Creative Writing

The Rainbow

by: Pie Pie

Age:7

I followed a Leprechaun to the end of a rainbow and he showed

me his pot of gold. He granted me three wishes. My first wish was

to go to Hawaii. My second wish was to have a dog. My third wish

was to meet a panda.

The end.

Flavorful Friday

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini

2 plum tomatoes halved, seeded and diced small (I used canned diced tomatoes)

1/4 tsp of oregano

salt and pepper

cooked mushrooms

5 oz. fresh mozzarella

olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.

3. Halve the 2 medium zucchini length-wise and scrape out seeds.

4. Place cut side up on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.

5. In a small bowl combine 2 plum tomatoes (or can of tomatoes) , 1/4 tsp of oregano and mushrooms. You can use however much you want. I like a lot.

6. Top zucchini with tomato mixture and bake until zucchini is tender. About 20 minutes.

7. Heat Broiler with rack in the top position.

8. Top zucchini with fresh mozzarella torn into 1 inch pieces.

9. Broil until cheese is brown and bubbling about 1 to 2 minutes.

10. Serve immediately!

This was so yummy I had to share it.  It is kind of like a healthy pizza! 

The Games Kids Play

I recently had the honor to find some games for the kids at a family picnic! It wasn't easy, but I think I found some that the kids enjoyed.

1. Animal Motions Game
This was a game where the kids split into two teams. Each child is given a slip of paper with an animal name written on it. You have to pretend to be that animal in the race. The first team that gets all their players back first wins. Pants was a horse so she had to gallop!

2. Egg in Spoon Race
We played this classic game with plastic eggs instead of real ones. You just have to balance your egg in the spoon during the race.

3. Lunchbag Launch (From Family Fun Magazine)
 I stuffed six paper lunchbags with newspaper and taped them shut (to make them into balls). Then you use a spatula to launch the bags into laundry baskets. We let the younger kids just toss the lunch bags into the baskets.  

4. Dress Fast for Success (From Family Fun Magazine)
We didn't get a chance to play this one, but I wanted to share it anyway. (It was too hot to ask the kids to put on anymore clothes.) In this game you need some over sized clothes and oven mitts. The goal is to see who can get dressed the fastest while wearing the oven mitts.

5. Bean Counting (From Family Fun Magazine)
In this game you need some tweezers, 2 bowls and beans. The goal is to see who can put the most beans in their bowl the quickest. This was also just fun to do on your own.

6. Peanut Scramble
This was one of my favorite games from my childhood. We always played this at the family picnic when I was little. You just take a bag of peanuts and put a mark on however many you want. The ones with the marks get a prize. Then you just scatter them around and let the kids scramble to get them! The kids at my picnic extended this game by playing Pound the Peanut!  They pounded them on the table and whoever crushed the most peanuts won! I know this sounds rather crazy, but they were having a good time. I'm the kind of mom that feels as long as you aren't hurting anyone or anything it's cool with me!

7.Lollipop Pick
This is an oldie but goodie. You get a bunch of lollipops and put a mark on the bottom of some of them. The kids take turns picking a pop and whoever has the marks wins a prize. The kids threw their own spin on this game too.  They basically just kept pulling them out until they found the lollipops with the red mark. Oh well, they had a great time and that was my goal for the day! I like to go with the flow when it comes to kids, what else can you do. It's all about them........................... Sometimes!!

What's your favorite game to play??!!

Crystal Cave Trip Down Memory Lane

We did a study on Geology this year. This included a study on Caves. When we finished the schoolwork, I promised Pie Pie we would go on a field trip to Crystal Cave. I finally fulfilled this promise last week.

I am kind of a thrifty mom (I try) and I wanted to be able to get a group discount. Because of this I decided to post our upcoming trip on Facebook. I posted it as an event to see if I could get friends interested so I could get that special discount. I was lucky enough to have enough friends to go with me!

It just so happened that two of these friends were people I haven't seen in a very long time. The one was someone I haven't seen since Pie Pie was born. She is seven now! The other one was a very good  friend from High School. It was great to see these two friends again. See Facebook can be a good thing! I also had many of my newer friends come. It was definitely an eclectic group.

My favorite part of the trip (besides my friends) was the temperature in the cave. It was a perfect 54 degrees. Many people were wearing sweatshirts. I was perfectly content in my tank top and shorts. I was ready to sit down, open a book and enjoy my day.

Pie Pie was fond of all the animals that were pointed out to us in the rock formations. Her favorite was the shy alligator. We were entertained by the tour and appreciated  the fun time we had with our friends.

P.S. We didn't find any gold, but some golden memories were made!

Slithering Fun

Herpetology-the study of reptiles and amphibians

We had the chance to go to a Reptile Show. It was hosted by our local library so this was another one of my freebee fun events this Summer. I am, as you might know, a homeschooling mom so I thought EDUCATIONAL! My kids thought FUN! Pie Pie and Pants were very excited to go because the flyer said that everyone would get to touch a snake at the end.

It was a very fascinating and informative show. We learned about and got to see many different types of reptiles. These are the different types of reptiles:

SNAKES

LIZARDS

TURTLES

and CROCODILIANS.

You could tell the speaker loves what he does. His name is Jesse Rothacker and he's from Forgotten Friend Sanctuary. If you would like to know more check out his website: http://www.forgottenfriend.org/.

I thought all of the reptiles were amazing. Pie Pie's favorite was the Iguana, who's name was Boo. The Iguana got to have a snack right in front of us.

We eagerly awaited the end of the show so we could touch a snake. We all had a chance to touch Ruby who is a red corn snake.

No, they are not slimy. They are actually very smooth. This was a great show! A little long for Pants, but perfect for Pie Pie!

I thought it was kind of funny that he liked to wear the snakes on his head! I'm not sure if he was going for the Medusa look or if his head was cold. Snakes they CAN be a fun time!

What To Do To Prepare For A Zombie Attack!

Some of my favorite movies are the Resident Evil Series. Now, I know those aren't exactly zombie movies, but they are about the undead. They are two very similar creatures. I don't know exactly why I like these movies so much, I just know I do. They are very exciting and suspenseful. I also like the idea of surviving against all odds. These movies are very violent and gory so they are definitely not movies for kids. 

The topic of survival against zombies and/or the undead has been floating around my family for a little while. I decided to compile some of the ideas we came up with and put them in a list for us!

1.  Practice on Playstation 3.

2.  Get a Zombie Gun. (Pie Pie's suggestion. Before anyone asks, no my children do not believe in Zombies) 



3. Don't buy Christmas presents, buy Ammo.

4. Stock up on Water, Batteries, and Flashlights.

5. Stay indoors, preferably in a Gun Shop next to a MiniMart/Gas Station. This was my husband's suggestion. If you find one we are probably already in it!

6. Head Shots Only. Everything else is a waste of Ammo.

7. Learn Martial Arts, in the movies people with that skill live the longest.

8. Get a machete for when you will run out of Ammo. It could happen, be prepared!

9. Eat Raw Meat so you are used to it when you turn. Sorry folks this is probably a last resort. This was my dad's suggestion.

10. Buy lots of Zombie Repellent. I make it in my basement for only a dollar a can. Unfortunately it has never been tested.

I just want to add a small disclaimer.  If you follow all of my tips here and you still get turned into a Zombie that does not give you the right to come after me! I will however understand if you do because you are a Zombie! Besides then we can be friends again. Zombie Friends!

I couldn't find any real Zombies so I had to make my own. It's only Pie Pie. Sorry if I scared anybody! I hope you got a laugh out of this, if you don't at least I tried.



Farm Living at it's Finest

Animals + Fresh Air + Hayride + Movie = Farm Tour and Movie Night!

We were invited to Deep Roots Valley Farm for all of those things and more.

We started off by meeting their horse Tom. Pie Pie was very excited because she is anxiously awaiting horseback riding lessons. Everyone who wanted to, got a chance to feed him a carrot.

We moved onto the Happy Hens.  These hens have wheels. They are moved frequently for fresh bugs and pasture. They also love watermelon! The kids got a chance to feed them some. I don't know who was more excited the chickens or the kids.

The fish were next on the list of animals to feed. There were a lot of animals with full tummies that evening.

We got to visit their garden with beautiful flowers and many different fruits and vegetables.

A tractor pulled up with a load of  hay. Time for the Hayride! We got a chance to tour their fields of corn and other crops.

After the hayride everyone had a chance to visit the cows. Some of them were very friendly and let you pet them. Pants was a big fan.

A fire was started so everyone could enjoy S'MORES. My girls love roasting marshmallows.You just have to smush them in between two graham crackers with a chunk of melting chocolate. Then the marshmallow oozes out. (Am I making you hungry?! I know I am!)

As the sun set our evening wasn't quite over. When it was finally dark enough, the movie was started. They projected it on a big wall so everyone could enjoy it. Popcorn was popped just in case anyone was still hungry.

This was a great way to spend a Summer evening. I'm highly considering trying to move in, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for the lifestyle. Let's see early mornings, heat, bugs................... Oh Well, I did enjoy the visit. We are looking forward to going back again soon. Thank you so much to Will, Kelly and their family for their hospitality. 

While we were there I got a chance to talk with Kelly's mom and she told me this farm has been in their family for generations. If you would like to help support their farm please visit their Facebook Page: Deep Roots Valley Farm. There is more information waiting for you there.



Flavorful Friday

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of oil (I used grape seed oil)
1/2 cup agave nectar
(if using white sugar use 1/3 instead of 1/4 cup of oil)
1Tbsp of molasses
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put muffin liners in muffin tins or grease muffin cups.
3. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
4. Beat together the eggs, milk, oil, molasses, vanilla, agave nectar (sugar) and pumpkin in a large bowl.
5. Stir in all of the dry ingredients just until moistened.
6. Fold in the chocolate chip or nuts (optional)
7. Spoon into prepared muffin pans.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
9. Remove the muffins from the cups and cool on a wire rack.
10. Eat them all! Okay, try to share some with others. That's up to you. I would eat them all!

Pant's Upgrade

At our house you don't graduate to a big bed from a crib until you use the potty. Pants decided that she was ready for the challenge. When she started to get the hang of it we all decided she was ready for a new bed.

We were all so excited. Her Daddy took the time to put it together. We put the sheets on and all of her stuffed animals. Then she was ready to try it out. She snuggled right in and pretended to sleep. Throughout the day she kept checking to make sure it was still there!

I really love the fact that I can lay with her at night and cuddle. We say our prayers and give hugs and kisses. Sometimes I watch her at night after she is asleep. She looks so small in her BIG, new bed.

Pie Pie Makes A Pie

Whenever our family has a a get-together I always ask to make the dessert. It's my favorite part of the meal and it's what I'm good at making. I got into the habit of asking Pie Pie and Pants what we should make. Pie Pie's favorite dessert, so far, is a chocolate pudding pie. I know you're all jealous because that is probably the easiest dessert in the world to make. I don't think she realized how easy it is to make and I wasn't about to tell her. If you could make your kid happy that easily would you tell them?!

 This past holiday I decided she was going to make the dessert. At first she was nervous because she thought it was going to be too difficult, she realized quickly that she was wrong! Then she thought it was too easy.  I explained as long as something is tasty it can never be too easy to make.

I did give her the option to make something else, but that is what she wanted to eat. So that is what we made. We did switch it up a little this time and used Cookies and Cream pudding instead of chocolate. She made it by herself. I did pitch in with the pouring. It turned out delicious. She actually liked it better than the chocolate pudding pie!

So what will we be making next time? Only Pie Pie knows!