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Showing posts from October, 2023

Throwback Tuesday: Homeschooling During Halloween

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Originally published in October of 2012 when my boys were just 5, 6, & 8, I always tried to center our learning around any fun holidays and we spent one whole week learning about fall and Halloween.    With a fall hike planned for the day, we started our schooling bright and early with a science experiment. Today we made Alien Monster Eggs.  I found this idea at the kitchen pantry scientist again and just loved it. The boys quickly (and carefully!) drew eyes onto raw eggs. We put them in a jar and filled it with vinegar.  We made observations and predictions about what would happen and then we put the jar in the refrigerator. They noticed right away that the eggs were covered in bubbles so they predicted that the permanent markers would rub off, or that the eggs may get bumpy.  They predicted that maybe the white shell would get darker. They have to sit overnight and we'll see what happens tomorrow.... if all goes well the shel...

Recipes We've Been Trying Lately

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It has been over a year since I've shared some of the recipes we've been trying.  This is a series I started a few years ago and it helps me when I want to re-make a recipe we found online that we really enjoyed. It saves me from having to search through all my Pinterest pins again. I swear we don't only eat desserts in our house; but it turns out that many of the new recipes I search for tend to be for sweets.  Here are a few we've been trying these past couple of months.  1.  This blueberry banana bread -- though at the last minute I did add in just 1 cup of white chocolate chips!  I can't seem to find a photo of it but I know my husband and Ian gobbled it right up! 2. My family LOVED these s'mores bars we made for our cookout in August.  I didn't have mini marshmallows like the recipe called for so I just used my kitchen scissors to cut the large marshmallows I had on hand into 4 pieces and used those.  3. We whipped up a batch of these cookie bars...

Share 4 Somethings for October 2023

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Tomorrow is the last Saturday of the month & time for the  Share 4 Somethings link up with Jennifer.   I really enjoy this cute little wrap up of the month even if it might overlap a bit with my What's Up Wednesday posts.  I hope you all don't mind too much!    As always we're looking at what we  Loved, Learned, Read, and Ate  this month.  Loved: We have been on so many wonderful hikes this month!  The weather has been perfect most days. I also loved the time we spent in North Carolina with my sisters and aunt (I recapped the whole trip on  Monday  and  Tuesday ) Learned: I've learned to cook dinner for the whole family without the use of my oven; it's been surprisingly easy but I do miss baking.  I am so hopeful that our oven will be fixed soon and still trying to drag my feet about buying a new one like my husband is now insisting that we do (for those that don't know it's been a month since our oven broke and w...

October 2023's Monthly Musings: Thanksgiving Prep

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It's the last Thursday of the month and time for Monthly Musings with Patty and Holly. This month we're talking all about Thanksgiving.    1. I'm not 100% sure of our Thanksgiving plans, I mean I know I'll be cooking for our little family and I'm assuming my mother, step-father, and mother-in-law will join us but we haven't asked anyone yet.  I'm still not even sure what we're making!  2. I have so many favorite Thanksgiving dishes and I have shared just about all of them on my blog through the years--  mashed potatoes (here) ,  chocolate chip pecan pie (here) ,  my mom's apple pie recipe (here) ,  my favorite bread stuffing (here) ... but my husband and mine's all time favorite is actually a dish we make with the leftovers for the day AFTER thanksgiving ingeniously called  "leftover pie" (here) .  3. My best food prep tip is to plan ahead and prep as much food as you can before the actual day.  4. Most of our traditions have fallen...