Do you like to talk to Tomatoes?

My daughter told me she wanted to sew a Veggie Tales pillow, and I responded that I didn't think we had any printed Veggie Tales fabric.  She said she'd just like to make it from scraps.  Here's what she did, just drawing and cutting free-hand and then sewing it together:

I was impressed!

Star-Studded Dinner

Well, we have been trying various crockpot recipes and other solutions for staying on our diet and having real meals rather than fast-food on a regular basis in spite of our hectic schedule.  The latest possible solution?  My nine-year-old wants to cook.  So she gets extra allowance and credit for home-ec in homeschool for fixing dinner on Wednesday nights between hectic activities.  (Don't worry, she's still heavily supervised!)  Tonight was her first night on the job, and I must say, we were all rather impressed.  She selected the recipe, gave her daddy a grocery list, and prepared it with very little assistance, even enlisting her younger brother to help set the table.  It was rather timely help, as my husband and I had to end up dealing with spoiled food in a freezer that went bad and leaked on the garage floor.  We got it all cleaned up and still had a home-cooked dinner on the table!  Salmon loaf is a common meal at our house, but tonight we got it in individual star-shaped cupcake tins, served with colorful potholders made by the cook - my daughter's personality shining through!!

Here is the recipe as handed down by my mother-in-law (we double it and may be going triple soon!):

1 can salmon (15 oz)
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 tblsp parsley
1 tblsp lemon juice
onion to taste

Mix well, spread in loaf pan (or mini-star-shaped-pans) and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Healthy and tasty!  Enjoy!  :)

"Paisley" at Sprouting Seeds Studio

Sprouting Seeds Studio is really spoiling us this month!  They just released the new freebie kit, "Paisley."  It is a beautiful kit with rich colors.  The elegance combined with the rich colors made me think it would give wedding pages a nice twist.  Here is my LO:

That is our favorite wedding picture, by the way.  

As always, you can download the QP below.  PNG and iRemember SBT files included.  P/U only.

Make sure to grab the full kit at Sprouting Seeds Studio so you can make your own beautiful layouts!  Click image below.

Happy Scrapping!

Wii Will Motivate You!

I found the greatest free Wii clipart downloads at Mohawk Valley Library System!

I was already devising a system that would use WiiBucks to reward my children for chores and homeschool extra-credit projects that went above and beyond their normal requirements, so this poster is perfect!!  These WiiBucks are then redeemable for Wii time during the week (they are normally only allowed to play on the weekend, which my son calls the "Wii-kend"), TV time, or other electronic games or computer free-time.  I generally restrict all this electronic media time pretty carefully, but as of now I am not putting a cap on how much they can earn with this incentive program.  I figure if they do 15 hours of research for projects, I do not mind if they play 5 hours of Wii!

You can download the above poster as well as the individual clipart pieces.  They are in JPG format rather than PNG, and some of them are rather small and low resolution, but I found them very useful, anyway.  Here are the charts I made (all linked to MVLS to download pieces):

They must do their daily chores first (list above left), before getting to use their WiiBucks.  (They get paid for a few chores, such as yardwork.)  The chart on the right will be laminated, so that we can write-on/wipe-off what they have earned and used each week.

Here is the list of projects they can work on for extra credit.  I made it using the Wii Games Kit by Annie's Four Corners.   You can download the blank one below if you are interested in using a similar system for either chores or extra-credit work.

Have a great day!  Oh, and FOLLOW my blog!!  :)

Homeschool Freebies

The most common frustration I hear from new home-schoolers is that they don't have enough creative activities.  Trust me, this will not be a problem when you reach middle school.  Between the demands of the curriculum and the expanding interests of the children, we are never bored!  In any grade, however, this time of the school year can be difficult, if you are following a standard September-June school year.  In kindergarten and the early grades, worksheets and workbooks are often done quickly.  You may already be done with the curriculum you started in September, and you are wondering what to do now.  You could buy more workbooks and move on, but children of that age usually have a short attention span and may not be developmentally ready to move on to math and language arts in the next grade.  Doing more worksheets on the same things they have already done is a quick way to kill a love of learning, unless your child just happens to love worksheets!  Older children should be more than half-way through their annual curriculum, and you may be getting ready for standardized testing soon.  If you are like me, you may have gotten a little behind during the year and now you are hoping you can finish before your kids are off to summer camp in June or July!  Still, though, the kids are getting tired of the bookwork and the practice tests, and the whole family needs a little variety in the routine if they are going to make it through the rest of the school year.

This is a fantastic time to take the science class outside, enjoy the fresh air of spring, and add a little nature study to your week!

If you have a first-grader who is done for the year but not yet ready to move on to Second Grade (or Mom just can't think of starting a whole new curriculum in late March!), you could fill days and weeks with these nature studies, all the while learning science while practicing reading and using some practical math.  If you have children in the older grades who still have to finish their "normal" work before the end of June and you just can't spare the time for a unit study, you could pick bits and pieces and take a 15-30 minute nature walk per day or a few times a week.  Just enough for a break and some renewed energy.  One of the things I love most about homeschooling is being able to taylor the study to our personal needs!

This week, you can get these fantastic downloads at Homeschool Freebie of the Day!!  There are SIX VOLUMES of The Big Handbook of Nature Study that you can download for free, plus a bonus mini-unit on spring weather observation!  You can sign up to receive ongoing emails about the fantastic freebies they offer.

 

 

 



Check back for more great homeschool ideas, and don't forget to "follow" me over in the left-hand margin!

Happy Home-schooling!  :)

"Let's Play Baseball" at Sprouting Seeds Studio!

Sprouting Seeds Studio just released the new freebie, "Let's Play Baseball."  The bright colors in this kit are perfect for scrapping the baseball player in your life!

Click the image below for my quickpage!  PNG and iRemember SBT files both included in the download. P/U only.

If you love the "Baseball" font on my LO, it is "LD Baseball" from Lettering Delights.  You can click on their banner in my left-hand margin and get it for $1 during their Dollar Days sale!  Hundreds of alphas, fonts, and graphics are all on sale for $1 each.  You don't want to miss it!

Click the preview below to go to Sprouting Seeds Studio and pick up the whole "Let's Play Baseball" freebie kit!

And last but not least, please follow my blog!!!  I still need several more followers in order to apply for TOS's Homeschool Review Crew!  Please, please, PLEASE!!

And thank you!  Happy Scrapping!  :)

Science Lab Report Pages Freebie

I was having a hard time finding fun Science Lab Report notebooking pages for my elementary students.  I had seen some for purchase that were nice, but no freebies.  :)  So I decided to design some of my own, and I am sharing them in case anyone else can use them.  Click on the preview to download from 4shared.  I used scrapbooking elements from Efie's Blogspot and Just So Scrappy.

Also, I just need 10 more public followers to be able to apply for the TOS Review Crew, so if you want to make my day, you can click "follow" over in the left-hand margin!  Thank you!

The "Yellow-Oranges"

The "Yellow-Oranges" are up at Sprouting Seeds Studio!  Click image below to hop over and pick up the 12th installment in this series of papers.  (And scroll on back if you missed any along the way!)

Also, don't forget to "follow" me over in the left margin.  I just need 12 more followers to apply for the TOS Review Crew.  Thank you!

The "Blue-Greens"

Have you visited Sprouting Seeds Studio today?  If not, click on the image below to head over there and get the "Blue-Greens," the next terrific color in their papers collection!

PS If you have a couple of seconds and could click "follow" in the left margin, that would be fantastic, too!  I am applying for a review team and I need to have 25 public followers on my blog!  Thank you!  :)

The "Red-Purples!"

The "Red-Purples" are up at Sprouting Seeds Studio!  Click the image below to check out the post!

The "Yellow-Greens" at Sprouting Seeds Studio!

Sprouting Seeds Studio released the 9th freebie in the CU Papers series, "The Yellow-Greens."  Click on image below to go download!  If you haven't been getting these daily, scroll back through and get all the colors.  You will have a fabulous basic paper stash to start any scrapping project!

It's That Time Again!

It's one of my favorite times of year: Lettering Delights' Dollar Days!!!  Most alphas and graphics are only ONE DOLLAR.  SVG sets are $2 each.  Time to stock up on alphas for all your project needs!  Here are a couple of pages I made with Lettering Delights' Nostagia Collection (Papers, Alpha, Frames, & Graphics).  Click on the banner on above left to go stock up on all your favorites!

Free Papers Downloads at Sprouting Seeds Studio!

I have been remiss in posting over the weekend, and Sprouting Seeds Studio is filling in the color wheel!  Hop on over to their blog to pick up these great papers!

Bridal Album

The great thing about the classic white wedding dress is that it lends itself well to the traditional legacy scrapbook look or to the dramatic contemporary look.

I did the contemporary page for a challenge at Groovy Scraps last fall.  I think I will stick with the traditional look for now, though.  I did most of this album with the wedding kits from Scrapbook Flair; the complete credits are listed on the last page.  It should be noted that Scrapbook Flair kits are not available for S4H or any for-profit use, but may be used for PU or S4O.  I have used several of their kits for personal albums or those to be given as gifts to friends.  I have not made profit from any of them.  

  

"The Oranges" at Sprouting Seeds Studio

Be sure to drop by Sprouting Seeds Studio today to pick up "The Oranges"!  Click on image below:

"The Yellows" at Sprouting Seeds Studio

"The Yellows" are ready!  Put on your shades and click on the image below to go download these bright papers from Sprouting Seeds Studio!

Baby Girl Album

I just finished my friend's baby girl album (for her TWO baby girls).  I made almost the entire album using Just So Scrappy's "Sweet MacKayla" kit, including her quickpages.  I also used two wordart freebies from The Kit Cart and one cute teddy bear from Annie's Four Corners' "Cuddly Buddies."