Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.

Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

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Do you love recipes that are easy, cheap, and healthy?  This muffin recipe is frugal, sugar-free, and dairy-free.  It’s also delicious!  My entire family loves them and I make them year round. The ingredients for the muffins are staples that I almost always have on hand: 1 1/2 whole grain pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 Cup almond milk 1 egg 3 Tablespoons honey 2 Tablespoons Dairy-free butter 2 Tablespoons applesauce 1/2 Cup pumpkin Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  I coat my muffin tins with coconut oil.   In large pan, stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In small bowl, stir together milk, egg, honey, butter, applesauce, and pumpkin. Combine wet and dry ingredients.  Pour into muffin cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Toothpick should come out clean.  I hope you love these muffins as much as we do!  Feel free to substitute the pumpkin with bananas!  It works just as well. @2017, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Frugal Summer Fun

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watermelon

How are your summer vacation plans coming?  If you’re like me, you haven’t made them because of financial reasons.  We had thoughts of a beach trip, but hotels on the beach are so pricey!  This type of trip would need to be in the off-season to be affordable for our family. What are some good ways to have summer fun without spending much money?  Here are a few ideas  that I have found: *Check your local Park & Recreation Dept: Classes in almost anything that you could think of,  many are free or cheap *Public libraries offer free programs: book clubs, music programs, volunteering, and more *National Parks: Free days are sometimes available, cheap fun, lakes, camping, picnics, etc *Day trips: check with your local tourism board or online, explore your area for museums,  parks, arts, sports, tours, concerts, and outdoor movies *Whatever interests you or your family can be fun.  If you love baseball, look for a local game.   Even if it’s just a free kid’s game, it can be exciting to go cheer on the children.  Finding a  picturesque park and taking a picnic can make a beautiful memory!   It doesn’t take a lot of money to enjoy your summer.  Don’t fret over not being able to make huge vacation plans.  The best vacations are the ones where you smile, relax, and don’t have credit card debt. @2017, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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“I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers  network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company. “ For many years, I’ve known that my body over-reacted to chemicals and fragrances in my environment.  My first reactions to cigarette smoke and truck exhaust fumes were instant headaches.  Then, I reacted to perfumes, hairspray, tires, the cleaning isle, paint, and the list started growing.  Headaches were soon followed by hives and anaphylaxis.  Now, I carry an epi-pen to use if necessary.   When I’m at home, there are tough cleaning problems that need solutions.  What can be done when soap and water just aren’t enough?  Well, I do my research and look for companies who are out there meeting the needs of people who don’t want or can’t live with toxic chemicals in their lives.  EnviroKlenz is one of the good guy companies. EnviroKlenz allowed me to review one of their awesome products.  I selected the Odor Neutralizer granules.  This is a very light-weight and easy to use product.  They have many super products that can support you in your home or any living environment.  Let me tell you about the Odor Neutralizer Granules! Have you ever had a cleaning solution or other smelly liquid that you accidentally (or your kids accidentally) spilled on a rug or carpet?  Personally, we’ve removed all of our carpets, because my son has asthma and I have Mast Cell disorder.  But, we do have a few throw rugs.  And, of course, this is where we’ll spill something smelly.  When you spill something smelly, it’s so much better if you can immediately handle the spill at home.  Taking the rug to the cleaners is very expensive.  If you call the carpet cleaner to come out and clean your carpets, this means you will have to wait and then pay a high price for their service. Having a super easy product like the EnviroKlenz Odor Neutralizer Granules can save your day!  All you need to do is to shake a generous amount on the spill and let it soak up the liquid.   It soaked up the liquid in just seconds and then I was able to scoop it all up with a paper towel.  The EnviroKlenz Odor Neutralizer Granules have absolutely no scent.  I’m extremely sensitive!  I stuck my nose right down close to the granules and had no reaction at all.  There wasn’t a delayed reaction, either.  This was a wonderful surprise! In this picture, the rug is still damp.  You can see where the granules have been. There is no scent of the spilled solution, nor the granules.  Everything smells very clean and fresh!  The throw rug colors are wet, but have not smudged.  Everything came out well, and I felt great with no reactions at all!  I’m very impressed with EnviroKlenz. On the EnviroKlenz website, not only can you purchase their products, but you can learn a tremendous amount of information about how to keep everyone in your home safe from chemicals and: indoor air quality, products for laundry, and everyday odor elimination.  You can learn more about allergies, asthma triggers and mold triggers.  You’ll see testimonials and find their wonderful blog, too.  I hope you’ll check out their great site soon and see why I was so impressed when I began this review. This sponsored post also contains an affiliate link. @2017, copyright Lisa Ehrman

3 Ways To Learn In The Summer Without Textbooks

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Library One of my all-time favorite things about summer is the Summer Reading Program offered at the library. We’ve always taken advantage of the free and very fun planned events at our local library. The ladies there take great pride in providing specific activities for each age group: 0-3, 3-5, 5-12, and 12-17. I know some years they even had a plan for adults. They offer free family movie nights, too. Each year there is a special theme that makes everything blend together and there will be prizes along the way. A special prize and party will occur at the end of the summer for those who complete their reading goals. What is the best part about the Summer Reading Programs at the library? Your kids will be reading!!!! They get to read lighter books, too. Nothing heavy or historical, unless they want to. When my children were very young they liked books like Junie B. Jones or other silly books. Even Sci Fi books or Fletcher the Dog series were fine, as long as they were reading. I approved their choices, of course. Going to the library and having all the fun activities is free and a great thing to do on a hot summer day! Children will only love learning if we as parents show excitement and joy in learning. They should see that we enjoy reading and learning. As we start reading with them right after birth with little cloth books, we teach them that books are a good thing. Reading and learning isn’t a punishment that we only do during school. Learning is a privilege and a joy! You will be surprised what you can find in your library: concerts, movies, crafts, as well as those dvds, cds, and books that can be checked out. Most libraries also have eBooks to download for free now! You can access foreign languages like Mango, too.  We loved using Mango German in our homeschool! Summer reading programs are great for homeschoolers and regular school kids alike.  So, see you at the library! Travel  Summer time and the living is easier for learning.  You would think that homeschoolers want to take a break like everyone else in the summer.  Even though I always took a summer break from the textbooks, the learning didn’t stop.  Because hubby and I are both educators and history buffs, all of our kids love history, too.  It probably rubbed off on them as we taught history with a true love of the subject. The beauty of this type of learning is that you customize it to fit the interests of your family.  Whatever you and the kids are into can be added to your trip/s.  If your budget is tight, you can make these into day trips.  You would be surprised what you can find on Google.  There are many days that museums have free admissions, too.  Pack your own picnic lunches and have a great time.  If your family is adventurous, you may do daring things: hiking or who knows what! Summer travels seemed to always be centered around touring museums, forts, and national exhibits of various types.  Only one child was the adventurous type, so that child did her roller coaster rides on youth trips.  The rest of us couldn’t stand them. Just point us to the closest monument or museum and we would be in there for days! We always loved field trips during the school year, but the summer gave more time since hubby had the summers off (teachers schedule).  We didn’t force the kids to write papers or take notes, but just let them soak in the love of learning. Life Skills Summer is also a perfect time to learn or develop life skills.  During the school year, we often get too busy to spend as much time on life skills as we would like.  There might be one skill that your child wants to take to the next level.  Your daughter, like mine, might want to learn to decorate cakes or cupcakes.  Since I’m not gifted in this area, my daughter took a class at our craft store.  It didn’t cost much and she became very good.  She even took the entire series of classes and was soon turning down too many offers to make wedding cakes! My son liked working on engines and took apart an old lawn-mower and rebuilt it.  He also worked on building a computer from scratch.  The kids have time in the summer to develop skills in the areas where they have gifts and talents.  This is why we homeschool, isn’t it?  So, I guess in the summer, I become an un-schooler?  Whatever you call our family, we are learners.  We learn year-round, but not always with a text-book.  What about your family? @2017. copyright Lisa Ehrman

Learning Styles And Homeschool Planning

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Homeschooling  introduces us to many theories of how to teach our children.  When you start to hear about them or read about them, it can be overwhelming.  But, it helps to know the basics before you start buying curriculum.  I have degrees in education, so I know something of this.  When I homeschooled, I was extremely interested in learning styles. My children were 5 years apart in age and very different in personality.  We felt like they were all first-born children, and they didn’t line up with the traditional first-born, middle and baby child patterns.  That was fine with us, but I wanted to pick a curriculum that worked well for them.  Attending my state convention in Virginia, I learned so much about planning.  I also found a book about Learning Styles. I loved this little book which I immediately could identify each of my children in their particular learning style.  As I read the book, it made so much sense how they reacted to their course-work.  If they were visual, I could see the problems they had with a lesson that was completely auditory.  Or, if they were hands-on, they had trouble sitting still and doing work-sheets all day. I never dreamed there would be any problem with worksheets.  My learning style is the type that loves worksheets, quizzes and routines.  As a teacher, I was extremely comfortable doing ABeka or something similar.  When I tried to teach in a different learning style, I was completely out of my comfort zone, and it was hard! But, understanding that it was ok to struggle, as long as it was benefitting my children made me feel great!.  My oldest was then put in a room to do his A Beka, because he really needed a quiet place to do his work.  The other two and I did KONOS unit studies in a separate room.  This plan worked so well. KONOS provided all the subjects except Math and English.  The topics had projects to do as a family, but some were for younger children and some for older children.  The kids and I loved it and they loved learning. This was one of our favorite seasons of homeschooling.  Trying to find the perfect learning program for your child is the best kind of education a child can hope for.  It certainly doesn’t make everything perfect, but it provides them the easiest way to understand what they’re expected to learn. As my children got older, they had to learn primarily from textbooks and online.  We didn’t stick with unit studies or hands-on activities.  We did more of a classical/charlottemason mix.  But, when they needed to learn or memorize or drill for tests, I reminded them of how they learned best.  They used some of those methods to prepare and did very well.  This helped prepare them for college.  They even used the study methods in college.  The oldest has a masters, the middle child is getting a masters and the youngest is a junior in college. Some people criticize learning style theory, but I know it worked in our home.  What do you think about it?  Do you have a particular way to choose your curriculum?  There are so many things to consider.  That’s what I love about homeschooling.  Learning styles is just one of the many things to consider when planning your child’s education. @2017, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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