Frugal Tip Friday - Kitchen Week 6

Saving in the kitchen...

• Freeze left over coffee in an ice cube tray and use for frozen coffee drinks later.
• Use powdered milk/buttermilk when baking. (Cheaper than the liquid and doesn’t go bad.)
• Use the crock-pot. (Saves time, utility energy, and you can buy a cheaper grade of meat.)
• Use the microwave when possible.
• Use the cook top rather than the oven for additional savings.

Happy Saving!

Summer Garden Plans

I'm just itching to get outside again but the weather just isn't cooperating yet. My bulbs are up and blooming, and the grass is getting green. I can't wait until it warms up just a pinch so we can get the flower beds cleaned up and weeded and so we can plant some seeds together. The younglings are such a huge help outside and love, love, love to be a part of planting anything. Last year they picked out cabbage and zinnias to add to the garden.

This year because I couldn't wait any longer, I did get a couple annuals into my pot planter. The gerbera daisy was on clearance which is why it looks a little beat up. I think it'll come back. While we were at the store, I saw the cutest garden set. It comes with 4 seed packs- tomato, basil, green pepper, oregano, 8 starter pellets, 8 identification plant tags, 1 self watering starter tray, 1 large magic soil brick, and a growing box.

It comes with online access to the Growums website with games and garden tracking and other stuff. They sell smaller themed kits to grow a salad garden, a taco garden, pizza garden, herb garden, stir-fry garden, or ratatouille garden. Don't they look fun? It would be a perfect educational summer activity that wouldn't feel too school-y.

I know we could do the same type of theme garden ourselves for less money but the veggies have faces. That's hard to resist! LOL

So we'll see.... I know I want to add some annuals for summer color, fill in our relatively new beds with a few perennials, transplant some forsythia starts to begin creating a flowering hedge in the back yard, and grow a couple of easy veggies. I'm so glad my younglings will be right there enjoying the process with me!

What are your summer garden plans? Do you do veggies, flowers, or both?

Linking up to the Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge.

Make a Card Monday - Sweet Girl

 

This card base came in a DCWV pack of pre-folded cards. It was one of the more challenging patterns for me to work with. I decided to highlight the pinks and reds of the words in my image (the pinks match better IRL.) Flowers and Stickles make it the perfect card for a girl's birthday.

Details:
cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Bazzill (mat)
patterned paper: DCWV (card base)

embellishments: Prima flowers, Stickles
color: Palette Noir ink, flesh-toned pencils, Prismacolor pencils, Tombow markers
stamps: TAC Cheery Thoughts

Weekly School Summaries - Russia (April 9-20)

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

 People keep asking how our first year of homeschooling is going. I've heard that it takes about 3 years to really get into a groove and that the first year is the hardest. With that in mind, my answer has been, if the first year is the hardest then we've had a great year. There have been some really rough days but for the most part things have gone really well. All that to say, we're very ready for summer break. :)
Here's what we did the past 2 weeks:

Math: Same as usual for both Tenor and Soprano: 4 days of lessons and 1 day of math games on the computer each week.

Reading and Language Arts: Soprano started "The Little House in the Big Woods" from 'Across the Centuries'. She read through chapter 5, had a couple evaluations, made a log cabin with Lincoln Logs, a rag doll, and a little paper sled.

She's doing well in her third Phonics book. In English, she's working on rhyming words for poetry. Spelling and handwriting are continuing well. 

Tenor continued with his 'A Reason for Handwriting C' and is working his next level writing workbook.

He continued 'Helen Keller' from 'Across the Centuries C Level 2', with some reading and vocabulary word work. He also did a Braille worksheet and learned a worship song in sign language. English (direct and indirect quotations) and Spelling (Rod and Staff Level 4) are going well. 

Electives:
Typer Island for their typing instruction and continuing with SOS Elementary Spanish.

They did two health worksheets. One was about how the heart works and then a final review of physical fitness. We are officially done with health for the year. One subject down.... way to many too go! We also talked about the PA state bird and how police officers are community helpers.

Phys Ed.: We've really slacked off on being intentional about exercising. They're doing Tae Kwon Do each week but that's been about it. Although, they've been shooting baskets off and on in the past couple of days.

Bible: The past two weeks included:
Reading about Russia and the Kyrgyz people
Reading Matthew 24:29-26:16
Memorizing Matthew 25:34-35

Geography:

Things we did included:
Filling out our passports to travel to Russia

Coloring the Russian flag and writing down interesting facts about it. Reading about Russia and its neighbors, Russian people and places, nature, farming, and industry.
Learning more about Russia here: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/russia/

Taking a virtual tour of St. Petersburg here: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/index.asp

We tried out the basic ballet positions and matched Russian numbers to the number of ballerinas on a worksheet. We also figured out what our Russian names would be using their system of feminine/masculine, patronyms, and nicknames.

Illustrating notecards for tundra, geyser, taiga, and steppe.

Playing the geography game doing the world traveler version.

Tenor's Asia pages from World Geography were Language and Religion. He's done 1 page per week during our Asia studies.

Soprano finished the Ocean Animal pages from The Complete Book of Animals. She's done 3 sheets or mini storybook per week for the 10 weeks we're studied Asia.

Science: We had a few pages from the Living World Encyclopedia again these past two weeks. 

They read about the arctic and surviving the cold. We also learned about the tundra. We did a couple of experiments showing how animals who change colors blend into their environment and how 2 layers of fur helps to keep them warm.

Other MFW: 

Wee sing: Veselle Husi

We also listened to Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninoff via Pandora. On youtube, we watched an old Disney video about Tchaikovsky that was pretty cool.

I also found a recording of Peter and the Wolf at the library and a DVD of Swan Lake that the kids enjoyed.

Art: Jeweled Eggs and Coloring St. Basil's Cathedral 

To supplement, we read other books about other Asian countries near Russia (Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia), the arctic, polar bears, and the tundra and borrowed DVDs from the library.

Linking up at www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com and

at http://2ladybugsandalizard.blogspot.com.

Disclaimer: I'm an Amazon affiliate so clicking on links to Amazon and then purchasing items will put a few pennies into our piggy bank for future homeschool purchases. Thank you!

Frugal Tip Friday - Kitchen Week 5

Saving in the kitchen...

• Bake from scratch. (Stock up on baking supplies during sales—often at holiday times.)
• Make your own salad dressings.
• Make your own snacks.
• Eliminate snacks and soda.
• Drink water (especially when dining out).
• Drink the least fat milk you can (Skim is cheaper than 1% is cheaper than 2%, etc.—don’t skimp for health reasons!)

Happy Saving!

Mini Pennants on an Old Window

In my quest to really finish off some rooms, I tackled the next Master Bedroom project from the to-do list: a new bit of 'art' and a mini pennant. The corner of our room has a bit of space where we put in an Ikea Billy bookcase for some extra storage. I had a floral topiary from our wedding and a big framed print (from the old house) there too. They were okay but weren't meshing with our beach cottage look that I'm going for. The print went into decor storage because I still love it; I just don't have another place for it currently. The topiary went down to my seasonal decor stuff. I hate to get rid of it because it was a wedding thing so I thought it could come out at springtime.

The next step was to figure out what to put in their place! We have scads of old windows hanging around because we just replaced all the windows in the house. To prep the window, Bass added some hanging hardware to the back and I wiped it down. The paint is a little chippy but in pretty good shape so I didn't sand or seal the window at all. If you get a window that's really peeling, you might want to scrape off any large flakes, sand it, or apply a coat of clear sealer. Bass hung the window but while it fits our beach cottage theme better it was kinda boring.

 

I loved the pennant banner I made for the laundry room so I thought a mini version might be cute on the window. I followed the same steps with a few changes. I started by using Word to print a triangle shape the size I wanted for the pennants.

I made the shape the exact size of the pennant that I wanted for my finished pieces. Except, I added a little top flap that I would use to create a pocket for them to hang. 

 

After I cut all the triangles I wanted (from scrap fabric from my fall rag wreath, the command center boards, and some Osnaburg), I started sewing. I folded the top over so the points lined up and then sewed a very narrow seam to create a little pocket.

 

After trimming all the threads, I used thin twine and just threaded the little triangles on in a planned random order. :) I didn't sew the sides under and I didn't line them so when I attached them to the window, I actually had to unthread them and turn them around so they would all face forwards. And now, my dressed up window.

It's funny how this window was totally disgusting and not worth keeping when it was functioning as a real window. Now that it's out of the window casing and purely decorative, it's perfect!

This project was featured on It's Overflowing:
 

Linking up to these great blog parties:

Sunday: Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming;
Monday: Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle;
Tuesday: One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons; Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia; Show Me What Ya Got at Not Just a Housewife;
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; It's Overflowing at Overflowing with Creativity; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts;
Home Decor & Organizing at Organize and Decorate Everything;
Thursday: Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order; Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty and Fabuless;  Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage;
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring; 

Make a Card Monday - Surf's Up

I kept this one pretty simple because of the pattern of the card base. I just stamped and colored the surfboards and then attached them to the card with Pop-Dots to add dimension. Easy peasy.

Details:
cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white)
patterned paper: DCWV pre-fold card


color: Palette Noir ink, Tombow markers
stamps: TAC Hang Loose

Frugal Tip Friday - Kitchen Week 4

Saving in the kitchen...

• Try vegetarian meals or decreasing the meat in casseroles.
• Cheese in the dairy case is less expensive than cheese in the deli.
• Finely chop an onion for every pound of hamburger and fry together to extend the amount of meat.
• Make more soups as the main course.
• Put left over vegetables & meats in a container in the freezer and when container is full make a pot of soup. Sounds gross but it's usually great and you get a free meal out of it.

Happy Saving!

Make a Card Monday - The Caged Bird

In trying to use up the strange sized card fronts, I came up with this yellow/green/brown card. I'm thinking it could work as a birthday or thinking of you type card. Not all of the gals in my family are girly girls, so I can think of a few who would like this earth-toned scheme better than a pinky purple lace and frou-frou card. I used the flourish and stamped directly on the textured cardstock mat which makes it less crisp but I think it still works. If not, the Stickles on the bird and bird cage might be enough to distract you.

Details:
cardstock: DCWV (card base), Georgia Pacific (white), DCWV card front pack (mats)
patterned paper: Basic Gray Motifica?
tools: Nestabilities Scallop and Traditional Circle dies, Scor-Pal
embellishments: Stickles
color: Palette Burnt Umber ink, Prismacolor pencils, Tombow gray marker
stamps: TAC Fleur Birdies

Weekly School Summaries - Japan (March 26-April 6)

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

 I just realized that I've been calling these weekly school summaries all year but after the first few weeks, we got too busy and my updates have been every other week. Hmmm..... we're so close to the end of the year, you'll forgive me if I don't change it now, right? Next year, if I do school summaries, I'll try to be more accurate. LOL After a wonderful, wonderful, wonderfully awesome week off (at Disneyworld!), we're back to work. It was hard to come back to the daily grind so these past two weeks didn't have many fun extras but we got our work done. We've only got 30 school days left so we're trying to finish strong. Here's what we did the past 2 weeks:

Math: Same as usual for both Tenor and Soprano: 4 days of lessons and 1 day of math games on the computer each week.

Reading and Language Arts: Soprano had lots of fun activities and a couple of worksheets before finishing "The Runaway Bunny" from 'Across the Centuries'. She made a doorhanger, a pop-up bunny, did a stuffed animal hide and seek, a word search, and a map worksheet.

She's doing well with consonant blends (beginning, middle, and end) in her third Phonics book. In English, she's being introduced to descriptive words and how they can tell how we feel, hear, and see. Spelling and handwriting are continuing well. 

Tenor continued with his 'A Reason for Handwriting C' and moved on to the next level of writing workbook.

He started 'Helen Keller' from 'Across the Centuries C Level 2', with some reading and vocabulary word work. English (friendly letters) and Spelling (Rod and Staff Level 4) are going well. 

Electives:
Typer Island for their typing instruction and continuing with SOS Elementary Spanish. Tenor's on track to finish the whole Spanish course this year. Soprano will finish half of the lessons and do the next half in the coming year.

They did two health worksheets about exercise. One discussed stretching and the other aerobic vs. non-aerobic exercises. We also talked about the PA state flag and PA Indians (Native Americans) and how religious leaders are community helpers.

Phys Ed.: Co-op has ended for the year so we need to get back into a routine of exercising regularly. I had them walking several miles a day before our Disney trip to prepare them for all the walking there but we've stopped since we got home. The weather is getting nicer each day so I'm sure they'll be out on their bikes and scooters soon. They're back at Tae Kwon Do and getting ready to test for their first belt.

Bible: The past two weeks included:
Reading about Japan and North Korea
Reading Matthew 22:18-24:28
Memorizing Matthew 22:37-40

Geography:

Things we did included:
Filling out our passports to travel to Japan

Coloring the Japanese flag and writing down interesting facts about it. Reading about Japan and their language and coloring carp. We had 'bring a doll to school' day to talk about how the Japanese like to collect and display dolls. We stretched it a bit and allowed stuffed animals but the kids both brought 2 favorites down and put them on the work table for the day.
We also had a very cheesy Japanese lunch. It consisted of Ramen noodles and green tea. The kids both liked the noodles. Tenor liked the tea, but Soprano wasn't too impressed with it.

Illustrating notecards for sea, beach, sandbar, and strait.

Playing the geography game doing the world traveler version.

Tenor's Asia pages from World Geography were Population and Cities. He's only doing 1 page per week during our Asia studies.
Soprano did several more Ocean Animal pages from The Complete Book of Animals. She's doing 3 sheets or mini storybook per week for the 10 weeks we're studying Asia.

Science: We had a few pages from the Living World Encyclopedia again these past two weeks.

They read about fish, ocean depth, shorelines, and estuaries. They also wrote about the identifying characteristics of beaches. I found a couple of printables at www.homeschoolshare.com to add to their beach page. We used the one on shore birds and the mini book about 'What Lives in a Tide Pool?'

We also did the cold water demonstration but I didn't get any pictures of it.

Soprano had one extra thing that she's been working on.... paper dolls with Asian clothing. I printed off the file, she colored the outfits as we studied each country, and then when it was complete, I put some clear contact paper on them. She cut them all out and has been dressing the doll each day for school.

Other MFW: 

Wee sing: Ame, Ame, and Pok Amai, Amai

Art: We did origami for art the first week and then the kids made Maribana Flower Scenery plates for the second. Tenor's scene is of a forest after it burned down. Soprano's scene is a forest that's starting to regrow after it burned. I'm not quite sure where the forest fires fit in but since we don't have a lot of greenery in the yard yet, I guess they were working with what they could find.

Tenor's scenery

Soprano's scenery

To supplement, we read other books about other Asian countries (North and South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam), beaches, and seas and oceans and borrowed DVDs from the library.
There were some great ideas at www.homeschoolcreations.com but we just didn't have time to get to them.
Maybe next week we'll add in some extras.... we'll see.

Linking up at www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com and

at http://2ladybugsandalizard.blogspot.com.


Disclaimer: I'm an Amazon affiliate so clicking on links to Amazon and then purchasing items will put a few pennies into our piggy bank for future homeschool purchases. Thank you!

Frugal Tip Friday - Kitchen Week 3

Saving in the kitchen...

• Grow fruits and veggies in your own garden.
• When I go grocery shopping, if a produce item I need is a buy one, get one free deal, but I know I won't use both items before they spoil, I split the items and the cost with a friend or my parents who live nearby.
• Learn how to can and preserve. (Equipment is cheap at yard sales and thrift stores.)
• Never refuse free food. (Leftovers from a family dinner or church event, produce from someone else’s garden, etc)
• Eat your leftovers.

Happy Saving!

Make a Card Monday - Zin Zin Zin Goes the Violin

This is was another 'I had to have it but I never used it' stamp from my TAC days. I like the old-time feel of the flowers so I stamped the image with Burnt Umber (which needs to be reinked, obviously) and then used colored pencils to just add a hint of color on the flowers and leaves. A little edge distressing and some swirl clips finish it off.

Details:
cardstock: DCWV (card base), unknown (cream), DCWV (mat)
patterned paper: might be Creative Memories
tools: Heidi Swapp edge distressor, Fiskars edge punch, Scor-Pal
embellishments: unknown swirl clips
color: Palette Burnt Umber ink, Prismacolor pencils
stamps: TAC Violin Collage