Oh, Diet Coke

I know what I am about to say may shock many of you, but my Diet Coke drinking days are over.  I have not had a Diet Coke in 4 weeks!  That's right, I gave it up cold turkey (hopefully for good)...and all it took was one comment from a mom in my homeschool group about the affects of aspartame on your body.

As many of you know, Diet Coke had become my go-to on stressful days, when really I should have been relying on the Lord.  I used to limit myself to 2 a day, but lately had been drinking more like 4 a day!  I still miss it some days, but am trying not to cave into temptation.  I will have to find a cold substitute for hot summer days, but now I pretty much drink water and hot tea...lots of tea!

So, if you thought it was impossible for Danielle to give up Diet Coke...be amazed! :)  Where there is a will there is a way.

Hugs!

Homeschooling's best week yet!

Last week was probably the girls' favorite week of homeschooling so far.  Besides the basic math, phonics, and reading lessons, we talked about restaurants and different places to eat. On Tuesday we talked about bakeries, so after we finished our school work, I took the girls to Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen to let them see a bakery first hand.

I let each of them pick out a treat.  

Madeline picked a huge strawberry (pink) cupcake.

Rose picked a cookie "monster".

Ava picked an Oreo cupcake. 

(my favorite...I had to sample each one, of course :)

Needless to say, I got showered with thankful comments like, "you are the best mom ever!"  Maybe I need to take them there more often :)

When we got home, we furthered our knowledge on bakeries by doing some baking ourselves.  My little helpers and I attempted to make cake balls.  They didn't quite look bakery-ready, but they sure tasted good!

Rose taste-testing :)

On Wednesday we talked about pizzarias.  I tried to find a place where the girls could actually watch a pizza  being made, but they seem to be few and far between here in Louisville.  I decided to take them to Papa Murphys...I thought  they could at least watch them put the toppings on.  When we got there, it was just us and the owner.  I told him what we were studying and he decides to take the girls in the back to let them help make a pizza! 

The owner couldn't have been nicer to us and he was wonderful with the girls!  He has 2 young kids of his own, so luckily he was very patient with them and knew what they could and couldn't do. 

Each girl was given a dough ball big enough to make a large pizza.

They first flattened it by hand as best as the could.

Then they put it in a machine to make it into flat sheets.

Once on the pizza plate, they stretched it to fit just right.

Then they each got a block of mozzarella cheese and got to shred it using the cool cheese-shredding machine.  

This was their favorite part of pizza making!

Then it was time for the toppings!  We added LOTS of cheese!

Then sausage and pepperoni for the girls (of course) and some extra toppings on one half for mom and dad.

It turned out to be an incredible experience for the girls...so much better than I ever could have expected!

Then to finish the week off, we went to dinner as a family at Five Guys on Friday night!  

Lots of fun learning and good eating last week!

Hugs!