Team Francks

Summer Themes

Let me start this off by saying that in no way do I think cool enough for people to pin anything from my blog on to Pinterest... BUT if at some point you find something that you DO want to pin ... I'd ask that you not pin it directly from here.  I'd ask that you pin it from my pinning blog... so far I've been able to keep my blog open and not have it password protected... but if I get high traffic (like a pin post) I'm worried that I'll get weirdos...  since I've used our last name and my boys real names I worry about safety issues. 

If you see anything on my blog please feel free to ask me and I'll create a post for you on the fake blog and you can pin from that.

Pinterest and Project Life

If you have any questions please let me know!  Thank you!

Now on to Summer!!  We are in full swing around here... we've already started swimming lessons and next week is our last week of preschool (sniff, sniff).

But... in order for me to have fun and for things to go smoothly-ish I need a plan.  I'm a plannin' kind of girl!  It just works so much better for me if I know what to expect.  We can still be spontaneous but we have a general outline... and general outlines makes me happy.

This Summer is "theme" Summer... each week (or every two weeks depending how long it takes us) we'll have a new theme.  Each theme has crafts/activities/science/reading/food that go with that theme.

Most of the crafts and science are age appropriate for elementary age kids... but the books listed are geared towards preschoolers.  I found book suggestions on different preschool blogs and am planning to supplement with non-fiction books from our library.

Most items are linked to the source where I got them... sorry there aren't pictures posted below... it took me hours and hours to put our list together and I just didn't have time to post pictures for everything.  Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Summer Themes 2013

 

Weather

 Art/Crafts:

Sun with clothes pins

Kite craft

Cotton ball clouds

Puffy Paint Clouds

Book(s):

Rainy Day Slug 

The Very Windy Day

How the Ladies stopped the Wind 

Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round

Barn Storm

Science:

watch it rain (two liter bottles)

watch it rain (shaving cream)

Tornado in a jar

 Food:

Cloud jello

 

Dinosaurs

Art/Crafts:

Clothes pin Stegosaurs

Book(s):

Dinosaurs!

Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up

Dinosaur Roar! Board Book

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs

Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!

Good Night, Dinosaurs

Science:

Dinosaur Eggs (or these ones)

Dinosaur fossils

Food:

Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets

Dinosaur fruit snacks        

Dinosaur toenails (bugles)

Activity:

Dinosaur Museum

Bugs and Creepy Crawlies

 Art/Crafts:

Lady bug paper plate

Coffee filter butterflies

Sun catcher snails

Rock caterpillar

Playdough Bugs

Book(s):

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Lonely Firefly

Diary of a Spider 

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

I Love Bugs!
 

 Science:

Live Butterfly Garden

“Fireflies”

Food:

Dirt with worms

Flutterby Franks

Edible Insects

Activity

Go on a bug hunt (plant a few fake bugs just in case we don’t catch real bugs)

 

 

Under the Sea

Art/Crafts:

Fishbowl craft

Paper bowl Jellyfish

Shaving cream starfish

Handprint octopus

Nemo Paper plate

Lobster footprint

Book(s):

Pout Pout fish

Baby Beluga

Clumsy Crab

some non fiction books

Science:

 Growing coral

Wave bottle

 Food:

Sandwiches on Pepperidge farms fish bread

Sand crabs

Crabby Croissant

 

 

Patriotism/America (the week of July 4^th)

Art/Crafts:

Handprint flag

Patriotic Tie dye shirt

Tin can windsock

red white and blue "star-man"

Book(s):

Wow! America!

How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A

A is for America

A couple of non fiction

Science:

Fireworks (how and why they work)

Food:

Star spangled rice krispy treats

Cupcakes/or sugar cookies with red/white/blue sprinkles

 

 

Space

Doing thing s a little bit different with this unit... dividing the subjects in to days... sun on one day, moon next day, etc.   Some days more activities than others.

Sun

Fingerpainted Sun

“Wake up, Sun”

Nonfiction books

Moon & Stars

Moon Paint

Moon Sand

“Papa, please get the moon for me”

“Our Stars”

Solar System

Planet Painting

 “Whats Out There?”

“Comets” 

Aliens

Alien Man

Alien headband

Alien Glow-in-the-Dark Slime

“Aliens love underpants”

“The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot”

Misc

3-D Space Shuttle (free printable)

Paint blob aliens

“On the Launch Pad” by Michael Dahl

 Food:

Alien Jello

Sun cupcake

Activities

Star and constellation gazing

Glow in the dark bath w/glow in the shaving cream (with neon food coloring)

 

 

Farm

Art/Crafts:

Chicken paper plate (free printable)

Corn Craft

Painted duck rocks

Cardboard pig

Cottonball sheep

Life cycle of a chicken

Book(s):

Big Red Barn

Barn Yard Dance

A seed in need

Pig’s Egg

Cluck O’Clock

Science:

Grow some Corn

Thirsty celery

Garden in a bucket (we bought a little kit at walmart that had seed/soil/bucket)

 Food:

Popcorn (not microwave!)

Yoohoo Milk (or other chocolate milk)

Pig bread

Activities:

Field trip to a farm

Old McDonald      

Happy Summer-ing!

 

 

March in Review

March was a good month... I love Texas in the Spring!

In no particular order:

-Preschool field trip to a friends house to visit their baby chicks... made all of Buddy's dreams come true.

 

 -Joey had a rare day off work so we packed a picnic lunch and went to the park and played with our kite (that we got for Christmas).  So fun.  One of my favorite days of 2013 so far.

-Blowing up balloons with vinegar and baking soda for Science day. We both love Science day.

-Its a blanket fort kind of days... I love blanket forts!

-Three Billy Goats Gruff and the Troll(s)

 

 -Homemade donuts... a Sunday night favorite.

-In an effort to save money I've started cutting the boys hair.  This picture is known as the hair cut that went very very bad. This picture doesn't even do justice to how bad it is. Crooked. Neck line way too high. Bald spots. Totally uneven. It's a train wreck. Poor kid. He was in tears. I was almost in tears. Good thing he's cute. And only four.

  -Our library book baskets... we have a Bunny theme going on these days.

-Buddy's first talk in Primary... he did awesome!

-a little Easter crafting

 -Waiting for friends that we were babysitting to come to our house... everything about this picture makes me happy.

St. Patrick's Day

I love celebrating holidays with little kids... so so fun.  We did lots of fun things leading up to the week of St. Patty's day.

-  We made Leprechaun Buttons

- Made fun craft projects (thanks Pinterest for helping me remember and organize projects!)

 

- Went to a St. Patrick's birthday party at a donut shop (brilliant idea!)

- The night before we built a Leprechaun Trap

After some creative differences we came up an arrow tricking the leprechaun in to thinking there's a rainbow in there and then syrup on the plate so the leprechaun gets stuck and can't escape. 

- Unfortunately our Leprechaun was too tricky... better luck next year!

All the green glitter was from the Leprechauns shoes.... of course!

- Before dinner we got to dressed up in our St. Patrick's day shirts...

- For dinner we had our traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage and a variety of GREEN things...

And last but not least... I'm so LUCKY and blessed they are mine!

Happy St. Patty's 2013!

 

 

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Mayo kind of grosses me out... but a friend told me about this recipe and their family loved it.  So I overlooked the fact that I had to rub Mayo on raw chicken... and tried it... and our family loved it.  So easy and super tasty.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
• 4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise with cheese in medium bowl. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with Mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
3. Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes (it took about 35 minutes for ours to cook through).

Recipe found here.

February in Review

I know... we're half way through March... but if I don't do a February in Review the day will come (all too soon) when I don't remember ANYTHING and it will be like February 2013 didn't even happen! 

So in no particular order:

- Jack Jack had surgery to have tubes but in his ears

- Lots of science activies

- Preschool field trip to the the post office.

As a side note... we are loving loving loving our preschool program.  LOVE.  So if you ever decide to go the co-op route The Learning Box Preschool curriculum is awesome.  Awesome.

(this is Buddy looking for the mailman... he makes me laugh. cute kid.)

- Celebrating a warm beautiful day with a trip to the Zoo (a cute teeny tiny zoo!)

 

- A little George Washington crafting to celebrate Presidents week.

- Making Valentine Treats

- Celebrating Mardi Gras with beads and gumbo... I love our Mardi Gras traditions!

- Family fun day and having a movie day

- Sending "Long Distance Hugs" to grandparents in Utah

 - Beautiful evenings at our favorite park

- Taking flowers to our sweet neighbor who has cancer.

- Our library books to help us celebrate Presidents week. 

- We love Library day

 

- "mom, I just love my little bunnies so much!"
He keeps begging for a real bunny. And a goat.

- Buddy picked out and signed his vday cards this year... so so cute... I love this age.

- Apparently we like nerdy books that nobody else wants to check out.

p.s. this book was Buddy's choice "adventures in your national parks"... just in case you were wondering :)

-

and that's a wrap!

love day

Another Valentine's day has come and gone... always fun to plan and celebrate... we did a little family dinner and Family Home Evening... Fondue and Italian Cream Sodas... so fun!

Here's the fondue recipe I always use... easy... mild taste and easy to make a half recipe for a smaller group.

Cheese Fondue:

2 8oz. packages cream cheese

1 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded swiss cheese

1 tsp. garlic salt

Heat on low while stirring until melted.  If it is too thick, add more milk.

Things to dip:

french bread

veggies (broccoli, cauliflower)

fried chicken chunks

roasted red potatoes

 

Italian Sodas:

You can use the small Torani Syrup bottle (available at most grocery stores in the coffee sections) or the Large Torani Syrup (available at restaurant supply stores and online).

 

To make one Italian Cream Soda, you'll need:

• 1/2 cup Club Soda
• 3 TBSP Torani Syrup
• 1-2 TBSP Half & Half (or vanilla coffee creamer)
• 3 ice cubes
• whipped cream and a cherry for the top!

Add ice cubes to glasses. Measure out about 1/2 cup Club Soda  and pour into each glass.

little gifts for the boys.

Family Love Notes that were put in our little red mailboxes and read out loud.  Loved this activity!

 

and then for the Family Home Evening lesson we watched these videos and then talked about how we can show Christ-like love.

 

and that's a wrap!

Midweek Musings: 2013 edition

When I started this post it was January 1st... and then it was the second week of January... and now here we are on the 24th.  Sad but true.

1. First of all... Happy 2013!  Weren't we supposed to be driving a hovercraft in the year 2013?  Well I don't know about you... but I'm still driving a minivan.  Regardless, life seems to be flying by faster than ever.

2. We had the best Christmas.  The very best.  One of my favorite in history.  Jack Jack's first Christmas.  Buddy is four and thinks all things are magical. Its snowed all day Christmas day.  We got a nap.  Perfect day!  And hopefully one day you'll get to see pictures.

3. I have one personal goal for 2013 and one goal only... Organization.  I'm gutting my house.  One closet at a time. I want to live simple.  My new motto...

If you have too much stuff to 'take care of' that you can't keep up with it all, then you have TOO MUCH STUFF. SIMPLIFY.

(Have less clothes, so the drawers aren't bulging... the answer is NOT to get MORE storage to hold it all).

Less Less LESS of EVERYTHING is the answer, and then just take good care of what you DO have. It feels SO much better.

I'm off to a really good start! 

4. Two family goals for 2013:

• Francks Family Fieldtrips on the third Saturday of every Month (we can be flexible with the Saturday... but it needs to be on the calendar).

• Get outside and be more physically active as a family.  Hiking, walking, biking and flying kits.

5. Buddy is learning to ride a bike with training wheels.  He's growing up so so fast.

 

6. Jack Jack is minutes away from walking. He's so close.  And growing up so so fast.

7. My picture a day blog is up and running again this year... I did a different format last year but the blog just works best for me.  This is my fifth taking a picture every single day.

8. Exciting news... my baby sister is getting married.  sniff sniff.  So excited for her.  Sad that there won't be any more Summer trips to visit me in Texas... but so so excited for her!! 

9. Buddy got a new cars matching game for Christmas... the other night he set up a party for us... he set up the game by himself and got everyone a stack of chips and a cup of rootbeer.  Seriously the cutest thing in the whole wide world.  He was so proud of himself.  And can we say party planner!

10. And last but not least... my baby turned one last week.  ONE! that was the fastest year ever.  Happy Birthday baby boy.  

Happy 2013... We're off to a great start!

 

Christmas Advent Activities 2012

We loved doing our Advent Christmas activities last year and are excited for them again this year.  Tonight I'm feeling ambitious... tomorrow I might dread that I added so many activities and might make some small adjustments :)

Joey's mom has been here for the last week and half so we've already been able to complete several of these.... lots of fun!  Without further ado...

2012 Advent Activities

Santa/reindeer plate craft

Handprint ornaments

Ward Christmas Party

Live Nativity at Cowboy Church

Decorate Tree (DONE)

Watch Elf (DONE)

Family date night... dinner out and Lights at Loy Lake Drive (DONE)

New Christmas PJ's (DONE)

Special Family Home Evening program

Visit Santa

Decorate Gingerbread Train (DONE)

Candy Cane Hunt (city sponsored event)

Brunch out on Christmas Eve

make magic reindeer food

Read the Nativity story on Christmas Eve

Special (dress up) Candlelight Dinner (the Sunday before Christmas)

Write a Letter to Santa

Make snow globes

Christmas Tree Ornament (from popsicle sticks) (DONE)

Reindeer/Snowman pancakes

Make Reindeer hat

Christmas movies & popcorn (DONE)

Make & decorate sugar cookies (DONE)

Make paper snowflakes

Snowman Pizza

Visit Nursing home

Have Buddy give money to Ringing Salvation Army bells

Snowman craft

New Christmas book(s)

Optional:

Family Christmas Bowling (we did this last year and loved it... just don't know if schedules will work this year.. so I can't committ! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Cake

I CANNOT believe Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK... NEXT WEEK!!!!!!  Where did this year go??  I haven't even taken down all my Halloween stuff yet! Seriously, where did the year go.

Here's a recipe I made for our Preschool Thanksgiving feast... it was so so yummy.  I found several different versions on Pinterest so I just combined two different recipes... Its a nice alternative to traditional Pumpkin Pie.

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 small can pumpkin puree (NOT Pumpkin Pie filling...
• 1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Topping:

• 1 large container of cool whip 
• 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix all these together until smooth  

• 1/2 bag Heath Bits
• Caramel Sundae Sauce (I didn't include... It just seems like it would be toooo sweet!)

Instructions

1. Mix together the cake mix and the pumpkin puree (DO NOT add the other ingredients on the cake mix box).
2. Pour batter into a well greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350º according to the directions for a 9x13 cake on the cake mix box.
3. Let cool for about 10 minutes after baking. Using the bottom of a wooden spoon, poke holes all over the top of the cake
4. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the cake, filling the holes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Spread the cool whip mixture over the top of cake. Sprinkle on the heath bits, and drizzle caramel over top (just to your liking). Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, or overnight (best).

Notes:

DO NOT USE PUMPKIN PIE FILLING. YOU MUST USE PUMPKIN PUREE IF YOU WANT THE CAKE TO BAKE CORRECTLY. ONLY mix the cake mix and the pumpkin puree. You must let the sweetened condensed milk soak in all the way. Use the bottom of a wooden mixing spoon to poke the holes in the cake-- it's just the right size.

Recipe from here and here

(picture borrowed from here)

Things I Feel Strongly About: Voting

**Just a reminder... my blog, my opinions.  If you don't agree... fine... I always love hearing your thoughts... but please be respectful**

We voted last week during early voting.

I won't go in to the who and why... because at this point you already know who I support... which isn't really the point of this post.

My point is that I believe in voting.

100%

I believe that it matters

I believe that is a blessing

a privilege

and our duty.

I believe that since the beginning of our country men and women have given their lives so that we may have the freedoms that we enjoy and have our voice heard.

I believe that checking that little box is the least we can do. 

I know people believe that its their right NOT to vote... and it is...

but I believe when we don't vote we're saying "thanks for nothing"... your life and your service in my behalf means nothing.

I don't care if you don't like the candidates... then write in a name.

I believe that as an American who enjoys the greatness of our country that least you can do is vote.

So we got up early on Friday morning before Joey headed back to work (he came home just to vote) and we went as a family to vote (my boys in their flag shirts).

I will always take my children with me when we vote (as inconvenient as it is sometimes)

I want to teach by example

I want them to know that it matters

and I want them to know how much I love this great country.

After we voted we celebrated Chocolate donuts... a rare treat indeed.

And if you don't vote... please don't tell me... I will judge... I know its petty and totally wrong... but I will... I can't help it.