What's for lunch?

There was a time in our house when the lunch staples around here were chicken nuggets, PB & J, and mac & cheese. For snacks we always had gogurts, string cheese, and crackers on hand. And honestly, I actually thought those things were somewhat healthy for my kids. The reality is, there are a lot of harmful ingredients packed into those foods that are setting my kids up for poor health as adults.

I've mentioned before that I have had the goal for a long time to provide healthy nourishing meals for my kids that they can thrive on, not merely survive on. So, why has it taken me this long to be consistent? Maybe a lack of knowledge, possibly the fact that homeschooling in itself can be an overwhelming task. It can be easier to grab the things at the store that I'm used to buying without much thought and planning. The list goes on and on, but I must say that with a change of mind and habits, we are on the road to healthier little bodies.

I have just begun, and would like to share a few things that have worked for us. We will start with snack time. I make a habit of setting out a fruit and or veggie tray that the kids are free to grab from anytime they want during the day. We used to have fruit dip (and that might be a good place to start), but I no longer set out the dip, just the fruit. For the veggies, I still set out some hummus, and sometimes ranch...and at this point, I'm okay with that. If they are getting in a heaping pile of spinach in because it's got ranch on it, I can live with it...
So, this is where the mind change comes into play at the store. I'm not grabbing prepackaged processed foods anymore. Instead of gogurts, I'm grabbing fruit (in all colors of the rainbow), instead of cheese & crackers, I'm grabbing veggies and hummus. Instead of chicken nuggets to bake, I'm grabbing carrots and broccoli. I recently read that 100 calories of broccoli contains MORE protein than 100 calories of steak! That is amazing to me. In addition to that, broccoli also contains vital nutrients and phytochemicals that nourish and protect our bodies from harmful toxins and diseases....

So, here are a few lunches that I remembered to take pictures of. First up, baked red potatoes, spinach, and nuts. I try to provide a few different dressings for the kids that are free from harmful ingredients and are organic and all natural...

Next up, coucous mixed with corn and kidney beans, green grapes, and watermelon (I had issues with loading pictures and some are turned on their side)...

Then we've got wild rice with broccoli, honeydew, and white peaches with apples. I first browned a chopped onion in vegetable broth, then threw in garlic, dumped in my wild rice and let it cook, towards the end I tossed in the broccoli, let it steam and called it good...

We do sandwiches maybe once or twice a week. We really like Dave's Killer Bread. It is all organic and packed full of 21 grains and seeds. When we do PB & J we use all natural organic peanut butter. I still need to make the switch to sugar free jam :O). On this day we did have some lunch meat, but I do try to stay away from it, as it is processed and does contain harmful additives...

Here we've got bean salad. I throw in a can of black beans, corn, and frozen peas. Toss it lightly in some ranch, the kids love this. I also keep it on hand for a quick snack. With that we put cantaloupe and red grapes. Whenever I cut up a cantaloupe, it is usually devoured in one sitting. They LOVE cantaloupe!...

Making lunches like this always leads to lots of fresh cut up leftovers. So why not make taco soup? We browned an onion in vegetable broth, threw in fresh tomatoes and zucchini from the garden, beans, corn, leftover wild rice, leftover baked red potatoes, one can of tomato sauce, some grilled chicken chopped up, and taco seasoning. I like to use dinner time to get in some good quality lean meat. We have switched to Foster Farms chicken, as they do not use any added hormones or steroids...

The last thing we have implemented is TRYING NEW THINGS! I have recently read so many reports of the dangers of hormones in our milk and the effects it has on little girls and hitting puberty way too early. We have tried organic milk, almond milk, and rice milk. The kids have found that rice milk is their favorite. B-Bop is actually drinking it more than she ever drank regular milk.

We have also tried lots of new fruits and veggies. This ones favorite was drinking a coconut...

Buddy thought it was pretty cool too...

We ordered a case of pineapples from my husbands work. The kids LOVED them, we were eating one a day. I ended up with a throat full of very painful sores, so we have taken a break from pineapple, LOL! I did get really good at cutting them up, so we will get some more soon for the kids.

We really love to have smoothies for breakfast, we have even made them GREEN! We use green powder, and have also thrown spinach and romaine right into the blender. It doesn't have that strong of a flavor, especially when you've got fruit and stevia mixed in. The whole family enjoys smoothies...

One way to save on clean-up, is to set lunch out on a tray, and let the kids grab what they want...

The kids love making their own lemonade...

We use stevia to sweeten it...

Eating like this is has been fun, and so good for our family. I would love to go into all of the added health benefits, and what each fruit and vegetable has packed into it to nourish your body, but that would take me days...and I'm not sure anyone would have the patience to read it, LOL! I do find it fascinating--the things God has blessed us with when it comes to food.

I am grateful that we have these things, I know my kids will benefit from eating like this. It makes for strong healthy bodies and sharp minds...heaven knows I need them to be excited about learning and absorbing the things presented to them!

If you've got some great healthy lunch ideas, send them my way! I would LOVE to hear about them!!

A Few Fun Things!

School is in full swing around our place! We are really enjoying ourselves this year. We are using Alpha Omega's Horizon and LifePac for our core subjects. As for the electives, we have ventured out on our own to discover new ways of diving into learning. I thought it would be fun to share some of the things we have been doing (at least the ones that I remembered to take pictures of).

My 9 year old daughter holds a book club at our house once a month. We always plan an activity to go along with the book while they discuss what they've read. Last month they read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They each made their own diary. They turned out so cute, we decided to make some of our own for around the house.

I have found that this has worked out so well for us. I always stock up on those great 15 cent spiral notebooks when they go on sale each fall at Wal-Mart. I find, however, that the kids grab a new one each time they want to write or draw, and we end up with a bunch of partially used notepads. With their personalized pads...they always want to grab their own! YAY! Problem solved...

Today we watched some amazing sand art videos on YouTube, and then put our own twist on it and made some fun creations. We started by dividing Fruit Loops into bags by color....

Then crushed them with rolling pins until they looked like sand...

I love all of the bright colors!...

Then we drew pictures on paper with pencils...

We filled in each space with glue and added our colored "sand"...

A Day at the Beach...

The World of Color (inspired by our upcoming Disney trip)...

We've got a bunch of "sand" left over and plan on layering it in bottles tomorrow, we will post pictures if it turns out :O)

After spending many adventures at the local bird refuges, the kids have decided they would love to learn more about birds! Our first lesson was on the characteristics of birds. The kids made a chart using things from around the house to show what makes a bird a bird.

They used feathers, sticks (for the nest), straws (for hollow bones), rocks (for eggs), a yellow paper beak, 2 leaves (for 2 wings), and then they drew their own picture to represent that birds are warm-blooded (Buddy drew a sun and a drop of blood). I felt like this activity really stuck with them, they seem to be remembering those characteristics very well during our discussions...

One of the science experiments that they enjoyed was the Blindfold Taste Test. There were 5 types of food to try, the idea being to prove that without your sense of sight and smell it is difficult to taste, showing that your senses work together, and how one will kick into high gear to compensate for the loss of the other...

One of the things that I really wanted to focus on when we began our homeschool journey (three years ago) was LUNCH, and the quality thereof. It has taken me this long to be consistent with my efforts, but we have made some positive changes and it feels great!! I have been tracking what we eat and taking pictures, I will be sharing some fun and healthy ideas in a few days. In the meantime here is a sneak peak...

Speaking of food, we have had a fantastic time with cooking lessons. I found a great little site with lessons to print (I will include all site links below). One of the lessons was all about how to read a recipe and follow directions. The kids made a cheese ball...

With all of our healthy eating during the week, we save the weekends for special treats. This was a fun thing to munch on with crackers and enjoy our family movie night...

I always love finding great educational websites, here are some links to the ones we are currently enjoying....

Science

Art

Cooking

Wildlife Biology

Multiplication Practice

Addition Practice

Name Bugs and Scribble Art

We have enjoyed a wonderful summer so far! We've had great times with family and friends, camping trips, dance boot camp , and swimming lessons.

I am so excited for the new school year to begin. We have made some BIG changes with the way we plan on homeschooling (more posting to come on that later). As the kids have watched me go through the motions of preparing for this year I have noticed the excitement around here rising! They've gone from saying that they don't want to start schooling again, to hovering over my shoulder and stealing curriculum ideas to keep themselves busy!

Today we had a house full of friends (I think we had 10 or so). They all gathered around the table and decided to make Cursive Name Bugs.

You take a white piece of paper and fold it the hot dog way. Open it back up and write your name with a dark crayon (pushing hard or going back over it a few times) in cursive along one side. Fold it back over again and rub the paper with the edge of a pencil until it rubs off on the opposite side of the fold. Open it up, trace over the lighter side, and go wild creating your bug!

Buddy's turned out looking like a black widow...
B-Bops turned out as bright big-eyed beautiful creatures...
Then they moved on to Scribble Art. The idea is to scribble on a paper with a pencil and then choose three colors to fill in the spaces. The only rule being that you can't have the same colors touching.

When they were done they decided that their shapes actually looked like something...I guess kind of like finding shapes in clouds.

This is B-Bops...
This one is done by our cute little friend that we've been watching this Summer, Mimi's...

She ended up backing hers with a larger sheet of colored construction paper for a frame and then wrote a message on the back for her 2 year old little sister's birthday gift. It turned out so cute!

Finger Print Pumpkins

Buddy studied a poem about pumpkins today. To go along with the lesson we made Finger Print Pumpkins.... They lined them all up in a row across the bottom of the page...

Added some scenery...

And then drew on their jack-o-lantern faces...

Well, B-Bop got to draw faces....Buddy's are so globby we will be lucky if they are dry enough in a week to draw on his faces...

THEME IN YELLOW


I spot the hills

With yellow balls in autumn.

I light the prairie cornfields

Orange and tawny gold clusters

And I am called pumpkins.

On the last of October

When dusk is fallen

Children join hands

And circle round me

Singing ghost songs

And love to the harvest moon;

I am a jack-o'-lantern

With terrible teeth

And the children know

I am fooling.

-Carl Sandburg

Eating Up Math!

We got out our Bucket Balance to use for our Missing Addends Math lesson today! We started with pennies, then moved to colored math counters, and then moved on to CHOCOLATE CHIPS...

And when there are chocolate chips involved, what Kindergartner can resist joining in??...

I guess it's good that addition and subtraction go hand-in-hand, especially when chocolate chips are involved...

P.S. If you plan on trying this, make sure to wash out your buckets with scalding hot water and soap before adding food to the lesson!

Spelling Fun!

In talking to a very good friend of mine (that just so happens to be a 3rd grade teacher), I was voicing my concerns with the amount of writing that seems to go on with our 3rd grade Language Arts. She mentioned that with all of that required writing, one of the areas that we can take a break from it is Spelling practice! There are so many fun ways to practice spelling words...and we can put that paper and pencil away for a minute! Thanks for the reminder Jenny! Today we used shaving cream and fingers!!!

A Proud Moment!!

This post is more for me than anyone. I just wanted to record the test that B-Bop took today. We have been very inconsistent in our efforts of getting through our History curriculum this year. It is a shame because it has been one of B-Bop's favorite subjects and somehow we just haven't gotten to it as much as we should have. We are attempting to finish it out so that we can get our 3rd grade History ordered for this fall and try to fit it in next year in a more consistent manner.

I was worried that with the couple of months off that we have taken along with our inconsistency that she was going to bomb this test. Apparently if you are passionate about something it sticks with you!! She scored 23 out of 25 on the following questions (they were multiple choice)...

1. Which city is located on the Tiber River in Italy?
2. Which city was the capital of the Byzantine Empire?
3. Which city is a holy city of Islam?
4. What is a republic?
5. What did the Romans build to carry water into the cities?
6. Who was the first emperor of Rome?
7. Who was the leader of the barbarian tribe called the Huns?
8. Whom was the month of July named for?
9. Who made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire?
10. What did the ancient Romans build all over their empire?
11. What is Veni, vidi, vici Latin for?
12. What was the troubled time of change in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire called?
13. Whom did the Knights of the Round Table serve?
14. What is a Muslim?
15. Where did monks live, teach, and copy books?
16. What is the Muslim place of prayer called?
17. This king supported learning and united much of Europe. His name means "Charles the Great". Who was he?
18. Where did republican government and the Colosseum come from?
19. Whom did the Romans borrow many of their gods and goddesses from?
20. What is the name of the volcano that erupted and destroyed Pompeii?
21. What greatly weakened the Western Roman Empire by 476 A.D.?
22. What was the Colosseum?
23. Who traveled between Mecca and Medina and had a vision that started Islam?
24. Who wrote a set of laws followed all over the Byzantine empire?
25. How many parts was the Roman Empire split into?

I just had to jump for joy when she tested so well!! It really has been one of those years that at times I have wondered if she would have learned more at school. I was more than happy to see that she retained all of that information this year! I think that it is one of those things that I am happy to see taking place because I wasn't good with History in school and it is fun to see her excitement with it. Granted it was multiple choice and she didn't have to come up with the answers without a few choices to pick from but she fired out those answers pretty quick with no hesitation! Good job B-Bop! I am SO PROUD of you and I am now looking forward to next year with a lot more excitement than I first realized! Bring on 3rd grade:).

So our friends are moving...

follow their adventures as they sell everything they own to travel the world with their 4 small children. Oh, and they're not revealing their destination. That's for you to guess based on the clues they leave.

Their Mission

Discover. They’re on a quest to discover the wonder and beauties of this world and experience new places and cultures.

Share. They want to share their discoveries with you...but there’s a twist...you won’t know where they are until you guess all the clues. Guess right and you’ll win the grand prize. They’re also giving away 1,000,000 books to unschooled children in the world.

Inspire. They want to inspire you to live your dreams, whatever they might be.

Rachel has put together an AMAZING video to help other better understand why they have embarked upon this incredible journey! Scroll to the bottom of my blog to watch (or click on their website and go to their videos at the bottom).

Follow their journey at...
http://www.discovershareinspire.com/

We have really enjoyed getting to know this sweet family through our homeschool playgroup! We are so excited for them and think that they are amazing for following their dreams! We will miss you guys! God Bless!!

B-Bops Valentine's Box....

We have a K12 Valentine's Party on Wednesday at the local skating rink. They said each kid could bring a decorated Valentine's box or bag and Valentine's to pass out. We are really excited to go! We decided to make a "purse" for B-Bop and we are still trying to come up with ideas for Buddy's box.... We started with a cereal box and cut a slit in the side...

Then we found some metallic tissue paper left over from Christmas and wrapped the box...

Then we re-cut the slit and reinforced it with tape. We found some pink ribbon (left over from our hair bow making days) and stapled it to each side of the slit (later we covered the staples with crepe paper)....

Then we took strips of crepe paper (left over from birthday parties) and cut slits to make fringe and rolled the fringe with a pencil....

We taped three rows of fringe across the bottom and added our crepe paper heart that we had made earlier in the day for our house decorations AND Wa-La we have our "purse"....

Our original idea was to cover the entire box with pink construction paper and then cover it completely with rows and rows of our fringe to make a "shaggy purse", but then when we saw how cute it looked with the silver tissue paper we decided to just add a few accents!

Happy Valentine's Box making and if you have any ideas for Buddy send them our way (so far we just have the idea of Sponge Bob Square Pants)!!

Poems and Experiments!

We have had a full day of lessons in every subject today! B-Bop spent the morning writing and memorizing her poem for the upcoming Zoo-etry Festival!! They are supposed to either memorize one from a book or they can write their own and memorize it to recite at the festival! The theme is Zoo-etry so it needs to involve animals in one way or another. Part of our Language Arts curriculum involves public speaking skills...this has been a great way to incorporate that! Her poem turned out so cute...

Dog Food vs. Ice Cream
by B-Bop

Ice cream oh, ice cream
you are so sweet!
All flavors and toppings,
complete my favorite treat!

My furry dog Chewy,
this sweat treat he shall not eat.
Biscuits and dog bones and stinky dog food,
are the only things dogs can eat!
Eating toys and shoes and slippers so rude!
He needs to learn manners,
that crazy furry dude!

I'll stick with ice cream,
and he with his bones!
Together we'll dream,
of giant ice cream cones!


This afternoon we dove into our Language Arts lesson. B-Bop read a non-fiction article on how animals are suited for the environment in which they live. She learned how to compare and contrast . We learned about Camels in the Sahara desert and Polar Bears at the North Pole! To better demonstrate how they are suited for their environment we did this little experiment....

First we put a rubber glove on one of her hands and covered it in Crisco...
Then we filled two bowls with ice water and had her put her hands down into the water...

That hand on the right only spent a couple of seconds in the water!...

The one on the left was able to stay in for a couple of minutes!! The glove represented the Polar Bears skin and the Crisco was the bears layer of fat. She is really glad that she doesn't have to dive into the freezing cold ocean to get her food!