Matzah Toffee

Dear Sis,

We are having our Passover seder tonight! We tried something new this year. Matzah Toffee! It’s delicious and will definitely be an annual addition to our celebration. 

Matzah Toffee

b
Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 4 matzah crackers
  • 1/2 c salted butter
  • 1 c dark brown sugar
  • 1 (11.5 oz) pkg. milk chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 250. Line a jellyroll pan with foil and arrange matzah in a single layer, breaking as needed.
  • Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar. Cook stirring until bubbly and dissolved.
  • Pour and spread toffee mixture over matzah. Bake 25-30 minutes.
  • Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Return to oven 3-4 minutes more to melt chocolate.
  • Spread chocolate and chill 2 hours, or until set.
  • Break into pieces and serve.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b

Spring Flowers

Dear Sis,

The kids and I planted bulbs in the fall, but the squirrels dug them up and ate them over the winter months. I decided to buy some bulb flowers this spring. Hopefully, more established bulbs will winter over better, despite the squirrels.

While I was playing in the dirt, I also did my first weeding of the season and a mulch strip. I have to strip away the old mulch each year before adding a new layer, to avoid slime mold! 

I added this landscaping at the side of the house last summer, but never planted anything new in it. I used all the rocks I dug up during weeding and planting to create a stone catch for the rain run off. It looks much nicer than the plastic one:) 

Wild strawberries do very well in this spot, so I bought some strawberry plants hoping they will flourish just as well! I think I need four more plants to fill it in completely:)

I also added landscaping plots in the backyard last summer. It’s wonderful to finally plant in them! This small plot to the right of the deck stairs is the start of my herb garden!!!

English Thyme, Rosemary, Curly Parsley, and Peppermint

William saw me taking pictures of my yard work and asked me to make pictures of him too:)

Happy Spring!

Love,

b

 

Classroom Easter Gifts

Dear Sis,

William and I made treats for his preschool classmates and teachers today! He is very excited to eat some “bunny tails!”

Bunny Tail, Printable Bag Toppers by Tag Sis, You’re It!

You Will Need

  • Bunny Tail, Bag Toppers, printed on card stock
  • snack size, zip top bags
  • powdered sugar doughnut holes (we got about 8 bags per box)
  • stapler and scissors

Assembly

  1. Fill snack bags with 4 doughnut holes and press to seal, extracting as much air as possible.
  2. Cut out bag toppers, fold on fold-line, slide to cover as much bag as possible, and stable in place.

Easter Egg Hunt Cookie Mix, Instruction Printable by Tag Sis, You’re It!

Easter Egg Hunt Cookie Mix

b
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 40 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 quart canning jar, ring, and band
  • 3/4 c dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 c granulated sugar
  • 1 (3.4) oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 2 1/4 c unbleached flour
  • 1 pint canning jar, ring, and band
  • 1 c milk chocolate chips
  • 1 c milk chocolate M&Ms, pastel colors

Instructions
 

  • Wash and dry jars, rings, and bands.
  • Place dry ingredients in quart jar, in the order they appear, tapping to level the jar between each addition.
  • Place candy in pint jar, in the order they appear, tapping to level the jar between additions.
  • Print instructions and secure to quart jar, decorate as desired, and gift.
Keyword cookie mix, cookies, easter

Happy Gifting!

Love,

b

Garden Book Club

Dear Sis,

Book

And Then the Seed Grew by Marianne Dubuc

Garden Spread

Assorted Fruits and Veg, Cheese and Crackers, Pretzel Rounds, Veggie Insects, Juice,

and Lemon Poppyseed Cake William made Friday.

William saw the idea for Veggie Insects in one of his Highlights magazines and has been asking to make them for the better part of the month. He was very excited when I invited him into the kitchen and he found out what we were making!

Discussion – Plants we Eat

While the kids were munching away, we discussed what parts of the plant we eat. I let them do most of the discussing and just gave them new prompts when they needed them. Here are some talking points:

  • What parts of the plant do we eat?
  • Name some roots we eat. Carrots, parsnips, radishes, beets, etc.
  • Name some stems we eat. Asparagus, celery, rhubarb, and yes… potato too!
  • Name some leaves we eat. Cabbage, lettuces, spinach, etc.
  • Name some flowers we eat. Cauliflower and broccoli, if left on the plant longer bloom into small yellow flowers.
  • Name some seeds we eat. Corn, peas, and green beans, which are eaten with the pod still on.
  • Name some fruits we eat. Yes, apples and orange, but also zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and pumpkins! Anything that has seeds inside is a fruit!!!
  • Name some bulbs we eat. A bulb stores a plants energy from year to year. Onions and garlic are great examples of bulbs we eat.

Craft – Bee Planter

You Will Need

  • Clean Soup Can
  • Yellow Construction Paper and a Glue Stick
  • Black Paint and a Brush
  • 2 Wiggly Eyes and Hot Glue
  • Quilters Template, Pencil, and Scissors
  • Potting Soil and Flowers
  • Black Pipe Cleaner 

Instructions

  1. I cut the paper down to the proper width beforehand, but the kids covered it in glue and rolled it onto the can.
  2. Paint stripes. Set aside until dry.
  3. Trace hands with pencil or quilters template. Cut out with scissors to make wings.
  4. Help kids hot glue eyes and wings in place.
  5. Plant flower in can.
  6. Bend pipe cleaners as desired and stick into the dirt to create antenna.

The little ones hanging out while the big kids have craft time.

Songs

The Gardener Plants the Seeds, Printable Lyric Sheet from Tag Sis, You’re It!

Grow and Plant Printable, Lyrics Sheet from Teachers Pay Teachers

Science – Sprout Bags

You Will Need

  • Print “My Sprout” Bag Topper Printable, in black and white or color, by PreKinders. I used card stock and cut them out beforehand.
  • Sandwich bag, with a zip top
  • Paper towel and Bowl of Water
  • Lima beans
  • Stapler and Writing Tool

Instructions

  1. Helping one child at a time, the kids folded their paper towel so that it would fit in the bag, dipped it in water, and squeezed it out a big so it wasn’t dripping anymore. Then, they placed it in the bag and flattened it out.
  2. Next, arrange lima beans and seal the bag. We have one bean that was pre-soaked for a few hours and one that was completely dry. Some of the advice I found online, suggested pre-soaking.
  3. Fold topper, line it up, and staple it in place. Write name and date.
  4. Hang on a window and wait.

Garden Board Game

Garden Board Game Printable by Views From a Step Stool

We laminated one for each family and used craft jewels as place markers.

Happy Spring!

Love,

b

P.S. Earlier in the week we met our book club group met for a new series we started last month, called Adventure Day. We enjoyed a scripted Garden Yoga and a walked the one mile loop at the park, with a snack break. We put down blankets for the kids and they enjoyed baby carrots with veggie dip and goldfish crackers.

Garden Yoga for Kids, Printable Script by Tag Sis, You’re It!

Airplane Bathroom Reveal

Dear Sis,

Sometimes things get worse before they get better!

During a recent playdate, William and Carter were washing their hands together when we heard, “Carter broke the sink!” being shouted across the house! Mama Jenn investigated, was shocked, apologetic, and offering to help with a replacement, before I even saw what had happened. 

When I finally got to see it, I pulled out the shattered pieces, and explained that the sink was cracked when we bought the house. Our heavy glass soap dispenser fell in just the right way to blow it out. It was just dumb luck that it happened to Carter! 

We went sink shopping Thursday afternoon with Josh! He completed the installation just ten minutes before our book club guests arrived!!! 


Half Bath Reveal

I picked the shelves and brackets at Menards and Josh cut them down to size and hung them for me!

When I was painting and updating, I was dreaming about how I would decorate the space. On a whim, I asked William what he thought. “Airplanes!” he declared, and it stuck. A few days later, I found the red biplane at Hobby Lobby. It matched the hand towels we already owned and became the jumping point for our other decor choices.

I was looking for a free printable phonetic alphabet print. I did find one, but the colors weren’t right for the space, so naturally I made my own. The 5×7 frame is from Dollar Tree.

FREE 5×7 PHONETIC ALPHABET PRINTABLE

The vintage airplane prints were FREE and I found them here: The Birch Cottage. The frames are 4×6, and from Hobby Lobby. I picked them up during a sale, $2.00 each. 

The airplane hook was an Amazon find.

Our new Sink!

I still need to buy a lighter, acrylic soap dispenser,

so we don’t break this sink too!

I opted for a two handled tap, so the kids have more temperature control!

I love how it turned out!!!

I’m still working on the laundry room and sunroom.

Standby for two more reveals:)

Love,

b

School Storage Reveal

Dear Sis,

William is a few lessons away from completing the preschool program we started last March. In the last month, I’ve been purchasing our PreK curriculum and expanding our storage to accommodate it. It turned out really nice!

Last year, all of our homeschooling materials fit on this one shelf we found at a yard sale. This year, William’s fish, Sky, and her light for gloomy days occupies the top of the shelf, Social Studies and Science occupy shelf one, Thinking Skills occupies self two, and spills over to shelf three, which also houses our Art (art study, music, cooking, and sewing) curriculum.

This shelf is a super inexpensive option by Mainstay that can be found at Walmart. I bought a little more space than we needed this year, to allow growing room in the years to come.

Our houseplant, which used to hand in front of this window, now occupies the top of the shelf. The first shelf, contains what we have so far of our literature based Language Arts curriculum, which will grow as the year passes and we acquire more of the reading selections. The second shelf houses our Mathematics curriculum.

The third shelf contains our Emotional Intelligence materials and a small drawer set that holds our scissors, glue sticks, and writing tools. Half of the third shelf and the fourth shelf and left open by design, Once we begin our Montessori math and inquiry, we will need that space to house rotational hand-on math activities.  

The final shelf has two bins, one for letter manipulatives and one for math manipulatives. The wooden tray on the side is our Montessori Sand Tray used for practicing letter formation.

This finial shelf is an inexpensive magazine rack I found on Amazon. The top row houses our current selection of living literature for our first unit, dinosaurs. The second row houses William’s Highlights magazines from the subscription Granny got him for his fourth birthday. The third row contains educational books for Charlotte, she is only 18 months old, but she is pretty sure she needs school materials too! The bottom row is her rotational shelf, it has two dinosaur themed board books in it right now, one of which she is reading.

The wall art, was a free printable I found here: I Think We Could be Friends. The frames are some Dollar Tree frames I have on hand for when I decide to mail grandparents pictures of the kids. 

The manuscript alphabet poster is another Amazon find.  I backed it with some foam board I had leftover from another project to add rigidity. We will use it in a few letter games over this coming school year.

Every time I add more things to our living space I’m worried that it will make it look cluttered, but these additions fit very nicely! 

Love,

b

Spring Decor

Dear Sis,

The kids helped me decorate for spring! Charlotte picked this cute door hanging at Hobby Lobby and William chose egg ornaments at Dollar Tree.

This photo came out looking very vintage to me, so I changed the colors settings to reflect that:)

Are you ready for spring? It’s only a few weeks away!

Love,

b

First Pet

Dear Sis,

William was very excited about the fish Gran got for Evelyn and declared, “I want a fish!” Gran, a willing facilitator, helped William call Daddy to ask if he could get a fish. Daddy said yes! Gran gave us funds for the venture.

During school today, Charlotte and I went to the dollar store to buy glass bowls and rocks. After school, I took the kids to the pet store to pick their first pets!

Charlotte’s fish

William’s fish

Thanks Gran!

Love,

b