Summer summer summer

I suddenly felt this huge urge to update this blog. Hmm.. Could it because I've been MIA all summer? Maybe..lol

This has been a crazy busy summer. ALl the things I had planned on doin this summer never happened. I was planning on a couple of neat science projecst for the kids to do over the course of the summer but they fell to the wayside when they both realized that the summer drop in was way more fun than anyhting mommy could do. To be honest, I was totally ok with that.

So now we're coming to the end of the summer and we need to get in to the swing of some amount of schooling again. I've decided we are goin gto try workboxes this year. ( I'd post a link but I can't seem to find it.. I'll come back to that later.) The idea is the set out the days worth of work in boxes, drawers, file folders, whatever works for you. Every activity is number and the child just works from 1 to 12 over the course of the day. I really liked this idea because I think it really encourages self-motivation, the ability to work independantly and problem solving skills. All of which the little man needs to work on.

So I went out and bought a few of those plastic storage drawers and I'm going to make up the numbered labels and put this plan in to action. When I get this on the go I'll post pictures.

I really thing using workboxes will be motivation for me too. I find that it's way to easy to get sidetracked and not do the work that I had planned to do with the kids. I have terrible issues with organization so hopefully this will help that as well.

Anyway, it's been a busy summer but I'm looking forward to the fall ( I can't say the same about winter, though. Ugh. ).

Mmmm! Hummus!

I have this new obsession. I'm obsessed with hummus. I used to buy it from the grocery store every now and then for snacks for me and Erynn. ( We were the only 2 in the house who liked it) Recently I bougth some and it was horrible! It was the same brand I always bought but apparently they felt it needed improvement. The improvement was an epic fail. It had a weird bitter after taste. The baby thought it was yummy though so I decided it was time to make my own.

I looked all over until I found a recipe that looked right to me ( you would not believe how many different ways there are to make hummus! ) and then I tweaked it suit me. Thanks to http://www.allrecipes.com and my own taste buds this is what I came up with:

Hummus

garlic cloves, 1 or 2 to your tastes
19 oz. can of chick peas, drained but keep the liquid
3 big teaspoons tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice, this can also be adjusted
1 tablespoon olive oil
cumin, to taste ( I used about 1/2 tsp)
salt, to taste

What I do is crush my garlic either in the blended or the garlic press first. Then add your chick peas, tahini, lemon juice and salt. I puree it until it's smooth and then add cumin. Puree again then add the olive oil. Spoon it in to a bowl and serve with pita pieces or veggies. Ta da!

I LOVE this stuff! Ruby and Erynn just devour it. Bryan won't try it because it didn't come out of a box or have some cartoon character attached to it. Grr.

I think this is the handiest stuff to have around for snacks or to put on sandwiches. Yummy!!

I just realized I should have taken some pictures..lol Now it's all eaten. Next time.