Saturday, December 14, 2013

"GINGERBREAD" HOUSES

Our day started out pretty rotten. Originally we had a day packed with plans for fun with friends.  But due to sickness those plans fell through and we were left with tears and disappointment.  After a bit we dusted ourselves off and came up with new plans.  It was time to make gingerbread houses!  Thankfully, yesterday I had printed out plans and had asked Dave to pick up supplies for us.  I believe Someone knew we would need them today!  
 Our supplies + a very excited boy

 Cutting up a cereal box to put our house on.

 And covering it with foil.

 Instead of baking gingerbread or buying a kit we used a box for our form and covered it.

 She was memorizing all the flavors.


 The basic form of the house.

 These two enjoyed some breakfast while Boo and I worked on the houses.

 Boo's house.

 Time for Mama to have a waffle break!

 Next we covered our houses with graham crackers. 
 Cheaper than buying a kit and easier than baking gingerbread.  =)


 Mine is all done!

 Boo is finishing up hers too.

 Now for the fun part!  Decorating!

 Boo and Princess teamed up to decorate one house.

 And Bugsy and I teamed up to decorate the other house.

 We made our own bags to pipe the frosting.  It got a little messy but it was fun.  





 Our sick one, Elvis, came down to decorate for a few minutes.  Then he wanted to go back to rest and read.  We are going to do another later when he is feeling 100% again.



 Our final masterpiece!  This is the front of our house.

 Side view.

 The back.  (We were getting tired by then and running out of frosting.  Lol!)

 The front of Boo and Princess's house.

 The side view.

 The other side.

And the back.

These took a lot more time than I thought they would but I haven't made one with this process before.  Next time I will definitely not tell the kids until we are done constructing the houses.  Thankfully, they were entertained with waffles and a game which made the waiting easier.  From start to finish it took us about 3 hours.  It was lots of fun and this might very well become a tradition.  =)


Friday, December 13, 2013

FINALLY!

I've been having trouble accessing my blog.  I am happy to be back!  I hope to catch up on some posts now that I'm back.

Monday, November 18, 2013

UGO SAVINGS


My UGO deals today. Broken down each item cost me $1.25 each. Pretty sweet! I bought: 9 boxes of gluten free Honey Nut Chex cereal, 4 boxes Cascadian Farms cereal, 3 boxes Mom's Toasted Cinnamon Squares cereal, 4 big family size cans of... Campbell's tomato soup, 2 bottles of Hunt's ketchup with NO high fructose corn syrup, 3 bags of Thomas' English Muffins (2 are cinnamon raisin), 12 containers of Pillsbury Gluten Free cookie dough, 2 cans of green beans, 2 - pkgs. of raisins, 2 packages of celery, 1- 3lb. bag of apples, 2 rolls of wrapping paper, bananas, a package of whole wheat corn syrup free hot dog buns & a big package of Twizzlers.  I'm trying to make some changes little by little and UGO is really helping with their fabulous prices.  I think I may have to make this a weekly stop.  =)

Friday, October 18, 2013

STOCKING UP

We've been getting ready for fall & winter.  There have been some great sales on apples, chicken, beef, and ham.  I even found one on bread.  I love stocking up our pantry and freezers.  It gives me a cozy feeling.
 
 Time to defrost and make some room! 

 Boo helped me package meat from today's local meat sale.

 Some of the goodies we bought at the sale today.

Since our local thrift bread store closed I have been bummed to have to pay full price for good bread.  How thrilled was I today when I found all of these loaves on sale for a little over $1!  Normally they are almost $4 a loaf!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

WRITE ON!

 
 My boys LOVE this writing program.  I must first mention that neither of my boys like writing.  If I sit down with them in other subjects and try to get them to write they will give me the bare minimum.  Sometimes I have to push for even that.  BUT with this program they want to not only do the assignments but to do multiple examples and multiple lessons!  WOW! 

I've owned this program for years and used it with my girls when they were younger.  They loved it too.  I found it at a homeschool convention when it was just coming out.  I had been searching for years for a program like this but my search always came up empty.  I was overjoyed when I talked to the author and she explained how the program worked and her reasons for writing it.  With co-ops and such taking up our time it sat on the shelf for a few years.  But now I've dusted it off and I'm kicking myself for not bringing it down earlier.  It is so much fun!

 The lesson on this day was describing a setting.  The boys each had to choose a book to use for their example.  Bugs chose to use his book he is reading for his literature study.

 Sam the Minuteman

 I had Elvis do two examples since he is older.

 Think, think, thinks!  Hee, hee. 
(He's not having a hard time, I promise.  He is a goofball especially when I get out the camera.  Lol!)

They were busy beavers.  After they have completed their assignments they are always eager to share with me and with each other what they have written. 

Yesterday we learned about the different kinds of plots & then about developing your plot.  Very cool!  I'm looking forward to tomorrow when they put it all together and begin writing their story.




Monday, October 14, 2013

CHICKA, CHICKA, BOOM, BOOM

We started our second Book Adventure this week.  Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom!  Princes is loving it.  In fact, she asks to "do school" every day.  She starts out with Easy Peasy with Boo Bear and then she & I work on her Book Adventure activities.  Here is Day 1 of Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom.
 
We checked these books out from the library.  We only used the a,b,c one today.

While she waits for me to set up she enjoyed the book she chose from the library.

I got this DVD from Netflix. 

 
Digging for letters.

Boo helped me make the coconut tree.


She dug for letters A, B & C.


B!

She found them all!


Putting up the coconut tree.
 
 
She is really happy with her new tree.  We started putting letters on it on Day 2.