4th of July TicTacToe

Get it HERE

Counting by 5's

Here is a simple worksheet I made for counting by 5's...

Grab it HERE

4th of July number puzzles

As usual, cutting it close for my holiday activities :-)

Grab it HERE

Our trip to the Planetarium

We went to the planetarium a couple weeks ago and had such a good time!  We call ourselves "space geeks" because we get so excited learning new things about space, especially the shuttle program.  

Spice's latest obsession is space shuttles.  Both girls have watched the last 2 shuttles launch so many times they can repeat everything the NASA guy says during lift-off, lol.   Spice likes to tell people all the parts of the shuttle, and until recently she was calling the Solid Rocket Boosters "solid roosters"  :-)

There weren't many people there so we spent a lot of time talking to a man (who worked there) that was a candidate for the Teachers in Space Program awhile back.  He was at the launch of the Challenger that final time, and we talked about that for quite a while.  I remember being about Sugar's age when I watched it on tv.  We learned so much from this man, it was wonderful.  He even showed us a couple things usually reserved for class field trips.  We got to see and learn about the tiles that are on the underside of the shuttle, and the foam that covers the external fuel tank.

The girls had Daddy's help to land the shuttle!  He did so well....I crashed it twice but he landed it perfectly twice--with Sugar and Spice "helping"!!

We got to see a MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) that had been used in a couple spacewalks.

And of course the kids were excited to see a space potty!

We took a break to watch and listen. 

They just chilled in a tire from the landing gear of a shuttle that really went to space!

We tried some astronaut ice cream on the way home

and Spice fell asleep clutching her space shuttle toy...

Now almost every day Spice asks to go back to the "Planet Tarien"  :-)

Homemade salsa

Easy and yummy!  Sometimes Sugar and Spice even have it for lunch, with a cheese stick on the side.  I get asked for the recipe a lot, so I figured I'd share.  I make salsa from canned whole tomatoes in the winter, and fresh roma tomatoes in the summer.  I always use red onions, jalapenos, cilantro, and cider vinegar.  Sometimes I add a tiny bit of grated garlic....

I start by cutting the tomatoes and taking all the insides out, then I leave them to drain a little bit so they won't be too wet.

I cut them into thin strips, and then into tiny cubes

 

Then I prepare the other ingredients...

I use a chopper for the red onion and jalapeno

pick the cilantro leaves off the stems and roughly chop them

Then I grate the garlic

and I add a little bit of cider vinegar, and mix it all up. Done!!

The taste improves over time, and sometimes I add more jalapeno for my husband's batch.  Next I'm going to try spraying a little lime juice on the tortilla chips before eating them with salsa :-)

Yummy!

Strawberries!!

We went strawberry picking!  The girls had a lot of fun, and we got to taste a few while we were working.  Then we tried some of the little doughnuts they make right at the farm...

We picked double the amount of strawberries we planned on, but we just couldn't resist!  We made some yummy strawberry rhubarb crisp and even had some left over :-)

Since Sugar & Spice LOVE the Strawberry Shortcake characters (and the dessert!) I made a game for Spice.  It's for reinforcing beginning sounds. 

                                                                                                           

To get it, click HERE