Kaake Family Blog

I can at times be stubborn - really I can. lol! I had friends telling me for a few years how amazing Mystery of History was. I finally looked into it for this school year and wish I would have done so sooner. Growing up in the public school system, their view of history did not start when God created the world or in the Garden of Eden. In fact, those times in history are not even mentioned once in a public school text. So, for me there was history from the church's perspective, then from the bibles perspective. How to mesh them all I had no clue. Well, Mystery of History has done just that. I just LOVE this curriculum. It can be used for young children through high school age children. There are activities at the end of each lesson that are age appropriate. While learning about Joseph, my kids were able to make cookies with multi-colored frosting which represented Joseph and his coat of many colors. Where else an you learn about true history, have fun AND eat cookie...

photo borrowed makesandtakes.com Sometime's you just need a little chocolate:) That's how we felt last night. I was searching for something sweet and naughty, then it hit me - SMORES! Here's how you do it when you're not outdoors. I took one full graham cracker and split it in half. I put just one half on a plate, topped it with some milk chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. I then microwaved for 13-15 seconds - just till the marshmallows puff up. Top with the cracker and eat. Mmmm! Who doesn't love smores? I just found another idea online. Take each graham cracker half and put some chocolate on. Nuke in microwave till the chocolate starts to melt. Add sliced bananas and make a sandwich out of it. Mmmm!

I just recently read a post where someone wanted to know what they should teach their their kindergarten child. That led me way back to the time when I was teaching Allysha in grade K. One of the things that should be taught in pre-k, K is recognition of our different coins and bills. Later on they learn what each coin value is and how to add and subtract. Here's a few ideas that helped us tremendously. You would not believe how fast Allysha learned this way. She had quite the incentive. lol! Oh and before I forget, there's no need at all to go out and purchase fake money. Use what you have on hand. You don't need that much of each coin/bill and it teaches them how to use the real thing. Pre-k I purchased a few items at Dollar Tree and Goodwill - items that would very much capture the interest of my daughter. Each item had a different price tag on it. $.01, $.05, $.10, $25, $.50, $1.00. Next, we got out one of each coin and a dollar bill. We then procee...

This was something I threw together today in 10 minutes. IT was so yummy! The kids loved it as well. With it we had some leftover chicken rice and cheese soup. Perfect for this day! I however, was not able to take pictures because Matt had to take the camera to work today. So, the pix above is borrowed. Enjoy the recipe below! This is very satisfying, the flavor is very good and it's super easy to make. This is one of those perfect meals to make for an unexpected guest. I used some chicken I had cooked in the crockpot heavily seasoned with garlic powder. You could also use a rotisserie chicken. A lot of chicken caesar salad wraps have croutons in them. I didn't feel this needed it. This is great for those people who don't prefer spinach. Because it's mixed with a lot of chicken and some dressing (and of course a bit of cheese and onion), it's more like a lettuce most people are used to. The flavor of the spinach is not overwhelming. Chicken Casea...

I have seen ideas for preschool activity bags that I thought were just darling. Lately it's annoyed me that I don't do nearly the amount of crafts that I'd like to with my children. So, my way of making this easier for us is taking the concept idea for the activity bags and using it for holiday themed crafts. I first find ideas for crafts I like from online, then print of the directions and templates needed. Make sure if you're doing these for more than one child, that you print out enough templates for each child. Only one set of directions is needed. If you have a totally awesome craft supply stash - Great! If not, I suggest going to the Dollar Tree (not Dollar Store) and Big Lots to pick up these items. IF you can't find what you need there, Walmart also has a good selection and great prices if you're on a strict budget. Also never underestimate freecycle and craigslist.org Get together your large zip lock bags - the freezer bags with labels w...

We had so much fun today! We found out from a dear friend that the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum was having a $2 day! We were so excited - especially since we have never been there before. Everyone got ready and off we went! Below are only a very few pictures of the fun. There was SO much to do! We were there over 2 hours and still did not see/participate in everything! Next we went to Whole Foods. We enjoyed some good pizza and salad for a late lunch, then on to very basic shopping needs. It was the perfect day in my mind! Oh yes and last but not least, we headed off to a sweet young families home to purchase a tabletop easel for Jon. I've been eyeing these for a couple years but not able to spend more than a few dollars on one. Hence the reason why we had not had one yet. She had hers listed for only $5 on craigslist! Since we were coming down that way, we set up a time to pick it up. And wouldn't you know, they are a fellow homeschooling family! How neat is that? A...

We hit it today while it was only on it's second day of hte sale. Everything on clearance was an extra 50% off! Here's what we got with $35 and change. 1 black dress for Lyshie 1 twizzlers shirt for lyshie 1 blue shirt with a bird on it for me 1 black shirt with a bird on it for me 1 purple long sleeved shirt for lyshie 1 pink collared shirt for lyshie 1 sleeveless pink summer shirt for lyshie 1 winter coat for Joshua 2 stainless steel water bottles for the boys - don't like the picture so well but they were under $2! 2 pairs of flip flops for Jon 1 hooded sweatshirt for Jon 1 pair pj pants for me 1 flag shirt for Matt 1 green shirt with crazy floral print for me 1 sleeveless shirt for Jon for the summer 1 pair brown boots for me!!! 2 pairs flip flops for Lyshie for summer What do you think about that? To my knowledge this sale is still going on through Monday. Get it while you can!

I was contacted by Ryan from the Pom Wonderful company. If you're not familar with this company, please visit this link to learn more. They sell the highest quality pomegranate juice I've personally ever had as well as the best tasting. Imagine our excitement today when we went out to the mail and found a box of 6 - 8oz containers of Pom juice. The kids were very excited to try it. I must say I was a bit apprehensive because of another brand I had tried in the past. That other brand of pomegranate juice was not that good at all. In fact, I believe I dumped it down the drain. So as you can imagine, I was hoping this would be at least a bit better than the previous brand I had tried. I openend the first bottle and took a little sip. Then another and yet another. This juice is so yummy! It was a little sweet and a bit tart. The flavor was absolutely wonderful! Next up was the kids. As you can see in the pictures, they very much enjoyed it! They didn't wan...

Today was quite the fun, new experience. While we didn't quite get the taste we were hoping for, we had lots of fun. We're going to try more combinations in the future. Jon with the dough. Jon trying to knead the dough. Jon rolling out the dough. Dough that had been sprinkled with sea salt and dried onion flakes. Dough in the oven. The recipe we used is as follows. Jon's Crackers Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup evoo Directions: 1. Mix all together in a food processor - dry ingredients then slowly add in wet. Process for 1 minute after dough forms a ball. 2. Knead till dough is just elastic then cover and let rest 1/2 hour. 3. Roll out dough very thin. It will be easier if you cut dough into 3-4 pieces and work with only one piece at a time. 4. Put on pan, spray with just a bit of water (or get hand wet and rub over dough just a bit). Sprinkle with your fa...

I saw an idea for this picture on a friends facebook page and just had to try to get a cute picture of my son myself. That little stinker would not sit still! This is the best we were able to do. I just love the idea of pictures like this. I see the two rings and think, yeah, it really does take two. Two to fall in love, two to make that precious little baby, and two to take care of it the way babies need to be taken care of. God designed man and woman from the beginning of time to be with one another in a beautiful and intimate way and look at the little reward that love has given us!

Matt wanted to make me a special meal the other day. Whenever he does this I get very excited! He makes AMAZING food! He chose to make homemade noodles, homemade alfredo sauce and chicken to place on the top. Yum! Below are the recipes. I must say this was better than any fancy italian restaurant I have ever eaten at. The more and more we cook new foods, the less we want to go out to eat - it just ends up being disappointing when we do. Both recipes below were snagged from recipezaar.com Homemade Egg Noodles 2 cups flour 3 egg yolks 1 egg 2 teaspoons salt 1/4-1/2 cup water Measure flour into bowl; make a well in the center and add egg yolks, whole egg and salt. With hands, thoroughly mix egg into flour. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (Add only enough water to form dough into a ball.). Turn dough onto well-floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough into 4 equal...

In my Door to Door Organics box, I received a bunch of kale. That sent me wildly searching on recipezaar.com to find that perfect recipe. You know what, I think I did! Matt even liked it and gave it a 7 or 8. He was between the two. He said while he wasn't super fond of the kale texture, he loved the flavor of the soup. Yeah! So, yet another score for Door to Door Oragnics in helping me get out of my box and try something new. Kale and Potato Soup by Amanda Kaake I must admit I wasn't sure if I'd like this or not. I had gotten some kale in a box from door to door organics and needed to use it up. To my surprise, we loved this soup! Even Matt gave it a 7-8 on flavor. He didn't like the kale texture as much but still ate it all and cleaned up the broth in his bowl. Ingredients: 3 large or 4-5 medium potatoes peeled and diced 1 large diced onion 2-3 crushed garlic cloves 4 cups chicken broth Approximately 4 cups finely chopped kale pinch of cayenne pepper olive ...

As a family we have been making many different homemade pizzas almost every Friday for the past several months. Pizza with frozen or homemade bread dough. Pizza that is grilled or baked. Thin crust, thick crust, light toppings, many toppings, homemade sauce and boughten sauce. We're still trying to find that perfect combination. We got very close to this the other night when my husband's mom was here with her husband. It was so good! It was a deep dish with italian sausage, red onions, a bit of feta cheese, banana peppers and mozz cheese. Oh yes and sauce of course. You will find the recipe he used for the dough here . He made this pizza chicago style. His mother even said that it was pointless to go out and purchase pizza here on out. I agreed. Fast forward to this evening. We had gotten a coupon from pizza hut that said you could get any size pizza, any toppings for only $10! That seemed like a pretty good deal - especially since Allysha had a book-it coupon to ...

Here's what our family names mean.... Matthew - gift of God Amanda - worthy of love Allysha - truth Jonathan - God has given Joshua - Jehovah is salvation

Just sitting here holding my baby close. He's borderline sick - I hate hearing his little cough. It seems he loves listening to Yiruma. How I wish I could hold him forever listening to relaxing music. Joshua means Jehovah is salvation. To me, Joshua means joy! And now, the sweet baby sleeps.

How quickly time flies...too fast for this lady. My 10 1/2 year old daughter - what a joy - already growing into a young lady. My little man - 3 1/2 - where's my baby? Our little Joshua - almost 5 months already? Lord, please, let time go by just a little slower. Time with my children is flying by so fast - I want these moments to last just a little longer. Just a little longer Lord.