Kaake Family Blog

Thanks to my friend Mandi on amomshideout.com, I've started tons of felt board fun with my son. My church had this felt board they were getting rid of and I started making everything to put on it. So far his favorite thing to put on the board is the coconut tree tailored after Chicka, Chickan, Boom, Boom. As I'm typing he's saying, "mom, you have to come here and see my coconut tree". So off I go.

I happened across this delightful book at our local library. It is so neat! I encourage you to check it out or purchase it for your little one. My almost 4 year old loved it! I of course had to paraphrase, however the illustrations are amazing! What better book to read than something about spring! As far as the illustrations, when it talks about planting seeds, there are pictures of seeds on the edges of the pages. When it talks about the bugs in the garden, there are pictures of the different kinds of bugs you might find in a garden on the edges of those pages. So neat!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and we decided to eat in. The wonderful family we get our meat from gave us 2 filets. Matthew and I decided to use them for Valentine's Day and boy were they good! Matt's plate of filet, mashed potatoes and carrots. The carrots were from Door to Door Organics and the filet was from Turtlebee and Honeytree Farms in Byron, Michigan. The carrots were lightly steamed then put into a baking dish with butter and maple syrup. They roasted for about 10 minutes. The mashed potatoes were inspired by Rachel Ray. We put 5 cloves of peeled garlic in the pot while we cooked the potatoes. Yum! You can find the recipe for the filet here . Lyshie's chicken, potatoes and carrots. Here is the recipe Matt found for the chicken. Jon's macaroni and cheese - his favorite food! He also had chicken and carrots. Gotta love good company and good food!

Matt and I had such a fun time with our own at home chocolate tasting. I encourage you to try this sometime. It's amazing how trying the chocolates next to each other changes things . Some tips I found online were: 1. Have a glass of water or plain green tea to clean your palate in between each taste. 2. Start with milk chocolate and move to dark chocolate. 3. Snap the chocolate first. Good chocolate should have a good snap (according to "them"). 4. Move each bit of chocolate around your mouth hitting all your taste buds. Our findings: 1. Symphony Not very snappy Creamy Quite sweet Not very ‘chocolaty’ 2. Dollar tree million dollar bar Clean snap Grainy Not chocolaty… almost fruity 3. Dove Slightly softer than previous 2 Very smooth rich creamy flavor More chocolate flavor than previous 2 4. Ghirardelli 83% cocoa Very snappy Not at all creamy Very bitter Slightly fruity at end of bite (spit out by matt) 5. Lindt Dark 70% cacao Clean s

I have looked and looked online at an amazing babywearing coat that while on sale is still almost $100! Not quite in the budget. While going through older maternity clothing and things I no longer wear, I found this maternity coat. I purchased it before I was pregnant with Jon (in the hopes of getting pregnant) and never wore it! It got it for around $5 used but in great shape. Long story short, I thought this could possibly work while I am babywearing. I tried it tonight just before we headed out for the library. It indeed worked! So there you go. As you can see, Joshua is totally content :)

Here you will find fun and non-toxic/less toxic recipes for your children. If you have one you’d like us to try out and possibly add, please send your name and recipe to homeschoolingthem@gmail.com Enjoy! ******************************************************************************************* Bubbles What you need: 2 cups cool water 1/2 cup dish liquid 2 tablespoons sugar or agave nectar What to do: -Mix all together very slowly trying to not form bubbles. -Dip wand in - do not stir. Depending on the type of dish liquid you use - some can be much more toxic than other’s. I used a natural brand along with agave nectar instead of sugar. I actually purchased premade bubble’s, dumped out the containers, rinsed and used those to put my bubble solution in. ******************************************************************************************* Glitter What you need: 1/2 cup salt 5-6 drops food coloring What to do: -Mix together 1/2 cup salt and 5-6 drops food

Mmmm, can you say amazing! I always look for recipes that are yummy and sweet without using refined sugars. Sometimes I'm successtul and sometimes I am not. However, this time was a winner! Dh even thinks these nuts are very good. Maple Pecans 2 cups pecans (or other nuts) 1/3 cup maple syrup pinch of salt Directions: Heat a medium sized skillet and pour in your maple syrup. Add in nuts and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Keep stirring around now and then till most of the liquid has adhered to the nuts. Pour nuts out onto parchment or wax paper to dry. Store these in an airtight container or bag. Enjoy!

I remember awhile back when I was first married I dove into the book,  The Five Love Languages. This helped me learn much more about my spouse and how he communicates with his love language. What a difference that has made. Taking that a step further, I have been looking for the love languages in my children. They too need to be loved in a way they understand. I have not yet read the book that was made for children but I believe the concept is probably the same. What have I found out? Lyshie's main love language is gift giving. That is followed up by words of affirmation. Let me give you an example. Lyshie loves to purchase and make gifts for everyone around her. To her, that is the way she shows them love. In turn, the way you show Allysha love is by getting/making her gifts. The same thing rings true with words of affirmation. She needs to know she's doing a great job in her chores and school, etc... That is also the way she shows love - by telling others h

Breakfasts rotate between eggs and oatmeals. Lunches are any leftovers or whatever we can find. lol! Below are the dinner meals for the next two weeks for our family. Monday: Chicken and Rice soup with homemade bread and applesauce. Tuesday: Wet burritos and salad. Wednesday: Pancakes, breakfast meat and fruit. Thursday: Baked chicken with parm and buttered noodles and salad. Friday: Matt's homemade pizza and antipasta salad. Saturday: Burgers and sweet potato patties. Sunday: Baked potato bar with salad with grilled chicken. Monday: Goulash and veggies. Tuesday: Grilled bbq chicken, and potato salad. Wednesday: Chili, cornbread and applesauce. Thursday: Breakfast for dinner. Friday: Matt's homeamde pizza and salad.