Kids in the Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

This is one of our families favorites!  We had some bananas that were starting to turn, so the kids and I made a batch of chocolate chip banana cookies.   These cookies are melt in your mouth good!  The recipe is as follows:
 
 Combine: 
  2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  1 tsp of baking powder
  1/2 tsp of salt
  1/4 tsp of baking soda

In a separate bowl cream together:
   2/3 cups of softened butter
   1/2 cup of brown sugar
   1/2 cup of white sugar
 
then add:
2 eggs to the creamed mixture.  Mix.
3 ripe bananas

Combine both bowls (dry and cream mixture)....lightly fold together.

Stir in 2 cups of chocolate chips.

We baked them on greased cookies sheets at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.  This recipe made 21 total...probably could have gotten a few more...some were fairly large.

Finished product!

Happy baking and enjoying time with your kids in the kitchen! Stay tuned for next week...another family favorite...Italian meatloaves and pizza on a bun!

Season's of a Mother's Heart: Building your House

This is week four of my online book club!  If you are a little behind at reading my blog, I am reading Season's of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson. 

Chapter 4:  Building Your House

The wise women builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. 

~~Proverbs 14:1~~

For those of you who might be confused...this verse is not talking about physically building a house with a hammer and nails. 

Start building with a good plan.

Think about if you were starting to build a new house.  How far would you get by just winging it, without plans?  Probably not very far.  You might be able to put something together, but will it last during the first storm?  Will it last when kids are running around?  Will it last even one day?

Mrs. Clarkson gave some good reminders on where families may tend to go if they don't start with a solid plan.  If you want your children to become godly adults, you must start planning now, while they are still young.  

Begin to define your vision for your children.  How can you help them develop character?  How will I instruct them in biblical truth?  How will I train them in morality?  How can I inspire them with a biblical vision for life? (pg. 86)

Are you going to raise them on biblical principles or just wing it and let them decide when they are older?  

If your plan is based on biblical principles, you won't be easily swayed by conflicting voices that will try to convince you that you are not doing it right.  The "world's" vision might be far off from the biblical principles that you have set in place to guide your family. 

Build on a strong foundation.

As we try to instill the foundation on which we want our children to grow, how are our kids going mature based on biblical principles if we aren't walking with the Lord?  We can not force our children to become mature, but we can instill dependence on God's word, living by faith, walking in the Spirit, grace and freedom.  We can pour these things into their lives to help build a strong foundation.

Count the cost to build.

Thinking back to the question I posed earlier...would you build a house without a plan?  Would you build a house first without figuring out the cost to build it?  Is your family worth building and instilling a solid biblical principle?  or is it worth just letting the world raise your kids and see how things go?  

When Sean and I decided years ago that I was going to stay home and home school our kids...we had to weigh what "cost" that would be to our family.  Not necessarily financially...even though we were going to only have one salary coming in, but we had to weigh the toll it would take on me with the task it would take to direct their education, being present every day, sometimes without a break for weeks, and being the only ones in charge of their discipline, since we weren't sending them to a school.  

That is all I have for chapter 4.  There is a lot more that I could write about...but maybe you should pick up the book and read it for yourself:)  Sorry about my horrible writing skills...as you can probably see I am not a very good writer...but as I am teaching my first grader the proper way to write, I am confident my writing skills will improve one of these days:)

On Friday, visit my friend Erin's blog at: Home with the Boys for her summary of chapter 4...and a few other book club members!

Our favorite kid iPad aps!

Last fall I purchased an iPad.  I wasn't really sure why I did at the time.  Probably because my husband had one...and loved his.  I posted something on Facebook asking friends if I was missing something about why the iPad was such the rage.   I just wanted to get a few opinions about if I was missing something.  There was a REALLY heated debate.  Some friends got really mad as they debated each other.  I felt bad for even posting the question.    What is wrong with doing everything with paper and a pencil?  Nothing.  I still feel that way.  We do quiet well with the paper and pencil approach.

I HATE video games...I don't want my kids...especially my boys... getting sucked into the video game world.  What on earth could my kids do on an iPad?  I was at first thinking video games...no thank you...but as I started to explore the world of iPad aps...I realized that this is a very useful tool to have....but I want to stress it is NOT a must have.  It is just an extra bonus type thing to have.

I am going to share a few of my kids' (and my) favorite kid aps.  We use our iPad pretty much everyday in school to supplement what the kids' are already learning.

Some of the aps are free...some are not.  I am not listing the price next to my reviews, but all of them were under $5.00.  Most only $1.99. 

Toddler & Preschool Aps:
Knee Bouncers Volume 1:  Easton (2 1/2 years old) LOVES this ap.  He could play it all day if I let him.  My friend Megan recommended the computer version of it, but I am a little leary about turning him loose on my laptop...so the ap is just perfect.

Description:  There are 5 little games included in this ap-- colors, letters, balloon popping, circus animals, and the train.  There isn't too much involved with this ap...just a lot of finger movements and announcements of words, letters, and sounds. 

Zoo Train:  Busy Bee Preschool:  This is Easton's other favorite ap. He actually prefers this over Knee Bouncers most of the time. 

Easton playing his favorite game!

 Description: Like Knee Bouncers there are 5 little games, however these are a little more complex.  Easton's favorite is the train letter matching game.  The train comes out with a word...such as h-o-u-s-e and then on top of the word are the letters scrambled.  He loves matching up the letters and then the program says the word...and he says it too.  Once he completes so many words successfully he can choose a little picture to go on a suitcase.  I looked the other day and his suitcase is quiet cluttered!  Because he gets so focused on this one game, I need toA get him interested in the 4 other cute little games...the others are matching objects instead of letters to create a picture, making your own train track, make your song, and build your own train.

Alphabet Tracing:  Katelyn (4 years) and Easton love this one also.  It is a very simple ap.

Description:  Choose uppercase, lowercase, and numbers and trace whatever appears on the screen.  The ap also says the letter/number and has a picture matching up to whatever letter they are working on. 

ABC Phonics:  Katelyn has kind of grown out of this one, but I still have her use it when I want her to practice writing words. 

Description:  The kids can choose what animal name they would like to write and the word appears on the screen.  The ap says the animals name and they can trace the letters.

Animal Sounds:  This is just a fun little ap that shows pictures of animals and their sounds.


Beyond Preschool: (Kindergarten- 1st Grade):

Math Bumpies:  I use this with Jocelyn sometimes instead of having her use paper and pen.

Description:  This is just a fun little addition and subtraction game.  You can set the difficulty levels to easy, moderate, and hard.  If the child completes so many questions correctly they can move onto another part of the trail. 

Teach Me:  1st Grade 

Description:  This is just a little supplementary program that focuses on math, spelling, and sight words.  It tracks their progress as they go.  Jocelyn thinks it boring, but it just a nice little review of things.

Fishing Studio's Recorder:  (the expanded version)  I use this for Jocelyn's spelling words. 


Description:  At the beginning of the week I record myself saying Jocelyn's spelling words.  When she feels like she is ready to test out, she uses this program and takes the test.  It is nice that if she doesn't pass, I don't have to sit down with her again and read the list off.  I can get a few things done while she is working on the test.  :) 

Clockmaster:  This is just a simple clock program to test Jocelyn on time.  I like it...she thinks it is ok.  She would rather do this that a workbook though:)

Aps for various age levels:

Drawing Pad:  We have used this to write spelling words or practice writing in general.  You can also just draw pictures, put (fake) stickers on the screen, and make your own little masterpiece.:)  We have quiet a few drawing programs, but this is by far the kids' favorite. 

Barbie Fashionista:  Choosing a million different looks for Barbie and saving each picture after you create her look.  Need I say more...this is my girls' favorite fun program. 

Touchy Books:  These are great little books where you can read the book or it reads to you...the kids can touch the screen and something happens...like the wind might blow, or a light might turn on in a house if you touch the window, or candy falls.  Super fun!  There are several different books to choose from.

Interactive Disney Books:  We only have a two of these-- The Princess and the Frog and Toy Story.  The kids love these books...you can turn the book into a coloring book, play games, read the story on your own or listen to someone else read it.  All of the kids love this.

This post is getting kind of windy....sorry...as I am sorting through my iPad, I keep coming across more and more aps that the kids love.  

I would love to hear from you!  If you have any educational or non-educational ones for first grade on down, pass them along to me!  There are thousands out there!

Two weeks of school in five days!

These past few weeks have been busy!  We are finally getting into a good groove with school...despite traveling and being sick.  I haven't started all subjects yet...waiting on Science until we aren't as busy.  

Just a little FYI on what we do and what works for us...we don't do sit down school on Friday...ever.  We try to go out and about and do "field trips".  Last week we met some friends at the zoo...this week...we might just get caught up from being sick...and I might work on transferring seasons of clothes in closets.  

On average we spend 45 minutes of intro activities...bible, devotions, memory verse, chores etc.  

We then spend an hour-hour and fifteen minutes on core subjects: math, grammar/English, states for Jocelyn; reading, spelling, and Math for Katelyn; letters for Easton.  We then spend the next hour doing fun activities...soon it will be science or themed units.  We do Music Monday, Art Tuesday, cooking and Soon-to-be Science Wednesday, and game day on Thursday.  In the afternoons I work with Jocelyn on reading and spelling.

Here are a few things we worked on these past few weeks:

Bible Verse & Devotions:

This week we reviewed the story of Noah and the ark.  In our devotions we discussed promises and how Jesus promised Noah that he would never flood the Earth again.  A rainbow will be a sign of his promise "the Noahic covenant".

The girls' Bible verse was:

Matthew 5:8:  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Here is a video of my lovelies saying their verse!

We used the Seed's Family Worship music to help the girls memorize the verse.  LOVE their music!  You can check it out here:

We did several different activities during the past two weeks.  I won't bore you with the details, but one that the kids enjoyed doing was an estimation activity.  Jocelyn filled up a container with counting cubes.  She then had our family and our mail lady guess how many cubes were in the container.  

 She recorded their guesses.

She graphed out their guesses so she could try to visually tell who was the closest.

She then figured out the difference of the two closest people (Sean and Katelyn) to see who was the closest.

Katelyn ended up winning...dad was in 2nd...

Easton was in last place.

I asked him to give me a sad face...that is what I got.

Music Monday:

I taught the kids several hymns on their recorders.  Only joking.  I attempted to teach the kids proper hand position of how to at least hold the recorders.  Only Jocelyn caught on.  The other two just didn't have the finger strength and their fingers weren't long enough.  We then just focused on listening they could play and then I would say stop and so on. 

Art Tuesday:

My kids LOVE any type of art activity.  Jocelyn received quiet a few different art activities for her birthday.  The first activity was shrinky-dinks...really cool activity.  You color an image on plastic...throw it in the oven and they shrink!

The second were window clings.  

Cooking Wednesday: 

We made the worst yogurt smoothies.  Check out my yesterday's post for details on that!

Game day Thursday:

This will be a bit tricky with a 2 1/2 year and a grabby little baby.  We played Pictureka which the girls and I loved...just annoying having the extra grabbers.  We then played a few matching games.  Easton felt neglected and I don't blame him, so I played a few little kids games after I was done playing with the girls.  No whiners today...as each of us one a game!

Other activities:

We started a daily journal.  The girls write what they learned in school each day and draw a picture related to that lesson.

Easton loves playing on my iPad and iPod.  Whatever device he can get his hands on.  His favorite is a train matching game.  He matches up letters and then the word is read to him.  

Well that is it.  We had a pretty good 5 days of school...loving how we have started this school year.  I wake up excited to start the day and see what we can get accomplished.  

This blog post has been linked up to:  

Kids in the kitchen....the grossest yogurt smoothie ever!

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I believe a while since I wrote on what are kids are up to in the kitchen.  We had something come through our house in a viral form for my two boys and my husband and I...so cooking and snacks were kind of bland.  Nothing really exciting.  This week we all seem to be on the mend and are getting back into the swing of things.  

The main thing that my kids worked on were yogurt smoothies.

I made up my own recipe:

-Ice

-Frozen strawberries

-Cup of Yogurt

-TBSP of sugar

-Milk

This was just about the grossest thing I have tasted!  It reminded me of one of those horrible nutritional drinks that you force yourself to drink...and then it leaves you with a horrible after taste.  I took two sips and just about threw up.  Mine went into the sink...the kids LOVED their's and were begging for more.  I guess they could have drank mine.  Oh well...

I asked my husband Sean where he thought I went wrong...not to brag...well ok, I will, but Sean knows everything about ingredient combo's, cooking, etc...he thinks the yogurt had enough milk in it, that I didn't need to add it separately. 

We did have a few mishaps while making the yogurt smoothies...pictures below!:)  

Katelyn adding yogurt...probably should have moved the blender closer to her....

oops!  Patience and deep breathes (from me) along the way!

Jocelyn adding strawberries

Easton is our button pusher

A few other things we worked on: 

The girls helped me with breaded chicken and oven roasted potatoes.  Katelyn was in charge of dipping the chicken in butter and rolling it in bread crumbs and spices.  She did a pretty good job.

 

Jocelyn was in charge of making sure the potatoes were all coated in oil and spices.

The girls also made one of our favorite lunches-- ramon noodles (and included flavoring powder), two eggs (beat), and mushrooms.  They just gobble this egg drop soup right up!

What kind of things do you like to do with your kids in the kitchen?  I am always looking for more ideas!

Catching up with the book club....are you kidding me?

I know...two posts in a row about the book club I joined for the book Season's of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson.  If you missed my last post you can read it: here.  I realized I wasn't too far behind the others and I am now caught up with everyone else!

I am scared to read on.  Well actually I am eager to keep reading, but I was kind of sick to my stomach about the last chapter I read.  I got it. I completely agreed with what the author said...but I am not sure how I am going to implement part of it.  The timing isn't right for us right now.

Quote from the book:  "When I let my well run dry, I am no longer able to be a source of refreshing water to them (our kids) or to others in my life.  To say it more simply, I cannot keep giving out without taking in." (pg. 58)

I make time for God in my life.

I think I do an o.k. job at this, but definitely need improvement.  Our schedule has changed a bit from last year and I am now using part of nap time in the afternoon to teach Jocelyn one-on-one.  I have usually an hour to hour and half to get things done while the little ones are napping.  I try to squeeze in cleaning, dinner, blogging, and reading during this time.  The first two are usually the priority...the second two are only done if I have time.  Sometimes I have to wait until 8:30pm...when my mommy shift is over for the day to read and blog.

If I don't make time for God in my life...reading the Bible, praying with our kids and for our kids, teaching our kids about God's word and about Christ, how do I expect them to do the same as they grow up.  How will they know how to walk with God?  If they don't see it as a priority why would they care?  Yes we go to church, but that shouldn't be the only time that our kid's hear the word of God preached.  Are you making God a priority in your life and helping your kids' make it a priority in theirs? 

I make time for myself in my life.  

This is where I struggle.  I can't really figure out how to do this very well.  My kids aren't old enough to watch themselves.  I am still in search of finding a babysitter...but because we live in no-where-ville that is easier said than done.  I don't want to overwhelm my husband with the kid duties, because he already has enough on his plate with work....(and he has a big task coming up next week of watching the boys by himself for 4 nights and 3 1/2 days!!!)  Thank goodness for my parents...they do watch the kids every so often so my husband and I can get away together.  So right now I will take that as making time for myself in my life.  Yes, I do dream of the day that I can sit at Barnes & Noble reading without interruption or catching up with friends (without kids). For now, the only steady time I have by myself is at the YMCA.

I make time for friends in my life.

On average I go out with friends once every year.  I know sad, but I will take it.  I wish I could go out more (without worrying about the mommy part), but for now I will take once a year if it doesn't put added stress on my family and others.   So do play dates with kids count?  If so, yes I do make time for friends in my life.  If not...then I don't.  Trust me, if I would if I could.  I want to.  It is just a hard thing to do with the little ones.  Part of me also feels bad because my husband doesn't have anyone around here that he can just call up and ask if they want to hang out, or go hunting with, or fishing.  So part of the making friends in my life, is me feeling guilty for having friends that I can spend time with.

So there you have it.  I am now caught up on the book club:)  Definitely some things that I need to pray about that I am struggling with.  Stay tuned for next week's reflection on chapter 4!  You can read other book club members' reflections over at my friend Erin's blog: Home with the Boys!  Everyone links up on Fridays!

Season's of a Mother's Heart!

I joined a book club a few weeks ago in association with my friend Erin’s blog: Home with the Boys.  I was so excited about being part of this club…not sure why…I never liked reading things when someone told me to or being held accountable for reading something in order to have a discussion.  I enjoyed another one of the author Sally Clarkson’s books:  Mission of Motherhood, and the description of this book:  Season’s of a Mother’s Heart, caught my attention.  

So I joined in and am two days into reading this book…ok only a few weeks behind the book clubbers, but I am hoping to get caught up fast!:) I have only made it to page 50 and this book has already been an encouragement to me.  She has reminded me of some things that I have been struggling with.   

Choosing to be Thankful:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Quote from book: “When I pout instead of being joyful, grumble instead of praying, or complain instead of giving thanks, I am in effect telling God that he is mishandling my life and I don’t care for the way he’s doing his job.”  

The “I” in this quote is Mrs. Clarkson, the author.  But it is almost like it should be coming out of my own mouth.  This is a great reminder to me that I am not in control of my life.  The Lord Jesus Christ is.  

I need to be thankful that because of him, and because of my belief that he died on the cross for my sins…such a self-less act…and then rose again…that because of him, I will one day live eternally with him in heaven.  

How can I not be thankful for what he does for us and our family?  

I do have to admit in our little corner of the world, I shouldn’t sit here and pout that we sometimes seem all by ourselves and only if….xyz would happen…I should be thankful that we do have a roof over our heads…I should be thankful that my husband does have a job….when many don’t.  I should be thankful for our kids and that we are able to feed and clothe them….when many struggle to just that.  I should be thankful that I have the will-power and patience to stay at home with the kids all day and everyday to homeschool.  I should be thankful that I can sneak breaks here and there and not pout if I don’t get a break for weeks at a time.  I am thankful for what God has given us….I just need recognize it more.    

What are thankful for?  Do you pout, grumble, complain?  I know I do…but I need to refocus and recognize I am not in control of my life.

Learning to be Content:

I have been struggling with this a bit.  I posted an ad before school started on our homeschool groups’ website looking for a babysitter twice a month during nap times, so I could have some alone time.  It is my dream to not have to grocery shop with the kids.  It is my dream to just have a little time each month that I could just be by myself to run errands.  Ever tried to shop with 4 little ones?…I do it every week…we have not died yet, I would just prefer to do it at a faster pace and by myself.  I have gotten quiet a bit of advice from friends…mostly to just abandon my husband when he comes home from work and just head out…I can’t do that…sorry.  It isn’t like he would say no or anything, but his days are long…yes I know mine are too, but long in another way…his home is haven…he shouldn’t have the kids dropped on him so I can be free.  This is my job.  My job is to be at home with the kids.  Yes I am sacrificing my freedom.  But in the end there is so much more that I am gaining as well as my little ones.  Yes, sometimes I gain a sour attitude after we leave a store because I swear this is the last time I am taking them altogether, but I lose the attitude once we are home, because I know that this is the way that it is…there is no turning back.  We survived.  There are never any fits and the kids do behave pretty well…they are just slow…little legs…little legs…they will grow.  Oh and little fingers…lots of little fingers….just trying to be helpful.  

So back to the topic.  Contentment.  I need to work on this…I need to be content and grateful for what the Lord has giving me.  This is my job for this season of my life.  

If you are my facebook friend, my status for today was:

Contentedness  will not come from being more organized, sleeping longer, being a better wife, keeping a nicer home, using higher-quality materials, taking more time for yourself, or whatever it is you think might help.  Contentedness is learned by accepting life each day as God gives it to you, and adjusting your expectations to life’s limitations. ~~ another quote from Season’s of a Mother’s Heart.

Will we do God’s will or our own?