Learning To Work

I grew up in a farm community. My father chose that spot so we would be able to have a big garden and orchard. We worked every Saturday all day long. We had 100 fruit trees and the garden was massive to support through the year a family of 8. I can't say I loved every minute of it, but I do have great memories, special moments, and a work ethic. Now my father is gone and we, the children are still running the big orchard. At first I really hated all the work that we had to do on the farm. It was such a change in my life. Now 5 years later I have a new philosophy. It hit me last week that our life is too easy for my children. I don't want spoiled/snotty kids. I want kids who value money and hard work. Our yard is fully landscaped and I think it takes about 30 minutes to spruce it up every week. For a family of 6 that is not enough work. During the week we clean the house, but still with 6 of us working it doesn't require too much work. So I am so grateful that my children get to learn how to work at Grandma's house. When we come home we are always tired, but everyone has a happy smile. So if you are in my same shoes, you might want to do a little service for someone else. I also found two websites I thought were good on the issue of teaching your children to work. They are:
http://www.parentadvisor.net/ethic.htm

and

http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-to-work-hard-without-complaining/

Strangers!

So has anyone tried the Stranger Quiz for kids? It is probably a good time with all the trips to the Zoo, Museums, Water parks, Pools, etc. I think a refresher course for my kids is really needed. Anyway you can find it in the Safety section. Have a great day!

Fourth Of July Fun!

Ice Cream in a Bag! This is really fun and a great way to cool off. My kids love this and they love the treat also.

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size Ziploc plastic bag
1 gallon-size Ziploc plastic bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
Place the small bag inside the large one and seal again carefully.
Shake until mixture is ice cream, about 5 minutes.
Wipe off top of small bag, then open carefully and enjoy!

Tips:
To make a larger amount, try doubling the recipe. Anything larger might be too big for kids to pick-up, because the ice itself is quite heavy.

Weekly Web!

So I found another fun website this week and I love it! It is called Rookie Moms! It is found in My Favorites. They have really great ideas!

Ice Cube Fun!

So my fun and crazy friend Nancy told a story about how she entertains her kids with Ice Cube Races. I thought it was such a fun idea for this hot summer! I also added a few ideas of my own as well as ones I found on the Internet.

Strategy #1 Ice Cube Races: Give each child a ice cube and the first melted wins!

Strategy #2 Ice Cube Race Variation: Put something inside your ice cube like a prize for your child.

Strategy #3 Ice Cube Painting: Add a little food coloring and a toothpick to the water in your ice cube tray. When frozen, get paper and paint!


Strategy 4
Get 2 ice cubes out of your freezer.
Slide 1 ice cube under your right foot, and the other ice cube under your left foot.
Put one hand on the counter and the other hand on the wall or another counter.
Push off and keep sliding until your wall or counter runs out, or before your ice cube melts.
Repeat until satisfied!

Strategy 5
Get 2 ice cubes out of your freezer.
Melt the ice cubes a bit by placing them under your feet or trying strategy 4 for about 1 minute. Make sure they do not melt completely.
Place the ice cubes under a paper plate and place your hands on two surfaces. Slide like you would do in strategy 4.

Strategy 6
Extract ice cube/s from freezer
Allow one hand to hold the ice cube/s, and keep your good hand free.
With your free hand grab the back of the collar of your friend's shirt.
Place the ice cube on between his/her back and shirt
Watch your friend squeal and enjoy!

Strategy 7
Get a hot frying pan or oven pan.
Put the ice cube on it and watch it boil and sizzle!

Strategy 8: Cold Head
Get two icecubes and a friend
Place one icecube on your head and the other on your friends
See who can keep it on longest!
For a harder level, walk around a selected area and see who can keep it longest then!

Strategy 9: Koolaid Painting
Put out several sheets of plain paper, Sprinkle small amounts of different colors of Kool-Aid onto the paper, Give your child an ice cube and let them "paint" by sliding it over the Kool-Aid. As the cube melts the Kool-Aid paint spreads over the picture.

Strategy 10: Ice Cube Melt Water Game
The first person holds and rubs the ice cube until their hands get to cold. Then they pass it to the next person, and so on, until the ice cube melts. What ever team melts their ice cube first wins.

Here is what I got!

(Read post before this one, if you haven't already) They had a 30 page Fairy Tale coloring book, and two audio fairy tales. They looked like they were for both boys and girls. Also they have an extra thing coming this Thursday and they have daily stuff on their site. Anyway now I have tried it, I would suggest it. It downloaded really quickly and I think my kids will love it.

Free Stuff Weekly!

My friend sent me this site this week and it seems really neat. You give them your first name and your email and every Monday they send you an email that explains what they are giving free this week! I signed up and will get that email tomorrow and I will post what I got. It seems really good. Anyway if you are interested here is the site. Also I am not a home schooler, I just really like my kids learning through the Summer. So anyone can join this site.

http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

Special Tie for Dad!

One of my favorite ideas for Father's day is to take an old tie (D.I. has tons) and stuff it with Dads favorite candy. Hot glue the bottom and add eyes and tongue to make a snake. It is really cute and dads love the candy inside and your child will love playing with the "snake" afterwards. You can even stuff it after the candy is gone for a toy.

King For The Day!

Two years ago we made my husband a King for the Day! Here

is the picture of how we made him happy and special. At the top you can see a floating crown that hung above him. We had edible flowers, Dads rootbeer chilled, we had loads of snacks, and He loved it. If you need other Father's day crafts or ideas http://www.familyfun.com/ has a whole section devoted to fathers.

New Math Site

Math Mammoth is a new math site. You subscribe to the newsletter and then you get lots of worksheets for free. Grades first through ninth! It is in the Great Education area.

What happened to the Eagles?

You should click on the eagle cam and find out. It is really cool if you find the feed that shows it happening.

Just Added!

I just got a website that I loved. Tip: Make sure you keep scrolling down. It has tons of fun worksheets, behavioral charts, etc. for all ages. I really recommend this site. So go to Great Educational Sites and it is Sen Teacher! Hope you like it!

Weekly Web!

Well today's weekly web is going to be about a Mr. Robert Munsch. We is in the author section. If you have never read his books you are missing out. Go to his website and he reads to your kids lots of different books. If kids write him a letter he will sometimes write them a poem back. He has a good amount of info about who he is and why he is the way he is. He posts children's art on his site, and he has a unpublished book section. Anyway he is funny and really is worth teaching your kids about and letting them listen to him tell the stories. I recommend to start with the book: Alligator Baby. He gets really funny telling that story.

Consequences!

So my daughters therapist told me that we needed to have clear consequences to the rules that we want enforced. She suggested cartoon pictures since my daughter can't read. Well I looked for hours and couldn't find what I needed so I decided to take pictures and let the kids act out the scene. Who knew they would have a ball doing it! They are so proud of it and we even gave a copy to Grandma so she knows what to do when they are naughty. Anyway this is only for the kids that really have behavior problems, so if you have one of these kids, you might want to do a poster like this. Double click on picture if you want to see it bigger.

99 things to do this Summer in Utah

My friend gave me this and I thought it had some good ideas

www.uvmag.com/mayjune08/46_47.htm

My friend had this link on her blog and I really liked it. It is 99 things to do in Utah this Summer.



www.uvmag.com/mayjune08/46_47.htm

Legoionary!

Divide toys & people into teams builds object from legos, set a timer for 3 minutes.When the time is up, have the other team guess what they have built!

Examples:
The topic is Plants, make a model that represents a certain plant.

Works best if you have slips of paper with Category and Item listed!

Answers are below quiz now!

Take the Challenge or let your kids!

Write the answers down on a paper, or print up questions and I will post answers tomorrow. This is a really good activity for older kids.

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?
2. How many states are there? ( don't laugh, some people don't know)
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?
4. What 6 colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?
5. What 2 letters don't appear on the telephone dial? ( no cheating!)
6. What 2 #'s don't have letters by them?
7. When you walk does your left arm swing w/ you right or left leg?
8. How many matches are in a standard pack?
9. On our flag, is the top stripe red or white?
10. What is the lowest # on the FM dial?
11. Which way does water go down the drain, counter- or clockwise?
12. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?
13. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
14. Which side of a women's blouse are the buttons on?
15. On a NY license plate, is New York on the top or bottom?
16. Which way do fans rotate?
17. Whose face is on a dime?
18. How many sides does a stop sign have?
19. Do books have even # pages on the right or left side?
20. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?
21. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?
22. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?
23. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?
25. On which playing card is the cardmaker's trademark?
26. On which side of a venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?
27. On the back of a dollar bill, what is in the center?
28. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?
29. How many curves are in a standard paper clip?
30. Does a merry-go-round turn clockwise or counterclockwise?

Answers

1. Bottom
2. 50
3. right
4. blue, red, white, yellow, black, and gold
5. Q, Z
6. 1,0
7. left
8. 20
9. red
10. 88
11. Actually, it depends on the plumbing fixture. The notion that the water direction varies with the hemisphere you are in has been disproved!
12. towards bottom right
13. 12 ( no #1)

T.V. Bingo!

Everyone watches a little too much T.V.! But in those Hot Summer hours, sometimes that's what I let my kids do. Why not do a T.V. bingo while they are watching T.V.? You could do Food commercial, Dog, Toy commercial, Cat, T.V. channel Commercial, Girl being silly, Boy messing something up, parent, tree, necklace, etc. If it is a movie (that you have seen) you can really add a lot of things that can look for. Make each one a little different so they all don't get bingo at the same time. At least this way they aren't so brain dead in the

zone as they are watching T.V. or Movies! For little children use pictures! Another fun idea would be to have their "Afternoon Snack" be their markers. For older kids you might want to give them 30 seconds to find their own markers. They could use dried beans, cereal, marshmallows, beads, pretzels, etc.

Weekly Web!

Let's Talk Star Gazing! Check out this website. I think it would be really fun to do some star gazing with kids. The last time we did this was in August during the shooting stars days. We all ate candy and layed on the tramp. It was so fun! Check out the website called Star Gazing and it will give you some ideas!