When Life Hands You Lemons Week...

Well, this week's theme was...true to life?  I should have chosen a different name because on Monday afternoon two weeks ago, life did hand me a lemon and I threw my back out.  So lemon week was on a bit of a hold. But don't you worry, this past week we took that proverbial lemon and finally did get to make that lemonade.

Here's what you need for our lemon week activities:
lots of lemons!
(1 for each person for the science exp., 1 for writing, 1 for each color of paint for stamping, about 15 for lemonade)
food coloring
baking soda
dishwashing detergent

white cardstock
q-tips
an iron
various paints
white paper
sugar

Science Day
For our experiment, we made lemon volcanoes.  Super easy, fairly cheap and loads of fun.  The original experiment was found here:

 Lemon Volcano

I would advise putting in the baking soda first and then the food coloring.  That worked better for us. Also, we just poured more lemon juice on top whenever we wanted another "eruption", instead of stirring with a stick.  It went on forever!

Great colors and I think one of our favorite experiments yet!

Craft Day
This activity could really fall under science day or craft day.  We wrote secret messages in lemon juice on paper with q-tips and then exposed them later using heat.  The original idea came from here:

Making Invisible Ink

This was super easy and the girls loved writing secret messages.  After we let them dry, I ironed the messages (the iron needs to be very hot) and we got to see what they said.

If you want to make it a science experiment, you can talk about how the heat breaks down the acid in the juice!

Also, for another craft, we did lemon stamping.  We simply cut lemons in half and dipped in paint and stamped away.  We tried drying the lemons out and it didn't work as well as just cutting and stamping.

Field Trip Day
For field trip day we headed to the beach.  I had a very old friend who was vacationing there and we just had to go see her. Which has absolutely nothing to do with lemons.  Unless you count the fact that I packed lemonade in the cooler for my kids to drink.   Oh.  And I did squeeze lemon on my calamari that I ate.  So there.

Food Day
I found lots of lemon recipes to try but let's face it, sometimes I am just wiped out.  So, we did the most important one, which was making homemade lemonade.  The girls got to find out that making it homemade was a lot of work but so delicious!  There are lots of recipes out there but we used this one:   Homemade Lemonade Recipe

And just in case you aren't as exhausted as me from going to the beach and want to give it a whirl, here is the other lemon recipe I had my eye on....looks like a strawberry lemonade whoopie pie! YUM!

Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

I hope if you have a lemon week, it's all sunshine!

K

How I tricked my kids into writing

Several years ago, I saw a blog post about a Mom and Me Journal.  The idea is that you are a pen pal with your kids and write to each other back and forth in these journals about anything you want.  I instantly loved the idea but I was not sure if it was going to work.  The girls were thrilled with the idea at first as well.  And then, as I suspected, I had one child who wrote to me faithfully, and one who was more....sporadic with writing, shall we say.  And then, I went a long, long time without getting my journal back at all.

At first, I thought, well, I will just let them write to me whenever they want. This is a feel good thing, right?  Then I realized, most kids will not just write when they feel like it.  Or to put it another way, they will never feel like writing.  This summer, I decided to try another avenue.  So, not every day, but most days, one of the things they have to do is write to me in their journals.  I really want them to write over the summer and this is better (to them) than having a "writing assignment" (I am a teacher, you better believe I will do it!).   I have found, particularly with my youngest, that it helps if you ask specific questions (What was your favorite thing we did this week?).  And if you have a "I don't know what to write about" kid, you can pose your own questions ("If you could have 3 wishes, what would you wish for?") Answer the question yourself, then pass it on.  I don't require a certain amount be written and sometimes I get half writing and half pictures.  But I tell the teacher part of me to chill out, this is supposed to be a parenting thing.

Here is the link where I came across the idea on Pinterest.  

Mama and Me Journal

I got a composition book and put a piece of scrapbook paper over it.  I printed out the Mama & Me label and put that on top.  Then, I covered the front cover with contact paper.  You can get as fancy as you want to.  I just wanted to get it done.  I wrote a letter to them and put that in the front of the journal.  Here is a copy of what mine says:

And here is a website that has some fun ideas for what to talk about, particularly with older kids

30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me

I actually don't write the same thing in each of my girl's journals.  Sometimes we are silly, and sometimes we are serious.  When I was trying to stop yelling at my girls, I wrote them a very serious entry about what I was trying to do and why.  It was the biggest help towards not dropping my basket because we all somehow became vested in it together, just through my sharing.  And on the days I do still drop my basket, you got it, we talk about it...in the journal.  Sometimes my older daughter has shared painful parts of her day or confused feelings she has (sigh...puberty) and she didn't really know how to talk about it. Some conversations are easier to write.  Score one for the journal.

One of my favorite things is when they leave the journal for me.  They never, ever hand it to me. They usually leave it by my bedroom door, sometimes on my pillow.  We have fun sneaking them back into each other's rooms.  It's like we are secret pen pals.

The journal also serves as a pretty neat time capsule because they usually talk about what we did or were going to do that day, an experiment or field trip they liked...these are going to be great keepsakes.  And you usually get some gems every week, if nothing else, two full lines of "I love you".  But my favorite entry ever was:  "Mom, we are the greatest pair in the whole family.  We are funny together.  I mean, we are hi-larious"  (and for those of you who know her, of course that was from Moo).  Precious thoughts.

Sincerely Yours,
K

WATER We Gonna Do this Week?

Between vacation and throwing my back out...I am so behind in keeping ya'll up to date on what Team Holmes has been up to this summer!  Second theme of the summer was...

WATER we gonna do this week?  

That's right folks, it's water week.  The possibilities are endless!

Here are the supplies you might need to buy for water week:

Mason jar (I used one for each girl)
matches (aerosol hairspray works too)
shaving cream (the thick white kind)
blue food coloring
chalk
white paper
construction paper
water guns (cheap ones from the $ store)
water based paint (AC Moore sells big containers for $2)
strawberries
lemonade

Science Experiment Day 
We did 2 experiments.  One on how clouds are formed and one on why it rains.  My girls love science experiment day, I tell ya'.  I had to tear them away from making clouds to get on with the rain.  I think they would have sat there all day if I had let them.

Supplies for science experiment day

Cloud in a Jar Experiment
I found this experiment on the above link.  The girls loved to be able to "feel a cloud".  We did this one until I ran out of matches.  They just thought it was so cool.  Who knew.

waiting for the cloud to form

Cloud in your face!

 

Why It Rains Experiment
This experiment was found on the link above.  This took some patience for my girls but once it started "raining", they loved it.  Also, the 2 jars "rained" at different rates, which they loved talking about.

Craft Day
We did 2 crafts.  The first was wet chalk drawing. Literally, take a piece of chalk, dip it in water and color with it.  The colors were very vibrant, it wasn't messy and the girls really enjoyed it.  We chose to draw on construction paper.

The other craft we did, I found at this link:  Watergun painting  Well, it's kind of a craft.  I think?  So....here's a funny story.  It didn't really work for us.  We painted and shot the painting with water guns while it was still wet.  Didn't do anything.  Other than get wet.  Then, we painted and let it dry and tried it. Nothing really happened.  Again.  Then I re-read the directions.  Yeah, it helps if you actually do that.  Sooooo....you are supposed to put the paint IN the watergun.  Ohhhhhh!  That was way more cool.  I added a little water because it would take a ton of paint to fill up a water gun.

And then we got some cool abstract art!  I don't have an easel so we just used clothespins on a piece of cardboard.  So fancy, I know.

Food Day

For food day, we made our own slurpees.  Which involve ice.  Which is water.  Right?  Haha, ok, I realize that is a bit of a stretch.

We found several types here.  Homemade Slurpees

We made 2 kinds.  One, which was much more healthy and less sweet, we loved!
Strawberry Lemonade Slurpee 

The other one, not quite as healthy and it wasn't our fav.
Homemade Kool-Aid Slurpee           
You be the judge.

Field Trip Day
For field trip day we headed to Watercountry USA!  This was a first for me and if you live anywhere near Williamsburg, Va, I highly recommend it!  It was not really what I expected and has become our new favorite place.  There are many rides that are multi-person so my daughter, who is not a roller coaster rider, was much more apt to ride things.  We got to ride a lot of things together as a family and just had a fantastic time.  I could stay in the lazy river all day! (I am trying to figure out how to have one at my house.  I'm so not kidding either.)

The last but most important detail of water week was actually something on my bucket list for the summer and was on everyone's daily highlights that night at dinner.  Water balloon fight! However. We jumped daddy when he got home from work and I really think that made it twice as fun!  He did have access to the stockpile once he figured out what was going on.  So it was fair.  Ish.

I don't think sister knew there was one more left...

Last surprise of the day!

Hope you can work some of these ideas into your summer fun!
K

July's Menu - Fire Up the Grill

Happy July!  Hope ya'll are enjoying every bit of your summer so far.  Here is July's menu, full of freezer to grill options (look for the "F")!  Remember, if you aren't ready to start freezing meals ahead of time, just make the recipe for right now!  I do a lot less freezing in the summer, because I have a lot more time. Lucky me!

July's Menu

Week 1
Mon     Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar  F
Tues     Honey Mustard Brats  F
Wed     Tomato Basil Hamburgers  F
Thurs    Pineapple Lime Grilled Chicken  F
Fri        Homemade Pizza Dough (makes 3 pizzas)  
             Pizza Sauce (one batch will last 2 weeks)
Sun      Pulled Pork with Sweet Chili Slaw  F
      Adapated from original recipe found on howsweeteats.com.  I love making some kind of BBQ or "sandwich meat" on the weekends.  It makes a ton (great if you are having company), it's super easy ( you can go about your weekend business) and if you don't have company, there are lots of leftovers (sandwiches for several days)!

Week 2
Mon    Tilapia with Garlic Roasted Tomatoes Corn
Tues    Grilled Lime & Chile Chicken w/ Mango & Red Bell Pepper Salsa      F(chicken only)
Wed   Marinated Pork Chops F
   (made these last month, some of the best pork chops ever!)  Makes 2 bags
Thurs   Pineapple Ginger Flank Steak F
Fri       Homemade Pizza Dough (makes 3 pizzas)  
            Pizza Sauce  (already made)
Sun      Honey-Lime Chicken Skewers F

Week 3
Mon     Island Pork Tenderloin F
Tues     Chicken Apple Bacon Sliders F
Wed     Tex-Mex Burgers F
Thurs    Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Fri        Homemade Pizza Dough (makes 3 pizzas)  
            Pizza Sauce (one batch will last 2 weeks) F
Sun    

Week 4
Mon    Very Greek Grilled Chicken F
Tues    Marinated Pork Chops F  (second bag)
Wed    Shrimp and Jalapeno Quesadillas
Thurs   Margarita Chicken F (makes 2 bags!)
Fri       Homemade Pizza Dough (makes 3 pizzas)  
            Pizza Sauce  (already made) F


Here is your grocery list for July, listed by menu item in order of appearance!

July grocery list

Enjoy grilling season!
K

Momma's Got a New Ride

Yesterday I got a new car.  The last time we bought a car was when I went back to work after maternity leave with my youngest daughter. Who is now 9.  "Sally Sally", my old car (you can tell she was named by a 3 year old), was starting to have a hard time.  We have been saying we were going to buy a new one since March.  But nobody was ready to have a car payment again.  We are getting ready to go on a road trip to Georgia and it was either replace her, or rent something.  It was time.

While the process was somewhat aggravating, I had some insight about a few things that I'd like to share.

We always buy used cars.  I just personally feel like buying a new car is a huge waste of money.  That's just me.  It's funny when you are driving a car around and falling in love with it and realize that someone else didn't want it.  "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is really true, I guess.

The thing about used cars is, they aren't perfect.  There is going to be a stain or a scratch somewhere.  It's really about what you can live with.  What bothers you so much you can't get past it? We all have our faults.  Some are more obvious.  And some are in the back and you can't really even see them unless you are looking for it.  

I am such a girl when I buy cars.  Find the most ridiculous feature. like a heated cup holder (hey, they should look into that!) and I just geek out.  My new car has a heated steering wheel.  My husband says, "Who would want a heated steering wheel?"  To which I responded, "Shut up!  I would!"  So, as with much of life, it's the little things that mean a lot.  Those little features are what made each car unique from one another.  Kind of like people.

There were a couple of times we were looking at something and it just didn't feel right.  It's like we were trying to force it to happen. I had no peace about it.  Let God help you out.  Pray, ask, listen.  When the right thing comes along, ever notice how the process suddenly becomes super easy?  Everything just falls into place.

I considered buying the Mystery Machine.  I am just entirely too short for it.

We got such a great deal on our car, our initial reaction about the car was, "What's wrong with it?"  It's good to be cautious.  It's good to do your research.  But don't be so suspicious that you block God's blessings for you!  

One thing I read awhile back was that you need to take care of what you have in order for God to bless you with more.  In other words, is God going to bless you with a new vehicle if you don't take care of the one you have and all you do is complain about it?  Made my last few months with Sally Sally a little different.

Sally, Sally (the car, not the girl)

When I went to trade Sally in, as we checked the car for personal items, I got really choked up.  I started thinking about the 2 trips she made with us to Disney.  And the time we went to "Atlantica" (Atlanta for you grown folks) and basially the whole highlight reel from our road trips for the last 9 years.  And I did get a little teary eyed, I'm not gonna lie.  Even when you're ready to move on, sometimes it's hard.  My 9 year old was really upset about trading the car.  It was the only car she had ever known. Sometimes you can be afraid to let go of the only thing you've ever known.  You have to move on to get to the good stuff.

One of the best parts was bringing it home.  We came down the street honking the horn.  It was funny to watch the girl's faces like "Who's that crazy person honking the horn?".  As we got to the driveway, then they realized it was their parents!  (I'm sure they thought, "Oh, it's OUR crazy people)  We showed them all the bells and whistles.  They were so thrilled.  It is awesome to share your joy with others.

We took the girls around the block and they just did not want to get out.  "Please take us for a ride somewhere, Mom!" they begged.  So everybody got back in the car and I just drove.  I drove out to the country and half of Team Holmes fell asleep (I was not part of the half, you will be happy to know).  I basked in the joy of my new ride and all it's new fancy features.  I basked in the joy of my family's joy.  I basked in the joy that God blessed us like crazy with a great car at a great price just in time for our road trip.  I basked in the joy that half of Team Holmes was already sleeping in the car, like she had always been a part of our family.  

By the way, we named her Thunder Cat, because she purrs like a panther when you step on the gas.  Oh yeah....Momma's got a V8!

Look out Georgia, here we come!

K

It's "oFISHially" summer!!

For anyone who is already bored with your kids, this post is full of ideas for you!  These things don't take long so you can even do these in the evening or late afternoon, if you're looking for some fun. Teachers, there may even be something in here for you to use during the school year!

Last week's theme was "it's oFISHially summer"!  We (the girls and I) decided that we were going to have different 'days' during the week this summer:

Monday = science day

Tuesday = arts and crafts day

Thurs = field trip day

Fri = cooking day

Monday we were off with a science experiment.  Now, I kind of had a little trouble finding a science experiment that had to do with fish.  Not real fish either.  I found this experiment on Pinterest: Fish Ice Experiment.  I don't have fish ice molds so we just went with the old fashioned kind.  Which kind of made our fish look like whales.  Or submarines.  It's ok, my kids are used to having to use their imagination.


The chemical reaction between the vinegar and baking soda caused the "fish" to move or "swim".  The girls loved watching their fishes move around, even if they did look like regular ice cubes.  I was kind of surprised at how much they were into it!  They sat there until the very last one melted!

For arts and crafts day, we made portholes, an idea I got from this pin here:  fish porthole  I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures as we went, but here is the end product.  They were so cute, my oldest decided to give hers to Dad for Father's Day!  My girls are so creative!

That's Team Holmes in Mermaid form!  

For our field trip, of course we took a trip to the beach!  (Are you suspicious that I came up with this theme so I could go to the beach last week?  You should be!)  My poor baby wiped out on her bike just a few days before we went so we spent a lot of time on land!

Very un-fish like!

We are really lucky to be so close to the beach.  I count myself fortunate every time we are there!

I believe in finishing strong, so Friday could be no slouch!  We finished the week with fish cupcakes, found here:  Fish Cupcakes

It was a great excuse to try out the new Blue Velvet cake mix we saw.  (It was delicious, by the way.)  All you need are some iced cupcakes, m&ms and eyeballs (found in the cake decorating section of Kroger)!  They loved making them almost as much as eating them!

2 fish for the price of one!

How cute are these?

We even got some vanilla Goldfish in on the action!

Last but not least, we made some Sonic Ocean water!
Very easy and the girls loved this last little fishy trick up my sleeve! They had these with their dinner, which of course we ate while watching The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo!

Recipe is here:  Sonic Ocean Water copycat

I would like to state that all these things were:
1.  cheap
2.  easy
3.  didn't call for a lot of supplies I didn't have

Sometimes it's all in the presentation.  My girls played with ice cubes for 30 minutes.  How cool is that?  I doubt if I said, "Who wants to play with ice cubes?" that anyone would have been interested. I do not spend my whole summer trying to entertain them.  We do little things each day.  It's fun for all of us, breaks up the monotony of the day and I am not stressed out trying to do all these complicated things.  Because really, they don't care how hard or easy it is for me to plan.  They just want to have fun and do things together.  They want to make memories.

Hope you are oFISHially inspired to try something fun with your kiddos!  I will keep bringing you each week's activities all summer long!

Get out there and make some memories!!
K

Lord Have Mercy...

"We need to talk!" says the text to my BFF, who truly understands me more than anyone (of course, next to you, Chris Holmes!).  Being that she does understand me, she calls instead of texting back. She gets no "hello" from me.  She gets, "Lord Have Mercy.  Are you sitting down?"  She says, "I'm driving. Am I going to wreck?"  and I say, "You just might."

We are 2 southern girls serious about our cocktails on the porch.  Just so you know.  The bomb I am getting ready to drop on her?

Deep Eddy has Sweet Tea vodka.

Holy mother of all things southern.  Are you serious?

If you are followers of my blog, you know that I am now a real fan of Deep Eddy Grapefruit Vodka (see 5/19 post).  It has a real grapefruit flavor and they make it in Austin, Texas.  It is absolutely fantastic!  So now you are telling me there is a Texas company making sweet tea vodka?  Again I say, Lord have mercy.

My first thought was that I just wanted to drink it over ice.  Straight. Well....I am not a drink anything straight kind of girl.  Unless you want to see me driving the porcelain bus.  And no one wants to see that. Ever.  So, let's just say that it's not an option to drink it straight like it IS Sweet Tea.  Hubs suggested mixing it with lemonade.  Sounds good to me.
First drink I made:

The Nestea Plunge
1 part Deep Eddy Sweet Tea vodka
2 parts lemonade
spash of lemon club soda
Serve over ice with a mint leaf.  Oh.  My.  Ohmyohmyohmy.....

Second drink I made:

Just Peachy Tea
1 part Deep Eddy Sweet Tea vodka
2 parts Peach flavored water

Serve over ice with a mint leaf.  Also delicious.

Sorry there are no pictures.  We were pretty damned excited to try it, I am not going to lie.

We tried some peach flavored seltzer water, which definitely required some simple syrup in the mix.  It was ok.  I'm sure we will come up with some more recipes in the near future but for right now...the bottle is kind of empty.

Just in case you were wondering, no BFFs were hurt in the announcement and she was kind enough to come over and help me taste test.  She's always there for me!!

Deep Eddy Does It Again~
K