A Word for 2012

 

Intentional... Does that word sound familiar?

If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that this was my word for 2011. 

 In 2011 I wanted to be intentional...

Intentional as a wife...
                           as a mom...
                                    as a friend...
                                             as a student the Word of God...

I wanted to be intentional in every way I lived my life.

SO...  as it draws to a close, I am reflecting on this year. 

It is a year that flew by.  

It have been a good year in many ways, a tough year in many ways.  

I have been stretched, I have grown and I am still learning MANY things.

As a wife, I have prayed more for my husband, I have tried to listen more, be less selfish, and love him more fully.

As a mom, I have tried to have more fun with my kids, tried to understand and meet their individual needs.

As a friend I have tried to listen more, talk less.

As a student of the Word of God, I read through the Bible, studied Philippians, memorized scripture.

I didn't always get it right...I have messed up and I have gotten back up.

I have experienced God's grace, God's leading and God's blessings.

SO what about 2012?

I want to continue to be intentional in every area of my life but I have been praying over the last few weeks about another word to help guide this new year.  

The word that continues to come to my mind and heart is ...

Temperate.

tem·per·ate  [tem-per-it, tem-prit] adjective

1.moderate or self-restrained; not extreme in opinion, statement, etc.: a temperate response to an insulting challenge.

2.moderate as regards indulgence of appetite or passion, especially in the use of alcoholic liquors.

3.not excessive in degree, as things, qualities, etc.

Through God's power I will be...

Temperate in my speech. 

Self controlled in my interactions with my husband, my children and others. 

Sensible in decision making and goal setting. 

Not unreasonable in my expectations of myself and others.

Prudent in my spending.

Moderate in my eating.

Pure in my thoughts and deeds. 

One area I commit to NOT be temperate in is my witness for Christ!  

I want to live boldly

on

FIRE 

for HIM 

this year!  

What about you?  Is God speaking to you about how you should live your life in 2012? Prayerfully consider how you will make a difference and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you!

Seasons Greetings!

Hard to believe that Christmas is over!

We had a great Christmas day and now we are enjoying some family time between now and the New Year.

As this year comes to a close, here's a look at some of our memories of 2011. It was fun for me to put this together... looking back, seeing how much the kids have grown and how much God has blessed us.

We look forward to making many more memories in the year to come!

Hope you enjoy it! Have a great 2012!

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Island Mama in the Kitchen: 6 Week Muffins

I like making muffins for our family but I never know how many to make. A recipe for 12 is not enough for our family of six (yes, my kids will devour 3 regular sized muffins at one sitting) Doubling the recipe make more than enough but not enough leftovers for a second sitting. I know I could freeze the leftovers but I'll probably not remember they are in the freezer. You see my dilemma? Granted,  not a life changing problem but one of those little annoyances that I only remember as I am making the muffins. SOOOOO... when I stumbled upon this recipe I was pleased.

6 Week Bran Muffins (Auntie Anne's Muffins)

Photo from Food.com

First of all the name was intriguing... 6 week muffins? At first I though it meant muffins that lasted 6 weeks... I couldn't imagine how fresh they would taste in all that time..okay, don't laugh at me.. I am only a little slow :)

So here's the deal, this recipe makes enough batter for 24- 30 regular sized muffins but you can keep the batter in the fridge for up to 6 weeks!  My dilemma solved.  I can make the exact number of muffins needed at the time and save the rest of the batter in the fridge.  And if I'm the only one that wants a muffin for breakfast, I can bake one or two at a time. 

BUT how do the taste?? I don't know who Auntie Anne is but if I knew her I'd hug her!  The are delicious... really.  They are the best bran muffins I have ever had, moist, tender, sweet but not too sweet.  A perfect muffin in my estimation.  And to top it off... pardon the pun... there is an optional cinnamon sugar topping that my kids {and I} LOVE!  Sometimes I make mini muffins, roll them in the cinnamon sugar and they are almost like eating donut holes.  I have now made 3 batches and I always get 6 thumbs up!  Definitely a keeper.  I can't really vouch for the 6 weeks though since the batter is never around that long!


Here's the recipe as posted on Food.com

Six Week Muffins (Auntie Anne's Muffins)

• 3 cups bran buds (Kellogg's All Bran cereal preferred-the little stick type cereal...not flakes)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk  (I make my own- 2 TBS of white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to make 2 cups)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Optional Topping

• butter 
• cinnamon sugar 

Directions:

1. Pour boiling water over 1 1/2 coups of the bran buds. Let stand while mixing other ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, combine rest of dry bran buds, flour, soda, and salt.
3. In another separate bowl, cream sugar and oil.
4. Add eggs to this mixture.
5. Add buttermilk alternately with dry ingredients.
6. Add the 1 1/2 cups soaked bran buds and mix well.
7. Store batter in fridge for up to 6 weeks.
8. Bake as needed in 400F oven.
9. Bake regular size for 15-20 minutes and mini muffins for 8-10 minutes
10. Dip tops in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar.
11. If you are really trying to be healthy, skip the butter and just dip the hot fresh baked muffins in cinnamon sugar and it will stick.
     
     
    Try them and let me know what you think!

Fractazmic!! A Review

I am always looking for ways to make math fun for the kids.   I struggled with some math concepts when I was a kid.  In my experience with the kids,  the more ways something is presented the easier it is to understand.   I was thrilled when I received a deck of Fractazmic cards in the mail to review.


So what is Fractazmic?   Fractazmic is a fraction card game from the the makers of I See Cards .  They have a few different card games designed to make learning fun. 

With  Fractazmic you can:

• Quickly learn to convert and add fractions.
• Understand the relationship between fractions and measurements.
• See real world use of fractions.

How does it work?

Fractazmic is a deck of 60 cards split into 3 suits, 10ths, 12ths and 16ths.  Each suit has cards that can be converted to the identifying suit.  For example the 10ths suit has cards that can be converted to 10ths namely,one- half, fifths and tenths, the 16ths suit has one-half, quarters, eighths and sixteenths.
Each suit has a graphic that can help to identify the amount that is on the card.  For instance the 12ths suit has a carton of eggs, the 1/3rd card would have 4 eggs in the carton, the one-half card would have 6 eggs and so on.

There are a couple of  ways to play the game but the basic idea is to make hands that add up to one using cards from the same suit.

 So what did we think?

We played this several times over the past few weeks.  It was right on time as Micaiah who is in grade 3 has been covering fractions in his math curriculum.  The first time we played I had to give Micaiah a lot of help but after playing a few rounds he understood the concept of converting fractions.  After the first round I made a cheat sheet for him so he could play more independently and eventually he needed to rely on the sheet less and less.  Eli who is in grade one and has just been introduced to fractions could not grasp the game yet.  He was content to watch us and I am sure he will soon catch on to the concept of adding the fractions together.  When I asked Micaiah what he thought, this is what he said, "It was a bit challenging but lots of fun."

I am sure it is a game we will play again and again. 

Fractazmic is available on the I See Cards website and is priced at $6.95 per deck making it affordable for individual families as well as classrooms that may want to purchase several sets (there is even special pricing for ordering 5 sets or 10 sets).

I See Cards also makes the following games.  Because we enjoyed Fractazmic so much I have added them to my wish list!!

•  I See Cards
• Pyramath
• Prime Bomb

Check out this link to see what others thought of this product.

Disclaimer:  As a reviewer for the TOS crew, I was given this product free of charge in exchange for an honest (favourable or otherwise) review of the game.

Countdown to Christmas: Truth in the Tinsel

Wow! how did it get to be December already?!

I was really excited to come across an e-book this week called "Truth in the Tinsel" written by Amanda White of impressyourkids.org.

Before I found it I had been planning to use the Jesse Tree Devotional we used last year as a countdown to Christmas. It is a great devotional but a little over the kids heads. I did a lot of paraphrasing last year and I wasn't sure how much of it they absorbed.

This e-book however was written with younger kids in mind and so far has proven to be just what we need. The book provides a scripture reading and instructions for making an ornament for each day of December leading up to Christmas.

There are little clue cards that I printed on the back of patterned paper and have strung up across our mantle. Each day for our Truth in the Tinsel time, the kids turn over the next clue and try to figure out what the word of the day is.

As I read the scripture the shout out the word they think as I read it. For example, day one's clue was a candle. The scripture reading talked about the Saviour being a light. Each time I read the word light, they shouted out light. They love that part as I am usually telling them NOT to shout things out. After we read, I talk to them about the key word and introduce the craft of the day. While they are making the craft we have a discussion about the meaning of the scripture, its relationship to Christmas and any lesson we can learn for our own lives. So far the whole process has been a hit... for the kids, and for me! The crafts are easy to prepare and to put together, the devotional is simple and easy enough for Eden to understand but challenging enough to also keep Micaiah's attention.

Here are some pictures from our first 3 days:

Candle ornament- Jesus is our light

Busy at work

Crowns: Jesus is our King

Zechariah with a bubble mouth that the kids popped (to symbolize God making him unable to speak).

Do you have little kids?  Go and check out Truth in the Tinsel.  It's not too late to jump in.  Amanda provides alternate schedules for those that can't or don't want to make all 24 crafts.

Stay tuned for more!

Math Mammoth: A Review

Guess what? Another review!  Seems like all I am writing right now is reviews!    This one is for a Math curriculm called Math Mammoth.

Math Mammoth offers affordable, yet quality math worktexts and workbooks for grades 1-8, available as both downloads and printed books. These books concentrate on conceptual understanding and are strong in mental math. The directions in the worktexts are written directly to the student, and are often self-teaching, thus requiring little preparation and involvement from the teacher.

The company offers a full elementary mathematics curriculum for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Each grade level in the curriculum consists of two student worktexts (A and B), and supportive materials, which include answer keys, tests, cumulative reviews, and an additional worksheet maker.

But it also offers lots of supplemental math materials:

• Collections of handy 1-page worksheets with varying problems, which are offered either by topic (GREEN SERIES) or by grade level (GOLDEN SERIES).
• The BLUE SERIES books are worktexts  by math topics. They concentrate on a few connected topics and concepts at a time, and are great for many purposes, such as initial teaching, remedial teaching, or review.
• Make It Real Learning workbooks allow you to solve problems from real-life.
• States by the Numbers workbooks include lots of basic practice using real-life data.

After  looking through the vast website and assessing the needs we had in math, I chose to review 2 topics in the Blue Series. 

My thoughts:   I chose these topics with Eli (Grade 1) in mind.  Our current math curriculum is taught in a cyclical approach so I figured the topical approach would help to supplement and reinforce the concepts he is learning.  I found the text to be straight forward and simple to follow.  Because Eli isn't really an independent learner, I knew that the worksheet format would not work well for him so I worked through the lessons with him.  On some of the lessons, the others also joined in.

They had fun working together on the activities.   Eli likes anything hands on so the activites were a winner.  Even though he doesn't  enjoy worksheets too much he did manage to get through a few lessons  filling in the pages.  They provided a great diversion from our regular curriculum.  I find breaks like that tend to keep them motivated!

We will revisit these worktexts.  The best thing is that I received them as an e-book and the licensing permits me unlimited copies for my students, which means I that I can reprint and use these same books for Eden and Marcus when they are ready for them.

The full curriculum is about $35 per grade and the supplementary worktexts are around $3 or $4 per topic.

You can check out what others thought here. 

Disclaimer:  As a TOS Homeschool Crew reviewer, I received these e-books in return for an honest review(positive or otherwise) of the curriculum.

Keyboard Pals: A Review

Do you remember learning to type? Was it easy and fun? If you were taught like me it wasn't either of those! We were given a product to review that claims to teach kids to type in an hour while they have fun as well! Here's some information from the Keyboard Pals website

Our Mission: Our mission is to teach young children to type on a Qwerty computer keyboard in the fastest, easiest, and least stressful way. In only one hour Keyboard Town PALS’ “Learn To Type”software is able to achieve that goal.

Stress-Free: We have eliminated the stress normally associated with learning to type and replaced it with adorable puppets who sing songs and tell stories in a relaxed learning environment. Our system has no boring drills or exercises. No mindless games. No nerve-wracking timed-speed tests. We have even deactivated the delete and backspace buttons since mistakes are never counted and scroll right off the screen.

Wholesome: We are dedicated to developing educational software that you can depend on; wholesome products that will help you do your job as a parent – the most important and rewarding job anyone can have.

Self Motivated: Your child will become an eager participant in the learning process and will be self-motivated to learn and complete the program.

6 and Up: Keyboard Town PALS is best for the beginner audience of kids ages 6-12 and those with learning differences. All you need is a kid, a computer and an hour.

So what did we think?   I personally found the puppets kind of corny but since I wasn't the target audience I kept an open mind and my opinion to myself when I introduced the program to the kids.  I used it with both Micaiah (almost 8) and Eli (6).  I did a run through of a few of the lessons myself and they were easy to understand and would need little to no parental supervision once the kids were logged on.

Unlike me the kids liked the puppets.  Micaiah had success with the program and is well on his way to typing.  (He will continue to practice with the program until our subscription runs out). He however did not like it enough to sit for an hour or even a half hour so I can not vouch for the claim that it can teach you to type in an hour.  There are a total of 8 lessons- one lesson per finger and they did one or two lessons at a time.  Eli who is at the lower limit of the target age range did not have a whole lot of interest in learning to type.  When I asked him if he liked the program his answer was "Yes, but I only want to type with my right hand." 

So all in all I found it to be a good program that sets out what it intends to do if the child is ready to learn to type.  The product can be purchased as a CD-rom ($35) or there is an online option ($30) and the company has other companion products available for purchase if you want to extend the learning (finger puppets, coloring book, a game).

Check out the Keyboard Pals website for more information.  If you want to know what others thought, take a look some more reviews here.

Disclaimer:  As a TOS Homeschool Crew reviewer, I received a free 6 week subscription for online access to  the Keyboard Pals software in return for an honest review(positive or otherwise) of the product.

10 years after "I do"

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary.

I posted this message to my husband on Facebook this morning:

"I thought I loved you completely when I said "I do" but now 10 years later I see that that was just the beginning... I love you more than I could have ever imagined!"
Amongst the congratulatory messages we received on that post was a question from one of my friends asking the secret to making it sweet. It got me thinking about how much I have learned over the past 10 years about marriage. When I think back, knowing what I know now, I was quite clueless about what makes a marriage work when I walked down the aisle. Sure we had the premarital counseling that is so important but it is one thing to know something in theory...putting it into practice is a whole other ball game!

So here is a list of 10 things I have learned over the past 10 years.  Most of these things I am still learning but practice makes perfect right?! 

1. First and foremost, keep God at the centre of the marriage.
2. My husband is always on my team. He is not my enemy...even when we don't see eye to eye.
3. Honesty is always the best policy.
4. If I want my spouse to be honest and openly communicate with me, I have to create/maintain the right environment for that.  I have listen without judgement no matter what is being said.  
5. I don't always have to be right. (still working on that one :)
6. Conflict is an opportunity for growth.
7. Don't try to change your spouse.  Pray for God to change them but pray more for God to give you the grace to accept them as they are.  
8. Be willing to overlook the little things... when it comes to our spouses faults or our own pet peeves, we tend to go through the dating stage with our eyes shut tight and then when we get married our eyes are wide open.  It should be the other way around!
9. Marriage is not 50/50.  It's not even each person always giving 100% (can you really give 100% 100% of the time?)  Sometimes it might be 20/80 and other times it might be 80/20.  The main thing is being willing to pick up the slack when necessary.
10. As much as you love your children, they do not come before your marriage.  A healthy marriage will make healthy kids.  Make sure your kids know that mommy and daddy are a team.

So Sweetie, I look forward to learning so much more as we continue this journey together...

 

Book Review: The Pirate Queen

The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman

Treasure is found in the most unlikely places. The envy of all her friends, wife and mother Saphora Warren is the model of southern gentility and accomplishment. She lives in a beautiful Lake Norman home, and has raised three capable adult children. Her husband is a successful plastic surgeon--and a philanderer. It is for that reason that, after hosting a garden party for Southern Living magazine, Saphora packs her bags to escape the trappings of the picturesque-but-vacant life. Saphora’s departure is interrupted by her husband Bender’s early arrival home, and his words that change her life forever: I’m dying. Against her desires, Saphora agrees to take care of Bender as he fights his illness. They relocate, at his insistence, to their coastal home in Oriental—the same house she had chosen for her private getaway. When her idyllic retreat is overrun by her grown children, grandchildren, townspeople, relatives, and a precocious neighbor child, Saphora’s escape to paradise is anything but the life she had imagined. As she gropes for evidence of God's presence amid the turmoil, can she discover that the richest treasures come in surprising packages? 

I was given the e-book version of this book to review by Waterbrook Multnomah. I had never hear of the author, Patricia Hickman, but the description sounded interesting. I was drawn in after the first few chapters. Hickman's writing style makes the characters come to life and the plot while starting off seemingly predictable takes several unexpected twists which keeps you turning the pages.  There were times I laughed, times I got mad, and times I cried.  I definitely didn't want to put it down.   For me that makes it really good read.

Throughout the book, the themes of forgiveness and grace were woven together in a captivating story which was uplifting and encouraging and pointed toward experiencing God's presence in the midst of pain.  The gospel, the redeeming message of Christ,  was clearly presented and was well positioned in the plot.  My favourite character had to be Tobias,  the young boy who unknowingly helps to change Saphora's outlook on life.  His positive attitude and determination while faced with huge trials was a challenging example of how to live life fully no matter what you are faced with.   

I will definitely be looking for more titles by Patricia Hickman.. especially if I get that Kindle on my wish list (hint, hint my dear hubby:)

Disclaimer: I received this book (e-book version) from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this honest review.

 

Ooka Island: A Review

For the past month Eden has been battling Fliggs (FLying Pigs), rescuing Elves, collecting mist, wandering through sound caves, hanging out in a Popcorn Library, playing in a Pencil Playground, skating down an Alphabet Mountain, and looking for books in a submarine.

     Sounds like fun?
                     Let me introduce you to Ooka Island!

We were given a copy of this downloadable online adventure to review but before I tell you what I think of it here is some information found on their website which will tell you a little about it:

Ooka Island is an online adventure based on a dynamic, individualized, and adaptive reading curriculum that will keep children captivated and develop their literacy skills along the way.

The Ooka Island Adventure starts with 20 minutes of guided play where the player is guided through a customized learning path through the 7 activities on Ooka Island. After 20 minutes of guided play the player unlocks the next book on the Book Path, reads the book in the Popcorn Library and completes the comprehension and vocabulary activities. The player is then rewarded with 8 minutes of free play where the player can play in any unlocked activity on the Island, purchase items in the Mist Mart, or play with their Ooka Elf friends in the Pencil Playground.

The Ooka Island Adventure is embedded with an innovative learning algorithm that adapts game play according to each child’s needs. If a child struggles with any skill being taught, they are rerouted to an activity where that same skill is presented in a different way. This pattern is repeated until the child has mastered the particular skill.

The Ooka Island Adventure is accessed online but not through a web browser, so players are never directed outside of the game to other websites or to outside content.

After being Ooka Island Adventurers for a month now, I can tell you that we love it.   It is designed for Pre-K to Grade 2 but since Eli (grade 1) is reading quite fluently I decided to use the program for Eden (pre-K) who wasn't reading but was becoming more interested in reading.  She knew all her letters and the sounds and was getting the concept of putting letter sounds together.  So Ooka Island came at the perfect time. From the first day, entering the "Cave of Sounds" she was excited.  I think she was thrilled to have a program that was hers (the boys have had the chance to review a couple of programs that have been above her level).  After I sat with her for a few days, she was able to maneuver through the program quite well on her own.  Her favourite part is getting to the Popcorn Library and having the book read to her.  She likes to log on and go straight to the library to read the books that have already been unlocked.  After a month she has unlocked 16 books and there are 85 in total so we have plenty more Ooka Island ahead of us.  She also,  in true girl fashion, loves shopping in the Mist Mart for new clothes, shoes and accessories for her avatar.

I like that the program moves at her pace, and if she is struggling with a skill, it repeats (without it feeling repetitive)  it until she gets it.   It has built her confidence in reading and she is now trying to read any book she picks up (including mine:).   I like that she doesn't always have to do the full 20 minutes as the program will pick up where she left off.  I am impressed with the thought and planning that has obviously gone into the development of this program.  We had a few installation issues and compatibility issues (it's a newly released program) but the customer service representative I dealt with was always efficient and knowledgeable.

Would I recommend the program?   Yes, if you have an emerging or early reader who loves technology,  give it a try.  There are several pricing options available and they are even offering a 30% discount to celebrate their launch so now is a great time to explore the island.






I participated in this review as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Team.   Click here to see what my crewmates  are saying about Ooka Island.


Disclaimer:  As a TOS Reviewer I was given a free 6 month subscription in exchange for my honest (positive or otherwise) opinion of the product.

 

Week in Review: Alligators, scavenger hunts and a few loose screws!

It took a couple of weeks, but it seems like we are back in the swing of things!  We had a great week of school last week.  I think it was partly because I realized that I was trying to do too much, trying to pack too much into our day.  In the process I was stressing the kids out, stressing myself out and no one was enjoying school.  I tend to be a "check all the boxes, scheduled person" and while that is a good thing I am also learning to be more flexible and spontaneous in my approach to homeschooling.
I cut back on some of the individual work for each child and focused more on group activities which I could adapt for each child's ability.  We covered everything I wanted to cover and the kids enjoyed learning... a win/win in my book!!  Here's a look at some of the things we did through the week:

Reading

We finished reading The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill for our group time reading.  It was a great story about a young boy who decides that he would make and sell his own toothpaste because the brand named toothpaste was too expensive.  By selling his for less he ends up making a million dollars.  Some of the themes in the book were over the kids heads but they did enjoy it.  It opened up discussion about economics, discrimination and entrepreneurship which I look forward to revisiting when we read it again in the future.

Micaiah completed Praire School by Avi and Keep the Lights Burning, Abby by Peter & Connie Roop.  Eli is moving quickly through his All About Reading Readers and looking forward to moving on to "harder" books. 


Mathematics
The kids are loving the Mathtacular DVD's we bought to supplement/ reinforce their math programs.  The quirky clips use real life examples of mathematics so they can see how math is practical and necessary.

We played a few math games this week including "Hungry Alligator"  to help Eli with the concept of greater than and less than.   Micaiah and Eden each had a stack of cards (regular playing cards using just the number cards) face down.  The flipped over cards one at a time and Eli had to use the correct alligator  to show less than or greater than. I printed the alligators from here.

We also played a few rounds of parking lot using our Education Cubes to help Eden with number recognition.

History
This week we covered the the life of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt so I drew out the map of Egypt, Canaan, the Red Sea on a big board and we used Playmobile figures and other props to tell the story of the 10 plagues and the crossing through the Red Sea.

Practical Life

Eli who loves anything to do with tools had fun taking apart our broken steam cleaner.  He spent over an hour exploring the different wires and parts of the motor.

I had to go to the grocery store on Friday.. I NEVER take all 4 kids with me unless it is for 2 or 3 things and even then I try to avoid it!  BUT it was unavoidable this week.. not only did I have to take all 4, I also had to do a full week's shopping!!!! In order for it not to be a nightmare I decided to put together a little grocery store scavenger hunt for each child.  Eden's was a picture one, she had to mark off the picture when she came across it the in the store.  Eli's was along the line of "find something yellow, find something that begins with T, find something sweet..." For Micaiah I stepped it up a bit.  He had things like, "find something that is about 8 oz, a brand of cereal with less than 9 grams of sugar, something that costs around $4".  They rule was that they had to stay with me.. they couldn't run around the store trying to find everything.  Apart from Marcus trying to jump out of the cart every 5 minutes, the shopping experience was actually pretty enjoyable!

So that was our week!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pin it Do it: Something yummy!

I am back with another Pin it Do it Challenge! (sorry for all those who came by for the last two weeks looking for the challenge.. we were on vacation!)

The pin I used this week was from my recipe board which I originally found here. It was a recipe for Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf. Remember,  I have a love of Italian food so this one sounded right up my alley! And it was. I followed the directions exactly and if I made it again there is nothing I would change. It was the right blend of seasoning, a great texture and SOOOO easy to make! You can even make it ahead, freeze it and then bake it when you need it. It got 5 out of 6 thumbs up from the family so that means it makes it into our regular rotation.

from "What's Cooking Chicago"

We'll I have to go... I'm in the midst of changing over wardrobes for all four kids... ugh!

Link up below and show us all the great ways you brought Pinterest into real life this week! Happy Pinning!