Clean Cherry Muffins!

I dream about the weirdest things.

 Lately it's about homeschool and what I need to do around the house. When I woke up this morning I wanted to make muffins and they had to be cherry! Luckily we had bought cherries over the weekend

 I searched for some clean cherry muffins on the web.. didn't find any that had ingredients I had on hand. 

Well, I thought, gee, I've made enough muffins in my life, I can do this! 

And so I got to it!

Oh boy, did these turn out great!! 

So here's what you need:

1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup oats

2 tbs coconut oil

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup milk, soy, or almond milk (add more if you need it)

1 egg (or two egg whites)

1 cup of cherries (or other fruit)

1/2 cup of honey (maybe a little less)

1/2 tsp of salt

1tsp of vanilla

Mix it all up and bake in muffin tin at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or so. As always, it depends on  your oven. I'd start checking them around 15 minutes. 

 Should make about 18 muffins!

Enjoy!

Donuts, Shaving Cream, and a Little Food Coloring!

I've been wanting to buy a donut pan for a long while now, but I could never find one! I finally saw one while wandering around Target a couple weeks ago and had to have it! Landon decided on the flavor of donuts so I found this recipe on Pinterest and created my own frosting recipe and made some amazing baked chocolate donuts! YUM!

Frosting:

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1TBS butter
1/4 C powdered sugar
1T water (more if needed)

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 30 seconds and stir (checking to make sure you don't burn it) add another 10 seconds and stir if needed. Add water and sugar and stir together.

Michael's been working 12 hour shifts lately and with a very long commute his days have been about 15 hours! Woowee! So the kids and I have been trying to keep busy! Thursday night we decided to paint in the bath tub! They both loved this and Landon told me numerous times that I was the "best momma ever!" 

Seriously, go do this! 

Now! 

What are you waiting for?

All you need is some shaving cream and food coloring, that's it!

 

 I didn't add water to the bath, because I didn't want to them to slip and fall, so we played and then we washed the walls and their bodies afterwards.

 "I'm going to need a very big wipe!"

So fun!

Second Week of Homeschool (late)

 We're actually moving into our fifth week of homeschool, but I'm a bit behind here, so bare with me! During the second week of school we learned about Batik fabric and made our own paintings! The kids BOTH loved this one! In fact Emmelyn was SOOO mad when we were done with this one, she threw her first major fit!

In history this week, we learned about tribal masks and why some cultures wore them and we made our own!

 This picture on the right cracks me up with his eyes. ;)

She was a good helper while we practiced counting by two's

We baked some yummy clean oatmeal cookies this week, as well! The kids had a great time helping out in the kitchen and Emmelyn kept stealing bananas as we mixed! It was hilarious!

 I just love how full her cheeks are, haha!

Do you homeschool? If so, when do you start? Are you year round?

Our Natural Routine

Whew! I thought it was hard to keep up with my blog before, but after starting homeschooling, it's even harder! I think about updating often, but then I'd have to go get my camera, and upload pictures and then edit those pictures... and well... I don't usually plan to be on the computer THAT long!

I've noticed lately that we're sort of broke into a natural routine with things. With two kids running around, I devote our mornings to fun projects like art or science experiments or trying to play out in the yard or play "Just Dance" on the Wii. I always try to get my work out in during the mornings with them or during naptime if at all possible! Afterwards, Emmelyn takes a nap and Landon and I work on his school. By the time we're wrapping up, (if we're lucky and Emmelyn takes a long nap) we're almost done with school (besides reading) so we break for lunch.

After lunch I clean the kitchen up, start laundry, you know whatever needs to be done around the house while the kids play together. If we still have some school work waiting to be finished we will work on that in the afternoon and we usually do our chapter book reading as our bedtime story. It all works out great for us and just flows!



We're loving homeschooling and I am so glad to KNOW what Landon is learning about!

Like yesterday, in science, we read about the Flower Mantis ...

Doesn’t it look just like an orchid? Apparently they will hide in the flowers they resemble and wait for dinner! Freaky!

Homeschooling Week One

The first week of homeschool is over and it was fun!

 It's amazing how much Landon is actually enjoying school! He's always loved learning and reading, but he even asked for school on a Saturday! My plan was to start school by 9am every day and he's been asking around 8am if we are going to start yet. 

It's so sweet!

 I believe he's ahead in reading, because everything our Sonlight Curriculum wants him to read for the beginning part of First Grade, he already knows. So, we're just reviewing them and practicing them, a little. We just won't spend as much time on them as the curriculum suggests. 

I'm so glad I have child who loves reading! 

We made "Goo" this week, which the kids both loved! But, boy was it messy!!!

 

(1 cup liquid starch + cup clear glue + food coloring)
We added some white glue because we didn't have enough clear. Next time we'll try less starch as our mixture was too soupy.

 I found this fabulous version of Bingo to play with Landon over on this site here that is pretty awesome when your learning addition! There is also a subtraction version, completely free! Landon loved this game and we used fruit snacks as our markers, which he thought was pretty awesome!

We also learned about magnets and made observations in our Science Journals!

Answered fun questions in our daily journals!

Had fun with math!

And prepped next week's work load!

Oh yea! And Landon got glasses this week, he looks pretty darn cute, too. ;)

Next week we're making wax paintings like Batik fabric, playing some more with magnets, and making oatmeal raisin cookies! (Clean of course!)

This homeschooling stuff is pretty fun!!