This may be sacrilege, but I have never really liked pancakes. A piece of bread with an extreme amount of overly sweet syrup just makes me sick to my stomach. So, my poor kids only got them maybe twice a year. Until now! I named them camp pancakes because at first I was thinking of things that would be decently easy to make when camping, without too much mess. That and I wanted something that had some goodies beyond just empty carbohydrates.

So, first I thought of proteins, well I suppose you could add something like bacon, which believe me would be yummy, but it just adds another thing to make, so I figured the protein we put in our smoothies would work, right? It did, it did. We use hemp hearts for our smoothies, they are tiny shelled hemp seeds. These little gems provide not only protein, but a good amount of iron and some fiber. Hemp hearts have a slightly nutty flavor to them.

Next, I was thinking some fruit is always good for us, so we threw in some frozen blueberries (course you might used dried blueberries when camping, not frozen) and chopped bananas. YUM!

(You have to be careful though, who chooses the blueberries, because they may be all gone before hand)

Then, raw crushed almonds, I know it sounds weird, but I am a lover of crunchy food, plus I just like almonds.
(Sadly, I forgot to take the picture of Sugar Plum fairy using the mortar and pestle to crush the almonds, the kids love using it)

Last, but not even close to least, broken Hershey Bars. Or, if your a total health nut, we sometimes use raw organic cacao nibs.

As for the batter, you can use whatever you like. I don’t have a favorite, so perhaps you can recommend to us your favorite and I can try them out.

Oh, Oh! I almost forgot. We add our syrup to the batter, and in my opinion, maple syrup is the best. Plus, it doesn’t have that awful high fructose corn syrup in it.

So, after all that, you slap em on the griddle. (might be best to pour batter, not slap)

And, the let the most qualified flipper take over…

Then, you jump on the couch with your fresh camp cakes and ride with miss Sugar Plum fairy to the beach. (Well, that’s where she said we were headed anyway)

Or, you can just close your eyes and enjoy…

Linking up with Adventurez in Childrearing

Do you guys remember my cape giveaway, since then we have been coming up with different ways to wear the cape. Total we have found five! Here is the latest.

And…

I had so much fun with hers that I wanted to try it on me, of course it was more of a shirt on me instead of a toga, but I absolutely loved it.

All the ways to wear this material…

1. Super hero cape of course
2. Apron
3. Combine two for a child = toga
4. Combine two for an adult = shirt
5. Combine 5 to 7 = skirt

~the adult shirt and skirt pictures hopefully coming soon. Going to try and bribe my beautiful niece into modeling for me.

(if you have this crazy unbridled feeling to buy one of these please visit my etsy shop.)

My kids love running around yelling bippity boppity boo at each other while holding whatever toy that looks the most like a wand to them. Well, this last week I discovered some of the duct tape crafts. I quickly decided I was going to try and make the kiddos some wands. It was much easier then I ever expected.

Materials

dowels
spray paint (optional)
duct tape
scissors
hot glue gun & hot glue
permanent markers (optional)

I painted their dowels black because that was the available color in Geek Adonis’ shop.

And, I fully realize that there are a crazy amount of different colors of duct tape out there now, but I was working with what I had in the house or in the shop.

I started with Sugar Plum Fairy’s Boo Stick first.

I ripped a bunch of 2-3 inch pieces…

Folded a corner over, then…

the other corner. Take that and wrap it around your dowel, like so…

Rinse, wash, repeat…

Apply that second piece to the other side. Where the tips are opposite of each other.

Continue doing this until you have the above flower. It was very easy to then paint it pink with a permanent marker.

She immediately went to turning me into a frog, rabbit, ooh and then superman.

Onward, to Little Old Man’s Boo Stick…

Sorry, no tutorial, because this guy – Duct Tape Ninja, did an awesome job and I just don’t think I can top him.

So, after making two ninja stars, I just hot glued them to the dowel and bippity boppity boo!

Okay, so now go make your own and please please show them to me!

We went to a wedding recently and I got the chance to take a few pics of the kids. I had to tell this quick story. My husband’s cousin has a beautiful little girl and as we walked into the reception she said to her mommy, “Mom, who is that princess?” She was talking about my daughter Sugar Plum Fairy. So here are the two of them after discovering each other!

How, absolutely precious was that?!

Now, Little Old Man couldn’t be outdone, therefore he played the ninja/vogue/silly card…

and…

Hee Hee, I love him!

We are truly blessed to have a horse person in the family that has agreed to teach Little Old Man horse riding lessons for free. A couple of weeks ago he started learning the ins and outs of taking care of and riding a horse.

First, we feed…

Little Old Man and Sugar Plum Fairy got to help their Maw Maw prepare the food and gather the alfalfa to feed the horses. Then…

I recommend one of these guys to clean all of the horsey dishes.

Smiley, didn’t approve of all this, because it got him out of bed too early.

After feeding, Little Old Man learned how to care for the saddle he used…

While Sugar Plum Fairy and Smiley made good use of the arena floor.

After, cleaning the saddle, he brushed down “Jazzy”, (I think he enjoyed this part the most) and then…

climbed in the saddle. Sadly, I do not have a picture of him riding, I know I took at least twenty while I was there and not a single one turned out. Although, his siblings enjoyed watching him go around in circles.

Little Old Man really enjoyed his first time riding and is looking forward to many more lessons. We have also decided to do a lapbook for homeschool centered around horses and the parts of a horse and their food and equipment. This will be mommy’s first attempt at a lapbook without another websites help, it should be fun.

When you were little did you ever take a bath in an old wash tub? I did, and to me they were fond memories. In one of the many houses we lived in growing up, one of them was an old 100 year old farm house that needed many renovations. Well, during one of those times, Mom let us take a bath in a metal wash tub in the kitchen. I haven’t done that with my kids in our kitchen, but they have been in one outside. During these 90 to 100+ degree days it is nice for them to get to play in the water. Plus, we do not get to make it to the pool very often. To make it more fun we add a small fountain and bubbles to the water.

This is a very easy way for your kids to bathe themselves in the middle of the day, plus bathe their toys, and makes mustaches out of bubbles.

Older cousins enjoy it very much too!

All, you need is a wash tub, small pond pump from a hardware store (local hardware store, Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc.), pvc, and a way to hold the pvc to the side of the tub. (and, a bucket to throw water on your siblings) We used this arrangement…

A small metal fitting and an all-in-one bracket. The bracket bent easily to hang the pvc on the side of the tub.

Next time, I think we might add food coloring to the water… (its the small things)

The paint is incredibly easy to make and lots of fun too. It is made with three simple ingredients that most momma’s have in their arsenal of goodies.

Ingredients

Cornstarch
Water
Food Coloring
Old Muffin Tin (or whatever you can find)

Directions

Mix water and cornstarch to desired consistency. I did 2 cups of water to 1 box of cornstarch. I recommend either a little more water or either less cornstarch. The consistency was a little too thick. Put a small amount of food coloring into each separate container.

Now add cornstarch and water mix, to the separate containers and stir together to mix in color.

TA DA! I made a tin for each of my children. One with a few more girly colors for Sugar Plum Fairy and the other one with some guy colors for the Little Old Man. So, after you have mixed your paints, grab your camera (cause you gonna want to get pictures of the fun) and go paint. For instance….

My Little Old Man, started out real simple just layering a few colors, while…

Sugar Plum Fairy went wild and started slinging it. Two completely different artist styles. Well, until Little Old Man saw what his sister was doing and wanted to duplicate.

Oh, yeah, it became a paint ourselves session. And, boy did they have a blast.

I think Sugar Plum Fairy became a dancing gypsy and Little Old Man…

A Ninja! (well a colorful camouflage ninja)

~a few side notes: All of this will wash off with the next rain. Although, when they decided to paint their bodies it did stain the skin until the second bath. So, if you decide to let them paint, do not plan it on a day where you are getting family pictures the next day. And, remember just have some fun, throw paint everywhere (well maybe not the car, I dunno), and remember it comes off with water, soap and sunshine.

My dear Geek Adonis asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day! He gave me everything I wanted and more. He started out my day with some oh so yummy Lemon Blueberry Pancakes and BACON! (cause if you do not know yet, I have an affinity for bacon) I am afraid I do not have a picture of the pancakes, but I can give you the recipe to try. The sweetness of the blueberries and maple syrup together with the tangyness of the lemon was just sublime.

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup Cake Flour
1 Tablespoon (additional) Cake Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (more if needed)
1 Whole Lemon (more if needed)
1 Whole Large Egg
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
Zest from 1 Lemon
1 cup Heaping Blueberries
Extra Butter
Maple or Pancake Syrup

Preparation Instructions

Heat heavy skillet or grill over medium low heat. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix evaporated milk, juice of 1 lemon (more if lemon isn’t very juicy), and lemon zest. Allow to sit for five minutes, then add egg,
vanilla, and melted butter. Mix to combine.
Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Splash in more evaporated milk if mixture is overly thick. Stir in blueberries. Again, check to make sure mixture isn’t overly thick.
Melt butter in heated skillet. Drop batter by 1/4 cup measures and fry pancakes on both sides until golden.
Serve with softened butter and warm syrup.

Get ready to lick your plate!

Next,

We went to Stones River National Battlefield and spent the day picnicking and frolicking. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day outside and we found a perfect place to lay out our blanket under some huge sweetgum trees.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch of salami, cheeses, olives, nuts, salad, pimiento cheese sandwiches, pretzels w/ mustard, and a small smorgasboard of drinks.

After our picnic…

We threw gliders, and…

sisters stood at the ready to throw gliders at us unbeknownst to us…

no worries though the glider plummeted and all brothers got to stand proud that day. After the small dog fight, we…

rested and came in and refilled with root beer and ginger ale. (Notice, mommy and young smiley all the while have been resting on the blanket). Refreshed, we are off to climb…

cannons, and…

rocks. As with all picnic’s there were an abundance of bugs…

including cicada exoskeleton’s. Meanwhile, back at the blanket…

Geek Adonis and Smiley called Nana to wish her Happy Mother’s Day too! After a glorious day at the battlefield Daddy decided we all needed one more treat.

Oh my, I must tell you this is one of my favorites places to go now! If you have never been to a Sweet CeCe’s I am so so sorry. They have a variety of frozen yogurts that you first choose from and then, you get to pick from crazy topping like captain crunch and gum balls to chunks of cheese cake or fresh strawberries. Oh, and speaking of the gum balls, that was one of the topping Miss Sugar Plum Fairy chose, so be careful of this happening …

This was the end of my perfect Mother’s Day! My sweet husband gave me just the experience with my family that I wanted. Thank you my love! I hope all of you other mamas out there had a wonderful mother’s day as well.

I so needed to weed my flower garden and the kids wanted to help but they kept trying to pull my good plants instead of the weeds. So, I needed something quick, cheap and easy, that they would enjoy while mommy was weeding.

This worked so well and I can reuse this corrugated board again and again. If you do not have a large piece of corrugation, then you can use any old box and cut it open. The cereal box, old diaper boxes, etc.

Materials – watercolor paints, old plastic cup, two small paintbrushes, water, and cut open corrugated box.

My kiddos are enjoying the beginning of spring, I would say they are basking in it. What are you doing to enjoy spring? We are going to plant some strawberry plants today and take a walk around the farm.