Homemade Greek Yogurt

I decided to reduce our use of plastics and save some money. Something we eat a ton of is yogurt, my kids love the stuff. And I try to buy the organic whenever possible, but it gets soooo expensive. And there is a lot of plastic waste, even if it is able to be recycled, usually plastics get recycled one more time and then end up in a landfill.

I started with yogurt for the kids, let it sit over night and finished it this morning. Then I made the Greek yogurt I like tonight. It looks great, can't wait to try it tomorrow!! And I could not believe how easy it was to make!!

I bought milk from a local dairy farm that is less than 2 miles from my house, and it comes in a glass bottle, bonus!! For the "starter" I used a half cup from some yogurt I had on hand. (but I can save a half cup of this to use in my next batch)

 

I followed the recipe from live simply blog

 

to make it Greek Yogurt I strained it for a half an hour to get the "whey" out. I did not have cheese cloth on hand so used some coffee filters and it worked like a charm. (The Coffee filters can go right into our compost, but I plan on getting cheesecloth)

 

Can't wait to try it tomorrow.

 

Next things I want to try making sour cream and cream cheese. Think of all the plastic I'll not be throwing into the recycle bin that would eventually end up in a landfill!!

Pool side dinning

It's a nice evening and since I took the time to move my beautiful seating area from my side patio to the pool area I thought we had better use it. So we did!

 

 

We decided to enjoy our dessert outside by the pool.

 

Samantha

 

Alexis

 

Bridgette

 

Olivia

 

Teddy

 

Thanks for peeking in on us...

Pool! I am getting impatient

So I have been also working really hard on the side of my house. 11 years ago we had landscaping done for my brothers wedding and then we let it go. So I was really proud of what the kids and I did this spring. Nice seating area.

 

 

I decided since we plan on entertaining around the pool we should dine there so I moved my tables. I think it looks pretty nice, but now the side of my house is bare. Guess I will watch for clearance sales to find another dinning set or 2 for 1 of the areas.

 

I am pretty proud of these tanning chairs and tables, I stopped at Target to make a return and wouldn't you know they were half off. And exactly what I wanted!!

 

Perfect for Olivia to lounge by the pool.

 

OK even though the water needs a good cleaning before we are ready to host company, it has been hot out and the water is 83 degrees, so the kids waded around in it. I figure it is like a pond.

 

Well they tell me if the weather holds out it will be mostly done by Wednesday, I can't wait to have friends over!!!

Movie Magic & Music Videos

Alexis got invited to Summer Academy in 2nd grade, it's for "High Potential" kids (Gifted Kids), we did not send her the summer after 2nd grade, but did last year and this year. Kids have to score in the upper 90th percentile in reading and/or math on the NWEA state testing to get invited.

 

A day at summer academy is like a week at regular school as far as what they pack into learning for the kids. They cater to the gifted kids with the way they teach and the children pick the class that interests them. This summer there are over 1300 children attending the Summer Academy for 3 weeks.

 

The class Alexis chose for this summer is Movie Magic!! She gets to make her own music video and tour a recording studio. Yesterday the entire class of 21 kids made an original music video as a team, they each were assigned jobs and from what Alexis said it was a lot of fun! Today she is at a recording studio on a field trip.

 

We get to see the world premiere of all of the videos at the open house on July 2nd, I can hardly wait.

 

Thought I would share a picture of her by her classroom. This was taken on Sunday, we went up to see where her classroom was located in the building.

 

 

Here is a picture from filming day, photo credit goes to North Suburban Summer Academy, I found it on their blog.

 

Alexis is dressed as Steve from Minecraft.

 

 

Thanks for peeking in on us!!

 

Learn more about Summer Academy here.