Happy Monday!

It's Saturday for me, but I like to write these on one day, re-read and edit the next day, then triple check again before sending. On a blog post, you can go back and edit it. If it's an Instagram post you don't like, you can delete it. These emails? Once it's sent I can't change it or delete anything! So I like to be totally sure it's ready.

So Happy Monday!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Is it a big thing in your family? Is it a big thing in other countries? Here in the US, it seems like everything is like a holiday. In my family, though, we don't do much for Valentine's Day. Cam and I usually give each other something small (a handmade card, a chocolate bar, that sort of thing), and I make the kids something.

If my kids were in school, I think I would like putting together cute treats for the other kids in their classes. Then again, I have realized time and time again that cute crafts are not my thing. They almost never turn out how they look in my head! What about you?

Let's Talk Math

There are two things in this section. First up is the math worksheet PDF I made and showed on IG stories. It's 16 pages (2 pages per level) of these worksheets my kids really enjoy. Here's what one of them looks like:

When I was a math teacher, I had a hundred worksheets like this that my high school students loved. I guess I left them in my classroom when I left that job! Since then, I found them online once but can not remember where or what they are called. So I just make my own now.

Here is that link for you to enjoy with your kids. (NOTE: I can not figure out how to attach a PDF in this new email host! You should be able to print the document from there. If, for whatever reason, you can't, reply to this email and I'll hook you up!)

Math Games for littles

Here are some math games I really like and the ages I've used them. I don't have any suggestions for kids older than 10! There's a great IG page (and website) that has a ton of game suggestions. My Little Poppies is a mom who does something she calls gameschooling. She homeschools using mostly games! I've gotten several great ideas from her. Here's her IG page, and here is her website.

Now, here are some of my recommendations (any Amazon link is affiliate!):

1. Tiny Polka Dot - This is actually 16 games in one, for ages 3 and older. The cards are colorful and sturdy, and the games we've tried are easy to learn and fun to play. It really is a great buy if you've got younger kids!

2. Sum Swamp - If your kiddo can add and subtract (digits 1-6, since it's dice!), this is a great game. There is not much skill in the actual game play; it's all the roll of the dice. You roll the 2 dice as well as the plus/minus die: if you roll a 3, 5, and minus, then you would do 5-3=2, and you'd move 2 spaces.

3. Any sort of nesting blocks or cups are great for pre-math because the child is learning about bigger and smaller as well as spacial reasoning, along with things like hand-eye coordination.

4. Math Dice Jr - We have the regular Math Dice, and I really like them. Alexander likes them too! The Junior version is for younger kids. The product info says 6+.

5. Rush Hour Jr - Again, we've got the regular version rather than the Junior one, but it's a big hit! It's more STEM than only math, but it's really a good one to have!

I've got a IG Reel I made a while back (when I was pregnant with Charlie!) that has some more ideas. Check it out!

A few favorite apps

The first one is Luminosity (Apple / Google). It's a brain training game that lets you play 3 games per day, for free. The kids and I have been doing it, and we all really like them!

The second is called Slidebox (Apple / Google). It is a way to manage the photos on your phone. It makes it super easy to delete and organize them into folders! I've got the free version, so there are ads here and there, but I can go through 1,000 photos is 10 minutes, which is way faster than doing it manually!

The third is old news, but I want to share it here in case you didn't know about it: YouVersion (Apple / Google). It's a FREE Bible app. It's got a ton of Bible translations. Every day, there is a quick devotional built right into the home screen; there's a kid's devotional too. In addition, there is a huge number of free Bible studies - just search for something (anxiety, marriage, read the whole Bible, etc) and you can find options to fit your needs.

Recipe time

Fried rice

NOTE: If you don't have any cooked rice, you MUST! You can't really use fresh rice for this. I mean, you CAN, but it is ideal to have day-old rice. (You can use cauliflower rice for this, and it's basically indistinguishable from the real thing, I'm not even kidding.)

1. Chop your veggies of choice - I usually use carrot and onion, plus whatever else I have: broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms.

2. If you don't have any cooked meat, you can leave out meat or you can cook some up first. I usually have some sort of leftover meat that I chop up at this stage!

3. Beat 2-3 eggs in a bowl.

4. Add some oil or butter to a large skillet. Scramble the eggs then remove them.

5. Add a little more oil or butter and then your veggies. Cook until fork tender!

6. Add some salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger. Mix all that.

7. Remove the veggies.

8. Add some more oil or butter and then your cold, old rice (or cauli rice!). Flatten that out and let it sit there for several minutes before doing anything to it. Every 3-5 minutes, you'll toss it around, flatten it back out, and wait. Keep going until it's golden and crispy! It takes a little while, but it's delicious!

9. Once your rice is crispy, add back the eggs, veggies, chopped meat, and some soy sauce or coconut aminos. Toss to combine. Go sloooow. It can get messy with all that stuff in there!

10. Cook a few minutes to make sure everything is warm, then turn off the heat. My whole family is really into this meal!

Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl aka Sweet Potato Pudding

1. Cook 1 or 2 (or 3...) sweet potatoes. I toss them in the oven at 400F for 45+ minutes until they're super soft. I suggest doing this the day before!

2. Peel the sweet potatoes. Toss the insides into a blender with 1-2 tbsp almond butter* and about 1/2 cup of almond milk, plus some cinnamon. *Peanut butter is okay, cashew butter works, but almond is the best!

3. Blend that until it's creamy. That on its own is SO GOOD. It's like pudding, I love it. But you can also fix it up:

4. Put the sweet potato into a bowl, top with blueberries and walnuts or slivered almonds and some coconut cream. Dreamy!!

5 random thoughts

1. One thing that popped up on Facebook memories (I have a love/hate relationship with FB memories...) was from several years ago. I went screen-free for a whole month. No phone, of course, and I used my computer 1-2 times a day to check emails. I didn't even watch TV. I just did a puzzle book, hung out with the kids, read, read my Bible. I'm not thinking of doing it again like that, but I do wish I could find a better balance to my phone screen time.

2. I decided this evening to make cinnamon rolls. I'm pretty sure I messed something up. They've been hanging out in the proofing part of my oven for a long time, and they don't look like they've changed much. I will keep them in there until I go to bed, and then I'll bake them in the morning. Fingers crossed they turn out ok!

3. Speaking of breakfast, I'm not a sweets-for-breakfast person. Give me some version of bacon and eggs any day.

4. That reminds me... I've been working on my latte art, as you may know. I've been making 1-2 lattes every day for more than 5 years. Tonight I searched TikTok: "how to steam almond milk." In every video I saw, the person used a special barista blend of almond milk!! I need to find that and see if it makes a big difference for me!

5. I'm standing here on my computer. Charlie's watching Miss Rachel. You know Miss Rachel right? She's got some videos on her TikTok channel (maybe they're elsewhere, but I only follow her on TikTok) where she sings her cute little kid songs but with grownup lyrics. I'll leave you with this one:

Hope you have a great week!❤️ Bethany