Teaching Tuesdays - Week 19

We had a really fun week during our 19th week of school last week.  I will say that for the first time since school started, one of my kids "fought" with me every day about doing school but we got through each day and accomplished our tasks.  It wasn't always pretty and a few days I told him he was on his own since he was not listening to me but ultimately he learned what he needed to learn and did all of his work.  The boys are currently at my parents and I was informed on Friday that this particular child did NOT want to take any school work with him to Papa and Nana's, unlike last time.  This was fine since I hadn't planned to send work anyway :-) 

On Monday of last week, I did not have the munchkin and princess as they were out of town so I decided that it was high time that we had a field trip.  The boys and I headed to town to have some fun.  We started by going to Kohl's to returned those ill fitting slippers they got for Christmas and pick up some new pillows plus the boys each picked out a $5.00 stuffed animal :-)  They had a blast each pushing their cart through the store.  Then, we went out to lunch at Red Robin before heading to Catch Air! 

 Josh - very hot and tired!  He had been running around forever!

The boys one the big blow up teeter toter.  The boys played for almost three hours while I enjoyed my Kindle and watching them :-)  I finally convinced them to leave so that we could go to the mall for a bit since I promised they could play on the giant plastic food (and I wanted to go to Bath and Body Works to take advantage of a really good deal on hand soap AND get a coffee!)  So, we ended our day with a good 45 minutes playing on the food - they made a new friend, which they normally do anytime they play anywhere.  I think our first Field Trip was a huge success and I look forward to taking more in the future.

 This is how we roll in the winter on cold days - nice warm (slightly too small) flannel PJ's HA!  They love sitting together on the couch watching Sponge Bob and playing Hay Day.

 School is still fun, though.  Nate is working on a cutting book - lots of cutting and gluing practice which is very important in preschool! 

Josh is working on writing out sentences.  This, quite honestly, is not his thing and what we battled about several times.  He was very glad to get these pages done and move on to another skill.

 On Thursday, Darryl was home so he ended up helping Josh more (which is what Josh wanted - Josh and I were not seeing eye to eye on this date either!). I love that Josh can read all of these words on the page though and that he has no problem sounding out new words.  :-) 

Nate worked on figuring out what number was bigger and than using a cut out of Alligators to point to the biggest number.  He had fun with this activity which I love seeing since at the beginning of the year, he cried so many days because of the work (I'm so glad we went "back" to preschool with him; best decision ever!)

This is such a great photo HA!  Love those faces :-)  On Friday we took another "field trip".  I took all four kids and we went to get haircuts for Josh and Nate.  They were in desperate need of one!  They were supposed to get haircuts just before Christmas but due to the awful sickness, we had to post pone.  I finally got them in this past Friday and they look like new kids!  Then, after the haircuts, we went to get the oil changed on the truck which was a whole new learning experience :-)  Lots  and and Lots of questions!

All in all we had a really great week even with the little battles along the way - that's just part of school, right?

Family Fun - Christmas

So, our Christmas morning started late.  With sick kids and a later night than planned plus I was up most of the night unable to stop coughing, we all ended up by the tree, ready for stockings at about 9:30.  We did not even do our traditional Christmas breakfast - just started stockings. 

 Santa left a very nice note for the boys.  It was funny because I left Santa left little nibbles from his cookies and the carrots so for the next week or so, Nate would always bring me the last corner of his Pop Tart and tell me he was just like Santa HA!

 Stockings!  I always end up buying more than what will fit.  I even cut back this year!

 The boys :-)  Still not feeling good at all but trying so hard to have a fun Christmas!

 Nate - we laughed at this photo because 5 years ago, we brought him home on Christmas Eve and, on Christmas Eve, we took photos of him inside this stocking . . .now only his foot fits!

 Joshua trying on his stocking too :-)

 Nate's gifts - lots and lots of Legos!

Josh's gifts - even more legos :-)

We really did have a great Christmas Day.  Darryl and I were surprised with some gifts - my mom always gets us Bath and Body works (she is so good at shopping the yearly clearance sales!).  My dad got us each our favorite coffee pods for the Kurieg.  Not to mention some of my favorite candles too! 

Weekly Menu - The one without Kids

So, we have no kids this coming week (well for most of it) so you know what that means?  NO COOKING!!  Yes!  We aren't even having Tacos tonight because, when I made the menu last week, I forgot the boys and I were leaving for my parents house on Friday!  Instead we grabbed dinner on the go and Darryl grabbed something to eat at home.  (He has to work tomorrow so he stayed home)

Here's my wonderful cooking plan for the coming week:

Saturday - I'll be returning from my parents so we'll eat once I get home.  Depending on the time, Darryl will pick up Popeye's Chicken or we'll grab Taco Bell.

Sunday - After Church, Darryl and I are going to have a date day.  We are going to enjoy brunch at Anna's House, a great breakfast place we enjoyed with my niece-in-law this summer for the first time.  Then we plan to do everything from test out mattresses, to look at Bunk Beds, to even maybe checking out the end of the season deals on some clothes.  We may have to hit Grand Traverse Pie Company for sandwiches and pie before heading home :-)

Monday - I've done something I have never done for no reason before - I took the day off.  Yes I did.  I asked my friend that I babysit for if she would mind if I took a selfish day off since my kids would be gone.  It worked with their schedule so, yeah!  I plan on doing stuff at the house but then plan to meet Darryl for dinner somewhere once he is done with work.

Tuesday - This is the last "no kid" night.   Darryl and I are going to drive over to the next town and eat at a great Mexican Restaurant we found recently. 

Wednesday - Ok, back to reality!  The boys come home today so it is back to cooking.  Ok, not really.  It's Wednesday, Darryl may or may not have practice tonight and we have AWANA so I keep it simple.  Right now I'm thinking Waffles, Sausage and Fruit.

Thursday - Last week I cooked a whole pork tenderloin so I'm going to use the leftovers tonight for Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches.  I'll make some baked beans and Mac and Cheese to go with it too.

Friday - Yep, it's taco night!  This is such a great tradition.  I don't mind cooking it because it is so easy to prep which keeps us from eating out on Friday nights (since I'm tired from the week by the time dinner time comes around!)

Fifteen Years

As the year turned to 2015, one of my friends on facebook pointed out that there are as many years to 2030 as there have been from the year 2000.  Now, that is a simple statement but it stuck with me as I realized that the next 15 years will bring so many changes.  It's kind of overwhelming really.  I mean, 15 years ago, I wasn't married - we were just starting to date - but not married yet.  When I think back to that year, 2000, I thought about all of the great things to come and how fun and exciting life would be.  But now, when I look ahead at the next 15 years, reality is a little more difficult. 

1) In 15 years, my kids will be 20 and 21 years old.  They will either be working or in college and most likely will be spending more time away than at home.  

2) In 15 years, most of my siblings and their spouses and my husband will be in the 60's.  

3) Over the course of the next 15 years, it is most likely that I will lose all of my aunts and uncles and Darryl and I realize that we could face some other difficult loses as well.  I'd like to believe that people live forever but the don't and that is a hard reality to face, isn't it? 

4) In 15 years, I will be at the tail end of the 50's - what is up with that?  I still feel like I'm in my 20's . . .ok I don't FEEL like it but in my head I still am HA! 

When you start to look at how life marches on, it would be easy to get beat up and discouraged but, ultimately, I am so thankful for life in Jesus Christ because I know that whatever comes our way, God is in control.

What We Are Eating - Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup
adapted from I wash You Dry

We love Chinese food - love it.  So I've set out on a mission to find some really good recipes for some of the things we love and one of those is Egg Drop Soup.  I used to think that Egg Drop Soup had raw egg in it but it doesn't, you stream egg into the soup while constantly stirring it and the heat of the broth cooks the egg.  Now, my streaming process is not perfected and I do end up with huge chucks of egg white that I fish out before serving it :-)  I also add stuff to our soup like our favorite resturant does - especially baby shrimp :-)  Also, the fried wonton strips?  So totally worth the extra effort to make - I didn't make enough of them!

Ingredients

• 4 cups + 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup blend of frozen corn, peas and carrots
• 3 eggs
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
Garnish (optional):
• 5 wonton wrappers, stacked and cut into 1/2 inch strips + oil for frying
• diced green onions

 

Instructions

1. Combine 4 cups of broth, ginger, garlic, salt and green onion pieces in a pot and bring to a boil for a few minutes to flavor the broth. Remove the green onions with a slotted spoon and discard.
2. Add the frozen corn, peas and carrots; return to a boil.
3. In a separate small bowl combine the remaining 1/2 cup broth with the corn starch and stir till no more clumps. Slowly dissolve into the soup. Let cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken.
4. Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup then slowly stream them into the soup while slowly stirring the soup in a clockwise rotation. Season with black pepper.
For the wonton strips:
5. Heat a small amount of oil (about 1 inch deep in a small pot) to medium high. Once hot add a few wonton strips and fry until golden brown, about 30-45 seconds. Remove from oil with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
6. Serve the soup with wonton strips and diced green onions. Enjoy!

Teaching Tuesdays - We are back in session

I don't have any great photos to share this week or any links to pages - I know, I know I'm a slacker but I can tell you what we did.

1) The most important thing of the week is  that Josh learned to read.  After spending the first half of the year focused on letter sounds, vowels sounds and blending all kinds of sounds, we pulled out the first book in our curriculum and Josh read the whole first story.  We then talked about plural words and how you add an "s" to show more than one (Hat vs. Hats).  His smile was HUGE.  Now, Nate keeps bringing him books and asking him to read to him.  Josh just shakes his head and and says, "Not yet Nate, I can't read ALL those words" HA!

2) On Monday, we did school at the grocery store.  Timing didn't allow me to get to the store for full shopping until Monday.  I decided to take the boys and the princess after the munchkin got on the bus.  We started out in the store doing all kinds of school stuff - Counting Fish, using the fish tanks to make math problems, finding letters/numbers on things (Such as, find a V and an 8 on a juice bottle or look for juice thiat says it is 100% !  Well, that lasted through about 5 aisles and then I said, we are done, I need to finish shopping and get out of here :-) 

3)  We did School in the morning on Wednesday.  Darryl was home and I knew the boys wanted him to play in the afternoon so we got all of our work done before lunch.  Then, after lunch, the best thing ever happened.  For the first time in almost 14 months, Darryl was able to get on the floor with the boys and build train circles (Play with their wooden track).  Yes, there were THREE happy boys (one big one and two little ones) as they worked together to build the perfect track. 

So yes, our homeschool start up after Christmas was a full success.  Now we will cruise through to the end of the year that will end sometime early May!

Make It Monday - A Bible Study Idea

I've been focusing more lately on my Quiet Time with God.  So when I came across this Bible Study idea that revolves around the concept of what I can give that blessed Babe in the manger, I really loved it.  I also love it because it's a great focus study for after Christmas because, lets face it, before Christmas life is busy - I'm more focused on teaching my Kids about the true meaning of Christmas than taking time for my own study.  I found the idea over at Brightlystreet and it is so simple to put together. 

You are able to print out everything you need from the above mentioned sight for free.  I had this little bucket on my desk so I taped the tag on the front, cut about the Character Traits, folded them and placed them in the bucket.  Now, I can pull one out, do some research and find a story about Jesus that teaches that trait, read it, and write about it in my journal. 

Now, to keep it real.  This is sitting on my end table ready to be used but I haven't pulled one out yet.  I started my accountability group Bible Study this past week and have found that I don't have the extra time for this study as well.  I'm thinking that I might try to do one of these each weekend instead.