I'm still Here and Happy Fourth of July!

Whew!  What a week.  Darryl's surgery last Wednesday when as expected but his recovery was slower than anticipated and, instead of getting out of the hospital on Friday as hoped, "we" were there until Sunday afternoon.  It took me until Thursday to fully recover from a much longer day on Wednesday ( we had to wait 4 hours for a room to open up after surgery!!) then anticipated, an early morning drive home, and extra nights at the hospital we were both exhausted.  Add to that Darryl not being able to sleep well which means we were both up . . ..he and I have done a lot of nothing with a few naps thrown in!!! 

We've eaten simple this week but I did cook my first steaks on the charcoal grill ever . .. and it would have been a huge success had I bought steaks that were not as tough as shoe leather even after marinating all day long! 

The boys are still at my parents house and we miss them tons but, with that said, Darryl and I both needed this week to recover with a quiet, non-demanding, nap when we want life.  We are looking forward to them coming home next week though! 

I didn't post a weekly menu but it is pretty simple
Friday - I'm going to attempt to grill hamburgs on the grill (with the grill master aka Darryl overseeing every flip of the burgers HA) and then we'll just have some french fries.

And that is as far as I've planned HA!  (Told you it was simple.)  I have plenty of meat in the freezer of all varieties, so I'll just add a few side dishes and we'll be good.  Things like Tacos, Chick-Fil-Lay Nuggets, Fried Pork Chops, and Brats all sound like good choices to me! 

So, that's my update. 


Oh, and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! 

Food Friday - Chocolate Eclair Cake

Chocolate Eclair Cake
adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

I tried this cake many times but had never made it.  In the summer I love anything that is no bake and cold!  This is perfect.  It's so easy and can really be as light as you want it since you could use fat free options for many of the ingredients.  

Easy No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake:

2 - (3.5 ounce) packages instant french vanilla pudding mix (can use sugar free)
1 - (8 ounce) container frozen light or fat free whipped topping (cool whip), thawed
3 - cups 2% or skim milk
1 - (16 ounce) package graham crackers
1 - (16 ounce) tub prepared chocolate frosting or homemade (recipe below)

Pour the dry pudding mix into a medium size bowl and measure out 3 Cups of milk. Pour into the bowl and whisk the pudding until blended and begins to thicken. 

If you don't have a whisk a spoon works just as good. add the thawed cool whip and gently fold into the pudding mixture. 

Arrange a single layer of graham cracker squares in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over the crackers.

Top with another layer of graham crackers, then the remaining pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers. 

Now it is time for the frosting. I put my chocolate frosting in the microwave for just a bit on defrost!! don't choose cook or you will have a clumpy mess.

Microwave it for about 20 -30 seconds just to get it nice, smooth and pourable. Pour the frosting over the whole cake and spread it all around up to the edges of the pan.

Chill cake for at least 6 hours before serving. You want it to be soft just like a true eclair.

 

Weekly Menu - the one without any planning

So, this coming week we spend days in the hospital and then come home to just the two of us.  No, we won't be eating out since Darryl won't be up to going anywhere but I'm not really planning much.  We'll take it more day by day. 

Friday - I'm assuming we will still be in the hospital today so I'll be eating there. 

Saturday- This is an "up in an air" day.  There is a chance Darryl will still be in the hospital today.  If so, my nephew's graduation open house is today and I will probably drive over there for a bit and eat there.  If he goes home today, I will probably order a pizza or something simple after he gets settled.

Sunday - Last week I cooked up some hamburger so I will probably make some tacos or sloppy joes. 

Monday - Thursday  - This is the "no planning" comes in.  I have meat in the freezer to use if I feel like cooking, plus we have simple stuff like soup, Tuna Fish, and Mac and Cheese to use for simple meals.  I'm guessing we'll end up with Subway for dinner one night and maybe KFC at some point but I'm really not sure. 

That's it - no real planning !! 
 

It's the big day!

Today is the big day - the day we've been waiting for months!  Darryl is having back surgery - L4-L5 Fusion.  I'll be enjoying a quiet day at the hospital while he is in the three hour surgery and yes, I'm looking forward to it!


Darryl and I have spent the last few days marking some things off of the list and spending lots of time together.  On Sunday, well, we slept in after getting home in the middle of the night.  I worked on cleaning up the house a little, did some laundry and relaxed.  We went out to dinner at Big Boy (for some yummy fish and chips!) and even went for a drive at 11:00 just because we could!

Monday was our "get 'er done" day.  I ran a few errands while Darryl fixed a few things around the house that needed to be gone - just those simple things that always get put off.  I cleaned up the garage so we can park in it again too.  We decided to take a drive and ended up at Outback for dinner and it was very, very good :-)

Tuesday was our "date day".  We started out by going to see a movie.  We saw "Mom's Night Out" and it was so good.  We laughed a lot and enjoyed our lunch of Popcorn and Pepsi ;-)  From there, we headed to the cab company for a quick stop and then went on down to the Grand Rapids Downtown Market.  We had been wanting to check it out and it is really, really cool.  We ended up getting some fabulous cookies for a snack.  From there, Darryl had to teach me how to get to the hospital :-)  So we drive that route, stopped at City Hall so he could renew his cab license and finally headed for dinner.   Once we got home we had a few little things to do - replace an outside lightbulb and replace the water softener filter. 

I had planned to take photos of a few things but that didn't happen :-) 

Now, we are ready for surgery and ready for the next 6-8 weeks as he recovers.  A family from our church has already brought us a meal and some great brownies and a HUGE cinnamon roll (just for me HA)  Such a blessing!

Vacation Bible School 2014

The boys have had the privilage of attending two different Vacation Bible School (VBS) sessions this summer. 

First up, they were finally able to attend VBS at our church this summer and they were very excited!  This year, our church did something called "Weird Animals" which the boys loved because there were games and science activities that kept them moving. 

The first few nights Josh was a little nervous at the beginning.  He was on a different "Crew" than Nate and I so over coming his "fear" of being alone was a big thing.  By Wednesday night he was having a blast though, and he told me he wasn't afraid anymore.

 Technically, Nate was a year to young to attend but, the person in charge said that four year olds can come as long as they can handle it (which he did fine).  He really had a blast and by Wednesday would look at me and say, "Mom, I want to be by myself so don't walk by me please"  What he was really saying was, "Mom, pretend you aren't here and just let me hang with the other kids" HA!

 This was one of the other boys on Josh's crew who made sure he felt part of the group. 

 Can you guess what Josh's nervous habit is????  Yep, putting those fingers on his lip!

 Josh sitting next to one of his Crew Leaders.  His name is Nathan but Josh somehow thought he was "Pastor Nate" :-)

 Game time! 

 Nate really got into all of the games and did awesome.

 Josh in science class.  Each night there was a question and the kids had to put their thumbprint under the answer they would choose. 

 Josh in game time.  Funny story.  The guy who he is sitting next to is our youth pastor, Pastor Josh.  As you can well imagine, Josh thinks he is fabulous.  As a matter of fact, Josh told me that he wants to be a "counselor" like Pastor Josh when he grows up.  On Wednesday night, Josh raised his hand to talk to Pastor about Jesus.  He was so excited to show us the tract about Heaven that he got and to tell us what he had learned.  But he also told us that he wished that Pastor Josh had been there that night because he likes him so much!

After one great week at VBS, they then went to Papa and Nana's house and are attending VBS at Papa's church.

Naturally, the boys are having fun.  They got some great t-shirts and flashlights plus, they get to see Kate, their cousin, and basically, they think she hung the moon :-)

I think that Josh and Nate are having one great summer so far!

Homeschool Happenings

Now that the end of June is approaching, I've locked in my curriculum choices for the fall for K-5 and thought I would share the plans.  I've spent the last 6 months or so looking through other blogs that I follow and researching various curriculums and ideas.  Then I asked a friend of mine what she did with her son when he hit Kindergarden and she gave me great ideas which finally solidified some questions I had on what to do with the boys. 

Our plan for 2013-2014

Bible - I've always felt like I needed to teach Bible to the boys because, well, it defines who we are and I felt like that if I didn't teach it I was slacking.  Then I talked to my friend and she gave me a lightbulb moment.  The boys attend Jr. Church and Sunday School every Sunday and, this fall, they will be in AWANA (Cubbies and Sparkies).  All of those areas give us items to work on - we can review the stories they learn in Sunday School and they will have plenty of verses to learn and concepts to review from AWANA.

 I also have these two versions of the Bible - "My First Hands-On Bible" and "The Jesus Storybook Bible".  Both offer fabulous retelling of scripture as will as activities and conversation starters.  They will be great additions to what they learn on Sunday and Wednesday without overloading them in this one area.



 I also have the two books pictured here to use for Bible lessons as well.  My mom picked them up at the Creation Museum awhile ago for me!  I'm excited to see how they fit and, if they work, I'll see if I can get more!








Phonics - This past year in our homeschool group, Agape, during Friday School the teacher in the Kinders used  "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" and Josh really did well with it.  He figured out how to start sounding out words just from the 10+ lessons he went through once a week. 

This was really a "God thing".  I borrowed the curriculum from a parent at Friday School to review.  I then e-mailed her to find out the price (the used version runs about $230.00-$250.00 for the set) which is when she said, "You must not remember me telling you that it is yours, if you can use it.  There is no cost."  That is when I had no doubt that this would work for us throughout this next year. 


Math - I struggled with what to do for Math this first year.  There are so many options; so many ideas; and so many opinions!  This is another area where I took my friends advice and scratched my first ideas.

First, we'll be using "Life of Fred" which presents math in a new way by teaching it in a day to day format.  Making it easy for kids to grasp and apply the math concepts.  Then, we will use the Singapore Math workbook for some basic math skills.  I'm not 100% sure yet if we'll do one unit in "Fred" and the one in the Math Workbook or if we'll do every other day . . ..I need to look at the lessons a little more and make that decision.

Reading - I've known for awhile what I wanted to do for reading so this was an easy pick.

We'll be going through "Five in a Row".  This curriculum spends one week focused on one book.  Then, each day the students learn about a different aspect such as Art, History, Science, geography ect. as it relates to the book.  Right now my thoughts are that it may take us more like 2 weeks to get through each book as I'm not sure if we will do this every day or just 2-3 a week. 






History/Geography - This area of study will be something we take slow.  I did pick up a great USA curriculum called "Road Trip" that we will start this year but it will be something that grows with us through

the next several years.  With this curriculum, we'll travel through the states and learn basic facts.  My main goal this year is just for the boys to get a basic over view of our country and what each state has to offer.  In future years we'll add more and more information.  I am also going to order a "God's World" subscription for each of the boys to use.  Finally, I plan on doing holiday studies with them too. 






Science - At the advice of my friend (she's awesome!) I'm going to order subscriptions of "Ranger Rick" to use with the boys and also search out some Discovery Channel shows that will teach them about animals.  We also have a set of "Zoo Book" magazines that I ordered a year ago using a Groupon.

Calender Time - We will spend time each day talking about the month/day/date as well some time and weather.  My goal is to keep this to about 10-15 minutes each day.  The boys know quite a bit already, we just need to really get the concepts nailed down. 

Other - I have a Homeschool PE Curriculum that happened to go on sale for FREE during teacher appreciation week that I want to implement at least one day a week.  Also, the boys love art projects so I throw those in as well.  Finally, I am also going to get a year membership to a computer program such as ABC Mouse or More Starfall.  This will give something for one boy to work on while I work with the other one or to use as an award system as well. 

Things my Kids say

* Discussion overheard this past week: 
Nate:  Oh no Josh, I broke the Lego Van
Josh (from the bathroom): That's ok, just get the map and rebuild it.
Nate: I can't, I didn't go to building school like you.  Remember, you went there a long time ago.
Josh: Well, you can still try. 
Building School?  Really? 

* Nate asked me to close the curtian one morning because it was  "making his eyes browed"  LOL