunday we had a great time at church. I love how Pastor Chris always makes us laugh…his sermons are so enjoyable and I always walk away having learned a great deal.
After church we took a road trip up to Maquoketa, IA to the Bluff Lake Catfish farm and Restaurant. Ralph and I used to go there alot when we were first together, but had not been up there in years. It was fun to take the kids there. On Sunday’s they have all you can eat Shrimp *Abby’s favorite food* and chicken. It was scrumptious. Probably not healthy (all that breading!) but oh well! *giggle*
Unfortunately the caves in Maquoketa are closed due to White Nose Syndrome (something to do with bats) and so we drove thru the park, but couldn’t take the kids in the caves. Hopefully next summer they will be open.
I’ll leave you with some photos from our afternoon there.
You’ll notice there’s no photos of Ryan. That kid avoids the camera at all costs!! I did inform him, that I would be taking school photos soon, and he wasn’t getting out of that!
We had a great time tho, and I wish we had more time to do things like this with the kids….it’s hard when their dad is only home on weekends. Thankfully he had a FULL weekend this weekend and this was all his idea! 
I do so love that man! ♥
I have had many people ask me about my meal plans, and how I keep us about $100-$125 for a family of 4 (every 2 weeks, not once a week). I thought I would share my meal plan I just finished for the next 2 weeks. Now keep in mind, I don’t make plans for the weekends, since I never know what we’re going to be doing at any given moment. Sometimes we go camping, sometimes we’re out running errands and will grab dinner out, etc.
Here’s our meal plan for the next 2 weeks….
Monday
L: grilled PB&J, apple slices and cottage cheese
D: tator tot casserole (Duggars)
Tuesday
L: party pizza, apple slices
D: Creamy Chicken & Tortillas (Duggars)
Wednesday
L: left overs
D: slow cooker lasagna (Duggars)
Thursday
L: grilled cheese & tomato soup
D: Cowboy Breakfast Sandwiches (The Pioneer woman)
Friday
L: left overs
D: Simple, perfect enchiladas (The Pioneer Woman)
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Monday
L: pot pies
D: spaghetti/garlic toast
Tuesday:
L: left overs
D: pizza, garlic toast
Wednesday
L: lunch meat sandwiches, chips
D: chili, cornbread
Thursday
L: left overs
D: Beef with snow peas/rice (The Pioneer Woman)
Friday
L: grilled cheese, tomato soup
D: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, salad (The Pioneer Woman)
As you can see, I get most of my inspiration from the Pioneer woman…she makes yummy cooking look so easy. Today was the pilot of her new show on Food Network, and it was so good. I love her spirit and her way of cooking.
I’m looking forward to it cooling off outdoors so that I am more inclined to run my oven.
Sorry I haven’t been updating the blog…things are busy here, preparing for our new school year. No, we haven’t started yet. I am procrastinating…I did talk to a homeschool/photography forum I am in on FB. One of the women said something that stuck with me. She said “Sometimes, I’ve learned, that we have to go through the motions and our heart will follow.” That makes sense. I think we just need to start, and then we will get into the flow of things. I am trying to do more of a Charlotte Mason approach this year. It’s a lot different from how I was taught and from what we did last year. Textbooks all year…how boring. That’s why I wanted to try this method. Learning from Living Books sounds exciting and daunting all at the same time.
Last night we went to the potluck for our homeschool assistance program. That was encouraging. It helped to see so many HSing families, and to talk to a few mothers about my fears.
Any of my readers use Sonlight for LA? I could use some encouragement. Each time I open up the TG, I freak out. I just can’t wrap my head around it I guess. I want the kids to learn by reading living books, it’s just I am so conditioned to think we need textbooks, and lessons all laid out…ya know? I know I’ll figure it out.
