M&M Counting

Confessions of a Homeschooler has these cute m&m counting and graphing free downloads. Maybe if I make these Jenna will learn to count to 10 in English- thanks to Dora she counts to 10 in Spanish! http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2009/11/prek-letter-m.html

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

  I found this on Family Fun, just cleaning off my desk and thought I would post this idea. If anyone is up for making cupcakes :)

Remember to check http://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/ for lots of fun St. Patrick's day ideas!

The Bench

Ok so here are the pictures of the bench Dirk built and we stained and sealed!
Don't mind the how trashy the background looks!

http://www.houseofturquoise.com/

Here are pictures from the ice cream sundae baby shower I did :)

So I added some blogs to the blog list . I thought it would be fun to be able to check in on them! So if you have some blogs that you like and want to add them put them up! Miss was saying that I am the only one that can add things? If thats the case then link them on a blog post and I will put them on the blog list! HELP HOW DO I MOVE THE MAP SO THAT IT IS UNDER THE BLOG LIST?????

cute inexpesive hair bows http://www.etsy.com/shop/designstash?page=1

Cute idea for St. Patrick's day

 

http://lipstickandlaundryca.blogspot.com/

http://www.ecuriousworkmanshiptsy.com/shop/

Cute shoes for the ones!

I saw this on tv. Its called kid concoctions and they have tons of recipes for like chalk and other kids items you can create for under a dollar!
http://www.kidconcoctions.com/main/aboutus.asp
They have a book that you can buy too! This recipe was under the free section!


"For his 6th birthday, our son Kellen wanted a pirate-themed party where we would give out mystery rocks, store-bought stones with tiny treasures inside, as favors," says Danita Thomas. "Rather than buying them for the 15 guests, John suggested trying to make them. He remembered his mother making stonelike clay with used coffee grounds when he was a kid. So after some experimenting, we came up with our own surprise-filled mystery rocks that turn trash into treasure."



Check out more fun ideas from John and Danita Thomas, the Kid Concoctions Couple.



Materials

1 cup flour

1 cup used coffee grounds (set them out overnight to dry)

1/2 cup salt

1/4 cup sand

3/4 cup water

Small prizes, such as plastic toys, dice, and marbles



Instructions

Heat the oven to 170 degrees. In a medium-size bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the water, stirring until the mixture forms a dough.



Roll a piece of the dough into a ball roughly the size of a baseball. Use your finger to bore a hole to the center, push in a couple of small prizes, then seal the hole with more dough. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.



Place the stones on a baking sheet and cook them for 40 minutes, then allow them to cool completely before giving them to the kids to break open (easy to do by hand). Makes 4 treasure-filled stones.





HAPPY CONCOCTING!

No Allergy Cake and Frosting

So here is a recipe for cake and frosting from
http://onecharmingparty.com/category/awesome-first-birthdays/Simple Cake
I still have to figure out what agave nectar is, but I think I am going to try it.

2/3 cup rice milk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup light agave nectar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°. Cut 2 circles from parchment paper to fit 2 six-inch round cake pans. Lightly oil and flour the round cake pans and place parchment circles in the bottom. In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice milk and apple cider vinegar. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to curdle. With a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat in agave nectar, applesauce and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of both cakes comes out clean. Let pans cool for 30 minutes and then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack. Once both cakes are completely cooled, stack (with a layer of frosting or organic jam between cake layers) and frost.

Frosting
(this may contain soy, depending on your margarine):
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated and dairy-free margarine, like Earth Balance
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup rice milk
Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and rice milk. Beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

(Both recipes adapted from the book “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World”)