{H.E.E.T} Kids' Apple Cooking Class

As a part of our Homeschool Curriculum this year, I decided to start teaching Kids' Cooking Classes!

It has been so fun planning all of the various themes and menus for the classes and our girls are having a wonderful time testing the recipes at home!

Cooking is chock full of so many opportunities for learning for children (and adults:). 

We talked about the 3 states of matter, measuring, fractions (parts of a whole), nutrition, food groups, math/estimation, and counting. We even included a Story Time with an apple-related theme and a 

letter A coloring page!

We recently had our very first Kids' Cooking Class and it was a huge hit!

{click on the photo to enlarge it}

Our theme was "Fall into Apple Fun!"

The menu included: Apple Poppers dipped in natural Peanut Butter, 

Chicken Waldorf Sandwich Skewers w/Greek Yogurt Dip

 and Apple Crisp with homemade Whipped Cream.

The kids were so happy to have hands-on lessons and were amazed that they could change cream into homemade "cool whip!" I was energized and inspired by the young kiddos. 

They were so smart, so fun and really great listeners!

I received excellent feedback from the kids and their parents and plan 

on teaching more classes in the future!

Stay tuned!

Be a Blessing,

Aria:)

My SIMPLE Weekly Menu Planning {Sneak Peek}

It's no secret~~~~I LOVE to eat :D!

I also love to cook, so it usually works out pretty well!

With marriage, homeschooling, parenting, working from home and all the other life tasks that overwhelm our schedules, I needed a SIMPLE Menu Planning Process that works for me. I usually plan to have "Taco Tuesday", along with 2 chicken meals and a fish meal each week. We sometimes throw in "Brinner" {breakfast for dinner} if the week is extra hectic.

I love to browse Pinterest for new food ideas!!!! {Hop on over and follow me there!} I also love to look for ideas in cookbooks I check out from the library.

I usually try to put a new recipe or 2 into our rotation as our schedule allows. 

I can usually pretty much plan to cook 5-6 nights per week and do a

 double-batch cooking session on Sunday.

This makes eating healthy foods easy and we also eat the leftovers for lunch during the homeschool week, which simplifies things there as well.

So......here is my "Ever So Elaborate" {not} Menu Planning Process.

~~~~{insert drum roll here}~~~~

 Yes, that is IT!!! A simple notepad from the Dollar Store!!

See.... told you it was SIMPLE :-D. 

So, this is what I do every Sunday-usually while the kids nap. I make a nice cup of tea, gather my cookbooks, pull up my Pinterest food ideas and write out what I want to make each day and make a grocery list for the week.

It really is that SIMPLE!!

What are your menu planning tips?

Please do share them with us!

Be a blessing,

Aria:)

1st Day of School! {Smart Cookies}

I thought it would be fun to start a "back-to-school tradition" and since I am so health-conscious most of the time, I really wanted our children to get excited about it!!

So.................I came up with the idea to make "Smart Cookies" and use the positive affirmation phrase of "I am a smart cookie" to get the girls super-excited about another great year of homeschool!

Needless to say, the girls LOVED the idea of baking cookies!!!

We used this super simple recipe for Vanilla Wafers and adjusted our oven temp lower for the bigger letters. Elle came up with the idea of making letters/initials for their first names and since I already had the cookie dough in the piping bag, it was super easy and quick to pipe out the rest of the "smart cookies!"

I still cannot believe how fast our girls are growing up!! 

I keep trying to find the "life brake," 

but, to no avail....*sigh*. If you locate it, please steer me in the right direction!:)

Yes, you can see it here-Elle is more mellow/serious and Em is all about having FUN!!

Ce Ce tries her best to keep up with the big girls, so this year should be quite interesting! I need to take some extra vitamins to keep up!!

What kind of special back-to-school traditions do you all have???

We'd love to hear about them!

Blessings,

Aria:)

Em turns 4!

I still cannot believe our middle child is 4!

Em is one of the sweetest, funniest and adventurous kids you'd ever want to meet!

She was such an "easy" baby to deliver {3 pushes and she was OUT}, but she really keeps me on my toes {and on my knees in prayer} at times! She is just FULL of personality and has the best attitude. If something doesn't go her way, she says, "that's OK, maybe tomorrow I can do/have/eat that." She really is a blessing to my soul and I learn how to have FUN with her!

I also love and appreciate how Em is her own individual. She really enjoys playing and creating things on her own and she definitely has her own sense of style. I believe she has a very strong self-esteem and I love that about her. I will tell her, "Em, your outfit sure is colorful/creative today" and she will say, "I know, thanks!" Ha, ha!!!!!!!

One thing that is absolutely true about this girl is {just like her Mommy} she LOVES to EAT!! 

It's a good thing I feed her healthy foods and no fast food, or else she would weigh 300 pounds!

She eats non-stop! 

For her birthday, Em requested Daddy's special stuffed french toast for breakfast, smoothies and popcorn for lunch and broccoli with cheese sauce and asian chicken for dinner. 

I made carrot-zucchini muffins with cream cheese frosting as her bday cupcakes-everyone LOVED them and they were much healthier than store-bought cupcakes!

We surprised the girls with a trip to the zoo for Em's birthday. My brother gifted Morgan a trip to the zoo--thank you Uncle Teddy!  

I got up at the crack of dawn and packed up the minivan with everything we needed, included all of our food, water and snacks for the day. The girls had NO idea what was going on. We told them we needed to go to the store and when we ended up at the Zoo, they were overjoyed!!!!!!

We all had an amazing time at the Zoo!

What time of birthday traditions do you all have??

I would love to hear about them!

Blessings,

Aria:)

Summer 2012 Updates!! {Puffy Paint Tutorial}

Hi! I hope this post finds you well! I wanted to post a quick update on us.
{Click on any of the photos to enlarge them}
We have continued to do homeschool work this summer (mainly math and phonics) in preparation for officially starting our school year in a few weeks. I am so glad we never got totally out of the "school flow" so that it won't be such a shock when we delve back in 100%. Elle is about half way done with her first grade math work book and Em is starting to really get a hang of reading. She will turn 4 next week!

Here are some of our recent adventures and fun while learning!

Our family spent some time at the State Fair and had a wonderful time!

We all were shocked that the baby, Ce Ce 26 months, wanted to ride all of the "big girl" rides! None of us were prepared for that. She is the one that never even goes on the little pony ride at the grocery store, LOL. I guess she really is growing up!

Elle made a really cool obstacle course and all of the girls had a great time playing with that!

We have been doing lots of crafts this summer--tons of painting, collecting things on nature walks and observing beauty all around us. We made bird feeders out of rice cakes, peanut butter and bird seed and the girls hung them on the tree in our front yard. 

The birds really loved them-we need to make them again.

We also made Microwave Puffy Paint. 

We always love creating fun art using this technique!

You should try it! 

Microwave Puffy Paint Recipe

• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• food coloring

Add small amount of water to make a smooth paste.  

We like it pretty thick so it really puffs up well:).

Paint on pieces of cereal box cardboard and microwave for 20-30 seconds. 

 We L-O-V-E going to the library!!!!
We always check out 100 books and spend some great learning time down there.

We have strung popcorn for movie nights and such, but seeing this on Pinterest reminded me of making these cereal and pretzel bracelets. The girls had a ball making them and eating them! It kept them occupied in the mini-van for a long time!

We will be rounding out the summer with a kid's Cooking Class for the big girls, as well as Gymnastics Camp for Em (future Gabby Douglas maybe:) and a Church Day Camp for Elle! 

I pray your summer is going well and you are enjoying it!!

Blessings,

Aria:)

Our Easter Lessons {Easter Lapbook}

We had an amazing time celebrating Easter! We call it "Resurrection Sunday" and focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ mainly. We also throw in some Easter fun with bunnies and baskets, but our primary focus is on Jesus and the Holiest Holiday we celebrate!

On Palm Sunday, the girls got Palm Branches at Sunday School. 

They loved bringing them home and re-enacting Jesus riding into town on a donkey.

 Em loves to decorate little trees with Easter decorations.

 Ce Ce loved sorting little plastic bunnies by color.

The girls love playing with their new Bendaroos!

 Elle's favorite book is "The First Easter" by Lois Rock. 

She was making a mini-book for her lapbook and had to cross-reference with her First Easter book to ensure she was putting the book pages in order.

 Working on her Easter Lapbook.

 Elle was so proud of herself for being able to complete the list of words. 

She did great! Often, she will ask me to "help" her by giving her the answer. I gently guide her to discover that if she works hard, digs deep and discovers it herself, she will be happy she did.

I LOVE seeing her feel a great sense of accomplishment!!

Hopefully, this will continue to build and develop resilience in her.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW!

 While discussing the re-birth of Christ through His resurrection, we discussed birth. Of course, that meant Elle wanted to watch more Youtube videos, lol. 

This time, she focused on cesarian sections. This child....LOL. 

 Ce Ce pouring jelly beans.

 Elle was so, so excited to work on our Resurrection Eggs. 

She remembered doing this from last Easter and wanted to read all of the eggs every day!

 Em working on her math skills by graphing jelly beans by color.

 Em LOVES to count!! She understands completely how to read the graph, but prefers to count the jelly beans, lol. I guess she wants to ensure the graph is correct.

 Em matching Easter erasers.

This was way easier for her this year than last!

 Using the bunny tongs to match numbered eggs to their corresponding number in the egg carton.

 Inside of each egg, I put letter tiles with the spelling of each number. 

Em did an excellent job reading all of the numbers!!

 Elle had fun graphing the jelly beans and then using the chart to do addition, subtraction and multiplication.

 I made up a quick batch of sound eggs. I put various fillers into the eggs that would make different sounds when you shake them {2 of each filler}. Then, I closed them up and had the girls shake them and listen to make matches. 

 Em LOVES this activity and repeated it often!

 She opened up the eggs to find her matches are correct!

 Em coloring her Bible Easter Story mini book.

 We made "He is Risen" crafts with paper plates and a printable.

 The front of Elle's Easter Lapbook.

 Coloring Easter Eggs.

 This was my first time making Easter baskets for the girls. 

I really put a lot of Christ-centered things inside--a Bible, "Jesus Christ Superstar DVD, a cross, Bible Story books, Bible memory match cards, etc and then some fun stuff, like craft supplies, socks, juice box, pencils, stickers and organic animal crackers. 

 The big girls were so surprised!!!

The girls absolutely LOVED their baskets!!

I even made an Easter basket for my husband--he was surprised and loved his, too!

Neither of us grew up getting Easter baskets as kids, so we will see if this is a fun, new tradition for our family. *Note, I guess my husband was inspired by the Easter basket I gave him. While I was cooking Easter Dinner, I asked him to go to the store and get more ingredients for me and he brought home an Easter basket for me! How sweet--I didn't take a picture of it, but it was pink and had a few of my favorite things in it!*

 Our Easter eggs, Jelly bean prayer and "He is Risen" crafts. 

The essence of Easter!

We also hid plastic eggs around the house for the girls to find. 

Inside of them, I put stickers, money and some erasers. 

 Easter dinner this year was pretty simple and mostly healthy, lol. 

 I made parmesan crusted broiled tilapia and shrimp, baked sweet potatoes(no butter), greens with smoked turkey, corn on the cob (no butter), vegetable bake and mini cornbread muffins with corn kernels baked inside. 

It was delicious!!

You can check out our Easter fun from last year here and here and here.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Jesus loves you and so do I. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, I would love to talk with you more about it. Please contact me if you would like to talk!

Be a blessing,

Aria:)