I am moving my Girlfriends Get Real site to Wordpress and I will have a special “KIDS” page that will have daily updates on creating an Unforgettable Childhood for your kids.

I am busy crafting and creating with my kids to make this a fun place to give you inspiration. I will let you know when the site is up and running. The goal is September 15th. See you there!

Trying to get settled into our new town.

Enjoying the final days of summer.

Lots of plans in the works for Unforgettable Childhood.

My waistline is not appreciating it very much, but the girls are getting a glimpse into my childhood.

Nadia joined Grammy in the kitchen on Friday to bake Peanut Butter Cookies.

This recipe is an old one. We couldn’t put a date on it, but this is a picture of the cookbook it comes from.

These cookies stay so soft and moist. I asked my mom to share her trick. She says she takes them out when they are not quite done. No wonder it is hard to replicate her recipes. The recipe says to take them out when they are light brown in color. She just peaks at them a few times to get them just right.

Here is the recipe.

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream first four ingredients together; blend in beaten egg. Sift together dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Add vanilla and blend well. Chill dough several hours. Form into balls the size of a walnut; place on cookie sheet, press down with a fork in a criss-cross design and bake in 325 degree oven until a light brown color.

Enjoy! It is so much fun to let my kids spend time with Grammy recreating some of the memories I remember. I guess my mom created an unforgettable childhood for me, too.

It isn’t quite the same now, but it was fun to have them participate. They still had a great time.

One of the requirements as a parent is to supply some of the prizes for the carnival. Each child that is involved in summer activities is asked to bring a cake for the cake walk and 2 12-packs of pop.

Of course, I couldn’t just throw a little frosting on a cake, I wanted to do something a little more fun. I spent the entire day getting them ready, but it was worth it.

My girls used a lot of their tickets at the cake walk to try to win their own cakes.

I am not sure how many tickets they used, but little one accomplished her goal!

Do you have a a summer carnival that you participate in with your kids? Do you love the cake walk, too? I know I do and I can’t wait to eat little one’s cake

Last week when I took a little trip to Barnes and Noble I found this awesome game. I had played it once with my girls and they really loved it, but I had not been able to find it to purchase it for our family.

I was so excited when I went into the game section and they had one left. We have played it at least a half a dozen times since I bought it a week ago.

My seven year old is not to young to play, in fact she beats us half the time.

Our four year old is the keeper of the blocks so it keeps her busy even though she is too little to play.

Our nine year old doesn’t think she is too cool to play this game and it challenges her more than a lot of the games we play.

It is a game that our entire family really enjoys. We have also played it with my mom and sister and they loved it, too.

Sometimes a new game is a flop, but that is definitely not the case with Qwirkle. The concept requires matching of shapes and colors with a little Sudoku twist.

During the fall and winter we have a lot of family game nights and I am sure this will be a family favorite when the snow flies.

Do you have any favorite family games?

My girls love to get an empty notebook. There minds are full of stories that they can’t wait to get on paper.

On one of my last trips to the library I found a really cool book, Look At My Book by Loreen Leedy.

Each of the girls grabbed a brand new notebook and we opened this book for ideas and inspiration. This book breaks down writing into brainstorming, genres, research, illustration. It is a step-by-step book on creating a book using their imagination and creativity. I absolutely love it and they did, too.

My oldest daughter did a great job brainstorming using a Word Web.

My middle daughter made a list of Nature words before she began her story to get an idea where she wanted to go with it.

My youngest daughter doesn’t write yet so she illustrated pages and then told me the story that needed to be added to the page.

My girls are on a summer break from school, but this is a fun way to get them to keep learning. I can’t wait to see where their imaginations take them next time we sit down to write.

When I saw the opportunity to receive the book Melvin the Magnificent Molar from Julia Cook and Laura Jana, M.D. I knew that I wanted to get a copy.

Here is a little preview of the book:
Meet Melvin, the lovable tooth. Through Melvin’s view of the world, this book encourages children in a fun-loving, unique way to actually want to brush their teeth. By promoting brushing, flossing, and regular visits to the dentist, Melvin shows readers young and old how to make sure they will have happy teeth and healthy smiles that will last them a lifetime!

The colorful illustrations and story do a great job of teaching a child to brush their teeth and a trip to the dentist. My daughter loves the book. It is my hope that this book makes her first trip to the dentist a little easier.

I have good intentions, but moving and summer put together have put a hold on all of those good intentions.

As we get settled in, I hope to post on a regular schedule with all of the fun activities we have on our agenda. We are working on writing right now and this weekend we are off exploring. In the next couple of weeks we hope to visit DeSmet, South Dakota. One of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood homes.

But for now, I am joining in for New Friend Friday with a few pictures of our summer fun.

I hope to see you back here at Unforgettable Childhood. The purpose of this blog was to spend quality time with my girls, creating, exploring and learning.

With the busyness of our culture today we have to be intentional with our kids. We have to take back our family time from society. We have to teach them to use their imaginations. We have to be purposeful in limiting technology time and encourage active, outdoor time.

I can’t wait to share my ideas with you in the next few weeks, but right now the sun is shining in South Dakota and we are off to play.

I was first introduced to this recipe when I was in 1st Grade. There are three ingredients so each of them has something to pour into the bowl.

• 1 cup of Peanut Butter
• 1 cup of Honey
• 1 1/2 cups of Powdered Milk

Mix them together until combined and then everybody gets to get messy and roll the mixture into balls.

They just need to be put into the fridge for an hour and they are ready to eat.

This is a great snack for an afternoon treat!

I am joining the fun of New Friend Friday! If you are a New Friend stopping by today!

Welcome to Unforgettable Childhood!

My nine year old found a new series that she loves by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor that is a Boy/Girl Battle.

And she has read the new Camp Club Girls books from Barbour Books. These are great books with new ones being released every couple of months.

My middle daughter really wants to read chapter books only so we have been searching for books appropriate for her age and reading level. Of course, she loves Junie B. Jones, but she wanted to read something different this summer.

After a trip to the library and our recent trip to Disney World she found the Tales from Pixie Hollow books all about the Disney Fairies. They seem to be right at her level and she can read a chapter in about 15 minutes.

My four year old has been all over the place this summer. She loves a little bit of everything. It doesn’t take any convincing to get her to read. She won’t go to bed at night without books. I will share more from her reading list after I compile some of her favorites.

What are your kids reading this summer? How do you motivate them to read?