Top Secret Mission - Highlights

We have started receiving in the mail one of the Highlights products - it's called "Top Secret Mission" and it is similar to "Which Way USA" except that you learn about a country instead of a state.  (Just for clarification this is an independent assessment . . . Highlights is not using my help to sell their products) The kids LOVE this activity.  When we received the first one they were beyond excited and literally sat down for 2 hours and finished the whole thing.  The envelope came with a passport and a sheet of stamps that included one stamp for each country.  Each time you finish a country, you put the corresponding country stamp on the passport.  It also came with a keychain I think, a top secret mission letter, a book containing all kinds of facts about the country, and the puzzle book.  When the second one came in the mail, they both yelled loudly with excitement.  Here are some pics of the product:

the envelope it all came in (Egypt was the country this time)

the top secret letter instructing them what to do

the fact book and the puzzle book



This product is kind of expensive, but if you have it in the budget and your child likes this kind of thing, I highly recommend it for about age 6 and up.  It is a great way to learn about another country, and unlike Which Way USA, this one only comes about every month and a half I think.  This coule be a great summer activity, and if you don't like it, just cancel after the summer is over!

Easter Bunny Project

Yes, we created easter bunnies today.  I had the project idea from my mailbox magazine, and didn't think the kids would really care that we were doing an early easter project, and this way you have an idea for easter if you'd like!  I am including a picture of the instructions below, but if you can't read them, it basically goes like this (in total you will need 2 large white paper plates, 1 small one, glue/stapler, green construction paper, white construction paper, markers, other construction paper for the hanging strip, and your child's shoes).  You will need 2 large paper plates, and one smaller one.  Preferably they would be all white.  Cut one of the larger plates in half and staple one of the halves backwards onto the other large plate.  This creates a pocket for the bunny.  Attach the smaller plate to the top for the head of the bunny.  Have your child trace each of their shoes 2 times, to create the feet and the ears of the bunny, and then cut them out.  Attach the ears and the feet to the body of the bunny.  Your child can then draw in the details and cut up some green construction paper to put in the pocket of the bunny that looks like grass.  If you'd like to hang it, you can cut a strip of construction paper and staple it to the front and back of the bunny.  Here are some pics!

The instructions

Tracing the shoes

putting it all together

Finished project!

On-Line Pictorial Recipes for Kids

I found this super fun link today and thought I would share.  It's http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ and on part of the site there is a tab with recipes where the kids can totally do it themselves (there are also recipes where they can help an adult).  The recipes include pictures to help them understand what to do!  I am definitely going to be trying this out and will be including some of these in my summer plan for the kiddos!  Here is the link to the recipes:

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/RecipesPictorialDirections.htm

Also, if you share my love for Jesus, I just listened to a short podcast by Jen Wilkins, our women's Bible study leader at The Village church.  It was so good and had so much truth in it for the ladies.  Here is the link in case you are interested in a little you time today where you feed your soul a bit:

http://jenwilkin.podbean.com/2012/03/07/robe-your-minds-for-action/

Spring Break Plan

Spring Break is upon us!  For our family it is next week, and we aren't going out of town, and I don't want to spend a bunch of  money.  So . . . I thought I would share our plan for next week and encourage you to make a plan as well!  They don't stay little for long and if you are anything like me it is much more fun to spend time together when you have a plan (even if you need to change the plan!).  It's also going to be raining next week, so my original plan of visiting a different park every day is a no go!  So . . .

Yesterday I visited Teacher's Tools (or teaching tools?) for the first time which is Lewisville off of Business 121.  I've been meaning to go there for quite some time and was expecting a small store.  This store was HUGE and there was so much fun stuff for the kids.  I of course hit up the 75% off section first which is way back in the right corner of the store.  There I found some great finds!  Ever heard of the Mailbox magazines?  They are for teachers and are full of activities, worksheets, and craft projects.  In this section they had one for each month of the year and so I bought April and May.  Now I am thinking I want to go back and get the rest because they were about $4 each (regularly 15), and I got so many ideas from it.  I also got a couple of workbooks for .73 each - GREAT deal.  I also got a few things that weren't on sale, including those dot painting thingies that you see your child using in preschool, and a few workbooks that were $3 each.  So . . . here is our plan!

Monday:  it is going to be sunny, so we are hitting up Andy Brown park in Coppell, playing, feeding the ducks, and having a picnic lunch.  In the afternoon while the 2 year old is napping away, the boys will be having fun with a couple of art projects and other educational fun from my mailbox magazine.  After she is done napping, off to the cul-de-sac we go to ride bikes and enjoy the sunshine.

Tuesday:  no rain on Tuesday, so it is off to Cortadera park we go where we will play, practice some baseball, have a picnic lunch, and go to our favorite yogurt place for dessert.  More art fun during naptime, and then it is time for a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood.

Wednesday:  Rain!  We have a membership to the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas so we will be headed there.  The kids LOVE it.   If you are reading this and want to come with us, I have a couple of free passes!  (KARLIE/KIM?).  :)  When we return from the museum, there were some fun rain art projects from the book so it only seemed right that we do these on a rainy day!  After naptime, I have some fun stampers that I got for the 2 year old, so she will be having fun with that while the boys work in some of their new workbooks.

Thursday:  Rain!  Starting out the morning with a craft/game from Mailbox magazine, and then heading out to either Chick fil a or McDonalds to play and then have lunch.  Join us!  :)  During naptime, the boys and I will be having Sorry, War, and Farkle tournaments, and I have a prize basket for the winners!  (The prize basket is always present in our house and is where the toys from kids meals go and other random things they get from parties, etc.)  After naptime they are making some fun bunny baskets (not too early for Easter stuff right?)

Friday:  Cloudy, but no rain.  Off to Austin Kent Ellis Park we go to play and have a picnic lunch.  Frog craft during naptime, and winkids free time from 3:30 - 5.  My kids go crazy over WinKids so they will be very excited.

If you are following this blog, in a couple of months I will be sharing my summer plan with you!  Last summer I had a plan for every day of summer before it started, and it made all of us so much more excited about our precious time together.  Anticipating is half the fun!

2 Recipes, Crafts, and Kids in the Kitchen!

2 easy meals - one of them naturally gluten free and one used gluten free bread crumbs to make it GF, so you can just use real bread crumbs if gluten doesn't make you feel CRUMMY!  Ha!  Get it?  :)

Meatloaf- Kids Loved It!: (I made the meatloaf prior to dinner and stuck it in the fridge til I was ready to cook it - you could do this in the morning before leaving for work)

Ingredients:  1 lb ground beef, 1/2 cup GF bread crumbs, 2 T dried minced onions, 1 T dijon mustard, 1 T worcestershire sauce, 1 large egg, 1/2 dried basil, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper

Glaze: 1 8 oz can tomato sauce, 1 T brown sugar, 1 T worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease meatloaf (loaf) pan.  Using hands combine all ingredients except glaze in bowl.  Combine all glaze ingredients and add half of mixture to meatloaf and mix in.  Press meatloaf mix in pan.  Add other half of glaze to top of meatloaf.  Bake 45 minutes to an hour.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Ham

Ingredients:  1 4 lb bone in ham, 1/4 C dijon mustard, 1/4 C maple syrup, 8 garlic cloves.

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly score surface of ham using a sharp knife and place on rack in a baking pan.  Whisk mustard into maple syrup until blended.  Brush ham with mixture.  Press garlic cloves into top and side of ham.  Bake 60 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 140 when inserted into center of ham without touching bone.  Remove and let stand covered with foil 30 minutes.  Slice thinly. 

This is such an easy recipe.  I made it with steamed green beans.  I melted butter (microwave - fast!) and mixed it with chopped garlic and poured that over the green beans.  I also baked sweet potatoes.  Literally poke holes in potatoes and stick them in the oven.  They come out so amazing.  And salad - mixed greens, toasted pine nuts, sliced strawberries, and a little balsamic vinagrette.  YUM.

So . . . do you have this steamer?  We steam all of our veggies and it is so easy.  I am including a picture and if you don't already have one I highly recommend it!  Just stick it in a pot.  It will almost reach the bottom, and fill the gap between the pot and the steamer with water.  Put the veggies in the steamer, and cover the pot.  Boil the water and veggies will be steamed within 10 minutes.  Piece of cake!  Here is the pic:

Craft Time!
OK so enough about cooking.  I made a couple of things this week that I was excited about . . . so I had to show you the pics.  :)  You can find all of the instructions for these on pinterest, but if you'd like instructions let me know!  Here are the pics!

Valentines Time!
I did this little baking project with my 5 and 2 year old yesterday and they could both do it.  Fantastic!  I don't know about you but it is hard to find ways for my 2 year old to help in the kitchen.  There are onlyt 3 ingredients needed . . . square pretzels (made some for myeslf with delicious gluten free pretzels), hersheys hugs, and valentines m&ms.  Place hugs on pretzels, place on baking sheet, and bake at 200 for 3 - 4 minutes.  Then add m&m.  The 2 year old could unwrap hugs, place on pretzels, and place m&ms on top.  If you need an activity today on this chilly day - there you go!  The m&ms are probably at a discount today!  I got this idea off pinterest (of course), and here are pics of my kids making them:

Need a Dance Break?

Ok - we all need to let loose once in awhile - and your kids do too!  Every afternoon, my kids and I have an impromptu dance party.  Sometimes they are just a couple of minutes, and sometimes they go on for a bit.  We listen to channel 1826 a lot on fios, which is called "Kidz Only", and I'm pretty sure if you turn it on you'll find yourself wanting to dance too.  This is such a great to teach your kids to let loose and just have fun.  And - it's a great way to spending time together having fun!  My kids know that as soon as the music is on, the dance party has begun - it's adorable watching them get their groove on.  :)

Which Way USA

Thanks to Jill Surdek we are now subscribing to the Highlights magazine for kids called "Which Way USA".  This is a puzzle magazine for kids that is focused on teaching them about each of the states.  Each magazine comes with a map of the state that the magazine is focused on and the map has all kinds of fun facts on it.  I subscribed to the regular Highlights magazine for awhile, but the boys were never really all that interested in it.  Noah LOVES this one.  He has been working on it every night.  It does require a little help from us, but it's been fun for us as well!  I love anything that helps get them focused on learning.  I included a link in case you are interested . . . http://shop.highlights.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=16151&productId=690724&catalogId=17603