Goodbye Webkinz

Today was the third strike for Webkinz.
My kids have really enjoyed taking care of their pets
and playing games in a nice, kid-friendly environment.
Or so I thought.


The first strike came a few months ago
when my son approached me
and asked me if there was a bad word
that sounded like "dam".
Um...
When I inquired further why he was asking,
he told me he had heard it on Webkinz in a joke.
I reviewed the Webkinz video that contained the joke
and was shocked to see that he was indeed correct.
The joke says: What did the fish say when he swam into a wall?
The answer is the aforementioned word in question.
Really?!?!
I didn't think my kids would be learning bad words on Webkinz!


The second strike was a month or so ago
with a maternity ad which had a woman in a bra!


And today my daughter let me know that
there was another ad on there this afternoon
with a woman in a bra.


I've read that Webkinz edited the video with the joke
and that you can inform them about
inappropriate content in their ads,
but isn't that their job?
After all, they are the ones making the money
on the animals and the ads combined.
If they say they're providing a kid-friendly environment,
shouldn't they make sure that is true?
Shouldn't they be the ones who are making sure
that their ads are aimed at the right target audience?

They don't care about my kids.
They care about money, but they won't get any more from us.

For my family, I can no longer risk being surprised
by what we might stumble upon on Webkinz.
And with that, we bid Webkinz,
"Adieu!"

Homeschool Musings

My two oldest and I have been busy

with our 50 states unit study for several months now.

I don't know if this is a problem or not

(at least not yet),

but it is feeling a bit dry.

I can't think of another word to describe the feeling.

And the thought of enduring many, many more months

of this dryness is a little concerning to me.

I want to give my kids the best

home educated experience that I can,

and somehow I feel like I'm missing the mark with this study.

But then on the other hand, the thought

of abandoning the study when we've come so far

(about 1/3 of the way)

is hard for me to justify,

especially when I want to teach my kids

good character qualities like

persevering and not giving up!

What to do?

While we leave me, myself, and I to ponder that question,

here is a great link that I found today:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

And no, this did not help me at all with

being content with what I teaching at the moment.

Look at all these topics and such creative ways of teaching!

I'm drooling... in a way that only a teacher can.

(Teachers out there, you know what I'm talking about).

Sitting here, contemplating the matter at hand,

Cupcake Cake

My oldest daughter turned 10 this month!

It's amazing how quickly 10 years flew by.

We planned a birthday party with kids,

party favors, games, hot dogs, cake...

hold on there... not just any cake!

A cupcake cake.

Have you seen these at the grocery store?

They're really cute, but I just can't

bring myself to pay all that money

for cupcakes that are mediocre

with icing that is just as mediocre

(probably even more so).

It's not that I'm a snob

(at least I don't think I am),

but I just love yummy food

and those store-bought cupcakes

just aren't that yummy to me.

Besides, my daughter wanted carrot cake cupcakes...

I'm not sure the grocery store could pull that off.

So we went to work making carrot cake cupcakes

using an old recipe from a Russian cookbook

that my grandma gave my mom

(seriously, those ladies knew how to bake/cook).

It's an amazing recipe and along with cream cheese

frosting on top... well, it's just super amazing!

I arranged the cupcakes on a piece of foam board,

iced the cupcakes and decorated them.

Decorated the foam board.

I'll admit, I was in a little rush when I put this together

and it didn't come out the greatest,

but my daughter loved it and was very pleased

and that's what really matters, right?

So I'm glad we tried something new

and had some fun with it.

How about you?

Have you tried anything new lately?

Goodbye August, Hello September!

In a way it's hard to believe that September is already here,

but in another way it seems that August was a very long month.

Life seems to be going by fast...

i n   s  l  o  w   m o t i o n.

That doesn't make very much sense,

but it's a feeling that is hard to explain.

Here's my month of August highlights!

We went to a Diamondbacks game.

The kids earned free tickets through

our library's summer reading program.

My brother came along with us. =)

Jacob celebrated his 8th birthday.

He made his own pinata with the help

of his sister and neighbors.

We ended up having a kid party,

a family party, and a party with the families we fellowship with.

I don't know how all that happened,

but it did, and that's all that matters. ;-)

The kids and I continued our 50 state unit study.

We covered Arkansas, Arizona, and California.

We spent lots of time in the kitchen making

a recipe for each of the states we studied.

Allison took her first dip in the pool!

I wasn't sure if we'd do that this year,

but it seemed like the right moment last week

and it's always cute to see a baby in the pool with a diaper. =)

I was able to spend some time crafting this month!

Here's one of the cards I made. =)

What was one of your highlights from last month?

Banana Coconut Bran Muffins

I had some overly, and I mean

OVERLY,

ripe bananas sitting in my fruit dish yesterday.

They were either going to get thrown away

or they were going to be used for baking.

Now, I haven't been the most ambitious person lately,

but I didn't want to waste those bananas

(although now that I'm writing this, I realize I could've just put them in the freezer).

I threw these together and they were yum, yum, yummy!

Thought I would share them with you.

Banana Coconut Bran Muffins
Makes approximately 2 dozen muffins

Recipe notes from Adriel: I used cooking oil in this recipe, but if I had had plain yogurt, I probably would've used that instead. Also, I made part of my batch without the chocolate chips and part with. Both are good and depending on my mood, I like it either way. Obviously, the chocolate chips make this more "dessert-y", but that's okay once in awhile! This would be good with nuts in it, too, but I didn't add them today. Maybe another time. Enjoy! =)

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat bran
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup flaked coconut
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips *optional*

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Mix in the brown sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (except for chocolate chips). Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir together until combined. Mix in chocolate chips or any other additional mix-ins and stir to combine.

4. Spoon or pour batter into greased or lined muffin pans. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

What I liked about these is that they were good WITHOUT butter on them!

That's a big deal for me, because I almost

never, hardly ever, can eat muffins without butter.

This makes them healthier for me

(and for anyone else who has the same problem keen sense of taste). ;-)
In addition, my daughter liked them a lot, too!
Kid-friendly!! Woohoo!!

Have a great day! =)

Linked up with:

Real Food Wednesday

Works for Me Wednesday

Trendy Treehouse Creative Share

&

Show Us What You're Working With

Reminded Again

I had a hard time coming up with a title for my post today.

All the words I thought of just didn't seem to come close

to what is on my heart, but this title will just have to do.

A few days ago I was going through my texts on my phone,

because my text box was getting full and I needed to delete some.

In doing so, I ran across some texts from my husband from last year,

shortly after I had found out I was pregnant again.

They reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about,

but they took me back to that time and reminded me to thank the Lord.

We were pleasantly surprised when we found out

we were going to have another child.

It was just exciting!

But a short time after finding out,

there was a day when I had a decent amount of bleeding

and I thought I was losing the baby.

Thus the texts...

I don't remember all the details...

I think we prayed on the phone, but I'm not completely sure.

I do remember that the bleeding stopped that day

and here we are, several months later with a new baby. =)

It's always good to remember to return to the Lord to thank Him.

I'm just thankful for the reminder, because I forget so easily.

Bless Jehovah, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits.

Psalm 103:2

Crunch 'n Munch Jacob style

I was typing yesterday's post and eyed my son

eating his Crunch 'n Munch.

Instead of chuckling to myself

and enjoying the moment all alone,

I grabbed the camera and snapped this shot.

He was eating the last of the Crunch 'n Munch

and wasn't going to let those tasty crumbs go to waste.

He caught on to me, though,

and realized I was taking pictures of him.

Then I got a few more...

After our photo shoot, he took another bite/lick

(whatever you want to call it)

and said loudly,

"Can someone get me a drink of water?!

It tastes like a stinky nut!"

He then proceeded to run to the kitchen sink

and try and rinse his mouth out.

It was humorous

and because he wasn't dying or anything,

I just sat in my seat and observed the moment.

So thank you, Crunch 'n Munch,

for adding a little humor to my

otherwise ordinary lunch time.

It was worth the $1 I spent on you. =)

Today...

I'm working on some new schedules for life!

I told my mom the other day

that I need to take a whole month off

to re-organize my life.

Well, not really, but that's what it feels like.

Nursing a baby is practically equivalent

to a full-time job... time-wise, that is.

But now that we're approaching

3-months old, I'm anticipating feedings

not taking quite so long?

(Yes, that's a hopeful statement in question!)

The thing is, a baby's schedule

changes every week or so.

My schedule is going to have to be flexible,

but I definitely need something

to help me know where I'm going in a day..

Do you know what I mean?

In addition, my kids need a schedule

for their day as well

to see where they are going

throughout the day

and to make sure we stay on task

to get done what needs to be done.

Since I can't be as involved minute-by-minute

right now, it's important that they have

a schedule that tells them what is expected

and to give them some basic

time management skills.

This will be good for them in the long run

on becoming more responsible in their time.

I don't want to wait until

I'm absolutely desperate before

I put an action plan into place.

So I'm starting now and will

hopefully get these schedules done...

right now I'm having a problem with Excel

not doing what I want it to do.

Fortunately, I have a techy husband

who will be able to help me later. =)

Do you have any tips on organizing

that you can share with me?

I'm open to suggestions! =)

50 States Unit Study + Recipe

You may remember THIS POST
where I was trying to decide

if I should take the plunge

and do a 50 States unit study

with my kids or not.

I decided to go for it

and we've been enjoying our study so far.

We are doing the states in alphabetical order,

trying to study one state per week.

We have to take a little longer

for a state a couple of times,

but we've been doing pretty good staying with it.

One of the activities that we do for each state

is choose a recipe that has something

to do with that state

(using an ingredient grown in the state or a traditional recipe from that state),

and we make it together.

I take pictures as we go through it step-by-step

and then I print up the pictures

and the kids write about how we made it.

This goes into their 50 states notebook,

along with a copy of the recipe.

We're a little behind making a recipe for Arkansas

(which we studied last week).

I was planning on making a rice dish of some kind

since rice is one of the major crops grown there,
but Kayla wanted to make

Tater Tot Casserole

(a recipe from the Duggar family),

because the Duggars are from Arkansas. LOL!

I thought that was pretty cute

and since we haven't yet tried Tater Tot Casserole,

I think I will oblige her. =)

Today I'm sharing what we made for Alabama...

Blackberry Swirl Cake

Ingredients:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

12 oz. fresh blackberries

1/3 C. sugar

2 TBS. flour

1. Prepare cake mix according to box directions. Pour cake batter into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish.

2. Mash blackberries with sugar, leaving some larger pieces of berries. Mix in flour. Place spoonfuls of berry mixture in a varied pattern on top of cake batter. Run a knife back and forth, up and down to “swirl” in berry mixture with cake batter.

3. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Yummy fresh blackberries!

My two personal chefs. =)

Finished masterpiece!

What kinds of activities do you like to include
in your homeschooling to make learning fun?

I'd love to hear your ideas!

3 Weeks!

Here is why I have not posted in awhile...

Pretty cute reason, huh? =)

Today, she is 3 weeks old.

One week ago, I didn't think I would make it.

One week ago, I was an emotional wreck.

One week ago, I was too exhausted to do almost anything.

One week ago, I was ready to throw in the towel on nursing.

One week ago, I wondered if life would ever feel normal again.

This week, nursing isn't as daunting (or painful).

This week, I can tell my body is adjusting to less sleep.

This week, taking care of Allison is more enjoyable.

This week, we're all settling into a routine of sorts.

This week, the new normal is starting to feel, well,

NORMAL!

I know time has improved things a bit,

but I also know people have been praying
for me and my family

and I know that the Lord is the big reason

that this week is 10 times better!

He is the glory and lifter of my head. =)

"But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, and the One who lifts my head."

Psalm 3:3

Enjoy your week! =)

School Planning

Life has just swallowed up my time!

One of the things in life that has me occupied

is homeschooling my kids...

staying on top of planning school...

staying on top of keeping things organized

(which isn't my strong point).

I have been encouraged the past couple of weeks

to see the kids apply themselves

and look at their weekly plans independently...

and do a good majority of their school independently.

That is one of the main the goals.

To create independent learners.

Kids who can find the answers for themselves.

Kids who can figure out how to learn on their own.

They're still learning how to do this,

but I saw us take some major steps

toward this goal the past couple of weeks.

I'm seeing progress!

Yes!

As we're coming to the end of our unit study,

Attentiveness...

where we have learned about

ears and hearing,

eyes and sight,

traps and animals,

and birds

(yes, they all have something in common with attentiveness),

I am planning a new unit study.

I am mulling around the idea of doing

a unit study on the 50 states.

Quite an endeavor, no?

This would take a year if you studied one state per week.

And even with this, I'm asking myself,

"Is one week per state enough time?"

Hmmm...

I don't have a whole lot of time to contemplate the idea...

I'm expecting a new baby the beginning of June

and I would like to have a general idea

about the direction for school decided and planned by then.

To keep our momentum going.

To continue making progress

toward independent learning and thinking.

Here's a wonderful site I found with TONS of info...

http://www.squidoo.com/50statesnotebook

almost too much info...

an overwhelming amount of info...

on doing a 50 states unit study.

So much work is already done,

but putting it all together

and taking the pieces you like

and putting them together

with other pieces you like...

it takes a decent amount of organization...

Do I dare try?

It's somewhat daunting,

but I think I will be persuaded to pursue it.

Why?

I'm thinking my kids would have a blast!
I'm thinking they would love to do a unit study like this.

I'm thinking they would learn a lot and enjoy it.

I'm thinking if I start now,
I may be able to pull the whole plan together

just in time for baby #3.

Besides, aren't these kids worth it?

Yes, they are!

Scottsdale Day Trip

The kids both finished their math books last week and we usually like to celebrate this milestone by taking them out for a treat. One of the kids' favorite places to go for things like this is Streamers, but they closed several months ago.

So sad.

Anyway, Kayla said she wished they were open and so I went online to see if there were any other old-fashioned ice cream parlors around town. I found this place called the Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale.

We've taken the kids to Scottsdale on another occasion for a free trolley ride around Old Town Scottsdale, and so we thought we would do that again and treat them at the Sugar Bowl. The weather was beautiful and it made for a nice time together.

Here's some pics of the day:

I've never seen a limo like this one... only in Scottsdale:

The free trolley! If you ever visit Scottsdale, this is a fun thing to do. Here's some info about it if you're interested.

Cute Sugar Bowl napkin.

Cute kids at Sugar Bowl. ;-)

Each of the kids ordered a Desireme Banana Split!

That was our fun day trip! =)