Breakfast

Apple Crumb Cake

Dear Sis,

I tried this recipe for the first time during Sukkoth, but forgot to add it to the bog until now. This cake is good for breakfast, snacking, dessert, or even a potluck, since it will make a 9×13 cake.

Apple Crumb Cake
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Crumb Topping
  1. 1 c unbleached flour
  2. 1/2 c dark brown sugar
  3. 1/2 c cold butter, diced
  4. 1/4 t salt
Apple Filling
  1. 6 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  2. 3 T dark brown sugar
  3. 2 t lemon juice
  4. 1 t cinnamon
Cake
  1. 1 box yellow cake mix
  2. 1 1/3 c water
  3. 1/3 c oil
  4. 3 eggs
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
  2. Combine dry topping ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside.
  3. Toss together apple filling ingredients. Set aside.
  4. Stir cake ingredients until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.
  5. Spread apple filling over cake batter. Sprinkle topping over apples evenly.
  6. Bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes before serving.
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Love,

b

E is for Elephant

Dear Sis,

Elephant Cinnamon Biscuits

Elephant Cinnamon Biscuits
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pkg. refrigerated biscuits
  2. cinnamon sugar
  3. raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven according to package instructions.
  2. Place half the biscuits on a baking sheet. Cut the other half into thirds. Press the outer thirds onto the whole biscuits to create elephant ears. Press the center thirds onto the lower center of the whole biscuits to create elephant trunks.
  3. Sprinkle each elephant biscuit generously with cinnamon sugar.
  4. Press two raisins into each elephant biscuit to create eyes.
  5. Bake according to package instructions.
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Our Daily Reading

Our fiction selection for the day is Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. This is one of our favorite Dr. Seuss books. Aside from the obvious entertainment value, Horton reminds us that handwork and dedication are worth the time and effort!

Our non-fiction selection for the day is Baby Elephant Joins the Herd by Ben Richmond. This book follows an elephant from birth to maturity. The photography is framable! 

“E” is for Elephant Letter Craft

Parent Preparation

  • Print 2 copies E is for Elephant Letter Craft from Miss Maren’s Monkeys, on white card stock. You need 2 copies because the E and the ear templates overlap.
  • Cut out E, ear, tail, and trunk templates.
  • On gray or light blue craft paper, trace and cut out templates. 
  • Draw toe nails and tail hairs on with a black pen.
  • Provide a sheet of craft paper, glue stick, and large wiggly eye.

Student Assembly

  • Paste E on craft paper.
  • Paste ear, tail, and trunk in place.
  • Paste wiggly eye in place.
  • Write or ask your grown up to title, name, and date your work, for your homeschool portfolio.

Elephant Size Sorting

Print page 7 of Elephant Printable Packet by Mudpies & Make-up, on white card stock. Cut out and laminate for durability. We sort largest to smallest and smallest to largest:)

Feed the Elephant Counting Mat

Parent Preparation

Our Process

  • Match number cards with numbers on puzzle, so student can count to figure out forgotten number names.
  • Place a number on the counting mat and add that number of peanuts.
  • Check your work, by counting aloud with your grown up.

Love,

b

 

C is for Cat

Dear Sis,

William is very excited for your arrival later today. It motivated him through lessons very quickly, so he can play with Baby Em when she gets here:)

Our Daily Reading

Today’s fiction selection is one of William’s favorites right now. Max the Brave by Ed Vere is about a kitty who is going to show his bravery by chasing mice… too bad he doesn’t know what mouse looks like.

Today’s non-fiction selection is from The Cat in the Hat Learning Library: What Cat is That? By Tish Rabe. In true Cat-in-the-Hat style, the book is written in rhyme and is loaded with great information about wild and domesticated cats.

Breakfast: Cat Bagel

Cat Bagel
Serves 1
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Ingredients
  1. half a bagel
  2. 2 T flavored cream cheese
  3. 2 strawberry slices
  4. 3 raisins
  5. 6 pretzel sticks
Instructions
  1. Spread cream cheese over bagel, taking care to fill in the center, so it doesn't show.
  2. Add strawberry slice ears, eye and nose raisins, and pretzel whiskers.
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“C” is for Cat Letter Craft

Activity Materials

  • Print C is for Cat Letter Craft Template from Miss Maren’s Monkeys Blog, on card stock. 
    • Cut out “C,” ear, and nose portions of the template. We skipped the paper eye and whisker portions of the template.
  • Supply a sheet craft paper for cat (black, brown, gray, orange, white), a second sheet of craft paper for mounting, pink craft paper for nose, 2 large wiggly eyes, a pipe cleaner cut into six portions for whiskers.
  • Crayons optional to add pattern to cat. William wanted to add white stripes to his orange cat.

Student Assembly

  • Trace and cut out or have your grown up trace and cut out the “C,” 2 ears, and a tail from cat colored sheet of craft paper. Trace and cut out nose from pink craft paper.
  • Paste “C,” ears, and tail to the mounting sheet of craft paper.
  • Optional: Add stripes, patches, or spots with crayons, as desired.
  • Paste on wiggly eyes and whiskers.
  • Write or ask your grown up to title, name, and date your work, for your homeschool portfolio.

Cat Matching Memory Game

Print Cat Matching Memory Game from Sunny Day Family, on card stock. To finish the game for use, cut cats out, back them with scrapbook paper, and laminate them for durability.

Matching Game

  • Place half of the cards face up and half the cards face down.
  • During turn, player flips a face down card and finds its face up match.

We played this version once before moving onto small scale memory game play.

Memory Game

  • Choose 4-6 pairs of cards. Shuffle and place all face down.
  • During turn, flip two cards. If they match, the player keeps them and has the opportunity to flip two more cards in search of another match. Continue until a match is not made.
  • Play transfers to the second player. Process is the same. 
  • When all cards are collected, they player with the most cards wins.

Cat Whisker Lacing Cards

Print Cat Whisker Lacing Cards form Your Therapy Source, on card stock. Cut out cats, laminate, and punch two holes on each side of nose with hole puncher. Supply pipe cleaners cut in half, for lacing.

Love,

b

B is for Bear

Dear Sis,

Our Daily Reading

Our fiction selection for the day was, There’s a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins. Poor mouse has an uninvited guest in his chair! Mouse rants in rhyme until finally, he gives up. When mouse leaves, bear goes home to find mouse asleep in his bed. Even little ones find the humor!

Our non-fiction selection for the day was, Brown Bears by Kate Riggs. This book is a quick read, so your little won’t be over whelmed with information. 

Breakfast: Bear Toast

Bear Toast
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Ingredients
  1. 1 slice bread
  2. 1 T peanut butter
  3. 3 banana slices
  4. 3 blueberries
Instructions
  1. Lightly toast bread.
  2. Spread with peanut butter.
  3. Top with banana slices and blueberries to make bear facial features.
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We had a midwife appointment today, so I made William’s toast to go. He was eating and listening to his daily reading during my 38 week check up. What can I say? Moms multi-task! Midwife Linda and the receptionist couldn’t get over how cute his breakfast was!

“B” is for Bear Letter Craft

Parent Preparation

  • Print Bear Parts and Upper Case B Templates from DLTK’s Educational Activities. Color and Black and White versions are available for both. We opted to bring the B is Black and White and the Part Parts in Color.
  • Cut out the Bear Parts. We didn’t use all the bear parts. We skipped the eye brows and tongue and traded the paper eyes for wiggly ones.
  • Supply a brown crayon, glue stick, and 2 large wiggly eyes.

Student Assembly

  • Color the letter B with a brown crayon.
  • Paste the dark ear circle onto the larger ear circles and paste the dark nose circle to the oval snout. 
  • Paste the ears, snout, and paws in place. 
  • Paste the wiggly eyes.
  • Write or ask your grown up to title, name, and date your work, for your homeschool portfolio.

Bear Counting Clip Cards

Activity Materials

Our Process

Today we didn’t incorporate our numeral puzzle because we were in a mall lounge waiting for Build-a-Bear to open. 

  • Shuffle cards.
  • First, ask student what color the bears are.
  • Then, ask student to count the bears.
  • Next, ask student to find the correct numeral. My student has little to no number recognition at this point, so I read the numbers to him slowly, pointing to each one, and then asked him to identify the correct number.
  • Finally, we put the cards in sequential order.

September Field Trip

Built-a-Bear Workshop

As part of our schooling process, I decided that I wanted to make sure we had a field trip each month. Family friends John and Susan gave us some Build-a-Bear Workshop gift cards a few months ago, so I thought B is for Bear day would be the perfect opportunity to put them to use. Ironically, William chose a dinosaur for himself and a rabbit for baby sister… neither of which begin with letter B!

Afterward, William played in the mall play area for the better part of a half an hour and we had food court pizza as a special treat for lunch. It was toddler heaven!

Gummy Bear Pattern Strips

Activity Materials

  • Print Gummy Bear Patterns from Pre Kinders, on card stock.
    • Cut out and laminate for durability.
  • Supply gummy bears. I bought two bags because I realized there were hardly any green and white in them!

Our Process

  • Sort gummy bears by color.
  • Work through as many pattern strips as your student has patience for. I bribed mine with the promise of 3 gummy bears to eat after the completion of a pattern:)

When William was all tucked in for nap today, next to his new dinosaur, he smiled and said, “We had a good day Mama.” Afterward, I went to my room, to make the bed, since we left for our appointment before Daddy was up. When I was done making the bed, I tidied a few other things, and realized that William had placed baby sister’s new rabbit in her crib. Sometimes that kid makes my heart melt!!!

Love,

b

 

Sheet Pancakes

Dear Sis,

William asked for pancakes tonight at dinner time. I’ve been wanting to test a sheet cake version for when we have a bunch of company this coming fall. This is a quick and easy recipe that feeds a crowd.

Sheet Pancakes
Yields 12
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Pancake
  1. 2 c baking mix
  2. 1 c milk
  3. 2 egg
Strawberry Chip Topped
  1. fresh strawberry slices
  2. mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Blueberry Peach Topped
  1. canned peach slices, halved
  2. fresh blueberries
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease and flour a 9x13 baking sheet.
  2. Whisk together pancake ingredients and pour into prepared pan. Set aside while preparing toppings. If you add the toppings too soon, they will sink farther into the pancakes instead of resting on the top.
  3. Bake 8 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Slice and serve with syrup.
Adapted from Dinner Then Dessert
Adapted from Dinner Then Dessert
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We haven’t been making pancakes lately because standing over the hot skillet to fry them when super pregnant is no picnic. This saves me the trouble:)

Love,

b

Easy Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Dear Sis,

I haven’t made this in years. My blueberry loving toddler enjoyed it very much:)

Easy Blueberry Breakfast Cake
Serves 12
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Ingredients
  1. 1 c butter, melted
  2. 1 1/3 c whole milk
  3. 1 c granulated sugar
  4. 1 t vanilla extract
  5. 3 c baking mix
  6. 1 (16 oz pkg.) frozen blueberries
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking sheet. Set aside.
  2. Beat together butter, milk, sugar, and vanilla.
  3. Stir in baking mix until smooth.
  4. Fold in frozen berries. Pour into prepared pan.
  5. Bake 40-45 minutes until lightly browned.
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Love,

b

Roast Beef Sandwich Loaf

Dear Sis,

We tried the French Dip Bread recipe you recommended yesterday during our final playdate, before Mama Jenn has Carter’s new little brother. We were so busy enjoying our company that I forgot to take a picture. However, the leftover  reheat well at breakfast time:)

Roast Beef Sandwich Loaf
Serves 6
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Ingredients
  1. 4 T salted butter
  2. 1 onion, halved and sliced
  3. 1 t thyme
  4. 1 fresh baked loaf Italian Bread
  5. 3/4 lb. roast beef slices
  6. 10 slices provolone, halved
  7. garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté onion and thyme until caramelized.
  2. Slice bread in 1/2 inch slices, taking care not to slice all the way through. Fold a slice of roast beef and place it between two half slices of provolone. Place a cheese and meat portion between every other slice. Place a spoonful of caramelized onion in each sandwich.
  3. Brush sandwich loaf with remaining melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Wrap in foil and bake 15 minutes.
Adapted from Delish
Adapted from Delish
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We didn’t use the dipping sauce. I found it salty and unworthy of the sandwich. I’d rather dip it in chicken soup:) However, your husband… Mr. Fancy Pants, likes it, so I figured it would post it too!

French Dip for Roast Beef Sandwich Loaf
Serves 6
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Ingredients
  1. 1 T unsalted butter
  2. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  3. 1 1/2 c beef stock
  4. 1 T Worcestershire sauce
  5. 1 t thyme
  6. 1/2 t ground pepper
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melted butter. Sauté garlic and add remaining ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes until reduced.
  2. Serve with Roast Beef Sandwich Loaf if desired.
Adapted from Relish
Adapted from Relish
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Love,

b

Moving Party

Dear Sis,

We are safely home from a very fun weekend, helping my mom’s parents move into their new home. They sold their home of 50+ years on the 21st and closed on their brand new, minimal care, carriage home. We spent the weekend unpacking and clearing away boxes. It was also a family reunion of sorts, mom and her boyfriend Brain, mom’s younger brother Uncle Glenn, Jamie, Nate, and Evelyn, plus William, Josh, and I were all enjoying catching up while we worked. 

As the pregnant lady, I coordinated meals, because lets face it… food is a huge priority for me right now:) We even tried my new baked oatmeal freezer meal recipe.

Baked Peach Oatmeal
Serves 4
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Ingredients
  1. 2 (8x8 inch) foil pans
  2. 3 c old-fashion oats
  3. 1/2 c dark brown sugar
  4. 1/4 c flax meal
  5. 1/2 t salt
  6. 1 t cinnamon
  7. 1/2 c butter, melted
  8. 1/4 c maple syrup
  9. 2 eggs, beaten
  10. 1 c whole milk
  11. 1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen peaches
Instructions
  1. Combine dry ingredients. Drizzle with melted butter, and stir to combine.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together syrup, eggs, and milk. Stir wet mixture into oat mixture.
  3. Stir in peaches. Pour mixture equally into two greased pans.
  4. Wrap pans in plastic and foil. Label, date, and write cooking instructions on each pan.
Cooking Instructions
  1. Thaw completely in refrigerator.
  2. Preheat oven to 350.
  3. Bake 20-30 minutes until mostly set.
  4. Serve with additional milk.
Adapted from Freezer to Table
Adapted from Freezer to Table
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The pictures are from a Friday night steak dinner at my dad’s and his younger brother Frank’s house.

(right-left) Grandpa Carmin, William, Evelyn, Brandy, Josh, and Uncle Frank

William was trying to pick Evelyn out of my lap. I told him he’d have to sit to hold her. His first words when I put her in his lap… “Heavy Mama.” There is only about 10 pounds between Evelyn and him. 

Love,

b