School Absent Note Template

I did the math... between my 4 kids (who are in PreK, 1st, 4th and 6th grades), I have about 38 more school years to go! It seems to me in that time they will each be absent at least 5 times a year, if not more. That means I will have to spend 190 hurried sleepless mornings scribbling absent notes for the attendance office. 

Okay, I know that my math logic is not great. 
I blame that on not having had common core in schools when I was a kid. ;)

Two weeks ago when my oldest son was out with a bad cold, I forgot about the note until we were in the drop-off loop at school. So, I grabbed the only paper available and quickly wrote him an excuse note. The paper happened to be a page from another kid's Thomas the Tank Engine coloring book. I added a sticker for good measure and sent him on his way.

Time for a better way!

I made up this basic form letter in Google Drive. I left a space to fill in the date and kid's name and my signature then printed out several copies which should get us through the remaining 5 months of school. I gave my 5 year old the task of cutting them in half (She's on scissor time-out since shes had some issues with misusing scissors to cut everything but paper inappropriate things). Now, my lovely notes are safely stored in the glovebox of the car, along with a mixed bag of other stuff (but no gloves, oddly enough).

Download School Absent Note Template (Google Drive)

Feel free to download and modify for your own school mornings when a note is the last thing on your mind!

Awesome Tool for Creating Easy Responsive Grid Layoutos

I found this awesome tool online while searching how to make a simple 4 column layout. I grabbbed the example code and css and had it done within 2 minutes. I LOVE shortcuts like this! :)

 Check it out: http://www.responsivegridsystem.com/

Berry Wonderful Scones!

Finally got around to making scones, which I have been wanting to do for a long time now. Fresh berries never last very long in our house -usually devoured within minutes. BUT they were on sale so I was able to stock up and there were some left over after we were done gobbling up them up.

 

Recipe I found was on AllRecipes.com that had great reviews and I modified it a little. It took me a few searches to find one that did not require sour cream or heavy cream or buttermilk - because I didn't want to go to the store this morning! So this one can be made with everything you have in-stock.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
•  Approx 3/4 cup of fresh berries - we used blueberries and raspberries!

"These cookies you brought are terrible. They're too hard." "They're not cookies, they're scones." "More like stones." Zuri & Bertram from "Jessie" on Disney Channel

 Note: I added one extra tsp of baking power because of the above quote :)I wanted fluffy scones, not rocks.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. I lined mine with tinfoil and greased that for a quicker cleanup.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter.
3. Mix the egg and milk in a small bowl, and stir into flour mixture until moistened.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. I added a little extra flour at this step as it was pretty sticky. 
5. Gently knead by hand into a large rectangle. Sprinkle fresh berries down the middle and fold both ends over so you have a long rectangle that is approximately 3 inches across.
6. Cut 12 generously sized triangles
7. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

For spacing reasons, I actually did 6 per sheet because I was not sure how much they would expand. Worked out nicely

 

Glaze: Combine confectioner's sugar and a little bit of milk and 1 tsp of vanilla extract in a bowl. Brush with pastry brush - because it's fun and both you & your 3 year old will love to paint the scones! I didn't measure here, just add a little and add more if you need to!

First Weekend of Summer

I love...
cuddling on the couch with my 2 little ones reading magazines together
how rich I feel after going to the library
the awesome wooden playground down the street from our house
discovering nature with my kids
mowing the lawn
watching flowers grow & bloom from seeds planted
3-inch deep puddles of warm rain water (even though I protest when they run through with their socks and shoes on!
the first weekend of summer

So Many More Worlds to Explore

Even though Kepler is "on the shelf", the new information we have about our galaxy and the cosmos is just amazing. These conclusions from  Marcelo Gleiser blog post on NPR.org today:

Even if we are still like toddlers in our cosmic exploration, we can at least rejoice in what we have learned so far: that there are hundreds of billions of other planets in our galaxy alone (and their moons, making for trillions of other worlds); that the same plurality is true in hundreds of billions of other galaxies across space; that some of these planets will have properties similar to Earth; that life, if present in these worlds, will be very particular to each of them, dependent on the planet's detailed and unique history; and that, for this reason, we are unique in the Universe, a product of the Earth and its very unique history. 

Get the original article here

I Havent Used [Photoshop] in 90 Days

When it comes to graphic design, I must admit that I'm a lightweight. I've dabbled in Photoshop off and on since first being introduced to it. I am also in LOVE with the online editor I found from Pixlr. I first discovered it as a Chrome App, but constantly use it in Firefox. I find it's perfect for quick resizing and basic editing. So far for me the only drawback is the text tools are a little weak - the text entry box is small and cannot be resized. But for everything else, it's quick and easy!

Check It Out and tell me what you think!

It's Summer Time! (Safety First)

Last Day of School is tomorrow! We have lots of swimming planned this summer. Our new pool has a real deep end - 10ft with a diving board. That means being even more vigilant than ever.

My little ones, who are not yet strong swimmers still wear life jackets in the pool. I don't care if it's dorky - if you're not having 1 on 1 time learning to swim with mom, then you have to have the jacket on! It's 4 kids and only 1 mom so I have to play it safe.

Here's a great article on Slate about what REAL drowning looks like (not at all like in the movies!)

We have not done formal swim lesson, but I am working with each kid at their comfort level to teach them the basics - floating on your back, treading water, etc. Would welcome any tips from others in the comments.

Check out the video. Forward to your friends and have a safe and fun summer!

Drowning signs aren't like the movies: wivb.com