How To Make Doggy Treats

I just got a dog and his name is Lucky.  We got him on Saturday.   I had been on Petfinder for weeks, and was running low on hope of finding the perfect dog.  I found this cute Shih tzu, and my Dad drove me an hour to see it.  After our introduction, it tried to bite me.  Fail.

I was sad, so my whole family went to Petsmart.  We saw two dogs that we loved immediately - Lucky and Teddy.  Lucky won the battle of "May the best dog win!"  He had been at the Humane Society since October, and they were getting ready to kill him.  He was priced at $25 to save his life.  So, that's how we got him.

I wanted to make treats for him, and my Mom said I could if I wrote a how-to paper.  So here we go . . .

To make these treats for your dog you need:

1/2 cup of pumpkin puree

4T of molasses

4T of H2O

2T of vegetable oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4t b. soda

1/4t b. powder

1t of cinnamon

• Pre- heat the oven to 350.
• Mix all the wet ingredients together.

• Add the dry ingredients and mix them into the wet ingredients the best you can with a spoon.  The dough will be very dry, so you will probably have to use your hands to knead everything together at the end.  

• Grease a cookie sheet with Pam.
• Use a half tablespoon to measure out the dough.  Roll each half tablespoon into a ball.  Put it on the cookie sheet and flatten with a fork.  

• Once the cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Don't forget to set a timer.
• When the timer goes off, use pot holders to take out the cookie sheet and place it on a cooling rack or surface.  WARNING: Do not put it on your mother's wood table!
• Let the biscuits cool, then make your dog do a trick to earn his treat.

The results?

Delicious dog treats for your dog to enjoy. You can eat some too, but they will not be sweet.  If you have any other ideas for dog treats, please leave it in your comment.

Signing Off,
Evalynn and Mom

M&M Fractions

I finished my math unit on fractions today.  My Mom tested me on my knowledge with M&Ms.  Using M&Ms, I had to show her:
Proper fractions
Numerators
Denominators
Like Fractions
Equivalent Fractions
Simplest Form

It was fun.  I passed my test.  And then I got to eat M&Ms.  But I had share.

I'm pretty much a fraction genius now.

Signing Off,
Evalynn and Mom

Christmas Traditions Results

Thank you to everyone who answered my Christmas Traditions Poll.

I had eleven total answers, so my whole is made up of 11 parts.  Here is how it breaks down:

1/11 for driving to see Christmas lights

5/11's for decorating the Christmas tree

4/11's for Christmas food

1/11 for receiving presents

As you can see, the largest part voted for decorating the Christmas tree, followed by the second largest part for Christmas food.

Now I see how I can use fractions communicate ideas in real life.  Fractions used to seem so weird to me, but I now I can see how they are all around us.

Signing Off with a Ho, Ho, Ho,
Evalynn and Mom

Fractions = Trouble, Chocolate, and Art

We had a delicious and artistic week.  My favorite part was the delicious part.  More on that later.

At the beginning of the week, if you would have asked me what a fraction is, I would have looked at you with a blank stare.

Now, after reading about 10 books, watching a few You Tube videos, and eating a giant Hershey chocolate bar, I can tell you that a fraction is a part of a whole.

I can even tell you what other these things are:  numerator, denominator, proper fraction, improper fraction, equivalent fractions, like fractions, mixed numbers, least common denominator, and simplest form.  How smart am I!?!

Here are two highlights from my week about fractions:

Ed Emberley's Picture Pie

In this book, I learned how to draw pictures using a whole, half, quarter, and eighth of a circle.  After drawing each picture, I had to add up the fractions I used to find the total parts of a circle in the picture. To do this, I converted each fraction to like fractions so that the denominator was the same for all of the parts I used, then I added the numerators together, then I divided for simplest form.  Take a look:

Hershey Bar Fractions

I really did not want to learn about fractions, but Mom, because she's so smart, knew the way for fractions to win a spot in my heart was through Hershey's chocolate!  After I finished reading my ten books on fractions, I got to put the principles to work by dividing a Hershey bar into parts and solving different problems.  For example, I had to solve:

If my Mom ate 2/16's, Berrett ate 3/16s, and I ate 1/4, how much of the Hershey bar did we eat?

I had to change to like fractions using the biggest denominator.  Then I added the numerators together.  

2/16 + 3/16 + 4/16 = 9/16.  

This answer is the simplest form.  

I spent about an hour doing fractions before I was allowed to eat any chocolate!  It was torture.

So, at the end of the week, I can say that I still don't like fractions, but at least I know how they work.

Signing Off,
Evalynn and Mom

Christmas Mathematickles

This book is so creative!  It tickles your mind and teases your brain.  Mathematickles mixes together math and language in all sorts of math problems - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more.  After reading this book, I had the assignment to write 10 Mathematickle problems and solutions using the theme of Christmas.  Drum roll please . . .

1.  (Evergreen Tree + Ornaments) Lights = Christmas Tree

2.  (Rain - Warmth) + Freezing = Snow!

3.  Long white beard + Round belly + Red suit + Presents = Santa

4.  Joy + Screaming + Presents under the tree = Christmas morning

5.  3 spheres + Carrot + Coal + Twigs = Snowman

6.  Reindeer - Black nose + Red nose = Rudolph

7.  Wrapped presents / Children = Glee

8.  Chocolate x Hot water x Marshmallows = Happy Tummies

9.  Warm car + (Homes x Lights) = Family tradition

10.  25 days / (1 Activity/Day) = Advent countdown

From doing this assignment, I learned that math is fun!  And it's all around us.  Math is just another language we can use to communicate.  

Leave me some comments with your own Christmas mathematickles.  Please!

Signing Off, 

Evalynn and Mom