Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

Summer wouldn't be complete without some Homemade Strawberry Shortcake!

Shortcake Ingredients

1 1/4 cup Flour

3/4 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Butter

2/3 cups Milk

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

Strawberry Ingredients
1 quart Strawberries

1/2 cup Sugar

Whipped Cream Ingredients

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 cup Sugar

Directions

• Mix the strawberries and sugar together. Put in a bowl and cover. Set in fridge for awhile. I get the potato masher and smash them a couple of times.
• Mix all the ingredients for the shortcake together in a mixer.
• Grease and flour a small square pan. Pour in the mixture. You might want to double the recipe if feeding a crowd.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Check on it.
• Let the cake cool and cut into squares.
• Before serving, whip the cream and sugar with a beater. It takes awhile to get the whipped cream texture. I usually leave mine in my Kitchen Aide and walk away. If I could guess I would say about 5 minutes.
• Stack the shortcake, strawberries and whipped cream on top of each other.
• Enjoy!

{The Great Seal}

I printed out The Great Seal of the USA from enchantedlearning.com.

It was the perfect opportunity to talk about what everything on our Great Seal represents.

The Congress didn't just throw a picture together 200 years ago and hope it stuck. It all has special meanings.

They were especially surprised by the 13 stars and arrows. They didn't know that the US only had 13 colonies and then spread out West.

They colored the Great Seal and we hung it on the wall.

I don't have any 4th of July decorations that I have actually bought. We just make everything handmade. It's cuter and more fun!

This was a really Great history lesson for all the kids!
 My 4 year old didn't know that the Eagle was our national bird.

{{America Collage}}

Making an American Collage is a fun way to teach the kids about our country.

Get out stickers, stamps, star punches, magazines and pictures.

Let the kids get to work and create a masterpiece.

We got most of these pictures from National Geographics Magazine. If you don't subscribe, ask someone you know for their old magazines to cut. They are our favorite magazine to use for history projects and they are easy to find. The library in town sells them for a quarter each.

You can also find pictures off the internet and print them out.
 I printed out the Statue of Liberty for the kids to study!

Lists, Lists and More Lists!

Why is that Mom's just can't pick up and leave when going out of town?

There's planning and preparation and lists!

It takes alot of hard work for us Mama's to take a vacation!

Bridesmail {Survival Kits}

This weekend one of my closest friends is getting married to a wonderful man.

Noe and I are traveling to Santa Cruz to the wedding. A romantic time without the kids. Wow...! I can't remember the last time we've been away without them. Sad huh?!

I wanted to put together special little somethings for the Bridesmaids and the Bride-to-be herself.

I thought Bridesmaid Survival Kits would be a cute idea.

I used cookie bags to put all the items into.

Inside the bags there are: aspirin, chapstick, breathmints, band-aids, and tissues.

We are going to a spa that morning so I didn't put a nail filer or nail polish in them, that would be cute though!

For the Bride Cheryl, she has all the same things as the Bridesmaids.

I also added Mary Kay make-up remover and eye soothing gel, a needle and thread, spot remover, bobby pins and a travel sized hairspray.

I can't wait to give these out at the rehearsal tomorrow.
I am so excited that Cheryl is getting married...!

Gift Drawer.

Is it just me or is there a Birthday Party to go to at least once a month?

Back in the days...ok...so not too back....I had to get a gift every weekend for a birthday party or baby shower.

I have found one of my favorite things in my house is my Gift Drawer *it used to all be in a basket but shifted into a drawer. I keep a drawer stocked with gifts for those spur of the moment parties or occasions.

Let's see what's in there now....

I made some bow holders for little girls, I tie-dyed some onesies and embellished them for babies, sewn a couple of dresses, have a few wands and fairy wings, some Pokemon cards, and a couple of crayon rolls that I made.

From time to time, when I see some games on sale or cute toys I will pick them up and throw them in there....or my favorite gift is art supplies.

It saves so much time and I'm not caught without a gift.

I picked up these fairy wings for $1 and the wand for another buck.

The other day, the neighbor knocked on the door and invited the kids to her party. While they were bouncing away in the jumper, I got these out of the drawer.

One of my favorite things to do, probably every crafters favorite thing to do is....EMBELLISH!

I added some paint, ribbon, tulle and pearls.

It sure doesn't look like a $2 present anymore..!

Their friend was giddy in delight.

Sigh, my gift drawer....gotta love it!

Grand-Father's Day Present

Father's Day is this weekend and I am almost finished with gifts - paint is drying as I write!

For Father's Day my husband wanted to give his Dad a fishing pole.
Remember how we did a girls day for Mother's Day?... well, he wanted to take his Dad and my son fishing. Sweet! I mean manly!

 We bought Grandpa {Abuelo} a fishing pole and we made him this adorable card "Fishing you a Happy Father's Day."
 We also made him some fish shaped sugar cookies.

I can't wait until they go fishing. I love making family memories!

Baseball Season.

My two oldest kiddos played baseball this season.

My daughter is the one wearing the blue shirt and my son is wearing the grey/blue shirt.

It was a nice, cool season this year. Weird weather for summer?!

Essentials in baseball. We can't leave the house without them!

Noah concentrating..!Maelyn looking hot and tired..!

This was before her very first game. She's super excited..!

My niece came to watch- what a cutie pie..!
Best friends had to play each other one day.

Carmendee with who knows what on her face? I was sick, so I didn't go to that game.

Go Noah..!
Baseball and Bat cookies for our snack days.
She wanted to carry her cookies in a basket.

Precious Patience playing with her gum.
My BOY...! He looks way bigger than all the other kids.
Maelyn up to bat.

Overload of Proud Mama Pictures..!
 Thanks for sticking with me friends..!

Q-tip Starfish...!

Who doesn't love starfish?

Starfish are probably my children's favorite thing to touch at an aquarium.

Keeping with our ocean theme, I thought it would be cool to make some.

Using a cereal box, I cut out a starfish for each of the kids. They chose what color to paint their starfish. I had Finding Nemo playing in the background so they can see the starfish in the fish tank in case they didn't remember what one looked like.

When the first layer of paint dried, they got to dip Q-tips in paint and dap them onto their starfish.

I love these suckers!

As American As Apple Pie

Today, I was rummaging through the cupboard making a grocery list for tomorrow and I saw this can of apple pie filling. Then I noticed these pie crusts in the freezer.

Apple pie sounded really good!

I have a few wide mouth jars left over from making jam so I decided to bake the pie in the jar. You've heard of cupcakes in a jar right? Same concept.

I got all my ingredients and tools out (except I forgot to take a picture of the circle cookie cutter).

My jar was already put through the dishwasher.

With my circle cookie cutter, I cut a top out of the crust.

I used a star fondant cutter and cut out a star to decorate the top.

Meanwhile, the oven was preheating on 350 degrees.

With the rest of the dough, I kneaded it and then rolled it out flat.

My hands are kind of big, so I used a spoon to push some of the dough into the jar that I couldn't get all the way down.

Then, I put the dough on the bottom and up the sides of the jar.

Next, I put the pie filling in the center.

The last step was just adding the top on.

Beat egg yolk with a bit of water together for an egg wash. Brush on top of the pie crust.

I set the timer for 25 minutes, checked it and left it for a few minutes more. The jar is see through, so it's easy to tell if it's done or not.

Hot apple pie!

I love doing gifts in a jar. Tie a ribbon around it and send it next door!

I'm Lovin' These Kid Things Right Now....

Scrabble Cheez-It's are one of those great inventions that will go down in history- kind of like the light bulb! Maybe not quite, but they are up there on my list.

I grabbed all the rest of the boxes on the shelf at the store.

They are big enough to actually play Scrabble with them. There is a board on the back of the box. The kids mostly just spell words with them all day!

These window markers have been the hit of the summer. I just leave them on the windowsill with a step stool. Who cares if the window looks filthy from the outside? The kids are having a blast with these things.

Word World is my type of show to the T. There is nothing that I don't love about it! Learning, reading, songs and cute characters, it's like they took the show right out of my dreams!

What are some things you Mom's are lovin' right now?

Unplug Your Kids {Homemade}

This week's theme for the Unplug Your Kids project was Homemade.

I wanted to do something that I haven't done before.

Believe it or not, I can't remember ever making pancakes from scratch!

I've had this recipe for Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes saved onto my computer taunting me since it was posted.

I decided enough was enough and the kids and I made some homemade pancakes.

They were delicious! I substituted the raisins for mini chocolate chips because that was in my cupboard. Oh my goodness gracious- yummo!

I'm not the breakfast chef in the house. I know this sounds crazy, but I can't make a circle pancake to save my life. My eggs are laughable. I can make the most complicated of recipes, but when it comes to breakfast, forget about it. Breakfast is my husbands department, and he's a wizard at it- so it works out!

The kids had a fun time making homemade pancakes. The entire batch was gone within a matter of moments. I'll have to double it next time because I got 1!

Monthly Craft Challenge {Monograms}

Every month, Heidi from Blue Eyed Blessings gives her readers a Craft Challenge. I've never officially entered or posted my crafts. However, every single month that has passed- I read the challenge and noticed that I've done a craft that month using the materials that she challenged!

Today, I decided to enter her craft challenge.

This month's challenge was Monograms!

I made Carmendee this letter Cc this month to hang above her bed.

Materials

Wooden Letter (I like the white ones from Michaels)

Mod Podge

Ribbon

Ric Rak

Staple Gun

Scrapbook Paper

Pencil

Scissors

Directions

~Trace the letter onto scrapbook paper.

~Cut out the letter from the paper.

~Apply a generous amount of Mod Podge to the front side of the letter.

~Apply the paper on top.

~Add another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper and wooden letter.

~When it dries, tie ribbon in various places around the letter.

~Cut ric rak to the desired length.

~With the staple gun, staple the ric rak to the back of the letter so it will hang (you can also use a hot glue gun).

Magnets...!

I'm sure most of your refrigerators are full of art work and lists like mine.

We often run out of magnets at this house, especially cute magnets.

 I don't really like gaudy magnets on my fridge, because let's face it, I spend most of my time in the kitchen.

These clothespin magnets have been working perfectly for me. They are so cute and clip papers up onto my fridge...!

~First, I got plain wooden clothespins.

~Then, I put a clothespin on top of scrapbook paper and traced *I just cover the front.

~Next, I cut out the scrapbook paper.

~With Mod Podge, one of my essentials, I applied a generous coat onto the front side of the clothespin where I am applying the paper.

~Then, I put the scrapbook paper on it and smoothed it out.

~Next, I added another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper.

~When it dried, I took my embellishment *I mostly use scrapbook supplies such as flowers, stickers, etc and hot glued it onto the top/front part of the clothespin.

~Lastly, I added a magnet onto the back part of the clothespin *I usually use the magnets that are already sticky, they haven't failed me yet- but if they do fall off in the future, I'll just hot glue it back on.

These are perfect little housewarming gifts..!

Scripture

Live in harmony with each other.

Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people.

And don’t think you know it all!

Romans 12:16 NLT

{Breakfast} When Camping

Lastly, for our camping unit I showed the kiddos how to make breakfast when out in the woods.

Each child got their own sandwich baggie {the freezer ones work alot better.} They cracked an egg into the baggie. Some made it in the bag, others took a couple of eggs later! Maybe that's why outside is a better idea?

They then added salt, pepper and cheese into their bag. You can add whatever ingredients you want with your egg. I really like spinach mixed in with mine. Green peppers, onions, or if you brought pre-cooked bacon to your camping trip will be delicious as well.

I closed the bags for them and they massaged the eggs so they were scrambled.

We then put them into this pot of boiling water on our stove. It works the same with a pot on a campfire or grill. The eggs cooked within a couple of minutes. Keep your peepers on them.

Open up the bag or eat it in the bag.

A fast, easy breakfast while camping.

Warm some tortillas up and breakfast is served!

Nature Walk...!

Every camping trip has to have some type of nature walk or hike involved.

I gave the kids a brown paper sack today to collect things in and we set out on our own Nature Walk.

We got about halfway to where I wanted to go until we had to turn back because my daughter had to go the restroom.

We still had fun exploring!

Stepping on the crunchy leaves.

She was trying to pick up that big rock.

Pretty flowers Noah..!

Here are a few ideas for taking walks with the kids:

• A night walk with flashlights.
• A sticky tape walk where you put masking tape sticky side up around their wrists as bracelets and they stick leaves and flowers to it.
• Color walk where you look for items with the various colors that you call out.
• Bird walk just finding different types of birds.

Cookbooks.

If you haven't read these cookbooks written by Barbara Beery, you should!

They are filled with adorable recipes that anyone and everyone can make.

Maelyn got to pick out a gift for her good grades this school year and she asked us if she could get a book.
She decided to get the Mermaid Cookbook when we took her to the bookstore. So, now we have these 3 of these cookbooks.

 All the goodies in this fairy Muffin Tin were made from the Fairy Cookbook.

I'm glad Maelyn choose the Mermaid one because our next theme for the summer is an Ocean unit and this book is filled with tasty recipes to go with our Ocean theme.

The only thing that makes me sad about these books is she hasn't written a boy one.
We need some Cars or Transformers or some type of boy food in our kitchen. Poor brother eats glittery fairy and princess food all the time!

Some Camping Unit {Fun}

These are a few favorite Camp Songs to sing with the family:

How Many Stars Do You See?Twinkle, twinkle, One, two, three,

How many stars do I see?

Even in a space so small I could never count them all.
-

Along the Trail {Skip to My Lou, tune}I met a bear along the trail,

I met a bear along the trail,

I met a bear along the trail,

I stood very still.
Additional verses can include- squirrel, deer, rabbit, skunk.
-

A-Camping We Will Go {Farmer in the Dell, tune}
A-camping we will go,

A-camping we will go,

Hi-ho and off we go,

A-camping we will go.
-

I'm Going Camping {Twinkle Twinkle, tune}
I'm going camping, yes sirree!

I'm going camping, won't you come with me?

First we'll pitch our tent on the ground,

Then make a fire as we all gather round.

I'm going camping, yes sirree!

I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
Next we'll cook on the open fire,

Then till stories till we all get tired.

When the stars are twinkling bright,

We'll sleep in our tents 'til the morning light.

I'm going camping, yes sirree!

I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
When we see the morning sun,

We'll wake right up 'cause the day's begun.

There's so much that we can do - Fishing, swimming, hiking, too.

I'm going camping, yes sirree! I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
-

Here are a couple Camp Books that we like:

{Puppy Chow}

We love trail mix. Throwing a bunch of yummy things together tastes oh so good!

Puppy chow is an alternative to trail mix, a yummy, fattening, alternative.

It's been called a couple of things actually. Kate Gosselin, who is very descreet about giving away her recipe on her show, calls it "Monkey Munch." The recipe actually originates from the Chex mix website and is called Muddy Buddies on there.
My family and friends have been calling it Puppy Chow since, I can't remember when. It's always been called that. It's all the same thing though. All the same recipe!

This is a great treat to bring camping.

Ingredients

9 cups of Chex Cereal

1 cup of Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Butter

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

• Put the cereal in a bowl.
• Melt Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter and Butter in a saucepan.
• Remove from heat and stir in Vanilla.
• Pour over cereal.
• Put it in a large ziplock bag (1 gallon size works) that has the Powdered Sugar.
• Shake it all together.
• Pour onto wax paper and cool.

Bird Feeder..!

While you are out camping {or taking a walk at the park which is what we usually do} you're going to come across pinecones. Pick them up and save them for art projects or to put on your nature table in the Fall.

One of our favorite things to do with them is to make a bird feeder.

We have so many birds right now. They make a nest in the corner of our roof every year and baby birds have just hatched.

Noah made this bird feeder. He just spread some peanut butter {put it separately in a bowl so the peanut butter in the jar isn't contaminated} onto the pinecone. He then sprinkled some bird seeds on top. He picked out a ribbon and tied it to the top with his peanut buttery fingers. This pinecone didn't have much of a top to tie the ribbon.

We also decorate pinecones by sprinkling glue and glitter and feathers onto them. A cute craft is also making critters out of them by adding a face and hair or feathers.

Bird feeders look so adorable hanging from our trees!

Star Pictures.

The most wonderful thing about camping is the nature.

The plants, the trees, God's creatures, the sky and the stars.

Brushing up on your astronomy before your trip can help answer your children's questions about the stars. You can teach them about the constellations and even ask them what shapes they think the stars look like.

The kids made their own star pictures after showing them the constellations while sleeping outside.

We took black construction paper and with white chalk, the kids made an outline of a constellation. The little girls drew their own constellations. Patience said the stars looked like a couch to her.

Next, with a sheet of star stickers, they added stars onto their constellations.

Here is another variant of this project that we have done for Unplugged.

The sky is so beautiful. God sure is an artist isn't He?