Homemade Money Bank

Jem is a little bag lady and always carries her money around with her. One day I counted $18 of coins  in her heavy sack. She has also broken two banks to get her money out. To help solve this problem we used an empty oatmeal container and cut a slit in the lid.

 We wrapped construction paper around the canister and secured it with glue and tape.  Jem went to town painting and decorating her bank.  We added a lot of tape to secure the lid, we'll see how long that keeps her out, but I am glad it won't break.  She also uses her bank as part of her band now.

What we used: oatmeal container, tape, construction paper, and glue. Decorate and enjoy the jingle!

Best Ever (3 Ingredient) Pumpkin Cake

This is not a typo....3 ingredients....will make you a super moist and delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake. This recipe will be at the top your list, trust me on this one! Here is my Halloween gift to all my lovely followers, I really appreciate you!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake:
1 Box Spice Cake Mix
1 15 oz can Pumpkin
3/4 cup Water
Add Chocolate Chips is desired...who doesn't?
Bake 350 degrees in a 9x13 cake pan for about 25 minutes.  I also like making muffins with this recipe, it's sticky moist!
I would love to hear what you think of the cake. I was so desperate to make this recipe last week, but I ran out of spice cake mix. In a pinch I used a yellow cake mix and added pumpkin pie spice! Enjoy.

Vocab Builders

Here are four Halloween books that we enjoyed this weekend.

Corduroy's Trick or Treat, Haunted House, Boo Who?, and Happy Halloween- Picture Me.

We worked on making words with letters t, a, p, s, n.  I drew three rectangles for Olive to place the letters.

 To help build on the story words that we are learning with Wordly Wise K, Olive matched the vocab words with the pictures.  I also had her point to the word I said and then pick the correct photo.

We are currently reading Little House in the Big Woods, by Wilder. When we come to a word that she questions, we write it down on an index card, and add it to our "word box." We review these words weekly by learning definitions and using them in a sentence.

My little ballerinas

My little ballerinas love watching the older girls practice between their ballet classes. I quickly snapped a photo with my iPhone... The girls will be in the 25th anniversary production of the Nutcracker next month.

Hand Bats

These little hand bats make cute keepsakes. Trace your child's hands onto black construction paper and cut them out. Then allow your child to design a bat head in any shape they wish, add googly eyes, and triangular bat ears. We started doing this when Olive turned 2. It's so fun to pull the hand bats out from previous years and look at how they have grown.

This idea came from our local kid's museum. Musings Of Me also makes cute little bats like this, but with paint

Buzzing Bee Color Match

 This cute color match-up game is easy to create. I quickly grabbed a paper plate and added colors that match the bee's flowers. Jem clipped the cute clothespins onto the matching color. I explained that the bee needs to visit the right flower color. When she clipped her bee to the correct color we made the buzzing bee sound...she loved it.

I found these clothespins, bees, and flowers a few months ago at Michael's.

Mapping the solar system

We really enjoy our Classical Conversation Co-op. This week Olive's class mapped the solar system.

 The asteroid belt shown above with rocks.

 The correct number of moons were added to each planet.

The class used a tape measure to help demonstrate the distance between the each planet and they used different balls to show a planet's size.
Here is a good way to help remember the planets:
Mercury    My
Venus        Very
Earth        Educated
Mars         Mother
Jupiter      Just
Saturn      Served
Uranus     Us
Neptune   Noodle
(Pluto is now a dwarf star, but Olive doesn't think that's fair.)

The ideas for this science project come from Van Cleave Science

Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups- Simply Healthy

It's easier than you think.....

 If you have ever made applesauce before you are half of the way there.
Homemade Fruit Roll-Ups:
Step 1: Core, skin apples, and dice apples.
Step 2: Place in a pot with 1/4 cup water, add sugar if you wish and spices.
Step 3: Simmer for about 20 minutes and smash apples to make applesauce.
Step 4: Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and spread the applesauce onto the tray.
Step 5: Bake in oven at lowest temperature, I used 160 degrees, for about 5 hours, until dry.
Step 6: Cut into strips, roll-up, and store in refrigerator until you get hungry for a snack.

Now you have a Simply Healthy snack with out all the additives, enjoy!

Recycled Bats

Take a toilet paper roll and wrap black construction paper around it, glue on the bat wings, googly eyes, and add a nose and mouth. We strung our bats from the stair railing and they look super cute. Plus, it's always nice when you can recycle those cardboard rolls, enjoy!

Grocery Store Bingo

If you want to save a lot of money in the grocery store print out this Bingo game. Your kiddos will stay busy while you look for the good coupon deals...I saved $63 thanks to the game and a little coupon savvy. You can print Grocery Store Bingo over at Let's Explore.

We played this a few times during our shopping trip, for example.
1. Cross off all the items you see.
2. Find "the color" and then cross it off.
3. First to cross off four in a row.
4. Count the number of grocery carts you see.
5. Cross off something that begins with the "the letter".
I laminated each Bingo card and gave the girls washable markers to use. This worked fine until one rolled away and became lost in the cereal section. Note to self: next time, connect the marker to the game with a piece of string.

My girls are pretty helpful during our shopping trips, but this Bingo game will always remain in my purse!

Word Puzzles

Olive really enjoys these word puzzles. They were easy to make by cutting up picture cards with words. This activity helps her identify the spelling of the word with the picture. You can click here, here, and here to find three letter words and their pictures. You can play a memory match-up, or cut them to make a word puzzle.
 

Jem enjoyed using chop sticks to move the pom-poms.

Bring On The Tooth Fairy

 Olive is a happy girl today...she lost her first tooth.

 It came out sooner than expected so I didn't have a tooth pillow made, instead she decorated an envelope.  It reads, "tooth fairy, this is your tooth."

I should mention that her tooth came out while she was eating an apple. She was so upset, she cried, and cried.  Her sister was more excited than she was at first. Olive has one more loose tooth on the bottom too. After the initial shock, she started talking about what the tooth fairy would bring her....hmmm.

She wants her tooth to be given to a little baby and $1. The tooth fairy will give her $2 and a sprinkle of fairy dust on her pillow.

Homemade Sugar Scrub- Simply Healthy

                                           Simply Healthy

                   This is the sugar scrub that I made last night and it smells heavenly.

I love this stuff....this homemade sugar scrub makes my skin feels so smooth.  Jen, over at  Paint Cut Paste, shared this wonderful recipe with me and allowed me to share it with you! Her site is full of crafty kid goodness so be sure to check it out.

 Homemade Sugar Scrub:
Gather:

1/2 cup raw sugar (the brown kind)
joboba or sweet almond oil- I used olive because I so badly wanted to make this with out running to the store.
essential oil- I used lavender

How to make:
Just cover the sugar with the carrier oil in a jar, but don't fill it beyond that, then add about 20 drops of essential oil. Close the jar, shake, and enjoy!

Pumpkins + Parts and Easy Costume Ideas

We had such a fun time decorating our miniature pumpkins with Mrs. Potato Head parts.  I started the holes on Jem's pumpkin so she could easily push her favorite parts in.  It was a lovely day to just sit on a picnic blanket and bring life back into an old toy!

Here are some fun costumes that the girls "decided to wear" over the years.

 Little Indians: I purchased the head piece and made the dress with brown felted cotton and sewed on the fringe. It was super easy to make and slipped over their heads. This was my favorite 20 minute costume to sew.

 Tinker Bells: They wore their pink leotards from dance class and green capri leggings. I purchased the wings at the $1 store and the green fairy skirt.

 Japanese Girls:  Olive loves Mulan and wore her Disney costume and Jem wore these cute Japanese pajamas. I pulled their hair back into a bun and stuck chop-sticks through it.

Angelina Ballerina: Last year Jem had a change of heart the day of Halloween and wanted to be Angelina Ballerina. She wore a pink ballet leotard with a tutu, white leg warmers, ballet slippers, and I taped paper mouse ears onto a headband.

October Sensory Tub

What fun we had with October's sensory tub! We added leaves, acorns, pom-poms, nut pumpkins, pinecones, and Jem added rocks. She started by threading the leaves onto pipe cleaners that I made into a little tree, but we picked up twigs later in the day to make a "real" tree. Happy Fall!

CSN Winner

Drum Roll Please...  The winner was chosen by "names pulled out of a hat".  I really appreciate you all taking part in CSN's giveaway. There will be more giveaways in the near future! Enjoy this lovely weekend.

Lindsay from Bytes of Memory said...
oo that apple peeler looks like so much fun!!

Now maybe you can order an apple peeler from the CSN Store, congratulations!

Apple Pie Perfection

Is your mouth watering......I love to bake, but I have never been a great pie baker, until now! I was digging around in my recipes box, or should I say pile of unorganized paper, when I found this wonderful recipe.  My favorite farmer at the farmer's market blessed us with this crate of apples. He just gave them to us because he loves hearing all the yummy things we make with his harvest, how amazing is that!

Ingredients for Grandma's Perfect Apple Pie

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8  apples - peeled, cored and sliced Directions

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. 

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. 

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft. 
Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!