In 1984 President Ronald Reagan declared July to be National Ice Cream Month. The inventor of ice cream is not known but the origins date back as far as B.C.. Through the years ice cream has been a favorite of many.

Presidents and royalty have enjoyed this delicious treat. A couple of historic figures who enjoyed ice cream were Charles I and President George Washington. “Cream Ice,” as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles I during the 17^th century. President George Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Young and old have enjoyed this delicious cold treat.  Learn more about history of ice cream at the International Dairy Foods Association website.

Eating ice cream is a fun way to spend time with your family.  Better yet make a delicious cold treat together with these kid friendly recipes. Take a few minutes to try these quick, easy, and yummy shakes.

Double Chocolate Peanutty Shake

1 cup chocolate ice cream, softened

1 cup cold chocolate milk

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Place all ingredients in a blender container; cover. Blend on medium speed until smooth and frothy. Serve immediatley over ice cubes in tall glasses. Makes 2 1/4 cups

Orange Dream Shake

1 can frozen orange juice concentrate, partially thawed

3 large scoops of vanilla ice cream

3 cups cold milk

Spoon or pour orange juice concentrate into blender container. Put scoops of ice cream in blender. Pour milk over ice cream. Blend until smooth and frothy. Pour into glasses. Serve immediately. Makes 5 1/2 servings

The recipes are from the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council, Inc.

Celebrate National Ice Cream Month with your family today!

Quotes:

• A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. – Letter to Abigail Adams (July 17, 1775)

• Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps. -William McKinley’s inaugural address

• I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness. – William Harrison’s inaugural address

• God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan. – Shown on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles, which enjoins humility, piety, and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free Constitutions of Government. – Noah Webster, 1832, History of the United States

• The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God. – John Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

• God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event. – Thomas Jefferson Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.

• It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here. – Patrick Henry The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrick Henry of Virginia, p. iii.

Here are some freebies to help you teach your children. I encourage you to continue studying history and look for ways to impact our future.

Freebies:

* Pocket Constitution (pay only S&H), Games, and Puzzles
http://www.constitutionday.cc/

* Audios and Videos
http://kids.learnoutloud.com/Kids-Free-Stuff/History/American-History

This is not an endorsement for these sites.

Want to make the new school year better than ever? Want studies
that are interesting for the whole family? I think I can help you!

How about some quick tips for making your history studies fun? I
think you will find these to make lessons fun and easy. Let’s dig
in…

* Get Out to See History as Much as Possible…  Hunt up any
Living History Days scheduled in your area.  Get out to all
historical sites and museums…even hands-on children’s museums.
Don’t miss any historical reenactments and plays within driving
distance! These all give wonderful opportunities to get your
children in touch with those that love History and know it best.

*  Begin a History Notebook… This is the cure to dull, lifeless
texts.  Let your children create their own notebooks of study!
Include anything from great quotes to poetry to pictures to
sketches to newspaper clippings to photographs to mementos from
history sites, reenactments and postcards from friends to
narrations from books read.  These personalized curricula will
bring life into all areas of study.

* Tap Into Grandparents, Elderly, Family, and Friends… Our
family and friends have been a key source of finding out neat
stories that are not recorded in the history books. Sitting at
their feet, we have learned many details from history that would be
long lost without the gift of story telling. The key to making this
come alive is to listen and record their stories for your History
Notebooks. Keep this part of history alive for you and for
generations to come!

* Find Treasures at Antique Stores… One of our favorite
past-times is “junking” at antique stores, junk shops and flea
markets.  Take your time to find wonderful treasures from the past,
which will breathe life into your History studies.  You can find
journals, uniforms, books, dress up clothes, and even play gadgets
to make history come alive for your little ones!

* Let the Little Ones Make Up Their Own Costumes… I have always
enjoyed researching and creating authentic costumes from other time
periods.  I used to have more time and energy to create costumes
for every time period we studied.  Now, my children are using their
extra time and endless supply of energy to create their own
costumes.  I love to see them as they pull together little things
from around the house to create their own costumes!

* Let Them Make Doll Clothes… This tangent began for us when my
daughter got her first American Girl doll.  We combined my love of
creating authentic doll clothes with my deep passion for making
doll clothes.  Each year for the past five years, I have spent time
each December creating matching outfits for Elisabeth and her
dolls.  This is easy to do with today’s patterns.  Just take basic
designs and create your own “historical” costumes for the dolls.
If you have a beginning seamstress interested in some quick
projects, this would be a wonderful way to learn the basics of
sewing while learning History!

* Make a Timeline…Timelines are priceless!  We have had two
different kinds of timelines for our studies in History.  We had a
huge one that took up an entire wall in our old home. It was
fascinating to watch the little ones as they would “review” and
“test” each other on history as they went by! When we built our
home, my husband would not allow that one back on the wall, so we
made our own Book of Centuries on our computer, which includes all
of our history facts. We simply developed a notebook with the dates
marked.  We record key events, people we study and the key events
of their life, our family’s key events, illustrations which remind
the children of those historical figures and events, pictures that
the children have collected from books and trips that we have
taken, information from our Computer Encyclopedias and Internet
Sites, and even charts we have collected or made ourselves. These
are another “text” that we create about our studies. How priceless!

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