wfmw – stay-at-home hotel
We have decided to take a staycation this year instead of taking a trip. We will be able to do a lot of local activities with the money that would have been spent on gas & lodging. I really want to make some fun memories for my family, so I’ve decided to turn our house into a Ho(me)tel.
Here are some of the fun ideas I want to try:
~ Towel Origami Our towels might be too thick to do this for each child, so I think I will buy a thin white towel & just leave a different animal on the bathroom sink every morning.
~Fold the ends of the toilet paper into a point (each night)
~ Put a basket of small soaps & shampoo samples in the bathroom
~ Label bedroom doors with hotel numbers
~ Make Do Not Disturb Doorknob Hangers
~ Get breakfast ready the night before with these yummy Bed & Breakfast Recipes
~ Offer a wake-up call to my daughter’s cell phone
~ Check out some DVDs from the library that we haven’t seen, or rent from Redbox
~ Create a mini bar in the bottom drawer of the fridge & stock with small bottles of water & soft drinks
~ Print off menus & flyers for the places we are going & put them in a folder
~ Have stamps & pens on hand – we are going to buy some cheesy tourist postcards from the gift shops & mail them to relatives (especially funny since they all live here too!)
Do you have any more ideas for me? Please share!!
Tune in next week when I share some great staycation ideas for the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Run on over to We Are That Family for tons of great tips!
wfmw – best ever strawberry cake
I have a confession to make … we ate this for breakfast this morning! It wouldn’t still be good by the weekend (when we normally have dessert), and it’s got to be healthier than Froot Loops, right?
This my mom’s lovely recipe. The strawberries in the cake make it dense & moist, and the icing is thick like cheesecake. It is so delicious!!!
Best Ever! Strawberry Cake
1 strawberry cake mix
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
10 oz. frozen, sliced strawberries (thawed & drained)
Mix together for 2 minutes on med speed. Pour into a greased and floured 9 X13 pan and bake @ 350 degrees for 30-35 mins.
Cool.
Icing
2 8oz pkgs of cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together until blended. Frost cooled cake.
This is much better made ahead of time and refrigerated for several hours, or even better, overnight.
Run on over to We Are That Family for tons of summer recipes!
2009 Schoolhouse Planner
I received an email not long ago about the new 2009 Schoolhouse Planner and kind of dismissed it. Why would I pay $39.00 when I can just dig something up on the internet for free? I was excited to find out that the planner would be my first review for the TOS Crew, but still not expecting much. Oh!My! was I surprised at all of the amazing pages!! If it’s not in there, you probably don’t need it.
Each month has calendar pages, teaching ideas, recipes, resource lists and more. Because it is an e-book, you can type your info into the planner before you print it out!
There are homeschool forms galore: planning sheets, schedules,report forms, journal pages, co-op planners, records, attendance, curriculum lists.
The household forms have everything you need to organize your home, devotion time, garden, shopping & holidays.
My favorite part of the planner is all of the miscellaneous lists – a treasure chest of things every homeschooler should know all at your fingertips. Things like: composers, states & capitals, letter writing tips, getting into college, planets, types of clouds, branches of government.
If you can afford it, I would urge you to prayerfully consider the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner. I think it will be a huge blessing to you & your family!
Be sure to check out the TOS Homeschool Crew to see what others think of the planner.
school year’s eve party planner
Cookie Magazine has come up with a really cute celebration for back-to-school called School Year’s Eve.
You can download templates for invitations, decorations, games and more.
Register to order your FREE official School Year’s Eve™ Party Starter Kit (while supplies last).
I think this will be such a fun thing to do with my kids, and it doesn’t cost anything but a little creativity! (Btw, we homeschool, but we still get excited about the new year : -)
You can find lots of money-saving tips at Life As Mom.
hands-on math
I have some great Math links that I’m sharing with my friend, so I thought I would post them here for everyone to enjoy. I bookmarked them to go with our Charlotte Mason education, but they would also be great summer fun when it’s just too hot to go out!
Living Math! don’t miss the literature list
Living Math Forum yahoo group
Curriculum Focal Points use as a guide to know what your child should learn
Math Benchmarks another useful guide
Let’s Play Math! blog full of lots of great ideas
K-2 Math Resources love this! I will be printing some of these to use in our workboxes. (I’ll be posting lots more on workboxes in the coming weeks!)
Figure This! math challenges for Families
Our Journey Westward blog with lots of ideas
Dr. Mike’s Math Games for Kids
Helping Your Child Learn Math click arrow at bottom – math at home, at the grocery store, on the go
Khan Academy video library
The School Bell fantastic site put together by a retired teacher. You could put together an entire curriculum for younger kids just using this site!
Math Cats math crafts and a great idea bank
Family Math Bookstore we had the Family Math book & I highly recommend it – wish I had kept it!! I got mine off of PaperBackSwap. I think I’ll go there now & add all of them to my wish list!
free summer art & music program
Harmony Art Mom is offering her Harmony Fine Arts – Summer 2009 Art and Music Appreciation Plans for FREE! It is a six week program focusing on artists and composers.
Be sure to look around her beautiful site while you are there!
wfmw – grocerywiz customized list
Grocerywiz is the coolest free online grocery list creator!! I think it is really going to work for me.
Here’s what I like about it:
~ the detailed categories are very easy to use
~ you can add a note or list coupons you have
~ they match up printable coupon links to some of the items
~ there are weekly ad links to 150 grocery stores
~ print it & go, or save & add to it later
Now if I could only get the groceries delivered to my door & put away!! LOL
Run on over to We Are THAT Family for tons of great tips!
Tips I Want To Remember:
free amazon gift cards
Want an easy way to pay for your Amazon.com addiction purchases? Start using Swagbucks to do your online searches – it’s that easy!!
It only takes 45 Swagbucks to earn a $5 Amazon card. I’ve already earned 4 of them!! They have a huge list of prizes and gift cards to choose from if Amazon is not your thing.
Happy Searching!!
the heart of hospitality
I wanted to share a wonderful series by Nancy Leigh DeMoss called The Heart of Hospitality.
This statement really stood out to me:
“First of all, let me suggest that you take time, if you’ve never done this, to dedicate your house to the Lord and ask Him to make it a home that’s used for Him. The house is just going to be brick, stones, mortar, wood, until you put it into the Lord’s hands and say, “Lord, would You transform this into something that will be an instrument and a blessing and grace in the lives of other people?”
That is exactly what we did before buying our new home, and also the reason I went in search of a study on hospitality. I hope this series blesses you like it is blessing me!
i made the crew!
I am SO excited to be a part of this year’s TOS Homeschool Crew!!
As a Crew member, I get the chance to try out and review homeschool products throughout the year. I will be sharing what works for my gang, and what might work for yours.
Don’t be surprised to see a giveaway or two along the way! (Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss anything!!)
