Bug Week Kids Crafts

This week our homeschooling curriculum was all about bugs…the kids loved it!  This was a great unit with all of the cicadas out and the flies, gnats, dragonflies, butterflies, etc.  And tons of fun crafts, too!

We started out by cutting out bug pictures and classifying them by how they move: crawl, slither, or fly.  Then we glued them on different pieces of construction paper.  Both kids really enjoyed this activity.  They even acted out crawling and flying!

Then we made construction paper flowers with pompom centers and pipe cleaner stems.  I had the kids put their thumbprints on white construction paper with yellow paint, and we made little bees and glued them onto Popsicle sticks.  Also a big hit.  This was a great way to teach them how bees get nectar from flowers and take it back to their hives to make honey.  Top that off with a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and this is a wonderful bug activity!

Finally, and by far my favorite craft of the week, we made a ladybug tic tac toe game.  The bodies of the ladybugs are cut up cardboard egg cartons painted with acrylics.  Of course, anything that involves painting goes over really well with my kids.  Once those were dry, we glued on 1″ pompoms for the faces, two googly eyes and black chenille stem antennae.  Colton did a lot of the gluing…we just used tacky glue for most of it.  He has been loving bug week!  I hot glued the ribbon on for wings because the tacky glue just wasn’t cutting it.  The board is just orange poster board with black construction paper squares glued on.  This was one of my favorite crafts so far because it was something the kids could really help with plus they learn how to play tic tac toe.

The rest of the weekend is going to involve a 10 Commandments train and a Cat in the Hat hat painting.  I was going to do those today, but I really want to laminate the 10 Commandments train.  And I just found out that my dad got my mom a laminating machine for Christmas.  How did I not know this for six months?!?!?!  She asked if I would like to use it…um, yeah, duh.  So I’m going to laminate those tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

Happy crafting!

Daddy Gifts on a Budget

I would have just labeled this post Father's Day gifts, but my hubby has the unfortunate luck of having a birthday that falls right between our son's birthday and Father's Day, so I'm including the simple birthday gift idea.  It can still be used for Father's Day, too.  But I will start with the Father's Day gift we did for my hubby this year.  It's an adorable painted plaque with the kids' handprints.  The original idea came from here.  I loved the smaller squares and found some perfect ones at Michaels, but my kids' hands were just too big.  So I ended up going with the rectangular beveled plaques and a larger background plaque.  I also really loved the staining on the original, but I just didn't have time.  One thing about having a hubby who doesn't work outside the home is that he is always around somewhere :).  So I had less than an hour to throw this project together.  I'm happy with how it turned out for the time I had.  And I think he will really love this.

For the simple birthday gift, I made some fake movie tickets on the computer with a blank movie ticket template and a watermarked image from Iron Man 3.  I put them in a silver envelope and finished with a classy black ribbon.  A very simple idea, but it will lead to a much-needed date night!!  He was thrilled with this!

The last homemade gift idea we used was for the bird lover in our lives, my dad.  The kids picked out the birdhouse at Michaels and painted it...well, mostly Colton painted it.  But it turned out adorable.  And homemade gifts are always well received by those doting fathers and grandfathers, especially when you are on a budget.

Wishing all of you a Happy Father's Day this weekend!

Homeschooling Crafts: Weeks 6-7

It's been a while since I've posted homeschooling craft ideas.  Between the craziness at work and Colton's birthday, it's just been too hectic.  But we have been working on some fun themes.  Week six was all about giants - dinosaurs, whales, skyscrapers...everything huge!  The kids absolutely loved it.  We did dinosaur puzzle and read dinosaur books.  The Bible stories of the week were, of course, David and Goliath and Jonah and the Whale.  Both were big hits with the kiddos.

As for crafts, we did these fun foam bird mobiles.  It's just foam pieces cut into the shapes of the bird body and wings.  The wings are glued into a slit in the body and then held in by yarn threaded through hole punches - one in the center of the wings and one on either side of the slit.  The kids decorated them with foam stickers and markers, and then we glued on some fun feathers we picked up at Michaels.  This was definitely a fun hands-on craft for the kids, and one they are enjoying in their rooms.

 

Then we broke out the paint...always a treat for the kids!  I cut out butterflies on painting paper and had them paint one side using Qtips as brushes.  Then we folded them with the paint on the inside so the design would transfer symmetrically.  It worked out a little better with Kaitlyn's (bottom)...by the time we got Colton's folded, the paint had dried some.  But, like I said, anything with paint keeps them both happy :).

 

The other painting craft we did was supposed to be a starry night scene.  Part of this weeks lesson is about moon stages and nocturnal animals, so this fit right in.  Believe it or not, Kaitlyn's is the one that actually turned out really well.  I was pretty surprised since Colton is usually the neater little artist!

We also did a lesson on coins, so of course we had to do some coin rubbings.  The kids had some trouble keeping the coins still under the paper, so I made them an example sheet to learn the names, sizes, and values.  But they had a lot of fun with this one anyway!

And I"m going to end with a couple more flower pictures!  There is so much beauty in every season, but I absolutely love the flowers...God showing off :)!  Our day lilies came out like crazy this week, so I had to give them some picture love.  Kaitlyn was so amazed by their beauty!  Hope you're all having a blessed week!

Glittery Jesus Fish Mobile

This is quite possibly my favorite craft to date…a glittery Jesus fish mobile.  I found the idea here.  Now if you’re like me, the thought of setting your kids loose with glitter will make your stomach turn.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not a bad clean up at all.  The kids absolutely loved painting glue and sprinkling glitter.  And Colton adores the Jesus fish anyway, so this craft was right up his alley.

And the finished product…  We wrote I Heart Jesus on the cardstock.  Colton did a great job writing his own!

The other craft we did this week was a paper plate bird.  They’re cute, but they weren’t nearly as big a hit as the Jesus fish mobiles.

Mother's Day Kids Crafts

For the week of Mother's Day, we did a foam house family portrait.  It’s just foam tacky glued to poster board with family pictures.  The kids had fun with this one and it looks cute.  Then we did curlicue signs for my mom, sister, and grandma.  These are cardstock backings with decorative paper on top.  The “writing” is strips of construction paper rolled up.  Those little curlicues took forever to make.  So this ended up being a mostly me project since the kids lost interest pretty quickly.  Both of these ideas came from a craft idea magazine my parents found.  We also made Mother’s Day cards.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of those.  But they were inspired by a craft from Oriental Trading.  We cut out the kids’ handprints and a folded flower pot shape from cardstock.  We glued one handprint on the inside of the front flap of the flower pot and the other handprint on the inside of the back flap.  Then we decorated the fingertips with foam flower stickers.  It turned out pretty cute…wish I had remembered to get a picture….

Wood Animal Craft

Here is a little frog and a butterfly made out of little wood shapes (they sell these in a large bag at Michaels).  The original idea called for painting these, but we are doing a lot of painting this week, so I opted for just having the kids use markers.  I helped fill in the color a little bit.  Then we just used Alene’s tacky glue to put them together.  You can also add a magnet to the back.  I was going to do that, but the kids are enjoying carrying them around and playing with them too much.

Weather Chart

This is a fun little weather chart we put together several months ago using printouts from the Nick Jr. website.  It’s been an awesome tool for the kids to learn about weather and days of the week.  I’m thinking a laminator would be a good investment, though, since it’s showing some wear and tear.

Zoo Crafts

 

In honor of zoo week in our homeschooling, we made cute paper plate and construction paper lion masks.  Both kids drew the faces on…Colton’s on the left, Kaitlyn’s on the right.  I love them!  As far as kid friendliness of the craft, I would say it’s pretty good.  They enjoyed drawing the face and curling and gluing a little bit of the mane, but they lost interest in the mane pretty quickly.  Once the masks were done, they had a blast roaring at each other though!  We also printed up some animal pictures from our recent trip to the zoo and made a collage.  That was a fun lesson in identifying animals and learning to spell their names.

Four Seasons Chart

This is a cute four seasons poster the kids and I made using printouts from the ABCJesusLovesMe curriculum.  It’s a fun way for the kids to visualize the seasons and learn how to spell them.

Birdhouse Painting

I picked these cute little houses up at Michaels for $1 a piece, and the kids had a blast painting them.  Kaitlyn chose to go all brown for hers.  Colton, on the other hand, wanted to try every color.  I love how they both turned out.  We also did a short lesson on feather pens, using some feathers and paint to try writing.   The feathers I had weren’t great for the project, but I think it got the point across.

Candy Train Party Favors

These little candy trains were among my favorite touches for my son's 5th birthday party.  He had a Thomas the Train theme, and I thought these would make cute favors.  The idea I found online called for rolls of Lifesavers to serve as the main body of the train.  But if anyone has looked for those rolls of Lifesavers lately, you’ve probably seen that they just aren’t readily available anymore.  After going to five stores, I gave up and found these push pops instead.  I thought they worked absolutely perfectly.  And with the wonders of a hot glue gun, these fun little favors didn’t take long at all!

Wonderful Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Here is a recipe that I think is definitely worth sharing.  My kids love blueberries, and I mean meltdown in BJs because they can’t get the carton open love blueberries.  So I always liked making them blueberry muffins for breakfast.  The problem was that the packaged blueberry muffin mixes never turned out well for me.  I have tried different oven temperatures, different rack positions…they always get burnt on the edges and barely cook in the middle.  So a couple of years ago, I went on a quest to make an awesome blueberry muffin batter.  Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp butter
2/3 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c buttermilk (or 1 c milk with 1 Tbsp white vinegar, let set for 5 minutes before adding to batter)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c blueberries

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.  Beat butter and sugar in a separate bowl from dry ingredients.  Add vanilla extract and egg to butter mixture.  Beat well until smooth.  Add flour mix and buttermilk alternating, ending with flour.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  When muffins are done, melt 4 Tbsp butter.  Dip muffins in melted butter and then in a mixture of 1/3 c sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

 

These are wonderful with or without the extra sugar/cinnamon topping, but I love that added sweetness.  The kids tear into these every time.  And I have never had an issue with the edges burning or the middle not cooking through.  These are also very versatile…the blueberries can be replaced with any flavor you like.  Happy baking!



 

Oh, and one side note, I’ve learned it never hurts to pray before cooking anything.  I got cocky with chocolate chip cookies once, and God put me in my place very quickly.  Not sure to this day what went wrong, but those cookies were horrible!  Our Heavenly Father is very good at reminding us that everything good we do is only with His help!

Easy Summer Recipes

The radishes were ready to harvest this week!  I am so incredibly excited to start eating the veggies from our garden.  Nothing can come close to topping the feeling of having and raising kids, but my second favorite thing is watching a garden grow into happy, healthy vegetables without pesticides.  So I figured, in honor of the first harvest, I would post a couple of my favorite quick and easy summer recipes.  Hope you enjoy!

I used the radishes and some of the lettuce and spinach from our garden for one of my favorite salad recipes, Cranberry Spinach Salad.  The original recipe is:

Ingredients
1 lb. spinach or mixed greens               1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c sliced almonds                            2 tsp minced onion
1 c dried cranberries                            1/4 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds               1/4 c rice vinegar
1/2 c vegetable oil                               1/4 c cider vinegar

Directions
Toast almonds in oven at 350˚ for about 8 minutes.
Combine spinach/mixed greens with almonds and cranberries.
Whisk together sesame seeds, sugar, onion, paprika, vinegars, and oil.
Toss with spinach mixture just before serving.
In this particular salad, I added radish and substituted raisins and pecans for the cranberries and toasted almonds.  It was still good, but I far prefer the cranberries and almonds.

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Pork Chops

Love, love, love this recipe.  It’s so very quick and easy, so it’s perfect for making when I get home from work.  Hubby and the kids love it, too.  Start by seasoning the pork chops with salt and pepper.

Then wrap in bacon (I’ve used turkey bacon for this, too, and it’s wonderful).  And sear in a skillet, about 3-4 minutes per side or until bacon starts getting crispy.

Place in baking dish and lightly cover with BBQ sauce. (I usually use Jack Daniel’s original BBQ).  Bake at 350˚ for 20-30 minutes.  That’s it!  Easy and delicious!

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Here’s a fun and yummy recipe for a Monday!  I made this lemon garlic chicken and potatoes last night, and it was a hit.

Ingredients:

4-6 skinless boneless chicken breats                            3 c diced potatoes (I used Russett)

Juice and zest from 1-2 lemons                                    1 Tbsp oregano or Italian seasoning

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped                                     1/4 c olive oil + 1 Tbsp

3/4 c water                                                                  salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to350°.  Heat about 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Sear chicken in skillet, transfer to baking dish.  Add potatoes to skillet, season, cook about 10 minutes, coating with olive oil.  Transfer potatoes to baking dish with chicken.  Combine lemon juice, zest, oregano, 1/4 c olive oil, water, garlic, salt, and pepper in bowl.  Pour over chicken and potatoes.  Bake uncovered about 30 minutes.

I paired this with something I call a country salad.  It’s fresh greens from our garden mixed with a chopped hard boiled egg, cooked corn kernels, and shredded carrots.  This recipe goes beautifully with any salad or veggie side dish.

Enjoy!

Three Uses for Those Really Ripe Bananas

Happy June, everyone!  So, today I was having the usual dilemma of what to do with those bananas that are reaching the beyond ripe stage.  And I thought banana recipes might make a good post.  There is always the stand by banana bread.  This has been my mom’s recipe for as long as I can remember, so I have no idea where she got it from.  It’s my absolute favorite banana bread…light, fluffy, and really yummy.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c flour                             1 c granulated sugar

3 1/2 tsp baking powder          3/4 c milk

1 tsp salt                                  1 egg

2 Tbsp vegetable oil                 2-3 medium bananas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix all ingredients thoroughly (I have never had to put them in in any specific order, and the bread turns out great).

Pour batter into ungreased 9″ loaf pan

Bake for one hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Now, I love banana bread as much as the next person, but sometimes, I just get tired of making the same things with those brown bananas.  Another of my go-to banana recipes is the banana crumb muffin.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c flour                   1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda           1/2 tsp salt

3 bananas, mashed         3/4 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract         3/4 tsp cinnamon or allspice

1 egg, lightly beaten        1/3 c butter, melted

1/3 c brown sugar          1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp flour                   1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix 1 1/2 c flour, baking soda, baking powder, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat bananas, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter.  Stir banana mix into the flour mixture.  (I usually just mix it in my stand mixer.)  Spoon batter into baking cups.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.  Cut in 1 Tbsp butter until the mixture becomes coarse.  Sprinkle mixture over muffins.  (If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, omit the topping…the muffins are still good without it!)

Bake 18-20 minutes.

Today, I decided to try a new recipe that I found on the Taste of Home web site and modified to my own tastes.  So here it is…

Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened       1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs                                           3 medium bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla extract                        2 c all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda                       1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt                                    1/2 c buttermilk*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in bananas and vanilla.  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, ending with flour.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove to cooling rack.  (Of note, I always check baking items about two minutes before the prescribed baking time, in this case at 16 minutes.  Some of the recommended times will lead to overbaking.)

*If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, as I usually don’t, measure 1 Tbsp vinegar into 1 c milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.

These are light, moist, and delicious.  They can be paired with pretty much any flavor of icing, but I love them with lemon, chocolate, strawberry, or a nice fluffy Italian buttercream.

Happy baking and God bless!

Introduction

Hi!  Thank you for stopping by my new blog!  This is going to be a work in progress for a while, but I hope that one day, this will grow into a wonderful resource for all parents, especially my fellow mothers who work outside the home.

My name is Jen, and I am the proud mother of two beautiful children, a five-year-old boy and an almost-3-year-old girl.  I am employed full time as a speech and correspondence writer/editor.  I have a wonderful hubby who is supportive, helpful, and very handy at DIY projects around the home.

Two things prompted me to start this blog.  First, the searches I've conducted on the internet for any sites devoted to the concerns of working moms are sparse, and many have not posted in several years.  I know full well that this conspicuous lack of working mom blogs is due to our busy schedules, but I also find it sad that this group of our population is so inadequately represented in the blogosphere.  Let's face it - we can definitely use support groups!  The second thing I noticed is that all of the blogs I love that focus on kids crafts and homemaking are run by stay-at-home or part time work-from-home moms.  I don't think that really represents the amount of time working moms devote to their children...and it sort of left me feeling like working moms can't do all of the fun, crafty things with their kids the way stay-at-home moms can...not true!

To be very upfront, I know that my situation is not as challenging as many working mamas - partly because my job as a writer lends itself to flexibility and partly because I was already well established in my career when I had my first child at 28 (I do believe that makes a difference.  It's much easier to ask for flexible hours and schedules when you have already proven your work ethic and abilities than if you are just starting your career).  My husband lost his job four months before our son was born, and I have been the breadwinner in our family ever since.  I am blessed that my office has allowed me two days of telecommuting per week and has worked with me on my hours so that I leave my house at 4:30 for my morning commute and am able to leave the office at 3 p.m. to get home by about 5 (yes, I work in D.C. and have a monstrous 2 hour commute).  It's still painful at times (a lot of times), but it's the flexibility I need to spend time with my kids, and that makes it well worth it.  And I know that I am very blessed that my hubby is able to stay at home with our children and work (very) part time on nights and weekends.

There's no doubt about it, juggling the demands of motherhood, homemaking, and a career is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.  But I don't want this site to become a place for whining and complaining about my lot in life.  I want to celebrate the many blessings of motherhood, encourage others who are in the same situation, and offer tips that will help other working moms find a delicate balance between family and work.

I hope you enjoy the posts!  God bless!

Sewing Projects

A close family friend gave me a bunch of sewing kit projects a while back to make sundresses for Kaitlyn and a Veggie Tales growth chart.  So I took part of the afternoon and dedicated it to sewing.  Here are the results:

   

I'm not a huge fan of sewing kits...mostly because I don't tend to like the fabric they use.  But they are nice and easy.  Bonus that this one was free and my friend had already cut out the pieces.  So I just had to sew it together...nice!  It'll be a great spring and summer church and play dress for Kaitlyn!

This dress was my first time using a button closure.  I can't say it's something I enjoyed, but at least it's working.

My second project was the Veggie Tales growth chart.  This one was super simple and literally took about 15 minutes to cut out, pin and sew.  This will be great for tracking the kids' height!