Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum

So this past weekend, I wanted to go somewhere new. We researched some ideas and decided to go to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. I have lived in Atlanta since 1997 and I have never been to the Jimmy Carter Museum. I have really been missing out on a jewel because the place is beautiful. The design and layout are impeccable. There are picnic benches outside of the building surrounding a small lake and wonderful gardens. I plan to experience that fully once the weather warms up.
First off, children 12 and under are free and adults are $8. After paying a nominal admission price, you are encouraged to enjoy a short 15-minute documentary covering the life of former President Jimmy Carter, which was very insightful. Upon leaving the auditorium, we moved into the museum portion that charted Jimmy Carter's life chronologically from birth, to his time in the Navy and all the way to the White House and beyond. The best part of the whole exhibit, outside of the breath-taking rotunda, was the Oval Office replica. As an added perk to Carter's biographical exhibit, we had an opportunity to enjoy a small temporary exhibit on the research and life of Dr. George Washington Carver. This was a real treat for Makenzie because she just learned about him at school.
With all that being said, I highly recommend the visiting the museum, it definitely exceeded my expectations and I am a little upset that I hadn't visited sooner. So, what are you waiting for? Go find out for yourself...

My Own Personal Jam Session

I have had an addiction to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches since I was a small child. Of course, this means that I go through a lot of peanut butter and jelly. Currently, my adult palate prefers natural peanut butter and strawberry jam. At this moment, we are out of jam and being the resourceful yet adventurous person that I am, I decided to make my own. :) I'm sure you knew that was coming.
Surprisingly from start to finish (minus the time to allow the jam to set), it took me about 30 minutes to make 4 jars of strawberry jam.

Here is how I did it:


Ingredients (mostly, anyway)

2 lbs of smashed strawberries

1/4 cup of lemon juice

3 cups of sugar

1/2 pkg of pectin

4 glass jars with self sealing lids



  

Wash jars, tops and lids.
Then place in a pot of hot water until ready for filling.

Clean, hull and cut your strawberries down into chunks. Using a potato masher, smash the berries to your desired consistency. Since I like texture, I left my a little on the chunky side. I let Makenzie mash the berries, so that I could move on to the next steps.



Combine the first 2 ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.





Add the pectin and continue to stir. Then add the sugar.

 Let the mixture come to a hard boil for 1 minute.
At this point, remove the the saucepan from the heat and skim any froth off the top.



Fill the jars with jam using a ladle, it will be a little loose at the point, no worries. Wipe the rim and sides of the jar before centering the top over the jar. Screw on each lid and return the jars to the pot of hot water to seal the jars. Be sure that the entire jar is underwater. Let the jars process for 10 minutes, covered. After the processing time, remove the lid, cut off the fire and let the jars stand for 5 minutes.





 Finally remove the jars from the pot and place on top of a towel to set for 12-24 hours.



Making jam was very simple and it didn't require much time. Heaven only knows what is in the stuff on the shelves at the store with artificial flavoring and a "real fruit" taste. I don't know about you, but I want to know what I am eating these days. Also, it is a great activity to do with kids. Kids are more likely going to try something if they helped with making it.

I plan to make some buttermilk biscuits to sample my creation. Enjoy!



Book Review - Water for Elephants

I wanted to take time to review Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen that I recently finished and tell you what I liked about it. Now that I think about it, this review is perfect timing because it is circus season in Atlanta. The book is basically about a young man who literally stumbles into joining a circus after experiencing a sudden personal loss. He uses everything he has learned or experienced in his life up to the major turning point to his advantage in order to survive. The book really made me focus on what is important in life and the finality of the decisions that we make. I try my best not to say, "If I could go back in time, I would change...", I know that if one thing is changed, everything is changed. Currently, I like my life probably because the laundry is done and put away :).
As I read the prologue of the book, I knew I was going to be hooked until the last page. The characters were so colorful and real, I felt like I was in the book watching from afar. Now I can watch the movie and see if it lives up to the richness of the book. The resounding theme of the book to me,of course, is to live fully in the moment and be present, so that when I look back on my life at my sunset, I will have vivid memories of my life's journey. My final take-away from the book is to try new things no matter how old I am or whatever plans I have made because I never know where it will take me. The adventure may not include joining the circus but it might be just as cool.

What I love about the Fernbank Museum...



Since my membership will be up for renewal soon, I thought that I would take the time to talk about what I love about the Fernbank Museum of Natural History to be sure that I renew it ;). First off, the membership is really worth the price of $95. (For the record the membership was previously $89) That price includes 12 months of admission for 2 adults and up to 4 children (under 18) to museum exhibits, invitations to members-only gatherings and discounts on IMAX movies. I could just stop there and say, "Nuff said!" but I will continue because I have more to say. My girls really enjoy playing in the NatureQuest children's interactive play area. The coolest part of NatureQuest, for me, is the life-size treehouse. 



Identifying inhabitants of a cavern in NatureQuest.



Creating a huge bubble in a bin of soapy solution.
Sounds like Physics to me!



Another positive is the themed Princess and Pirates weekends, where children can arrive in their favorite princess or pirate costume, make a craft, meet "real" pirates and princesses and participate in a interactive story time.  The museum calendar is filled with lots of great activities outside of the giant dinosaur in the rotunda.

The membership also includes reciprocal gratis admission to partnering museums 90 miles as the "crow flies" from the home museum, as well as admission into the Fernbank Planetarium programs. All in all the value of the membership works for us because we have somewhere to go on lazy weekends, rainy days or chilly afternoons all for free, plus my girls might learn a thing or two. Just to be sure that I get extreme value out of the membership, we go at a minimum of once a month. The membership pays for itself in 2 visits for the Braswell Crew and its tax-deductible... What more could a parent ask for?



The girls are wearing turtle shells in the
Wildlife Preservation exhibit.



Payton is creating shadows
with different light sources.



Wildlife Preservation Exhibit



Holiday gifts - Product Review

I wanted to take a minute to give my feedback on a few gifts that my daughters recieved for the holidays, only because they were extremely popular gift ideas. Before you spend your hard earned dinero, let me fill you in on my pros and cons on each. Makenzie received a Nintendo 3DS and Payton received a V Tech Innotab.

Let me start with the Innotab... Now this gizmo was selling out right and left at almost every store. Situations like that make you want the item more so that you can finally see what the big deal is. Let's start with the positives, shall we? It is extremely durable and easy to handle for Payton's little hands. Also, there is a sliding stand on the back of the device so that PJ can prop it up and enjoy. I also like the screen resolution and the fact that games and activities can be download instead of having to worry about keeping up with the game cartridges, which takes me to my first negative. When you purchase a new game cartridge, because the gadget didn't come bundled with one, there isn't a storage container to put the cartridge in when you take it out or decide to play with another one. Translation: Make sure I put the cartridges up higher than Payton can reach. My remaining negatives are that the cartridges are around $30 or slightly less and there isn't a huge selection of games.

Moving on the the Nintendo 3DS, Makenzie talked about this item for months and months. I was actually impressed with it and I think that I have played with it just as much as her. I really like the dual screens and can appreciate the fact that you can turn off the 3D feature very easily. It also has Wi-fi capabilities. Similar to the Innotab, the 3DS does not have very many educational games. I am not okay with mindless play, there has to be some sort of learning involved beside hand-eye coordination. Now, unlike the Innotab, games vary in price and essentially I can buy two (3)DS games for the price of one Innotab cartridge.

This is just my honest feedback about this products, just in case you were wondering. ;)

Makenzie's 5th Birthday Party

We recently celebrated Makenzie's 5th birthday with a party at a pottery studio called Color Me Pottery. Makenzie and her buddies were able to paint their choice of figurines available. We had so much fun and, of course, I made the birthday cake. The party had a ladybug theme. If you are wondering how I selected that theme, the answer is very simple... Ladybug is one of Makenzie's nicknames. I just so happened to come across a ladybug theme invitation on punchbowl.com and my mom took it from there. I crafted an idea to add black dots to red gift bags to mimick the design of the body of a ladybug. I created a tablescape that included an array of balloons and a red tablecloth with black plates and utensils. The best part of the table setting was the ladybug placemats my mom found! The items inside the bags included ladybug erasers, ladybug crayons, ladybug bubbles, a ladybug coloring book and a few other items that were off the theme but too cute to pass up. All of which either came from Party City or Target.

It was only fitting that the cake follow the theme! I just couldn't help myself. I made a delicious strawberry dream cake with cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries between each layer. The cake itself was a 2-tier cake with embellishments made of fondant. I used 2 6-inch pans and 2 9-inch pans to bake each layer.The cake came out better than I thought it would but I had to put a few hours into decorating the cake, which is fine because it's for my child. I am not giving out my recipe that I have perfected, so don't ask... Sorry! I found the letter candles at Party City.



Strawberry Dream Cake



My mom thought that the party would not be complete without the birthday girl wearing a ladybug costume and I totally agreed!! It was adorable.

The smiling birthday girl!

Makenzie wearing her ladybug wings.

Got Winter Break?

The kids are out of school... what to do, what to do? Have no fear, I have a comprehensive list right here! Luckily, here in Atlanta were are having some record high temperatures. For example, yesterday we experienced a high of 69 degrees! I saw an entire family in shorts like they were headed to the beach.
So don't suffer from cabin fever this holiday break and lose your sanity before 2012, when you don't have to! Majority of the activities are my girls' favorites.

Disclaimer: Be sure to check each respective sites for any changes to events or holiday hours.

I have a few great outing ideas...

Christmas Lights and Tree Display
Fernbank Museum of Natural History - Winter Wonderland
Lake Lanier - Magical Nights of Lights: Coupons available @ Publix
Clayton County International Beach - Festival of Trees and Lights
Stone Mountain - Snow Mountain: Coupons available @ Kroger
Centennial Park - Holiday in Lights display and Ice skating
Christmas on Peachtree - A nostalgic holiday festival at the old Macy's building (currently, 200 Peachtree ). Here is a printable coupon for a free Child's ticket.


County libraries and Storytelling
--Check the event calendars for the library branches are lost of great FREE, wholesome holiday fun! Did I mention that it was free?
Clayton County
Cobb County
Douglas County
Fayette County
Fulton County
Gwinnett County
Wren's Nest - Storytelling Saturdays 1pm; Adults $9, Kids $6

Mindless Fun and Cheap Movie Theatres
--Be sure to check the site for promotional coupons. I don't enter one of these places without a coupon in hand. Why pay too much, when you don't have to!
Monkey Joe's
Chuck E. Cheese 
Venture Cinema 12 - Duluth
The Picture Show at Merchant Exchange - Marietta
Cinemark Movies 10 - Fayetteville; (770) 460-0308


Science and Outdoor Fun
Fernbank Science Center - The Sky Tonight. Saturdays 11am; Adults $4, Kids $3. Free with Fernbank Membership
Panola Mountain - Afternoon and Night Hike recommended for children older than 10. Admission $7, parking $5
Autry Mill Nature Preserve - Exotic Ecotherms $3/person or $5/family
Imagine It! Children's Museum - Exploring the World of Fairy Tales
Zoo Atlanta - There have been several recent births at the zoo.
Lowe's - Build and Grow Workshop

If you have any other activity recommendations, please leave it in a comment box.