With a precocious 4 year old underfoot, we have become entranced by all things pirate. She adores pirates, and her upcoming 5th birthday will fulfill her fantasy.

To complete the decorations (which will become her playthings later) we planned on going cheap.  Cardboard boxes will serve as, treasure chests, boat race wear and palm trees.

To transform a milk box from the grocery store simply follow these steps:

Prep the box by removing all but 1 flap.
If you desire paint your box, brown or black to be more authentic.

 

The side with the flap now becomes the back of the chest.

Meaure the sides and create a nice smooth curve to shape the top of the chest. Be sure that both curves are identical so the top will work correctly.

Using a long piece of cardboard from another box, measure the width of the milk box. The length should extend over the box by at least 10 inches.  The excess will be removed in a later step.

Using scissors,score the piece that is to become the lid every inch. Be sure not to cut all the way through the cardboard. You are only making the curve easier to achieve.

 Gently bend the cardboard lid into a curve.  You will refine it later

 Add glue to one section of the top.

 Trim the flap on the milk box to about 1 1/2 inch. then attach the glue covered section of the cardboard top

 

When the glue has dried, prepare to hot glue the curved cardboard and the cardboard curved you cut earlier.

 

Using hot glue, bend the lid around the curved shape and hold until the glue has set. repeat with the other side.

Trim the curved cardboard to complete the lid. I folded 1 section under an glued it to make it more sturdy.

Using contact paper (I used stainless steel looking from Lowes) or ribbon decorate your treasure chest.

Gold pony beads give a studded look to the chest

typing assignment

This is the introduction to Microsoft word text for formatting

I am contacting you on behalf of chee and the fund raising team to request your support in the form of a tax-deductible donation.
For those of you who are not familiar with our organization, chee (Christian Home Educators of Easley is a volunteer based homeschool support group that conducts elementary co-op classes and Middle & High School year-long classes, as well as coordinates extracurricular activities for member participants. chee classes are held on Mondays from August to May at Easley Church of God in Easley, SC. .     I am asking you to help us out this year by giving a tax-deductible donation to chee.   Please note that any donation amount is always welcomed.
I thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to whatever support you can provide.
If you require additional information about CHEE, please contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. You may also visit http://cheeonline.squarespace.com/ online.

Thank you for your consideration. CHEE couldn't do it without the generosity of donors like yourself.

Little is much. . .

Little is much. . .

We had a great fun-filled day.  Without grand expenses we packed a variety of activities into one trip.  It took a little research, a little planning and forethought. 

In this tough economy, there are still tons of ways to have QUALITY time with your children.  We do.  If you as your self “How much time you need to invest to have these times?”  You should also as your self, “how much time are my children worth?’

Here was our ALMOST free day.

We started at the mall.  There was a free kids cooking event at 11.  We decorated cookies, colored pot holders and chef hats, made cereal necklaces, learned to twist pretzels and much more.  This was geared mainly towards the little ones but we had plans for the older ones too.  The free kids event was also a coupon bonanza-each booth offering coupons for free or great deals to entice you to their store as well as great samples. 

By being members of the kids club and completing the reading list we were treated to 4 free Chic-fil-a meals, 2 free fries and a free drink (all with gifted coupons we stashed away for today).  That is a lunch at the mall for 5 people! FREE  We made a point to grab the manager after our meal and thank her for supporting the kids programs and that we enjoyed our meal.

With free coupons to Bare Essentuals, the older girls got free makeovers, and loved it!

We headed out to enjoy our free lunch and spent $3.50 using a buy on get one free coupon to Aunti-Anns pretzels to add to our lunch.

With Club Tabby bucks given at the kids’ event the girls got their nails done at the trendy boutique geared towards them.  It was so cute and explosion of trends and glitter.

We then took our book club forms to Barnes and Noble to sit and relax for a few hours enjoying the cool air and reading many new books.  With our completed forms we received 4 new books for free.  

 

We headed off to the zoo to take in a few sights before the closed at 5.  We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the cooling weather of the park.  Noticing a few homeless the girls decided to share our leftovers rather than throw them away.  This prompted a discussion on how much we actually have.

We took off our shoes and rested in the cool grass, we played impromptu games with the cones set up for the zoo event, and we explored nature using the free magnifying glass that was the prize in the Chi-fil-a meal. 

We reentered the zoo for the member’s only zoo party.

The zoo, now much cooler, was now full of musicians, free drinks and popcorn and many animals that were brought out to visit with us.

We ended or day by using Papa’s garden.  Papa received his garden for Father’s day.  We all worked for days clearing a spot, covering the ground with plastic and free mulch, moving concrete benches and large rocks to sit on to make Papa’s garden.  The garden is now a center for family fun.  Papa loves campfires, which is the focus of his new garden.

Do we have much?  That all depends on your definition I guess.  If your idea of much rests on checkbook numbers and the like, then your focus is not where ours is.  We have much; we take great care in spending time with our children and being good stewards of what we do have.  We instill values and true joy in them in real and fun ways, learning as we go. 

Do we have much?, oh, we certainly do.  Anyone who ever needs, knows that we have much ad we share what we have with others too.

Taste Adventures

Palmetto Olive Oil is located on Augusta Street in Greenville.  Recently opened and featured in the Greenville news we decided to call for a tour.  The store is a beautiful space with dozens of silver canisters that beckon to you.  The store also has pastas, and pasta sauces as well as beautiful gift items.

beautiful gifts

rows and rows of yum!

all natural pastas

recycled paper gift bags

our tasting bowl

During our trip the health benefits of olive oil were discussed, and the benefits of vinegars.  We discussed how olive oil is made and how the differing flavors are either infused or fused in the oils.  We learned how the vinegars are kept in wooden barrels made from various woods and how they are moved as they evaporate and the flavors intensify over the years.  

tangerine brownies

  At first, the girls were cautious about the different oils but soon warmed up and got quite brave.  Annie and Lacy even tasted the jalapeño olive oil.   This oil features only the fruity-ness of the pepper and none of the heat.  Our family favorite is a buttery olive oil.  It tastes exactly like real butter.  It is made from a specific type of olive with no additives.  There were oils with so many flavors.  We were all amazed at the fruit flavored oils lime, lemon and tangerine.  They made a batch of brownies with the tangerine flavor—delish!

We also sampled several balsamic vinegars, on ice cream.  It was amazing how a tiny drop of vinegar can add such flavors to a sweet dish.  Some of our favorites were the espresso, coconut and the berry selections.  We finally settled on bringing home strawberry vinegar. 

A big THANK YOU to Sandy and Michael for taking such good care of us today!

Near Christmas time they do plan on having smaller bottles for gift giving and this would be a great time to stock up on several varieties in a smaller size.  

Palmetto Olive Oil Company Greenville Sc 

Math on the Cheap

Braelyn will have her new math curriculum arriving any day. The Horizons math can include a 'kit' should you choose to purchase it.  The kit includes many things you will need for the little budding mathematician.  The items are crayons, colored beads for counting and sorting, scissors and dominoes just to name a few.  Since we have these items in abundance thanks to Mommy being a teacher and a house full of crafty girls we decided to save the $60 and make our own kit.
Crayons, scissors and the like are common fare and we have them everywhere!  The beads we don't keep as much so we decided to go with the popular colored noodles.  Here is how we made them.
We found large straight macaroni noodles, a few small bowls and various dyes to try.  The food coloring dyes will make the noodles safe in case a little one gets the idea to eat them.

 

 Mix your desired dye in the bowl with just a little water, just enough to get the color you want and enough to just cover the amount of noodles you are dying

Microwave the bowl for about 20 secounds to help the color set in.  This deepens the color.

 

Place the now dyed noodles on a plate lined with plastic wrap or paper for easy clean up.

 

 Set the noodles to dry.  On a hot day like today-using the sun is a great way to speed up the process.

NOW use you noodles for crafts, necklaces or as counters for math. 

Enjoy your smart savings-it is more expensive than counting rocks I guess, but the results are much cheaper than the package counters sold for homeschoolers.

In the End--Zoo Trip

"In the end we will conserve only what we love.  We will love only what we understand.  We will understand only what we are taught."  ~~Baba Dioum the WILD BUNCH   Braelyn Grace decided that the zoo was a great destination for a Sunday afternoon.  In 98 degree weather we ventured out.   Prior to the trip we told the girls that to get an ice cream they must ask properly in Spanish.  We aslo took the time to learn many of the animal names in Spanish.   the poop paper cards-when you care enough to send . . . well poop! We actually saved money by becoming friends of the zoo and we look forward to many more trips this year.  We can easily use the informational plaques to teach geography as well as tons of science. beautiful rain collection barrels! The park just outside the zoo has a great new play area with several large covered structures for the kiddos.  We took a picnic dinner/snack but the heat was a little much. vimos: osos monos serpientes leones jirafas caimanes Flamigo patos cerdos pollos Goates y muchos más animales en el zoológico de hoy!