Talk Like A Pirate Day

Ahoy, me mateys! Yest'day be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! A funny coincidence - me oldest buccaneer asked on Saturday if there be a national pirate day since he be lovin' the pirates, he do. I tell 'im that there be a Talk Like A Pirate Day, but me not knowin' when it be. Then, I check the list on Monday and find out it be yest'day. Ho! I find it funny.

Me hearties and me set sail in th' morn for a day o' adventure. We read th' pirate books. We wore th' pirate clothes. We played th' pirate games. We be real pirates, we be. 

We not be smellin' like th' pirate stench though. Or drinkin' th' pirate ale. Or actin' th' pirate ways. Got it, landlubbers? Good.

This lit'l lad  might be stinkin' at times though. It's the booty, y' know. And not th' treasure booty me talkin' about.

Aye, but we be forgivin' 'im. He be quite the beaut and provides entertainment on th' voyage.

We practiced th' Pirate Code. Th' oldest buccaneer and me plundered a copy just last weekend from th' thrifty store.

Blimey! Th' lad left Pieces of Eight - $4 worth - t' pay fer it.

I still be tryin' t' teach 'im how t' properly pillage. Aye, he be a stubborn one, that scallywag.

Shiver me timbers! We seen th' great sea monsters. They wanted me loot. 

Me mateys and me loaded the guns and "Fire in the hole!" Down went the scurvy dogs, down into Davy Jones' Locker. 

We found this 'ere map. (Here's how ye can make yer own.) We waited 'til th' Cap'n returned from 'is duties on the Barbary Coast b'fore searchin' fer th' treasure.

Th' map had a note with a clue. We hung 'em both up by th' door so th' Cap'n be seein' 'em when he get home.

Those lit'l buccaneers, they be excited to watch th' Cap'n search. Lots o' gigglin'. Lots o' smilin'.  

Ho! Th' treasure be freshly baked choc'late chip cookies! Th' Cap'n's favorites! Th' clue be handy too. Th' treasure be in a cash box "buried" under stuffed animals. The combination be "34." 

The lit'l pirates had more treasure maps for the Cap'n. He be a busy scallywag searchin' fer th' treasures. 

But he found 'em all. Aye, lots o' celebrations.

Talk Like A Pirate Day be lots o' fun! Silly talk, treasure hunts, and treasure??? Arrr, we be likin' th' day.

Make It Monday: Kool-Aid Play Dough

Happy National Play Dough Day yesterday! The kids and I love play dough. They'll play with it for hours, giving me time to get some things done. Sometimes they'll talk me into playing with them. We'll make all sorts of yummy treats, silly creatures, shapes, or letters. A big chunk of soft dough is fun to squish around and roll into a ball. It's also really great for strengthening hand and finger muscles and helps with fine motor skills. See, it's not all about fun!

We love to make our own play dough. The texture is so much better than store bought. Along with our regular dough recipe that we usually make, we've made gingerbread scented play dough as well. This time, in honor of National Play Dough Day, we made Kool-Aid play dough. Combine the joy of play dough with the scent of Kool-Aid and you get an activity that produces many smiles!

My kids did all of the dumping, pouring and stirring (except Zac did not pour the boiling water.) Remember to use your own judgment. I did the kneading since the dough was so hot. Once it cooled a bit, they enjoyed smooshing the warm dough on their bellies though. Silly kids.

We made a batch of cherry, lemonade, and blue berry. Smells yummy! The boys each chose their favorite colors. Alyssa originally picked pink lemonade because of her favorite, but Jake talked her into regular lemonade so it would be close to red, white, and blue. So patriotic! 

Tons of play doughy fun! They really do smell fruity. Jake asked, "Are you sure we can't eat it? It is dough." Then he asked to keep the dough in his room so he could smell it at will.

Yeah, they liked it. 


Do you have a favorite play dough recipe?



No Cook Kool Aid Play Dough
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cups boiling water
1/4 cup salt
1 packet Kool-Aid
1 Tbsp. cream of tarter
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir.
2. Add oil and boiling water.
3. Mix well until dough begins to form and let cool slightly.
4. Remove from bowl and knead until you reach desired consistency, adding a little more flour if dough is too sticky. Keep in air-tight container or bag.
adapted recipe

Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo

September 13th is Scooby-Doo's birthday, so you know what that means - we had to celebrate with him! The day was filled with tons of Scooby-Dooby-Fun. We colored Scooby pictures, assembled Scooby puzzles, played Scooby computer games, and watched Scooby movies. We even had an injury during all the fun and used a Scooby-Doo band-aid, of course.

If you're a fan of the Scoob, you know that he and Shaggy can eat. And eat. And eat. While they're "searching" for clues, they're often distracted by a kitchen or a spread of food on a table. And they especially like sandwiches. Bigger-than-your-mouth sandwiches. Huge, monster-size sandwiches with crazy ingredients.

So, we made our own monster sandwiches, Scooby-Doo style.

I let them choose their own fixings. Whatever they wanted. Whatever they wanted. It was . . . interesting watching them pull ingredients out. I started to question my sanity. And theirs.

Alyssa's monster sandwich: bun, black cherry topping, bologna, cheese, pickles, Hershey chocolate, rotisserie chicken, peanuts, chocolate spinkles, pickles, mandarin oranges, buttercream frosting, bun, topped with a cherry.

 

Jake's monster sandwich: bun, buttercream frosting, bologna, pickles, butterscotch topping, honey mustard, rotisserie chicken, chocolate sprinkles, Hershey chocolate, strawberry syrup, buttercream frosting, hot sauce, bun, topped with a cherry.

Oh, yeah. They were big. And other then the buns, they ate every. last. bite. Each crazy ingredient. Every odd concoction.

Scooby would be proud.

Me? I'm still amazed they said it was yummy.

Throughout the day we spent plenty of time solving mysteries with the gang. There were missing doughnuts, lost dino bones, and mummies on the loose! It sure was a good thing they had our help. We are master sleuths, you know.

Speaking of mysteries, we even had our very own. In our very own house.

Everything seemed normal as we headed to the kitchen to make Scooby Snacks. What would his birthday be without his beloved treat? Anyway, as we started to gather our ingredients, we discovered that they were all GONE! Every single ingredient was missing. What we found instead were strange items.

Dinosaur and play dough toys in the pantry. Socks with the eggs. A book and Polly Pocket in a cupboard. Car, remote, hairbrush, marker . . . all found in odd places. Sure, we're used to that. In fact, I was the one who questioned the strange items. The kids just kept saying, "We don't have any. It's all gone," as they ignored the toys. It would have been comical had our things not been missing.

We had a mystery! It was time to solve the Case of the Missing Ingredients! {dun dun dun}

As Jake went to the drawer to put away the Wii remote, he found 3 sticks of butter in its place. Oh, sure, it was silly. But more importantly than that, it was our first clue! Next, they returned the socks to Alyssa's drawer. What did they find? A bowl with 4 eggs! Can you believe it? Eggs with her socks! Someone sure was playing a trick on us. The kids found it hysterical. Jake started jumping up and down. It was all starting to make sense to them and they were excited. They ran around the house, returning each item to its home. Every time, they found an ingredient. There were tons of laughs and smiles as they solved the mystery. Jake thanked me over and over. Me? I was just as confused as the kids. Sort of.

Let me tell you, when your kids are by your side every second, it is a little difficult to exchange items. Or so I would imagine. You know, if I had been the one to set up the mystery.

We eventually made our Scooby Snacks once all the ingredients were accounted for. The kids giggled the entire time. Jake asked for more mysteries. Zac kept looking in his drawers for his own bowl of eggs. They let me know just how much fun they were having.

I wish I had a video camera running to capture the excitement and remember it forever.

We let the dough chill for a couple hours and continued with our Scooby fun. When it was time to bake the cookies, we found one more mystery - the cookie cutter was missing! This time, they knew exactly what to do and we were forming our bone-shaped cookies in no time.

I'll tell you what, Scooby knows what's good. Those Scooby Snacks are delicious! Soft, flavorful, yummy. I might even walk into a haunted castle full of unthinkable creatures. For 2 Scooby Snacks, of course.


Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo! I hope your day was just as fun, just as silly, and just as memorable as ours.

National TV Dinner Day

Yesterday we celebrated National TV Dinner Day! We don't ever buy frozen dinners since I prefer to make most things from scratch, but that didn't stop us from celebrating. We simply modified the day. Instead of eating a frozen dinner in front of the television, we ate a regular home-cooked dinner. Now, it was nothing fancy. I had made chili on Saturday and had plenty leftover. I love using homemade chili for hotdogs, so that's what we had. It's so much better than the chili from a can. Another way to improve a simple hotdog is by making your own buns. Oh. my. goodness.  I'll be posting the recipe soon and you'll definitely want to try it. Trust me.

The kids were excited to "have a picnic" in the house for dinner. Every now and then we eat on a blanket in the living room and watch a movie. It's a special treat that they all love.

   

See? We used our divided trays. It's as close to a frozen TV dinner that we're gonna get. 

Happy National TV Dinner Day! Do you ever eat while watching TV?

Tasty Tuesday: Turtle Cake

My kids have very refined palates. The other day we dined on sea serpent.

Today, it's turtle.

What, you've never tried turtle? You really should. It's delicious.

We're preparing to let Agent T, our foreign exchange student that has been studying with us the past 6 weeks, head back home to the river. The kids are devastated. I admit, I'm not overly pleased about it myself, and that surprises me. I am not an animal person, but I've greatly enjoyed our time with it. There are many reasons why we're letting it go that I'll explain at another time. Anyway, to lessen the blow of saying goodbye to their friend, I suggested a going-away party to see him off. And what better food to eat than turtle? No, not Agent T, of course, but turtle just the same. Not only is it tasty, it's quite simple to make, too. In fact, the kids prepared it completely by themselves. Well, the main dish anyway. I did help with the garnishes. 

I'll show you how to prepare the food - in just 12 easy steps.

1. Cut open bag.
2. Dump contents into a bowl.
3. Pour in water.
4. Pour in oil.
5. Crack eggs.
6. Dump eggs into bowl.
7. Mix well.
8. Place liners in muffin pan.
9. Fill liners with batter.
10. Pour remaining batter in greased round cake pan.
11. Lick spatula.
12. Stick head in bowl and lick all remaining batter.

Easy enough, right?

After the cake, ahem, turtle meat is cooked and cooled, prepare your garnish. Somehow I missed taking pictures of this step. Pretend that you see Alyssa and me adding butter, shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and heavy whipping cream to a bowl. Don't bother pretending to see the powder poof onto the counter though. That would just be silly - and messy - and we would never do that. *ahem* Assume that we divided the frosting special sauce into 2 bowls and added cocoa powder to one to make it brown and food coloring to the other to make it green. Presume that we garnished the turtle meat with the appropriate colored sauce and plated it along with various embellishments (mini chocolate chips and tootsie rolls for eyes, mouth, and tail.)

Whew, that was quite the workout for the imagination!

Here is the final product, plated and ready to be savored.

Doesn't that look appetizing???

The kids could hardly wait to dig in.

The verdict?

They loved it!!!

They gobbled it right up. (I told you they have refined palates!)

And despite what you've heard, it tasted nothing like chicken.

Farewell, Agent T. It's been nice getting to know you. If you're ever in the area, feel free to stop by.

It'll give us another reason to celebrate with turtle!

This Week In History

If you've been reading my blog, you'll know that we like celebrating crazy things. National days commemorating things like yo-yos, ice cream sodas, cheese balls, and sea serpents are some of the fun we've had. The kids love it. They'll often ask, "What national day is today?" Not only is it a fun something to do, but it's also a good way for us to study various topics we might not otherwise.

Another great way to study specific days is using This Week in History by A Thomas Jefferson Education. This was perfect for us and our celebrating special days. It gave the kids (6, 4, 2) something exciting to look forward to every day. (I should say it gave them something else exciting to look forward to every day, because getting to stay at home and school with Mommy is pretty exciting in and of itself, right???)

I cannot even begin to explain the plethora of information that is on this site. Seriously, you could spend hours just browsing through the resources (books, cds, audio downloads), researching the Classics, watching videos,  studying about each day in history, and checking out the freebies. 

For $9.99 a month, you'll get access to the entire website and an email every week with all the information for that week. It tells you what happened each day, gives the history, includes pictures, and offers many, many other resources and ideas to further your learning. It's not just history though. You'll learn science, math, language skills, geography, art, and more. Say you want to find a day about a specific topic because that's what you're already studying. Not a problem. The content is searchable by date, topic, and key words. Or what if you have a child who is obsessed with Legos (I have a few of those myself) and just can't wait until March 20th to learn about them? You can also go to the archived weeks on the website and it'll take you right to the resources. You can use the entire archived section to plan ahead . . . or just because you find the information fascinating. I never like learning about history in school, but I've been drawn to it as an adult. I want my children to enjoy learning about it as well. And what better way than to make it fun?

Some of the topics for July and August are as follows: 

• Learning about the Leaning Tower of Pisa and building a block tower
• Learning about Earth's magnetosphere and conducting experiments with magnets
• Learning about Disneyland and drawing your own Mickey Mouse
• Learning about Oscar Hammerstein and watching The Sound of Music 
• Learning about Silly Putty and making your own

 Now, does that sound like work? No, it sounds like fun!

Not only is the content in depth, I really like the philosophy of A Thomas Jefferson Education, too. They live by 7 Keys of Great Teaching or principles of successful education. When they are applied, learning occurs for any learning style or interests. When they are ignored or rejected, the quantity and quality of education decreases. You can read about these principles in detail here.

• Classics, Not Textbooks
• Mentors, Not Professors
• Inspire, Not Require
• Structure Time, Not Content
• Simplicity, Not Complexity
• Quality, Not Conformity
• You, Not Them

They want your children to succeed. They want them to thrive. And they make it easy for that to happen. I've talked about how fun this is - my kids are little, they need fun - but truly, there is so much to learn. This Week in History has made it incredibly simple to do that. All while having fun.

You can see what other Crew members thought about This Week in History HERE.

* Disclaimer - I received a subscription in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Happiness Happens

Yesterday was Happiness Happens Day! It's a day set aside to focus on the happiness that happens around us each and every day. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of living, to focus on the busyness, to acknowledge only the negative. It is a day to ignore all that and survey your life. Blessings are everywhere. If you're looking for them, you'll be overwhelmed. That's one of the reasons Things That Make Me Smile has become one of my favorite parts of the blog. It helps me to look for the happiness. It helps me be more aware of the blessings and humor in life.

The kids and I talked about some things that make us happy. There was a lot of discussion that accompanied the main points, but I certainly could not keep up with their excitement and random thoughts. Here's the list point-by-point. One kid would mention something, and the others would agree. I put the happiness under the child who said if first (except for the first thing on each of their lists, since they hadn't heard the others say it, but added it all on their own.)

Jake's List

Jesus!

Legos

Sugar Cookie (toy bear)

church and the pastor

and of course Jesus

and that He made a way for us to go to Heaven and He made it easy, too

Mommy

Daddy

Batman

that I'm older than both my brothers and sister

a great mommy

skeletons

money

masks - that scare Alyssa

glow-in-the-dark stuff
when Baby Ty Juice smiles at us
snakes

Alyssa's List

Jesus

going on vacation

baby bunnies

my favorite dresses

lipgloss

my picture when I was a baby
tea parties

Zac's List

Jesus!

Jacob!

coffee!

Baby Ty Juice!

Aaaaalyssa!

Peanut butter & jellyyyyy!

Tyler's List (as translated by Mommy)
brothers and sister who love me very much
Mommy & Daddy
hugs
kisses
milk
 

Mommy's List

Before I could say anything, Jake said, "I know what - Daddy." Daddy's always at the top of my list.

4 healthy little Blessings
being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mommy
fantastic parents we can call our best friends
a relationship with my merciful Savior
books, lots of books
kitchen gadgets (food processor, crock pot, bread machine, rotisserre oven- to name a few)
canning
folded laundry
a clean kitchen
coupons/saving money
mint cookies & cream ice cream
hearing my kids giggle
hearing "I love you"
hugs and kisses (even slobbery baby kisses)
ice water
geocaching
warm, fudgy brownies
organizing
hearing my kids make their Happiness Happens Lists

 . . . and on and on and on 


Obviously, there are many more things we could add (house, electricity, running water, heat/ac, vehicles, food, insurance, job, etc.) Happiness is everywhere if you take the time to notice.

If you're happy and you know it, comment below!

Tasty Tuesday: Sea Serpents

Sea Serpents???

Yes, yesterday was Sea Serpent Day! Did you ever know there was such a FUN day to celebrate??? We couldn't neglect the mighty sea serpents lurking deep in murky waters. We just had to honor them!

With map in hand and courage in heart, we set sail on our pirate ship couch across the ocean blue living room. The warm sun on our skin, the salty water sprinkling our lips, the wind tickling our faces. The vessel sliced through the rugged waves. The lure of a treasure kept our focus. Suddenly, there was a rumbling deep below and our ship began to rock. A grotesque face emerged from the black-blue waters. We sprung to action as one slimy tentacle - larger than we'd ever seen -  coiled around the ship. Frantically, we began to fire sock cannonballs in hopes of escaping from an eternal water prison. But the monster responded with more force, more fury, more strength. He squeezed tighter and we heard the distinct sounds of wooden planks cracking. With one final resolve, we aimed our last cannonball directly at his heart. BOOM! The sound was almost deafening. We held our breaths. Time seemed to stand still. Then slowly, the tentacles unraveled and the ship was set free. We watched as the creature sank into the abyss. Ho! Our adventure could not be thwarted. On to the treasure!   

Despite the hazards, our exploit consumed only a portion of the day. We still had plenty of time for other fun, sea-serpenty activities.

 We colored frightening pictures.

We read books about sea creatures.

We noticed that while we delved into our first book, a sea serpent stole the rest of the them and carried them off into his lair. We had to carefully and quietly retrieve the books from the sleeping monster.

For lunch, we dined on a luxurious sea serpent meal. (Truthfully, it was only mock-serpent. Shh, don't tell my kids. Real monstrous sea serpents are endangered, you know.)

Mock sea serpents are really very simple to prepare but require only the finest ingredients.

You'll need hotdogs and raw spaghetti noodles. Both will need to be cut/broken in half.

Gently slide the spaghetti halves into the cut ends of the hotdogs.

Using a sharp knife, cut a half-inch incision in the other end to form the mouth.

Here's something not many people know - sea serpents really are gentle creatures when they're born. They live nice, peaceful lives and are friends to the fishes. The trick to turning them into ferocious beasts, bred to destroy is cooking them in boiling water.

They despise boiling water.

When they are thoroughly angry - but before they are roasted alive - remove them from the torture chamber and place them back in the deep ocean where they can freely wreak havoc on their once-friends the fish, the sharks, and the unsuspecting ships. Sit back and be amazed by their fierce vengeance.

You might even catch some of the action, if you're lucky. Your pictures may be compromised though if you're holding a fussy baby in one arm and trying to take pictures with the other.

We watched a sea serpent as it silently floated beneath the surface. Within minutes, it leaped out of the water and took a huge bite out of a ship as it dragged it down below. 

 Hearing the commotion and smelling dinner, a second serpent quickly approached.

The first serpent, possessive of its feast, attacked the other. He finished him off like an appetizer before heading back to his ship meal.

There were no survivors.

Then the kids asked to help birth more sea serpents.

They're a vicious bunch.

And what sea serpent day would be complete without a frothy, serpenty-green drink???  That evening, we enjoyed Sea Slurpents while we reminisced about our adventure-filled day. 


Next time you're sailing the open sea in search of hidden treasure, keep a vigilant eye on the horizon. You just might spot the shadow of a mighty sea serpent lurking below.



Sea Serpents
Ingredients:
hotdogs
spaghetti noodles (3 per hotdog)

Directions:
1. Cut hotdogs in half; break spaghetti noodles in half.
2. Carefully insert 6 noodle halves into the cut-end of each hotdog. Make a half-inch slice in the other end of the hotdog to form the serpent's mouth.
3. Cook according to spaghetti instructions. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well.
 
Recipe idea adapted from Feed Our Families.


Sea Slurpent
Ingredients:
limeade 
carbonated soda
lime sherbert

Directions:
Mix limeade and carbonated soda in a glass. (We carbonated a liter of water using our SodaStream and added a packet of True Lime.) Add 2 scoops of lime sherbert.

Linked to TGIF Linky Party, the Sunday Showcase, Show-and-Share 

Tasty Tuesday: Marshmallow Pops

Happy 4th of July!!!

Wait a minute. Yesterday was Fathers Day and today is July 4th???

I'm so confused.

Maybe I'll post something about Christmas tomorrow, just to keep you guessing.

These marshmallow pops are so quick and easy to make. Even easier than the brownie pops. (Though not quite as tasty. Shhh, don't tell my kids.)

 You'll need marshmallows, chocolate (we use Wilton candy melts), sprinkles, and sucker sticks.

 Start by putting the marshmallows on the sticks.

Melt the chocolate and dip the marshmallows into it. Tap the stick on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate.

Working quickly before the chocolate hardens, add your sprinkles.


And last but definitely not least

Enjoy!

See? I told you they were easy!



Now, to start on that Christmas post . . .

Make It Monday: Love You To Pieces Card

We are so prepared. We've already made Leighton's Fathers Day gift for next year! 

What? You think 11 months in advance is too early?

 

Surely this can't be the card we made him 4 weeks ago. Right? Right???

Let's say we did give this to him a month ago and I'm just now sharing it. {ahem} Hypothetically, of course.   

You'll need pieces from a puzzle that you don't mind sacrificing. If you don't have any lying around with missing pieces, first of all, I commend you! Secondly, you can pick up a cheap one from the dollar store. You'll also need paint, brushes, letters (stickers, foam, chipboard, or hand-written.) Depending on your choice of letters, you might need glue, as well. You can make this on card stock, construction paper, or foam (like we did.) It would even be cute on canvas hung up on the wall.

  

Paint, paint, paint those pieces! We had so much fun decorating the silly shapes that we painted far more pieces than we needed for this project. It was neat to see how creative the kids were. I showed them how to paint one to look like a turtle, and their imaginations took off. It is also a good activity to practice their fine motor skills. 

Jake and Alyssa helped me find the letters to spell out "WE LOVE YOU TO PIECES." I hot-glued the letters and the puzzle pieces on the front.

For the inside of the card, I glued these questionnaires that they kids answers about their daddy. I asked them the questions one-on-one so they wouldn't hear each others answers and copy. Even so, it was interesting to see the things they answered the same. Some of their answers are totally wrong, some are completely right, and some are very funny.  

By Jacob, 6:

My dad is 29 years old.
My dad weighs 70 pounds.
My dad is 6-point-something tall.
My dad's favorite color is green.
My dad's favorite food is chicken.
My dad is really strong. He could lift a house.
My dad always says hi.
My dad is the best at working.
My dad's job is to drive a Bobcat.
My dad laughs when I'm being silly.
My dad and I like to go to work. (like this day)
My dad really loves when I obey.
I love my dad because he loves me.
It makes my dad happy when I obey.

By Alyssa, 4:

My dad is 29 years old.
My dad weighs 100 pounds.
My dad is {raises hand in air} this tall. Bigger than Mommy.
My dad's favorite color is green.
My dad's favorite food is anything Mommy makes.
My dad is really strong. He could lift a person.
My dad always says don't play with your gum.
My dad is the best at blinking.
My dad's job is to go to work.
My dad laughs when I be silly.
My dad and I like to play stuff.
My dad really loves Mommy.
I love my dad because he's the best.
It makes my dad happy when I obey him.

By Zac, 2:

My dad is 3 years old.
My dad weighs 2 pounds.
My dad is bigger!
My dad's favorite color is green.
My dad's favorite food is green.
My dad is really strong. He could lift wood to make our bunk beds.
My dad always says to work.
My dad is the best at work.
My dad's job is to make our bunk beds.
My dad laughs when the bunk beds.
My dad and I like to play Buckyballs.
My dad really loves to work.
I love my dad because.
It makes my dad happy when I color.

Happy Fathers Day 4 weeks ago . . . er, in 11 months . . . to the daddy of my babies. We loved you then and we'll love you still. Even though your job requires a lot of you (as shown in their answers) we know that you love us and work hard to provide our every need. I'm so pleased with the daddy you've become and proud to call you the father of my children.

Wordless Wednesday 7/4/12

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! We're having a great day celebrating America's independence. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Right now, Leighton and the kids are outside in the pool. Tonight, we'll have bbq ribs that are making my house smell divine, macaroni salad, cheesy potatoes, watermelon, cornbread, and sweet tea. I prepared everything last night so I could just relax and enjoy my family today. 

 

Today is not about good food and good fellowship though. It's about our great country and what  made us great. Here are some quotes about America that I shared last year. Now more than ever, America needs to remember the truth for which our forefathers fought.

 

America needs to return to God and the Bible. 

 

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." - Patrick Henry

"The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." - Thomas Jefferson

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." - George Washington

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." - George Washington

"The Bible is the rock upon which this Republic stands." - Andrew Jackson

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book." - Abraham Lincoln

"America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness, which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scriptures. ...Part of the destiny of Americans lies in their daily perusal of this great book of revelations. That if they would see America free and pure they will make their own spirits free and pure by this baptism of the Holy Spirit." - Woodrow Wilson 

"The fundamental basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul." - Harry S. Truman

"The future and success of America is not in this Constitution but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded." - James Madison

 

Tasty Tuesday: Ice Cream Soda

Did you notice that today is Friday and I am just now getting to Tuesday's post?

No?

Good. Then I won't mention it.

About a month ago, I explained what it means to jinx someone, like when 2 people say the same thing at the same time. The kids were watching a movie when a character said, "Jinx! You owe me a soda." Now that they know what it means, they are constantly trying to get people - each other, me, Leighton, anyone - to say something so they can jinx them. But since we call it pop, the only soda they know is cream soda. So they always say, "Jinx! You owe me a cream soda." Then they laugh hysterically. It's pretty comical to listen to. 

I thought it was appropriate that June 20 is National Ice Cream Soda Day. For days now, we've been saying, "Jinx! You owe me an ice cream soda."

This was one penalty that I rewarded. 

Leighton and the kids are obsessed with root beer floats. They love both components - root beer & ice cream -  separately, but put them together and they're infatuated. Instead of making their beloved concoction, we decided on the original. So, step back in time as we make an old-fashioned ice cream soda.

 Start by mixing milk and chocolate syrup in a glass.

Add vanilla ice cream. Two generous scoops, please.

Fill to the top of the glass with club soda.

We used our SodaStream to make our own. Not at all old-fashioned, but that's ok.

 Top with fresh whipped cream. Add a straw and a long spoon and you're ready for a treat!

Make sure you share with someone you love.

Maybe even 2 someones.

Ice cream sodas taste best when you share.



Now, don't you want to make one for yourself?

Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Soda

Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 scoops vanilla ice cream 

club soda (cold) or seltzer water (cold)

whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Pour the milk into one tall 16-ounce glass.

2. Stir in syrup.

3. Add in ice cream and enough soda water or seltzer to fill almost to top of glass.

4. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Recipe adapted from food.com. 

 

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Place a medium bowl and your beaters from your electric mixer in the freezer for 10 minutes (this helps the whipped cream stiffen faster.)
2. Pour all ingredients into the chilled bowl and start to beat. Start off on low and gradually work your way up to high until it is the consistency of whipped cream. (Don’t over-beat, or you'll have a repeat of THIS.)