Double Digit Math - Addition and Subtraction

My son loves math, it's one of his favorite subjects. However, because of all the rules, double digit math takes him down. I did some checking and came up with my own version of teaching him double digit math. In my research I found some math rhymes for double digit math that I thought would resonate with my son and created a cheat sheet. 

Listed below are the sheets I created to help him which include double digit math rules and some blank practice pages. Please feel free to use them. I am also including an editable Excel file if you would like to change colors or what not.

Download the Editable Excel File

 

Download the PDF Version

Princess Dress Pull-Apart Cake

So this is my first attempt at making a Pull-Apart Cake. I made it for my nieces 7th birthday. To keep with a pink theme I used a new product by Duncan Hines - Pink Velvet Cake. I frosted the cake using a 1M frosting tip and Pilsbury Pink Funfetti frosting. The tiara and wand are form the $1 bins at Target and the diamond ribbon is from Hobby Lobby in the cake section.

Make Taking Bitter/Nasty Tasting Pills Easier to Swallow

Our family has a love hate relationship with Antibiotics. On one hand they get the job done on the other some of them just taste downright awful if they get stuck on your tongue. Enter my son who is a champion medicine taker. He has had multiple ear infections since he was a baby and every year we dread taking antibiotics. He has progressed to taking pills instead of the liquid meds which is helpful but some of the antibiotics he has taken still taste horrible. So this sent me on a mission to make taking bitter tasting pills easier.

The best method we have found is to actually cut the pill in half and take a small section of Fruit Rollup and wrap the pill in it. Trust me this is kid tested, mother approved. My son has even begged me to post this so other kids don't have to suffer - LOL.

Operation Candy Coated Pill to the Rescue

Step 1 - Cut the Pill in Half (Especially if it's a big horse pill)

Step 2 - Tear Off a Small Piece of Fruit Rollup and get Ready to Warp the Pill

Step 3 - Wrap the Pill and Easily Take it with No Gagging or Spitting it Back Up

That's it - simple fix and it tastes great. You might ask your Pharmacist before trying this method. Just in case it would mess with your pills delivery system but hopefully this method allows you to enjoy no drama pill taking.

Spongebob Birthday Party

This is our rendition of a Spongebob Birthday Party. This post is a long time coming because this is actually my son's 5th Birthday Party. 

My Mom made the Homemade Sponge Bob Birthday Cake . She just printed a picture of Sponge Bob off of the internet and used that as her guide. The cake is just a regular box cake that she bought at the store. She used a 13x9 cake pan. All the details on the cake are made out of frosting. For most of the cake she used a star tip.

I also made some dreamsicle cupcake parfaits that I put into half pint canning jars. For the layers I used orange cream cheese frosting and marshmallow fluff. On the lids I printed out and cut Sponge Bob face stickers. In addition to the parfaits I made cup cakes with the orange cream cheese frosting. To frost them I just used a ziplock bag that I cut a hole in and I used sprinkles from his 4th birthday party. 

It was a great party and we even created a Sponge Bob piñata out of a cereal box and napkins. 

Minecraft Turtle Tank

For the love of Minecraft! So my son wanted to personalize his turtle tank and what better way to do it than with a Minecraft theme. So today I cut out some vinyl decals for his tank using my Silhouette Portrait machine. One of the decals is the Creeper Inside logo and the other is two crossed swords. We also have a papercraft creeper on top of the rock filter to give it a little extra Minecraft glam. Our turtles are western painted turtles that someone found as babies at the lake. We named them Rebel, Ralphie and Ringo because of the markings on their stomachs. My son even made a video for his class about them and his fiddler crab, the video is posted below. Here's some pictures of the Minecraft tank/aquarium.

 Crossed Swords

Creeper Inside and Papercraft Creeper

Outlet Cover Silhouette Cut File - KU Theme

So I'm just starting to really use my new Silhouette Portrait and one of my co-workers asked if I could make a KU themed outlet cover for her new grandbaby's room. I though why not, let's give it a shot so here is what I came up with. I layered the blue and white vinyl by creating an offset for the white behind the blue logos to make them pop.

What a fun little project and easily customizable to any theme. I am including a link to a downloadable Silhouette Cut File so feel free to try your hand at it. It also includes a blank outlet cut file so you can customize to your hearts content.

Silhouette Cut File for KU Themed Outlet Cover 

Plants Vs. Zombies Birthday Party

So my son is obsessed with Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare and this year he wanted a party to show it. I attempted to recreate the lawn grid pattern from the original Plants Vs. Zombies on the table cloth. By cutting long strips and weaving them I created the grid pattern but it took forever - I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a ton of time. 

 

I created the center pieces by drilling a hole in the top of some old toy traffic cones we had laying around the house. I than printed out some zombies and attached them to Kabob sticks and stuck them in the traffic cones.  

This year was also my first attempt with using fondant. I used the fondant to craft all of the little figures and then my Mom helped frost everything into place.

Homemade pinata made from a cereal box and napkins.