Ice Cream in a Bag

I had heard of ice cream in a bag, but had no clue how to make it until my mother-in-law visited.  This is super easy to make and pretty healthy too.  You can also have you kids help you make it!

You'll need:

1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pint sized zipper bags

Gallon size zipper bags

Ice Cream Salt
Ice

In the pint sized bags, mix milk, sugar and vanilla extract.  Seal.  Fill a gallon sized bag 1/2 full of ice and 6 tbsp salt.  Put the small bag in the larger bag and seal.  Shake the bag for 5 minutes.  Then enjoy your ice cream!  

We had our boys count out 6 tablespoons of salt.  A little bit of school in everything!  I recommend wrapping the gallon bag in a towel for the shaking part.  It gets awfully cold!  And if you are wondering if you can double the recipe in a small bag, Nate tested it for "scientific" purposes and found that you can.  It works just as great!

Blessings,

Twins vs. Rangers

We went to the Twins game in Dallas this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun!  Nate and I both loved Dallas.  It felt good to be in a big city where there was road construction, stop and go traffic, interstates going every which way, great shopping centers and lots and lots of things to do and see.  It was fabulous!!  (If you can't tell, I REALLY liked it!)

We checked into our hotel on Friday and went to some relatives in Frisco.  We enjoyed dinner and a walk to feed the ducks at a nearby pond.  The boys kept throwing the bread and hitting the duck, rather than near him.  I didn't blame the duck for swimming away!  But the fish did like nibbling the bread and the boys went nuts watching it disappear.

Saturday morning was swim time at the hotel pool.  Low and behold, BG, my 3 year old, turned out to be a little fish!  He put on his life jacket and went to town.  After about 30 minutes, he was cruising the pool all by himself.  We didn't let him get too far out of our reach, but he did not want our help.  "I do myself, Mama."  Jman, my 5 year old, was not so keen on getting in.  He has had multiple swim lessons and still doesn't like to get in the water.  Nate and I took turns swimming with him, but he would have a fit if he even thought you were you thinking about letting go.  He did warm up a little at the end, but he would prefer to stay on dry land.  Lulu sat in her little floaty-boat and loved being pushed around.  After swimming, we grabbed lunch at Dickey's BBQ (fantastic!).  We headed over to our relatives to drop off Miss Lulu before heading to the game.

We were super excited to go to the game, especially to see the stadium.  We had seats in the upper deck behind home plate.  They were awesome seats, even being up so high.

The boys made it to the end of the 3rd inning before starting to complain about wanting to go home.  We headed off their boredom by getting food and pointing out Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau every chance we could.  Who would get bored watching them??

We were definitely part of the minority in the crowd.  Everywhere you looked, you saw a Texas Rangers hat or t-shirt!  Nate and I did cheer for both teams, being Texans now, but we were most definitely louder for the Twins!  We will be fans no matter how great or not so great they do.

The Joe Mauer eating Cracker Jacks.  

This was before the game started, before we were surrounded by Texas fans! They were all very nice to us, in case you are wondering.  The couple next to us were real friendly.

BG being BG.  He was dancing to the music and enjoying the game!  He had a blue tongue from his blue cotton candy.  We kept the boys entertained for 3 innings waiting and watching for the cotton candy vendor to come our way.

We did do a little school time, watching the flags and deciding which way the wind was blowing.  There is always something to teach your children, no matter where you are!

I had no idea the Cowboys stadium was right across the parking lot from the Rangers ballpark.  It is a pretty spectacular sight, even though it's for the Cowboys.

The Twins did not beat the Rangers, but we did have a blast!

Sunday was another relaxing day at the pool with lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.  We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Davis after a week of fun and then made the drive home.  

Nate and I would definitely go back to Dallas, maybe when the Twins come back in August!  Fun awaits us!

Blessings,

Amanda

Back from Break

I should say that I'm back from vacation last week.  I took a mini break to enjoy family time and some road trips.  But the fun can't last forever...wait, it can!  I love blogging.  Stay tuned for the blog to keep rolling!

My Homeschool Planner

I have big news.  We have bought a new printer!  I'm pretty excited.  We have been out of ink for over a month and my husband didn't want to buy ink when we could get a new printer that was faster and better for a little more money.  I agreed, but it wasn't happening.  I finally told him we needed one.  How was I going to make decorations for BG's Golden Birthday party?  So now we have one and I'm printing and planning up a storm!

I finally compiled my entire planner.  I have all the pages I know I will need.  I'm sure more will pop up, but for now, this is what I have:

While our printer was out of commission, I designed my own cover.  I drew this picture and colored it in with pastels.  It was really fun to make.  I hadn't drawn in quite a while!

My first page is my 2012-2013 calendar year.  I outlined holidays and other important days in red.  I got this calendar from www.calendarlabs.com.

I bought these dividers at Walmart.  I like that they have pockets for my brainstormed ideas.  :)

The first section is a year around schedule with the number of weeks and days in each month I'm schooling and my weekly schedule.  I haven't filled in the weekly schedule, as I'm still working out details.  I don't like being confined to an hourly schedule, but it's good for me to have a general guideline of what is the usual schedule for the week.  I know my kids need routine.  

The second section is an attendance record as well as a Teacher and Student schedules.  Again, I'm not sure if I will use it, but I do know I will need to set aside time for each child as well as teach them together.  It may help to know what needs to be done together and separately.  

My third section is the monthly calendars and my meal planners.  I got the monthly calendar from www.FreeHomeschoolDeals.com (pictured above on the bottom page) and my meal planner from www.NoOrdinaryMomentsblog.com (pictured above on the top page).  I have my year planned out for school, just need to get the details written down.  Menu planning will get done next.  

The fourth section is the actual weekly plans.  I have a plan for my kindergartner (pictured above, printed from www.donnayoung.org) and a plan for my preschooler (pictured below, printed from www.1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com).  I have started to fill it in; just need to finish it all up!

In the fifth section, I placed preschool and kindergarten standards, just as reference guides for me.

The sixth section is random print offs I have yet to laminate or place in a clear pouch.  

The last 2 sections are empty for now!

It is a lot of work, but it is fun to get everything printed, planned, organized and ready.  I'll follow up with the unit plans once I get them completed!  

Blessings,

Amanda

BG's Golden Birthday!

My little BG turned 3 on the 3rd.  It is hard to believe he is already 3!  We had a great day!  Breakfast was cinnamon rolls made in the Belgian waffle maker, blueberries, peaches and orange juice.  The cinnamon rolls were awesome!  The boys thought they looked so cool as waffles.  And it was even cooler that they only took about 2 minutes to cook!

We decorated with our pipe cleaner balloons again!

This time, we hung the majority of them from the boys' door trim.  It's fun walking through them to get in and out of the room!

Jman, my 5 year old, made a birthday banner, writing "Happy Birthday BG!"  He and Grandma Davis decorated it with pictures of balloons and stickers.  We also colored some Chuck & Friends coloring pages I printed off of the Hasbro website.  Everyone joined in the coloring fun, even Lulu and the birthday boy!

Lunch was at McDonalds.  BG wanted a Happy Meal, so it's what the birthday boy got!  (Every time we drive by a McDonalds, we hear him yell from the back, "There it is!  There's McDonalds!")

Gift opening revealed a Spiderman comforter.  I know what you're thinking, a big comforter is just what we need in 100 degree weather, but BG is our cuddle bug and loves blankets.  Forts are ready to be built as well as some good nights of sleep!

We had dinner at Big Jake's BBQ.  Benj wanted BBQ and got pulled pork and sweet potato fries.  Delicious!!  There was a tribute to John Wayne on the wall, so I had to take a picture for my dad!  

After dinner was time for cake.  Poor Jman had to try and hold a squirmy Lulu.  He did a great job keeping her away from the burning birthday candles.  What a conscientious big brother!

Yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting.  Yum!  Lulu enjoyed it immensely as well...

It was a really fun day!  It doesn't get much better than spending time with family and celebrating a birthday together.  We are very thankful for the many blessings we continue to receive from our Heavenly Father.  God is good!

Blessings,

Amanda

Devotions for the Whole Family

Prayer and devotions are an important part of the day.  It is a great way to get your kids introduced to daily time with God.  I feel it gets harder as you get older and busier, to incorporate it into your life if you haven't done so already.  Establish the habit early on.  Why not start young, so your kids center their days around devotions rather than trying to fit it in later?

We have been using The One Year Devotions for Preschoolers.  My kids have loved this one.  It has great pictures to look at.  The daily devotions each share a story, a bible verse and a prayer that we repeat.  Jman and BG spend a lot of time just paging through the book.


We also have God's Mighty Warrior Devotional.  This is a devotional that focuses on boys age 4 - 7.  The Bible verses are a little longer and there are articles that delve further into the verses.  There are also pages to write down prayer requests and answered prayers.  My oldest is 5 and really gets into the stories and activities!

I have personally used a few and have enjoyed them all.

Grace For The Moment by Max Lucado.  This devotional is uplifting and real.  It speaks to one and all.

My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  This devotional really makes you think about your character, as well as God's.  It can be transforming, if you want it to be.  

Come Away My Beloved by Frances J. Roberts.  This devotional will speak to your heart and encourage you.

Tramp For The Lord by Corrie Ten Boom.  My husband recommends this one.  :)  It isn't a true devotional, but can be read as one.  It is a book with short chapters, each centered around a Bible verse.  It is a powerful book!  My husband has multiple copies and gives them away.  That's how much he enjoys this book.

If you want to read Corrie Ten Boom's personal story, you can find it in the book titled The Hiding Place.

I pray that you find the time for family devotions and that this list may help get you started or give you new ideas for continuing your family time!

Blessings,

Amanda

Hot Springs Road Trip

Road trip are two words that I'm not always so sure about.  One on hand, I get a lot of good reading time, on the other hand, we have 3 kids in the back of the van that could be in a good or bad mood.  This particular road trip was different.  We had Grandma and Grandpa Davis in the back to entertain the kids, so I only had good reading time!  This particular road trip took us to Hot Springs, AR.  It was a fun, beautiful, hot day.

We took a Duck Tour of Hot Springs National Park.  We rode in an amphibious vehicle like the one pictured below.  I took this picture because this one was named Miss Ashley; we thought Auntie Ashley would like to see it!  We actually rode on Miss Mary.  

The kids did really well, once we started moving!  Jman did get a little scared when we plowed into the lake, but he recovered while we were cruising on the lake.  I did have a moment of panic when the vehicle sank into the water, but she floated and got us back home.  It's always good to have moments to fully trust in God.  I was praying!!

We drove in the Hot Springs National Park to the West Mountain Summit.  The picture above has smoke off in the horizon.  Not a good sight to see.

Above is the watch tower in Hot Springs that you can climb up.  We were too beat after sitting in the sun on our tour to attempt a climb.

The boys enjoyed the summit.  They were having expeditions galore! 

It was hard to ignore God's beautiful creation.

We also filled some water bottles with water from the hot springs.  It comes out really hot from the water faucets.  The water tastes just like regular tap water, in case you are wondering. 

Jman found a butterfly in the pond downtown.  We were pretty excited.  He is claiming it's a blue morpho butterfly, but I can't say for certain that it was. :)  It was blue though!  

Bridge Street is the shortest street in the world, according to our tour guide.  So of course we had to drive down it after the tour.  Nate had to have that checked off of his "bucket list".  (I think he added it to the list when he decided to turn on the block.)

We finished the day with dinner at Cracker Barrel.  The boys played some checkers and Lulu situated herself right up there to watch.

The drive home was lovely as well.  We had a great time enjoying the sights and spending time with family.  Memories to keep!