Peppermint Foot Soak

Do your feet ever get tired, achy, and hot? Lately, that's what I've been dealing with. I decided to do some research on a good foot soak recipe. I found a great recipe for a

 Peppermint Foot Soak.

It just so happens that I have Peppermint growing in my garden! I also have a Dr. Scholl's Foot Spa, like the one pictured below.

Peppermint Foot Soak Recipe

4 teaspoons dried peppermint leaves

2 cups Epsom salt

Add 1 teaspoon of mixture to warm water.

I picked about two handfuls of peppermint leaves, washed, and wiped off the excess water. I then dried them in the oven on the lowest setting for about 30 minutes. When cooled, I removed the leaves from the stem and powdered them with a wheat grinder. You could probably do this by hand or with a blender or food processor. You can also use Peppermint Tea Bags. Each bag is 2 teaspoons of dried peppermint leaves. 

Making Art With Nature

Jay had the best idea the other day! She decided to make a craft with items she found outside. With a stick, leaves, pebbles (and a little help from an adult with a glue gun) she made a butterfly. I think it could look like a dragonfly, too. Didn't she do a great job?

15 Afternoon Snack Ideas

Even though we homeschool, my kids still really appreciate an afternoon snack. These would be great for after school snacks, too!

Frosting and a Smile - S'more Snack Mix

 Recipe here

Jay's First Grade Curriculum

I have decided to pattern Jay's First Grade year after the Charlotte Mason Method of teaching. I'm still learning about Charlotte Mason, so I am by no means an expert. I thought I would share with you what my plans are for Jay this year.

For Social Studies, I found this Around the USA Study on Pinterest. I loved the idea, but wanted to do it a little differently. I will make a worksheet for each state that she can color. We will study one state a week in alphabetical order.

I found a book at our Library, The Big Book of America by Roger Hicks, that gives a brief overview of each state. It's in color so Jay will know what each item looks like for her worksheet/coloring page. I also checked out a book that listed recipes from each state that we can try. We will read a book about someone who is from our state-of-the-week as well. For Alabama, we will read Helen's Big World by Doreen Rappaport about Helen Keller.

For extra Language Arts, Tara at Embark on the Journey is working on 31 Days of Read-Alouds. I LOVE this! We will do one book a week. I will check it out from the library, print out the activity sheets that I'm interested in, and do a couple of activities that go along with the book. For example, our first week we are reading Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. She will do some of the activity sheets, we will make Blueberry Muffins, and make Blueberry Art with a potato.

For Science, we are beginning with the Outdoor Nature Challenge.

Each day, Jay will do a lesson in Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, a few math pages from the Houghton Grade 1 Math Workbook, and Scripture Copy Work for handwriting. We will read in her Picture Bible and work on scripture memorization as well.

We will also be working on the Little Helpers at Home book so that she can receive her award pins each month. This month she is working on the Dishwashing pin and the Baking pin.

This was our first week back to school and Jay LOVED it! 

Farm Updates

This is just a small update about the farming side of our life. The Hubby has done a great job on the garden. These are a few pictures.

White Scalloped Squash

Green Pepper

Okra Plants

Today's harvest

Below is a picture of our newest baby rabbits. The picture is slightly blurry because they are like little jumping beans in the nest box. They are about 3 days old here. Hairless and wrinkly, aren't they? In just 2 weeks they will have all their fur and their eyes and ears will be open. These guys are going to be cute!

Baby Rabbits

6 Tips for Camping with a One Year Old

Our family loves to camp. We are not hardcore campers, though. I'm not big on having the little ones out there in the extreme heat/cold or storms. We've decided to go again when the weather cools off here a little bit. We've had a heat index of 100 degrees or more for the last few weeks. 

This year we will have a 15 month old with us. I've been searching Pinterest for some tips to make things easier. I thought I would share with you some of the ideas that I'm going to try. After our trip, I will let you know whether they were a success or failure.

6 Tips for Camping with a 1 Year Old

1) A tent to sleep in and a tent for the little ones to play in. Extra bugs and dirt can go in the play tent and stay out of the big one.

2) A Sound Machine to help everyone sleep.

3) A Baby Carrier that can also carry baby on back or hip for hiking trips.

4) Some kind of bug repellent is a MUST. I don't really want to put any bug spray or bug lotion on the littlest one, though. I would like to try these stickers.

Creamy Baby Oil also works wonders against mosquitoes. I'm not sure about ticks.

5) I love the idea of using Johnson's Baby Head-to-Toe Disposable Washcloths to give the little ones a bath before bed so they will sleep better.

6) The Pack and Play will be another good place for the littlest one to play so that I don't have to worry about her walking into the fire or something while I'm busy.

For more camping tips, check out my Camping Pinterest Board. Let me know if you've got any good tips for camping with a one year old.

Perfect Southern Biscuits

My husband and I LOVE large buttery biscuits! No matter how hard I tried to make them, I could never find the perfect recipe. Until the day that I did! I modified that recipe, of course. I thought I would share with you how I made them. Let me know if you love them as much as we do!

How to Make Perfect Southern Biscuits

Add Self-Rising Flour to a mixing bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form. (The pastry blender makes life SO much easier!)

Blending butter and flour.

Add milk. Using a fork, stir until just moistened. Turn out onto a floured surface.

Dough ready to roll out.

Lightly knead the dough with floured hands for about 30 seconds or until nearly smooth. Roll dough to 3/4 inch thickness.

Dough 3/4 inch thick.

I like to use an old soup can with holes cut into the bottom to cut out 12 biscuits. Place on a greased cooking sheet with sides touching.

Biscuits ready to bake.

Bake at 475 degrees for 13 minutes or until golden brown.

Golden Perfect Southern Biscuits

Spread butter on top and serve warm. My husband loves his biscuits with honey.

Warm biscuit served with honey

To print this recipe, pop-out the image below.