Star Wars Party

This last week Talon turned 5. For the bigger birthdays (1,5,10,16,18) we plan to do bigger parties. This year though, I was prepared for a big flop. Everything seemed to be going wrong leading up to the party. I was sick for quite a while. The car died on us and we needed to buy a new one, which messed with our finances majorly. I was just ready to hang my head and tell Talon that next year he'd have his big party.

By the grace of God though, everything pretty much fell into place. There were areas of the party that didn't go as planned (games and pinata, ahem), but all in all the party was one of my favorites yet. As for Talon, he could not say enough about how awesome his party was.

Printable Decoration PDFs: Red Apple Studios

Printables and Invitations printed by: ABC Imaging (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM)

Everything else made by Steven and I.

Homeschooling in a Small Space

The home school classroom. Pinterest is loaded with them. Colorful and inspiring. Organized and tranquil. Classic. Trendy. Fun. They come in many different forms. What happens though when you don't have a large space to educate in?

We have always had our classroom in another room. First it was in our dining room which opened into a living room. We pushed the table into the middle and made a nice little space. We later moved it into our room which had a large space for an office. It made for a pretty decent size classroom.

Upon moving into our new house we have laid out plans for converting the third portion of our garage into an awesome classroom/office for the hubby and I. We had every intention of doing it before the beginning of the school year but then there were additional expenses on the house, our car broke down and we needed a new(ish) one. You know, life happened.

So here we are, in a new house, with no where to do school. For many, this is the case. We don't have an extra room designated as a classroom. This year, we are the kitchen table classroom family. I think many of you are too.

This causes a little problem for us. We do family dinners around the table every night. We cannot have school books lining the table. So, we worked out a solution that is still somewhat aesthetically pleasing (since it is in the center of our home) while still being really functional.

By simply moving the table up against the divider in the room we were given enough space to create what we call the command center. The table positioning is not conventional or entirely ideal but it works.

Luckily the cut out above was already decorated in school type items because I love me some globes. We didn't have to fork out extra money that we don't have in order to make it look school like.

We recently inherited this beautiful tea cart from my husbands equally beautiful grandma. It is the perfect piece for organizing our little ones assignments. Again, not the conventional use of a tea cart but we love it and think grandma would be proud of it's new use.

On top, the things we need daily. A crate-style filing system with our charts, worksheets and such. A vintage case holds all of our flashcards and some other manipulatives. The cute wire drawers holds the daily work that the kids need me for...to go along with the workbox drawers that sit next to the tea cart. Before we start the day, I will put what will be needed in there so that the kids have easy access to their work. Then of course some vintage rulers and lots of crayons to make the space look a little more fun and inviting.

The middle section is simply things that we use on occasion. Big Books and fun little lessons.

In the cabinets, all the additional curriculum. The stuff that we aren't using for the day. We will also store library books and current unfinished projects in this area.

Off to the side is a vintage vanity which is my little station. All of my lesson plans, calendars and some supplies. This is the no touch area. Only for parents/teachers. Mostly because the art supplies are hidden in there and I do not want colored walls. Chalkboard up above for teaching the kiddos on.

I would love to balance the space out with a filing cabinet on the other side of the tea cart with the workbox system. I am currently on the hunt for one that won't break the bank. Thinking old chipped up filing cabinet that I can paint the facings poppy colors. This will hold all of the important stuff. Like grades, tests, and forms from our PSP. I will probably also throw in non-school or semi-school stuff like Nixon's medical/ABA/OT/everything else stuff.

So that is our little space. Now the kids can do school at the kitchen table without taking over meal times. I hope this inspired you to not be held back by your small classroom spaces like I initially was.

WorkBox System and Free Printables

***This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SchoolYearReady #CollectiveBias***

The new school year is here. As many of our friends are sending their kids back to their schools, we are preparing our house and curriculum for the new homeschool year. Majority of what we are doing this year is really similar to what we did last year but we are incorporating some extra co-op times and trying out our own spin on a work box system. Go ahead and google work box... I had to too. 

I knew that with the two younger kids all over the place now, I would need the school age kiddos to have a little more independence with their lessons. I will still be there teaching them new skills, helping them review and over seeing everything they do but a more independent system will be a huge help in making the days run smoothly.

So, here is how we will make it work: The kids will have a set of drawers where I will be placing her work and materials according to the days lesson. Instead of doing a box for every subject, I made them only for the ones that the kids can typically start on their own. Every night I will fill the drawers with exactly what they will be needing. As we finish teaching time or complete an activity, (basically anytime we are done with a subject), they will be able to head over to the drawer and grab the next subject. 

Some activities will be able to be completed on their own. If it is something they will be needing me for, I will simply draw a little dry erase star on the label and they know not to start without me.

When they complete a subject they can check it off of their work list, return it to the drawer and move on to the next subject. The checklist is something that we added to the basic work box concept. Rhiannon is a lot like me, checking something off a list helps us to feel like we are getting somewhere and encourages us to keep going and if I do it for her, of course I need to do it for Talon.

I am really excited about this new system and thought some of you might be as well, so here is how we set it up:

We had the drawers already but you can find them pretty much anywhere. 

As for the labels and checklist, I have included a printable that you can find at the bottom of this post, or make your own to fit your subjects.

Because we would be writing on the checklist and we needed the labels to be nice, sturdy and durable to last through the whole school year, I made sure to laminate them.

Wal-mart has this awesome Scotch™ Thermal Laminator and Scotch™ Thermal Pouches, that I picked up for the project...and lots more projects coming soon. The products were located in the Back-to-School seasonal areas and in stationary. so we just grabbed it as we stocked up on all of our other back to school essentials and were ready to go.

Once you have your laminator and laminating pouches, print out your labels. **Tip: I like to cut anything I am laminating before putting it in the pouch and then cutting right outside of the paper line when the pouch is sealed and cooled. I feel like this gives the best seal and is much more durable. You can see what I am talking about in the picture above.**

That being said, cut your labels out and simply place them in the Scotch™ Self-Sealing Laminating Pouches. Give a little bit of room between them so that you are able to easily cut them out.

The Scotch™ Thermal Laminator is really easy to use. Just let it heat up and then run your pouches through the machine. Bam! Done. Now you just need to cut out your labels. 

We used double sided tape to put our labels on our drawers but I have seen people use Velcro strips so they can rearrange their schedule. I decided that because we have a checklist we really didn't need to do that.

Next up, print out and laminate your checklist. 

We are now ready to start using our version of the work box system. Hoping that this little project will help us to stay organized and allow for some independence.

Now that you have seen how we are using our Scotch™ Laminating Products to get ready for Back-to-School, what project are you planning to use them for? I am heading over to Create with 3M to get more ideas. Homeschooling has got me in a crafting mood lately!

Click Here for our Free Printables!!!!

Bouncy Ball Party

My baby, Corbin, turned 2 last month. I told him that he wasn't allowed but in typical two year old fashion he ignored me completely. Why does it have to go so fast? To top it all off, this kid seems to be growing up faster than any of our other kiddos. So not cool!

At two years old, the child picked his birthday party theme and help on tight to make sure he got it. Bouncy ball. I mean he's a two year old boy. It's kind of the coolest party idea ever.

I, of course, sucked at taking pictures so I do not have a ton to show you.

Excuse the cell phone pic.

It all started off with a trip to get the main attraction, bouncy balls. Lots and lots of them. We flooded the back yard, bounce house and kiddie pools with them. We also had some old ball pit balls out that covered the yard and pools.

For decor, we used any circles we could find. Paper lanterns, circle banners and then lots of streamers.

Of course we only managed to get pictures of the dessert table and not outside. Opps.

It was such a fun party though, filled with our closest friends and family. We always end our parties feeling so incredibly blessed.

Feeding Kids Farm Fresh to Table

“I received this product as part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Weave Made Media® and Farm Fresh To You, but all my opinions are my own. #weavemade  #farmfreshtotable http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

Eating healthy. We all know it is what's best for us but it is not an easy task. Eating healthy often takes work and discipline. Why then do we expect our kids, who don't care about healthy, to do it without complaint? I know I get frustrated when my kids won't eat the greens I put on their plates but when I really think about it, I can't blame them for not wanting to eat something that they think is "yucky".

Instead of forcing them to eat food they don't like and in turn dealing with fights, I have decided to help them understand what is good for their bodies and get them excited about doing so. I was going to break this up into numerous posts and give different tips and tricks but the first recipe I thought about sharing pretty much covers all of my tips. So I'm just gonna lay it all out there in one post. Ha!

1. First of all, get them excited about the ingredients. There are a lot of ways to do this. Have a family garden where they can grow their own food, take them to the store with you and let them see all of the options (and maybe let them pick a few)...OR my personal favorite is to have fresh fruits and veggies delivered to your home.

We recently tried this out for the first time and it was seriously like the happiest of happy mail. This mom The kids were so excited to find the boxes on our doorstep and dig in.

We use Farm Fresh to You and L-O-V-E them. We are able to customize our box delivery to fit the size (and picky eating habits) of our family. They offer really flexible delivery...and even let us change or suspend the account to fit our always changing chaotic schedule. Plus, I love that they allow for us to eat local by partnering with farms in our area. I would highly recommend them. Click here to see if they deliver to your area. If they do, you can save $15 off your first box with the promo code WEAVE15. Say what? I love me a good deal!

2. Make the meal look fun. You can go all out with Bento boxes and food scenes on your plates or you can just use a whole lot of bright and fun colors like we did in the recipe that I am sharing today. The more colors on the plate, the more fun it looks. It makes for a more exciting meal time. Tip: if you have a kid that won't eat certain colors, avoid the color. I know, rocket science. You can usually dye the food with other natural ingredients, like beet juice for example.

3. Get them involved in the kitchen. Give the kids jobs when you are cooking a meal. When they are proud of their dish, I have noticed they are more likely to try it. In our house, the kids are usually worried about hurting the other ones feelings and will try anything they make...I wish they would have that kind of courtesy with me too. Ha ha.

With those three things, I am noticing the kids are trying a lot more healthy items that they usually wouldn't touch. They may not always clear the plate but getting them to try the food is the first step, right? 

We used all three of those suggestions the other day while making this yummy frittata. All four kids tried it. Two of the four cleared their plates.

Potato Crusted Frittata Casserole

2 TBSP Coconut oil

2 Medium sized Yellow Finn Potatoes

3 cups Kale

8 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup Mixed Medley Cherry Tomatoes (cut in half)

1 Medium Pimiento Pepper (diced)

2 Leaves Fresh Basil

3/4 cups Feta Cheese

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

 

Start by dicing your potatoes into small cubes. Heat the coconut oil and add the potatoes. Cook these until they are lightly browned. Add the Kale and cover. Once Kale has started to wilt you can move the mixture into a 9"x 13" casserole dish.

Side note: I like to cut my Kale down into smaller pieces so that there aren't big chunks. It helps distribute it more evenly in a dish. Instead of cutting it myself, I will have the kids tear it into strips.

Whisk together the eggs and milk (or pass the job on to a cute helper).

Have your little ones tear up some basil and take all the stems off of your tomatoes and hand them over for you to cut...or if they are old enough, have them do that as well.

Pour egg mixture over the potatoes and kale. Sprinkle with your salt and pepper. Let the kid throw the tomatoes, peppers, basil and feta all over it. The more the better. 

Pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes and serve with some fresh fruit. This is one of those meals that is really simple but loaded with yummy flavor.