Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made this yummy dessert for Thanksgiving, my first attempt at a baked cheesecake. I found the recipe here: www.kraftfoods.com listed as Philadelphia 3-Step Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake. I modified the full fat recipe by using one regular cream cheese and one fat free. It didn't change the richness at all. It was very yummy!

Michael's First Hike

A few weeks ago, we went on a short hike up to Look Rock. It was our first attempt hiking with Michael, he did great! We are hoping to hit the trail again soon!

Back Trackin'

Here are some things we've been doing:






Halloween Fall Festival: Check out the cool game!










Fall Leaves!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

(I'll be manic blogging this weekend, it's been a whole month and a lot has been going on...stay tuned)

"Pay It Forward"

This is cut and pasted from Notes from the Backyard Gang
http://www.fionaswampington.blogspot.com

I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post. I have 365 days to do it in. What it will be and when it will arrive will be a total surprise.

The catch is that you must participate as well: you must have a blog and before you leave a comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Just cut and paste this one if you like, which I did. Leave your blog address or email so I can contact you for your snail mail address when your homespun is ready to go.

I know this sounds a little chain mailish but it also sounds fun. Let's see!

A Beautiful Queen, A Courageous Knight and A Cute Little Cowboy

Ribbon Tag Blanket Directions

http://melissasews.blogspot.com

New Page Template

This is a new page template-click on the button in the corner to see more. They have some great templates. Both of the kids liked this one...what do you think? Too busy, hurt your eyes?

Eggshells- Stronger than you think

We did an experiment about the strength of eggshells. We cracked two eggs and placed them upside down on the counter. Then we added books to see how many the eggshells would hold up before cracking. We got up to 9 normal sized books. (Tera had a lot of faith because the first one she brought in was the Merriam Children's Dictionary.) We had her take that one back and we started with a few paperbacks then added hard back readers. Finally they cracked. We talked about how the dome shape gave it the strength because it equally distributes the weight. We talked about how architects also use the dome shape in buildings because of that very reason.

(I'm manic blogging right now so hopefully I'm not overwhelming the few people who follow my blog)

The Great Egg Drop

The assignment: Drop an egg from the two story window without breaking it.

The recycling bin is the first stop.
Using some padding in the egg carton "armor"

Extra "armor" from an old drink carrier.Cushioning with felt and paper

Our protected egg with "armor", a "seatbelt" using yarn to keep it in place

and cushion inside it's shoebox.

Heaving the egg from the upstairs window.

Our egg survived the two story drop

The egg surviving again

The fifth and final drop-without it's "seatbelt".

We changed our variables one at a time until all the egg had left was it's armor, apparently that wasn't enough.

This is our unit week. I did not feel as confident about this one because I changed our History to cover Explorers. I could not find very many activities for this unit without purchasing, so we are reading a lot about the different explorers and we are doing a lapbook (hopefully).

For science we are studying birds. Yesterday we only had time for an introduction into our subjects because of Monday Fun. Today we did some great bird experiments. We talked a lot about eggs and did 4 or 5 experiments. The great egg drop was their favorite by far.

Poetry and Book Report

These were our attempts at concrete poems- Tera picked the sun and Daniel -a dog! Poetry is a hard things for kids sometimes. They turned out great. I found an idea for a book report using a cereal box. I couldn't find the original link and I'm not sure where I found it right now. If you want it leave a comment and I'll try to find it. Anyway, she read The Tiger Rising then covered a cereal box with black paper. She then designed a front cover and used templates to fill the sides. On the back, I made her write a short review of the book.

Caramel Apples

This is not a tutorial just photos of our first time making caramel apples. I usually cannot bring myself to pay the outrageous price for something so unhealthy, but the price wasn't on the caramel. So, I didn't know the price and bought it anyway. This has always been on my list of things to do with my kids for some reason. Needless to say, they loved them. Me not so much, I'm not really into chewy candy. I took two bites and gave it to JP. He liked them too.