I heard on Facebook that my son is making pancakes for my grandchildren down in Florida, and I started to wonder how many families do this as a Sunday ritual. Pancakes can be one of the most endearing and filling meals we eat, but many people believe that pancakes are not good for you, so they miss the whole treat and treasure altogether in favor of cereal or something more nutritious.

The bold fact is that pancakes, if made correctly, are much more nutritious than a bowl of cereal. They have so many more health factors with one that stands out in my mind. “Daddy made these for me. He loves me. I’m having fun. I’m laughing and we’re having fun together.”

Eating with your children every day is more important, according to a recent Columbia University study, than reading to them. It’s a family time that brings people together. If you make pancakes every Sunday for your children, then it’s probably true that you sit down with your own plate.

But women worry about their weight and men turn up their noses at the sweet. It doesn’t have to be that way if you think about the recipe you are using and do a few new things.

Pancake batter is made of flour, baking powder, salt, milk, oil and eggs. That’s all you need. If you use whole wheat pastry flour, your breakfast turns whole grain. If you add some oats, some wheat germ, some bran, you’ve got multi grain cakes. Whole wheat pastry flour is found in the baking department with the Red Mill products.

There is no sugar in pancake batter. You don’t need it. Add an extra egg for protein and cut your salt from a teaspoon to a half teaspoon.

Use soy milk for lighter cakes and a little estrogen for mom.

To get fancy, you can take a whole orange and grind it up in your food processer and add the whole thing straight to the batter. Try cranberries, blueberries and nuts. If you grind you get the flavor but not the lumps.

The syrup is always a concern. I have always made my own because store bought, as they say here, was always too pricy when I was a young woman, so I learned to make my own. Syrup is easy. 1 cup of water to two cups of sugar. Add a 1/2 stick of butter and a little maple flavoring and boil 3 minutes to make the granules dissolve.

But what if we used a can of frozen concentrate brought to a boil on the stove for a couple of minutes and put a 1/2 stick of butter in it? Apple cinnamon syrup anyone? A little sugar would make the syrup thicker.

Here’s the recipe for my pancake batter;

2 cups wwp flour
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
Milk to desired thickness. I use probably 1.5 -2 cups.

( add 1.5 cups sugar and cut the milk and you have muffin batter.)

Enjoy!

We started our day with cereal and a trip to the bathroom. Then it was off on the bus. The kids were great travelers. We stopped at the nursing home in Boonville, and we sang and visited with he elderly. We stayed about forty-five minutes.

Then it was off to Lincoln. We stopped at the museum and saw the artifacts of the pioneer days. The big question was, “What was the pioneer’s most important possession.” And the answer was given by Luke. It was “The ax.” Kudos to him.

The children seemed to enjoy the day. It was a beautiful day, cool, crisp, bright, and even the animals were not adverse to being in “the children’s sight.” We saw a big black snake and a rabbit – not in the same picture, I mean no one was chasing anyone!

Lincoln’s Boyhood home is an excellent child’s introduction to history. Mr. Louis did our tour was wonderful and gave us a really good tour. The children asked so many great questions, I think even he was impressed. Aaligah asked how the pioneer managed to build his cabin when the logs were so heavy. Mr. Louis said, “The first long, the heavy one was dragged to the site by a horse. The other logs were cut from poplar which is much lighter and easier to manage. They could lift the poplar.”

Some of the boys who were listening kind of looked at the cabin and then at one another. I think they were trying to figure if they or maybe their father’s could lift what appears to be a very very heavy object!

We learned about starting a fire because one of the children asked about “what happens when the the fire goes out?” And the answer involved a flint, a piece of metal, and a burned piece of cloth. The kids were fascinated.

The children loved the animals, and they loved the workshop where Mr. Louis talked about all the wild animals near the farm the pioneer family would see and use. There were timber wolves back then, and bears. Mr. Louis dressed Austin up in a bear skin and had him play the bear, which he loved. We saw the pelts of beaver, gray fox, wood bison – now gone – mink, coyote, and others too numerous to write here.

The garden was growing at a nice rate. The children recognized the shape of the tee pee, and we told them that it was for beans. We saw dried beans from last year called”tough britches.”

They were making some kind of cheese indoors, and some had already been made and there were hanging balls of cheese in the trees.

We ran through the woods to the farm, and then walked our way out on about a .5 mile hike. It was simply beautiful.

We had a super picnic, and the children ate 12 loaves of bread with any of nine sandwich fillers. We had homemade cookies, chips, a whole watermelon, carrots, pickles, and water.

Next week we will go to New Harmony. Hoping to stop for ice cream up there before we come home. It’s been a great summer already!

A couple of days late… just to touch base with parents who are sending their children on Thursday. Hey parents, it’s going to be hot, hot, hot! Please, please, please, let your children wear shorts that are knee length or shorter, sleeved shirts and socks and shoes. Please no dresses, sandals or long sleeves. No jeans please.

We will be working intently on school work this summer. We have established two teaching teams and on days spent at the Garden School we will be working on all the academics we think the kids will enjoy. We will tackle a strong program of reading, math, handwriting, art, fine art, geography, history and science and music. Starting Monday there will be a spelling list sent home for half the school. This spelling list will be used to do a geography-handwriting entry for a book on field trips all the children are doing.

We will be doing a film festival for a half hour every day. These films are children’s theatre and are well worth watching. This is a class. The class will begin after snack and go to 5:00.

Things to do and remember:

Every child needs his shot record by Monday!

Please make sure you are current with your accounts.

Please bring a one piece bathing suit for your child by Monday. The children do not need towels. Please bring a bottle of sun screen.

Please locate your field trip shirt for Friday. There will be no exceptions. Children without shirts will be sent home. Please make sure your child wears shoes and socks on all field trips.

Flip flops are expected on swim days. Please do not send children in shoes and socks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Theses are swim days. Please do not send children to school in swim suits. Children may not wear swimsuits all day. There is a time designated for changing clothing at school. NO swim shoes. Whoever created swim-shoes needs to be taken out and publicly humiliated.

This week tuition is regular price with a $10.00 field trip cost. Next week tuition climbs $25.00 every week during the summer whether your child attends or not. We cannot budget these kinds of trips without parent cooperation. For $25.00 a child is taken to the pool all day twice and goes on an elaborate field trip.

I think that’s it. Can’t wait to see my little people!

US obesity due to more calories, not less exercise: Study

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 11-May-2009

From Food Navigator

Related topics: Science & Nutrition

Increased calorie intake – rather than lack of exercise – is nearly exclusively responsible for the obesity epidemic in the US, according to a new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity on Friday.

I received this last March. I told you I’m so far behind I’m almost in front of myself in the big circle of life.

From Top 100 Baby and Children’s Health Blogs:

We just posted an article, “Top 100 Baby and Children’s Health Blogs”

I thought I’d bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in this list.

Raising a child in this world can be a daunting, dangerous, and confusing task. From various diseases, both new and old, to household risks, parents need all the information they can get. To help you get the information you need, we’ve combed through hundreds of blogs to compile the best 100 baby and children’s health blogs, which are designed to inform, educate, and help you raise healthy children.

Why not go see.

Good morning from Florida. I hope this week has been outstanding and that you have a wonderful Memorial Day. As for me, I will be thanking two of my wonderful children for their work in the armed forces. I also take time to thank all our troops for all they do for us.

Have a blessed Memorial Day.

Don’t forget to bring your shot record and your child’s bathing suit with you upon your return.

Partnership’s First Product Aimed at Middle School Vocabulary

Comment: great innovation. I herald Miss Amy’s ability to keep the vocabulary going this year at the Garden School. Her constant vigilance with words this year has been outstanding.

When researchers from the Strategic Education Research Partnership met with Boston secondary school teachers three years ago, the teachers told them they had a problem. Students struggled to understand their textbook lessons because they continually tripped up on—or glossed over—the academic words they came across.

They would stumble on words such as “deduce” or “notwithstanding” or interpret a phrase like ‘“gross domestic product” to mean something icky that is found in the home.

“They’ll think they know the definition of the word. They’ll apply what they know, but they won’t actually challenge themselves,” Jennifer Henderson DiSarcina, one of the middle school teachers who has worked with SERP researchers, said…

For more of the article go HERE!

It’s been a wonderful vacation simply because we are all so excited to just “do our own thing.” Strangely enough, most of “our own thing” is shared. It’s been fun. Desperate weather coming in. It was torrential downpours for six solid hours. The insane stop and go of a toll road system did not grace the highways, but disgraced it. We must have stopped eight times, and the toll was $1.00!

The condo is really nice. There is plenty of space and there’s a deck with a view of the ocean. The first day it rained a lot. Miss Molly was very disappointed, but today it was rainy but with long periods of sunshine. It’s cool enough that Miss Judy continues to wear a sweater.

Terry and Anne and I went to the book store today, and no, they didn’t have my book, but Anne got a book on the Balkans, and I got two wonderful cookbooks with a lot of neat things for the kids.

Molly and Anne and I went souvenir shopping and got fun stuff.

Lots of pelicans. Yesterday I was privy to a lot of bird life. We had pigeons, egrets, two species of sea gull, several fine pelicans, a red headed vulture, and sand pipers all in one beach. The bird drama was delicious. One sea gull named Oscar was overseeing the romance of two pigeons named Tutor and Beck. Beck was then immediately courted by another fine bird named Tortellini. I watched as Hope, a lovely pigeon came very near hoping for food, but alas, I didn’t have anything for her. Then the fight broke out among Oscar and his friends or enemies. Sea gulls can be vicious attacking one another, but be assured I put them all in time out!

This morning a dead sea turtle lay on the beach. She was obviously very very old. She went back to the sea.

We have also had a lot of jelly fish. I had to reassure my family that they are harmless.

As for the human life, the boys are having a lot of fun in the pool and in the surf. Robbie has been re-christened “the screamer” an has finally made friends with the waves that seem to have this overwhelming desire to knock him over.

Bill has taken to the ocean like an old sea horse. He is in love with everything out there. He loves the water, the sand, the animals, and is charmed by everything he sees.

Jack is more quiet, but he has the most adventurist spirit on this trip. He has boogied, swum, wave dived, and just about every ocean play you can think of.

It’s a joy to be here with my boys. Robbie continues to fall asleep in my arms, and the boys are delighted by grandma’s snacks and games, and that warms my heart. We will celebrate Robbie’s birthday tomorrow.

It’s still the wrong bed, the wrong bathroom, the wrong towels, etc., but it’s been a lot of fun.

Terry and I are thinking about driving up to Savannah on Friday when the boys go to Disney. I’m not a park person. So we will probably drive up to the Shrine at St. Augustine and then on to Savannah for the day and then go home.

Subject: FW: Obituary printed in the London Times

An Obituary printed in the London Times……… Interesting and sadly rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He
will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the
worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion..

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by
his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son,
Reason…

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and
do nothing.

Tuesday’s Child

There is ALWAYS a better mousetrap. As a builder, I realize that not only are there many many mousetraps, there are many ways of using a mousetrap. I’m a re-upper, a re-organizer, a change is good person, and I’m always reviewing and fixing and making changes in everything I do. So the Garden School is always under siege by Miss Judy.

Most recently at school, we have had a change in staff, and that change in staff made the wheels of change begin to move in my mind. I thought a lot about what makes the GS different from other places, and what our good qualities are and what our liabilities are. As a builder, one wants as few liabilities as possible because one wants the building to be strong – a fortress – and in our case, a fortress against ignorance and particularly the ever encroaching shallowness that’s a sign of our times.

As I mused about what gives us real life – it’s commitment – to the school as a whole. If the school is important then the children, staff and parents will be committed to giving the life of the school the best we have – on the job and off. We are always teachers, no matter if we are here or there or anywhere, and the life of the teacher is non-stop. Teaching follows through at home, in public, and with friends. The committed teacher is an asset. He or she is always learning and always bringing new things to the classroom. The committed teacher is always bringing something new into the building, is eager to do new things, is eager to try new lessons, is someone who talks about teaching and is interested in more than the minimum that is expected. An asset is not looking for the bottom line, but the top line.

On the other hand, liabilities always hurt everyone because slack presents its rotten little head as time and a half in reverse! So the better mousetrap has no liabilities.

As an owner, I have to do my part to make sure that liabilities are never an issue. It’s my job to offer a quality teaching environment to all our staff. Offering staff a quality schedule helps keep teachers enthusiastic because they don’t go home exhausted every single day. They have time to engage the world and have a life outside of the school. Having a schedule that matters, teaching freedom, choice of classes, choice of extras, and the assurance that if someone needs time off, it’s available because we all pull together, is the only way to manage a school like ours.

Working together to build this better mousetrap is easy when all the teachers are committed and not just to themselves, but to one another – it’s the work at hand. It is my promise that all our teachers will be committed to the work at hand.

Finding originality among teaching strategies that actually work is another whole area for “the boss” that comes into play with a committed staff. The usual contained classroom has always been a model for me. I like it on a grand scale, but recently, I am thinking that although I think very young children need their own place to learn, they also need a variety of teaching styles to learn from. Not every teacher is good at all things. Not every teacher likes all things. So the “boss” needs to feed the children from the best pitchers she has.

One of the things I’ve noticed over the years is a shortcoming in continuity. I remember one year I taught my children to do perfect handwriting because handwriting is very important to me. As they moved into the next class, the teacher was not concerned at all with handwriting and as a result, the children never practiced and ultimately forgot how to write well, and that’s a shame. Another experience is a loss in continuity with number patterns. I worked ever so hard to teacher patterns of numbers to my preschool class, and then it was totally forgotten in the next year when the teacher was not interested in what I had done. I believe number patterns are the key to understanding our based ten number system. If you can understand what makes ten, you can understand what makes 100, 1000, and finally non-real numbers.

So this next year, we will do a splendid little curriculum based on the idea of perfect parts of a whole. We will have a teacher for every subject who will float from one group to another. Miss Elise will teach art to the preschool, the 4-K and the K-1. Miss Julie will teach reading to all the groups, Mrs. St. Louis will teach arithmetic to all the classes, and Miss Amy will teach vocabulary and handwriting to all the groups. We will rotate from class to class. This actually strengthens the curriculum and allows the teachers to team teach. It makes continuity a non-issue because the continuity lies with one teacher. It puts everyone on the same track and makes us all responsible for the whole school curriculum and lessens the chance to drop the ball. In the afternoon we will teach the afternoon subjects on a rotating schedule as well.

And what will I do? Well, someone has to answer the phone… 😉

I am committed to re-building the Garden School with a new teaching interest. I am looking forward to maximizing our ideal: Take a child from where ever he is as far as he can go…