A cool way of making Pumpkin Pie!

I recently had the Richland County Farm Bureau Manager visit my classroom. She let the students make pumpkin pie in a very neat way & I'd like to share what we did. No oven needed!

Here is the recipe.

What you need to have:

- gallon Ziploc freezer bag

- 2 2/3 cups cold milk

- 2 packages (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix

- 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

- Graham cracker crumbs

- 25 small cups

- scissors

- 1 can whipped topping

- 25 spoons

What you need to do:

1. Combine the milk and instant pudding in the Ziploc bag.

2. Remove the air and Ziplock it shut.

3. Squeeze and kneed with hands until blended for 1 minute.

4. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger.

5. Remove the air and Ziploc it shut.

6. Squeeze and kneed with hands until blended for 2 minutes.

7. Place 1/2 tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of small cups.

8. Cut corner of freezer bag and squeeze pie filling into cups.

9. Garnish with whipped topping.

10. Add a spoon. Eat up!

Happy Halloween from the Seals Family!

Maid Marian & Robin Hood

Maid Marian & Monk (our friend Greg)

Alexis as a rock star & Nolen as Spiderman.

Is 2nd grade ready for Alexis?

Nolen, proud mommy, and Alexis

There she is Miss 2nd grader!

She is wearing the cardinals outfit because her classroom is the Cardinals room. Her teacher invited the students to wear Cardinals clothing on the first day of school. Wal-Mart had NO Cardinals t-shirts in her size, so I bought a ladies tank top and we decided she could wear it as a dress. Then later I guess I can wear it.

Being Crafty

So I have had the crafting bug lately. Had to come up with decorations for tables. Thought I'd share my idea cause it was so easy and could be modified for any occasion or holiday.

Flower bouquets made in tin cans.

What you need:

- tin can of any size (The schools always have plenty of the large cans they need to get rid of, just ask them & tell them you are recycling)

- spray paint

- ribbon

- glue gun

-styrofoam

- artificial flowers or what ever you want to display (I used a flag and star tinsel also)

- craft sticks

- scotch tape

- moss or any kind of filler

- rocks or sand (optional - for weight)

Directions: Spray paint your tin can. I first turn the can upside down & paint it once. After it dries I turn it over and spray it again. Two layers seem to cover well. After the paint is dry, glue ribbon around the can. Glue a piece of styrofoam to the inside bottom. Stick your flowers or decorations into the styrofoam. I found that some of my flowers were too short for the large cans so I used scotch tape and attached a craft stick to the bottom of the stem to make it taller. Then just stick the craft stick into the styrofoam. Use moss as a filler or colored shredded paper. You might want to add rocks or sand on the inside before you add the moss if you need some weight.

Note: I didn't think I was going to find flowers for this project cause all the stores seemed to be sold out of red, white, and blue. I finally found the red & white flowers at the Dollar Tree, but they were sold out of blue ones. I then thought of adding the flag for the blue.

Other tin can crafts: I paint cans orange during Halloween and paint faces on them. They are so cute & I display them every year. I even made corn bags (had to put corn instead of beans in them cause that was what was planted in our field that year). Made a toss game & the kids loved it.

Wrapped material around a tin can and made a pencil holder to match my kitchen colors.

Painted a can white and painted a rabbit on it for Easter. I display it every year as well.

I have some cute paw print ribbon & I'm thinking about using it to make something with the school colors for Alexis.

Summer fun has begun!

We started our summer with a trip to the Embarrass River. The river level was way up due to all the rain. The guys didn't catch as many fish as they normally do. All the kids had a blast getting muddy!

Taking a boat ride on the river.

Pete showing the kids the fish that were caught.

Jordon plants beans in our field.

Nolen finds a mud puddle at the park during one of Alexis' softball games.

Alexis with her best friend Bentley at the softball opening day. I wish I had taken more photos early this year because her last four games were cancelled due to rain. In her league, they don't make up the games.

Alexis' friend Katie from Alabama arrived in the area for two weeks. We had Katie over often & had a blast. Here is Katie trying out our 3 wheeler. She is now trying to talk her dad into getting one for her.

We celebrated Marks (Katie's uncle) 40 birthday. Mark gives all the kids a ride.

Took Katie & Mark fishing on the lake. Everyone caught fish, though Alexis caught the most & was sure to let everyone know it.

Fun on the Slip N' Slide.

One tub of 1st grade

It's that time of year where I organize & sort all of Alexis' school papers. I only keep 1 tub of stuff from each year. I throw everything into the tub during the school year and boy does it add up fast. The tub was overflowing months ago and that didn't include all her art projects that were in a different pile. So this morning I decided to start sorting it all out.

Here's the mess of papers that I was sorting. I forgot to take a picture of all her art projects.

Alexis holding the tub that everything must fit in to. I did end up throwing away about 3/4 of a trash bag full of stuff.

I could not believe it fit and even had some extra room. You can tell half of the tub is art projects from the colored construction paper.

Alexis is now an author!

Alexis wrote a story and had her book published. The book is called The Lost Horse. It is about a horse named Shine who is lost and is looking for a place to live. I went to visit Alexis in her classroom where she presented me with her book.

Alexis with her teacher Mrs. Rose. All the kids did a wonderful job on their books. It will be something that we will cherish forever.

P.S. The Justin Bieber song is for Alexis who can't seem to stop listening to it this week after she got his cd.

Grandpa Enters Heaven

My last post was his birthday and this post is about his death. My last grand-parent passed away April 20th. I spoke with him on Monday before he passed. I couldn't understand much of what he said, but I told him all about the kids and what they were up to. We knew that this day would be soon since his health was getting worse. He has been ready for the Lord to take him for a long time now. I know all 4 of my grand-parents are having a wonderful time in heaven. They were all good friends. All 4 of them were so faithful and loved God. My grandpa's were both church deacons. I have a lot of memories of them all and share their stories & pictures with my kids. Alexis will probably remember great-grandpa Rule, but Nolen probably won't.

The funeral was beautiful, despite the rain. A big thank you goes out to all who helped out. It was a difficult day, but I kept telling myself that he is in peace now.

Grandpa turns 99!

Celebrated number 99 with my grandpa (Arthur Rule) today. He's been in a nursing home for several years now. He seemed to know us all today & looked good for 99 I thought. I did hear him say he was 100, but maybe he's getting ready for next year. My mom made lunch for us all and dessert was his favorite, chocolate pie.

Happy 7th Birthday Alexis!

Alexis wanted to have horses on her cake this year. We celebrated at the Illinois Gymnastics Club so all her friends could have some fun.

Since she had to go to school on her birthday, we visited her at school and ate lunch with her. She knew I was coming, but daddy coming was a surprise.

Alexis having some fun on the trampoline in her new outfit I bought for her just prior to the party.



The giant inflatable slide is a new addition to the gymnastics club and was a big hit with everyone. Yes, even I had to try it out.

It's P90X Time Again!

So Pete & I have started round 2 of the P90X program. Last year was a great success with these workouts for 3 months straight. So after taking the summer off, pounds were creeping back on. We decided to start the program again and then we'd be in great shape by this summer. I'm not looking to loose a lot of weight cause I can still wear size 3 pants. Just want to tone up what I do have & feel great. We are in week 5 now and I can already notice results. We just love this program & have several friends that have ordered it. There are so many programs out there, you just have to see what's right for you. P90X is tough, but we love all the different workouts & time together. We enjoy working out at home, put the kids to bed, pop the DVD in and in a little over an hour later, off to bed for a good nights sleep.

I have found out that veggie burgers, turkey bacon, and wheat waffles are really good. Doing some changes in my diet as well. Of course there are still the times when a DQ Blizzard is a must, but over all we are cutting back on a lot of the junk food. With Alexis turning 7 today, I will have a piece of cake. I'll just work it off later.

Fun in the snow

One beautiful sun set.

Pete having some fun in the snow with the kids & a neighbor.

He takes them over a small hill for some fun.

Pete shot this red fox a few weeks ago.