'Labor Inducing' Cupcakes TAKE TWO

I ate TWO delicious frosted cupcakes of lemony goodness at 4:30pm. I even ate some batter during the cupcake-making process...

• I have since had TWO contractions, over an hour apart... could just be BH... but we'll see.

I am about to eat another one at 8:00pm.
...... And no luck..... hmmm... what else?

"Labor Inducing" Lemon Cupcake

There is a resturant in North Carolina (Cappellino's Crazy Cakes) who boasts 124 births from OVER-due mamas after the consumption of their seemingly average 'Lemon drop Cupcake'...

Read about the Cupcake here in an article from Mar. of 2011.


I found TWO recipes suppossedly from the SAME bakery.

Lemon Drop Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes.
For the Cupcakes

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sour cream

For the Frosting

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon peel and vanilla; mix well.
3. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
4. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
5. For frosting: Cream butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon peel, and milk; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes.

Recipe TWO:

Triple lemondrop cupcake

Makes 24 servings
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
• 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 3 eggs plus 4 egg yolks, divided
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons low-fat milk, divided
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, divided
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat 2 (8-inch) round pans with cooking spray and flour, shaking out excess flour.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar until pale yellow. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and then gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with 1 cup milk.
4. Pour batter into pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool fully before frosting.
5. Combine 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1/2 cup lemon juice, cornstarch, 6 tablespoons butter, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Stir until sugar dissolves then reduce heat to low.
6. Beat 4 egg yolks in a small bowl and whisk in a small amount of hot lemon mixture, to temper the eggs. Lower heat and whisk egg mixture back into pot, stirring continually. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat until mixture thickens. Pour mixture into a bowl and chill until completely cool.
7. To make frosting, beat confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons milk until smooth and fluffy.
8. To assemble cupcake, inject each cupcake with lemon filling (or use a pastry brush to brush mixture all over exterior or cupcake) place in refirdgerator for 30 minutes. 
9. Frost cake with lemon frosting on top. Chill until ready to serve.

On the Day that you were born...

--------------------------Monday, December 24, 2007------------------------------------

• All About You…
• Time of birth: 9:14 am
• Weight: 5 pounds, 14 ounces
• Length: 19 inches
• Hospital: Yale
• City: New Haven
• About the Day You Were Born….
• You share a birthday with: Television Host, Ryan Seacrest, born in 1974 Film producer and inventor, Howard Hughes, born in 1905 Singer, Ricky Martin, born in 1971
• Movie "The Bucket List", is on everyone's mind
• GPS tops Christmas Lists

BEFORE you enroll in Kindergarten...

Personal and Social Development
Approach to learning

• Shows eagerness and curiosity as a learner
• Persists in task and seeks help when encountering a problem
• Is generally pleasant and cooperative

Self-Control

• Follows rules and routines
• Manages transitions (going from one activity to the next)
• Demonstrates normal activity level

Interactions with Others

• Interacts easily with one or more children
• Interacts easily with familiar adults
• Participates in group activities
• Plays well with others
• Takes turns and shares
• Cleans up after play

Conflict Resolution

• Seeks adult help when needed to resolve conflicts
• Uses words to resolve conflicts

Language and Literacy
Listening

• Listens with understanding to directions and conversations
• Follows one-step directions
• Follows two-step directions

Speaking

• Speaks clearly enough to be understood without contextual clues
• Relates experiences with some understanding of sequences of events

Literature and Reading

• Listens with interest to stories read aloud
• Shows interest in reading-related activities
• Retells information from a story
• Sequences three pictures to tell a logical story

Writing

• Uses pictures to communicate ideas
• Uses scribbles, shapes, and letter-like symbols to write words or ideas

Alphabet Knowledge

• Recites/sings alphabet
• Matches upper-case letters
• Matches lower-case letters
• Identifies upper-case letters
• Identifies lower-case letters

Mathematical Thinking
Patterns and Relationships

• Sorts by color, shape, and size
• Orders or seriates several objects on the basis of one attribute
• Recognizes simple patterns and duplicates them

Number concept and operations

• Rote counts to 20
• Counts objects with meaning to 10
• Matches numerals
• Identifies by naming, numerals 0-10

Geometry and spatial relations

• Identifies 4 shapes- circle, square, rectangle, triangle
• Demonstrates concepts of positional/directional concepts (up/down, over/under, in/out, behind/in front of, beside/between, top/bottom, inside/outside, above/below, high/low, right/left, off/on, first/last, far/near, go/stop).

Measurement

• Shows understanding of and uses comparative words (big/little, large/small, short/long, tall/short, slow/fast, few/many, empty/full, less/more.

Physical Development
Gross-Motor Skills

• Pedals and steers a tricycle
• Jumps in place, landing on two feet
• Jumps consecutively- 7 jumps
• Balances on one foot for 5 seconds
• Hops on one foot 2-3 hops
• Hops on one foot- 6 ft.
• Throws a ball with direction- 5 ft.
• Catches a thrown ball with arms and body
• Climbs a playground ladder
• Skips smoothly for 20 feet

Fine-Motor Skills

• Stacks 10, one-inch blocks
• Strings 4 1/2″ beads in two minutes
• Completes a seven piece interlocking puzzle
• Makes a pancake, snake, and ball from playdough
• Grasps pencil correctly
• Copies: vertical line, horizontal line, circle, cross, square, V, triangle
• Copies first name
• Prints first name without a model
• Grasps scissors correctly
• Cuts within 1/4″ of a 6″ straight line on construction paper
• Cuts out a 3″ square on construction paper
• Cuts out a 3″ triangle on construction paper
• Cuts out a 3″ circle on construction paper
• Uses a glue stick appropriately
• Uses appropriate amount of glue for tasks

The Arts
Creative Arts

• Identifies 10 colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, black, white, brown, pink
• Uses a variety of art materials for tactile experience and exploration

Music/Movement

• Participates in group music experiences
• Participates in creative movement/dance

Creative Dramatics

• Makes believe with objects
• Takes on pretend roles and situations

Why I LOVE being a mom....

When I was young and pregnant, finding out I was going to give birth to a boy, I was terrified as to how  I would  care for a little boy... How I would do bathroom breaks and teach him to use a toliet or dress himself. I was hopelessly overwhelmed.

As the two of us, grew to know and learn each other my mind eased. I loved seeing the world through his eyes. Suddenly dinosaurs and robots, mud puddles and frogs were a part of my existence.

As my family grows, the wonders continue to expand. It really is no simple task to convince a four-year-old boy a ‘Tea Party’ with his little sister is cool, or a two-year-old girl that there is no such thing as boy colors and girl colors, and a baby in-utero that now IS the time to be born.

I am sure they have taught me as much as I taught them over the years and I am certain we will continue to enrich each-others lives into the future!

So it was pretty easy to think of why I love being a mom… I love the feeling of crushed cheerios between my toes and stepping on the occasional Lego, I love sleeping on the very edge of my own bed with a foot in my ribs and an arm waving and flying into my face throughout the night. It is sheer joy eating cold meals well into the evening or settling for the table scraps that sat in front of a preschool aged child for just under an hour while being ignored and falling beyond luke warm, if it wasn’t for that cracker I discovered on the cushion of the high chair I just might have starved to death. I do not mind knowing every one of the Disney Characters or when I start randomly humming the ‘Silly Songs’ CD songs line at the bank.  I enjoy cold QUICK, showers all-the-while shouting “Who’s Crying? Why is he/she crying? I’m getting out right now”, merely because it saves time and water… which I need for the loads and loads and loads and loads of laundry. Reading “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”, three-to-five times a day and taking at least 30 minutes to get ready to go ANY where and all the EMERGENCY potty breaks in EVERY public restroom EVER built while we are out for a few, quick errands…

None of that, NONE of it is bad, not bad at all. It is not bad because I am blessed; ALL moms are blessed with the joys of motherhood. I had been around children all my life and I always knew the joy they would bring to their parents and others, but I never felt the pure awe-embracing bliss my own children would bring into my life as soon as they were discovered.  

I am blessed that my children have made even the most mundane tasks a breeze and a joy, I am blessed that a solo-trip to the supermarket has become a vacation… a LONELY vacation.

Blessed that Friday nights mean pizza and a movie, at home, Saturday mornings cartoons and being up before the sun, weekends feel the same as weekdays, every season with its new discoveries allows for different yet glorious adventures.

Blessed that I am paid in sticky kisses, extra tight hugs, chocolate stained handshakes, booger sleeves, being called “Mama” and watching a smile extend check-to-check on my little ones face the first time they see Santa Clause, or lose a tooth, or eat an ice cream cone or play in rain puddles or say “Goodnight” or watch the snow fall or ride a bicycle or write their name for the first time or learn to shuffle-step, throw a baseball, or feel an ocean breeze, or… just smile.

Birthing Yoga!

In my infinate mama research, I've found the BEST yoga positions to ease labor and delivery pains.... There are quite a few really great yoga postures and movements that bring more comfort and ease to the birthing process.

The first two of postures have you on all fours. This position has the advantage of encouraging your baby to roll their spine against your belly. A position that your doctor or midwife will call Anterior. This is the ideal position for birthing a baby because it is the path of least resistance and therefore makes for an easier birth for you and baby.

1. Cat Stretch – rock your hips forward and back. (The swaying of the low back is not appropriate for all pregnant women. In some bodies, it can simply be too much for the low back and cause strain.)

2. Child’s pose – resting and recovery.

 

3. Horizontal Figure Eights - Movements that move the hips tend to help the most in labour. This next one isn’t technically a yoga posture. It actually comes from belly dancing which has strong roots in childbirth. It feels very soothing in labour.

4. Hip Circles – standing – with support. -  Leaning on a loved one is a wonderful way to feel and be supported during your labour. Just sure to bend your knees so that you can really move your hips round and round. You can also do the figure eights supported in this way as well.

 

 

5. Hip Circles on the Ball - Again moving the hips is key. Hip circles are another great way to keep this part of the body open, loose and relaxed… just what you need to help your cervix open more easily. You can do small circles, medium circles or really big ones. 

6. Deep lunges - Once your cervix is fully opened, you will start to feel pressure as the baby makes his/her way down the birth path or canal. Deep lunges help to create more openness in the pelvis so that baby has more space to move down into.

7.  Squat - Squatting is probably the most traditional way to birth a baby. For humans, the squatting position shorts and widens the birth path or canal. It literally makes the path bigger. This is a very good thing. In addition, squatting in an upright position has the added benefit of using the force of gravity to assist your uterus in pushing the baby out. You can squat by holding onto something (most hospitals have a squatting or birth bar) or you can hold onto your partner. Alternatively you can also squat against the birthing ball.

 

 

I am JUST a mom, mildly freaking out...

Perhaps it is bad timing, perhaps I am becoming a 'crunchy mom', perhaps I am growing less content in following the rules or perhaps I have little trust in others.... I don't know... But, I stumbled accross a documentary earlier in the week that changed, or rather questioned my decisions regarding the birth of our third child (which can really take place any day now).

Pregnant in America  --- It was featured on Hulu or I probably would have missed it. Pregnant in America is a motivational, and inspirational documentary made by film maker Steve Buonagurio about the birth of his daughter Bella. Shocked by the greed of U.S. hospitals, insurance companies and medical organizations, Steve and his wife Mandy set out to create a natural home birth in a world where everything is anything but natural. The film is as much educational as it is entertaining and prepares expecting parents for their uncertain journey of being pregnant and having their baby.

Considering the birth is immenent I am totally freaking out and questioning just about every aspect of pregnancy, birth and delivery.

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

Jack's Class, much like all elementary school classes across the state have made snowflakes for the Newtown, Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Gingerbread Houses with Daddy

Kindergarten Yearly Goals Preview

Religious/Moral Education:

• Understanding of sacrifice (Jesus' AND others)
• Discussion of basic doctrine / exhibiting basic morally sound social skills
• Knowledge of Bible stories / Moral Story

Mathematics:

• Understanding place value
• Visualizing Patterns

History/Geography/Social Science:

• Map skills
• Neighborhood/State characteristics
• Jobs/Roles
• Changing of times

Language Arts:

• Phonics - letter sounds and blends
• Proper letter formation
• Proper sentence structure in speech

Science:

• Hands on experimentations involving
• cooking,
• weather,
• change of seasons

Foreign Language:

• Focus on common vocabulary building in (3) languages
• French
• Spanish
• American Sign Language

Arts:

• Exploring fine arts of print work and musical compositions
• Creation of unique art and music projects
• Physical creative movement
• Development of gross motor skills
• Understanding rhythm and beat

Others:

• Life Skills
• Sorting objects
• Household chores
• Motor Skills
• Pouring liquids and small grained objects
• Making straight lines
• Folding and cutting
• Memorization
• Address,
• Telephone
• Full name

Language Arts Year Plan Preview

Language Arts – YEAR PLAN

 Student will:

 1                    Listen critically to interpret and evaluate a poem. Complete sentences orally and in writing.

2                    Identify and use complete sentences.

3                    Recognize that a sentence begins with a capital letter and end with an end mark. Write sentences correctly.

4                    Recognize the importance of writing with capital letters correctly. To trace and write capital letters.

5                    Complete assessment on sentences.

                                                                                                                    

6                    Identify the parts of a sentence. Write complete sentences by combining a naming and a telling part.

7                    Identifying the naming parts and the telling parts of a sentence. To add naming parts or telling parts to incomplete sentences.

8                    Add sentence parts to form complete sentences. Write complete sentences about a topic.

9                    Identify and write rhyming words.

10                Complete assessment on parts of a sentence.

Year Plan Layout Preview

Week One:

Religion – Self, unique & special

Math – Counting/ Numbers to 10 (1A)

Reading – sight words, Kissing Hand

Phonics – Initial sounds (1)

English – Exploring language

 Week Two:

Religion – We belong to God’s Church (1)

Math – Counting/Numbers to 12 (1B)

Reading – sight words, Peter Rabbit, Goldilocks-retell

Phonics – Short A vowel (3)

Spelling – Short a (at, sat, cat, ran, an, man, dad, ham, bag, pass)

Handwriting – Different lines/circles (12-19)

English – Exploring language

 

Week Three:

Religion – We go to Mass (2)

Math – Graphing (1C)

Reading – The Nap/Oh Cats – story events, predictions

Phonics – Rhyming (1)

Handwriting – Numerals (19-22)

Spelling - Short a (can, map, has, ram, pan, sad, rat, lad, clap, bat)

English – Complete sentences (1)

 

Week Four:

Religion – God’s Word (3)

Math – Addition/Subtraction – Ways to make # (2A)

Reading – What did I see/I Went Walking

Spelling – Short I (it, sit, hit, pick, sick, kick, pig, wig, fig, kid – squid)

Phonics – Short i (3)

Handwriting – L, I / straight line letters (22-24)

English – Identify complete sentences (1)

Science – Senses (A1-1)

Social Studies – Families of long ago (1-1)

Planning ahead...

Always be prepared and always plan ahead when homeschooling.

I have decided to post "previews" of all my curriciulum and planning tools.

Each year I am composing or modifying an outline for the entire year for each grade level (Pre-K, Grade 1-2, Grade 3-4 and any others based on requests), split between subject areas and topics. All very broad, but helpful in planning each indiviual month and enabling scheduling of lessons.

Each month, I am composing a breakdown of monthly activities, events and even weekly themes. This will be broken down by subject area.

Each week I will lay out the specifics. A lesson for each day for each subject area, along with 2 or 3 alternate activities to teach the same skill. I will create 2 different layout options for ease of use, both covering all the general subject areas (language arts -reading/comprehension, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, grammar; mathematics; science; history/social sciences; religion or social skills; handwriting or fine motor skills; arts - physical activity, music, computers/electronics, arts and crafts, library science;)

COME ON BABY!

Natural Induction Methods:

1. Acupressure - There are pressure points in the shoulder well, webbing between thumb and forefinger, heel and small of back. Don't stop there... Get a pedicure, a massage...

2. Balsamic Vinegar - Add a dash to your salad, even chicken when cooking.

3. Bananas - Potassium is meant to help with muscle contractions so being low can offset labor. Bananas have plenty of potassium.

4. Basil - Throw some in your cooking, the fresher, the better.

5. Black/Blue Cohosh - Taken in tea form is a common way to induce labor. Some midwives use it even during labor to increase slow contractions.

6. Borage seed oil - Meant to have similar effects to evening primrose oil - dilating and effacing.

7. Bouncing on ball/ Bumpy car ride/ sex - Spreading your legs as well as the moving up and down can help the baby move down, and sometimes the baby just needs a bit of a jiggle!

8. Castor oil

9. Clary sage oil - Use for aromatherapy as an oil or in a candle.

10. Dancing

11. Dates - Six date fruit a day in the leadup to your EDD is meant to help with dilation.

12. Eggplant - Many people swear by eggplant parmigiana.

13. Evening primrose oil - Can be taken orally from 35 weeks and used internally (good idea to do this at night and use a panty liner) from 38 weeks. It's meant to soften the cervix so that even if you do get induced, the doctor may be able to break your waters and not need any further intervention to bring on labor.

14. Glass of Wine - The slight effects of the alcohol are said to bring on labor, however remember that drinking during pregnancy is NOT recommended.

15. Golden seal - Taken in tablet form is easiest.

16. Licorice - Try to get the natural kind - Like castor oil, some people claim that the slightly laxative effect can cause cramps in the bowel which lead to contractions.

17. Mandarin oil on heels

18. Motherwort - Taken in tea or pill form.

19. Nipple stimulation - Needs to be done for approx an hour at a time.

20. Oregano - Throw some in your cooking!

21. Pineapple - Best taken fresh and raw.

22. Quinine - Not quite sure how it works but I've read that it is used in various countries - either pill or liquid form.

23. Raspberry leaf - Taken either as a tea or pill. Start at about 34 weeks - definitely strengthens the uterus, leading to a (hopefully) shorter labor, because each contraction can achieve more.

24. Relaxation excercises - Try some relaxing music and just lie back or even join a meditation class.

25. Spicy food - The reason it works may be because of the upset it causes to the digestive system which then upsets the uterus.

26. Squats - Doing a few of these each day often helps to move the baby down and into position.

27. Squaw Vine - Old remedy. Not sure how well it works.

28. Stretch and sweep of membranes - Your midwife or doctor can perform this simple procedure. A finger is inserted into the cervix and a gentle 'sweep' of the finger slightly separates the uterus wall and amniotic sac, sometimes leading to labor within hours or days. Some women say it's an easy, painless procedure, others claim it can be very painful. How well it works can also depend on if you are very far dilated or not.

29. Swimming - Relaxed swimming can help bring out the baby - both the water and the movement help.

30. Thyme Tea

31. Visualisation excercises - Many women swear by these. Try making a recording of yourself talking about the baby moving down, preparing to be born etc or just imagine it in your head.

32. Walking - The bumping up and down can help the baby move into the birth canal. In fact, this is one of the few ways that most doctors agree on for starting labor.

33. Yoga - Many places offer special classes for all stages of pregnancy.

For a few more, please visit:

NINE years later

Matt and I celebrated nine years together, today. A monumentous occurance for some, but a small stepping stone for us.

We've certainly experienced a lot in the past nine years... positive AND negative, but, I would not trade a minute of it... not for anything.

Married 6 years, together nine, and 3 babies... sounds pretty good to me

Thanksgiving Menu

What to make? What to eat?

Ingredients

•2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

•5 eggs

•1 tablespoon olive oil

•FILLING:

•1 small pie pumpkin (about 2-1/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

•4 teaspoons chopped shallot

•1/3 cup butter, cubed

•2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

•3/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

•1/4 teaspoon salt

•1/4 teaspoon pepper

•2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

•1 small bay leaf

•1 egg, lightly beaten

•SAUCE:

•1 cup heavy whipping cream

•3 tablespoons butter

•2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

Directions

•Place 2-1/2 cups flour in a large bowl; make a well in the center. Beat eggs and oil; pour into well. Stir together, forming a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes, adding remaining flour if necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute pumpkin and shallot in butter until tender. Add the sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Transfer to a food processor; cover and process until blended. Return to the pan; stir in cream and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf.

• Divide pasta dough into fourths; roll one portion to 1/16-in. thickness. (Keep remaining dough covered until ready to use.) Working quickly, place rounded teaspoonfuls of filling 1 in. apart over half of pasta sheet. Brush around filling with egg. Fold sheet over; press down to seal. Cut into squares with a pastry wheel. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

• Bring a stock pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer; cook for 1-2 minutes or until ravioli float to the top and are tender. Drain and keep warm.

• In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil; cook, uncovered, until reduced by half. Stir in butter and sage. Serve with ravioli. Yield: 6 servings.

What TO wear... Family Portrait Style

I always say COORDINATE do not match, meaning pick 3 or 4 colors and everyone wear a variation of them . I love COLORS patterns and layers and accesories

These are my opinions based on My experience of what I think photographs well:)

Here are some of my Do's and Dont's

DONT wear all WHITE shirts (or black or red or ANYTHING where everyone is in the same color. This is a very dated look (90's:)) Also everyone blends together and makes the image less interesting.

DO wear patterns! I love little boys and men in a colorful plaid shirt. I then would have others bring out one of the colors of the plaid shirt and wear a plain colored shirt and pair it with a cute scarf, boots or heels.

DONT wear LOGOS!!!!!! No NIKE, PATAGONIA, GAP or other labels. This is VERY distracting in an image. There is a slight exception to this... if you prefer a more urban style sometimes graphic tees work:) For example a "Rockstar" shirt, make sense?

DO layers! Put a polo shirt under the little guys plaid shirt. Bring a denim Jacket to wear over the dress. A cute Pea Coat with matching heels is just darling! Switching out layers changes up the look and feel of the photos.

DONT wear something unflattering. This seems like a given right? BUT Im constantly surprised when women complain that they hate their arms yet they choose a short sleeve shirt. To this I say 3/4 length sleeves:)

DO go shopping and purchase new clothes (or at least some new items). I figure, if you are investing in a photo session than you would like the images as awesome as possible right? Put some thought into the outfits:)

Packing my bags...

Lessons I learned just in time for the THIRD time around....

DON'T:

Don't bring nursing bras, bring a nursing tank instead.

Don't bring nursing pads, boobs would leak, but not until you get home.

Don't bring baby fingernail clippers or files.

Don't bring girl stuff if you're having a boy. But, if you know the gender, stay away from the neutral stuff too.

Don't bring going home outfits that don't have legs for the car seat.

Don't bring your own underwear. You will be a fountain that spurts red for days and days (and weeks and weeks) so use those ridiculous mesh panties they provide. Use the heck out of them.

DO:

Do bring your breastfeeding pillow. BUT only if you are inexperienced...It will be your only comfort during that 3AM feed where the baby won't stay awake and you think you're going to drop him because you should be sleeping but you're not.

Do bring a tube of nipple butter/lanolin and apply it to your entire boob after EVERY feeding for at least three weeks. You'll avoid cracked and bleeding nipples that way.

Do bring a robe in case you decide to stay in your hospital gown.

Do bring a warm outfit for the baby to wear during the first night, even if the hospital website says they provide one.

Do bring baby mittens to keep them from scratching themselves (and your boobs) with sharp claws.

Do bring plastic flipflops for the shower.

Do bring snacks.

Do bring your baby memory book or journal and ask the nurses (nicely) if they'll stamp your baby's footprint in it while they're doing the birth certificate.

What TO wear

I should be on a TLC special. My wardrobe needs serious assistance, some purging, some watchful eyes and some 'friendly' imput.... I definately have the Wardrobe Essentials: 1) Classic White Blouse

2) Little Black Dress

3)Basic Pant Suit 4)Pencil Skirt

5)Neutral Tone Pants

6) Jeans

7) Tank tops & Tee-shirts (layer-able) 8) Shells (sleeve-less tops) 9)Cardigan

10) Cocktail Dress 11) Assortment of Jewlery 12) Assortment of belts, scarves and bags 13) Basic flats, basic heals and tall boots 14) Tailored Blazer 15) Long 'trench' Coat 16) Crew or Polo Sweater 17) Comfy Sweatshirt 18) White Cotton T-Shirt 19) Leather Jacket

Trunk or Treat

Pumpkin Picking

Beautiful Fall day

My heart smiled watching my grandfather play catch with my children....

Family Octoberfest

Balloon Day

Tomorrow is National Balloon Day and in honor of such…
Balloon Vampire Bat

Get two black balloons. Inflate one of the balloons fully; inflate the second only half way. Duct tape the tied ends of the balloons together so they form the body of a bat. Instruct the child to cut out two oval eyes and two triangular fangs from white construction paper. Have her cut two small pupils to sit in the center of the bat’s eyes, two triangular ears and a pair of wings out of black construction paper. Assist her in attaching these features to the body of the bat with black duct tape. Use the tape to attach a ribbon where the balloons meet. Attach the ribbon’s other end where you’d like the vampire bat to hang.

Balloon People

After your kindergartner chooses a balloon, inflate it. Direct the child to form a face by decorating the balloon with markers or stickers. Cut out a base shape to resemble a pair of feet from construction paper. Ask the child to color and decorate these feet with markers. Place a small hole in the center of the feet-shaped base, and thread the tied end of the inflated balloon through the hole. If the balloon does not stand up correctly, tape a coin to the bottom of the feet to balance it.

Balloon Octopus

Cut up several colored drinking straws into 1-inch lengths. Direct your kindergartner to thread these straws over eight separate pieces of string. Tie a bead at the end of each string to prevent the straws from falling off. Next, inflate a balloon. Assist the child in taping the strings around the balloon to act as arms of the octopus. He can then draw a face on the balloon to complete this fun octopus.

Balloon Bean Bags

Blow up a balloon to stretch it, then allow it to deflate. Attach a funnel to the balloon neck, then allow your child to pour in dry lentils until the balloon is completely full. Tie the neck of the balloon in a knot, then cut off any excess. Get a second deflated balloon. Cut off the neck completely and throw this away–making sure to save the bottom half. Using the bottom half of the second balloon, stretch it over the lentil-filled balloon. Make sure you are covering the knot you tied on the first balloon. Add more layers for extra security.

Hot Air Balloon

Place two long pieces of ribbon crosswise on a flat surface. Tie a knot where they meet. As your child to decorate a paper cup with paints or markers. It will act as the hot-air balloon’s basket. Pierce four equidistant holes around the paper cup’s rim. Thread the four ribbon ends through these holes and fasten with knots. Position an inflated balloon inside the ribbons. Glue the ribbons to the balloon surface to fasten.

Preschool Art

Have the children decorate blown-up balloons at the art table. Balloons can be decorated with glue and sparkles, beads, or other colouful shiny items. Have children use items of their choices as well. A list of Art-Shelf ideas can be found in our online E-Book available on our site.Once dried, the childrens’ balloon creations can be hung around the room. Or you can paper mache newspaper strips over the balloons and have children decorate them once dried. Pop balloons inside mache and pull out. Their balloon creations will never deflate.

Preschool Math

Keep a record and count how mant days it takes for the balloons to deflate. Count how many balloons you are waiting to deflate.

Science Experiment

Blow up a few different shapes of balloons. Place balloons side by side on top of a shelf but still visible to the children.If needed, tape or sticky tack to surface to prevent the balloons from falling or being blown around. Record how long it takes for the balloons to start to deflate.Does one balloon deflate faster than another? Have children draw pictures of what they see happen as the balloons deflate.

Sensory Activity

Once the balloons are deflated, place them in a sensory bin with other balloons. The other balloons can be filled with air, water, rice, popcorn kernels, oatmeal, etc.
Let the children FEEL the difference in the balloons;HEAR the sounds they make; SEE the difference in size, shape and colour and SMELL the balloons (4 out of 5 senses used)

...More Scheduling

A traditional school year is five to six hours a day, 5 days a week for 36 weeks or 180 days.

As a home-schooling family, we could have chosen to follow the same schedule of the local school, but we chose to customize a schedule to suit our family’s needs.

According to the state of Connecticut, we do not have to do every subject every day of the school year.

I have been struggling with the amount of activities in which to enroll my children and just beginning to face the realities that I do not have to enroll my children in every class or outside activity that their/my friends do.

I have decided to enroll each child in in only one pay activity per week. Of course I will schedule play dates and the like, and invite other children to sit in some of our activities and lessons, but I do not want these things to interfere with the educational purpose of home schooling.

Our Fridays will continue to be left for field trip days whereas, Monday through Thursday will hold the highest concentration of academic study. I do however, plan on teaching some things on Fridays and Saturdays.

I am such a planner that I cannot help myself about planning out everything. Of course, I do not anticipate a play-by-play daily run-down, but I will specify subject area topics for each day.

The amount of time spent on each subject depends upon the age, small motor skills, learning style, and abilities of each child (ranges as follows: 3-5 minutes for preschoolers, 10-20 minutes for 1st -3rd graders, 20-45 minutes for 4th – 6th graders, 45 minutes or more for 8th – 12th graders). Although Jonathan is at a preschool age, his attention-span, learning style and abilities enable lessons to run approximately 10-15 minutes.

The total number of hours spent each day in one-on-one instruction ranges as follows: thirty minutes in Kindergarten (broken up into several five-minute sessions), one to two hours in grades 1 – 6, two hours or more in grades 7 – 12. Again, more can be accomplished orally than handwritten for children with handwriting difficulties. In our planning, our TOTAL home-schooling daily agenda is two hours — which conveniently is the amount of nap-time for the baby.

The remainder of our school day is spent in independent book exploration, free play activities with his siblings and friends, complete own “chores”, exploring an instrument, create an art projects, and/or participate in any other activity that can be done independently. The television and computers are not available during the school day, and are limited to ninety minutes weekly, other than for educational purposes.

Some states require an excess of four to five hours of home schooling daily, thankfully Connecticut is not one of them. However there is a difference between “actual teaching time” and “school attendance” time.

Ladies Day

Harwington Rod and Rifle! Favorite Mama day off of the year!!!

Making it... Halloween style

Trina decided she wants to be Rapunzel for Halloween. Although I was not surprised by that, I was surprised that she asked me to make the dress for her. I havent had much time or energy to sew lately, so I am not really sure where the idea came from, nevertheless, I am excited. I was anyway until she told me she ALSO wanted to where the costume that I make to our Disney trip in less than a week... SUPER!

Poor nameless child...

I am still at a lose as to what we should be naming our littliest addtion to the family. Matt and I cannot seem to agree on any names and it is beyond aggravating. I loath his suggestions and he mine...

He likes : Danger, Cameron (He seems to be digging the new age)

I like : Nathaniel, William, Christopher, Donimick, Andrew, Elijah, Michael, Nicholas, Timothy, Cadence, Caleb (I'm a classic girl)

Jack suggests : Alexander, Daniel (It's all in who he knows)

Trina suggests : Maximus, Flynn (I think our little Rapunzel has an addiction)

Autumn Butter

AUTUMN BUTTER -

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
* 1/4 cup whipping cream
* 1 cup butter, softened

Directions:
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Spread onto your favorite muffins, quick bread, sweet crackers, or drop a dollop onto morning pancakes.

CINNAMON BUTTER -

Ingredients:

* 2 sticks butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve over sweet bread, muffins, or morning waffles. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.


Winnie the Pooh's Honey Pot Balls
Ingredients:
1/2 c. Peanut butter
1/2 c. Dry milk
1 T. Honey
2 T. crushed nuts

Directions:
Mix in bowl the first 3 ingredients. Mix well. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Mold each piece into a ball, sprinkle with the crushed nuts.

....and He's ROLLING

Jack's was invited to his FIRST birthday party of the school year and it happened to be a throw-back to my childhood.

Although he has NEVER even seen or heard of roller skates, I still thought it would be "fun" to give it a shot with a bunch of 5 year old and their unexpierenced skating abilities. It was painstakingly obvious that the parental folks got far more of a workout than the little ones...Still yet, the kids had a ball and actually learned quite a bit on how to "stay up" on wheels. He and his little classmates, also played a mean gave of air-hockey and pinball.

All the parents I met (the whopping three others that attended) were super nice, and "real". I think it's going to e a good year.

Talk Like a Pirate

PIRATE’S TREASURE MAP

Tasha started kindergarten this year and has been in “craft overload” a bit so we don’t do as many projects at home as we used to. But every once in awhile, I come up with something to intrigue her and “making” the paper for the treasure map definitely did! CLICK HERE to see a full sized photo of the craft. Close the photo window when done viewing.


Pirate's Treasure Map

You’ll need cold coffee or tea (about 1/2 cup), piece of white paper, a blowdryer, a little imagination and some markers.

Take a piece of nice white paper and rip off all the edges (don’t cut them with scissors, rip them!) If you rip the paper a bit more than you meant to, it’s not the end of the world.

Crumple the paper up as tightly as you can into a ball.

Flatten the paper out again and put onto a plate or cookie sheet. (if you haven’t told the kids what you’re doing, they’ll start thinking you’re really weird right about now).

Pour coffee or tea over the paper. Swoosh around with your hands to make sure it covers everything.

If you’re doing this with a large group of smaller kids, you may want to get it to this point and set them aside for a couple minutes (get the children arranged at the table for drawing their maps). Then pull out some finished, dried sheets that you premade. It keeps the kids from having to sit through the “waiting” parts of the project.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes (if you’re doing it with a group, you don’t have to let it sit so long… 2 minutes is enough to give it some colour)

Pour the coffee off into the sink.

Blowdry with a hand held blowdryer on high for about 5 minutes (leave it sitting on the plate while blowdrying or it will tear to pieces). When it’s pretty dry (and starts to lift a bit) switch the blowdrier to low to finish off (about another 2 minutes).

Now… take some markers and draw your map. There should be a big X in the middle, a dotted line trail that winds around and maybe a title that says “Pirate Island” and a North, South, East, West arrow in the corner.

Once you’ve drawn the trail and X you can draw and label some “obstacles”. Some ideas are:

Bloody Beach

Waterfalls of Doom

Skull rock

Monster Mountain

Skeleton Jungle

Captain’s Cave (Captain’s Cavern)

Serpent Pass

You can roll the map up and slip into a 1/4 tp roll holder or tie with a ribbon, stick it into a bottle or just hang it up on your wall!

Little Lady's off to Learning Camp

Trina is off to her "first day of school", she even instisted on having a back-pack and lunch box packed JUST like big brother, despite the fact that she'd only be there for two hours.

She seemed to do "okay". I need to realize that she is a year younger (or more) than ALL the kids in the class, becuase I was having a hard time with the fact that she couldn't perform the same tasks as the other children. She caan make the "K" for her name, and that's about it (which made it difficult for me to see the other children writing their names independently). She did have fun, learn somethings and spend time with other children WITHOUT being desruptive, so... we are off to an excellent start.

Parent/Teacher Night

My stomach was in knots for days over Jonathan's Academic performance and the curriculum in Kindergarten, as well as his seemingly inability to make friends with the children his own age. His teacher alleviated a LOT of my concerns, although not all of them. She did confirm that he often is playing alone outside at recess time. Of course I worry less about that and more about his academic achievements, especially since I KNOW he has friends elsewhere and REALLY can get along with anyone. I think the play-time issue is, he doesn't like excluding anyone, and that is the nature of the recess BEAST. Over All, I had a FANTASTIC meeting with his teacher. She totally put my mind at ease... He's in for a challenging year! HOORAY!

Apples!

The picture above is a photograph of the finished craft. The diagram instructions are drawn. (drawings load faster than photos over the internet)

Stamp the side of your hand in brown paint and stamp it on the paper as the trunk

Stamp your index finger in green paint and stamp it many times on the paper for the leaves (re-dipping in the paint as necessary)

Stamp your pinkie finger in red paint and stamp it lightly on the paper for the apples (light stamps make rounder prints)

Good for Adam and Eve, Johnny Appleseed, Arbor Day and Summer themes.

Leaves

Objectives:
Students will see the natural beauty in a fall leaf as they use non-traditional methods of creating leaf patterns.
What You Need:

* Construction paper
* Red, green, yellow and orange paint
* Paint brush for each color
* Safety scissors
What You Do:

1. Cover table with news print.
2. Have supplies ready and in individual trays, with paint brushes for each color.
3. Also have a sink or soapy water bucket and paper towel close at hand for clean up.
4. Have students paint one hand using each color, until the entire hand is covered.
5. Press hand on colored or white previously cut paper.
6. This technique will make some beautiful fall leaf shapes.
7. Once dried, have the students cut out their hand prints.
8. Use them to border a chalk board, or design a large "word" tree and change it through the seasons.


Objectives:
Children will learn about design in nature.
What You Need:

* Paper
* Different types of leaves
* Paint or crayons

What You Do:

1. Put the paper flat on the table and then put the leaf under the paper.
2. After you've done that, use the crayon to shade the print of the leaf on the paper.
3. If you are using paint, you put the leaf in the paint and then print in on the paper.

Little Ballerina

So exciting for Bean!

Her first BIG girl, away from Mommy AND Jack class. She's loving it, she's excited, she's excelling...

Karate CHOP!

He's chopping right through belts!!! He's doing so very well that during his next grading in October, he'll jump right passed the yellow gupy belt and straight to the purple!

Patriot's Day

My kids created these Q Tip Fireworks to celebrate Patriot’s Day BUT, they are good for any holiday or special occasion.

An easy craft for preschoolers on up for Independence Day or an important sporting event! Even younger hands can pull it off! The baby (15 months) made a cute one!

Here’s what you’ll need

• Q Tips
• Water
• Small container
• Food coloring
• Paper plate
• Black construction paper
• Glue

Here’s how you make them…1. Cut your Q Tips in various sizes. You can actually break them off pretty easily with your hands.

2.Now you will need to color you Q Tips. Put some water in a small container and add food coloring (6-8 drops is good). Dip your swabs in to the colored water and place on a paper plate. Repeat for as many colors of fireworks as you’d like.

3. If you are not doing this craft right away, or have time to prepare ahead of time, you can leave your swabs out to dry overnight. If you need them to be dry quickly you can put them in the microwave, on high for 5-6 minutes, or until they are dry.

4. On a piece of black paper glue your Q Tips in a circular pattern. For younger children it will be easier if you drawa black dot on the paper and instruct them to glue their swabs all pointing to the dot in the middle.

Make as many different fireworks as you can, make them all different colors, sizes and patterns!

Keep in mind that the more food coloring you add the more vibrant your swabs will be!

It looked more fun at 10...

What happened to being a grown-up? Isn't it suppossed to be fun?

I don't think I have ever felt so overwhelmed, stressed and behind the 8-ball in my life! It feels like I can never get ahead of anything. I can never get it all done or have enough money or teach the kids enough or cook and bake fresh enough or clean and organize enough. I know I HAVE to do these things and I do them to the best of my abilities, but I never feel like it is enough or that I am satisfied.

Grandparent's Day

Have kids assemble small green leaves to represent their grandparents and parents, as well as themselves and each of their siblings. Have them attach each leaf with a paperclip to a small twig with numerous branches or do a brown-paint hand print on construction paper and fingerprints in fall leaf colors to fill in the top of the tree. Starting with the grandparents’ at the top of the tree, let them glue the generations at varying levels on the tree, and then write each person’s on each of the leaves.

Picture Frame

Use foam craft sheets to make frames for family photos. Find a family photo. Draw an interesting shape, at least 1 inch wider on all sides than the photo, onto the foam sheet and cut it out, using decorative-edged scissors if desired. Cut out a circle or square, slightly smaller than the photo, from the center of the foam sheet. Glue the photo to the back of the foam sheet. Alternatively, cut different colored and shaped frames for individual pictures of family members. String all of the frames together on a ribbon for grandparents to drape over a shelf or fireplace.

Magnets

Make magnets with holiday messages that grandparents can use for reminders and lists on the refrigerator. Trace small hands and feet onto colorful, thick card stock. Let kids write personal Grandparents Day messages or poems with colorful markers or crayons on the cutouts and glue a small magnet to the back. Add the year to the message and make new ones each year to show how much kids have grown and how their writing has improved.

Silhouettes

Create portraits to frame of kids’ silhouettes. Have kids trace the outlines of their own and their siblings’ faces and necks onto black construction paper or card stock, using a white crayon. Cut out the silhouette inside the white lines and glue it to a colorful piece of card stock, solid or printed. Frame the silhouette in a wood or metal frame. Alternatively, create a small scrapbook of the silhouettes of each family member, using construction paper and lacing the pages together along one edge through punched holes with ribbon or yarn.

Spa day!

Trina filled her marble (prize) jar and decided to get her nails done!

Oh the joys of traveling with little people...

At least we went to Disney... UGH.

For real now... It's A ...

Now, let's party!

Happy Birthday to Matt!

Horray! A day off! Now, let's go to Maggies!

Makin' it...

Trina requested I "make her into" a princess... challenge accepted.

Angels

A simple way for younger children to make an angel decoration.
What You Need:

* White poster paper. (or other heavy paper)
* Scissors
* White glue.
* Magic markers.
* Cotton balls.
* Yarn or cording - gold is best.
* Glitter.

What You Do:

1. Cut one large and two smaller triangles from the poster paper.

2. Cut out a head and two hand shapes.

3. Glue the pieces together (see diagram).

4. Using the magic markers and glitter, decorate your angel.

5. Glue or tie some cording or string to the angel so it can hang as a decoration.

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My Little Heart-Breaker...

BUG started a three week summer camp program, through the Park & Rec and he LOVES it... It works perfectly with my work schedule, because I am able to drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home from work. He grew rather attached to one little lady, and she him. But, she was not alone, he came home with phone numbers and pictures and little candies... The moms that I spoke with told me their little ones giggled about him for hours... OHHHH BOOOYYY!