The ramblings and adventures of a SAHM

Whatcha Making Wednesdays ... Cranberry Valentine

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... this week has been very hectic and I didn't get a chance to take any baking pictures...so I have a recipe from last week's link up.... Over at Almost Unschoolers they made a Cranberry Valentine that looks incredibly yummy!!!

If you have a baking/cooking (etc.) activity that you have done with children and would like to share... please link up!!!! We are always looking for fun...and yummy recipes. If you do link up...please try and visit someone else's entry and share some comment love...

For a Reminder of the Guidelines to Link Up...Please visit here

Whatcha Making Wednesdays .... Pizza Bites...

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome Back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... This week we made Pizza Bites... which I found on Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers, Oh My!!! (Go check out her blog!!!)

Flattening the biscuits...

The girls had fun deciding what to put in their bites...

The finished bites....

The girls of K4 enjoying their snack....

INGREDIENTS:

10 biscuits
20 chunks of mozzarella cheese
20 pepperonis -cut my pepperonis into quarters
Marinara Sauce (for Dipping)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Cut the biscuits in half and flatten them
Fill with cheese and pepperoni (or other fun things (like olives, mushrooms, etc.)
Fold up the biscuit halves and pinch together
Sprinkle with garlic and put in a greased pan (we used mini loaf and pie pans)
Put in the oven until golden brown
Serve with dipping sauce

If you have a baking/cooking (etc.) activity that you have done with children and would like to share... please link up!!!! We are always looking for fun...and yummy recipes. If you do link up...please try and visit someone else's entry and share some comment love...

For a Reminder of the Guidelines to Link Up...Please visit here

TOS CREW Review: Kinderbach

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I teach private Piano Lessons...as well as other Music Classes... so I was very interested to see what Kinderbach was all about....and so excited when I received it to review...

Kinderbach is a creative and inexpensive way to expose your child to piano and learning musical skills, recommended for ages 3-7. It uses fun characters to teach note reading, rhythm, signing, and composition. Good for either in the home or in the classroom... You absolutely do not need a Piano to do these lessons...a Keyboard is perfect!

According to Kinderbach’s website “The best time to learn a language or to begin playing a musical instrument is 3 - 6 years of age.”

Some of K4 listening to different tones and reaching "high", "middle" and "low"....

Many of the lessons include a printable page to reinforce the lesson.... or as an interactive part of the lesson...

The girls were captivated by the videos and enjoyed working along with them...

A nice aspect of the video/ printout session is that they are self correcting....

One thing that I would change to the program is the length of some of the sessions.... a few of them tended to run a little long and we ended up fast forwarding through them.... as the girls lost interest...

KinderBach offers many different purchasing options:

Year Membership - $95.88 one-time payment for the year (equivalent to $7.99 a month)
Monthly Membership - $19.99 billed monthly
Day Pass - $5.95 to try the program for a single day
DVDs - See website for various options

As a piano and music teacher, I obviously feel that Private Lessons are superior...however, if you are unable to afford individual lessons or do not have time to schedule them... KinderBach is a great way for your child to learn!!

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

Whatcha Making Wednesdays .... Pumpkin Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays...This week for K4 the girls made one of our favorites.... Pumpkin Muffins.... this was a great demonstration of why Math is so important...I had to divide the recipe by 5....

Ryleigh takes her jobs very seriously... :-)
The Finished Muffins....

The Recipe was previously Posted HERE

If you have a baking/cooking (etc.) activity that you have done with children and would like to share... please link up!!!! We are always looking for fun...and yummy recipes. If you do link up...please try and visit someone else's entry and share some comment love...

For a Reminder of the Guidelines to Link Up...Please visit here

School Daze.... I is for Ice cream....even in the winter

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Braeden is 29 Months and Ryleigh is 57 months (4 1/2 yrs)

Here are some of the highlights from classes this week... we also did reading, alpha books, math, geography, Spanish, Baking (Whatcha Making Wednesdays)... along with some other activities...

Practicing fine motor transfers with over-sized tweezers... Braeden started with his fingers...

All the kids loved this project.... and repeated it over and over again...

Braeden finished the project by actually using the tweezers (and loving them!)

Working on putting on the sprinkles for our letter craft...

The finished "I" is for Ice Cream....

One of the books that we read this week was The Mitten by Jan Brett...
The kids made snowflake prints to go with it...

Cutting the foam into interesting shapes (snowflakes)...

Dipping the stamp (snowflake)... into the paint...

Smooshing the painted snowflake on the paper...

Ryleigh's finished snowflakes...

Working on playing quarter notes...

Practicing Wet, Dry, Try with Handwriting without tears... so far... no tears :-)

After class is over, the kids enjoy playing in our new playroom
(the other part of the basement)

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out ABC and 123... Red Ted Art ... JDaniel4's Mom... and
To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Whatcha Making Wednesdays ....Brownie Bites

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays....This week the girls made brownie bites... we used a package of brownies...and cooked them in a mini muffin tin... nice and easy!

Putting in the ingredients...
Taking turns stirring the ingredients in... with our fun baking utensils....

The finished brownies...

**I have been nominated on Babble for the Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs and Would LOVE for you to vote for me.... I am currently on page number 2....#60 **** To Vote click here

TOS CREW Review: Maestro Classics

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:18:00 +0000

We were recently given Maestro Classics- The Story of Swan Lake to review.... given Ryleigh's love of Ballet and my love of Music (Classical, among many other genres) ... I thought this was a good fit for us... and happily were were not disappointed.....

"The Story of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky’s greatest ballet score, is the tale of a prince who falls in love with a beautiful princess. The princess, however, has been turned into a swan by an evil magician, and only the prince’s love can break the spell. This narrated version of the classic tale for children is sure to delight all who love ballet and enchanting storytelling.

A 24-page activity book included with the CD contains a biography of Tchaikovsky, information on acoustic and electric guitars, sheet music and words for a sing-along song, explanation of major and minor keys, puzzles and more. MP3 download from Maestro Classics website includes a PDF of the activity booklet. "

Ryleigh had a great time listening to the story and dancing to the music.... we can't wait to check out more of these "classics"....

They currently offer 10 different titles to choose from including Peter and the Wolf, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Juanita the Spanish Lobster in English or Spanish.

The Cost of the CD is $16.98 and $9.98 for MP3 Download..... you can buy them from: Maestro Classics

Another great thing about these CD's is that they come with so many educational activities!!! These are fantastic for introducing classical music into your child's routine...

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

School Daze.... A New Year begins....

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Ryleigh is 4 1/2 yrs and Braeden is 28 Months

Although we have yet to have snow this winter (YAY!!!) We have started our winter theme in Tot School and K4.... Here are some of the things we did this week....

Our Winter Sensory Bin.... this is way messier than I anticipated and will be changed out sooner than later...

Handwriting without tears.... wet, dry, try....

K4 doing a high low game with kinderbach...

The girls practiced their math skills....Braeden working on his alpha book...

Both classes worked on some fine motor skills with sticker snowmen...

Braeden really liked this activity...

We started our Road Trip across America from Confessions of a Homeschooler...
this week we did CT...

One of the books we read this week (we read one a class)... was My Red Mittens...

For the project (both classes), we made handprints in red mittens.... this worked really well for Tot School, as our color of the week was RED...The finished mittens (some of them)....

Tot School did Letter H...is for Handprint....

Where I am linking up:
For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out ABC and 123... Red Ted Art ... JDaniel4's Mom... and
To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Whatcha Making Wednesdays ..... Mini Doughnuts....

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:24:00 +0000

Welcome back to a whole new year of Whatcha Making Wednesdays!!! For Christmas this year, I received a mini doughnut maker.... so perfect for kids to help make doughnuts with... its fast...and easy... and oh so tasty!

Ready to start cooking!!!Cooling.... How cute are they?

The girls had a good time dunking the doughnuts in melted chocolate glaze ... and decorating them with sprinkles...

The finished doughnuts.... yummy!!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 T. Baking Powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1 egg
1 t. Vanilla

Directions:

Combine Dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
In separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients, except glaze or topping. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Using a mixer on medium speed, blend until smooth.
Fill each cooking reservoir with about 2 T of batter.
Bake about 4 to 5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into donut comes out clean.
Glaze or coat with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar.

Alphabet Crafts.... and some other fun activities...

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:07:00 +0000

Here we are....back from break... I am not really sure where the year has gone... I seem to have skipped blogging about the majority of our school projects... between teaching the two grades, Music and private lessons, Sunday School.... and running a full time business... blogging seems to be suffering... hopefully this year I catch up... but if not... you can always check in on my facebook page.... (become a fan today!- click the button on the side of the blog)....

Tot School has been working on the Letter of the week crafts.... and adding their Letter to the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree... For the most part, these crafts are very similar to the ones that Ryleigh did when she was in Tot school....

A is for Alligator...
Gluing on Stripes...

B is for Bee....

K4 using erasers (yes this picture is from October).... for patterns and more than/less than....

C is for Clock...

Sorting money....

K4 getting ready for story-time... I will have to do a separate post showing our new school room and some of our routines this year...

D is for Dog...

Tot School working with some big tweezers to transfer into ice cube trays...

Gluing pieces of his E...

E is for Envelope....

Checking out some slides under the microscope...

F is for Fingerprints...

Gluing beans, lentils, tissue paper, etc.... onto his G...

G is for Garden.....

One of Braeden's favorite activities.... building with blocks...any kind of blocks....

Where I am linking up:

For more fun projects check out ABC and 123.... and
To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

TOS CREW Review: Homeschool Spanish

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

We have been working on our Spanish this year... and I was so excited when I was offered the Homeschool Spanish Curriculum to review... with younger kids (preschool/ kindergarten)... it is not always easy to find a foreign language program that keeps their attention.... Homeschool Spanish is perfect for the entire family...little ones and all...

One of the great things about Homeschooling your children (and others...)... is that you can choose curriculum and subjects that are fun and interesting... one of the things that I incorporate into pretty much each subject is song...I know--- shocker... from handwriting to geography...I like a song for everything... that being said... the first thing I noticed about the Homeschool Spanish curriculum was that it included a fun "greetings" song... that pretty much sold the program for me... it was a natural fit for us...

This is more of an immersion program.... and fear not... if you cannot speak the language (as I can't)... you can still teach this appropriately...as they have sound files and pronunciation help available to you!!! (as part of the program)...

Another awesome aspect of this program is the amount of prep needed for the lessons... virtually none... it is a fantastic time saver... everything is organized for you!!!

REAL Homeschool Spanish has 10 units. Each unit is made up of vocabulary clusters. There are 33 vocabulary clusters and 15 Idea Sections each with 3-4 activity sections along with audio files of native speakers from Mexico using the vocabulary.

This program comes as either a hard copy ($89.95)
OR a digital download ($49.95 which is how we received it).

The Bundled product includes:

Book (the actual text)
Activity Book (worksheets and such)
Answer Book (for the worksheets)
Audio Files (mp3 format)

You can also order a Daily Curriculum Guide for $9.95
that gives you a short daily idea to keep on track.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE this program!!!!!

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... A holiday tradition.... Clone of a Cinnabon

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:11:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays... unfortunately last week I had some technical difficulties (no internet)...but yay! we are back... Christmas Morning I make Cinnamon buns... (actually I prep them the night before and bake them Christmas morning)... my pictures didn't do the ooey gooeyness justice....so I am posting pictures of some of our other holiday festivities...

Our Elf delivered some holiday jammies...

Our elf snuck one of our Christmas cookies....

Ryleigh and Braeden in their special Jammies Christmas Morning...

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

*recipe was found on allrecipes.com*

Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... Sugar Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome to Whatcha Making Wednesdays! This week the kids had their Holiday Parties and both classes made Sugar Cookies with frosting and sprinkles... A perfect way to end our year :-)

The kids had fun choosing which shapes they would make their cookies...Frosting the cookies... the kids used safety knives to frost them...Adding some sprinkles...

Ryleigh's finished cookies...

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
FROSTING:
1/3 cup butter (softened)
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Frost cooled cookies..... and decorate!

For a Reminder of the Guidelines to Link Up...Please visit here

What we have been up to....Christmas Activities....

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:47:00 +0000

So.... it has been a while since I have updated with any school time activities besides baking... apparently working has taken up a bit of my free time.... no worries though.... it takes away from blogging...not teaching... here are some of our Christmas activities that we did during school (or otherwise) over the last month.... over our break I will attempt to get some posts together showing the more academic activities that we have been doing... stay tuned!!!! And... as per usual.... a plethora of pictures are below....

Ryleigh and Braeden decorating our tree after Thanksgiving...

Mosaic Advent Candles:
K4 made these very pretty Advent Candles...

Adding the mosaic tiles...

Working on adding the wreath to the bottom of the candle...

The girls with their advent candles...

Abstract Christmas Trees:
In K4 (plus Braeden...because he didn't nap)... we made Abstract Christmas Trees..... they used fun painting technics...and added different shapes (sponge paint) for ornaments.... and finished with some glitter glue for tinsel...

Painting the tree...

Making sure everyone else is on task....

Finding the decorating process very funny...

The finished abstract Trees....

Button Wreath Ornaments:
Both classes made button wreath ornaments.... stringing white, red and green buttons onto a pipecleaner....and making a circle....

Working very hard on their projects in Tot School....

Inspecting their work...

Working on their ornaments in K4...

Handprint Angels:
The kids made shape/ handprint angels.... it is neat to see Braeden now completing some of the crafts that I have done with Ryleigh in the past...

Gluing on the Triangle (body), Circle (head) and Oval (hal0).....

The finished Angels...

Handprint Christmas Trees:
We also made these Handprint Trees.... I didn't take pictures during this project as it got slightly dice-y at times!

A finished tree...

Gingerbread Ornaments:

Working on their ornaments...

Whatcha Making Wednesdays... Sugar Cookies:
Every week I host a link up for kid friendly cooking/baking/ recipes... this week we made sugar cookies...

Ryleigh decorating her cookies...

Aunt Laura with Andy and the kids.... Ryleigh is tired of posing for pictures at this point....how cute are the matching shirts though? I got them from Missy Prissy Bow Boutique...

Ryleigh and Braeden...hugging it out before the Holiday Party begins...

Santa came to visit our neighborhood with his Firetruck....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Some of the Books that we read to go along with our activities:

The Donkey's Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri
Jingle All The Way ~ Interactice Storybook and Story Buddy Jingle Pup
Corduroy's Christmas (Lift-the-flap Books) by Don Freeman and B. G. Hennessy
Corduroy's Merry Christmas Shaped Board Book by Don Freeman and Lisa McCue
The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights) by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear (First Time Books) by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore and Jan Brett

Where I am linking up:

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out ABC and 123... Red Ted Art ... JDaniel4's Mom... and
To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... pigs in a blanket....chocolate cake

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:58:00 +0000

This week the kids made Pigs in a blanket.... so super easy...and yummy!!! Basically we take a Pillsbury croissant dough triangle and a piece of American cheese .... and wrap it around a hot-dog .... bake in the oven at 375 for 15 minutes....

I unfortunately did not get any good pictures of this activity... so... I thought I would share pictures of Ryleigh baking a cake two years ago.... when she was Braeden's age... It is a little strange for me to look back at them and see all the stuff that I let her bake... and be so hesitant to let Braeden do it now.... here she made a Chocolate Cake (dairy free...as I was nursing Braeden and he couldn't have dairy)...

Ryleigh stirring some Flour...

Pouring in some oil and water...

The finished cake...I let Ryleigh pick out which cake pan she wanted to put it in :)

For a Reminder of the Guidelines to Link Up...Please visit here

Whatcha Making Wednesdays ..... Cupcakes!

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays! This week in K4 we actually made plain ole' cupcakes...from... a ... box... gasp! There was frosting involved...but still... not too terribly exciting from a blogging perspective... The girls still had fun and enjoyed frosting the cupcakes themselves...

The girls stirring in their ingredients... Baking Wednesdays always sparks lively chatter from the girls in K4... ;-)

TOS CREW Review: ARTistic Pursuits..... The Way They See It

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:51:00 +0000

"The Artistic Pursuits program presents both the expressive and the technical aspects of art in an age-appropriate manner. Children are curious and expressive from the start. We work with those interests to teach them to observe more closely. Skills develop as each child observes nature and enjoys the process of creating. Using ARTistic Pursuits, a child carries art tools to locations which both inspire and are chosen by the child." ~from the website

I was given Artistic Pursuits- The Way They See it... a book for every parent about the art children make... it is for Preschool children ages 3,4 and 5....

This book was directed toward understanding your child's art, helping them gain skills without drawing for them, and lots of informative parent pages designed to show to encourage creativity. It has 29 Projects allowing your child to explore art.... (so fun!!!)

We already had all the supplies needed for this book (markers, watercolor, finger paint, crayons, etc.)... and chances are you do too!!! The target age range for this book was 3-5...but I found that it worked really well with the 2 year olds as well... We really liked that they had so many project ideas for the different kinds of media... it was very helpful!

After researching more about this curriculum, I am very excited to purchase the K-3 Books...for Ryleigh (and Braeden)... the way the information is given to you is amazing!

Artistic Pursuits offers books for every grade level....

You can purchase the curriculum by PayPal, Credit Card, Check or Money Order. And they have a No Risk Satisfaction Guarantee For Individual Orders. Each book is $42.95 and the art supply kits range from $45-$92.

To contact them:

Artistic Pursuits Inc.
2626 East 109th Avenue
Northglenn, Colorado 80233

Phone: (303) 467-0504

alltheanswers@artisticpursuits.com

I really liked their customer service... before I even received the book in the mail... an intro letter was sent to me with a list of supplies that I would need for this book... (the list is also on the webpage)... this way we were able to start right away!

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

Whatcha Making Wednesdays... Pumpkin Pie

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:58:00 +0000

Welcome Back to Whatch Making Wednesday... Last week Ryleigh and Braeden made Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving... Braeden Loves to help his sister bake!Ryleigh stirring... Braeden waiting patiently for his turn...

Ryleigh directing the project...

Braeden has gotten much neater while baking/ cooking...
and concentrates a lot on the project...

The finished pie....

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream (optional)

Directions

MIX sugar and pumpkin pie spice in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

My favorite places for Black Friday.... Small Business Saturday...

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:59:00 +0000

So here we are... Black Friday....one of my favorite activities of the year... I spend a lot of time mapping out exactly what I want so that I save the most amount of money...I usually like to stock up not only for Christmas but for Children's Birthdays for the next 5 months.... Birthday Party gifts can totally add up!

That being said... I really try and support Small Businesses/ My friends Businesses as well... I am listing below some of my favorites that I have ordered from this year... Also... I have not been given free items to promote these places... I just really like them!!!

If you get a chance, go check them out.... and if you find them on facebook let them know that The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM says hello!

My friend Abbie from Missy Prissy Bow Boutique (Find her on facebook!)Makes these beautiful bows and shirts...and she also can do tutus...and skirts....

Ryleigh LOVED her shirt... and so did all of our guests!

My Friend Jen from Jenuine deSigns (Also on Facebook!) makes the best wooden signs.... she does Established Signs, Signs with Sayings, Blocks, etc. .... go check out her selection... you can order specialty signs or choose from her available stock....

How Cute is this Sign I just ordered for Above our Stockings?

I have ordered file folder games for Tot School and K4 from Teenas Teacher Bits and LOVE them!!! She has a great selection.... with a huge age range!!! You can order both down-loadable games.... so you can assemble them yourself... or finished games... that are beautifully put together! (You can find her at the above Link and on Facebook!)

For the Home:
I have enjoyed hosting parties for Pampered Chef, Scentsy and Thirty-One this year... These make awesome holiday gifts!!!!

Pampered Chef- Check out my Friend Alexandra's Site... I have just discovered Pampered Chef this summer... and I'm in LOVE!!!

Thirty-One- Check out my Friend Kara's Page....

Scentsy- If anybody orders from midnight on 11/24 until midnight on 11/25 under "jen's party" she will send you a small free gift in the mail!

TOS CREW Review: The Reading Game.... Fun times!!!

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:29:00 +0000

I recently got the chance to review The Reading Game created by “Wordly Wise” author, Kenneth Hodkinson.

The Reading Game is a fun sight word memory game....it consists of six decks of cards used to introduce new words in intervals of 30 words per deck... the game starts of small with just ten words....after every ten new words, there are test sentences so that the parent can tell if the child truly knows the words. After learning all thirty words in a deck, the child is ready to read the corresponding book....The decks and books move in a progressive manner from easiest to harder.

In our K4 class we have been averaging 4 new sight words every two weeks... we have also been working on learning to read by phonics blending... so far I really like the mixture of the two methods... I find that by learning the sight words the kids gain confidence in reading... and enjoy putting the sight words together to make sentences... for us... this game was a perfect fit!!!

We like The Reading Game because although it is basically flashcard memory.... the kids find it entertaining... and enjoy being able to read the stories once they complete the different levels. You may not enjoy this game if your approach to teaching reading is primarily or only Phonics.... for the simple fact that it is completely opposite of what you are doing. Although we have not made it through all the levels yet... we are definitely excited to!!!

From the website:

"The Reading Game is a fast-action memory card game. It includes a series of six beautifully illustrated storybooks. The Cards & Books work together to make learning to read exciting and enjoyable. Game sessions are fun-filled with a winner every few seconds. After completing the first memory card game, the student has thirty words “hardwired” into memory. The Skunk story, Book One in the series, is told using only those thirty words. On completing the series, the student has a reading vocabulary of 180 words. Almost half of them are among the one hundred most commonly used words in the English language."

You can purchase The reading Game here for $24.95. You can get a $15 discount on orders of 8 or more. (This would TOTALLY make a great gift this holiday season...)

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

Whatcha Making Wednesdays... Chocolate Lava Cake

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays... this week we made Chocolate Lava Cake...and it took about 15 Minutes...seriously!!!

Some of the girls mixing the cake mix....

Ryleigh...waiting for her turn to add ingredients...

Ingredients:
Cake Mix (we used Devils Food)
Eggs
Vegetable Oil
Water
Can of Frosting- NOT WHIPPED (We used Chocolate)

**Stone Covered Baker is recommended (Pampered Chef)... I don't have one... so I use my stone deep dish Pie Plate.... **

Directions:
Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box.... then pour into the stone wear.... glob frosting in spoonfuls right on-top of the mixture.... put in microwave for 12 minutes... the end... and so very ooey gooey and yummy!!! You can top it with powered sugar, whipped cream... or just eat it plain....

TOS CREW Review: Math Mammoth

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:47:00 +0000

Math Mammoth offers affordable quality math worktexts and workbooks for Grades 1 through 8... These are available as both downloads and printed books....These books concentrate on conceptual understanding and are strong in mental math...

The first 8 pages were Kindergarten review...and as I have 5 kids in K4 this year... it was a great way to make sure that everyone was on the same "page"...

Some Members of the TOS Crew were given the choice of which series they wanted to review...

I had the honor of reviewing the Math Mammoth Light Blue First Grade Curriculum.... I really can not say enough great things about it!!! (Also...as a side note... there is virtually NO parent/teacher prepping needed for these lessons).

From the website:

Math Mammoth Grade 1 complete curriculum consists of two student worktexts (A and B), a separate answer key for each, chapter tests and an end-of-year test, cumulative reviews, and an easy worksheet maker (Internet access required) to make extra practice worksheets when needed.

133 pages
118 lesson pages, of which 8 are an optional Kindergarten review

125 pages
110 lesson pages

1-A contents and samples
1-B contents and samples

Downloads:

(sold at Kagi)

Full set grade 1: $34.00

At Rainbow Resource Center:
Math Mammoth grade 1 books
at Rainbow Resource

The two student books (A and B) for 1st grade cover the following topics:

addition and subtraction concept and basic facts within 0-10
place value with 2-digit numbers (a.k.a. tens and ones)
some adding and subtracting within 0-100
some geometry and measuring topics
reading clock to the half-hour
counting and using coins (US, Euro, or Canadian)

We really liked how straight forward and easy to understand these worksheets were...

There are free placement tests available on the website which are extremely helpful when deciding which grade level to use!!

I also want to make sure and mention that the customer service was UNBELIEVABLE!!! It is definitely tailored to the individual customer...and it is obvious that Maria Miller- the creator- cares about her product...and those using it... she is available by email and is more than happy to answer any questions you have about Math Mammoth!

*As a member of the TOS Crew review program I was given a free copy of this product to review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. To see what other members of the Crew thought click below:

Whatcha Making Wednesdays.... Tomato and Garlic Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:25:00 +0000

This week we made Tomato and Garlic Pizza...a recipe that I recently got from a Pampered Chef Party...we love this recipe...it is a great one for the kids to do....and so yummy!!!

The Kids took turns adding the ingredients...

Ryleigh adding the tomatoes...

And then the cheese...

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough
1-2 Cloves Fresh Garlic
Parm cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil
Plum Tomatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F)
Roll out and Oil Pizza Dough, put in bar pan
Spread squished fresh garlic all over the dough
Spread out the tomatoes thinly sliced
Shake some grated parm cheese over the dough
Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese to cover the dough
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes...

** You can add all sorts of yummy vegetables/ toppings to this sauce-less pizza!

Whatcha Making Wednesdays... Mini Muffin Doughnuts

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Welcome back to Whatcha Making Wednesdays... for our baking project this week we made Mini Doughnut Muffins... from Raising Leafs... When these were linked up a couple of weeks ago, I immediately put them on the list to make! From her pictures you can really tell the yummyness of the muffin!!! (So go Here and check it out)!!!

Adding the milk... this recipe was great!
The kids could truly do the whole thing by themselves!
The girls enjoyed measuring the flour...
they used knives to make sure that it was level...
Two different approaches to covering the freshly baked muffins with Cinnamon and Sugar...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
2. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 10 to 15minutes.
4. While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted butterin a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted butter, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve.

Even More Leaf Projects.... it is fall afterall!!!

noreply@blogger.com (sbswtp) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:09:00 +0000

In both the Tot School and K4 classes we have been celebrating fall... one of the fun activities that comes with it is making leaf projects... we have done several so far... but here are 3 more!

K4 decorated coffee filter leaf cut outs with pipette-fulls of colored water (colored with drops of food coloring)

Ryleigh coloring her leaf...with droplets of food coloring...

The finished leaves... they actually feel like silk leaves... and a great addition to our fall decorations!

For the Tot School class, I had them make Marker Coffee Filter Leaves... it seemed less messy than the food coloring leaves... in theory I guess...

Marker misfire...

After the leaves were all colored in... they misted them to blend the colors...

I had both classes do q-tip painting on index cards... for falling leaves...
I drew in the "tree" with a crayon...

The little ones in Tot School totally got into this project...

K4 working on their leaves...

Ryleigh was very careful with her falling leaves... and very particular of their placement...

The finished q-tip paintings...

One of the stories that we have enjoyed reading this fall is I Know It's Autumn, by Eileen Spinelli... She goes through and says all the different things that may point to it being fall... and the illustrations are great!

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out ABC and 123... Red Ted Art ... JDaniel4's Mom... and
To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.