my blessed life

Does your family do any *fooling around* on April 1st? Last year I planned a couple of fun *tricks* for the kiddos~they were big hits! We had this for breakfast: and this for dinner : It was really fun! Now I feel like I have a reputation to live up to or something. So I've been trying to come up with a different idea for this years April fool's day. Here are some links I've found with some fun ideas: ~From Living Locurto ~From One Pretty Thing ~From Martha Stewart My fave idea so far is this solid milk, but I'm thinking of using orange jell-o and calling it juice for breakfast:) I'd loved to hear what you have planned for your family!

Recently the kiddos and I have had the chance to try two books from Timberdoodle by The Critical Thinking Co. The Critical Thinking Co . products are designed to help students carefully analyze what they are learning and develop problem-solving skills through fun and creative exercises in reading, writing, math, history and science. They offer workbooks in all of these subjects for ages Pre-K through Adult. I've used one of their Mind Benders books before and my children really loved it, so I was excited to try a couple more of their books~one with each child~to see how they worked with our family. And I must say I've been very pleased with these workbooks. My kids have really enjoyed them! The Princess, who is in 2nd grade, has been working through the Building Thinking Skills Book 1 . This book is all about developing deductive reasoning, sequencing, similarities/differences and SO much more. These were skills she needed to sharpen and I've been ve...

Have you heard about this? The Homeschool Village is hosting a *Garden Challenge* this Spring! I'm looking forward to it! I was a little concerned that we might not have a space in which to garden this year, but as it turns out we'll be moving into our new digs (no pun intended) just in time to plant one. Yea!! Now, I am a real novice when it comes to gardening. The extent of my experience is herbs and lettuce in patio pots and a couple of years with a tiny raised bed that included tomatoes, peppers, beans and herbs. I've had success with some of those , others not so much . Really , a complete novice! Meaning: I'm hoping this garden challenge will provide me with some great tips from other gardeners! This year I'm hoping to expand our gardening repertoire a bit. I'd like to plant tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, peppers and herbs. Our landlords have also *warned* us that last year their backyard became a voluntary pumpkin patch~that sh...

(cottage home painting by Anne Duke, courtesy of Google) We have rented a home! I know, some of you may be wondering why we haven't moved into a new home or maybe you didn't even know we were in transition. To clear that up a bit, the home we were previously renting had to be vacated due to the owners needing to move back in. It was an understandable circumstance on their behalf and we have no hard feelings toward them. The timing of the move, however, did come at a very inconvenient time: right after Christmas and right before Vince was leaving on a trip overseas. And we couldn't find any thing to rent. Not ideal, I know. So we decided to store our belongings, only keeping out what we would need for a few weeks, and move in with my parents until Vince's return from his trip while trying to line up a place to move into when Vince returned. Well, that trip didn't happen. It was a trip to Egypt and the day he was scheduled to leave was the day ev...

And the list continues... 0331. road trips 0332. Krispy Kreme donuts 0333. doing science experiments with my kiddos 0334. a new shirt to wear 0335. watching my son get his first strike bowling 0336. handmade fried pies 0337. the excitement that comes with a move 0338. spring tulips 0339. dogwood trees just starting to bloom 0340. happy surprises

Last week I just sort of flew by the seat of my pants, so to speak, when it came to meals. We had a very busy sort-of-Spring-Break and I didn't think it would be worth the trouble to plan them. And I'm glad I didn't, it was such a crazy week. This week promises to be pretty busy as well since we are preparing to move this weekend, but I'm going to attempt some sort of a dinner plan anyway. If we don't get it all done...oh, well:) Monday: {Moms Nite Out with my homeschool group for me~a *daddy date* for the kiddos} Tuesday: Salmon Patties , Baked Potatoes, Carrots & Peas Wednesday: Cincinnati Chili coneys Thursday: Chicken crepes , a salad and a veggie Friday: {moving begins} Saturday: {more moving} This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

What a week! Did I say we were taking Spring Break this week?! Well, I need a break from our Spring *Break*. My poor eye has been twitching all day from exhaustion! ha! We have had a great week though, even if I am looking forward to sleeping in Saturday morning. Monday found us in Huntsville, Alabama, heading to the US Space & Rocket Center. We had a very fun visit~you can read more about that field trip here. Tuesday dawned way too early after our long day of driving home after our field trip on Monday. But we got The Princess off to Girl Scout day camp anyway. She couldn't have been more excited! Doesn't her troop look so cute with all of their little lunch bags (The Princess is on the far right)? As homeschoolers taking a sack lunch is a BIG deal apparently. Wednesday was the big *8* for The Princess. I can't believe how fast they grow!! We had a great time celebrating her birthday throughout the day. Her cake turned out...

This week we had the opportunity to take the kiddos to the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. We were in the area because Vince was speaking at a church in Tennessee last Sunday, so we thought we take in a field trip while we were close by. We've been before~on Mr. B's 2nd birthday~but the kiddos really don't remember that visit. And for a while now The Princess has been asking to go again. And since her birthday was this week it seemed like the perfect outing to celebrate her birthday. And it was a great outing~perfect weather and all! We were also excited to find they had built a new, more hands-on part to the center that was great for younger kiddos to explore. In the entrance to the new addition there was a re-creation of what appeared to be Leonardo DaVinci's flying machine. We loved that because we've been studying DaVinci for a couple of months and the kids are fascinated by him. The new exhibit hall was filled with huge, amazing piece...

Yes, that's what my daughter asked for, a "girly-girly" cake. Not that she could even tell me what all that entailed. So Vince and I had to come up with something to fit the bill. I think we hit a home run with this. We decided to do a *girly-girly* version of the rainbow cake . Remember that one ? So pretty! But this time we went with *girly* colors. First I whipped up a yellow cake mix. A white one might have worked better color-wise, but I was working with what was in the pantry, y'all. Next, I divided the batter evenly into four bowls (the predetermined number of colors we chose) and began to color the batter. Our colors were yellow, pink, purple and blue (yes, that's blue even though it looks sort of green here). Gel colors would work the best, but I had to work with old school food coloring this time around. Again, working with that I had:) Then I divided the batter into two (greased and floured) 9" cake pans. I placed a 1/4 cup scoop in eac...