School with Letter A

  This week started school for everyone here! My last child here is working on kindergarten grade level.  He was not real receptive last year but, this year has started out much better.  He's asking more questions, and repeating the correct answer when asked.  He's eager to learn and excited for more class.

  This week we learned the letter A.  He has had school on and off for the past couple years but each year it just starts over. So he has studied everything before but, at different levels, with different worksheets and less time.

  Each day we start with the desk.

The desk has 2 letter A titled books in addition to other items pertaining to the specific letter.

We take time outside to play and learn as well.  Writing the letter in dirt and using sticks impressed him.

Each day I subjected him to walks.  This is our PE/quiet/mommy and me/exploration time.  This go around was his second trip so I allowed the scooter. He doesn't like to walk and I want him to find peace in it.  Enjoy nature, get some fresh air and slow down and see things.  I will have you know this was day 1 and he took his father and sister on two separate trips around the block to show them all the A's! (Insert proud mommy smile here)

Some of our books gave us an excuse to get outside.

The Magic Acorn by Maggie Stern was about a special acorn. 

We went on a walk to gather our own acorns.

Our acorn hunt was successful.  This hunt gave us a hands on A experience, and a touch of science!  We checked our math by counting the acorns and touched a little science too in that we planted an acorn! 

Apple trees made out of playdoh!  Then with the help of a roll of dice we picked apples off and put them back on the tree. Hello math again!

After you spend a few days identifying it's time to write! So we practiced writing upper and lowercase a's. 

A workbook helps with more handwriting practice.  The pages are from various websites with requiring different tasks. Tracing, letter search, name writing and circling the correct numbers.

  In the past I tried to incorporate snacks into the day and I continued this year by having fun with food in some way. Applesauce was not received well but these two A's brought a smile!

Yesterday was his favorite as he had to run from number to number and complete a different task. He picked apples and had to transport them! 

My favorite was his ax and arrow tattoos! I though to myself hey its even on his arm! Ha win for me!!

Lastly our play time outside today involved air!

This was my first time with the sock bubble but, I should have made two because once my daughter saw it they couldn't switch off quick enough for the other to have a turn.

Well there's our one week of A's. I have a couple crafts I will be sharing in a separate post pertaining to the letter A.  I hope you enjoyed a peek in our day.  I haven't figured out if we will do weekly or daily letters.  We shall see as we go along but, we will actively learn and have fun everyday!

A is for angry!

Ice Krispies

  I want to share with you the best ice cream treat that will not melt.  It's still summer and there are a few hot days sprinkled throughout the week so take advantage of this tasty treat to cool off.

I'll take a chocolate cone please!

A few ingredients

and some creative construction and I have now learned will earn me points with my kids as well as a pretty cute end result.

  Melt your marshmallows down

and prepare the krispie treats as usual.

  I scooped out the tops with an ice cream cone scooper and added the side on by hand to give it an all around "perfect" scoop.

  I added some chocolate topping to the cone.  Melt chocolate chips and dip the cone (carefully) or drizzle/spoon chocolate evenly on the krispies top.

  Top your cone off however you please we went with sprinkles and a cherry on top!

  This is one of the cutest snacks I have made and I will make it again in the future.  I can't wait to change up the flavors maybe strawberry or mint chocolate chip next time.

  This was one of my Pinterest wins.  You can find that and other wins under that board title on Pinterest.

#pinterest
#pinterestwin

Kiwi Art (pinterest challenge)

  The kiwi otherwise known as the hairy fruit in my house was the star of the show today.  Still on my pinterest kick even if I'm not posting daily.  Searching for ideas is just as fun as creating.

  Today we are playing with food. I am always so fascinated with food art.  I haven't created much I usually prefer to just eat it my food but today I had some fun and played with my food.

First up was a mouse.

 He was really easy to make and although I didn't slice him in half nor add a tail he's kind of cute.  

All you need is a kiwi, a knife and some eyes (I used mini chocolate chips).  Slice out some ears and round them slightly, turn them around and stick them into some sits on the top of its head.  Add eyes be it seeds, chocolate chips or sprinkles.  That's it.

Next up was a snake or two!  This food idea was partly why I choose not to slice my mouse in half. 

 For this you just need to peel the skin off your kiwi and slice it so you have circles.  Cut your circles in half and alternate the half moon shapes.  Make a head (I used the end of the kiwi as it was rounded and one color) add a mouth and eye.  These eyes were seeds from a watermelon but again you can use anything on hand.

There you go folks.  Two kiwi options for your next fabulous food display.  You can find the full instructions on my pinterest challenge board.

I declare this a pinterest win!

Pinterest Day 7

   Scouring Pinterest takes longer than some projects will take you to accomplish it.  There is so many things to look at and even if you go there with a plan; sometimes a wrong turn gets you sidetracked.   You cold organization your trips to strictly food one day maybe menu plan new meals for the upcoming week, challenge yourself to a new chocolate dessert for the weekend or one fun lunch idea as I decided today.

  My kids are on a strict we decide only diet.  I am not new to this menu.  I work around this sometimes.  Breakfast and lunch are the easiest meals here.  It's dinner when the army of 2 strong start mini attacks. First verbal, then offensive comments detest in their meals.  But that's another story.  Today I gave them lunch with a flair.

  4 items are necessary for this meal.  Toothpicks, pickles, hotdog and bun!

  Based on those items do you have any idea what you could make?

  Check this out!

  You can make these cute little vehicles. I have a little boy and if he gets a daily dose of cars everyday I am the best mom ever and he is as happy as can be! So I aim to please!

  These little cars came out great and they were super easy to make.  Let me tell you a secret though.  I didn't have toothpicks so I got a little creative and used grape stalks to keep the tires on.  Hey, don't judge it worked!

My daughter is getting crafty like her mom and thought I should have used food coloring to add numbers on the side. That was a good suggestion and I will do it next time!  

This was the first time I bought bread and butter pickles and oh my goodness! Have you had them?  Yum is one word that can describe them!  

Anyways thanks for reading and I declare the a #pinterestwin! 

Day 5 and 6 Pinterest Challenge (all about watermelons)

  Ok, I'm going to cheat and throw a few ideas at you today (this allows me to stay ahead of the game with other ideas that area already done, yeah).  I bought a watermelon the other day and so I am using it to be creative.  Chopping it up and eating
 a bowl of it is so boring compared to what you can do to it with a few extra minutes and some basic kitchen tools!

  I share with you the basic concept and end results but for more in depth directions you can find it under my pinterest challenge board on pinterest. Find me @meanroel.  Or go directly to it here.

  First easy watermelon idea is ice cubes. Chop some up put them in a bowl or cookie sheet (flat surface works easier) and freeze them.

                 

Then toss them in any of your drinks for an extra burst of sweetness and flavor.

  Next up 2nd easiest thing you can do to transform your watermelon is cutting it up.  Grab a cookie cutter

 and make some shapes.  Due to the present holiday.  The theme was stars!

Throw some extra fruit up there and make it a festive snack bowl. Red, white and blue anyone?

I think the stars make it even better than a wedge.  It just makes the dish prettier.

Last idea with the watermelon for today was using part of the shell.  Lol, because now I realize how valuable it is.  

Now let me be the first to tell you this is a vessel.  It is not garbage.  You can recycle your watermelon shell! Are you excited??

Add some jello! 

I used strawberry jello.  So of course it looks very realistic but you could have some fun and add a different color.  My daughter couldn't wait to try this treat out.  

  It was easy to make and I will make it again.  I used one packet and used the top cap of the watermelon.  I placed it in a bowl to set it in the fridge as it was not stableon it's own.  If I had cut it length wise it may sit better.  Slicing the watermelon was not a problem either.  It held its shape very nicely.

Ladies and gentlemen I would have to say it's a definite #pinterestwin!

Red, white and blue (pinterest challenge day 4)

  Today's challenge was fun and I can't wait to show it off in the future at a party or get together.  This challenge already had me reflecting on my future and how I can take a dish to another level.  I used to think (well still do) that it was hard to bring a dish to pass that was sophisticated and fancy but, now I know it may take a little practice and some time but it's absolutely possible!

  All you need are three items to pull this Pinterest idea off.

 Strawberries.

Blue sprinkles and white chocolate that didn't quite make the photo opportunity.

  Melt the chocolate dip your strawberries in the chocolate and then roll them into the sprinkles. Bam, that's it!

  I present to you red, white and blue.  My daughter wolfed them down as soon as they were done.  She does like strawberries and sugar so go figure.

  Well if this doesn't motivate you on how easy some neat food art can be I don't know what could.  This one was even easier than that hotdogopus (lol).  Making him was easy standing him up on the seaweed was the hard part.

Pinterest Challenge Day 1

 

  Each day I will try a new a new pinterest project.  Since today is day 3 I should catch you up and the last two days.  I thought of this idea because it's a new month and it's so easy to start something new on day 1 of the month.

  Why pinterest?  Not just because I want to be part of the popular pinterest win or fail but, because it is one platform that offers so many ideas in one spot.  I am able to go here for new recipes, craft ideas, schooling ideas, home decor or improvements, games and more.  Lucky for us that the ideas vary from simple to very extreme on there.  Some people have tried to replicate creations seen only to fail.  However these people have embraced the failure by still sharing this with the public usually with the #pinterestfail.  I will share the good, bad and ugly and hope everything leans more towards the positive side.

  My first project involved lunch for the kids.  After see Finding Dory the other day why not bring a "sea" theme to the table.  This first item I choose was a hotdog and noodles.  Two items I had at home and two items my kids ate.  That in itself makes it a win win.

Behold the octopus and bed of seaweed.

8 legs (trust they are all there) and a face!

This project was very easy to make.  Although I didn't cook the hotdog (I guess if you boil it for a few minutes the legs curl up) it still came out resembling an octopus and was easily identified by my kids.  The only complaint I received was the mustard I used for his face.  Oh well next time he may be faceless, what a shame.

The seaweed was made up of Ramen noodles with green food coloring!  You can get much easier than that.  When I made it I envisioned multiple ideas not just with noodles but with food coloring as well!

  For this challenge I will pick various areas because afterall what fun would it be if I just stuck in one!

  I hope you enjoy my pinterest journey and are inspired to step out of your comfort zone and maybe try something new.  It doesn't matter the results because sometimes we just have to try again!