Purina Farms Field Trip

This past weekend, we had the most perfect weather. Saturday morning, I decided on a whim to head to Purina Farms. Abby and I usually go with my sister Heather every year in September, but Heather's asthma is really bad and a farm is not a good place to hang out with asthma.



I was surprised to see all of the new things that were at Purina Farms this year. They now have a 50' x 18' pool for the dog competitions. We saw the 11 o'clock dog show and it was so fun to see the dogs perform. A few of the dogs ran off the pool deck and jumped into the water after a Frisbee.

Apparently, the record for the length a dog can jump is 30 feet! It was set last year during competitions at Purina Farms. We heard they will be held the first weekend in October and it is televised on ESPN. How fun!



They also have a cat show now. It wasn't scheduled for today, but we'll have to go back to see it. Cats are our favorite!

Just like every year, Abby enjoyed playing in the corn table and riding the kiddie tractors.

Can you believe this is the first time Dave has been to Purina Farms? We've been going every year for 4 years, but we go during the week and he's at work. He really enjoyed it there.

Did I mention, it's free! I am always excited about free and fun activities for us to do. Of course, we always end up hungry and food isn't free! LOL!

Ok, I had to include a picture of the first time I took Abby to Purina Farms.



Look how little she is! She was 16 months old. Yes, that is the same corn table!

If you are in the St. Louis area, have you been to Purina Farms? Or is there a similar place near you?

Simply Made Sunday: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3/4/2010: I'm updating this post to participate in the Over Used Recipe Swap of 2010 at Simply Modern Mom.



Click the button above to link up your favorite recipes by this Sunday (March 7th). The goal is to have 365 recipes listed!

Susana from Our Homeschool Fun, hosts Simply Made Sunday where we can share our weekly kitchen creations!

Some of you may remember the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from my anniversary post on Tuesday. I thought I'd share this recipe, since it's a favorite in my family. My Memaw made these cookies all of the time. The original recipe was in a huge cookbook of brand name products. It uses Quaker Oats, however the recipe on Quaker Oats oatmeal has since changed.


Famous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3 c. Quaker Oats, not the quick kind
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Raisins- I've never measured them, just put some in until it looks right :)

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine oats, flour, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Beat shortening, sugars, egg, water and vanilla until creamy. Add dry ingredients. Then mix in raisins. Place on cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

(before baking)

This dough is delicious! (use pasteurized eggs) I usually bake mine for 12 minutes. The recipe says it makes 5 dozen, but I've never got that many from it. I use a cookie scoop for mine, just to make them even sized. I also let them cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Sorry, I don't have a picture of them after they were baked, they tend to not last long around here! LOL!

Check out more Simply Made Sunday fun!

I ♥ Faces: Fix It Friday Week 26

Before

After

I used the free edits on Picnik to crop, soften and use a tint of sepia. Then I uploaded the picture to Photobucket, so I could use their Curves tool to brighten up the coloring of the picture. I also found a new to me tool, called Smart Recolor. I decided to brighten up the flowers a bit. Now, if only I could find a free eye brightening tool!

For more Fix It Friday edits, head to www.iheartfaces.com.

Hooked On Friday: JumpStart Pet Rescue Wii Review & Giveaway

This week, Abby and I are hooked on the Pet Rescue Wii game!

You may remember the review we did of the JumpStart World computer game back in February. Well now JumpStart has released a Wii version of the game!


We received the JumpStart Pet Rescue Wii game a few weeks ago and Abby has really enjoyed it! She was able to start right up on the Wii and play the game like on the computer.


Her favorite part is feeding and cleaning the animals. She's really good at getting around and it's so cute to watch her play.


She also enjoys the many games and stories along the way. The best part is, these are learning games: numbers, alphabet, pre-reading skills, listening skills and more. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) has rated the Pet Rescue Wii game for Early Childhood. Pet Rescue is the first educational game on the Wii for ages 3 to 6.

I love the adorable characters and the colorful graphics. It's so nice to have a game that is child friendly and educational.

JumpStart Pet Rescue will be priced at $39.99. It will be available on September 1st at Walmart and September 2nd at other retail stores.

For a chance to win JumpStart Pet Rescue Wii, head to the JumpStart blog. They are giving away 25 free copies!



For more Hooked On Friday posts, check out Hooked On Houses.

Homeschooling Week 2: Workboxes

This week has been a busy week with lots of errands.

Here's what our workboxes included:

Monday: beautiful weather, so we headed outside. We drew with chalk and took a walk.

*Beginning consonants worksheet


*Time worksheets
*I had a cut and paste activity in another box, but Abby started writing her letters and numbers, so we went with that. She doesn't like to write, so I was happy to see her working on it. Many times she writes letters and numbers backwards. She has the 3 and S down, but is having trouble with 2 and Z. She also has difficulty with making 9. She starts making it into a P instead.

Tuesday

*Graphing worksheets
*Learning DVD
*Silly Sentences game


Wednesday

*Completed the learning DVD
*Graphing worksheet


*Telling Time flashcards (Abby can now tell time on the hour!)
*Played Go Fish with Littlest Pet Shop cards. They were numbered, so we played the game by asking for the number on the card as well as the animal on the card.

Not bad for being gone from noon until 7 p.m.!

Thursday

*Time worksheet, she is really proud of her new skill!

I bought this workbook at Sam's a few months ago. It was only $7.88.

*Silly Sentences game, too fun not to play again.
*Mom will Read chapter 1 in Abby's choice of chapter book: The Trumpet of the Swan,
The Boxcar Children or Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

Update: Abby picked The Boxcar Children and wanted me to keep reading! We read the first 4 chapters!

Thursday is also Abby's gymnastics class.

Friday

*Crayola dry erase board, numbers worksheet.

I got mine at Target, but have seen them many places.

*Mom will read chapter 2.
*Sight words bingo

We are also going out to lunch and to the mall with my sisters and nephews.

To see our week 1 workboxes, click here. Abby is pretty excited about the workboxes. This past Saturday she asked when we were going to do our school work! LOL!

We are still spending about an hour on our schooling. I only fill a few workboxes, because Abby has a short attention span. If I give her too much, she's not interested at all. However, she often turns one activity into another, such as the day she worked on her numbers and letters or the other day when she "wrote" a story with pictures.

At age 5, anything you do is a learning experience! LOL!

Check out more weekly workboxes at Aussie Pumpkin Patch.

Works For Me Wednesday: Asking For Advice

Asking for advice always works for me, so this week I have a couple of questions that I could use help with.

We are going on a few vacations soon and I want to take my Nikon D40 camera. On one trip, we'll be at an amusement park and the other will be at the beach.

What's the best way to carry my camera in an amusement park? Silly question, but I currently carry it across my chest and the lens sticks out and hits my daughter in the head all of the time! I found a blog called The Things I Do which described how to carry your camera:


The only problem is if I carry it across my chest, there isn't enough strap to be able to twist it and get the camera facing the right way.

How do you carry your camera? Especially on vacations.

Do you have a camera bag you love? I am thinking this one might be a good option:



Sometimes I miss the convenience of my little Sony Cybershot, but then I look at my pictures and there's no comparison!

The next question is: How do you protect your camera at the beach?

I've read everything from ziploc bags to not taking it at all! I considered not taking it, but we haven't been to a beach in 3 years and I want some nice pics. Plus, why have the camera if I'm too scared to use it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

For more Works For Me Wednesday posts, head to We Are THAT Family.

8 Years

(sorry, this is a picture of a picture)

I will never forget the first time I met Dave. I was 19 and just came in the door from college. I was hungry, but my Mom said we had to wait to eat until my Dad's friend left. My Dad had just resigned from a very stressful situation and the computer guy at his old job was working on our home computer. Dave, the computer guy, was at our house dropping off the computer and filling Dad in on all of the nonsense going on at work.


(another picture of a picture)

I remember Dave's argyle socks and paisley shirt. What a dork! I didn't think anything about it, but he didn't leave and finally my Mom made dinner for us. I sat at the table, mostly just eating, but listening to Dad and Dave's stories as well. About 11 p.m., my older sister Heather asked me to go to the 24 hour WM with her. On the way there we joked about Dave's silly socks and shirt and laughed about how he was never going to leave our house. Then my sister said the strangest thing:

"You are going to marry him someday"

What? She was serious too! I laughed so hard and that was the end of that. We got home and Dave was finally leaving.



A year went by and out of nowhere my Dad gave me Dave's email and asked me to email him about getting together for dinner sometime. Dad wanted Super Smokers and knew Dave loved it there as well, so Super Smokers it was. We met up at Super Smokers: My Dad, Mom, younger sister, me and Dave. I didn't eat meat at the time and remember just having applesauce and bread. LOL! I was very interested in everything Dave was saying, for some reason. He talked about his cats, video games, etc. He then invited us all back to his house and I recall wanting to ride in his Porsche with him. He was so cool.

He showed us his big screen TV and we watched clips of Twister on it. He had the sound really loud and was explaining the sound system to my Dad. I didn't want to leave. Later on, I asked my Dad how old he was and he said, "Probably 25 or 26." But then added he had worked with him for "14 years". Um, that math didn't add up at all!

I emailed him a few times for my Dad and we started emailing each other. Then he emailed and asked if I wanted to go to a cat show with him. He knew I really liked his Abyssinian cats. I had never seen pure breed cats before. They were beautiful.



I was really nervous about going to the cat show with him. Dave has since told me that he had asked a friend at work that also knew my Dad about taking me to the cat show and he said he shouldn't. I'm glad he didn't listen to him! LOL!

We had a great time. We took a walk in the park after the cat show, then had pizza and that's when I asked him how old he was. 37, yikes! I was only 21 and it freaked me out for a second. I think I was more worried about what my family would think, especially my Dad. Dave was 37, but had no baggage, if you know what I mean. No previous marriages, children, etc. Just an honest, hard working guy. My Dad was totally OK with it from the start and said, "if it were anyone else, I'd be mad, but not Dave." After all, my Dad worked with him for 14 years and knew what kind of person he was.



We dated for 8 months and then he proposed to me on Christmas Eve/Day. It was midnight. I was really shocked, I had no idea and wow, he's good at picking out jewelry!

We were engaged for 8 months before getting married and now we've been married 8 years! Where does the time go?



2 years of infertility, a high risk pregnancy, a baby, a move, a heart attack, a major family issue, a loss of a job, new jobs, the loss of my Memaw and more. Did I mention the baby, move, heart attack and family issue were all within 4 months of each other? Yeah, not a good year!

So today, Abby and I are making Dave's favorite: Oatmeal Raisin cookies. The same recipe my Memaw made for him when he used to fix our computer. I used to get in trouble for eating the dough, "Those are for the computer guy at your Dad's work! Stay out or there will be none left!" LOL!



Happy Anniversary, Dave!

Did you make it to the end of this post? LOL, sorry it was so long.

I ♥ Faces Week 33: Nostalgia

I took this picture of Abby back in 2005. She was about 10 months old at the time. My Memaw, who has since passed, gave her this bunny for Easter. I love looking back at old pictures of Abby as a baby and seeing her little chubby hands and cheeks and I especially love that she's holding something from my Memaw. Anything from my Memaw makes me feel nostalgic. She lived with us growing up and she was the best grandma ever! I miss her every day.

For more Nostalgic pictures, head to www.iheartfaces.com.

Fix It Friday: Week 25

Before

After


I used Picnik to edit this picture. I cropped and tilted it a bit. Then I made it B&W and used Lomo-ish faded out, to give the picture a darker edge and brighten the middle more.

Update: I use Picnik's free tools, so I can't use eye bright. However, I really wanted to! LOL! I should just pay for the premium membership, since I use it every day.

For more Fix It Friday edits, check out www.iheartfaces.com.

Hooked On Fridays: Fall

Thursday was a gorgeous day. It had that feeling and smell of Fall. Abby did some of her school work outside and we went for a walk. I noticed some of the leaves are starting to change. I wish I had brought along my camera.

Fall is my favorite season. We do lots of activities from September to November:

Field trips(Look how little they were! Grant's Farm, 2006)

our annual Branson vacation
(Silver Dollar City, 2008)


the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens(Best of MO, 2007)

the pumpkin patch(2007)

and my sister's Halloween party are some of the best times of the year!
(2008)

What are you hooked on this week? Head to Hooked On Houses to share.

Homeschooling Week 1: Workboxes

I am linking up this post My Two Happy Homeschoolers Weekly Workboxes and to the Pumpkin Patch's Fun Filled Weekly Workboxes.

We have really been enjoying the workbox system. I am always searching for new ideas and activities to include in Abby's boxes, so I thought I'd make a weekly list of what was in her boxes for others to see. I have 9 boxes available, but some projects take longer than others, so I haven't filled all of the boxes yet. I like to spend about an hour a day on "school". The rest of the day is filled with plenty of learning, whether it be a trip to the store, library, post office, etc. As she gets older more time will be used for schooling.

Note: Please excuse Abby's hair in most of these pictures, we do homeschooling right after breakfast and sometimes I haven't fixed her hair yet.

Monday: Abby's first day of kindergarten! We had a big day planned, so I only did a few boxes.

* Dry erase alphabet cards


* Cut & paste workbook activity
* Take a picture for the first day of school

Tuesday

* Tangrams

* Roll 3 dice, count and write number


* Read Me on the Map

* Make maps. Abby made one of her room, her bathroom and the living room. She watched as I made one of our whole house and our street. I then showed her our country and drew our state and Nana's state. She really loved this book and enjoyed the maps.


Wednesday

* Sight words bingo game. We haven't played this one for a few months and it was great to
see that Abby had learned more of them than the last time we played.


* Time & Money worksheets


* Read Me and My Amazing Body

Thursday

* Rhyming Dominoes from Dollar Tree.
* Use Math-U-See blocks to solve Strawberry Shortcake addition flashcards.
* Phonics worksheet
* Handwriting practice worksheet
* Draw parts of the body. I traced the picture of the girl from the Me & My Body book and
I will have Abby draw where her heart, brain, lungs and stomach are.

Friday

* Read Me And The Measure Of Things



* Weigh items on scale, record results
* Use ruler to measure items, record results
* Help Mom make a recipe, using measuring cups (recipe still to be determined, any ideas)

If you are using the workbox system, what do you think so far?

Don't forget to check out Weekly Workboxes and Fun Filled Weekly Workboxes for more ideas.