How to Cut Layered Hair at Home - Tutorial

Yes, I am one of those mama's that cuts my kids hair.  I have not done the hair cutting cost tally or anything but I know I am saving a bundle by cutting their hair myself. 

I don't feel like I have a hard time cutting my boys hair.  It's not exactly perfect but the Lord has given my the grace to not mess up too terribly bad. 

The girls on the other hand make me a little more nervous.  One daughter of mine doesn't really care what I do to her hair and prefers it shorter.  My other daughter keeps a hawk eye on me to make sure I do not cut more than a 1/16 of an inch from her hair.  I always end up taking more than she wants me to in my attempt to get everything at least mostly even. 

About a week ago I was given the most marvelous of ideas.  We had Aunt Cindy over and we got to talking about hair and my mom (for those of you that don't know, my mama was a hairdresser and the Lord called her home in 2006).  Well, Aunt Cindy was describing to me how my mom used to cut layers.   That conversation, of course, let me to Youtube.

I came across these really cool clips that help you to cut hair into a layers.  The clip on the video reminded me of something that I just knew I had in one of my kitchen drawers.  I started rummaging through my drawers until I found it!  The Pampered Chef Chip Clip.  I think every women over the age of 28 has at least one of these chip clips in there kitchen, right?  So, with in about 90 seconds of me finding the Chip Clip and grabbing my clippers I was ready to go.

This is the Lil' Chef.  Other than a few bangs, her hair was all one length. 

We flipped her head over and brushed her hair.

We used the Chip Clip and gathers her hair altogether.  Here comes the fun part....

Buzzzzzzz!  You can buzz across with clippers, cut the hair upwards at a vertical angle or straight across.

Don't you just LOVE it!!

Chip Clip + Clippers = 1 Happy Girl!

Resurrection Day Craft Ideas

Being a Christian kinda makes Resurrection Day pretty special to me.  It was the day that, many years ago, my Lord and Savior willfully died and shed His precious atoning blood for me. 

Romans 5:8 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We do not celebrate Resurrection Day with bunnies and eggs but with the focus being the death and resurrection of our Lord.  So, I wanted to search out some resurrection related crafts that did not include the eggs and bunnies.  Here is what I found...

I thought this "stained glass" cross was pretty cool and seemed to have pretty easy directions.  I think this is one we are definitely going to make next week.

I am thinking if you have been on Pinterest at all in the last month or two, then you have seen "The Tombs Been Rolled Away" centerpiece.  I searched and searched to find the directions for this one but just kept getting ads.  I think this one is fairly obvious even with out directions.  I have seen the "tomb" made from a plastic cup as well as a small clay pot.  They say to start your grass early,  I REALLY want to do this one, so I'd better get started.

These are not your average crescent rolls, no sir-ree!  They are Resurrection Rolls and they are pretty nifty.  I am definitely making these with my kids!  Basically you wrap a large marshmallow inside and it disappears (melts) while it is baking.  The post that I linked to has the best directions that I have found for these and she gives scripture suggestions to read the week before making them as well as  during pre-heating time. 

If there is a roll, then there must be a cookie, right?  I also came across Resurrection Cookies, which are also very cool but a little more involved.  These guys sit in the oven overnight which of course represents it Jesus being in the tomb.

This Cross craft is so simple and yet it is one of my favorites.  I especially like the one with the blue and green background.  Pretty, don't you think?

I think my boys would really enjoy this empty tomb paper craft.  It seems simple enough for the younger crowd. 

Matthew 28:6 - He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Hope you have a Happy Resurrection Day!!

Best of the Best - Easy Breakfast Ideas

With so many fabulous ideas out there, between Pinterest and mommy bloggers, I thought it would be fun to start sharing the best of ideas that I find.  I will admit that I struggle with breakfast ideas, we are boring breakfast people.  So to liven the place up a bit I got on Pinterest and....

Overnight Oatmeal - Where in the WORLD has this stuff been and WHY am I just now hearing about it!  WOW!

Ok, I know this is not a recipe but the idea is fabulous and I had to share.  What a great, mess free way to pour pancake batter.  I am going to encourage lots ketchup use this week.

Not something that I would do every week but these sure would be nice for a special treat. Muffin Tin Sticky Buns, I love the simplicity!

It you have ever been on my blog before, chances are pretty good that you know we love Baked Oatmeal.  The recipe we usually follow just has raisins but I love this one with the fresh fruit.  I think this Fruity Oatmeal is a keeper for sure!

Do you remember eating pizza for breakfast when you were a teenager? Come on, I know you did this too, right?  This Breakfast Pizza looks like a 10 on the Yummy Scale!

I like to plan ahead and mass produce some of our breakfast foods.  Anything that I can make ahead and freeze for breakfast is a good thing. Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches sound like a winner to me!

Before you think I have completely lost my mind and am serving my kids chocolate pudding for breakfast, let me explain.  This pudding is not just chocolate, it's vegan chocolate avocado pudding.  Yes, avocados!  I did think it would be fun to have this awaiting my little darlings one morning when they come down for breakfast.  I can imagine it now, the boys will scarf it down with out evening thinking twice.  They will be eating it as fast as they can in hopes that I don't change my mind. 

The girls, being a little older and a little wiser, will definitely be skeptical but maybe just maybe they will eat it anyway.

These Egg Cups look so easy and you can FREEZE them.  I think I am going to have the Lil' Chef make some of these this week, I just bought 2 big packs of organic bacon on sale.  Oh, and did I mention YOU CAN FREEZE THEM??

Be still my breakfast loving heart!  I am thankful for the creativity and talent that some people have, like the inventor of the French Toast Muffin.   

Last but surely not least, we have the Giant Breakfast Cookie.  This is a family favorite that I had forgotten about, until now.  We used to make these all time because they are oh so yummy and they really aren't bad for you, even for breakfast.  This is one of those recipes that you are going to want to triple the recipe, trust me on this one ; )

Menu Plan 3/26/12

Here's what's cooking at the LSG House this week....

Our Breakfast and Lunch Menus stay pretty much the same.  We generally rotate the following:

Breakfasts

• Eggs, Toast and Fruit
• Waffles, Fruit
• Smoothies, Toast with Peanut Butter
• Cereal
• Oatmeal or Baked Oatmeal
• Yogurt and Cereal Bar
• French Toast with Fruit

Lunches

• Cheese Quesadillas- this is a FAVORITE! 
• Hot Dogs
• Mac & Cheese
• PB& J - this is of course another favorite
• Ham or Turkey and Cheese
• Cheese Slices with Grapes and Crackers
• Cheese Sticks with Turkey or Ham wrapped around them and Sliced Apples
• Left Overs
• Chicken, Egg or Tuna Salad

Dinners 
Monday
Tacos with all the fixin's - Corn, Black Beans and Brown Rice

Tuesday
Breakfast Night - German Oven Pancake, Eggs and Cantaloupe
Wednesday
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup with Mixed Veggies

Thursday
Slow Cooker Lemon & Garlic Chicken over Rice with Green Beans

Friday 
Homemade Sliders, Potato Wedges and Steamed Carrots (Thank You Smockity Frocks! I do believe my people would eat these EVERY SINGLE DAY if I let them!)

Saturday
Spaghetti, Homemade Bread and Broccoli - Did I mention I am starting to (faithfully) make homemade bread now.  Yep, pretty excited about that one!

Sunday
Hobo Meatball Stew in the Crockpot


Tacos and Breakfast Night have become some of our family's favorites.  What is your family's favorite dinner?

TOS Crew: Progeny Press

Being on the TOS Crew has been such a blessing for our family.  We have been blessed to review wonderful homeschool products, like the Literature Guides by Progeny Press. 

 

Progeny Press offers over 100 different Literature Guides for student ranging in grades K-12th.  These guides are written from a Christian perspective and focus on critical thinking skills, comprehension skills, literary analysis, and Christian application.  Sounds like an all in one package to me! 

 

I have peeked at Progeny Press before because My Father's World actually recommends them for 7th and 8th graders.  So, I knew that we would be using them for sure next year, but I was happy to give them a whirl this year too!  We were given The Bronze Bow Literature Guide to review.  The recommended grade level for this particular guide is 5th -8th grade.  Which was a perfect fit for my 6th grader. 

 

The Bronze Bow Study Guide starts off with introductory note to the instructor, synopsis of the Bronze Bow, a page of about Elizabeth George Speare (author of The Bronze Bow) and  a few Pre-Reading Activities.  Next the guide focuses on 2-3 chapters at a time focusing on vocabulary, characterization, setting, and comprehension questions.  I liked how the guide switched up the vocabulary part a bit by switching from crosswords puzzles, multiple choice and looking word meanings up in the dictionary.  I also liked the writing exercise at the end of the guide that has them write a brief epilogue. 

Overall, I liked Progeny Press and already have the Witch of Black Bird Pond and Johnny Tremain Study Guides for next year.  I think they ask great questions that really get the student (and the mom) thinking.  I feel that they are a worthy purchase and not just busywork.

Over a 100 different Study Guides are available to choose from.  Some of the available titles are:

• Lower Elementary (K-3) - The Courage of Sarah Noble, Frog and Toad Together, Keep the Lights Burning Abbie, The Minstrel in the Tower and Miss Rumphius
• Upper Elementary (3-5) - Charlotte's Web, The Door in the Wall, Little House on the Prairie, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and Sarah, Plain and Tall.
• Middle School (5-8) - Across Five Aprils, Amos Fortune Free Man, The Hiding Place, The Golden Goblet, Number the Stars and The Sign of the Beaver.
• High School (9-12) - The Day No Pigs Would Die, Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Red Badge of Courage 

The Study Guides are available in three different ways:

1. As a printed and bound booklet - $11.99
2. On a CD in .pdf format - $10.99
3. A pdf file as an e-mail attachment - $10.99

As you can see the Progeny Press Literary Guides are very affordable.  To make life easier for the homeschool mama they also sell the accompanying books at very reasonable prices.  You can purchase the Progeny Press Study Guides directly through their online store. 

 

You can see what other TOS Crew Members are saying about Progeny Press here.

 

We received a free Literature Study Guide from Progeny Press for review purposes only.  We were not paid in anyway and the opinions expressed here are mine.